Related papers: Testing the equal-time angular-averaged consistenc…
Cosmological constraints on the scalar-tensor theory of gravity by analyzing the angular power spectrum data of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) obtained from the Planck 2015 results are presented. We consider the harmonic attractor…
The fine-structure constant, $\alpha$, controls the strength of the electromagnetic interaction. There are extensions of the standard model in which $\alpha$ is dynamical on cosmological length and time-scales. The physics of the cosmic…
The evidence for the accelerated expansion of the universe and the time-dependence of the fine-structure constant suggests the existence of at least one scalar field with a mass of order H_0. If such a field exists, then it is generally…
Astrophysical tests of the stability of Nature's fundamental couplings are a key probe of the standard paradigms in fundamental physics and cosmology. In this report we discuss updated constraints on the stability of the fine-structure…
We study the asymptotic behaviour of the free, cold-dark matter density fluctuation bispectrum in the limit of small scales. From an initially Gaussian random field, we draw phase-space positions of test particles which then propagate along…
Many inflationary theories predict a non-Gaussian spectrum of primordial tensor perturbations, sourced from non-standard vacuum fluctuations, modified general relativity or new particles such as gauge fields. Several such models also…
Several cosmological measurements have attained significant levels of maturity and accuracy over the last decade. Continuing this trend, future observations promise measurements of the statistics of the cosmic mass distribution at an…
If observations confirm BICEP2's claim of a tensor-scalar ratio $r\approx 0.2$ on CMB scales, then the inflationary consistency relation $n_{t}=-r/8$ predicts a small negative value for the tensor spectral index $n_t$. We show that future…
The determination of the resolution of cosmological N-body simulations, i.e., the range of scales in which quantities measured in them represent accurately the continuum limit, is an important open question. We address it here using…
The action of gravitational physics across space-time creates observable signatures in the behaviour of light and matter. We perform combined-probe studies using data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) and Dark Energy…
Among the suggested solutions to the cosmological constant problem, we find the idea of a dynamic vacuum, with an energy density decaying with the universe expansion. We investigate the possibility of a variation in the gravitational…
We discuss the fundamemtal constants in the Standard Model of particle physics, in particular possible changes of these constants on the cosmological time scale. The Grand Unification of the observed strong, electromagnetic and weak…
An important and long-standing puzzle in the history of modern physics is the gross inconsistency between theoretical expectations and cosmological observations of the vacuum energy density, by at least 60 orders of magnitude, otherwise…
The indeterminacy inherent in quantum measurement is an outstanding character of quantum theory, which manifests itself typically in Heisenberg's error-disturbance uncertainty relation. In the last decade, Heisenberg's relation has been…
We show that cosmological quantum relaxation predicts an anisotropic primordial power spectrum with a specific dependence on wavenumber k. We explore some of the consequences for precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background…
We study light propagation through a slab of cold gas using both the standard electrodynamics of polarizable media, and massive atom-by-atom simulations of the electrodynamics. The main finding is that the predictions from the two methods…
Future galaxy surveys require one percent precision in the theoretical knowledge of the power spectrum over a large range including very nonlinear scales. While this level of accuracy is easily obtained in the linear regime with…
The relation between microscopic and macroscopic entities in the generally covariant theories is considered, and it is argued that a sensible definition of the macroscopic averages requires a restriction of the allowed transformations of…
We present, for the first time, an observational test of the consistency relation for the large-scale structure (LSS) of the Universe through a joint analysis of the anisotropic two- and three-point correlation functions (2PCF and 3PCF) of…
The principal goal of the physics of the fundamental interactions is to provide a consistent description of the nature of the subnuclear forces, which manifest in our universe, together with the gravitational force, in a unified framework.…