Colloquium

The existence, and enigmatic nature, of 'Dark Energy' is one of the biggest theoretical upsets of recent times. In this seminar we present ideas on alternative theoretical and phenomenological approaches to the Dark Energy problem, in particular the issue of whether dark energy is a matter or gravity-based phenomenon, and the ways in which such approaches can been constrained and guided by observation. We also focus on some of the exciting future approaches that could provide unprecedented insights into the fundamentals of Dark Energy

In this talk we assume that Quantum Einstein Gravity (QEG) is the correct theory of gravity on all length scales. We use both analytical results from nonperturbative renormalization group (RG) equations and experimental input in order to describe the special RG trajectory of QEG which is realized in Nature. We identify a regime of scales where gravitational physics is well described by classical General Relativity. Strong renormalization effects occur at both larger and smaller momentum scales. The former are related to the (conjectured) nonperturbative renormalizability of QEG. The latter lead to a growth of Newton's constant at large distances. We argue that this effect becomes visible at the scale of galaxies and could provide a solution to the astrophysical missing mass problem which does not require dark matter. A possible resolution of the cosmological constant problem is proposed by noting that all RG trajectories admitting a long classical regime automatically imply a small cosmological constant.