1,521 research outputs found
Anisotropic Cosmological Constant and the CMB Quadrupole Anomaly
There are evidences that the cosmic microwave background (CMB) large-angle
anomalies imply a departure from statistical isotropy and hence from the
standard cosmological model. We propose a LCDM model extension whose dark
energy component preserves its nondynamical character but wield anisotropic
vacuum pressure. Exact solutions for the cosmological scale factors are
presented, upper bounds for the deformation parameter are evaluated and its
value is estimated considering the elliptical universe proposal to solve the
quadrupole anomaly. This model can be constructed from a Bianchi I cosmology
with cosmological constant from two different ways: i) a straightforward
anisotropic modification of the vacuum pressure consistently with
energy-momentum conservation; ii) a Poisson structure deformation between
canonical momenta such that the dynamics remain invariant under scale factors
rescalings.Comment: 8 pages, 2 columns, 1 figure. v2: figure improved, added comments on
higher eccentricity powers and references. v3: typos corrected, version to
appear in PR
Chameleon gravity on cosmological scales
In conventional approach to the chameleon mechanism, by assuming a static and
spherically symmetric solutions in which matter density and chameleon field are
given by and , it has been shown that mass of
chameleon field is matter density-dependent. In regions of high matter density
such as earth, chameleon field is massive, in solar system it is low and in
cosmological scales it is very low. In this article we revisit the mechanism in
cosmological scales by assuming a redshift dependence of the matter density and
chameleon field, i.e. , . To support our analysis,
we best fit the model parameters with the observational data. The result shows
that in cosmological scales, the mass of chameleon field increases with the
redshift, i.e. more massive in higher redshifts. We also find that in both
cases of power-law and exponential potential function, the current universe
acceleration can be explained by the low mass chameleon field. In comparison
with the high redshift observational data, we also find that the model with
power-law potential function is in better agreement with the observational
data.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figure
Evolution of perturbations in distinct classes of canonical scalar field models of dark energy
Dark energy must cluster in order to be consistent with the equivalence
principle. The background evolution can be effectively modelled by either a
scalar field or by a barotropic fluid.The fluid model can be used to emulate
perturbations in a scalar field model of dark energy, though this model breaks
down at large scales. In this paper we study evolution of dark energy
perturbations in canonical scalar field models: the classes of thawing and
freezing models.The dark energy equation of state evolves differently in these
classes.In freezing models, the equation of state deviates from that of a
cosmological constant at early times.For thawing models, the dark energy
equation of state remains near that of the cosmological constant at early times
and begins to deviate from it only at late times.Since the dark energy equation
of state evolves differently in these classes,the dark energy perturbations too
evolve differently. In freezing models, since the equation of state deviates
from that of a cosmological constant at early times, there is a significant
difference in evolution of matter perturbations from those in the cosmological
constant model.In comparison, matter perturbations in thawing models differ
from the cosmological constant only at late times. This difference provides an
additional handle to distinguish between these classes of models and this
difference should manifest itself in the ISW effect.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Determination of Wave Function Functionals: The Constrained-Search--Variational Method
In a recent paper [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{93}, 130401 (2004)], we proposed
the idea of expanding the space of variations in variational calculations of
the energy by considering the approximate wave function to be a
functional of functions rather than a function. The
space of variations is expanded because a search over the functions can
in principle lead to the true wave function. As the space of such variations is
large, we proposed the constrained-search-- variational method whereby a
constrained search is first performed over all functions such that the
wave function functional satisfies a physical constraint such as
normalization or the Fermi-Coulomb hole sum rule, or leads to the known value
of an observable such as the diamagnetic susceptibility, nuclear magnetic
constant or Fermi contact term. A rigorous upper bound to the energy is then
obtained by application of the variational principle. A key attribute of the
method is that the wave function functional is accurate throughout space, in
contrast to the standard variational method for which the wave function is
accurate only in those regions of space contributing principally to the energy.
In this paper we generalize the equations of the method to the determination of
arbitrary Hermitian single-particle operators as applied to two-electron atomic
and ionic systems. The description is general and applicable to both ground and
excited states. A discussion on excited states in conjunction with the theorem
of Theophilou is provided.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures, 5 table
Quantum effects, soft singularities and the fate of the universe in a braneworld cosmology
We examine a class of braneworld models in which the expanding universe
encounters a "quiescent" future singularity. At a quiescent singularity, the
energy density and pressure of the cosmic fluid as well as the Hubble parameter
remain finite while all derivatives of the Hubble parameter diverge (i.e.,
, , etc. ). Since the Kretschmann invariant
diverges () at the singularity, one expects
quantum effects to play an important role as the quiescent singularity is
approached. We explore the effects of vacuum polarization due to massless
conformally coupled fields near the singularity and show that these can either
cause the universe to recollapse or, else, lead to a softer singularity at
which , , and remain finite while {\dddot H} and
higher derivatives of the Hubble parameter diverge. An important aspect of the
quiescent singularity is that it is encountered in regions of low density,
which has obvious implications for a universe consisting of a cosmic web of
high and low density regions -- superclusters and voids. In addition to vacuum
polarization, the effects of quantum particle production of non-conformal
fields are also likely to be important. A preliminary examination shows that
intense particle production can lead to an accelerating universe whose Hubble
parameter shows oscillations about a constant value.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, text slightly improved and references added.
Accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit
Quintessence and phantom cosmology with non-minimal derivative coupling
We investigate cosmological scenarios with a non-minimal derivative coupling
between the scalar field and the curvature, examining both the quintessence and
the phantom cases in zero and constant potentials. In general, we find that the
universe transits from one de Sitter solution to another, determined by the
coupling parameter. Furthermore, according to the parameter choices and without
the need for matter, we can obtain a Big Bang, an expanding universe with no
beginning, a cosmological turnaround, an eternally contracting universe, a Big
Crunch, a Big Rip avoidance and a cosmological bounce. This variety of
behaviors reveals the capabilities of the present scenario.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Cosmic Mimicry: Is LCDM a Braneworld in Disguise ?
For a broad range of parameter values, braneworld models display a remarkable
property which we call cosmic mimicry. Cosmic mimicry is characterized by the
fact that, at low redshifts, the Hubble parameter in the braneworld model is
virtually indistinguishable from that in the LCDM cosmology. An important point
to note is that the \Omega_m parameters in the braneworld model and in the LCDM
cosmology can nevertheless be quite different. Thus, at high redshifts (early
times), the braneworld asymptotically expands like a matter-dominated universe
with the value of \Omega_m inferred from the observations of the local matter
density. At low redshifts (late times), the braneworld model behaves almost
exactly like the LCDM model but with a renormalized value of the cosmological
density parameter \Omega_m^{LCDM}. The redshift which characterizes cosmic
mimicry is related to the parameters in the higher-dimensional braneworld
Lagrangian. Cosmic mimicry is a natural consequence of the scale-dependence of
gravity in braneworld models. The change in the value of the cosmological
density parameter is shown to be related to the spatial dependence of the
effective gravitational constant in braneworld theory. A subclass of mimicry
models lead to an older age of the universe and also predict a redshift of
reionization which is lower than z_{reion} \simeq 17 in the LCDM cosmology.
These models might therefore provide a background cosmology which is in better
agreement both with the observed quasar abundance at z \gsim 4 and with the
large optical depth to reionization measured by the Wilkinson Microwave
Anisotropy Probe.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures. A subsection and references added; main results
remain unchanged. Accepted for publication in JCA
Avoidance of future singularities in loop quantum cosmology
We consider the fate of future singularities in the effective dynamics of
loop quantum cosmology. Non-perturbative quantum geometric effects which lead
to modification of the Friedmann equation at high energies result in
generic resolution of singularities whenever energy density diverges at
future singularities of Friedmann dynamics. Such quantum effects lead to the
avoidance of a Big Rip, which is followed by a recollapsing universe stable
against perturbations. Resolution of sudden singularity, the case when pressure
diverges but energy density approaches a finite value depends on the ratio of
the latter to a critical energy density of the order of Planck. If the value of
this ratio is greater than unity, the universe escapes the sudden future
singularity and becomes oscillatory.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
Cosmological scalar fields that mimic the cosmological model
We look for cosmologies with a scalar field (dark energy without cosmological
constant), which mimic the standard cosmological model yielding
exactly the same large-scale geometry described by the evolution of the Hubble
parameter (i.e. photometric distance and angular diameter distance as functions
on ). Asymptotic behavior of the field solutions is studied in the case of
spatially flat Universe with pressureless matter and separable scalar field
Lagrangians (power-law kinetic term + power-law potential). Exact analytic
solutions are found in some special cases. A number of models have the field
solutions with infinite behavior in the past or even singular behavior at
finite redshifts. We point out that introduction of the cosmological scalar
field involves some degeneracy leading to lower precision in determination of
. To remove this degeneracy additional information is needed beyond
the data on large-scale geometry.Comment: VIII International Conference "Relativistic Astrophysics, Gravitation
and Cosmology": May 21-23, 2008, Kyiv, Ukrain
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