6 research outputs found
Radiation-dominated area metric cosmology
We provide further crucial support for a refined, area metric structure of
spacetime. Based on the solution of conceptual issues, such as the consistent
coupling of fermions and the covariant identification of radiation fields on
area metric backgrounds, we show that the radiation-dominated epoch of area
metric cosmology is equivalent to that epoch in standard Einstein cosmology.
This ensures, in particular, successful nucleosynthesis. This surprising result
complements the previously derived prediction of a small late-time acceleration
of an area metric universe.Comment: 23 pages, no figures; references adde
Massive motion in Brans-Dicke geometry and beyond
Gravity theories that can be viewed as dynamics for area metric manifolds,
for which Brans-Dicke theory presents a recently studied example, require for
their physical interpretation the identification of the distinguished curves
that serve as the trajectories of light and massive matter. Complementing
previous results on the propagation of light, we study effective massive point
particle motion. We show that the relevant geometrical structure is a special
Finsler norm determined by the area metric, and that massive point particles
follow Finsler geodesics.Comment: 12 page
Propagation of light in area metric backgrounds
The propagation of light in area metric spacetimes, which naturally emerge as
refined backgrounds in quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, is studied
from first principles. In the geometric-optical limit, light rays are found to
follow geodesics in a Finslerian geometry, with the Finsler norm being
determined by the area metric tensor. Based on this result, and an
understanding of the non-linear relation between ray vectors and wave covectors
in such refined backgrounds, we study light deflection in spherically symmetric
situations, and obtain experimental bounds on the non-metricity of spacetime in
the solar system.Comment: 18pp, no figures, Journal versio
Area metric gravity and accelerating cosmology
Area metric manifolds emerge as effective classical backgrounds in quantum
string theory and quantum gauge theory, and present a true generalization of
metric geometry. Here, we consider area metric manifolds in their own right,
and develop in detail the foundations of area metric differential geometry.
Based on the construction of an area metric curvature scalar, which reduces in
the metric-induced case to the Ricci scalar, we re-interpret the
Einstein-Hilbert action as dynamics for an area metric spacetime. In contrast
to modifications of general relativity based on metric geometry, no continuous
deformation scale needs to be introduced; the extension to area geometry is
purely structural and thus rigid. We present an intriguing prediction of area
metric gravity: without dark energy or fine-tuning, the late universe exhibits
a small acceleration.Comment: 52 pages, 1 figure, companion paper to hep-th/061213
The accelerating universe and a limiting curvature proposal
We consider the hypothesis of a limiting minimal curvature in gravity as a
way to construct a class of theories exhibiting late-time cosmic acceleration.
Guided by the minimal curvature conjecture (MCC) we are naturally lead to a set
of scalar tensor theories in which the scalar is non-minimally coupled both to
gravity and to the matter Lagrangian. The model is compared to the Lambda Cold
Dark Matter concordance model and to the observational data using the gold
SNeIa sample of Riess et. al. (2004). An excellent fit to the data is achieved.
We present a toy model designed to demonstrate that such a new, possibly
fundamental, principle may be responsible for the recent period of cosmological
acceleration. Observational constraints remain to be imposed on these models.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures; revised version to appear in JCAP; references
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