Can a pseudo-symmetry solve the cosmological constant problem?

Abstract

A general no-go theorem dampens hope that the cosmological constant problem can be solved by a local symmetry mechanism. The possibility is considered here that this no-go theorem can be avoided by a pseudo-symmetry. A simple macroscopic effective field theory is constructed which admits an enhanced pseudo-symmetry in the absence of a cosmological term. It is pointed out that this pseudo-symmetry is an exact classical invariance of superstrings. The conjecture that this pseudo-symmetry survives in the quantum theory has several interesting consequences.