Related papers: Photon Geodesics in FRW Cosmologies
In this paper, we continue to examine the fundamental basis for the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) metric and its application to cosmology, specifically addressing the question: What is the proper size of the visible universe? There are…
The Universe has a gravitational horizon, coincident with the Hubble sphere, that plays an important role in how we interpret the cosmological data. Recently, however, its significance as a true horizon has been called into question, even…
Assuming that the universe is homogenous and isotropic and applying Gauss' flux theorem for gravity, it follows that the gravitational field of the visible universe can be calculated as if the entire mass of the visible universe is located…
The Universe has a gravitational horizon with a radius R_h=c/H coincident with that of the Hubble sphere. This surface separates null geodesics approaching us from those receding, and as free-falling observers within the…
It has recently been claimed that the Hubble Sphere represents a previously unknown limit to our view of the universe, with light we detect today coming from a proper distance less than this "Cosmic Horizon" at the present time. By…
The emergence of a highly improbable coincidence in cosmological observations speaks to a remarkably simple cosmic expansion. Compelling evidence now suggests that the Universe's gravitational horizon, coincident with the better known…
The recent Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments have shown that the average density of the universe is close to the critical one and the universe is asymptotically flat (Euclidean). Taking into account that the universe remains…
The Hubble constant ($H_0$) measures the current expansion rate of the Universe, and plays a fundamental role in cosmology. Tremendous effort has been dedicated over the past decades to measure $H_0$. Notably, Planck cosmic microwave…
A measurement of the expansion rate of the Universe (that is the Hubble constant, H0) is derived here using the gamma-ray attenuation observed in the spectra of gamma-ray sources produced by the interaction of extragalactic gamma-ray…
In this work we take moves from the debate triggered by Melia et al [9]. and followed by opposite comments by Lewis and Oirschot [10,11]. The point in question regards the role of the Hubble horizon as a limit for observability in a…
On small scales the observable Universe is highly inhomogeneous, with galaxies and clusters forming a complex web of voids and filaments. The optical properties of such configurations can be quite different from the perfectly smooth…
Studies of the Universe's transition to smoothness in the context of LCDM have all pointed to a transition radius no larger than ~300 Mpc. These are based on a broad array of tracers for the matter power spectrum, including galaxies,…
For 100 years since galaxies were found to be flying apart from each other, astronomers have been trying to determine how fast. The expansion, characterized by the Hubble constant, H0, is confused locally by peculiar velocities caused by…
We analyse the possibility that our Universe could be described by the model recently proposed by Melia & Shevchuk (2012), where the Hubble scale R_h=c/H is at all times equal to the distance ct that light has travelled since the Big Bang.…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are tremendous explosions visible across most of the Universe, certainly out to redshifts of z=4.5 and likely out to z~10. Recently, GRBs have been found to have a roughly constant explosive energy as well as to have…
From the equivalence principle, one gets the strength of the gravitational effect of a mass $M$ on the metric at position r from it. It is proportional to the dimensionless parameter $\beta^2 = 2GM/rc^2$, which normally is $<< 1$. Here $G$…
We present Hubble Space Telescope/WFPC2 images of eighteen galaxies situated in the vicinity of the Local Group (LG) as part of an ongoing snapshot survey of nearby galaxies. Their distances derived from the magnitude of the tip of the red…
Due to the Hubble redshift, photon energy, chiefly in the form of CMBR photons, is currently disappearing from the universe at the rate of nearly 10^55 erg s^-1. An ongoing problem in cosmology concerns the fate of this energy. In one…
In general relativity, a gravitational horizon (more commonly known as the "apparent horizon") is an imaginary surface beyond which all null geodesics recede from the observer. The Universe has an apparent (gravitational) horizon, but…
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…