4-FORMS AND THE VANISHING OF THE COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT

We show that the dynamics (and statics) of a four-form are more subtle than previously appreciated, especially when used in conjuction with the Baum-Hawking-Coleman mechanism. We investigate the properties of the four-forms on closed euclidean, open euclidean, and lorentzian manifolds. We find that only under special conditions is their behaviour such that the cosmological constant vanishes. © 1990.