Related papers: The case for a cosmological constant
New Hubble Space Telescope observations of Cepheid variable stars in the nearby galaxy M96 give a distance to the host galaxy group, Leo-I, of 11.6+/-0.8 Mpc. This value, used in conjunction with several reliable secondary indicators of…
The following review presents an attempt to discuss various issues of current interest in Observational Cosmology, the selection of which as well as the emphasis given, reflects my own preference and biases. After presenting some…
Directly comparing the 6 expansion rate measured by type Ia supernovae data and the lower bound on the expansion rate set by the strong energy conditions or the null hypothesis that there never exists cosmic acceleration, we see $3\sigma$…
We generalise the procedure for joint estimation of cosmological parameters to allow freedom in the relative weights of various probes. This is done by including in the joint Likelihood function a set of 'Hyper-Parameters', which are dealt…
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…
The existence of 'peculiar' velocities due to the formation of cosmic structure marks a point of discord between the real Universe and the usually assumed Friedmann-Lema\'{i}tre-Robertson-Walker metric which accomodates only the smooth…
In this study, we consider three dark energy models in which $\Lambda$ is not constant, but has a dynamic nature that depends on the Hubble parameter $H$ and/or its time derivative $\dot{H}$. We analyze the generalized running vacuum model,…
We apply the property of selfsimilarity that corresponds to the concept of a fractal universe, to the dimension of time. It follows that any interval of time, given by any tick of any clock, is proportional to the age of the universe. The…
The case for a flat Cold Dark Matter model with a positive cosmological constant $\Lambda$ has been recently strongly advocated by some theoreticians. In this paper we give the observers point of view to the light of the most recent…
We propose possible properties of quantum gravity in de Sitter space, and find that they relate the value of the cosmological constant to parameters of the Standard Model. In de Sitter space we suggest (i) that the most sharply defined…
The estimation of the Hubble constant in the past few decades has increasingly become more accurate with the advance of new techniques. But its value seems to depend on the epoch at which the measurements are made. The Planck estimate of…
The current discrepancy between the Hubble constant $H_0$ derived from the local distance ladder and from the cosmic microwave background is one of the most crucial issues in cosmology, as it possibly indicates unknown systematics or new…
Many of the fundamental physical constants in Physics, as a discipline, are measured to exquisite levels of precision. The fundamental constants that define Cosmology, however, are largely determined via a handful of independent techniques…
In the standard cosmological paradigm cosmic acceleration is to only be a very recent (viz. $z \leq 1$) phenomenon, with the universe being required to be decelerating at all higher redshifts. We suggest that this particular expectation of…
Three of the big puzzles of theoretical physics are the following: (i) There is apparently no time evolution in the dynamics of quantum general relativity, because the allowed quantum states must obey the Hamiltonian constraint. (ii) During…
A new interpretation of cosmological redshifts is proposed to construct the evolved-vacuum model of this phenomenon.The physical vacuum was considered to be a real matter with time-dependent permittivity and permeability. Time variation of…
Present day estimates of the Hubble constant based on Cepheids and on the cosmic microwave background radiation are uncertain by roughly 10% (on the conservative assumption that the universe may not be PERFECTLY flat). Gravitational lens…
The tension between the Hubble constant obtained from the local measurements and from cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements motivated us to consider the cosmological model beyond $\Lambda$CDM one. We investigate the cosmology in…
There are now evidences that the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ has a non-zero positive value. Alternative scenarios to a pure cosmological constant model are provided by quintessence, an effective negative pressure fluid permeating the…
This paper examines a cosmological model of scale-dependent gravity. The gravitational action is taken to be the Einstein-Hilbert term supplemented with a cosmological constant, where the couplings, $G_k$ and $\Lambda_k$, run with the…