Related papers: Ruling out a critical density baryonic universe
We consider possible implications if the recent and disconcordant measurements of D/H in quasar absorption systems are real and indicate a dispersion in D/H in these primitive systems. In particular we examine the option that the D/H…
We review observational evidence for a matter-antimatter asymmetry in the early universe, which leads to the remnant matter density we observe today. We also discuss observational bounds on the presence of antimatter in the present day…
Light gravitinos of mass $\lesssim \mathcal{O} (10)$ eV are of particular interest in cosmology, offering various baryogenesis scenarios without suffering from the cosmological gravitino problem. The gravitino may contribute considerably to…
Nearly seventy per cent of the energy density in the universe is unclustered and exerts negative pressure. This conclusion -- now supported by numerous observations -- poses the greatest challenge for theoretical physics today. I discuss…
Cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies have and will continue to revolutionize our understanding of cosmology. The recent discovery of the previously predicted acoustic peaks in the power spectrum has established a…
If massive black holes constitute the dark matter in the halo surrounding the Milky Way, the existence of low mass globular clusters in the halo suggests an upper limit to their mass, $M_{_{BH}}$. We use a combination of the impulse…
Cosmologists such Sakharov, Alfv\'en, Klein, Weizs\"acker, Gamow and Harrison all disregarded the distribution of baryons and antibaryons immediately prior to freeze-out in trying to elucidate the circumstances that explained hadron…
Using an approximate likelihood method adapted to band--power estimates, we analyze the ensemble of first generation cosmic microwave background anisotropy experiments to deduce constraints over a six--dimensional parameter space describing…
Cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies probe the primordial density field at the edge of the observable Universe. There is a limiting precision (``cosmic variance'') with which anisotropies can determine the amplitude of primordial…
Quasar absorption lines now permit a direct probe of deuterium abundances in primordial material, with the best current estimate $ (D/H)=1.9\pm 0.4 \times 10^{-4}$. If this is the universal primordial abundance $(D/H)_p$, Standard Big Bang…
It has been revealed using microlensing that a considerable part, possibly more than half, of the dark matter in the halo of our Galaxy consists of objects with a mass spectrum ranging from 0.05 to 0.8 of the solar mass. What is the nature…
Several lines of evidence suggest that some of the dark matter may be non-baryonic: the non-detection of various plausible baryonic candidates for dark matter inferred, e.g., from galaxy rotation curves and from cluster of galaxy velocity…
We examine the cosmological and astrophysical signatures of a "dark baryon," a neutral fermion that mixes with the neutron. As the mixing is through a higher-dimensional operator at the quark level, production of the dark baryon at high…
The baryon-antibaryon asymmetry (excess of matter over antimatter in our Universe), indicated by observational data from the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies, predictions of primordial Nucleosynthesis, and the absence of intense…
A cosmology is considered driven by a stress-energy tensor consisting of a perfect fluid, an inhomogeneous pressure term (which we call a ``tachyonic dust'' for reasons which will become apparent) and a cosmological constant. The…
For decades, the determination of the mean density of matter(Omega_M) has been tied to the distribution of light. This has led to a ``bias,'' perhaps as large as a factor of 2, in determining a key cosmological parameter. Recent…
The Standard Cosmological Model has experienced tremendous success at reproducing observational data by assuming a universe dominated by a cosmological constant and dark matter in a flat geometry. However, several studies, based on local…
Recent models invoking extra spacelike dimensions inhabited by (bulk) neutrinos are shown to have significant cosmological effects if the size of the largest extra dimension is R > 1 fm. We consider effects on cosmic microwave background…
When the topology of the universe is non trivial, it has been shown that there are constraints on the network of domain walls, cosmic strings and monopoles. I generalize these results to textures and study the cosmological implications of…
More than three quarters of the baryonic content of the Universe resides in a highly diffuse state that is difficult to observe, with only a small fraction directly observed in galaxies and galaxy clusters. Censuses of the nearby Universe…