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The current of status of big bang nucleosynthesis is reviewed and the concordance between theory and observation is examined in detail. It is argued that when using the observational data on he4 and li7, the two isotopes whose abundances…
Quantum electrodynamics predicts that photons undergo one-loop scattering. The combined effect of this on the behaviour of a photon gas for temperatures above 10^{10} K results in a softening of the equation of state. We calculate the…
When a single photon traverses a cloud of 2-level atoms, the average time it spends as an atomic excitation -- as measured by weakly probing the atoms -- can be shown to be the spontaneous lifetime of the atoms multiplied by the probability…
A model of Lorentz invariant random fluctuations in photon polarization is presented. The effects are frequency dependent and affect the polarization of photons as they propagate through space. We test for this effect by confronting the…
A localized charged particle oscillating near a reflecting boundary is considered as a model for non-cancellation of vacuum fluctuations. Although the mean velocity of the particle is sinusoidal, the velocity variance produced by vacuum…
The observation of an evaporating black hole would provide definitive information on the elementary particles present in nature. In particular, it could discover or exclude particles beyond those present in the standard model of particle…
Starting from the requirement of distinguishability of two atoms by their positions, it is shown that photon recoil has a strong influence on finite-time disentanglement and in some cases prevents its appearance. At near-field inter atomic…
We address the emerging discrepancy between the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis data and standard cosmology, which asks for a bit longer evolution time. If this effect is real, one possible implication (in a framework of brane cosmology model) is…
We posit a second massless photon, uncoupled to known forms of matter but undergoing Lorentz non-invariant velocity mixing with ordinary photons. Our speculation within a speculation suffers from the sin of implausibility but enjoys the…
We study the time variation of fundamental constants in the early Universe. Using data from primordial light nuclei abundances, CMB and the 2dFGRS power spectrum, we put constraints on the time variation of the fine structure constant…
We investigate the twisted state of an atom and the possible effect of such a state on the properties of the photons emitted as a result of an electron transition in that atom. We first propose a framework for describing the twisted atomic…
The great emptiness is a possible beginning of the Universe in the infinite past of physical time. For the epoch of great emptiness particles are extremely rare and effectively massless. Only expectation values of fields and average…
Quantum fluctuations in spacetime can, in some cases, lead to distortion in astronomical images of faraway objects. In particular, a stochastic model of quantum gravity predicts an accumulated fluctuation in the path length $\Delta L$ with…
We discuss the expected spectral properties of starbursts of zero and very low metallicity covering their restframe EUV and UV to optical spectra. The main criteria to establish such a "primeval" nature are summarised. Finally we compare…
A recent understanding on how quantum effects may affect black-hole evolution opens new scenarios for dark matter, in connection with the presence of black holes in the very early universe. Quantum fluctuations of the geometry allow for…
Results of analytic and numerical investigations of first-passage properties of equilibrium fluctuations of monatomic steps on a vicinal surface are reviewed. Both temporal and spatial persistence and survival probabilities, as well as the…
We present a simple method for determining the (correlated) uncertainties of the light element abundances expected from big bang nucleosynthesis, which avoids the need for lengthy Monte Carlo simulations. Our approach helps to clarify the…
The author's work over the past years has indicated that the photon has a small mass $\sim 10^{-33}eV$. Recent observations from three different viewpoints -- the time lag in cosmic gamma rays with different frequencies, the observation of…
The average time delay of photons due to multiple interactions with gravitons of the background is computed in a frame of the model of low-energy quantum gravity by the author. The two variants of evaluation of the lifetime of a virtual…
Quantum fluctuations of the vacuum are both a surprising and fundamental phenomenon of nature. Understood as virtual photons flitting in and out of existence, they still have a very real impact, \emph{e.g.}, in the Casimir effects and the…