Related papers: Space and Observers in Cosmology
We investigate the relation between measurements and the physical observables for vacuum spacetimes with compact spatial surfaces in (2+1)-gravity with vanishing cosmological constant. By considering an observer who emits lightrays that…
We discuss the distinction between the notion of partial observable and the notion of complete observable. Mixing up the two is frequently a source of confusion. The distinction bears on several issues related to observability, such as (i)…
Motivated by the parametrization invariance of cosmological Lagrangians and their equivalence to systems describing the motion of particles in curved backgrounds, we identify the phase space analogue of the notion of proper time. We define…
This note proposes a paradigm and coordinate system that extends flat, four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime to a broader framework that identifies an event not only in space and in time, but also in terms of possible world, with a third…
If the current acceleration of our Universe is due to a cosmological constant, then a Coleman-De Luccia bubble will nucleate in our Universe. In this work, we consider that our observations could be likely in this framework, consisting in…
In the following, we offer a novel approach to modeling the observed effects currently attributed to the theoretical concepts of `dark energy', `dark matter', and `dark flow'. Instead of assuming the existence of these theoretical concepts,…
Zitterbewegung, as it was originally described by Schr\"odinger, is an unphysical, non-observable effect. We verify whether the effect can be observed in non-inertial reference frames/curved spacetimes, where the ambiguity in defining…
The history of the particle concept is briefly reviewed, with particular emphasis on the `foliation dependence' of many particle creation models, and the possible connection between our notion of particle and our notion of simultaneity. It…
We investigate measures of distance and redshift in cosmological space-times that admit a shear-free foliation, which we henceforth refer to as `quasi-Newtonian'. Space expands isotropically in this description, and small-scale…
In the framework of relativistic positioning systems in Minkowski space-time, the determination of the inertial coordinates of a user involves the {\em bifurcation problem} (which is the indeterminate location of a pair of different events…
We consider the superposition of two semiclassical solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation for a de Sitter universe, describing a quantized scalar vacuum propagating in a universe that is contracting in one case and expanding in the other,…
The concept of an observer and their associated rest space is defined in a pre-metric (i.e., projective-geometric) context that relates to time+space decompositions of the tangent bundle to space-time. The transformation from one observer…
We investigate the limitations of length measurements by accelerated observers in Minkowski spacetime brought about via the hypothesis of locality, namely, the assumption that an accelerated observer at each instant is equivalent to an…
The Einstein equations for spacetimes with two commuting spacelike Killing field symmetries are studied from a Hamiltonian point of view. The complexified Ashtekar canonical variables are used, and the symmetry reduction is performed…
High precision astrometry now enables to measure the time drift of astrophysical observables in real time, hence providing new ways to probe different cosmological models. This article presents a general derivation of the redshift and…
In general relativity, cosmology and quantum field theory, spacetime is assumed to be an orientable manifold endowed with a Lorentz metric that makes it spatially and temporally orientable. The question as to whether the laws of physics…
We reinterpret special relativity, or more precisely its de Sitter deformation, in terms of 3d conformal geometry, as opposed to (3+1)d spacetime geometry. An inertial observer, usually described by a geodesic in spacetime, becomes instead…
It is known that quantum field theories in curved spacetime suffer from a number of pathologies, including the inability to relate states on different spatial slices by proper unitary time-evolution operators. In this article, we illustrate…
We state a condition for an observer to be comoving with another observer in general relativity, based on the concept of lightlike simultaneity. Taking into account this condition, we study relative velocities, Doppler effect and light…
The unitarity of time evolution, or colloquially the conservation of probability, sits at the heart of our descriptions of fundamental interactions via quantum field theory. The implications of unitarity for scattering amplitudes are well…