ANRV391-NS59-18 ARI 16 September 2009 14:37 The Physics of Cosmic Acceleration Robert R. Caldwell1 and Marc Kamionkowski2 1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755; email:
[email protected] 2Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125; email:
[email protected] Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 2009. 59:397–429 Key Words First published online as a Review in Advance on cosmology, dark energy, particle theory, gravitational theory June 23, 2009 The Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science Abstract is online at nucl.annualreviews.org The discovery that the cosmic expansion is accelerating has been followed by by California Institute of Technology on 10/28/09. For personal use only. This article’s doi: an intense theoretical and experimental response in physics and astronomy. 10.1146/annurev-nucl-010709-151330 The discovery implies that our most basic notions about how gravity works Copyright c 2009 by Annual Reviews. are violated on cosmological distance scales. A simple fix is to introduce Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 2009.59:397-429. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org All rights reserved a cosmological constant into the field equations for general relativity. 0163-8998/09/1123-0397$20.00 However, the extremely small value of the cosmological constant, relative to theoretical expectations, has led theorists to explore numerous alter- native explanations that involve the introduction of an exotic negative- pressure fluid or a modification of general relativity. Here we review the evidence for cosmic acceleration. We then survey some of the theoretical at- tempts to account for it, including the cosmological constant, quintessence and its variants, mass-varying neutrinos, and modifications of general relativity.