Do the Age of the Universe and the Hubble Constant Depend on What Scale One Observes Them?

Abstract

The apparent cosmological conflict between the age of the Universe, predicted in the standard Friedman cosmology by using the recent measurement of the larger Hubble constant from a direct calibration of the distance to the Virgo galaxy cluster, and the ages of the oldest stars and globular clusters is resolved by invoking the scale dependence of cosmological quantities, including the age of the Universe. The distance dependence or the running of cosmological quantities is motivated by the asymptotically-free higher- derivative quantum gravity. The running can also be derived by ``properly" modifying the Friedman equations. This property can also provide partial explanation of the apparent disagreement between the two recent measurements of the Hubble constant using NGC 4571 at 15 Mpc and NGC 5253 at 4 Mpc.