44 research outputs found
Palatini approach to 1/R gravity and its implications to the late Universe
By applying the Palatini approach to the 1/R-gravity model it is possible to
explain the present accelerated expansion of the Universe. Investigation of the
late Universe limiting case shows that: (i) due to the curvature effects the
energy-momentum tensor of the matter field is not covariantly conserved; (ii)
however, it is possible to reinterpret the curvature corrections as sources of
the gravitational field, by defining a modified energy-momentum tensor; (iii)
with the adoption of this modified energy-momentum tensor the Einstein's field
equations are recovered with two main modifications: the first one is the
weakening of the gravitational effects of matter whereas the second is the
emergence of an effective varying "cosmological constant"; (iv) there is a
transition in the evolution of the cosmic scale factor from a power-law scaling
to an asymptotically exponential scaling ; (v) the energy density of the matter field scales as ; (vi) the present age of the Universe and the
decelerated-accelerated transition redshift are smaller than the corresponding
ones in the CDM model.Comment: 5 pages and 2 figures. Accepted in PR
A Note on Energy-Momentum Conservation in Palatini Formulation of L(R) Gravity
By establishing that Palatini formulation of gravity is equivalent to
Brans-Dicke theory, we show that energy-momentum tensor is
covariantly conserved in this type of modified gravity theory.Comment: 7 page
Cosmological model with interactions in the dark sector
A cosmological model is proposed for the current Universe consisted of
non-interacting baryonic matter and interacting dark components. The dark
energy and dark matter are coupled through their effective barotropic indexes,
which are considered as functions of the ratio between their energy densities.
It is investigated two cases where the ratio is asymptotically stable and their
parameters are adjusted by considering best fits to Hubble function data. It is
shown that the deceleration parameter, the densities parameters, and the
luminosity distance have the correct behavior which is expected for a viable
present scenario of the Universe.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figure
Gravitational Lensing and f(R) theories in the Palatini approach
We investigate gravitational lensing in the Palatini approach to the f(R)
extended theories of gravity. Starting from an exact solution of the f(R) field
equations, which corresponds to the Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric and, on the
basis of recent studies on this metric, we focus on some lensing observables,
in order to evaluate the effects of the non linearity of the gravity
Lagrangian. We give estimates for some astrophysical events, and show that
these effects are tiny for galactic lenses, but become interesting for
extragalactic ones.Comment: 7 Pages, RevTex, 1 eps figure; references added; revised to match the
version accepted for publication in General Relativity and Gravitatio
Constraints on coupling constant between dark energy and dark matter
We have investigated constraints on the coupling between dark matter and the
interacting Chaplygin gas. Our results indicate that the coupling constant
between these two entities can take arbitrary values, which can be either
positive or negative, thus giving arbitrary freedom to the inter-conversion
between Chaplygin gas and dark matter. Thus our results indicate that the
restriction on the coupling constant occurs as a very special case. Our
analysis also supports the existence of phantom energy under certain conditions
on the coupling constant.Comment: 16 Pages, 3 figure
Cosmic coincidence problem and variable constants of physics
The standard model of cosmology is investigated using time dependent
cosmological constant and Newton's gravitational constant . The
total energy content is described by the modified Chaplygin gas equation of
state. It is found that the time dependent constants coupled with the modified
Chaplygin gas interpolate between the earlier matter to the later dark energy
dominated phase of the universe. We also achieve a convergence of parameter
, with minute fluctuations, showing an evolving . Thus our
model fairly alleviates the cosmic coincidence problem which demands
at present time.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figure
Bulk Viscous LRS Biachi-I Universe with variable and decaying
The present study deals with spatially homogeneous and totally anisotropic
locally rotationally symmetric (LRS) Bianchi type I cosmological model with
variable and in presence of imperfect fluid. To get the
deterministic model of Universe, we assume that the expansion in the
model is proportional to shear . This condition leads to , where ,\; are metric potential. The cosmological constant
is found to be decreasing function of time and it approaches a small
positive value at late time which is supported by recent Supernovae Ia (SN Ia)
observations. Also it is evident that the distance modulus curve of derived
model matches with observations perfectly.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures and 1 table, Accepted for publication in
Astrophysics and Space Scienc
Realistic Equations of State for the Primeval Universe
Early universe equations of state including realistic interactions between
constituents are built up. Under certain reasonable assumptions, these
equations are able to generate an inflationary regime prior to the
nucleosynthesis period. The resulting accelerated expansion is intense enough
to solve the flatness and horizon problems. In the cases of curvature parameter
\kappa equal to 0 or +1, the model is able to avoid the initial singularity and
offers a natural explanation for why the universe is in expansion.Comment: 32 pages, 5 figures. Citations added in this version. Accepted EPJ
Whole genome sequencing for USH2A-associated disease reveals several pathogenic deep-intronic variants that are amenable to splice correction
A significant number of individuals with a rare disorder such as Usher syndrome (USH) and (non-)syndromic autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa (arRP) remain genetically unexplained. Therefore, we assessed subjects suspected of USH2A-associated disease and no or mono-allelic USH2A variants using whole genome sequencing (WGS) followed by an improved pipeline for variant interpretation to provide a conclusive diagnosis. One hundred subjects were screened using WGS to identify causative variants in USH2A or other USH/arRP-associated genes. In addition to the existing variant interpretation pipeline, a particular focus was put on assessing splice-affecting properties of variants, both in silico and in vitro. Also structural variants were extensively addressed. For variants resulting in pseudoexon inclusion, we designed and evaluated antisense oligonucleotides (AONs) using minigene splice assays and patient-derived photoreceptor precursor cells. Biallelic variants were identified in 49 of 100 subjects, including novel splice-affecting variants and structural variants, in USH2A or arRP/USH-associated genes. Thirteen variants were shown to affect USH2A pre-mRNA splicing, including four deep-intronic USH2A variants resulting in pseudoexon inclusion, which could be corrected upon AON treatment. We have shown that WGS, combined with a thorough variant interpretation pipeline focused on assessing pre-mRNA splicing defects and structural variants, is a powerful method to provide subjects with a rare genetic condition, a (likely) conclusive genetic diagnosis. This is essential for the development of future personalized treatments and for patients to be eligible for such treatments.</p