Related papers: Using Observations of Distant Quasars to Constrain…
I discuss some theoretical ideas concerning the representation of quantum gravity as a Lorentz-symmetry-violating `medium' with non-trivial optical properties, which include a refractive index in `vacuo' and stochastic effects associated…
Time delays between lensed multiple images have been known to provide an interesting probe of the Hubble constant, but such application is often limited by degeneracies with the shape of lens potentials. We propose a new statistical…
The cosmic proper distance $d_P$ is a fundamental distance in the Universe. Unlike the luminosity and angular diameter distances, which correspond to the angular size, the proper distance is the length of light path from the source to…
Gravitationally lensed quasars offer a unique opportunity to study cosmological and extragalactic phenomena, using reliable light curves of the lensed images. This requires accurate deblending of the quasar images, which is not trivial due…
We critically analyse and compare various recent thought experiments, performed by Amelino-Camelia, Ng et al., Baez et al., Adler et al., and ourselves, concerning the (thought)experimental accessibility of the Planck scale by space-time…
Measuring time delays between the multiple images of gravitationally lensed quasars is now recognized as a competitive way to constrain the cosmological parameters, and it is complementary with other cosmological probes. This requires long…
Several recent studies have been devoted to investigating the limitations that ordinary quantum mechanics and/or quantum gravity might impose on the measurability of space-time observables. These analyses are often confined to the…
Cosmological distances as a function of redshift depend on the effective curvature density via the effect on the geometrical path of photons from large scale spatial curvature and its effect on the expansion history, H(z). Cosmological…
The present matter density of the Universe, while highly inhomogeneous on small scales, displays approximate homogeneity on large scales. We propose that whereas it is justified to use the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) line…
We show how quantum fields can be used to measure the curvature of spacetime. In particular, we find that knowledge of the imprint that spacetime curvature leaves in the correlators of quantum fields suffices, in principle, to reconstruct…
(Abridged) Weak gravitational lensing induces distortions on the images of background galaxies, and thus provides a direct measure of mass fluctuations in the universe. Since the distortions induced by lensing on the images of background…
Model-independent measurements for the cosmic spatial curvature, which is related to the nature of cosmic space-time geometry, plays an important role in cosmology. On the basis of the Distance Sum Rule in the…
Most of the successful physical theories rely on the constancy of few fundamental quantities (such as the speed of light, $c$, the fine-structure constant, \alpha, the proton to electron mass ratio, \mu, etc), and constraining the possible…
(abridged) Gravitationally lensed quasars can be used as powerful cosmological and astrophysical probes. We can (i) infer the Hubble constant based on the time-delay technique, (ii) unveil substructures along the l.o.s. toward distant…
Measuring the quasar distance through joint analysis of spectroastrometry (SA) and reverberation mapping (RM) observations is a new method for driving the development of cosmology. In this paper, we carry out detailed simulation and…
Objects and structures gravitationally decoupled from the Hubble expansion will appear to shrink in angular size as the universe expands. Observations of extragalactic proper motions can thus directly reveal the cosmic expansion. Relatively…
The effect of curvature on the results of fractal analyses of the galaxy distribution is investigated. We show that, if the universe satisfies the criteria of a wide class of parabolic homogeneous models, the observers measuring the fractal…
Tension between cosmic microwave background-based and distance ladder-based determinations of the Hubble constant ${\rm H}_{\rm 0}$ motivates pursuit of independent methods that are not subject to the same systematic effects. A promising…
The interpretation of cosmological observations relies on a notion of an average Universe, which is usually considered as the homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) model. However, inhomogeneities may…
If the reported measurements of the time variation of the fine structure constant from observations of distant QSOs are correct, combined with the Oklo limit they would strongly constrain the class of the quintessence potential. If these…