Related papers: Speedy sound and cosmic structure
Cosmology is undergoing an explosive period of activity, fueled both by new, accurate astrophysical data and by innovative theoretical developments. Cosmological parameters such as the total density of the Universe and the rate of…
A cosmological model for the early time Universe is proposed. In this model, the Universe is a wandering brane moving in a warped throat of a Calabi-Yau space. A non-zero angular momentum induces a turning point in the brane trajectory, and…
Superfluids support many different types of sound waves. We investigate the relation between the sound waves in a relativistic and a non-relativistic superfluid by using hydrodynamics to calculate the various sound speeds. Then, using a…
The standard big bang cosmology has been greatly successful in explaining many observational aspects of the real universe. However, two particular diffficulties faced by it are the so-called ``horizon'' and ``flatness'' problems. By…
We analyze the implications of having a divergent speed of sound in k-essence cosmological models. We first study a known theory of that kind, for which the Lagrangian density depends linearly on the time derivative of the k-field. We show…
Motivated by scalar-tensor gravities, we consider a theory which contains massless scalar fields with different sound speeds. We derive unitarity relations for partial wave amplitudes of $2 \to 2$ scattering, with explicit formulas for…
We show that scalar field fluctuations alone can drive cosmic acceleration, provided the universe is spatially closed and the Compton wavelength of the field exceeds the radius of curvature. This mechanism may open new perspectives on…
The necessary and sufficient condition for the absence of particle horizons in a big bang Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe is provided. It happens to be a "smooth big bang" initial condition: the proper time derivative of the expansion…
I review the standard paradigm for understanding the formation and evolution of cosmic structure, based on the gravitational instability of dark matter, but many variations on this basic theme are viable. Despite the great progress that has…
An exact inhomogeneous solution of Einstein's field equations is shown to be able to inflate in a non-uniform way in the early universe and explain anomalies in the WMAP power spectrum data. It is also possible for the model to explain the…
Over the last decades, observations with increasing quality have revolutionized our understanding of the general properties of the Universe. Questions posed for millenia by mankind about the origin, evolution and structure of the cosmos…
Several scenarios have been proposed in which primordial perturbations could originate from quantum vacuum fluctuations in a phase corresponding to a collapse phase (in an Einstein frame) preceding the Big Bang. I briefly review three…
Observations have repeatedly confirmed the presence of large-scale peculiar motions in the universe, commonly referred to as ``bulk flows''. These are vast regions of the observable universe, typically spanning scales of several hundred…
Perturbations in a universe with matter and cosmological constant are computed in terms of the primordial scalar perturbation up to second order. The calculation is easy -- a generalization of the spherical dust solution. Our expression…
The implications of a smaller than unity speed of sound of the scalar perturbations during cosmic inflation is studied in terms of a model independent large-$N$ approach. We show that the $(n_s, r)$ plane is non-trivially degenerated when…
In a unified perturbative treatment from the high-density side, we compute the speed of sound and the trace anomaly as functions of the chemical potential $\mu$ for the two-color diquark superfluid, the pion-condensed high-isospin matter,…
Cosmological perturbations of sufficiently long wavelength admit a fluid dynamic description. We consider modes with wavevectors below a scale $k_m$ for which the dynamics is only mildly non-linear. The leading effect of modes above that…
We address the issue of potential superluminal propagation of gravitational waves in backgrounds neighboring the previously suggested bounce [arXiv:1807.08361] in beyond Horndeski theory. We find that the bouncing solution lies right at the…
We examine from first principles one of the basic assumptions of modern quantum theories of structure formation in the early universe, i.e., the conditions upon which fluctuations of a quantum field may transmute into classical stochastic…
The large scale distribution of galaxies in the universe displays a complex pattern of clusters, super-clusters, filaments and voids with sizes limited only by the boundaries of the available samples. A quantitative statistical…