The discovery of cosmic acceleration has presented a unique challenge for cosmologists. As observational cosmology forges ahead, theorists have struggled to make sense of a standard model that requires extreme fine-tuning. This challenge is known as the cosmological constant problem. The theory of gravitational aether is an alternative to general relativity that does not suffer from this fine-tuning problem, as it decouples the quantum field theory vacuum from geometry, while remaining consistent with other tests of gravity. In this paper, we study static black hole solutions in this theory and show that it manifests a UV-IR coupling: Aether couples the space-time metric close to the black hole horizon, to metric at infinity. We then show that using the trans-Planckian ansatz (as a quantum gravity effect) close to the black hole horizon, leads to an accelerating cosmological solution, far from the horizon. Interestingly, this acceleration matches current observations for stellar-mass black holes. Based on our current understanding of the black hole accretion history in the Universe, we then make a prediction for how the effective dark energy density should evolve with redshift, which can be tested with future dark energy probes.

• Received 30 May 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.80.043513