Equilibrium boundary conditions, dynamic vacuum energy, and the Big Bang

Abstract

The near-zero value of the cosmological constant \Lambda in an equilibrium context may be due to the existence of a self-tuning relativistic vacuum variable q. Here, a cosmological nonequilibrium context is considered with a corresponding time-dependent cosmological parameter \Lambda(t) or vacuum energy density \rho_V(t). A specific model of a closed Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe is presented, which is determined by equilibrium boundary conditions at one instant of time (t=t_{eq}) and a particular form of vacuum-energy dynamics (d\rho_V/dt \propto \rho_M). This homogeneous and isotropic model has a standard Big Bang phase at early times (t << t_{eq}) and reproduces the main characteristics of the present universe (t=t_0 < t_{eq}).