Related papers: Conceptual Problems in Cosmology
An analysis of contemporary Cosmology is presented, with the aim of identifying the elements present in it according to the scientific program structure created by I. Lakatos. We look at some modern controversies from this point of view and…
These notes present a brief introduction to `naturalness' problems in cosmology, and to the Cosmological Constant Problem in particular. The main focus is the `old' cosmological constant problem, though the more recent variants are also…
We aim to bring a new perspective about some aspects of the current research in Cosmology. We start with a brief introduction about the main developments of the field in the last century; then we introduce an analogy that shall elucidate…
This meeting is entitled "A Century of Cosmology." But most of the papers being given here are based on work done very recently and there is really no attempt being made to critically review what has taken place in the last 90 or 100 years.…
The current cosmological paradigm, $\Lambda$CDM, is characterized its expansive description of the history of the Universe, its deep connections to particle physics and the large amounts of data that support it. Nonetheless, $\Lambda$CDM's…
While philosophy of science is the study of problems of knowledge concerning science in general, there also exists - or should exist - a '' philosophy in science'' directed at finding out in what ways our actual scientific knowledge may…
In addressing the cosmological constant problem, we propose that the discrepancy between the theoretical and observed values can be ascribed to the inherent uncertainty in the spacetime metric. Mach's principle, which posits that mass…
A basic modern picture of the universe is given here. The lectures start from the historical ideas of a static universe. Then I move on to Newtonian cosmology and derive the main cosmological equations in the framework of Newtonian…
We contrast the initial condition requirements of various contemporary cosmological models, including inflationary and bouncing cosmologies. Various proposals such as Hartle-Hawking's no boundary, or Tunnelling boundary conditions are…
We study cosmological solutions for the very early universe beginning at the Planck scale for a universe containing radiation, curvature and, as a simplification of a possible scalar field potential, a cosmological constant term. The…
Recent years have seen tremendous progress in our understanding of the cosmos, which in turn points to even deeper questions to be further addressed. Concurrently the laser technology has undergone dramatic revolutions, providing exciting…
Current theories of particle physics lead to the unavoidable conclusion that there must have been several phase transitions in the early universe. Further, in the context of these theories, it is possible that cosmological phase transitions…
Fractional cosmology modifies the standard derivative to Caputo's fractional derivative of order $\mu$, generating changes in General Relativity. Friedmann equations are modified, and the evolution of the species densities depends on $\mu$…
General relativistic cosmology cannot be reduced to linear relativistic perturbations superposed on an isotropic and homogeneous (Friedmann-Robertson-Walker) background, even though such a simple scheme has been successfully applied to…
Recent observational advances have considerably improved the cosmological tests, adding to the lines of evidence, and showing that some issues under discussion just a few years ago may now be considered resolved or irrelevant. Other issues…
In an open Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) space background, we study the classical and quantum cosmological models in the framework of the recently proposed nonlinear massive gravity theory. Although the constraints which are present in…
In recent analyses of standard, single-universe, cosmology, it was pointed out that specific assumptions regarding the distribution and motion of matter must be made in order to set up the cosmological standard model with a global time…
The cosmological constant problem can be understood as the failure of the decoupling principle behind effective field theory, so that some quantities in the low-energy theory are extremely sensitive to the high-energy properties. While this…
Associated with the cosmic acceleration are the old and new cosmological constant problems, recently put into the more general context of the dark energy problem. In broad terms, the old problem is related to an unexpected order of…
We present a theory based upon the treatment of the gravitational field as a sea of gravity quanta, as defined elsewhere. The resultant model for the Universe is a static one, like Einstein first saw, with a new feature: a local shrinking…