Related papers: Attracting without being attracted: Dark Matter as…
Spacetime geometry is described by two -- {\em a priori} independent -- geometric structures: the symmetric connection $\Gamma$ and the metric tensor $g$. Metricity condition of $\Gamma$ (i.e. $\nabla g = 0$) is implied by the Palatini…
A solution to Einstein's field equations via the Friedman equations is shown to produce a cosmological model that is in exact agreement with the measurements made by the dark energy astronomers. All the essential physical parameters are…
Viable corrections to the matter sector of Poisson's equation may result in qualitatively different astrophysical phenomenology, for example the gravitational collapse and the properties of compact objects can change drastically. We discuss…
We consider the growth rate of matter perturbations in the Einstein dark energy theory. The theory consists of the Einstien-Hilbert Lagrangian plus the trace of the energy momentum tensor, coupled non-minimally to a dynamical vector field.…
In a recent paper we demonstrated how the simplest model for varying alpha may be interpreted as the effect of a dielectric material, generalized to be consistent with Lorentz invariance. Unlike normal dielectrics, such a medium cannot…
In Einstein equations we represent the energy-momentum tensor as the one ($T^{\mu\nu}$ ) of a fluid plus the cosmological term. We consider time-dependent Newton ``constant" $G$, the cosmological term $\Lambda$ and non-conserved…
We study a generally covariant model in which local Lorentz invariance is broken "spontaneously" by a dynamical unit timelike vector field $u^a$---the "aether". Such a model makes it possible to study the gravitational and cosmological…
We work on a 4-manifold equipped with Lorentzian metric $g$ and consider a volume-preserving diffeomorphism which is the unknown quantity of our mathematical model. The diffeomorphism defines a second Lorentzian metric $h$, the pullback of…
Cosmic acceleration is widely believed to require either a source of negative pressure (i.e., dark energy), or a modification of gravity, which necessarily implies new degrees of freedom beyond those of Einstein gravity. In this paper we…
Recent work has shown that non-local modifications of gravity involving terms such as $m^2R\Box^{-2}R$ (and no cosmological constant) provide a phenomenologically viable alternative to $\Lambda$CDM. We first discuss the possibility that…
We investigate duality transformations in a class of backgrounds with non-Abelian isometries, i.e. Bianchi-type (homogeneous) cosmologies in arbitrary dimensions. Simple duality transformations for the metric and the antisymmetric tensor…
With Einstein's inertial motion (free-falling and non-rotating relative to gyroscopes), geodesics for non-relativistic particles can intersect repeatedly, allowing one to compute the space-time curvature $R^{\hat{0} \hat{0}}$ exactly.…
A complete Lagrangian and Hamiltonian description of the theory of self-gravitating light-like matter shells is given in terms of gauge-independent geometric quantities. For this purpose the notion of an extrinsic curvature for a null-like…
Examples in which spacetime might become non-Riemannian appear above Planck energies in string theory or, in the very early universe, in the inflationary model. The simplest such geometry is metric-affine geometry, in which {\it…
We show how, in canonical quantum cosmology, the frame fixing induces a new energy density contribution having features compatible with the (actual) cold dark matter component of the Universe. First we quantize the closed…
Theories on the bosonic nature of dark matter are a promising alternative to the cold dark matter model. Here we consider a dark matter halo in the state of a Bose-Einstein condensate, subject to the gravitation of a black hole. In the low…
In this thesis we are interested in the problem of dark energy in cosmology. In particular, we consider the possibility that this effect is due to an infrared non-local modification of the theory of General Relativity. Inspired by massive…
Gravitational effective field theories with nondynamical backgrounds explicitly break diffeomorphism and local Lorentz invariance. At the same time, to maintain observer independence the action describing these theories is required to be…
We show that a metastable dark matter candidate arises naturally from the conformal transformation between the Einstein metric, where gravitons are normalised states, and the Jordan metric dictating the coupling between gravity and matter.…
We show that Einstein's equations in a non-standard gauge have vacuum solutions with an asymptotically flat rotation curve as it is observed in the dark halos of galaxies. Introducing a material disk into this model we find a matter density…