Emergent universe from the Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz gravity

We study the stability of the Einstein static universe in the Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz (HL) gravity and a generalized version of it formulated by Sotiriou, Visser and Weifurtner. We find that, for the HL cosmology, there exists a stable Einstein static state if the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ is negative. The universe can stay at this stable state eternally and thus the big bang singularity can be avoided. However, in this case, the Universe can not exit to an inflationary era. For the Sotiriou, Visser and Weifurtner HL cosmology, if the cosmic scale factor satisfies certain conditions initially, the Universe can stay at the stable state past eternally and may undergo a series of infinite, nonsingular oscillations. Once the parameter of the equation of state $w$ approaches a critical value, the stable critical point coincides with the unstable one, and the Universe enters an inflationary era. Therefore, the big bang singularity can be avoided and a subsequent inflation can occur naturally.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures and 3 tables; title changed,comprehensive analysis added, published versio

f(T)f(T) models with phantom divide line crossing

In this paper, we propose two new models in $f(T)$ gravity to realize the crossing of the phantom divide line for the effective equation of state, and we then study the observational constraints on the model parameters. The best fit results suggest that the observations favor a crossing of the phantom divide line.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, equations correcte

The thermalization of a two-level atom in a planar dielectric system out of thermal equilibrium

We study the thermalization of an elementary quantum system modeled by a two-level atom interacting with stationary electromagnetic fields out of thermal equilibrium near a dielectric slab. The slab is held at a temperature different from that of the region where the atom is located. We find that when the slab is a nonabsorbing and nondispersive dielectric of a finite thickness $d$, no out of thermal equilibrium effects appear as far as the thermalization of the atom is concerned, and a finite thick dielectric slab with a tiny imaginary part in the relative permittivity $\operatorname{Im} \epsilon$ behaves like a half space dielectric substrate if $\frac{\operatorname{Im} \epsilon}{\sqrt{\operatorname{Re}\epsilon-1}} \frac{d}{\lambda_0} > 1$ is satisfied, where $\lambda_0$ is the transition wavelength of the atom. This condition can serve as a guide for an experimental verification, using a dielectric substrate of a finite thickness, of the effects that arise from out of thermal equilibrium fluctuations with a half-space (infinite thickness) dielectric.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, to appear in PR

The dynamical behavior of f(T)f(T) theory

Recently, a new model obtained from generalizing teleparallel gravity, named $f(T)$ theory, is proposed to explain the present cosmic accelerating expansion with no need of dark energy. In this paper, we analyze the dynamical property of this theory. For a concrete power law model, we obtain that the dynamical system has a stable de Sitter phase along with an unstable radiation dominated phase and an unstable matter dominated one. We show that the Universe can evolve from a radiation dominated era to a matter dominated one, and finally enter an exponential expansion phase.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure; accepted by PL

Observational constraints on f(T)f(T) theory

The $f(T)$ theory, which is an extension of teleparallel, or torsion scalar $T$, gravity, is recently proposed to explain the present cosmic accelerating expansion with no need of dark energy. In this Letter, we first perform the statefinder analysis and $Om(z)$ diagnostic to two concrete $f(T)$ models, i.e., $f(T)=\alpha (-T)^n$ and $f(T)=-\alpha T(1-e^{p {T_0}/T})$, and find that a crossing of phantom divide line is impossible for both models. This is contrary to an existing result where a crossing is claimed for the second model. We, then, study the constraints on them from the latest Union 2 Type Ia Supernova (Sne Ia) set, the baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO), and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. Our results show that at the 95% confidence level $\Omega_{m0}=0.272_{-0.032}^{+0.036}$, $n=0.04_{-0.33}^{+0.22}$ for Model 1 and $\Omega_{m0}=0.272_{-0.034}^{+0.036}$, $p=-0.02_{-0.20}^{+0.31}$ for Model 2. A comparison of these two models with the $\Lambda$CDM by the $\chi^2_{Min}/dof$ (dof: degree of freedom) criterion indicates that $\Lambda$CDM is still favored by observations. We also study the evolution of the equation of state for the effective dark energy in the theory and find that Sne Ia favors a phantom-like dark energy, while Sne Ia + BAO + CMB prefers a quintessence-like one.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures; statefinder diagnostic added, Om(z) analysis added; references added; accepted by PL

Emergent universe in spatially flat cosmological model

The scenario of an emergent universe provides a promising resolution to the big bang singularity in universes with positive or negative spatial curvature. It however remains unclear whether the scenario can be successfully implemented in a spatially flat universe which seems to be favored by present cosmological observations. In this paper, we study the stability of Einstein static state solutions in a spatially flat Shtanov-Sahni braneworld scenario. With a negative dark radiation term included and assuming a scalar field as the only matter energy component, we find that the universe can stay at an Einstein static state past eternally and then evolve to an inflation phase naturally as the scalar field climbs up its potential slowly. In addition, we also propose a concrete potential of the scalar field that realizes this scenario.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

Examining the cosmic acceleration with the latest Union2 supernova data

In this Letter, by reconstructing the $Om$ diagnostic and the deceleration parameter $q$ from the latest Union2 Type Ia supernova sample with and without the systematic error along with the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB), we study the cosmic expanding history, using the Chevallier-Polarski-Linder (CPL) parametrization. We obtain that Union2+BAO favor an expansion with a decreasing of the acceleration at $z<0.3$. However, once the CMB data is added in the analysis, the cosmic acceleration is found to be still increasing, indicating a tension between low redshift data and high redshift one. In order to reduce this tension significantly, two different methods are considered and thus two different subsamples of Union2 are selected. We then find that two different subsamples+BAO+CMB give completely different results on the cosmic expanding history when the systematic error is ignored, with one suggesting a decreasing cosmic acceleration, the other just the opposite, although both of them alone with BAO support that the cosmic acceleration is slowing down. However, once the systematic error is considered, two different subsamples of Union2 along with BAO and CMB all favor an increasing of the present cosmic acceleration. Therefore a clear-cut answer on whether the cosmic acceleration is slowing down calls for more consistent data and more reliable methods to analyze them.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures; PLB in pres

Interaction between two gravitationally polarizable objects induced by thermal bath of gravitons

The quadrupole-quadrupole interaction between a pair of gravitationally polarizable objects induced by vacuum fluctuations of the quantum linearized gravitational field is first obtained with a relatively simple method, which is then used to investigate the contribution of thermal fluctuations of a bath of gravitons to the interaction at temperature $T$. Our result shows that, in the high temperature limit, the contribution of thermal fluctuations dominates over that of vacuum fluctuations and the interaction potential behaves like $T/ r^{10}$, where $r$ is the separation between the objects, and in the low temperature limit, the contribution of thermal fluctuations is proportional to $T^{10}/r$, which only provides a small correction to the interaction induced by zero-point fluctuations.Comment: 11 pages. Accepted by PR

The growth of matter perturbations in the f(T) gravity

In this paper, we study the growth index of matter density perturbations for the power law model in $f(T)$ gravity. Using the parametrization $\gamma(z)=\gamma_0+\gamma_1 {z\over 1+z}$ for the growth index, which approximates the real evolution of $\gamma(z)$ very well, and the observational data of the growth factor, we find that, at $1\sigma$ confidence level, the power law model in $f(T)$ gravity is consistent with the observations, since the obtained theoretical values of $\gamma_0$ and $\gamma_1$ are in the allowed region.Comment: 11 pages 4 figure