Related papers: Topology and the Cosmic Microwave Background
It is argued that quantum gravity has an interpretation as a topological field theory provided a certain constraint from the path intergral measure is respected. The constraint forces us to couple gauge and matter fields to gravity for…
Ordinary, macroscopic systems, naturally tend to a state of maximum entropy compatible with their constraints. However, this might not hold for gravity-dominated systems since their entropy may increase without bound unless this is…
The Einstein field equations of general relativity constrain the local curvature at every point in spacetime, but say nothing about the global topology of the Universe. Cosmic microwave background anisotropies have proven to be the most…
In the standard cosmological model, the temperature anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background is interpreted as variation in the gravitational potential at the point of emission, due to the emitter being embedded in a region ${\cal C}$…
Towards the goal to quantize gravity, in this short review we discuss an intermediate step which consists in extending the picture of standard General Relativity by considering Extended Theories of Gravity. In this tapestry, the equations…
Large-scale cosmic microwave background anisotropies in homogeneous, globally anisotropic cosmologies are investigated. We perform a statistical analysis in which the four-year data from the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite is searched…
The blackbody radiation left over from the Big Bang has been transformed by the expansion of the Universe into the nearly isotropic 2.73K Cosmic Microwave Background. Tiny inhomogeneities in the early Universe left their imprint on the…
An initial state for the observable universe consisting of a finite region with a large vacuum energy will break-up due to near horizon quantum critical fluctuations. This will lead to a Friedmann-like early universe consisting of an…
It is shown that the recent observations of NASA's explorer mission "Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe" (WMAP) hint that our Universe may possess a non-trivial topology. As an example we discuss the Picard space which is stretched out…
The shortest distance around the Universe through us is unlikely to be much larger than the horizon diameter if microwave background anomalies are due to cosmic topology. We show that observational constraints from the lack of matched…
We ask whether the universe can be a patchwork consisting of distinct regions of matter and antimatter. We demonstrate that, after recombination, it is impossible to avoid annihilation near regional boundaries. We study the dynamics of this…
The strong proper time dilation and radial contraction in the gravitational field of compact sources leads to a frozen state of matter. It is shown that the falling particles and photons can not cross the gravitational radius due to the…
There are reasons (which we enumerate) to think that an infinite extra dimension will harbor a black hole. In this case, brane-localized modes of gravity and gauge fields become quasilocalized, and light from a distant object can become…
This review aims to cover the central aspects of current research in cosmic topology from a topological and observational perspective. Beginning with an overview of the basic concepts of cosmology, it is observed that though a determinant…
The ratio of the self-gravitational energy density of the scattering particles in the universe to the energy density of the scattered photons in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the same in any volume of space. These two energy…
Entropy of all systems that we understand well is proportional to their volumes except for black holes given by their horizon area. This makes the microstates of any quantum theory of gravity drastically different from the ordinary matter.…
Considering the hyperbolic nature of the universe, the Hubble's law and the inverse square laws such as, the Coulomb's law and Newton's gravitational law, should be modified in accordance with the special theory of relativity. Consequently…
If our universe was born as a baby universe on the other side of the event horizon of a black hole existing in a parent universe, then the corresponding white hole at rest provides the absolute frame of reference in the universe. In this…
We combine detections of anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation with observations of inhomogeneity in the large-scale distribution of galaxies to test the predictions of models of cosmological structure formation. This…
Gravitational waves have been directly detected and astronomical observations indicate that our Universe has a positive cosmological constant $\Lambda$. Nevertheless, a theoretical gauge-invariant notion of gravitational waves arriving at…