Related papers: Beyond $\Lambda$CDM: fundamental constants as cosm…
The observational evidence for the acceleration of the universe demonstrates that canonical theories of gravitation and particle physics are incomplete, if not incorrect. A new generation of astronomical facilities will shortly be able to…
The standard $\Lambda$CDM model of cosmology is largely successful in describing many observations, including precise measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. However, some intriguing anomalies remain currently…
Soft cosmology is an extension of standard cosmology allowing for a scale-dependent equation-of-state (EoS) parameter in the dark sectors, which is one of the properties of soft materials in condensed-matter physics, that may arise either…
The idea that the vacuum energy density $\rho_{\Lambda}$ could be time dependent is a most reasonable one in the expanding Universe; in fact, much more reasonable than just a rigid cosmological constant for the entire cosmic history. Being…
Notoriously, the two main problems of the standard $\Lambda$CDM model of cosmology are the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ and the cold dark matter, CDM. This essay shows that both the $\Lambda$ and the CDM arise as integration constants in…
The notion of ``fundamental constant'' is heavily theory-laden. A natural, fairly precise formulation is possible in the context of the standard model (here defined to include gravity). Some fundamental constants have profound geometric…
Recent observational results suggest that our universe is nearly flat and well modelled within a $\Lambda$CDM framework. The observed values of $\Omega_{m}$ and $\Omega_{\Lambda}$ inevitably involve uncertainties. Motivated by this, we make…
We use updated Hubble parameter and baryon acoustic oscillation data, as well as other lower-redshift Type Ia supernova, Mg II reverberation-measured quasar, quasar angular size, H II starburst galaxy, and Amati-correlated gamma-ray burst…
It is possible that there may be differences in the fundamental physical parameters from one side of the observed universe to the other. I show that the cosmological constant is likely to be the most sensitive of the physical parameters to…
The mismatch between the locally measured expansion rate of the universe and the one inferred from the cosmic microwave background measurements by Planck in the context of the standard $\Lambda$CDM, known as the Hubble tension, has become…
In this year, in which we celebrate 100 years of the cosmological term, $\Lambda$, in Einstein's gravitational field equations, we are still facing the crucial question whether $\Lambda$ is truly a fundamental constant or a mildly evolving…
The observational evidence for the recent acceleration of the universe demonstrates that canonical theories of cosmology and particle physics are incomplete---if not incorrect---and that new physics is out there, waiting to be discovered. A…
As an alternative to dark energy it has been suggested that we may be at the center of an inhomogeneous isotropic universe described by a Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) solution of Einstein's field equations. In order to test such an…
The $\Lambda$CDM framework offers a remarkably good description of our universe with a very small number of free parameters, which can be determined with high accuracy from currently available data. However, this does not mean that the…
Independent tests aiming to constrain the value of the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ are usually difficult because of its extreme smallness $\left(\Lambda \simeq 1\times 10^{-52}~\textrm{m}^{-2},~\textrm{or}~2.89\times…
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…
Recent results regarding dark energy are mutually inconsistent under the $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model, hinting at the possibility of undiscovered physics. However, the currently accepted cosmological parameters come from a joint…
The standard model of cosmology, {\Lambda}CDM, is the simplest model that matches the current observations, but it relies on two hypothetical components, to wit, dark matter and dark energy. Future galaxy surveys and cosmic microwave…
Problems with the concordance cosmology $\Lambda$CDM as the cosmological constant problem, coincidence problems and Hubble tension has led to many proposed alternatives, as the $\Lambda(t)$CDM, where the now called $\Lambda$ cosmological…
One of the most enduring and unresolved challenges in modern theoretical and observational cosmology is the fine-tuning and coincidence problems associated with the cosmological constant. Rather than attempting to reconcile these issues…