Related papers: Testing the local-void alternative to dark energy …
Observations of distant supernovae indicate that the Universe is now in a phase of accelerated expansion the physical cause of which is a mystery. Formally, this requires the inclusion of a term acting as a negative pressure in the…
New observational constraints on the cosmic matter density $\Omega_m$ and an effectively redshift-independent equation of state parameter $w_x$ of the dark energy are obtained while simultaneously testing the strong and null energy…
A novel idea is proposed for a natural solution of the dark energy and its cosmic coincidence problem. The existence of local antigravity sources, associated with astrophysical matter configurations distributed throughout the universe, can…
The most studied way to explain the current accelerated expansion of the universe is to assume the existence of dark energy; a new component that fill the universe, does not clumps, currently dominates the evolution, and has a negative…
Cosmic parallax is the change of angular separation between pair of sources at cosmological distances induced by an anisotropic expansion. An accurate astrometric experiment like Gaia could observe or put constraints on cosmic parallax.…
The Alcock-Paczynski (AP) effect uses the fact that, when analyzed with the correct geometry, we should observe structure that is statistically isotropic in the Universe. For structure undergoing cosmological expansion with the background,…
In a recent paper \cite{Artymowski:2020zwy} we suggested the possibility that the present acceleration of the Universe is due to thermodynamical behavior of unparticles. The model is free of scalar fields, modified gravity, a Cosmological…
We introduce and explore "paired" cosmological simulations. A pair consists of an A and B simulation with initial conditions related by the inversion $\delta_A(x, t_{initial})=-\delta_B(x,t_{initial})$ (underdensities substituted for…
One of the cornerstones of general relativity is the equivalence principle. However, the validity of the equivalence principle has only been established on solar system scales for standard matter fields; this result cannot be assumed to…
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…
Below scales of about 100/h Mpc our universe displays a complex inhomogeneous structure dominated by voids, with clusters of galaxies in sheets and filaments. The coincidence that cosmic expansion appears to start accelerating at the epoch…
We trace the origin of the cosmological constant problem to the assumption that Newton's constant $G$ sets the scale for cosmology. And then we show that once this assumption is relaxed, the very same cosmic acceleration which has served to…
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…
An alternative to dark energy as an explanation for the present phase of accelerated expansion of the Universe is that the Friedmann equation is modified, e.g. by extra dimensional gravity, on large scales. We explore a natural…
In this essay, I present an alternative explanation for the cosmic acceleration which appears as a consequence of recent high redshift Supernova data. In the usual interpretation, this cosmic acceleration is explained by the presence of a…
The current cosmological dark sector (dark matter plus dark energy) is challenging our comprehension about the physical processes taking place in the Universe. Recently, some authors tried to falsify the basic underlying assumptions of such…
The apparent accelerating expansion of the Universe is forcing us to examine the foundational aspects of the standard model of cosmology -- in particular, the fact that dark energy is a direct consequence of the homogeneity assumption. We…
In the standard cosmological model, the dimming of distant Type Ia supernovae is explained by invoking the existence of repulsive `dark energy' which is causing the Hubble expansion to accelerate. However this may be an artifact of…
We review current observations of the homogeneous cosmological expansion which, because they measure only kinematic variables, cannot determine the dynamics driving the recent accelerated expansion. The minimal fit to the data, the flat…
Type Ia supernovae are a powerful cosmological probe, that gave the first strong evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Here we provide an overview of how supernovae can go further to reveal information about what is…