Related papers: Constraints on the tensor mode from large scale st…
Scalar-tensor quintessence models can be constrained by identifying suitable cosmic clocks which allow to select confidence regions for cosmological parameters. In particular, we constrain the characterizing parameters of non-minimally…
Future detection/non-detection of tensor modes from inflation in CMB observations presents a unique way to test certain features of string theory. Current limit on the ratio of tensor to scalar perturbations, r=T/S, is r < 0.3, future…
In this paper, we combine the latest observational data, including the WMAP five-year data (WMAP5), BOOMERanG, CBI, VSA, ACBAR, as well as the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) and Type Ia Supernoave (SN) "Union" compilation (307 sample)…
In homogeneous isotropic cosmological models the angular size theta of a standard measuring rod changes with redshift z in a manner that depends upon the parameters of the model. It has been argued that as a population ultracompact…
I review briefly, primarily for relativists, a series of recent results, obtained with A. Waldron, on the novel behavior of massive higher (s>1) spin systems in constant curvature backgrounds. We find that the cosmological constant Lambda,…
Previously defined covariant and gauge-invariant perturbation variables, representing, e.g., the fractional spatial energy density gradient on hypersurfaces of constant expansion, are used to simplify the linear perturbation analysis of a…
Observational evidence for the presence of a preferred scale around 100 Mpc in the distribution of high-density regions in the Universe is summarised. Toy models with various degrees of regularity are analysed to understand better the…
It is found that the evolutions of density perturbations on the super-Hubble scales are unstable in the model with dark-sector interaction $Q$ proportional to the energy density of cold dark matter (CDM) $\rho_m$ and constant equation of…
We set new constraints on a seven-dimensional space of cosmological parameters within the class of inflationary adiabatic models. We use the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background measured over a wide range of \ell in the…
We show that cosmological observables can constrain the topology of the compact additional dimensions predicted by string theory. To do this, we develop a general strategy for relating cosmological observables to the microscopic parameters…
By demanding the validity of an effective field theory description during inflation, in this note we derive some peculiar inequalities among the three interesting stringy and cosmological parameters, namely the tensor-to-scalar ratio ($r$),…
The energy, or mass scale M_SUSY, of the supersymmetry (SUSY) phase transition is, as yet, unknown. If it is very high (i.e., ~ 10^3 GeV), terrestrial accelerators will not be able to measure it. We determine M_SUSY here by combining theory…
I review the basic theory of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies in adiabatic cold dark matter cosmologies. The latest observational results on the CMB power spectrum are consistent with the simplest inflationary models and…
We investigate the breaking of global statistical isotropy caused by a dark energy component with an energy-momentum tensor which has point symmetry, that could represent a cubic or hexagonal crystalline lattice. In such models Gaussian,…
We constrain the basic comological parameters using the first observations by the Very Small Array (VSA) in its extended configuration, together with existing cosmic microwave background data and other cosmological observations. We estimate…
The COBE microwave background temperature fluctuations and the abundance of local rich clusters of galaxies provide the two most powerful constraints on cosmological models. When all variants of the standard cold dark matter (CDM) model are…
Primordial non-Gaussianity induces a scale-dependent bias in large scale structure (LSS) data, proportional to $f_{\rm NL}/k^2$ for the exact local ansatz. Recent work has shown that models of inflation that predict a large squeezed limit…
Recent data on CBR anisotropies show a Doppler peak higher than expected in CDM cosmological models, if the spectral index $n=1$. However, CDM and LCDM models with n>1 can hardly be consistent with LSS data. Mixed models, instead, whose…
We look at observational constraints on the thawing class of scalar field models proposed to explain the late time acceleration of the universe. Using the recently introduced `Statefinder Hierarchy', we compare these thawing class of models…
We use the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropy to place limits on large-scale magnetic fields in an inhomogeneous (perturbed Friedmann) universe. If no assumptions are made about the spacetime geometry, only a weak limit can…