Dark Energy and the Return of the Phoenix Universe

In cyclic universe models based on a single scalar field (e.g., the radion determining the distance between branes in M-theory), virtually the entire universe makes it through the ekpyrotic smoothing and flattening phase, bounces, and enters a new epoch of expansion and cooling. This stable evolution cannot occur, however, if scale-invariant curvature perturbations are produced by the entropic mechanism because it requires two scalar fields (e.g., the radion and the Calabi-Yau dilaton) evolving along an unstable classical trajectory. In fact, we show here that an overwhelming fraction of the universe fails to make it through the ekpyrotic phase; nevertheless, a sufficient volume survives and cycling continues forever provided the dark energy phase of the cycle lasts long enough, of order a trillion years. Two consequences are a new role for dark energy and a global structure of the universe radically different from that of eternal inflation.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

A New Redshift Interpretation

A nonhomogeneous universe with vacuum energy, but without spacetime expansion, is utilized together with gravitational and Doppler redshifts as the basis for proposing a new interpretation of the Hubble relation and the 2.7K Cosmic Blackbody Radiation.Comment: 9 pages LaTeX, no figure

Conditions for low-redshift positive apparent acceleration in smooth inhomogeneous models

It is known that a smooth LTB model cannot have a positive apparent central acceleration. Using a local Taylor expansion method we study the low-redshift conditions to obtain an apparent negative deceleration parameter $q^{app}(z)$ derived from the luminosity distance $D_L(z)$ for a central observer in a LTB space, confirming that central smoothness implies a positive central deceleration. Since observational data is only available at redshift greater than zero we find the critical values of the parameters defining a centrally smooth LTB model which give a positive apparent acceleration at $z>0$, providing a graphical representation of the conditions in the $q_0^{app},q_1^{app}$ plane, which are respectively the zero and first order terms of the central Taylor expansion of $q^{app}(z)$. We finally derive a coordinate independent expression for the apparent deceleration parameter based on the expansion of the relevant functions in red-shift rather than in the radial coordinate. We calculate $q^{app}(z)$ with two different methods to solve the null geodesic equations, one based on a local central expansion of the solution in terms of cosmic time and the other one using the exact analytical solution in terms of generalized conformal time. %The expansion of the solution in terms of cosmic time is quite useful also for other applications requiring foliation %of space-time in space-like hyper-surfaces, such as spatial averaging, which is much more difficult to study using the %analytical solution in terms of the generalized conformal time coordinate.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures, abstract, added section with coordinate independent conditions, version accepted for publication in GR

The spherical symmetry Black hole collapse in expanding universe

The spherical symmetry Black holes are considered in expanding background. The singularity line and the marginally trapped tube surface behavior are discussed. In particular, we address the conditions whether dynamical horizon forms for these cosmological black holes. We also discuss about the cosmological constant effect on these black hole and the redshift of the light which comes from the marginally trapped tube surface.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in International Journal of Modern Physics D (IJMPD). arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:gr-qc/0308033 and arXiv:gr-qc/030611

Statistical mechanics of damage phenomena

This paper applies the formalism of classical, Gibbs-Boltzmann statistical mechanics to the phenomenon of non-thermal damage. As an example, a non-thermal fiber-bundle model with the global uniform (meanfield) load sharing is considered. Stochastic topological behavior in the system is described in terms of an effective temperature parameter thermalizing the system. An equation of state and a topological analog of the energy-balance equation are obtained. The formalism of the free energy potential is developed, and the nature of the first order phase transition and spinodal is demonstrated.Comment: Critical point appeared to be a spinodal poin

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis Constraints on the Self-Gravity of Pressure

Using big bang nucleosynthesis and present, high-precision measurements of light element abundances, we constrain the self-gravity of radiation pressure in the early universe. The self-gravity of pressure is strictly non-Newtonian, and thus the constraints we set provide a direct test of this prediction of general relativity and of the standard, Robertson-Walker-Friedmann cosmology.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. This paper was developed from an earlier version which was posted as arXiv:0707.358

Evidence for a spatial bias in the perception of sequences of brief tones

Listeners are unable to report the physical order of particular sequences of brief tones. This phenomenon of temporal dislocation depends on tone durations and frequencies. The current study empirically shows that it also depends on the spatial location of the tones. Dichotically testing a three-tone sequence showed that the central tone tends to be reported as the first or the last element when it is perceived as part of a left-to-right motion. Since the central-tone dislocation does not occur for right-to-left sequences of the same tones, this indicates that there is a spatial bias in the perception of sequences. \ua9 2013 Acoustical Society of America