Related papers: Spatial Curvature from Super-Hubble Cosmological F…
Inflation creates large-scale cosmological density perturbations that are characterized by an isotropic, homogeneous, and Gaussian random distribution about a locally flat background. Even in a flat universe, the spatial curvature measured…
If the entire post-inflationary patch is large compared to our Hubble volume even a small level of non-Gaussianity can cause statistics of the primordial curvature field in our Hubble volume to be biased by mode-coupling. We explicitly…
The existence of cosmological perturbations of wavelength larger than the Hubble radius is a generic prediction of the inflationary paradigm. We provide the derivation beyond perturbation theory of a conserved quantity which generalizes the…
Current constraints on spatial curvature show that it is dynamically negligible: $|\Omega_{\rm K}| \lesssim 5 \times 10^{-3}$ (95% CL). Neglecting it as a cosmological parameter would be premature however, as more stringent constraints on…
This paper investigates the phenomenon of emergence of spatial curvature. This phenomenon is absent in the Standard Cosmological Model, which has a flat and fixed spatial curvature (small perturbations are considered in the Standard…
In this work, we consider four $f(R)$ gravity models -- the Hu-Sawicki, Starobinsky, Exponential and Tsujikawa models -- and use a range of cosmological data, together with Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling techniques, to constrain the…
We study the process whereby quantum cosmological perturbations become classical within inflationary cosmology. By setting up a master-equation formulation we show how quantum coherence for super-Hubble modes can be destroyed by their…
It is necessary to make assumptions in order to derive models to be used for cosmological predictions and comparison with observational data. In particular, in standard cosmology the spatial curvature is assumed to be constant and zero (or…
The spatial curvature of the universe is not yet known. Even though at present the Universe is very close to being essentially flat and most signatures of curvature appear to have been diluted by inflation, if the number of e-foldings…
We discuss the effect of super-Hubble cosmological fluctuations on the locally measured Hubble expansion rate. We consider a large bare cosmological constant in the early universe in the presence of scalar field matter (the dominant matter…
We explore the qualitative changes that would occur if the amplitude Q ~ 10^{-5} of cosmological density fluctuations were different. If is less than about 10^{-6}, the cosmological objects that form would have so low virial temperatures…
If the spatial curvature of the universe is positive, then the curvature term will always dominate at early enough times in a slow-rolling inflationary epoch. This enhances inflationary effects and hence puts limits on the possible number…
Astrophysical observations indicate that the ``Local Universe" has a relatively lower matter density ($\Omega_0$) than the predictions of the standard inflation cosmology and the large-scale motions of galaxies which provide a mean mass…
We show that adiabatic, super-Hubble, and almost scale invariant density fluctuations are produced by cosmic strings in a contracting universe. An essential point is that isocurvature perturbations produced by topological defects such as…
Very small mean curvature is a robust prediction of inflation worth rigorous checking. Since current constraints are derived from determinations of the angular-diameter distance to the CMB last-scattering surface, which is also affected by…
Inflationary cosmology predicts that the particle horizon should be generically much bigger than the present-day Hubble radius, $1/H_0$. This implies a special regime of super-Hubble scale energy density fluctuations imprinted on the cosmic…
If cosmological perturbations in our Hubble sized volume are nongaussian, then they will be coupled to any larger perturbation modes outside our Hubble volume. This has important consequences for modeling inflation: the scalar power…
The following review presents an attempt to discuss various issues of current interest in Observational Cosmology, the selection of which as well as the emphasis given, reflects my own preference and biases. After presenting some…
Nowadays, according to the observational evidences the curvature parameter of the universe is neglected and spatially flat FLRW model is on the top of interest for cosmologists. However, due to some discrepancies between $\Lambda$-CDM model…
The cosmological curvature perturbation may be generated when some `curvaton' field, different from the inflaton, oscillates in a background of unperturbed radiation. In its simplest form the curvaton paradigm requires the Hubble parameter…