| Abstract: | Scalar fields are an important ingredient of modern cosmological models describing the very early universe. If they are of the Higgs field type, scalar fields offer a possibility to understand why the cosmological constant is such a small quantity. This is because of the fact that different ground states are possible for a Higgs field. The unstable ground state gives an inflationary stage of the cosmic evolution and a large cosmological constant whereas the stable ground state has a vanishing cosmological constant and is decisive for the late time behaviour with an Einstein-De Sitter — like expansion law. |
