FUNDAMENTAL APPROACH TO THE COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT ISSUE

We use a Riemannian four-dimensional presentation for gravitation in which the coordinates are distances and velocity rather than the traditional space and time. We solve the field equations and show that there are three possibilities for the Universe to expand. The theory describes the Universe as having a three-phase evolution with a decelerating expansion, followed by a constant and an accelerating expansion, and it predicts that the Universe is now in the latter phase. It is shown, assuming Ω_m = 0.245, that the time at which the Universe goes over from a decelerating to an accelerating expansion, occurs at 8.5 Gyr ago, at which time the cosmic radiation temperature was 146K. Recent observations show that the Universe's growth is accelerating. Our theory confirms these recent experimental results. The theory predicts also that now there is a positive pressure in the Universe. Although the theory has no cosmological constant, we extract from it its equivalence and show that Λ = 1.934 × 10^-35 s^-2. This value of Λ is in excellent agreement with measurements. It is also shown that the three-dimensional space of the Universe is Euclidean, as the Boomerang experiment shows.