Related papers: Quantum Correction for our Big Bang Bouncing Unive…
It was recently shown that black holes could be bouncing stars as a consequence of quantum gravity. We investigate the astrophysical signals implied by this hypothesis, focusing on primordial black holes. We consider different possible…
We discuss the large-scale structure of the universe in inflationary cosmology and the implications that it may have for the long-term future of civilizations. Although each civilization is doomed to perish, it may be possible to transmit…
Cosmic inflation is the leading theory to explain early Universe history and structure formation. Non-oscillatory inflation is a class of models which can naturally introduce a post-inflationary stiff period of the Universe's evolution…
One regime where we might see departures from general relativity is at the largest accessible scales, with a natural choice in cosmology being the cosmological horizon (or Hubble) scale. We investigate a single-parameter extension to the…
We show that cosmic acceleration can arise due to very tiny corrections to the usual gravitational action of General Relativity of the form $R^n$, with $n<0$. This eliminates the need for dark energy, though it does not address the…
Current observations seem to mildly favor an evolving dark energy with the equation of state getting across -1. This form of dark energy, dubbed Quintom, is studied phenomenologically in this paper with an oscillating equation of state. We…
Quantum effects play an essential role in modern cosmology. Perhaps the most striking example comes from large-scale structures, generally assumed to originate from vacuum quantum fluctuations and stretched by an expansion phase. Inflation…
We study a contracting universe composed of cold dark matter and radiation, and with a positive cosmological constant. As is well known from standard cosmological perturbation theory, under the assumption of initial quantum vacuum…
Quantum gravity may remove classical space-time singularities and thus reveal what a universe at and before the big bang could be like. In loop quantum cosmology, an exactly solvable model is available which allows one to address precise…
Inflation in the early Universe is one of the most promising probes of gravity in the high-energy regime. However, observable scales give access to a limited window in the inflationary dynamics. In this essay, we argue that quantum…
We investigate the potential impact of mass inflation inside black holes on the dynamics of the Universe, considering a recent reformulation of general relativity, proposed in [1], which prevents the vacuum energy from acting as a…
For two decades the hot big-bang model as been referred to as the standard cosmology -- and for good reason. For just as long cosmologists have known that there are fundamental questions that are not answered by the standard cosmology and…
According to the standard lore, a prolonged inflation leaves a quantum field theory in a cold, low entropy state. Thus, some mechanism is needed to reheat this post-inflationary state, leaving a hot, thermal, radiation-dominated Universe.…
Suppose that the early Universe starts with a quantum spacetime originated cosmological $\Lambda$-term at the Planck scale $M_{\rm pl}$. The cosmological energy density $\rho_{_{_\Lambda}}$ drives inflation and simultaneously reduces its…
The early universe according to the big bang and the grand unified theories is discussed. The shortcomings of big bang are summarized together with their resolution by inflationary cosmology. Inflation, the subsequent oscillation and decay…
Classical and quantum gravitational instabilities, can, respectively, inflate and warm up a primordial Universe satisfying a superstring-motivated principle of "Asymptotic Past Triviality". A physically viable big bang is thus generated…
Cosmological models with inflation and those with bounce have their own strengths and weaknesses. Here we construct a model in which a phase of bounce is followed by a viable inflationary phase. This incorporates several advantages of both…
Quantum gravity places entirely new challenges on the formulation of a consistent theory as well as on an extraction of potentially observable effects. Quantum corrections due to the gravitational field are commonly expected to be tiny…
Using the result obtained in a prevoius paper, in which I found an upper limit on the region of particle creation in the vicinity of the event horizon of a Schwarzschild black hole, and by assuming that all the created energy will be…
The quantum gravity vacuum must contain virtual fluctuations of black hole microstates. These extended-size fluctuations get `crushed' when a closed trapped surface forms, and turn into on-shell `fuzzball' states that resolve the…