Related papers: Harrison-Zel'dovich scale invariance and the expon…
In scale-invariant models of fundamental physics, mass scales are generated by spontaneous symmetry breaking. In this work, we study inflation in scale-invariant $R^2$ gravity, in which the Planck mass is generated by a scalar field, which…
The concept of deformation of Riemannian geometry is reviewed, with applications to gravitation and cosmology. Starting with an analysis of the cosmological constant problem, it is shown that space-times are deformable in the sense of local…
We discuss the way of solving the hierarchy problem. We show that starting at the Planck scale, the three energy scales -- inflationary, electroweak and the cosmological ones can be restored. The formation of small parameters is proposed…
In this work, a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe with dust and a cosmological constant is quantized. By means of a canonical transformation, the classical Hamiltonian is reduced to that of either a harmonic oscillator or…
Observations indicate that our universe is characterized by a late-time accelerating phase, possibly driven by a cosmological constant $\Lambda$, with the dimensionless parameter $\Lambda L_P^2 \simeq 10^{-122}$, where $L_P = (G \hbar…
This paper investigates a scale-invariant inflationary model characterized by a scalar field non-minimally coupled to gravity and a curvature term quadratic in the Ricci scalar. The model's dynamic is analyzed using a full numerical…
Most of the phenomenology of loop quantum gravity in the cosmological sector is based on the so-called holonomy correction to the Hamiltonian constraint. It straightforwardly modifies the Friedmann equations. In this work, we investigate…
A Planck scale inflationary era -- in a quantum gravity theory predicting discreteness of quantum geometry at the fundamental scale -- produces the scale invariant spectrum of inhomogeneities with very small tensor-to-scalar ratio of…
The structure formation in the local Universe is considered within the weak-field modification of General Relativity involving the cosmological constant. This approach enables to describe the dynamics of groups and clusters of galaxies, to…
We discuss the cosmological implications of an extended Brans-Dicke theory presented recently, in which there is an energy exchange between the scalar field and ordinary matter, determined by the theory. A new mass scale is generated in the…
A general-relativistic theory of cosmology, the dynamical variables of which are those of Hubble's, namely distances and redshifts, is presented. The theory describes the universe as having a three-phase evolution with a decelerating…
Recent astrophysical observations seem to indicate that the cosmological constant is small but nonzero and positive. The old cosmological constant problem asks why it is so small; we must now ask, in addition, why it is nonzero (and is in…
We consider a novel model of cosmic inflation. In our model one does not need any specific matter field to drive inflation, but inflation stems from the microscopic, Planck scale structure of spacetime, thus being of quantum gravitational…
We start with a brief account of the latest analysis of the Oklo phenomenon providing the still most stringent constraint on time-variability of the fine- structure constant $\alpha$. Comparing this with the recent result from the…
Postulating that all massless elementary fields have conformal scaling symmetry removes a conflict between gravitational theory and the standard model of elementary quantum fields. If the scalar field essential to SU(2) symmetry breaking…
Assuming that the background geometry is filled with free gas consisting of matter and radiation and no phase transitions being occurred in the early Universe, we discuss the thermodynamics of this {\it closed} system using classical…
After a short history of the $\Lambda$-term it is explained why the (effective) cosmological constant is expected to obtain contributions from short-distance-physics, corresponding to an energy scale of at least 100 GeV. The actual tiny…
We show that the presence of a temporal electromagnetic field on cosmological scales generates an effective cosmological constant which can account for the accelerated expansion of the universe. Primordial electromagnetic quantum…
The quantization of unimodular gravity in minisuperspace leads to a time evolution of states generated by the Hamiltonian, as in usual quantum mechanics. We revisit the analysis made in Ref. \cite{unruh}, extending it to phantom scalar…
This article reviews basic construction and cosmological implications of a power-counting renormalizable theory of gravitation recently proposed by Horava. We explain that (i) at low energy this theory does not exactly recover general…