Related papers: Improving Physical Cosmology: An Empiricist's Asse…
Even when completely and consistently formulated, a fundamental theory of physics and cosmological boundary conditions may not give unambiguous and unique predictions for the universe we observe; indeed inflation, string/M theory, and…
In this paper I investigate how well simple power law expansion fits observational data in comparison to the standard $\Lambda$CDM model. I analyze a data set consisting of cosmic chronometer, standard ruler, and standard candle…
The status of the standard cosmological model, also known as "LCDM" is described. With some simple assumptions, this model fits a wide range of data, with just six (or seven) free parameters. One should be skeptical about this claim, since…
In this review, we outline the expected tests of gravity that will be achieved at cosmological scales in the upcoming decades. We focus mainly on constraints on phenomenologically parameterized deviations from general relativity, which…
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 at least as large as the Fermi scale. The…
We perform a cosmographic analysis using several cosmological observables such as the luminosity distance moduli, the volume distance, the angular diameter distance and the Hubble parameter. These quantities are determined using different…
The case is simple: there is no compelling theoretical argument against a cosmological constant and LambdaCDM is the only CDM model that is consistent with all present observations. LambdaCDM has two noteworthy features: it can be falsified…
Recent astronomical observations indicate that our Universe is undergoing a period of an accelerated expansion. While there are many cosmological models, which explain this phenomenon, the main question remains which is the best one in the…
These lectures were addressed to nonspecialists willing to learn some basic facts, approaches, tools and observational evidence which conform modern cosmology. The aim is also to try to complement the many excellent treatises that exists on…
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…
The LCDM cosmological model assumes the existence of a small cosmological constant in order to explain the observed accelerating cosmic expansion. Despite the dramatic improvement of the quality of cosmological data during the last decade…
Cosmological observables are used to construct cosmological models. Since cosmological observations are limited to the light cone, a fixed number of observables (even measured to arbitrary accuracy) may not uniquely determine a cosmological…
A precise measurement of the curvature of the Universe is of primeval importance for cosmology since it could not only confirm the paradigm of primordial inflation but also help in discriminating between different early Universe scenarios.…
Cosmological observations offer unique and robust avenues for probing the fundamental nature of dark matter particles-they broadly test a range of compelling theoretical scenarios, often surpassing or complementing the reach of terrestrial…
I review the major concordances and controversies of the meeting concerning observations. Cosmologists are nearing agreement on the global cosmological parameters of the Universe. A few parameters still have large error bars, notably…
In the past decade, observational cosmology has had one of the most exciting periods in the past century. The precision with which we have been able to measure cosmological parameters has increased tremendously, while at the same time, we…
The $\Lambda$CDM model provides a good fit to most astronomical observations but harbors large areas of phenomenology and ignorance. With the improvements in the precision and number of observations, discrepancies between key cosmological…
The great advances in the network of cosmological tests show that the relativistic Big Bang theory is a good description of our expanding universe. But the properties of nearby galaxies that can be observed in greatest detail suggest a…
The network of cosmological tests is tight enough now to show that the relativistic Big Bang cosmology is a good approximation to what happened as the universe expanded and cooled through light element production and evolved to the present.…
There has been significant recent progress in observational cosmology. This, in turn, has provided an unprecedented picture of the early universe and its evolution. In this review I will present a (biased) view of how one can use these…