Related papers: Repulsive gravity induced by a conformally coupled…
We discuss the properties of a cosmology dominated by a charged scalar field with a repulsive, long-range self-interaction. The interaction, in the form of a vector field with a tiny mass, can have a dramatic effect on the evolution of the…
We exploit the possibility of existence of a repulsive gravity phase in the evolution of the Universe. A toy model with a free scalar field minimally coupled to gravity, but with the "wrong sign" for the energy and negative curvature for…
We consider the possibility to produce a bouncing universe in the framework of scalar-tensor gravity models in which the scalar field potential may be negative, and even unbounded from below. We find a set of viable solutions with nonzero…
Bouncing non-singular isotropic cosmological solutions are investigated in a simple model of scalar-tensor gravity. New families of such solutions are found and their properties are presented and analyzed using an effective potential as the…
We investigate the dynamics of gravity coupled to a scalar field using a non-canonical form of the kinetic term. It is shown that its singular point represents an attractor for classical solutions and the stationary value of the field may…
We consider a quantum scalar field in a classical (Euclidean) De Sitter background, whose radius is fixed dynamically by Einstein's equations. In the case of a free scalar, it has been shown by Becker and Reuter that if one regulates the…
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…
I present two examples in which the curvature singularity of a radiation-dominated Universe is regularized by (a) the repulsive effects of spin interactions, and (b) the repulsive effects arising from a breaking of the local gravitational…
We consider the possibility to produce a bouncing universe in the framework of scalar-tensor gravity when the scalar field has a nonconformal coupling to the Ricci scalar. We prove that bouncing universes regular in the future with…
We present a model for a classical, non-singular bouncing cosmology without violation of the null energy condition (NEC). The field content is General Relativity plus a real scalar field with a canonical kinetic term and only…
The classical gravitational theory of a scalar field with a gradient coupling to the Ricci tensor is examined. This is a scalar-vector-tensor gravitational theory, but in the case that the coupling is weak and the scalar evolves like a…
Within the framework of the minimum quadratic Poincare gauge theory of gravity in the Riemann-Cartan spacetime we study the influence of gravitational vacuum energy density (a cosmological constant) on the dynamics of various gravitating…
Scalar fields with inverse power-law effective potentials may provide a negative pressure component to the energy density of the universe today, as required by cosmological observations. In order to be cosmologically relevant today, the…
A four dimensional scalar field theory with quartic and of higher power interactions suffers the triviality issue at the quantum level. This is due to coupling constants that, contrary to the physical expectations, seem to grow without a…
We discuss some of the issues which we encounter when we try to invoke the scalar-tensor theories of gravitation as a theoretical basis of quintessence. One of the advantages of appealing to these theories is that they allow us to implement…
We construct a simple non singular cosmological model in which the currently observed expansion phase was preceded by a contraction. This is achieved, in the framework of pure general relativity, by means of a radiation fluid and a free…
False vacuum decay in field theory may be formulated as a boundary value problem in Euclidean space. In a previous work, we studied its solution in single scalar field theories with quadratic gravity and used it to find obstructions to…
A matter-coupled scalar field model is presented in obtaining a scalar fifth force when the constraint of the current cosmological constant is satisfied. The interaction potential energy density between the scalar field and matter has a…
We consider a model involving a self-interacting complex scalar field minimally coupled to gravity and emphasize the cylindrically symmetric classical solutions. A general ansatz is performed which transforms the field equations into a…
The discovery of accelerated cosmic expansion implies that, in addition to the attractive gravity of matter, there exists in our universe some other form of energy (dark energy or cosmological constant) producing a repulsive force. The…