On the cosmological constant of flat FLRW spacetime

Abstract

We consider an exponentially expanding, flat, Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) Universe filled with a free Schroedinger field. The probability fluid of the latter is used to mimic the cosmological fluid (baryonic plus dark matter), thus providing the matter density and pressure terms in the corresponding Friedmann–Lemaître equations. We first obtain the eigenfunctions of the Laplacian operator on flat FLRW space. A quantum operator qualifying as a cosmological constant is defined to act on the Schroedinger field. We then compute the matrix representing the cosmological constant in the basis of Laplacian eigenfunctions. For an estimate of the orders of magnitude involved it suffices to determine the expectation values of this operator. The expectation value that best fits the experimentally measured value of the cosmological constant allows us to identify the quantum state of the Schroedinger field that best represents the matter contents (baryonic and dark) of the current Universe. Finally, the operator inverse (modulo dimensional factors) to the one representing the cosmological constant provides a measure of the gravitational Boltzmann entropy of the Universe. We compute its matrix in the basis of Laplacian eigenfunctions and verify that the expectation values of this entropy operator comply with the upper bound set by the holographic principle.