Related papers: Constraints on large scale inhomogeneities from WM…
Interesting discrepancies in cosmological parameters are challenging the success of the $\Lambda$CDM model. Direct measurements of the Hubble constant $H_0$ using Cepheid variables and supernovae turn out to be higher than inferred from the…
Within the standard paradigm, dark energy is taken as a homogeneous fluid that drives the accelerated expansion of the universe and does not contribute to the mass of collapsed objects such as galaxies and galaxy clusters. The abundance of…
Our local environment at $r<10$ Mpc expands linearly and smoothly, as if ruled by a uniform matter distribution, while observations show the very clumpy local universe. This is a long standing enigma in cosmology. We argue that the recently…
Cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy (spatial inhomogeneity) data provide the tightest constraints on the Hubble constant, matter density, spatial curvature, and dark energy dynamics. Other data, sensitive to the evolution of only…
The observed accelerated expansion of the Universe may be explained by dark energy or the breakdown of general relativity (GR) on cosmological scales. When the latter case, a modified gravity scenario, is considered, it is often assumed…
The current observations are usually explained by an accelerating expansion of the present universe. However, with the present quality of the supernovae Ia data, the allowed parameter space is wide enough to accommodate the decelerating…
The formation of large scale structure is independent of the nature of the cold dark matter (CDM), however the fate of very small scale inhomogeneities depends on the micro-physics of the CDM particles. We investigate the matter power…
Distance measurement provide no constraints on curvature independent of assumptions about the dark energy, raising the question, how flat is our Universe if we make no such assumptions? Allowing for general evolution of the dark energy…
The property of dark energy and the physical reason for acceleration of the present universe are two of the most difficult problems in modern cosmology. The dark energy contributes about two-thirds of the critical density of the present…
Dark energy affects the Hubble expansion rate (namely, the expansion history) $H(z)$ by an integral over $w(z)$. However, the usual observables are the luminosity distances or the angular diameter distances, which measure the…
In order to investigate the origin of the ongoing tension between the amplitude of matter fluctuations measured by weak lensing experiments at low redshifts and the value inferred from the cosmic microwave background anisotropies, we…
Several independent cosmological data, collected within the last twenty years, revealed the accelerated expansion rate of the Universe, usually assumed to be driven by the so called dark energy, which, according to recent estimates,…
The possibility to use $\gamma$--ray data from the Galactic Center (GC) to constrain the cosmological evolution of the Universe in a phase prior to primordial nucleosyntesis, namely around the time of cold dark matter (CDM) decoupling, is…
In accelerating dark energy models, the estimates of H0 from Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) and X-ray surface brightness of galaxy clusters may depend on the matter content (Omega_M), the curvature (Omega_K) and the equation of state…
Taking N-body simulations with volumes and particle densities tuned to match the SDSS DR7 spectroscopic main sample, we assess the ability of current void catalogs (e.g., Sutter et al. 2012b) to distinguish a model of coupled dark…
The redshift dependence of the abundance of galaxy clusters is very sensitive to the statistical properties of primordial density perturbations. It can thus be used to probe small deviations from Gaussian initial conditions. Such deviations…
We investigate a dark energy model driven by a planar domain-wall-like structure with a thickness comparable to, or larger than, the current Hubble radius, focusing on its intrinsic anisotropy and observational viability. Near the centre of…
A mildly inhomogeneous universe with a cosmological constant may look like it contains evolving dark energy. We show that could be the case by modelling the inhomogeneities and their effects in three different ways: as clumped matter…
Amongst the most popular explanations for dark energy are modified theories of gravity. The galaxy overdensity and peculiar velocity fields help us to constrain the growth rate of structure and distinguish different models of gravity. We…
Zehavi et al. (1998) have suggested that the Hubble flow within 70/h Mpc may be accelerated by the existence of a void centered on the Local Group. Its underdensity would be ~20 %, which would result in a local Hubble distortion of about…