Related papers: Apocalypse soon
Astrophysical observations provide a picture of the universe as a 4-dim homogeneous and isotropic flat space-time dominated by an unknown form of dark energy. To achieve such a cosmology one has to consider in the early universe an…
A non--minimally coupled quintessence model is investigated and the conditions for a stationary solution to the coincidence problem are obtained. For a conformally coupled scalar field and dissipative matter, a general solution possessing…
In the paper, we consider two models in which dark energy is coupled with either dust matter or dark matter, and discuss the conditions that allow more time for structure formation to take place at high redshifts. These models are expected…
Observational constraints guide one forcefully to examine models in which the matter density is substantially less than critical density. Particularly noteworthy are those which are consistent with inflation. For these models, microwave…
It is shown that in the cosmological models based on a vacuum energy decaying as a^{-2}, where a is the scale factor of the universe, the fate of the universe in regard to whether it will collapse in future or expand forever is determined…
We investigate the cosmic age problem associated with the old high-$z$ quasar APM 08279 + 5255 and the oldest globular cluster M 107, both being difficult to accommodate in $\Lambda$CDM model. By evaluating the age of the Universe in a…
Observational constraints to a large class of decaying vacuum cosmologies are derived using the angular size data of compact radio sources and the latest age estimates of globular clusters. For this class of deflationary $\Lambda(t)$…
A precise measurement of the curvature of the Universe is of primeval importance for cosmology since it could not only confirm the paradigm of primordial inflation but also help in discriminating between different early Universe scenarios.…
Evidence for a positive cosmological constant $\Lambda$, derived from the Ly$\alpha$-forest in high-resolution spectra of quasars, leads to a closed, low-density, $\Lambda$-dominated universe. The analysis is based on the assumption of a…
We investigate some observational constraints on decaying vacuum cosmologies based on the recently discovered old high redshift quasar APM 08279+5255. This object is located at $z = 3.91$ and has an estimated age of 2-3 Gyr. The class of…
A six parameter cosmological model, involving a vacuum energy density that is extremely tiny compared to fundamental particle physics scales, describes a large body of increasingly accurate astronomical data. In a first part of this brief…
The cosmological parameters that I will emphasize are the Hubble parameter $H_0 \equiv 100 h$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, the age of the universe $t_0$, the average matter density $\Omega_m$, the baryonic matter density $\Omega_b$, the neutrino…
Decaying dark matter models generically modify the equation of state around the time of dark matter decay, and this in turn modifies the expansion rate of the Universe through the Friedmann equation. Thus, a priori, these models could solve…
A low matter density decaying vacuum cosmology is proposed on the assumption that the universe's radius is a complex quantity \hat{R} if it is regarded as having a zero energy-momentum tensor. But we find that when the radius is real, it…
Using recent precision measurements of cosmological paramters, we re-examine whether these observations alone, independent of type Ia supernova surveys, are sufficient to imply the existence of dark energy. We find that best measurements of…
I discuss the Hubble parameter $H_0$, the age of the universe $t_0$, the density $\Omega_0$, and the cosmological constant $\Lambda$. To focus the discussion, I concentrate on the issue of the value of the density $\Omega_0$ in currently…
If CDM particles decay and their lifetime is comparable to the age of the Universe, they can modify its equation of state. By comparing the results of numerical simulations with high redshift SN-Ia observations we show that this hypothesis…
We propose a model in which there exists a real scalar field $q$ satisfying a condition $\dot{q} =MH$ and its energy density is given by $(1/2)\dot{q}^2+V(q)$, where $H$ is the Hubble parameter ($H=\dot{a}/a$) and $M$ is a mass scale…
VAMP (variable-mass particles) scenarios, in which the mass of the cold dark matter particles is a function of the scalar field responsible for the present acceleration of the Universe, have been proposed as a solution to the cosmic…
On the basis of a semi-classical analysis of vacuum energy in an expanding spacetime, we describe a non-singular cosmological model in which the vacuum density decays with time, with a concomitant production of matter. During an infinitely…