Related papers: Cosmological singularities and bounce in Cartan-Ei…
The gauge approach to gravity based on the local Lorentz group with a general independent affine connection A_{\mu cd} is developed. We consider SO(1,3) gauge theory with a Lagrangian quadratic in curvature as a simple model of quantum…
The role of space-time torsion in general relativity is reviewed in accordance with some recent results on the subject. It is shown that, according to the connection compatibility condition, the usual Riemannian volume element is not…
Generic relevant deformations of Einstein's gravity theory contain additional degrees of freedom that have a multi-facetted stabilization dynamics on curved spacetimes. We show that these relevant degrees of freedom are self-protected…
We derive the interaction of fermions with a dynamical space-time based on the postulate that the description of physics should be independent of the reference frame, which means to require the form-invariance of the fermion action under…
An oscillating universe cycles through a series of expansions and contractions. We propose a model in which ``phantom'' energy with $p < -\rho$ grows rapidly and dominates the late-time expanding phase. The universe's energy density is so…
Alternative scenarios to the Big Bang singularity have been subject of intense research for several decades by now. Most popular in this sense have been frameworks were such singularity is replaced by a bounce around some minimal…
The investigation of quantum gravity effects in order to avoid the big bang singularity is a requisite, so that the idea of oscillating universes is introduced as an alternative for standard cosmological model. Therefore, the Friedmann…
It is well known that only the axial piece of the torsion couples minimally to fermions in a Riemann-Cartan geometry, while the other ones decouple. In this paper, we consider the Dirac field minimally coupled to a dynamical background with…
We offer a new proposal for cosmic singularity resolution based upon a quantum cosmology with a unitary bounce. This proposal is illustrated via a novel quantization of a mini-superspace model in which there can be superpositions of the…
We consider gravity theories in $4+N$ dimensions which are governed by the Lagrangian written as an extended Gauss-Bonnet density. We can find a naturally generalized Einstein gravity where the maximal symmetric compactification leads to…
Torsion arising from fermionic matter in the Einstein-Cartan formulation of general relativity is considered in the context of Robertson-Walker geometries and the early Universe. An ambiguity in the way torsion arising from hot fermionic…
A non-singular bouncing cosmology is generically obtained in loop quantum cosmology due to non-perturbative quantum gravity effects. A similar picture can be achieved in standard general relativity in the presence of a scalar field with a…
We showed that the principle of nongravitating vacuum energy, when formulated in the first order formalism, solves the cosmological constant problem. The most appealing formulation of the theory displays a local symmetry associated with the…
The Einstein-Cartan theory of gravitation and the classical theory of defects in an elastic medium are presented and compared. The former is an extension of general relativity and refers to four-dimensional space-time, while we introduce…
We employ the framework of affine covariant quantization and associated semiclassical portrait to address two main issues in the domain of quantum gravitational systems: (i) the fate of singularities and (ii) the lack of external time. Our…
When the scale factor of expansion of the universe is written as $ a(t)\equiv Ae^{\alpha(t)}$, with $A$ as some real constant and $\alpha(t)$ a real function, the gravitational action $I_G$ appears in the same form as the matter action…
We construct a theory of gravity in which a propagating massive vector field arises from a quadratic curvature invariant. The Einstein-Cartan formulation and a partial suppression of torsion ensure the absence of ghost and strong-coupling…
We revisit a propagating torsion gravity theory obtained by introducing a field coupled to the Holst term in the first-order Einstein-Cartan action. The resulting theory has second order field equations, no adjustable coupling constants,…
In a class of generalized Einstein's gravity theories we derive the equations and general asymptotic solutions describing the evolution of the perturbed universe in unified forms. Our gravity theory considers general couplings between the…
We review many quantum aspects of torsion theory and discuss the possibility of the space-time torsion to exist and to be detected. The paper starts, in Chapter 2, with an introduction to the classical gravity with torsion, that includes…