Related papers: How flat is the Universe?
A scalar-tensor theory of gravity is formulated in which $G$ and particle masses are allowed to vary. The theory yields a globally static cosmological model with no evolutionary timescales, no cosmological coincidences, and no flatness and…
Fourteen classical double radio galaxies with redshifts between zero and two were used to determine the cosmological parameters $\Omega_m$, $\Omega_{\Lambda}$, and $\Omega_k$, where these are the normalized values of the mean mass density,…
A local void in the globally Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmological model with the critical density ($\Omega_{0}=1$) is studied. The inhomogeneity is described using a Lema\^{\i}tre-Tolman-Bondi solution for a spherically symmetric…
We investigate the gravitational property of the quantum vacuum by treating its large energy density predicted by quantum field theory seriously and assuming that it does gravitate to obey the equivalence principle of general relativity. We…
Within the $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model, the absolute value of Einstein's cosmological constant $\Lambda$, sometimes expressed as the gravitating mass-energy density $\rho_\Lambda$ of the physical vacuum, is a fundamental constant of…
Modern observations based on general relativity indicate that the spatial geometry of the expanding, large-scale Universe is very nearly Euclidean. This basic empirical fact is at the core of the so-called "flatness problem", which is…
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…
It is noticed that the total relative density of mass in the Universe Omega_tot should exceed 1, i.e. Omega_tot=1+f^2/6 according to the field relativistic theory of gravity (RTG), which is free of the cosmological singularity and which…
We show that evolution of the luminosity density of galaxies in the universe provides a powerful test for the geometry of the universe. Using reasonable galaxy evolution models of population synthesis which reproduce the colors of local…
I point out that an effective upper limit of approximately 20 Gyr (for a Hubble constant of 72 km/s/Mpc) or alternatively on the $H_0$-independent quantity $H_0t_0 < 1.47$, exists on the age of the Universe, essentially independent of the…
Extensive analyses of statistical strong gravitational lensing are performed based on the final Cosmic Lens All Sky Survey (CLASS) well-defined statistical sample of flat spectrum radio sources and current estimates of galaxy luminosity…
The great emptiness is a possible beginning of the Universe in the infinite past of physical time. For the epoch of great emptiness particles are extremely rare and effectively massless. Only expectation values of fields and average…
We show that the equations of motion governing the evolution of a collisionless gravitating system of particles in an expanding universe can be cast in a form which is almost independent of the cosmological density parameter, $\Omega$, and…
The evidence of environmental dependence of Type Ia supernova luminosity has inspired recent discussion about whether the late-universe cosmic acceleration is still supported by supernova data. We adopt the…
The paper uses geometrical arguments to derive equations with relevance for cosmology; 5-dimensional spacetime is assumed because it has been shown in other works to provide a setting for significant unification of different areas of…
We discuss the cosmological degeneracy between the age of the Universe, the Hubble parameter and the effective number of relativistic particles N_eff. We show that independent determinations of the Hubble parameter H(z) as those recently…
The lensing effect of curved space, which can cause the angular diameter of a fixed reference length seen on the sky to reach a minimum and then increase with redshift, depends sensitively on the value of the cosmological constant,…
We consider constraints on the amplitude of mass fluctuations in the universe, sigma_8, derived from two simple observations: the present number density of clusters and the amplitude of their correlation function. Allowing for the…
The age problem in the $\Lambda$CDM model is re-examined. We define the elapsed time $T$ of an object is its age plus the age of the Universe when it was born. Therefore in any cosmology, $T$ must be smaller than the age of the Universe.…
We calculate the average numbers of closed, flat, and open universes spontaneously created from nothing in third quantization. The creation of universes is exponentially suppressed for large values of the kinetic energy of the inflaton,…