Related papers: Beyond Boundary Conditions: General Cosmological T…
This is a short summary of a project to construct a first principles cosmology of the Standard Model epoch, the period starting shortly before the electro-weak transition. The cosmology is derived from a simple initial state entirely within…
Standard quantum theory represents a composite system at a given time by a joint state, but it does not prescribe a joint state for a composite of systems at different times. If a more even-handed treatment of space and time is possible,…
Quantum effects play an essential role in modern cosmology. Perhaps the most striking example comes from large-scale structures, generally assumed to originate from vacuum quantum fluctuations and stretched by an expansion phase. Inflation…
The development of dark energy models has stimulated interest to cosmological singularities, which differ from the traditional Big Bang and Big Crunch singularities. We review a broad class of phenomena connected with soft cosmological…
I discuss how modern cosmology illustrates under-determination of theoretical hypotheses by data, in ways that are different from most philosophical discussions. I emphasize cosmology's concern with what data could in principle be collected…
The initial cosmological singularity in the framework of the general theory of relativity is resolved by introducing the effect of the uncertainty principle of quantum theory without violating conventional laws of physics. A plausible…
Anthropic models can give testable predictions, which can be confirmed or falsified at a specified confidence level. This is illustrated using the successful prediction of the cosmological constant as an example. The history and the nature…
The construction of a theory of quantum gravity is an outstanding problem that can benefit from better understanding the laws of nature that are expected to hold in regimes currently inaccessible to experiment. Such fundamental laws can be…
Our first goal in this work is to study general and model-independent properties of cyclic cosmologies. The large number of studies of bouncing cosmologies and different cyclic scenarios published recently calls for a proper understanding…
During the past two decades, cosmologists turned to particle physics in order to explore the physics of the very early Universe. The main link between the physics of the smallest and largest structures in the Universe is the idea of…
The dramatic confrontation between new observations and theories of the early and recent universe makes cosmology one of the most rapidly advancing fields in the physical sciences. The universe is a unique laboratory in which to probe…
Following a short discussion of some unresolved issues in the standard model of cosmology (considered to be a generic LCDM model with flat geometry and an early period of inflation), an update on the current state of research regarding the…
This paper deals with the philosophical issues of the notion of nothingness and pre-inflationary stage of the universe in physical cosmology. We presuppose that, in addition to cosmological limits, there may be both anthropic and…
Using the basic ingredient of supersymmetry, we develop a simple alternative approach to perturbation theory in one-dimensional non-relativistic quantum mechanics. The formulae for the energy shifts and wave functions do not involve tedious…
The Kalam cosmological argument, of a metaphysical nature, asserts that the universe had a first cause. This study examines the compatibility of its premises through a bibliographic review of advancements in contemporary physics. Quantum…
The non-classical features of quantum mechanics are reproduced using models constructed with a classical theory - general relativity. The inability to define complete initial data consistently and independently of future measurements,…
The inflationary scenario is not the only paradigm of early universe cosmology which is consistent with current observations. General criteria will be presented which any successful early universe model must satisfy. Various ways, including…
The theory of cosmological perturbations is extended to spacetimes displaying isotropic expansion but anisotropic curvature. The perturbed Einstein equation and Boltzmann equations for massless and massive particles are derived in a general…
Aspects of the full theory of loop quantum gravity can be studied in a simpler context by reducing to symmetric models like cosmological ones. This leads to several applications where loop effects play a significant role when one is…
A complete analysis of the dynamics of the Hu-Sawicki modification to General Relativity is presented. In particular, the full phase-space is given for the case in which the model parameters are taken to be n=1, c1=1, and several stable de…