A model for time-dependent cosmological constant and its consistency with the present Friedmann universe

We use a model where the cosmological term can be related to the chiral gauge anomaly of a possible quantum scenario of the initial evolution of the universe. We show that this term is compatible with the Friedmann behavior of the present universe.Comment: 5 pages, Revtex 4, twocolumn (minor corrections and improved reference list. To appear in Classical and Quantum Gravity

Cosmology in GSG

We describe what cosmology looks like in the context of the geometric theory of gravity (GSG) based on a single scalar field. There are two distinct classes of cosmological solutions. An interesting feature is the possibility of having a bounce without invoking exotic equations of state for the cosmic fluid. We also discuss cosmological perturbation and present the basis of structure formation by gravitational instability in the framework of the geometric scalar gravity.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Photosynthetic activity in grafted and ownrooted Erbaluce grapevines trained to four trellis systems

Photosynthetic activity of grafted (Kober 5BB) and ownrooted grapevines (cv. Erbaluce) trained to four trellis systems (alternate curtain, central curtain with one or two canes and pergola) was assessed for three years. The overall photosynthetic response to training, the seasonal and diurnal photosynthetic trends and the response of the training systems to different photosynthetic photon flux densities were evaluated. The training systems had a significant influence on the rate of photosynthetic assimilation: the two central curtains generally had higher rates of CO2 uptake compared to the vines which were trained to pergola and to alternate curtain. With one exception Kober 5BB improved net assimilation rates

The sonic analogue of black hole radiation

A microscopic description of Hawking radiation in sonic black holes has been recently presented (Giovanazzi S 2005 Phys. Rev. Lett. 94 061302). This exactly solvable model is formulated in terms of one-dimensional scattering of a Fermi gas. In this paper, the model is extended to account possible finite size effects of a realistic geometry. The flow of particles is maintained by a piston (i.e. an impenetrable barrier) moving slowly towards the sonic horizon. Using existing technologies the Hawking temperature can be of order of a few microkelvin in a realistic experiment.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physic

Vacuum polarization in the spacetime of charged nonlinear black hole

Building on general formulas obtained from the approximate renormalized effective action, the approximate stress-energy tensor of the quantized massive scalar field with arbitrary curvature coupling in the spacetime of charged black hole being a solution of coupled equations of nonlinear electrodynamics and general relativity is constructed and analysed. It is shown that in a few limiting cases, the analytical expressions relating obtained tensor to the general renormalized stress-energy tensor evaluated in the geometry of the Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole could be derived. A detailed numerical analysis with special emphasis put on the minimal coupling is presented and the results are compared with those obtained earlier for the conformally coupled field. Some novel features of the renormalized stress-energy tensor are discussed

Simple quantum cosmology: Vacuum energy and initial state

A static non-singular 10-dimensional closed Friedmann universe of Planck size, filled with a perfect fluid with an equation of state with w = -2/3, can arise spontaneously by a quantum fluctuation from nothing in 11-dimensional spacetime. A quantum transition from this state can initiate the inflationary quantum cosmology outlined in Ref. 2 [General Relativity and Gravitation 33, 1415, 2001 - gr-qc/0103021]. With no fine-tuning, that cosmology predicts about 60 e-folds of inflation and a vacuum energy density depending only on the number of extra space dimensions (seven), G, h, c and the ratio between the strength of gravity and the strength of the strong force. The fraction of the total energy in the universe represented by this vacuum energy depends on the Hubble constant. Hubble constant estimates from WMAP, SDSS, the Hubble Key Project and Sunyaev-Zeldovich and X-ray flux measurements range from 60 to 72 km/(Mpc sec). With a mid-range Hubble constant of 65 km/(Mpc sec), the model in Ref. 2 predicts Omega-sub-Lambda = 0.7Comment: To be published in General Relativity and Gravitation, Vol. 37, May 2005. 5 pages, no figure

Cosmological Effects of Nonlinear Electrodynamics

It will be shown that a given realization of nonlinear electrodynamics, used as source of Einstein's equations, generates a cosmological model with interesting features, namely a phase of current cosmic acceleration, and the absence of an initial singularity, thus pointing to a way to solve two important problems in cosmology