The cosmological constant as a research area encompasses theoretical and observational studies of the small, positive vacuum energy density driving the late-time accelerated expansion of the universe within the ΛCDM framework. Research addresses its role as a parameter in Einstein’s field equations, constraints from supernovae, cosmic microwave background anisotropies, and large-scale structure, and its consistency with quantum field theoretic expectations for vacuum energy. The field also investigates parameter estimation, degeneracies with alternative dark energy models and modified gravity, and implications for cosmic history, structure formation, and future surveys aimed at refining measurements of Λ.
According to current understanding, the universe is expanding—and is doing so at an accelerating rate. This is believed to be caused by something called the cosmological constant, which was first proposed by Albert Einstein ...
Astronomy
Jul 21, 2026
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For nearly a century, astronomers have known that the universe is expanding. In the late 1990s, two independent teams, the Supernova Cosmology Project, led by Saul Perlmutter, and the High-Z Supernova Search Team, led by ...
Modern cosmology rests on a simple assumption: If we look on large enough scales, matter should be distributed evenly, with no preferred direction within the cosmos. This is known as the cosmological principle.
Astronomy
Jul 1, 2026
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Gravity, the force that attracts objects toward each other, is currently framed by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. This framework describes gravity as the curvature of spacetime, the invisible four-dimensional ...
Research led by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, along with Professor Subir Sarkar from the University of Oxford, questions the widely accepted argument that the expansion rate of the universe is accelerating ...
Astronomy
Jun 22, 2026
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Mathematicians are challenging the idea that dark energy is responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe. In a new paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, mathematicians from the University of ...
Astronomy
May 28, 2026
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Cosmologists have long struggled to determine whether the universe's accelerating expansion is being driven by a simple cosmological constant, or whether dark energy's influence is evolving over time. In a new analysis published ...
Trying to solve quantum gravity is frustrating. We have made tremendous progress in quantum theory, but it seems that every time we find a new quantum technique, there's a reason it doesn't quite work with gravity. Take, ...
General Physics
May 13, 2026
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The largest-ever survey of physicists from around the world—released today—shows a distinct lack of consensus across many of physics's most important questions, from the nature of black holes and dark matter, to the still-incomplete ...
General Physics
May 12, 2026
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The cosmological constant is the mathematical description of the energy that drives the ever-accelerating expansion of the cosmos. It's also the source of one of the most enduring and confounding problems in modern physics.
General Physics
Apr 20, 2026
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