Related papers: The Emperor's New Arc: gigaparsec patterns abound …
The cosmic microwave background radiation allows us to measure both the geometry and topology of the universe. It has been argued that the COBE-DMR data already rule out models that are multiply connected on scales smaller than the particle…
The claim that large-scale structure data independently prefers the Lambda Cold Dark Matter model is a myth. However, an updated compilation of large-scale structure observations cannot rule out Lambda CDM at 95% confidence. We explore the…
Saulder et al [2019, A&A, 622, A83; arXiv:1811.11976] have performed a novel observational test of the local expansion of the Universe for the standard cosmology as compared to an alternative model with differential cosmic expansion. Their…
Cosmological parameters are constrained by a wide variety of observations. We examine the concordance diagram for modern measurements of the Hubble constant, the shape parameter from large scale structure, the cluster baryon fraction, and…
According to the separate universe conjecture, spherically symmetric sub-regions in an isotropic universe behave like mini-universes with their own cosmological parameters. This is an excellent approximation in both Newtonian and general…
Some physical imprints of quintessence scalar fields on dark matter (DM) clustering are illustrated, and a comparison with the concordance model $\Lambda CDM$ is highlighted. First, we estimate the cosmological parameters for two…
The standard cosmological model assumes a homogeneous and isotropic universe as the background spacetime on large scales called the cosmological principle. However, some observations suggest the possibility of an inhomogeneous and…
The detection of planar structures within the satellite systems of both the Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31) has been reported as being in stark contradiction to the predictions of the standard cosmological model ($\Lambda$CDM). Given the…
Although big bang cosmology effectively models even the most puzzling observational data, it offers no insight into why the cosmological expansion should occur at all. In this paper it is suggested that a finite Universe poses particular…
We investigate the potential of observations of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large-scale structure in the Universe to detect possible modifications of standard inflationary models by physics beyond the Planck…
The concordance model of cosmology, LCDM, provides a satisfactory description of the evolution of the universe and the growth of large scale structure. Despite considerable effort, this model does not at present provide a satisfactory…
The observational evidence for the acceleration of the universe demonstrates that canonical theories of gravitation and particle physics are incomplete, if not incorrect. The next generation of astronomical facilities must both be able to…
Several anomalies appear to be present in the large-angle cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy maps of WMAP, including the alignment of large-scale multipoles. Models in which isotropy is spontaneously broken (e.g., by a scalar…
The formation and evolution of galaxies and other astrophysical objects have become of great interest, especially since the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope in 2021. The mass, size, and density of objects in the early universe…
The James Webb Space Telescope has found an unexpected population of high-mass galaxies ($\log (M^\star / {\rm M} _\odot) \gtrsim 10$) with extremely small effective radii ($\sim 100\,\rm pc$) at $z \gtrsim 6$. Also, the existence of an…
We investigate our knowledge of early universe cosmology by exploring how much additional energy density can be placed in different components beyond those in the $\Lambda$CDM model. To do this we use a method to separate early- and…
Despite its continued observational successes, there is a persistent (and growing) interest in extending cosmology beyond the standard model, $\Lambda$CDM. This is motivated by a range of apparently serious theoretical issues, involving…
[abridged] We propose a model of the Universe (dubbed $\eta$CDM) featuring a stochastic evolution of the cosmological quantities, that is meant to render small deviations from homogeneity/isotropy on scales of $30-50\, h^{-1}$ Mpc at late…
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…
The increasing precision of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations has unveiled significant tensions between different datasets, notably between Planck and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), as well as with the late-Universe…