Related papers: Extending cosmological natural selection
Natural selection and random drift are competing phenomena for explaining the evolution of populations. Combining a highly fit mutant with a population structure that improves the odds that the mutant spreads through the whole population…
We propose an approach to explaining why naive large quantum fluctuations are not the right estimate for the cosmological constant. We argue that the universe is in a superposition of many vacua, in such a way that the resulting…
We examine the possibility of "soft cosmology", namely small deviations from the usual framework due to the effective appearance of soft-matter properties in the Universe sectors. One effect of such a case would be the dark energy to…
It is generally argued that the present cosmological observations support the accelerating models of the universe, as driven by the cosmological constant or `dark energy'. We argue here that an alternative model of the universe is possible…
For a universe containing cosmological constant together with uniform arrangements of magnetic fields, strings, or domain walls, exact solutions to the Einstein equations are shown to lead to a universe with ellipsoidal expansion. The…
These notes are intended as an introductory course for experimental particle physicists interested in the recent developments in astrophysics and cosmology. I will describe the standard Big Bang theory of the evolution of the universe, with…
Based on a number of experimentally verified physical observations, it is argued that the standard principles of quantum mechanics should be applied to the Universe as a whole. Thus, a paradigm is proposed in which the entire Universe is…
We consider the cosmological evolution of a bulk scalar field and ordinary matter living on the brane world in the light of the constraints imposed by the matter dominated cosmological evolution and a small cosmological constant now. We…
We perform a detailed dynamical analysis of various cosmological scenarios in extended (varying-mass) nonlinear massive gravity. Due to the enhanced freedom in choosing the involved free functions, this cosmological paradigm allows for a…
An interesting consequence of the modern cosmological paradigm is the spatial infinity of the universe. When coupled with naturalistic understanding of the origin of life and intelligence, which follows the basic tenets of astrobiology, and…
A type of mechanics will be presented that possesses some distinctive properties. On the one hand, its physical description & rules of operation are readily comprehensible & intuitively clear. On the other, it fully satisfies all observable…
A possible slowing down of the cosmic expansion is investigated through a cosmographic approach. By expanding the luminosity distance to fourth order and fitting the SN Ia data from the most recent compilations (Union, Constitution and…
A new, very different physical model of the universe is proposed. Its virtues include unifying relativity and quantum mechanics, and particles with de Broglie waves. It also appears to provide a truly unified physical basis for…
We investigate a class of cosmological solutions of Einstein's field equations in higher dimensions with a cosmological constant and an ideal fluid matter distribution as a source. We discuss the dynamical evolution of the universe subject…
One possibility to explain the current accelerated expansion of the universe may be related with the presence of cosmologically evolving scalar whose mass depends on the local matter density (chameleon cosmology). We point out that matter…
The universe is found to have undergone several phases in which the gravitational constant had different behaviors. During some epochs the energy density of the universe remained constant and the universe remained static. In the radiation…
A non-relativistic quantum mechanical theory is proposed that describes the universe as a continuum of worlds whose mutual interference gives rise to quantum phenomena. A logical framework is introduced to properly deal with propositions…
Quantum cosmology is the quantum theory of the entire universe. Although strange at first sight, it is appropriate because (1) our world appears to be fundamentally quantum, (2) the classical description of gravity breaks down at…
We consider a new variant of cosmological perturbation theory that has been designed specifically to include non-linear density contrasts on scales 100 Mpc, while still allowing for linear fluctuations on larger scales. This theory is used…
We discuss the naturalness of exponential potentials for quintessence, showing that the resulting almost flat direction in the space of scalar fields, as well as the small time dependent cosmon mass, can be related to an anomalous…