Acceleration and Deceleration in Curvature Induced Phantom Model of the Late and Future Universe, Cosmic Collapse as Well as its Quantum Escape

Here, cosmology of the late and future universe is obtained from $f(R)$-gravity with non-linear curvature terms $R^2$ and $R^3$ ($R$ being the Ricci scalar curvature). It is different from $f(R)$-dark enrgy models, where non-linear curvature terms are taken as gravitational alternative of dark energy. In the present model, neither linear nor no-linear curvature terms are taken as dark energy. Rather, dark energy terms are induced by curvature terms in the Friedmann equation derived from $f(R)$-gravitational equations. It has advantage over $f(R)$- dark energy models in the sense that the present model satisfies WMAP results and expands as $\sim t^{2/3}$ during matter-dominance. So, it does not have problems due to which $f(R)$-dark energy models are criticized. Curvature-induced dark energy, obtained here, mimics phantom. Different phases of this model, including acceleration and deceleration during phantom phase, are investigated here.It is found that expansion of the universe will stop at the age $(3.87 t_0 + 694.4 {\rm kyr})$ ($t_0$ being the present age of the universe) and after this epoch, it will contract and collapse by the time $(336.87 t_0 + 694.4 {\rm kyr})$. Further,it is shown that universe will escape predicted collapse (obtained using classical mechanics) on making quantum gravity corrections relevant near collapse time due to extremely high energy density and large curvature analogous to the state of very early universe. Interestingly, cosmological constant is also induced here, which is very small in classical domain, but very high in quantum domain.Comment: 33 page

Quaternionic Electroweak Theory

We explicitly develop a quaternionic version of the electroweak theory, based on the local gauge group $U(1, q)_{L}\mid U(1, c)_{Y}$. The need of a complex projection for our Lagrangian and the physical significance of the anomalous scalar solutions are also discussed.Comment: 12 pages, Revtex, submitted to J. Phys.

Warm alpha-nucleon matter

The properties of warm dilute alpha-nucleon matter are studied in a variational approach in the Thomas-Fermi approximation starting from an effective two-body nucleon-nucleon interaction. The equation of state, symmetry energy, incompressibility of the said matter as well as the alpha fraction are in consonance with those evaluated from the virial approach that sets a bench-mark for such calculations at low densities.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, Phys. Rev C (in press

Temperature dependence of symmetry energy of finite nuclei

The temperature dependence of the symmetry energy and the symmetry free energy coefficients of atomic nuclei is investigated in a finite temperature Thomas-Fermi framework employing the subtraction procedure. A substantial decrement in the symmetry energy coefficient is obtained for finite systems,contrary to those seen for infinite nuclear matter at normal and somewhat subnormal densities. The effect of the coupling of the surface phonons to the nucleonic motion is also considered; this is found to decrease the symmetry energies somewhat at low temperatures.Comment: 9 pages including 8 figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Merger rates of double neutron stars and stellar origin black holes: The Impact of Initial Conditions on Binary Evolution Predictions

The initial mass function (IMF), binary fraction and distributions of binary parameters (mass ratios, separations and eccentricities) are indispensable input for simulations of stellar populations. It is often claimed that these are poorly constrained significantly affecting evolutionary predictions. Recently, dedicated observing campaigns provided new constraints on the initial conditions for massive stars. Findings include a larger close binary fraction and a stronger preference for very tight systems. We investigate the impact on the predicted merger rates of neutron stars and black holes. Despite the changes with previous assumptions, we only find an increase of less than a factor 2 (insignificant compared with evolutionary uncertainties of typically a factor 10-100). We further show that the uncertainties in the new initial binary properties do not significantly affect (within a factor of 2) our predictions of double compact object merger rates. An exception is the uncertainty in IMF (variations by a factor of 6 up and down). No significant changes in the distributions of final component masses, mass ratios, chirp masses and delay times are found. We conclude that the predictions are, for practical purposes, robust against uncertainties in the initial conditions concerning binary parameters with exception of the IMF. This eliminates an important layer of the many uncertain assumptions affecting the predictions of merger detection rates with the gravitational wave detectors aLIGO/aVirgo.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap