Related papers: The cosmic variance of Omega
We extend the usual gravitational action principle by promoting the bare cosmological constant (CC) from a parameter to a field which can take many possible values. Variation leads to a new integral constraint equation which determines the…
A precise measurement of the curvature of the Universe is of primeval importance for cosmology since it could not only confirm the paradigm of primordial inflation but also help in discriminating between different early Universe scenarios.…
Determining the spatial curvature $\Omega_K$ of the Universe has long been crucial in cosmology. In practice, this effort is often entangled with assumptions of dark energy. A combination of distance ($D_{\rm M}$, $D_{\rm L}$) and expansion…
We present measurements of the cosmic shear correlation in the shapes of galaxies in the Suprime-Cam 2.1 deg^2 R_c-band imaging data. As an estimator of the shear correlation originated from the gravitational lensing, we adopt the aperture…
There is growing interest in using 3-dimensional neutral hydrogen mapping with the redshifted 21 cm line as a cosmological probe, as it has been argued to have a greater long-term potential than the cosmic microwave background. However, its…
Rapid progress has been made recently toward the measurement of cosmological parameters. Still, there are areas remaining where future progress will be relatively slow and difficult, and where further attention is needed. In this review,…
Current observational bounds on dark energy depend on assumptions about the curvature of the universe. We present a simple and efficient method for incorporating constraints from CMB anisotropy data, and use it to derive constraints on…
Cosmology relies on the Cosmological Principle, i.e., the hypothesis that the Universe is homogeneous and isotropic on large scales. This implies in particular that the counts of galaxies should approach a homogeneous scaling with volume at…
We consider the properties of an ensemble of universes as function of size, where size is defined in terms of the asymptotic value of the Hubble constant (or, equivalently, the value of the cosmological constant). We assume that standard…
We show that a regression of unsmoothed peculiar velocity measurements against peculiar velocities predicted from a smoothed galaxy density field leads to a biased estimate of the cosmological density parameter Omega, even when galaxies…
A comparison of the standard models in particle physics and in cosmology demonstrates that they are not compatible, though both are well established. Basics of modern cosmology are briefly reviewed. It is argued that the measurements of the…
Observational constraints guide one forcefully to examine models in which the matter density is substantially less than critical density. Particularly noteworthy are those which are consistent with inflation. For these models, microwave…
We compare and combine likelihood functions of the cosmological parameters Omega_m, h and sigma_8, from peculiar velocities, CMB and type Ia supernovae. These three data sets directly probe the mass in the Universe, without the need to…
The Universe could be spatially flat, positively curved or negatively curved. Each option has been popular at various times, partly affected by an understanding that models tend to evolve away from flatness. The curvature of the Universe is…
We apply the technique of parameter-splitting to existing cosmological data sets, to check for a generic failure of dark energy models. Given a dark energy parameter, such as the energy density Omega_Lambda or equation of state w, we split…
The different spatial curvatures of the universe affect the measurement of cosmological distances, which may also contribute to explaining the observed dimming of type Ia supernovae. This phenomenon may be caused by the opacity of the…
Cosmological implications of the observed large-scale peculiar velocities are reviewed, alone or combined with redshift surveys and CMB data. The latest version of the POTENT method for reconstructing the underlying three-dimensional…
A sample of 11 thousand galaxies with radial velocities V_ LG < 3500 km/s is used to study the features of the local distribution of luminous (stellar) and dark matter within a sphere of radius of around 50 Mpc around us. The average…
The question of determining the spatial geometry of the Universe is of greater relevance than ever, as precision cosmology promises to verify inflationary predictions about the curvature of the Universe. We revisit the question of what can…
By comparing the results of numerical microlensing simulations to the observed long-term variability of quasars, strong upper limits on the cosmological density of compact objects in the mass range 0.01 to 0.0001 solar masses may be…