  In this work we consider the possibility of describing the current evolution
of the universe, without the introduction of any cosmological constant or dark
energy (DE), by modifying the Einstein-Hilbert (EH) action. In the context of
the f(R) gravities within the metric formalism, we show that it is possible to
find an action without cosmological constant which exactly reproduces the
behavior of the EH action with cosmological constant. In addition the f(R)
action is analytical at the origin having Minkowski and Schwarzschild as vacuum
solutions. The found f(R) action is highly non-trivial and must be written in
terms of hypergeometric functions but, in spite of looking somewhat artificial,
it shows that the cosmological constant, or more generally the DE, is not a
logical necessity.
