Cosmology with a time-variable cosmological 'constant'

Authors: P. J. E. Peebles, Bharat Ratra - The Astrophysical Journal 1988 cited by 1,735

If the potential V(φ) of the scalar field that drove inflation had a power-law tail at large φ, V ~ φ^{-aplpha}^, the mass density, ρphi_, associated with φ would act like a cosmological constant that decreases with time less rapidly than the mass densities of matter and radiation. If ρphi_ were appreciable at the present epoch it could help reconcile the low dynamical estimates of the mean mass density with the negligibly small space curvature preferred by inflation.