We suggest that the cosmological constant has been relaxed to its present, very small value during the inflationary stage of the evolution of the Universe. This requires relatively low scale, very long duration and an unconventional source of inflation. We present a concrete mechanism of the cosmological constant relaxation at the inflationary epoch.

• Received 11 November 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.61.061501