Related papers: Robustness of slow contraction to cosmic initial c…
We study the detailed process by which slow contraction smooths and flattens the universe using an improved numerical relativity code that accepts initial conditions with non-perturbative deviations from homogeneity and isotropy along two…
Advances in our understanding of the origin, evolution and structure of the universe have long been driven by cosmological perturbation theory, model building and effective field theory. In this review, we introduce numerical relativity as…
Performing a fully non-perturbative analysis using the tools of numerical general relativity, we demonstrate that a period of slow contraction is a `supersmoothing' cosmological phase that homogenizes, isotropizes and flattens the universe…
This review is an up-to-date account of the use of numerical relativity to study dynamical, strong-gravity environments in a cosmological context. First, we provide a gentle introduction into the use of numerical relativity in solving…
In the standard concordance cosmology the spatial curvature is assumed to be constant and zero (or at least very small). In particular, in numerical computations of the structure of the universe using N-body simulations, exact periodic…
In this paper, we model the bounce phase, stability, and the reconstruction of the universe by non-minimal kinetic coupling. In the process, we obtained importance information about the energy density and the matter pressure of the universe…
We use numerical relativity simulations to explore the conditions for a canonical scalar field $\phi$ minimally coupled to Einstein gravity to generate an extended phase of slow contraction that robustly smooths the universe for a wide…
In a systematic study, we use an equivalent pair of improved numerical relativity codes based on a tetrad-formulation of the classical Einstein-scalar field equations to examine whether slow contraction or inflation (or both) can resolve…
We demonstrate that the rapidity and robustness of slow contraction in homogenizing and flattening the universe found in simulations in which the initial conditions were restricted to non-perturbative variations described by a single…
In cosmology, the cosmic curvature $K$ and the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ are two important parameters, and the values have strong influence on the behavior of the universe. In the context of normal cosmology, under the ordinary…
In order to account for the observable Universe, any comprehensive theory or model of cosmology must draw from many disciplines of physics, including gauge theories of strong and weak interactions, the hydrodynamics and microphysics of…
This is the first in a series of papers devoted to fully general-relativistic $N$-body simulations applied to late-time cosmology. The purpose of this paper is to present the combination of a numerical relativity scheme, discretization…
Numerical simulations are becoming a more effective tool for conducting detailed investigations into the evolution of our universe. In this article, we show how the framework of numerical relativity can be used for studying cosmological…
We find initial data for numerical relativity simulations of inhomogeneous cosmologies. This involves treating an exceptional case of the general relativity constraint equations. We devise analytic and numerical methods to treat this…
Numerical simulations are a key tool to decipher the dynamics of gravitation. Yet, they fail to spatially reproduce the Universe we observe, limiting comparison between observations and simulations to a statistical level. This is highly…
A period of slow contraction with equation of state w > 1, known as an ekpyrotic phase, has been shown to flatten and smooth the universe if it begins the phase with small perturbations. In this paper, we explore how robust and powerful the…
Within present constraints on the observed smooth energy and its equation of state parameter, it is important to find out whether the smooth energy is static (cosmological constant) or dynamic (quintessence). The most dynamical quintessence…
Some recent studies based on numerical relativity simulations claim that slow contraction/ekpyrosis is strongly preferred over inflation as the smoothing mechanism that brought the universe into the homogeneous, isotropic and flat state we…
The slow-roll approximation is an analytical approach to study dynamical properties of the inflationary universe. In this article, systematic construction of the slow-roll expansion for effective loop quantum cosmology is presented. The…
We introduce "anamorphic" cosmology, an approach for explaining the smoothness and flatness of the universe on large scales and the generation of a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of adiabatic density perturbations. The defining feature is…