Related papers: Cosmology Intertwined I: Perspectives for the Next…
In a historical perspective, compact solutions of Einstein's equations, including the cosmological constant and the curvature terms, are obtained, starting from two recent observational estimates of the Hubble's parameter (H0) and the "age"…
Cosmology is intrinsically intertwined with questions in fundamental physics. The existence of non-baryonic dark matter requires new physics beyond the Standard Model of elemenatary-particle interactions and Einstein's general relativity,…
The current expansion of the Universe has been observed to be accelerating, and the widely accepted spatially-flat concordance model of general relativistic cosmology attributes this phenomenon to a constant dark energy, a cosmological…
We review the observational foundations of the $\Lambda$CDM model, considered by most cosmologists as the standard model of cosmology. The Cosmological Principle, a key assumption of the model is shown to be verified with increasing…
The standard model of cosmology is investigated using time dependent cosmological constant $\Lambda$ and Newton's gravitational constant $G$. The total energy content is described by the modified Chaplygin gas equation of state. It is found…
Notoriously, the two main problems of the standard $\Lambda$CDM model of cosmology are the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ and the cold dark matter, CDM. This essay shows that both the $\Lambda$ and the CDM arise as integration constants in…
While the standard, six-parameter, spatially flat $\Lambda$CDM model has been highly successful, certain anomalies in the cosmic microwave background bring out a tension between this model and observations. The statistical significance of…
We analyze Brans-Dicke gravity with a cosmological constant, $\Lambda$, and cold dark matter (BD-$\Lambda$CDM for short) in the light of the latest cosmological observations on distant supernovae, Hubble rate measurements at different…
We use linear and quasi-linear perturbation theory to analyse cold dark matter models of structure formation in spatially flat models with a cosmological constant. Both a tilted spectrum of density perturbations and a significant…
The cosmic microwave background temperature is a cornerstone astrophysical observable. Its present value is tightly constrained, but its redshift dependence, which can now be determined until redshift $z\sim6.34$, is also an important probe…
Given the persistence of various tensions in the "Cosmic Concordance" -- such as the "Hubble Tension", and possible departures from LambdaCDM time evolution -- seen from combinations of complementary data sets (e.g., Cosmic Microwave…
The simplest cosmological model ($\Lambda$CDM) is well-known to suffer from the Hubble tension, namely an almost $5 \sigma$ discrepancy between the (model-based) early-time determination of the Hubble constant $H_0$ and its late-time (and…
For 100 years since galaxies were found to be flying apart from each other, astronomers have been trying to determine how fast. The expansion, characterized by the Hubble constant, H0, is confused locally by peculiar velocities caused by…
I consider some of the issues we face in trying to understand dark energy. Huge fluctuations in the unknown dark energy equation of state can be hidden in distance data, so I argue that model-independent tests which signal if the…
We explore freezing dark energy, where the evolution of the field approaches that of a cosmological constant at late times. We propose two general, two parameter forms to describe the class of freezing field models, in analogy to ones for…
We study the minimally and non-minimally coupled scalar field models as possible alternatives for dark energy, the mysterious energy component that is driving the accelerated expansion of the universe. After discussing the dynamics at both…
Recent results regarding dark energy are mutually inconsistent under the $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model, hinting at the possibility of undiscovered physics. However, the currently accepted cosmological parameters come from a joint…
Up-to-date cosmological data analyses have shown that \textit{(a)} a closed universe is preferred by the Planck data at more than $99\%$ CL, and \textit{(b)} interacting scenarios offer a very compelling solution to the Hubble constant…
A generalized quintessence model is presented which corresponds to a richer vacuum structure that, besides a time-dependent, slowly varying scalar field, contains a varying cosmological term. From first principles we determine a number of…
In these lectures I review the standard hot big-bang cosmology, emphasizing its successes, its shortcomings, and its major challenges-developing a detailed understanding of the formation of structure in the Universe and identifying the…