Proposal for the origin of the cosmological constant

Abstract

We work in the framework of a simple vector-tensor theory. The parametrized post-Newtonian approximation of this theory is identical to that of general relativity. Our attention is focused on cosmology. In an homogeneous isotropic universe, it is proved that the energy density, $\rho_{A}$, of the vector field $A$, and its pressure, $p_{A}$, do not depend on time, and also that the equation of state is $\rho_{A} = -p_{A}$. This means that, in the theory under consideration, there is a cosmological constant, which is not vacuum energy, but the dark energy of the cosmic vector field $A$, whose evolution is classical.