Related papers: Astronomical arguments in Newton's Chronology
This thesis deals with the averaging problem in cosmology, which has gained considerable interest in recent years, and is concerned with correction terms (after averaging inhomogeneities) that appear in the Einstein equations when working…
The place of an anthropic argument in the discrimination between various cosmological models is to be reconsidered following the classic criticisms of Paul C. W. Davies and Frank J. Tipler. Different versions of the anthropic argument…
The non-Keplerian galactic rotational curves and the gravitational lensing data strongly indicate a significant dark matter component in the universe. Moreover, these data can be combined to deduce the equation of state of dark matter. Yet,…
Information is everywhere in nature which is very uncertain and unpredictable. But information, in itself, is a very ambiguous term. In this cursory write-up, we attempt to understand the formal meaning of information by quantifying…
The changing heavens have played a central role in the scientific effort of astronomers for centuries. Galileo's synoptic observations of the moons of Jupiter and the phases of Venus starting in 1610, provided strong refutation of Ptolemaic…
A re-investigation of the parapegma of Euktemon (5th century BC, Athens), based on the assumption that some star observations may in fact have been calculated rather than directly observed. The calculation follows Pliny, Natural History…
The epitome of acausal or anti-chronological behaviour would be to see a clock running backwards in time. In this essay we point out that this is indeed possible, but there is no problem with causality. What you see isn't what is really…
There is a myth that Einstein's discovery of general relativity was due to his following beautiful mathematics to discover new insights about nature. I argue that this is an incorrect reading of the history and that what Einstein did was to…
We discuss a number of fundamental aspects of modern cosmological concepts, from the phenomenological, observational, theoretical and epistemic points of view. We argue that the modern cosmology, despite a great advent, in particular in the…
Essentially everything of astronomical interest is either part of a galaxy, or from a galaxy, or otherwise relevant to the origin or evolution of galaxies. Diverse examples are that the isotropic composition of meteorites provides clues to…
Since its introduction in 2001, natural time analysis has been applied to diverse fields with remarkable results. Its validity has not been doubted by any publication to date. Here, we indicate that frequently asked questions on the…
In this paper we review a part of the approaches that have been considered to explain the extraordinary discovery of the late time acceleration of the Universe. We discuss the arguments that have led physicists and astronomers to accept…
It is generally argued that the present cosmological observations support the accelerating models of the universe, as driven by the cosmological constant or `dark energy'. We argue here that an alternative model of the universe is possible…
Solar and atmospheric evidences have been established and can be explained by neutrino masses. Furthermore, other experiments claim a few unconfirmed neutrino anomalies. We critically reanalyze the 0nu2beta, LSND and NuTeV anomalies.
Over the next decade we will witness the development of a new infrastructure in support of data-intensive scientific research, which includes Astronomy. This new networked environment will offer both challenges and opportunities to our…
A general overview of neutrino physics is given, starting with a historical account of the development of our understanding of neutrinos and how they helped to unravel the structure of the Standard Model. We discuss why it is so important…
Popular wisdom amongst theoretical physicists says that the continuum structure of spacetime is probably not elementary, but rather emergent. While many arguments to support that view arise from speculative ideas, the argument can also be…
The experimental evidence that the equation of state (EOS) of the dark energy (DE) could be evolving with time/redshift (including the possibility that it might behave phantom-like near our time) suggests that there might be dynamical DE…
Our laws of nature and our cosmos appear to be delicately fine-tuned for life to emerge, in a way that seems hard to attribute to chance. In view of this, some have taken the opportunity to revive the scholastic Argument from Design,…
We revisit our 2013 claim [arXiv:1303.7476] that the Universe is the result of a conspiratorial plot, and find that it cannot be trusted, because even the belief in this conspiracy likely results from a conspiracy. On the basis of…