Related papers: Observable circles-in-the-sky in flat universes
To date, no compelling evidence has been found that the universe has non-trivial spatial topology. Meanwhile, anomalies in the observed CMB temperature map, such as the lack of correlations at large angular separations, remain…
Several analyses of the microwave sky maps from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) have drawn attention to alignments amongst the low-order multipoles. Amongst the various possible explanations, an effect of cosmic topology has…
We extend our study of a universe with a non-classical stringy topology, and consider an orbifold line topology, $\mathbb{R}\times\mathbb{R}^2/\mathbb{Z}_p$. This topology has a fixed line and identifies each point in space with $p-1$ other…
In this research, we present an alternative methodology to search for ring-like structures in the sky with unusually large temperature gradients, namely Hawking points (HP), in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which are possible…
A search for matched circle pairs of similar temperature fluctuations in the final WMAP 9yr data is carried out. Such a signature is expected if the space of the Universe is multiply connected. We investigate the relation between the pixel…
If the assumption that physical space has a trivial topology is dropped, then the Universe may be described by a multiply connected Friedmann-Lema\^{\i}tre model on a sub-horizon scale. Specific candidates for the multiply connected space…
The topology of the observable Universe is not yet known. The most significant observational sign of a non-trivial topology would be multiple images (``ghosts'') of a single object at (in general) different sky positions and redshifts. It…
We evaluate the possibility of observable effects arising from collisions between vacuum bubbles in a universe undergoing false-vacuum eternal inflation. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that under certain assumptions most positions…
Probing the geometry of the universe is one of the most important endevours in cosmology. Current observational data from the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropy (CMB), galaxy surveys and type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) strongly constrain…
Clues to the shape of our Universe can be found by searching the CMB for matching circles of temperature patterns. A full sky search of the CMB, mapped extremely accurately by NASA's WMAP satellite, returned no detection of such matching…
Recent late-Universe observations suggest an open Universe. If confirmed, such a departure from spatial flatness would carry profound implications for our understanding of cosmic inflation and the ultimate fate of the Universe. Motivated by…
Eternal inflation predicts our observable universe lies within a bubble (or pocket universe) embedded in a volume of inflating space. The interior of the bubble undergoes inflation and standard cosmology, while the bubble walls expand…
The standard cosmological model does not determine the spatial topology of the universe. This article revisits the signature of a non-trivial topology on the properties of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies. We show that the…
In the last decade, the study of the overall shape of the universe, called Cosmic Topology, has become testable by astronomical observations, especially the data from the Cosmic Microwave Background (hereafter CMB) obtained by WMAP and…
We discuss selected large-scale anomalies in the maps of temperature anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. Specfically, these include alignments of the largest modes of CMB anisotropy with one another and with the geometry and…
Recent analysis of the Planck measurements opened a possibility that we live in a non-flat universe. Given the renewed interest in non-zero spatial curvature, here we re-visit the light propagation in a non-flat universe and provide the…
Voids are dominant features of the cosmic web. We revisit the cosmological information content of voids and connect void properties with the parameters of the background universe. We combine analytical results with a suite of large n-body…
In a universe dominated by a small cosmological constant or by eternal dark energy with equation of state w < -1/3, observers are surrounded by event horizons. The horizons limit how much of the universe the observers can ever access. We…
Large patterns could exist on the microwave sky as a result of various non-standard possibilities for the large-scale Universe -- rotation or shear, non-trivial topology, and single topological defects are specific examples. All-sky (or…
The paradigm of \Lambda CDM cosmology works impressively well and with the concept of inflation it explains the universe after the time of decoupling. However there are still a few concerns; after much effort there is no detection of dark…