Related papers: WFIRST: The Essential Cosmology Space Observatory …
We present a community-led assessment of the solar system investigations achievable with NASA's next-generation space telescope, the Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST). WFIRST will provide imaging, spectroscopic, and…
We investigate the evolution of a spatially flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe in the framework of scalar non-metricity theory of gravity. In the model, we consider dark matter (DM) and dark energy (DE) described by the scalar…
Recent observations confirm that our universe is flat and consists of a dark energy component with negative pressure. This dark energy is responsible for the recent cosmic acceleration as well as determines the feature of future evolution…
The early cosmic inflation, when taken along with the recent observations that the universe is currently dominated by a low density vacuum energy, leads to at least two potential problems which modern cosmology must address. First, there is…
Abridged: The golden age of astrophysics is upon us with both grand discoveries (extra-solar planets, dark matter, dark energy) and precision cosmology. Fundamental understanding of the working of stars and galaxies is within reach, thanks…
The field of gamma-ray astronomy has experienced impressive progress over the last decade. Thanks to the advent of a new generation of imaging air Cherenkov telescopes (H.E.S.S., MAGIC, VERITAS) and thanks to the launch of the Fermi-LAT…
There is compelling evidence that the Universe is undergoing a late phase of accelerated expansion. One of the simplest explanations for this behaviour is the presence of dark energy. A plethora of microphysical models for dark energy have…
(Abridged) Cosmology faces three distinct challenges in the next decade. (1) The dark sector, both dark matter and dark energy, dominates the Universe. Key questions include determining the nature of both. Improved observational probes are…
In astro-ph/0601489, within the framework of the Einsteinian general relativity, we made the observation that if the universe is described by a spatially flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmology with Einsteinian cosmological constant…
The discovery of dark energy by the first generation of high-redshift supernova surveys has generated enormous interest beyond cosmology and has dramatic implications for fundamental physics. Distance measurements using supernova explosions…
While the LCDM framework has been incredibly successful for modern cosmology, it requires the admission of two mysterious substances as a part of the paradigm, dark energy and dark matter. Although this framework adequately explains most of…
A new generation of powerful dark energy experiments will open new vistas for cosmology in the next decade. However, these projects cannot reach their utmost potential without data from other telescopes. This white paper focuses in…
Improvements in the precision of the astrophysical flux scale are needed to answer fundamental scientific questions ranging from cosmology to stellar physics. The unexpected discovery that the expansion of the universe is accelerating was…
Euclid is a European Space Agency medium class mission selected for launch in 2019 within the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme. The main goal of Euclid is to understand the origin of the accelerated expansion of the Universe. Euclid will…
We propose that the size of the universe and its rate of expansion cannot be simultaneously specified with arbitrary precision, a quantum mechanical statement encoded in a deformed commutation relation for the scale factor. The deformation…
Understanding the space of possible theoretical explanations for the observed cosmic acceleration is a central challenge of modern cosmology. This brief document sketches selected aspects of approaches to this problem, focusing on the…
Despite the significant accomplishments of general relativity, numerous unresolved issues persist in our understanding of the cosmos. One of the most perplexing challenges is the ongoing accelerated expansion of the Universe, which…
To explain the cosmic speed up, brought to light by the recent SNIa and CMB observations, we propose the following: a) In a spacetime endowed with a FRW metric, we choose an empirical scale factor that best explains the observations. b) We…
I briefly review our current understanding of dark matter and dark energy. The first part of this paper focusses on issues pertaining to dark matter including observational evidence for its existence, current constraints and the `abundance…
Revolutionary advances in both theory and technology have launched cosmology into its most exciting period of discovery yet. Unanticipated components of the universe have been identified, promising ideas for understanding the basic features…