Related papers: Vacuum Fluctuations and Cosmology
Quantum fields possess zero-point or vacuum fluctuations which induce mechanical effects, namely generalised Casimir forces, on any scatterer. Symmetries of vacuum therefore raise fundamental questions when confronted with the principle of…
We discuss from the condensed-matter point of view the recent idea that the Poisson fluctuations of cosmological constant about zero could be a source of the observed dark energy. We argue that the thermodynamic fluctuations of Lambda are…
This contribution gives a brief overview of the theoretical ideas underlying our current understanding of the early Universe. Confronting the predictions of the early Universe models with cosmological observations, in particular of the…
Cosmological models often contain scalar fields, which can acquire global nonzero expectation values that change with the comoving time. Among the possible consequences of these scalar-field backgrounds, an accelerated cosmological…
Several scenarios have been proposed in which primordial perturbations could originate from quantum vacuum fluctuations in a phase corresponding to a collapse phase (in an Einstein frame) preceding the Big Bang. I briefly review three…
We discuss some effects induced by quantum field fluctuations on mass, inertia and gravitation. Recalling the problem raised by vacuum field fluctuations with respect to inertia and gravitation, we show that vacuum energy differences, such…
There are two kinds of quantum fluctuations relevant to cosmology that we focus on in this article: those that form the seeds for structure formation in the early universe and those giving rise to Boltzmann brains in the late universe.…
Since it is commonly believed that the observed large-scale structure of the Universe is an imprint of quantum fluctuations existing at the very early stage of its evolution, it is reasonable to pose the question: Do the effects of quantum…
It has been known for some time that the usual inference drawn from the observed near-flatness of the large-scale Universe - namely the existence of a cosmological "flatness problem", which is then taken as a partial, but key motivation for…
It is shown that rotational cosmological perturbations can be generated in the early Universe, similarly to gravitational waves. The generating mechanism is quantum-mechanical in its nature, and the created perturbations should now be…
We show that scalar field fluctuations alone can drive cosmic acceleration, provided the universe is spatially closed and the Compton wavelength of the field exceeds the radius of curvature. This mechanism may open new perspectives on…
Quantum fluctuations of the vacuum stress-energy tensor are highly non-Gaussian, and can have unexpectedly large effects on spacetime geometry. In this paper, we study a two-dimensional dilaton gravity model coupled to a conformal field, in…
We study perturbations around some cosmological backgrounds in the dRGT theory of massive gravity. We develop a general formalism to calculate the perturbations around any background. We derive the Lagrangian for fluctuations in the small…
Observational Cosmology has indeed made very rapid progress in recent years. The ability to quantify the universe has largely improved due to observational constraints coming from structure formation Measurements of CMB anisotropy and, more…
We propose a mechanism for the enhancement of vacuum fluctuations by means of a classical field. The basic idea is that if an observable quantity depends quadratically upon a quantum field, such as the electric field, then the application…
We explore the dynamics and evolution of the Universe at early and late times, focusing on both dark energy and extended gravity models and their astrophysical and cosmological consequences. Modified theories of gravity not only provide an…
Inflationary cosmology has become one of the cornerstones of modern cosmology. Inflation was the first theory within which it was possible to make predictions about the structure of the Universe on large scales, based on causal physics. The…
These four lectures cover four topics in modern cosmology: the cosmological constant, the cosmic microwave background, inflation, and cosmology as a probe of physics at the Planck scale. The underlying theme is that cosmology gives us a…
Here, cosmology is obtained from the variable gravitational constant $ G \propto \phi^{-2}$ with $ \phi(x) $ being a scalar and its fluctuations around the ground state. The gravitational action contains Einstein-Hilbert like term with…
Although the prospect is more plausible than it might appear, the answer to the title question is, unfortunately, "probably not." Quantum fluctuations of vacuum energy can focus light, and while the effect is tiny, the distribution of…