[Phaedrus]

I followed your link on the Cosmological Constant and quickly got way, way over my head. The math and the terminology are quite beyond me. My impression is that there seem to be reasons to believe there is a Cosmological Constant but I have no idea what this means. Perhaps you or someone more knowledgeable could give us the "layman's version"?

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for your post!

Indeed, the meaty stuff in the first link is a tough read. And I’m not aware of a good offering (yet) to fully explore ekpyrotic cosmology without all the math. But there is a great book for the general public on the cosmological constant written by Robert P. Kirshner:

The Extravagant Universe

The book explores the accelerating universe, dark energy --- and therefore, the cosmological constant necessary to arrive at omega=1.