Related papers: Contemporary Cosmology from Lakatos' viewpoint
The current standard model of cosmology - the {\ensuremath{\Lambda}}CDM model - is appropriately named after its controversial foreign ingredients: a cosmological constant ({\ensuremath{\Lambda}}) that accounts for the recent accelerated…
Modern cosmological theories invoke the idea that all structure in the Universe originates from quantum fluctuations. Understanding the quantum-to-classical transition for these fluctuations is of central importance not only for the…
In the history of cosmology physical paradoxes played important role for development of contemporary world models. Within the modern standard cosmological model there are both observational and conceptual cosmological paradoxes which…
We give an overview of the status of string cosmology. We explain the motivation for the subject, outline the main problems, and assess some of the proposed solutions. Our focus is on those aspects of cosmology that benefit from the…
In these lectures we first concentrate on the cosmological problems which, hopefully, have to do with the new physics to be probed at the LHC: the nature and origin of dark matter and generation of matter-antimatter asymmetry. We give…
Over the past decades, advancements in observational cosmology have introduced us in an era of precision cosmology, dramatically enhancing our understanding of the Universe's history as well as bringing new tensions to light. Observations…
We discuss scientific realism from the perspective of modern cosmology, especially primordial cosmology: i.e. the cosmological investigation of the very early universe. We first (Section 2) state our allegiance to scientific realism, and…
We introduce the notion of the cosmic numbers of a cosmological model, and discuss how they can be used to naturally classify models according to their ability to solve some of the problems of the standard cosmological model.
Certain results of observational cosmology cast critical doubt on the foundations of standard cosmology but leave most cosmologists untroubled. Alternative cosmological models that differ from the Big Bang have been published and defended…
Cosmological discoveries over the past century have completely changed our picture of our place in the universe. New observations have a realistic chance of probing nature on heretofore unimaginable scales, and as a result are changing the…
We review the problems related to the definition and use of the ecliptic in modern astronomy and we discuss whether the concept of an ecliptic is still needed for some specific uses.
Quantum cosmology offers a unique stage to address questions of time related to its underlying (and perhaps truly quantum dynamical) meaning as well as its origin. Some of these issues can be analyzed with a general scheme of quantum…
Cosmology is a well established research area in physics while dynamical systems are well established in mathematics. It turns out that dynamical system techniques are very well suited to study many aspects of cosmology. The aim of this…
This review presents an introduction to Quantum Cosmology, including the mathematical methods essential to the canonical approach, some of the existing conceptual problems and the connection of the models to possible observables.
We propose a connection between the visualisation of cosmic matter and structure formation in the Cartesian tradition and that used by contemporary astrophysics. More precisely, we identify cosmological simulations of large scale structure…
In this brief essay we consider the concept of beginning in cosmology. It can be applied to the Universe as a whole, as well as to various epochs in the cosmic history and major structures as we can see them today.
We review the current standard model for the evolution of cosmic structure, tracing its development over the last forty years and focusing specifically on the role played by numerical simulations and on aspects related to the nature of dark…
I discuss how modern cosmology illustrates under-determination of theoretical hypotheses by data, in ways that are different from most philosophical discussions. I emphasize cosmology's concern with what data could in principle be collected…
With the beginning of the XXIst century, a physical model of our Universe, usually called the Standard Cosmological Model (SCM), is reaching an important level of consolidation, based on accurate astrophysical data and also on theoretical…
Loop quantum cosmology is a conflicted field in which exuberant claims of observability coexist with serious objections against the conceptual and physical viability of its current formulations. This contribution presents a non-technical…