Related papers: Large Varying Light Velocity as a Solution to the …
We propose that at the beginning of the universe gravity existed in a limbo either because it was switched off or because it was only conformally coupled to all particles. This picture can be reverse-engineered from the requirement that the…
The standard formulation of the cosmological constant problem is based on one critical assumption---the spacetime is homogeneous and isotropic, which is true only on cosmological scales. However, this problem is caused by extremely small…
Big Bang models of the Universe predict rapid domination by curvature, a paradox known as the flatness problem. Solutions to this problem usually leave the Universe exactly flat for every practical purpose. Explaining a nearly but not…
We have shown that the varying physical constant model is consistent with the recently published variational approach wherein Einstein equations are modified to include the variation of the speed of light c, gravitational constant G and…
This article is dedicated to cosmologies with variable speed of light (VSL) - models, which one can consider as a particular case of models of a modified gravitation. In quantum cosmology the closed universe can spontaneously nucleate out…
Galaxy velocities in clusters, rotation curves of galaxies, and "vertical" oscillations in the Milky Way currently show too high velocities with respect to the masses thought to be involved. While these velocity excesses are currently…
The speed of light in vacuum, one of the most important and precisely measured natural constants, is fixed by convention to $c=299 792 458$ m/s. Advanced theories predict possible deviations from this universal value, or even quantum…
Associated with the cosmic acceleration are the old and new cosmological constant problems, recently put into the more general context of the dark energy problem. In broad terms, the old problem is related to an unexpected order of…
A central theme in cosmology is the perplexing fact that the Universe is undergoing an accelerating expansion. The latter, one of the most important and challenging current problems in cosmology, represents a new imbalance in the governing…
By exploring the relationship between the propagation of electromagnetic waves in a gravitational field and the light propagation in a refractive medium, it is shown that, in the presence of a positive cosmological constant, the velocity of…
Several approaches to quantum gravity suggest that Lorentz invariance will be broken at high energy. This can lead to modified dispersion relations for wave propagation, which can be concretely realized in effective field theories where the…
We investigate the cosmological consequences of a simple theory in which the electric charge $e$ is allowed to vary. The theory is locally gauge and Lorentz invariant, and satisfies general covariance. We find that in this theory the fine…
These notes present a brief introduction to `naturalness' problems in cosmology, and to the Cosmological Constant Problem in particular. The main focus is the `old' cosmological constant problem, though the more recent variants are also…
In 1937 Dirac proposed the large number hypothesis (LNH). The idea was to explain that these numbers were large because the Universe is old. A time variation of certain constants was assumed. So far, no experimental evidence has…
We propose that the solution to the cosmological vacuum energy puzzle may come from the infrared sector of the effective theory of gravity, where the impact of the trace anomaly is of upmost relevance. We proceed by introducing two…
Observations of an apparent acceleration in the expansion rate of the universe, derived from measurements of high-redshift supernovae, have been used to support the hypothesis that the universe is permeated by some form of dark energy. We…
We review a few off-the-beaten-track ideas in cosmology. They solve a variety of fundamental problems; also they are fun. We start with a description of non-singular dilaton cosmology. In these scenarios gravity is modified so that the…
Although big bang cosmology effectively models even the most puzzling observational data, it offers no insight into why the cosmological expansion should occur at all. In this paper it is suggested that a finite Universe poses particular…
The cosmological constant problem arises because the magnitude of vacuum energy density predicted by quantum mechanics is about 120 orders of magnitude larger than the value implied by cosmological observations of accelerating cosmic…
The paper aims to introduce a new symmetry principle in the space-time geometry through the elimination of the classical idea of rest and by including a universal minimum limit of speed in the subatomic world. Such a limit, unattainable by…