Related papers: Geodesic Structure of the Accelerated Stephani Uni…
We consider the motion of small bodies in general relativity. The key result captures a sense in which such bodies follow timelike geodesics (or, in the case of charged bodies, Lorentz-force curves). This result clarifies the relationship…
Cosmological departures from general relativity offer a possible explanation for the cosmic acceleration. To linear order, these departures (quantified by the model-independent parameter $\varpi$, referred to as a `gravitational slip')…
In dynamic spacetimes in which asymmetric gravitational collapse/expansion is taking place, the timelike geodesic equation appears to exhibit an interesting property: Relative to the collapsing configuration, free test particles undergo…
Observational manifestations of some models of modified gravity, which have been suggested to explain the accelerated cosmological expansion, are analyzed for gravitating systems with time dependent mass density. It is shown that if the…
We discuss recent evidence for an accelerating Universe from measurements of type Ia supernovae at high redshift, and describe tests of various systematic effects such as extinction and evolution that could be biasing the cosmological…
Examination of the free-fall motion of particles of extremely high-speed in the Schwarzschild geometry reveals that the gravitational acceleration of such particles is reversed when measured in Schwarzschild coordinates. High-speed…
Much of standard galaxy dynamics rests on the implicit assumption that the corresponding N-body problem is (near) integrable. This notion although leading to great simplification is by no means a fact. It is therefore important to develop…
Transformation rules for coordinates, velocities and accelerations in accelerated reference frames are derived. A generalized approach of the special relativity is taken for a basis. A 7-dimensional space including projections of velocity…
We propose that particles are associated both with localized macroscopic states at point vertices and with extended microscopic states at all vacuum points. The self-fields screen the microscopic particle currents everywhere except at the…
The compactification of M theory with time dependent hyperbolic internal space gives an effective scalar field with exponential potential which provides a transient acceleration in Einstein frame in four dimensions. Ordinary matter and…
The Universe, far to be homogenous, expands in large empty bubbles of the large-scale structure, but not in mass concentrations like galaxies, so that the Robertson-Walker solution does not fit. We suggest that a symmetry breaking occurred…
Context: Typical space plasmas contain spatially and temporally variable turbulent electromagnetic fields. Understanding the transport of energetic particles and the acceleration mechanisms for charged particles is an important goal of…
The spacetimes for Vaidya's radiating stellar exterior and Kinnersley's photon rocket in a cosmological background are obtained by performing the same conformal transformation as is used to obtain the Robertson-Walker metric from Minkowski…
We test Einstein gravity using cosmological observations of both expansion and structure growth, including the latest data from supernovae (Union2.1), CMB (WMAP7), weak lensing (CFHTLS) and peculiar velocity of galaxies (WiggleZ). We fit…
A physicaly reasonable interpretation is provided for the perfect fluid, sphericaly symmetric, conformally flat ``Stephani Universes''. The free parameters of this class of exact solutions are determined so that the ideal gas relation $p=n…
In braneworld models a variable vacuum energy may appear if the size of the extra dimension changes during the evolution of the universe. In this scenario the acceleration of the universe is related not only to the variation of the…
That the speed of light in free space is constant is a cornerstone of modern physics. However, light beams have finite transverse size, which leads to a modification of their wavevectors resulting in a change to their phase and group…
We study the motion of a test particle in a stationary, axially and reflection symmetric spacetime of a central compact object, as affected by interaction with a test radiation field of the same symmetries. Considering the radiation flux…
In classes on cosmology, students are often told that photons stretch as space expands, but just how physical is this picture? Does space really expand? In this article, we explore the notion of the redshift of light with Einstein's general…
Based on some observations, the apparent energy, associated with gravity, of vacuums is defined, with that of normal vacuums to be zero and that of the vacuums losing some energy to be negative. An important application of the energy is its…