Related papers: Is the Universe homogeneous?
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) comprises the oldest photons in the universe and is arguably our most direct cosmological observable. All precise and accurate measurements of its attributes serve to distinguish between cosmological…
A model of the universe as a very large white hole provides a useful alternative inhomogeneous theory to pit against the homogeneous standard FLRW big bang models. The white hole would have to be sufficiently large that we can fit…
CMB anisotropy data could put powerful constraints on theories of the evolution of our Universe. Using the observations of the large number of CMB experiments, many studies have put constraints on cosmological parameters assuming different…
Modern cosmology is built on the assumption that the Universe is homogeneous and isotropic on large scales - but this is challenged by results of the Ellis-Baldwin test that show an unexplained anomaly in the distribution of distant…
An interesting test on the nature of the Universe is to measure the global spatial curvature of the metric in a model independent way, at a level of $|\Omega_k|<10^{-4}$, or, if possible, at the cosmic variance level of the amplitude of the…
Cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies probe the primordial density field at the edge of the observable Universe. There is a limiting precision (``cosmic variance'') with which anisotropies can determine the amplitude of primordial…
We investigate a framework aiming to provide a common origin for the large-angle anomalies detected in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which are hypothesized as the result of the statistical inhomogeneity developed by different…
Cosmology is nowadays going through a true revolution in the quantity and quality of observations that are capable of providing crucial information about the origin and evolution of the universe. In the first years of the next millenium we…
The Copernican principle, stating that we do not occupy any special place in our universe, is usually taken for granted in modern cosmology. However recent observational data of supernova indicate that we may live in the under-dense center…
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…
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…
We propose a method for constructing the specific heat for the universe by following standard definitions of classical thermodynamics, in a spatially flat homogeneous and isotropic spacetime. We use cosmography to represent the specific…
The assumption of homogeneity and isotropy on large scales is one of the main hypotheses of the standard cosmological model. In this paper, we revisit a test of cosmological isotropy using type Ia supernova (SN Ia) distances provided by the…
We study Einstein's equations with an isotropic but inhomogeneous metric in the cosmic rest frame. The equations are solved perturbatively in the late Universe. The leading plus next-to-leading order results agree with observations without…
The breakdown of statistical homogeneity and isotropy of cosmic perturbations is a generic feature of ultra large scale structure of the cosmos, in particular, of non trivial cosmic topology. The statistical isotropy (SI) of the Cosmic…
Cosmic acceleration is explained quantitatively, purely in general relativity, as an apparent effect due to quasilocal gravitational energy differences that arise in the decoupling of bound systems from the global expansion of the universe.…
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…
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) provides us with our most direct observational window to the early universe. Observations of the temperature and polarization anisotropies in the CMB have played a critical role in defining the…
Although the new era of high precision cosmology of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation improves our knowledge to understand the infant as well as the presentday Universe, it also leads us to question the main assumption of the…
A Universe with finite age also has a finite causal scale $\chi_\S$, so the metric can not be homogeneous for $\chi>\chi_\S$, as it is usually assumed. To account for this, we propose a new causal boundary condition, that can be fulfil by…