On extra dimensions and the cosmological constant problem

Abstract

We consider a massive scalar field with a coordinate-dependent mass in higher-dimensional spacetime. The field satisfies Dirichlet boundary conditions on a brane representing the four-dimensional world. Despite being massive, the theory is scale-invariant. We quantize the theory calculating the zero-point energy. We find the lower bound for the uncertainty product in the uncertainty principle. We show that the zero-point energy density could be small if large extra dimensions exist. Identifying the zero-point energy as a source of dark energy, we extract the four-dimensional cosmological constant from higher-dimensional theory, considering quantum fluctuations close to the brane surface. We examine numerically ten- and eleven-dimensional spaces. The resulting zero-point energy is parameterized by the number of extra dimensions and the additional dimensionless {\it saturation parameter}, expressing the deviation from perfect saturation of the uncertainty principle. Letting the parameter to be small and of order of the fine-structure constant, we reproduce the experimental value of the cosmological constant in four dimensions.