Related papers: Average observational quantities in the timescape …
Recent measurements of the parameters of the Concordance Cosmology Model ($\Lambda$CDM) done in the low-redshift Universe with Supernovae Ia/Cepheids, and in the distant Universe done with Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) imply different…
In the framework of spatially averaged inhomogeneous cosmologies in classical General Relativity, effective Einstein equations govern the regional and the global dynamics of averaged scalar variables of cosmological models. A particular…
The current expansion of the Universe has been observed to be accelerating, and the widely accepted spatially-flat concordance model of general relativistic cosmology attributes this phenomenon to a constant dark energy, a cosmological…
We review observational tests for the homogeneity of the Universe on large scales. Redshift and peculiar velocity surveys, radio sources, the X-Ray Background, the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest and the Cosmic Microwave Background are used to set…
The tensions between the values of Hubble constant obtained from the early and the late Universe data pose a significant challenge to modern cosmology. Possible modifications of the flat homogeneous isotropic cosmological {\Lambda}CDM model…
We reanalyse the Pantheon+ supernova catalogue to compare a cosmology with non-FLRW evolution, the timescape cosmology, with the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmology. To this end, we analyse the Pantheon+ for a geometric comparison between the…
The characterization of dark energy is a central task of cosmology. To go beyond a cosmological constant, we need to introduce at least an equation of state and a sound speed and consider observational tests that involve perturbations. If…
The effective evolution of an inhomogeneous universe model in any theory of gravitation may be described in terms of spatially averaged variables. In Einstein's theory, restricting attention to scalar variables, this evolution can be…
This thesis focuses on late-time cosmic acceleration within modified theories of gravity, using various observational data sets and statistical analysis. The Universe is assumed to be spatially homogeneous and isotropic and is described by…
We present a new model based on General Relativity in where a subtle change of curvature at late times is able to produce the observed Universe acceleration and an oscillating behavior in the effective equation of state. This model aims to…
The search for the physical mechanism underlying the observational evidence for the acceleration of the recent universe is a compelling goal of modern fundamental cosmology. Here we quantitatively study a class of homogeneous and isotropic…
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…
The recent discovery of apparent cosmic acceleration has highlighted the depth of our ignorance of the fundamental properties of nature. It is commonly assumed that the explanation for acceleration must come from a new form of energy…
Below scales of about 100/h Mpc our universe displays a complex inhomogeneous structure dominated by voids, with clusters of galaxies in sheets and filaments. The coincidence that cosmic expansion appears to start accelerating at the epoch…
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…
Observational constraints are considered on a $w_{log}$CDM model of the dark energy equation of state, $w_{d}(z) = w_{0} + w_{a}\left( \frac{\ln(2+z)}{1+z} - \ln 2 \right)$, using the most recent cosmological datasets including DESI Baryon…
We review a subset of the current tensions affecting the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model, emphasizing the role of chronic systematics and significance inflation in shaping their interpretation. As a unifying framework, we consider…
I briefly review the cosmological constant problem and the issue of dark energy (or quintessence). Within the framework of quantum field theory, the vacuum expectation value of the energy momentum tensor formally diverges as $k^4$. A cutoff…
The apparent accelerating expansion of the Universe is forcing us to examine the foundational aspects of the standard model of cosmology -- in particular, the fact that dark energy is a direct consequence of the homogeneity assumption. We…
Cosmological observables are used to construct cosmological models. Since cosmological observations are limited to the light cone, a fixed number of observables (even measured to arbitrary accuracy) may not uniquely determine a cosmological…