Related papers: Inhomogeneities in the Universe and the Fitting Pr…
It is often stated that homogeneity and isotropy of the Universe are assumptions of the almost Friedmann-Lema^itre (FL) model (the hot big bang model), inspired from the Copernican Principle. However, only local homogeneity and isotropy are…
Inflationary cosmology attempts to provide a natural explanation for the flatness and homogeneity of the observable universe. In the context of reversible (unitary) evolution, this goal is difficult to satisfy, as Liouville's theorem…
This paper analyses cosmological observations within inhomogeneous and exact solutions of the Einstein equations. In some way the analyses presented here can be freed from assumptions such as small amplitude of the density contrast. The…
Extending the approach developed by Ara\'ujo and Stoeger [1] and improved in Ara\'ujo {\it et al} [2], we have shown how to construct dust-filled $\Lambda \neq 0$ Friedmann-Lema\^{\i}tre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) cosmological models from FLRW…
We analyze two different algorithms for constructing weakly inhomogeneous models for the low-redshift Universe, in order to provide a tool for testing the geodesic dynamics, within the sphere of validity for the Universe acceleration. We…
In the macroscopic gravity approach to the averaging problem in cosmology, the Einstein field equations on cosmological scales are modified by appropriate gravitational correlation terms. We study the averaging problem within the class of…
Astronomical observations reveal hierarchical structures in the Universe, from galaxies, groups of galaxies, clusters and superclusters, to filaments and voids. On the largest scales it seems that some kind of statistical homogeneity can be…
Most cosmological models studied today are based on the assumption of homogeneity and isotropy. Observationally one can find evidence that supports these assumptions on very large scales, the strongest being the almost isotropy of the…
Averaging in general relativity is a complicated operation, due to the general covariance of the theory and the non-linearity of Einstein's equations. The latter of these ensures that smoothing spacetime over cosmological scales does not…
We study the large-scale inhomogeneity of the Universe based on the averaging procedure of Buchert and Ehlers. The generalized Dyer-Roeder equation for the angular diameter distance of the inhomogeneous Universe is derived and solved for…
We study a fundamental issue in cosmology: Whether we can rely on a cosmological model to understand the real history of the Universe. This fundamental, still unresolved issue is often called the ``model-fitting problem (or averaging…
One of the outstanding problems in general relativistic cosmology is that of the averaging. That is, how the lumpy universe that we observe at small scales averages out to a smooth Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) model. The root…
We present a new model universe based on the junction of FRW to flat Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) solutions of Einstein equations along our past light cone, bringing structures within the FRW models. The model is assumed globally to be…
We present a regular cubic lattice solution to Einstein field equations that is exact at second order in a small parameter. We show that this solution is kinematically equivalent to the Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) solution…
We review observational tests for the homogeneity of the Universe on large scales. Redshift and peculiar velocity surveys, radio sources, the X-Ray Background, the Lyman-alpha forest and the Cosmic Microwave Background are used to set…
The Universe's assumed homogeneity and isotropy is known as the cosmological principle. It is one of the assumptions that lead to the Friedmann-Lema\^{\i}tre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) metric and it is a cornerstone of modern cosmology,…
The current cosmological model ($\Lambda$CDM) with the underlying FLRW metric relies on the assumption of local isotropy, hence homogeneity of the Universe. Difficulties arise when one attempts to justify this model as an average…
The Universe is inhomogeneous, and yet it seems to be incredibly well-characterised by a homogeneous relativistic model. One of the current challenges is to accurately characterise the properties of such a model. In this paper we explore…
We point out that, due to the nonlinearity of the Einstein equations, a homogeneous approximation in cosmology leads to the appearance of an additional term in the Friedmann equation. This new term is associated with the spatial…
On small scales the observable Universe is highly inhomogeneous, with galaxies and clusters forming a complex web of voids and filaments. The optical properties of such configurations can be quite different from the perfectly smooth…