The Problem With the Cosmological Constant

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The cosmological constant has the special property that it is small, but if it were bigger, we wouldn't be here to talk about it. So therefore, if you have a multiverse with different values of thecosmological constant, you can account for its smallness by saying that we only see those regions in which the value is small. This was argued by Linde and Weinberg and others all the way back in the 80s. The best idea we have right now is the anthropic principle - there are small numbers in physics.

Welcome to the August 2023 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patreons, whittle them down to a more manageable number -- based primarily on whether I have anything interesting to say about them, not whether the questions themselves are good -- and sometimes group them together if they are about a similar topic. Enjoy!

Blog post with questions and transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/08/07/ama-august-2023/

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