Concept record · Atlas v1.2.0
Observational cosmology
Active researchWhat the term means here
The empirical study of the universe at large scales, including measurements of the expansion history, the cosmic microwave background, and large-scale structure. In this debate it supplies the dark-energy equation of state and the constraints that any proposal must survive.
Why it matters to this question
This is the only branch of the map where measurement, rather than argument, decides anything. Equation-of-state constraints near w = −1 bear directly on rolling-scalar alternatives, and short-range gravity experiments constrain mesoscopic extra dimensions.
What this does not establish
This is an orientation node; the source map cites specific observational results rather than the field as a whole. Current data does not settle the de Sitter question, and one 2023 reanalysis in the source set finds that newer data allows slightly more freedom in the swampland criteria rather than tightening the tension.
Claims bearing on this concept · 4
- ds-001
The observed late-time acceleration of the universe is standardly modeled with a small positive cosmological constant, and current data place the dark-energy equation of state near w = −1.
- ds-008
An order-one value of c has been argued to be in tension with slow-roll inflation and with the observed value of the cosmological constant.
- ds-010
If metastable de Sitter vacua are excluded, dark energy would have to be dynamical — a rolling scalar field rather than a constant.
- ds-012
Torsion-balance experiments report no deviation from the gravitational inverse-square law down to separations of about 52 micrometres.
Sources used for this record · 4
- News from the Swampland — constraining string theory with astrophysics and cosmologyarXiv:2307.15060
- Equation-of-state bounds on swampland quintessencearXiv:1808.02877
- New Test of the Gravitational 1/r² Law at Separations down to 52 μmarXiv:2002.11761
- Tests of the Gravitational Inverse-Square Law below the Dark-Energy Length Scalehep-ph/0611184
- This is a contextual orientation node; the verified literature map does not cite it directly.