Related papers: Bang or Bounce
In scalar-tensor Horndeski theories, nonsingular cosmological models - bounce and genesis - are problematic because of potential ghost and/or gradient instabilities. One way to get around this obstacle is to send the effective Planck mass…
The question of whether the universe is eternal or if it had a singular moment of creation is deeply intriguing. Although different versions of steady state and oscillatory models of eternal universe have been envisaged, empirical evidence…
A bouncing cosmology with an initial matter-dominated phase of contraction during which scales which are currently probed with cosmological observations exit the Hubble radius provides a mechanism alternative to inflation for producing a…
Bouncing models have been proposed by many authors as a completion, or even as an alternative to inflation for the description of the very early and dense Universe. However, most bouncing models contain a contracting phase from a very large…
We present an approach to the problem of vacuum energy in cosmology, based on dynamical screening of Lambda on the horizon scale. We review first the physical basis of vacuum energy as a phenomenon connected with macroscopic boundary…
Bouncing cosmologies offer an alternative to inflation by resolving the initial singularity through a contracting phase followed by a bounce into expansion. In many such models, the contracting phase is dominated by a single matter…
We consider the thermodynamical behavior of Banks-Zaks theory close to the conformal point in a cosmological setting. Due to the anomalous dimension, the resulting pressure and energy density deviate from that of radiation and result in…
The big bang singularity could be understood as a breakdown of Einstein's General Relativity at very high energies. Adopting this viewpoint, other theories, that implement Einstein Cosmology at high energies, might solve the problem of the…
One of the greatest problems of standard cosmology is the Big Bang singularity. Previously it has been shown that non-local ghostfree higher-derivative modifications of Einstein gravity in the ultra-violet regime can admit non-singular…
The Cyclic Model attempts to resolve the homogeneity, isotropy, and flatness problems and generate a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of fluctuations during a period of slow contraction that precedes a bounce to an expanding phase. Here we…
The Cyclic Model is a radical, new cosmological scenario which proposes that the Universe undergoes an endless sequence of epochs which begin with a `big bang' and end in a `big crunch.' When the Universe bounces from contraction to…
We review matter bounce scenarios where the matter content is dark matter and dark energy. These cosmologies predict a nearly scale-invariant power spectrum with a slightly red tilt for scalar perturbations and a small tensor-to-scalar…
The self-gravitating gas in the Newtonian limit is studied in the presence of dark energy with a linear and constant equation of state. Entropy extremization associates to the isothermal Boltzmann distribution an effective density that…
Despite being at the heart of the theory of the "Big Bang" and cosmic inflation, the quantum field theory prediction of false vacuum tunneling has not been tested. To address the exponential complexity of the problem, a table-top quantum…
A heuristic hypothesis about domination of Bose-Einstein statistics in the early Universe is suggested. The possibility of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of primordial baryon-antibaryon pairs is considered. In accordance with this…
In loop quantum cosmology (LQC), the initial singularity is replaced by a quantum bounce, leading to a universal post-bounce evolution characterized by three distinct epochs: bouncing, transition, and slow-roll inflation, before the hot…
The conditions for validity of the Causal Entropy Bound (CEB) are verified in the context of non-singular cosmologies with classical sources. It is shown that they are the same conditions that were previously found to guarantee validity of…
A key result of isotropic loop quantum cosmology is the existence of a quantum bounce which occurs when the energy density of the matter field approaches a universal maximum close to the Planck density. Though the bounce has been exhibited…
Quantum theory, general relativity, the standard model of particle physics, and the $\Lambda$CDM model of cosmology have all been spectacularly successful within their respective regimes of applicability, but many central problems remain…
The early universe need not be described by an incomplete inflationary phase connected to a separate, more exotic prehistory. Recent results show that, within non-static FRW cosmology, only positive spatial curvature permits a nonsingular,…