Related papers: Cosmology and the Early Universe
Scalar-tensor theories of gravity that embrace conformal coupling to the scalar curvature are the focal point of cosmology on discussions of inflation and late-time accelerating universe. Although there exists a stringent nucleo-synthesis…
A brief but broad survey is presented of the flows, forms and large-scale transformations of mass-energy in the universe, spanning a range of about twenty orders of magnitude (m_{Planck}/m_{proton}) in space, time and mass. Forms of energy…
I review in these lectures our present understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe, making emphasis on the most recent observations of the acceleration of the universe, the precise measurements of the microwave background…
Combining intervals of ekpyrotic (ultra-slow) contraction with a (non-singular) classical bounce naturally leads to a novel cyclic theory of the universe in which the Hubble parameter, energy density and temperature oscillate periodically,…
This White Paper to the National Academy of Sciences Astro2010 Decadal Review Committee outlines some of the outstanding questions regarding the assembly history of Massive Black Holes in the nuclei of galaxies and the revolutionary…
In this whitepaper, we outline how recent technological advances and ongoing developments open qualitatively new science opportunities in cosmology, fundamental physics, and quantum astrophysics. First, intensity interferometry can…
General relativity describes the gravitational field geometrically and in a self-interacting way because it couples to all forms of energy, including its own. Both features make finding a quantum theory difficult, yet it is important in the…
The quark matter may have great implications in astrophysical studies, which could appear in the early Universe, in compact stars, and/or as cosmic rays. After a general review of astrophysical quark matter, the density-dominated quark…
Theories of dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking predict a strong first order cosmological phase transition: we compute the resulting signals, primordial black holes and gravitational waves. These theories employ one SM-neutral scalar,…
This is a pedagogical introduction to early cosmology and the host of fundamental physics involved in it (particle physics, grand unification and general relativity). Inflation and the inflaton field are the central theme of this review.…
Modern astrophysical and cosmological models are plagued with two severe theoretical difficulties, namely, the dark energy and the dark matter problems. Relative to the former, high-precision observational data have confirmed with startling…
The premise of "near-field cosmology" is that the study of nearby low-mass galaxies on a star-by-star basis has implications that extend far beyond the local Universe and include the nature of dark matter, lives and deaths of the first…
Recent cosmic microwave background data in temperature and polarization have reached high precision in estimating all the parameters that describe the current so-called standard cosmological model. Recent results about the integrated…
The cosmic microwave background anisotropy is sensitive to the slope and amplitude of primordial energy density and gravitational wave fluctuations, the baryon density, the Hubble constant, the cosmological constant, the ionization history,…
We observe the past and present of the universe, but can we predict the far future? Observations suggest that in thousands of billions of years from now most matter and radiation will be absorbed by the cosmological horizon. As it absorbs…
Several processes in the early universe might lead to the formation of primordial black holes with different masses. These black holes would interact with the cosmic plasma through accretion and emission processes. Such interactions might…
We review the implications of modern higher-dimensional theories of gravity for astrophysics and cosmology. In particular, we discuss the latest developments of space-time-matter theory in connection with dark matter, particle dynamics and…
We discuss some current problems in the relationship between elementary particle physics and gravitation, i.e., in the subject investigated by Prof.~K.~P.~Staniukovich half a century ago. Specifically, the inflationary stage of the Universe…
This paper outlines astrophysical issues related to the long term fate of the universe. We consider the evolution of planets, stars, stellar populations, galaxies, and the universe itself over time scales which greatly exceed the current…
We devise a novel mechanism and for the first time demonstrate that the Higgs model in particle physics can drive the inflation to satisfy the cosmic microwave background observations and simultaneously enhance the curvature perturbations…