Related papers: Is the Universe Transparent?
Over the last decades, observations with increasing quality have revolutionized our understanding of the general properties of the Universe. Questions posed for millenia by mankind about the origin, evolution and structure of the cosmos…
In this paper, we present a scheme to investigate the opacity of the Universe in a cosmological-model-independent way, with the combination of current and future measurements of type Ia supernova sample and galactic-scale strong…
Probing the evolution of the universe at high redshifts with standard candles is a powerful way to discriminate dark energy models, where an open question nowadays is whether this component is constant or evolves with time. One possible…
Even if the luminosity distance as a function of redshift is obtained accurately using, for example, Type Ia supernovae, the equation of state of the Universe cannot be determined uniquely but depends on one free parameter $\Omega_{k0}…
The distance-duality relation (DDR) between the luminosity distance $D_L$ and the angular diameter distance $D_A$ is viewed as a powerful tool for testing for the opacity of the Universe, being independent of any cosmological model. It was…
According to a new tired-light cosmological model, where H(z) = H 0 (1 + z), the number density of galaxies has been nearly constant over the last 10 Gyr, at least, meaning that, as far as galaxy counts are concerned, the Universe has been…
We reconsider the issue of proving large scale spatial homogeneity of the universe, given isotropic observations about us and the possibility of source evolution both in numbers and luminosities. Two theorems make precise the freedom…
Recent findings by Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes indicate a large transparency of the Universe to gamma rays, which can be hardly explained within the current models of extragalactic background light. We show that the observed…
Cosmological distances as a function of redshift depend on the effective curvature density via the effect on the geometrical path of photons from large scale spatial curvature and its effect on the expansion history, H(z). Cosmological…
The background radiations in the optical and the infrared constitute a relevant cause of energy loss in the propagation of high energy particles through space. In particular, TeV observations with Cherenkov telescopes of extragalactic…
The Standard Cosmological Model has experienced tremendous success at reproducing observational data by assuming a universe dominated by a cosmological constant and dark matter in a flat geometry. However, several studies, based on local…
In this paper, I revoke a debate about an origin of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) dimming. I argue that except for a commonly accepted accelerating expansion of the Universe, a conceivable alternative for explaining this observation is universe…
Cosmic voids - the low density regions in the Universe - as characteristic features of the large scale matter distribution, are known for their hyperbolic properties. The latter implies the deviation of photon beams due to their…
A cosmological model, in which the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a thermal radiation of intergalactic dust instead of a relic radiation of the Big Bang, is revived and revisited. The model suggests that a virtually transparent local…
Supernovae are bright luminous stellar objects observable up to redshifts close to z~1. They are used to probe the geometry of the Universe and its expansion rate by applying different methods. In this article, I review various approaches…
We compare distance measurements obtained from two distance indicators, Super- novae observations (standard candles) and Baryon acoustic oscillation data (standard rulers). The Union2 sample of supernovae with BAO data from SDSS, 6dFGS and…
We have had the chance to live through a fascinating revolution in measuring the fundamental empirical cosmological Hubble law. The key progress is analysed : 1) improvement of observational means (ground-based radio and optical…
The universe we observe is homogeneous on super-horizon scales, leading to the ``cosmic homogeneity problem''. Inflation alleviates this problem but cannot solve it within the realm of conservative extrapolations of classical physics. A…
I will review some results of observational cosmology which critically cast doubt upon the foundations of the standard cosmology: 1) The redshifts of the galaxies are due to the expansion of the Universe; 2) The cosmic microwave background…
The phenomenon of cosmic shear, or distortion of images of distant sources unaccompanied by magnification, is an effective way of probing the content and state of the foreground Universe, because light rays do not have to pass through mass…