Related papers: Stronger gravity in the early universe
We consider the hypothesis of a limiting minimal curvature in gravity as a way to construct a class of theories exhibiting late-time cosmic acceleration. Guided by the minimal curvature conjecture (MCC) we are naturally lead to a set of…
We construct gravitational modifications that go beyond Horndeski, namely theories with extended nonminimal derivative couplings, in which the coefficient functions depend not only on the scalar field but also on its kinetic energy. Such…
A nonsingular emergent universe cosmology can be realized by a nonconventional spinor field as first developed in \cite{Cai:2012yf}. We study the mechanisms of generating scale-invariant primordial power spectrum of curvature perturbation…
The most accurate model to describe the gravitational interaction is the well-known theory of General Relativity. Several observational evidences corroborate the legitimacy of the theory compared to the older Newtonian gravity. General…
We show that a number of problems of modern cosmology may be addressed and solved in the framework of multidimensional gravity with high-order curvature invariants, without invoking other fields. As applications of this approach, we mention…
In scalar-tensor Horndeski theories, nonsingular cosmological models - bounce and genesis - are problematic because of potential ghost and/or gradient instabilities. One way to get around this obstacle is to send the effective Planck mass…
We study the dynamics of the early universe in massive conformal gravity. In particular, we show that the theory is consistent with the observed values of the primordial abundances of light elements if we consider the existence of…
In the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity, the intrinsic spin of fermionic matter generates spacetime torsion and induces gravitational repulsion at extremely high densities. This repulsion prevents the collapsing spin-fluid…
We show that the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity with torsion not only extends general relativity to account for the intrinsic spin of matter, but it may also eliminate major problems in gravitational physics and answer…
We propose a generalisation of the Weak Gravity Conjecture in the presence of scalar fields. The proposal is guided by properties of extremal black holes in ${\cal N}=2$ supergravity, but can be understood more generally in terms of…
In this work, we review a plethora of modified theories of gravity with generalized curvature-matter couplings. The explicit nonminimal couplings, for instance, between an arbitrary function of the scalar curvature $R$ and the Lagrangian…
A concise description is presented of the basic features of the formalism of non-canonical spacetime volume-forms and its application in modified gravity theories and cosmology. The well known unimodular gravity theory appears as a very…
We study $F(R)$ modified gravity models which are capable of driving the accelerating epoch of the Universe at the present time whilst not destroying the standard Big Bang and inflationary cosmology. Recent studies have shown that a weak…
It is widely accepted that the primordial universe experienced a brief period of accelerated expansion called inflation. This scenario provides a plausible solution to the horizon and flatness problems. However, the particle physics…
Under the assumption that General Relativity (GR) correctly describes the phenomenology of our Universe, astronomical observations provide compelling evidence that (1) the dynamics of cosmic structure is dominated by dark matter (DM), an…
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…
A unified description of early-time inflation with the current cosmic acceleration is achieved by means of a new theory that uses a quadratic model of gravity, with the inclusion of an exponential $F(R)$-gravity contribution for dark…
Evolution of primordial fluctuations in a Brans-Dicke type scalar-tensor gravity theory is comprehensively investigated. The harmonic attractor model, in which the scalar field has its harmonic effective potential in the Einstein conformal…
Gravitation is described in the context of a dilatonic theory that is conformally related to general relativity. All dimensionless ratios of fundamental dimensional quantities, e.g. particle masses and the Planck mass, as well as the…
We investigate the creation of dark matter particles as a result of the decay of the scalar field in the framework of warm inflationary models, by using the irreversible thermodynamics of open systems with matter creation/annihilation. We…