25 research outputs found
A small universe after all?
The cosmic microwave background radiation allows us to measure both the
geometry and topology of the universe. It has been argued that the COBE-DMR
data already rule out models that are multiply connected on scales smaller than
the particle horizon. Here we show the opposite is true: compact (small)
hyperbolic universes are favoured over their infinite counterparts. For a
density parameter of Omega_o=0.3, the compact models are a better fit to
COBE-DMR (relative likelihood ~20) and the large-scale structure data (sigma_8
increases by ~25%).Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 7 Figure
The spectral action and cosmic topology
The spectral action functional, considered as a model of gravity coupled to
matter, provides, in its non-perturbative form, a slow-roll potential for
inflation, whose form and corresponding slow-roll parameters can be sensitive
to the underlying cosmic topology. We explicitly compute the non-perturbative
spectral action for some of the main candidates for cosmic topologies, namely
the quaternionic space, the Poincare' dodecahedral space, and the flat tori. We
compute the corresponding slow-roll parameters and see we check that the
resulting inflation model behaves in the same way as for a simply-connected
spherical topology in the case of the quaternionic space and the Poincare'
homology sphere, while it behaves differently in the case of the flat tori. We
add an appendix with a discussion of the case of lens spaces.Comment: 55 pages, LaTe
Interacting Ghost Dark Energy in Non-Flat Universe
A new dark energy model called "ghost dark energy" was recently suggested to
explain the observed accelerating expansion of the universe. This model
originates from the Veneziano ghost of QCD. The dark energy density is
proportional to Hubble parameter, , where is a
constant of order and is
QCD mass scale. In this paper, we extend the ghost dark energy model to the
universe with spatial curvature in the presence of interaction between dark
matter and dark energy. We study cosmological implications of this model in
detail. In the absence of interaction the equation of state parameter of ghost
dark energy is always and mimics a cosmological constant in the
late time, while it is possible to have provided the interaction is
taken into account. When , all previous results of ghost dark energy in
flat universe are recovered. To check the observational consistency, we use
Supernova type Ia (SNIa) Gold sample, shift parameter of Cosmic Microwave
Background radiation (CMB) and the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation peak from
Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The best fit values of free parameter at
confidence interval are: ,
and . Consequently
the total energy density of universe at present time in this model at 68% level
equates to .Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures. V2: Added comments, observational consequences,
references, figures and major corrections. Accepted for publication in
General Relativity and Gravitatio
De Sitter and Schwarzschild-De Sitter According to Schwarzschild and De Sitter
When de Sitter first introduced his celebrated spacetime, he claimed,
following Schwarzschild, that its spatial sections have the topology of the
real projective space RP^3 (that is, the topology of the group manifold SO(3))
rather than, as is almost universally assumed today, that of the sphere S^3.
(In modern language, Schwarzschild was disturbed by the non-local correlations
enforced by S^3 geometry.) Thus, what we today call "de Sitter space" would not
have been accepted as such by de Sitter. There is no real basis within
classical cosmology for preferring S^3 to RP^3, but the general feeling appears
to be that the distinction is in any case of little importance. We wish to
argue that, in the light of current concerns about the nature of de Sitter
space, this is a mistake. In particular, we argue that the difference between
"dS(S^3)" and "dS(RP^3)" may be very important in attacking the problem of
understanding horizon entropies. In the approach to de Sitter entropy via
Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime, we find that the apparently trivial
difference between RP^3 and S^3 actually leads to very different perspectives
on this major question of quantum cosmology.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, typos fixed, references added, equation numbers
finally fixed, JHEP versio
Holographic dark energy in a non-flat universe with Granda-Oliveros cut-off
Motivated by Granda and Oliveros (GO) model, we generalize their work to the
non-flat case. We obtain the evolution of the dark energy density, the
deceleration and the equation of state parameters for the holographic dark
energy model in a non-flat universe with GO cut-off. In the limiting case of a
flat universe, i.e. , all results given in GO model are obtained.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
The significance of the largest scale CMB fluctuations in WMAP
We investigate anomalies reported in the Cosmic Microwave Background maps
from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite on very large
angular scales and discuss possible interpretations. Three independent
anomalies involve the quadrupole and octopole:
1. The cosmic quadrupole on its own is anomalous at the 1-in-20 level by
being low (the cut-sky quadrupole measured by the WMAP team is more strikingly
low, apparently due to a coincidence in the orientation of our Galaxy of no
cosmological significance);
2. The cosmic octopole on its own is anomalous at the 1-in-20 level by being
very planar;
3. The alignment between the quadrupole and octopole is anomalous at the
1-in-60 level.
Although the a priori chance of all three occurring is 1 in 24000, the
multitude of alternative anomalies one could have looked for dilutes the
significance of such a posteriori statistics. The simplest small universe model
where the universe has toroidal topology with one small dimension of order half
the horizon scale, in the direction towards Virgo, could explain the three
items above. However, we rule this model out using two topological tests: the
S-statistic and the matched circle test.Comment: N.B. that our results do not rule out the recently proposed
dodecahedron model of Luminet, Weeks, Riazuelo, Lehoucq & Uzan, which has a
36 degree twist between matched circles. 12 pages, 5 figs; more info at
http://www.hep.upenn.edu/~angelica/topology.htm
Gravitational Lensing by Black Holes
We review the theoretical aspects of gravitational lensing by black holes,
and discuss the perspectives for realistic observations. We will first treat
lensing by spherically symmetric black holes, in which the formation of
infinite sequences of higher order images emerges in the clearest way. We will
then consider the effects of the spin of the black hole, with the formation of
giant higher order caustics and multiple images. Finally, we will consider the
perspectives for observations of black hole lensing, from the detection of
secondary images of stellar sources and spots on the accretion disk to the
interpretation of iron K-lines and direct imaging of the shadow of the black
hole.Comment: Invited article for the GRG special issue on lensing (P. Jetzer, Y.
Mellier and V. Perlick Eds.). 31 pages, 12 figure
An item response theory analysis of the ability emotional intelligence test (MSCEIT).
Despite the ability approach has been indicated as the most promising for investigating emotional intelligence (EI), there is scarcity of tests measuring EI as a form of intelligence. Research has employed practically the only standardized test available, which is the Mayer Salovey Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test or MSCEIT. This implies that conclusions about the value of EI as a meaningful construct and about its utility in predicting outcomes rely on the properties of this test. We employed an Item Response Theory approach to test whether individuals who have the highest probability of choosing the most correct response on any item of the test are also those who have the strongest EI ability. Results showed that the MSCEIT is best suited to discriminate between persons at the low end of the trait. Furthermore, for certain items the answer indicated by expert as the most correct was not associated with the highest ability. Results are discussed in light of applied and theoretical considerations