Related papers: Quantum Cosmology: Problems for the 21st Century
In an abstract setting of a general classical mechanical system as a model for the universe we set up a general formalism for a law behind the second law of thermodynamics, i.e. really for "initial conditions". We propose a unification with…
I discuss how modern cosmology illustrates under-determination of theoretical hypotheses by data, in ways that are different from most philosophical discussions. I emphasize cosmology's concern with what data could in principle be collected…
Quantum theory, general relativity, the standard model of particle physics, and the $\Lambda$CDM model of cosmology have all been spectacularly successful within their respective regimes of applicability, but many central problems remain…
Cosmic Probes of Fundamental Physics take two primary forms: Very high energy particles (cosmic rays, neutrinos, and gamma rays) and gravitational waves. Already today, these probes give access to fundamental physics not available by any…
It has long been a primary objective of cosmology to understand the apparent isotropy in our universe and to provide a mathematical formulation for its evolution. A school of thought for its explanation is quiescent cosmology, which already…
The subject of this study is Quantum and Statistical Mechanics of the Early Universe. In it a new approach to investigation of these two theories - density matrix deformation - is proposed. The distinguishing feature of the proposed…
Quantum Cosmology and Gravity are formulated here as the primary and secondary quantizations of the energy constraints by analogy with the historical formulation of quantum field theory. New fact is that both the Universe and its matter are…
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…
This is a short summary of a project to construct a first principles cosmology of the Standard Model epoch, the period starting shortly before the electro-weak transition. The cosmology is derived from a simple initial state entirely within…
This is a review of the physics and cosmology of the cosmological constant. Focusing on recent developments, I present a pedagogical overview of cosmology in the presence of a cosmological constant, observational constraints on its…
A simple description of the vacuum energy (cosmological constant) problem for non-experts is presented. Basic features of cosmology with non-zero vacuum energy are discussed. The astronomical data which indicate that the universe is filled…
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…
Why is it interesting to try to understand the origin of the universe? Everything we observe today, including our existence, arose from that event. Although we still do not have a theory that allows us to describe the origin itself, the…
In Chapter 1 I present the current picture of the universe and briefly review the cosmological constant problem and some of the theories proposed to solve it. The following Chapters essentially contain the published papers with some…
Advances in quantum technologies are giving rise to a revolution in the way fundamental physics questions are explored at the empirical level. At the same time, they are the seeds for future disruptive technological applications of quantum…
Basic cosmology describes the universe as a Robertson-Walker model filled with black-body radiation and no barionic matter, and as observational data it uses only the value of the speed of light, the Hubble and deceleration parameters and…
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…
We connect a possible solution for the ``cosmological constant problem'' to the existence of a (postulated) conformal fixed point in a fundamental theory. The resulting cosmology leads to quintessence, where the present acceleration of the…
I briefly present the foundations of relativistic cosmology, which are, General Relativity Theory and the Cosmological Principle. I discuss some relativistic models, namely, "Einstein static universe" and "Friedmann universes". The…
Quantum gravity is the missing piece in our understanding of the fundamental interactions today. Given recent observational breakthroughs in gravity, providing a quantum theory for what lies beyond general relativity is more urgent than…