Metastable dark energy

Understand

We build a model of metastable dark energy, in which the observed vacuum energy is the value of the scalar potential at the false vacuum.

• The scalar potential is given by a sum of even self-interactions up to order six.
• The deviation from the Minkowski vacuum is due to a term suppressed by the Planck scale.
• The decay time of the metastable vacuum can easily accommodate a mean life time compatible with the age of the universe.