Related papers: A litmus test for Lambda
Soft cosmology is an extension of standard cosmology allowing for a scale-dependent equation-of-state (EoS) parameter in the dark sectors, which is one of the properties of soft materials in condensed-matter physics, that may arise either…
Recently, the observed equation of state for dark energy appears to favor values below $-1$. The tendency implies that the nature of dark energy may be quite different from that of the cosmological constant. In view of the adjustment on the…
Astrophysical tests of the stability of fundamental couplings, such as the fine-structure constant $\alpha$, are a powerful probe of new physics. Recently these measurements, combined with local atomic clock tests and Type Ia supernova and…
I try to revive, and possibly reconcile, a debate started a few years ago, about the relative roles of a bare cosmological constant and of a vacuum energy, by taking the attitude to try to get the most from the physics now available as…
As an alternative to dark energy it has been suggested that we may be at the center of an inhomogeneous isotropic universe described by a Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) solution of Einstein's field equations. In order to test such an…
The red-shift space distortions in the galaxy power spectrum can be used to measure the growth rate of matter density perturbations delta_m. For dynamical dark energy models in General Relativity we provide a convenient analytic formula of…
We use the Om statistic and the Genetic Algorithms (GA) in order to derive a null test on the spatially flat cosmological constant model $\Lambda$CDM. This is done in two steps: first, we apply the GA to the Constitution SNIa data in order…
In this year, in which we celebrate 100 years of the cosmological term, $\Lambda$, in Einstein's gravitational field equations, we are still facing the crucial question whether $\Lambda$ is truly a fundamental constant or a mildly evolving…
In this paper, we combine the latest observational data, including the WMAP five-year data (WMAP5), BOOMERanG, CBI, VSA, ACBAR, as well as the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) and Type Ia Supernoave (SN) "Union" compilation (307 sample)…
Recent cosmological observations suggest the existence of a positive cosmological constant $\Lambda$ with the magnitude $\Lambda(G\hbar/c^3) \approx 10^{-123}$. This review discusses several aspects of the cosmological constant both from…
In this work, we carry out a comprehensive perturbative analysis of four cosmological models featuring a sign-switching cosmological constant. Among these, we include the well-known $\Lambda_{\rm s}$CDM model, characterised by an abrupt…
Major observational efforts in the coming decade are designed to probe the equation of state of dark energy. Measuring a deviation of the equation-of-state parameter w from -1 would indicate a dark energy that cannot be represented solely…
In this exploratory study, we investigate the bounds on the equation of state of dark matter. Modeling dark matter as a fluid component, we take into account both positive and negative fixed equations of state. Using CMB, supernovae Ia and…
Several kinds of astronomical observations, interpreted in the framework of the standard Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology, have indicated that our universe is dominated by a Cosmological Constant. The dimming of distant Type Ia…
With the high-precision data from current and upcoming experiments, it becomes increasingly important to perform consistency tests of the standard cosmological model. In this work, we focus on consistency measures between different data…
We demonstrate that cosmic microwave background observations consistent with a cosmological constant universe predict in a well-defined sense that lower redshift measures will nearly automatically deliver w=-1 for the dark energy equation…
We have investigated a cosmological model with variable speed of light (c), gravitational constant (G) and cosmological constant (Lambda). The model is shown to solve the horizon, flatness and monopole problems of the early universe. We…
Numerous upcoming observations, such as WFIRST, BOSS, BigBOSS, LSST, Euclid, and Planck, will constrain dark energy (DE)'s equation of state with great precision. They may well find the ratio of pressure to energy density, $w$, is -1,…
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.…
The two most popular candidates for dark energy, i.e. a cosmological constant and quintessence, are very difficult to distinguish observationally, mostly because the quintessence field does not have sizable fluctuations. We study a scalar…