Related papers: Constraints on dark energy and cosmic topology
Despite our present-day inability to predict the topology of the universe it is expected that we should be able to detect it in the near future. A nontrivial detectable topology of the space section of the universe can be probed for all…
The immediate observational consequence of a non-trivial spatial topology of the Universe is that an observer could potentially detect multiple images of radiating sources. In particular, a non-trivial topology will generate pairs of…
A nontrivial topology of the spatial section of the universe is an observable, which can be probed for all locally homogeneous and isotropic universes, without any assumption on the cosmological density parameters. We discuss how one can…
Geometry constrains but does not dictate the topology of the 3--dimensional space. In a locally spatially homogeneous and isotropic universe, however, the topology of its spatial section dictates its geometry. We show that, besides…
Given the wealth of increasingly accurate cosmological observations, especially the recent results from the WMAP, and the development of methods and strategies in the search for cosmic topology, it is reasonable to expect that we should be…
While the topology of the Universe is at present not specified by any known fundamental theory, it may in principle be determined through observations. In particular, a non-trivial topology will generate pairs of matching circles of…
In a Universe with a detectable nontrivial spatial topology the last scattering surface contains pairs of matching circles with the same distribution of temperature fluctuations --- the so-called circles-in-the-sky. Searches undertaken for…
It is shown here how prior estimates on the local shape of the universe can be used to reduce, to a small region, the full parameter space for the search of circles in the sky. This is the first step towards the development of efficient…
[Abridged] In a Universe with a detectable nontrivial spatial topology the last scattering surface contains pairs of matching circles with the same distribution of temperature fluctuations - the so-called circles-in-the-sky. Searches for…
Despite our present-day inability to predict the topology of the universe one may expect that we should be able to detect it in the near future, given the increasing accuracy in the astro-cosmological observations. Motivated by this, we…
The standard model of cosmology assumes that the Universe can be described to hover around a homogeneous-isotropic solution of Einstein's general theory of relativity. This description needs (sometimes hidden) hypotheses that restrict the…
We illustrate the constraints that a possible detection of a non-trivial spatial topology may place on the cosmological density parameters by considering the $\Lambda$CDM model Poincar\'e dodecahedal space (PDS) topology as a…
A wide range of large scale observations hint towards possible modifications on the standard cosmological model which is based on a homogeneous and isotropic universe with a small cosmological constant and matter. These observations, also…
Questions such as whether we live in a spatially finite universe, and what its shape and size may be, are among the fundamental open problems that high precision modern cosmology needs to resolve. These questions go beyond the scope of…
An important, and potentially detectable, signature of a non-trivial topology for the universe is the presence of so called circles-in-the-sky in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Recent searches, confined to antipodal and nearly…
The first year data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe are used to place stringent constraints on the topology of the Universe. We search for pairs of circles on the sky with similar temperature patterns along each circle. We…
[Abridged] An observable signature of a detectable nontrivial spatial topology of the Universe is the circles-in-the-sky in the CMB sky. In the most general search, pairs of circles with deviation from antipodality $0^\circ \leq \theta \leq…
The Cosmological Principle states that the universe is both homogeneous and isotropic. This, alone, is not enough to specify the global geometry of the spacetime. If we were able to measure both the Hubble constant and the energy density we…
For a general dark-energy equation of state, we estimate the maximum possible radius of massive structures that are not destabilized by the acceleration of the cosmological expansion. A comparison with known stable structures constrains the…
Assuming the universe is spatially homogeneous on the largest scales lays the foundation for almost all cosmology. This idea is based on the Copernican principle, that we are not at a particularly special place in the universe.…