Erdem, Recai04.05. Department of Pyhsics04. Faculty of Science01. Izmir Institute of Technology2017-07-182017-07-182016Erdem, R. (2016). It is sufficient to set the cosmological constant to zero or to a small number at an initial time. Turkish Journal of Physics, 40(2), 175-179. doi:10.3906/fiz-1506-251300-01011303-6122http://doi.org/10.3906/fiz-1506-25https://hdl.handle.net/11147/5950https://search.trdizin.gov.tr/yayin/detay/213208I point out a simple but usually overlooked fact about the cosmological constant problem: to solve the cosmological constant problem it is sufficient to find a symmetry or mechanism that sets the cosmological constant to zero or to a tiny value at some time in the past, provided that general relativity is the relevant theory of gravity, and the energy-momentum tensor (excluding the part of the form of a cosmological constant) is conserved. The relevant symmetry or mechanism need not be applicable today. Any additional cosmological constant term induced by a phase transition in the energy-momentum tensor in this case is compensated by a shift in the cosmological constant term of gravitational origin.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessCosmological constantCosmologyGeneral relativityInitial timeArticle2-s2.0-8496648987410.3906/fiz-1506-2510.3906/fiz-1506-25