Related papers: The problem of singularities and chaos in cosmolog…
This paper reviews selected aspects of the growth of cosmological structure, covering the following general areas: (1) expected characteristics of linear density perturbations according to various candidate theories for the origin of…
Time has always played a crucial role in cosmology. I review some of the aspects of the present cosmological model which are more directly related to time, such as: the definition of a cosmic time; the existence of typical timescales and…
Last couple of decades have been the golden age for cosmology. High quality data confirmed the broad paradigm of standard cosmology but have thrusted upon us a preposterous composition for the universe which defies any simple explanation,…
Loop Quantum Gravity is a background independent, nonperturbative approach to the quantization of General Relativity. Its application to models of interest in cosmology and astrophysics, known as Loop Quantum Cosmology, has led to new and…
This article proposes some cosmological reflections at the qualitative and conjectural level, suggested by the Fantappie & Arcidiacono projective relativity theory. The difference will firstly be discussed between two types of singularity…
Much of the foundational work on quantum cosmology employs a simple minisuperspace model describing a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe containing a massive scalar field. We show that the classical limit of this model exhibits…
It is often the case that scalar fields are produced in the early Universe in the form of coherent oscillation. These scalar fields may have huge abundances and affect the evolution of the Universe. In particular, if the lifetime is long…
It is well known that a closed universe with a minimally coupled massive scalar field always collapses to a singularity unless the initial conditions are extremely fine tuned. We show that the corrections to the equations of motion for the…
General relativity predicts a singularity in the beginning of the universe being called big bang. Recent developments in loop quantum cosmology avoid the singularity and the big bang is replaced by a big bounce. A classical theory of…
In this contribution we consider the issue of singularity resolution within loop quantum cosmology (LQC) for different homogeneous models. We present results of numerical evolutions of effective equations for both isotropic as well as…
The spatially homogeneous, isotropic Standard Cosmological Model appears to describe our Universe reasonably well. However, Einstein's equations allow a much larger class of cosmological solutions. Theorems originally due to Penrose and…
The Big Bang initial singularity problem can be solved by means of bouncing solutions. In the context of extended theories of gravity, we will look for covariant effective actions whose field equations contain up to fourth-order derivatives…
A bouncing Universe avoids the big-bang singularity. Using the time-like and null Raychaudhhuri equations, we explore whether the bounce near the big-bang, within a broad spectrum of modified theories of gravity, allows for cosmologically…
In an undulant universe, cosmic expansion is characterized by alternating periods of acceleration and deceleration. We examine cosmologies in which the dark-energy equation of state varies periodically with the number of e-foldings of the…
This paper compares recent approaches appearing in the literature on the singularity problem for space-times with nonvanishing torsion.
In the context of the current lack of compatibility of the classical and quantum approaches to gravity, exactly solvable elementary pseudo-Hermitian quantum models are analyzed supporting the acceptability of a point-like form of Big Bang.…
Quantum gravity has matured over the last decade to a theory which can tell in a precise and explicit way how cosmological singularities of general relativity are removed. A branch of the universe "before" the classical big bang is obtained…
We study the dynamics near finite-time singularities of flat isotropic universes filled with two interacting but otherwise arbitrary perfect fluids. The overall dynamical picture reveals a variety of asymptotic solutions valid locally…
Although the cosmological constant has primarily cosmological consequences, its smallness poses one of the basic problems in particle physics. Various attempts have been made to explain this mystery, but no satisfactory solution has been…
I present a streamlined review of how the separate universe approach to cosmological perturbation theory can be used to study the dynamics of long-wavelength scalar perturbations in loop quantum cosmology, and then use it to calculate how…