Related papers: Topological Pattern Formation
(To appear in Nuclear Physics B Supplements Proceedings section) This talk will explore the evolution of topological defects in an open universe. The rapid expansion of the universe in an open model slows defects and suppresses the…
A brief account is given of large-scale structure modelling based on the assumption that the initial perturbations arise from inflation. A recap is made of the implications of inflation for large-scale structure; under the widely applicable…
The inflationary hot big bang model of cosmology explains the birth of the universe, the appearance of atoms and that of large-scale structures, altogether omitting any reference to the living world. Yet, like the physical world, the living…
This chapter aims to present an introduction to current research on the nature of the cosmological dark matter and the origin of galaxies and large scale structure within the standard theoretical framework: gravitational collapse of…
The standard model of cosmology assumes that the Universe can be described to hover around a homogeneous-isotropic solution of Einstein's general theory of relativity. This description needs (sometimes hidden) hypotheses that restrict the…
Topological defects are involved in a plethora of physical and astrophysical phenomena. In these lectures, I will review the r\^ ole they could play in the large-scale structure formation and the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave…
The geometric optics approximation traditionally used to study the propagation of gravitational waves on a curved background, breaks down in the vicinity of compact and extended astrophysical objects, where wave-like effects like diffusion…
Topological photonics provides a powerful framework to describe and understand many nontrivial wave phenomena in complex electromagnetic platforms. The topological index of a physical system is an abstract global property that depends on…
A stochastic model relating the parameters of astrophysical structures to the parameters of their granular components is applied to the formation of hierarchical, large-scale structures from galaxies assumed as point-like objects. If the…
An approach to modelling the universe based on the requisites of gravitational energy. This model is explained as it relates to the stages of the universal life cycle and the continued existence of the universe as it is known today. The…
A model of topological field theory is presented in which the vacuum coupling constants are topological invariants of the four-dimensional spacetime. Thus the coupling constants are theoretically computable, and they indicate the…
The first year data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe are used to place stringent constraints on the topology of the Universe. We search for pairs of circles on the sky with similar temperature patterns along each circle. We…
The origin of the large scale structure in the universe - galaxies, quasars, clusters, voids, sheets - is one of the most important questions in cosmology. One can show that some non-thermal energy density fluctuations must have been…
Cosmology is nowadays going through a true revolution in the quantity and quality of observations that are capable of providing crucial information about the origin and evolution of the universe. In the first years of the next millenium we…
Quantum field theories with identical local dynamics can admit different choices of global structure, leading to different partition functions and spectra of extended operators. Such choices can be reformulated in terms of a topological…
We illustrate how form-invariance transformations can be used for constructing phantom cosmologies from standard scalar field universes. First, we discuss how to relate two flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmologies with different…
We examine the possibility that circles in the cosmic microwave background could be formed by the interaction of a gravitational wave pulse emitted in some pre-big-bang phase of the universe with the last scattering surface. We derive the…
Doppler peaks in the cosmic microwave background may allow us to distinguish among the two classes of theories-inflationary models and topological defect scenarios-which attempt to explain the origin of structure formation in the universe.…
Pattern forming systems allow for a wealth of states, where wavelengths and orientation of patterns varies and defects disrupt patches of monocrystalline regions. Growth of patterns has long been recognized as a strong selection mechanism.…
The mechanism of production of a large number of universes is considered. It is shown that universes with parameters suitable for creation of life are necessarily produced as a result of quantum fluctuations. Fractal structures are formed…