If general relativity (GR) describes the expansion of the Universe, the observed cosmic acceleration implies the existence of a `dark energy'. However, while the Universe is on average homogeneous on large scales, it is inhomogeneous on smaller scales. While GR governs the dynamics of the \emph{in}homogeneous Universe, the averaged \emph{homogeneous} Universe obeys modified Einstein equations. Can such modifications alone explain the acceleration? For a simple generic model with realistic initial conditions, we show the answer to be `no'. Averaging effects negligibly influence the cosmological dynamics.
The most distinctive feature of the primordial density inhomogeneities that existed in the cosmic plasma at the instant of decoupling is their scale invariant power spectrum ${\cal P}(k) \sim k$ over the range $k \ll H_{eq}$ of modes with cosmologically large comoving wavelength. We characterize this feature in real space, in terms of their correlation function at two points. We show that over cosmologically large comoving distances $r \gg H^{-1}_{eq}$ the primordial inhomogeneities were (anti)correlated as $f(r) \sim - r^{-4}$. We revisit the so-called {\it origin of structures problem} of th…
A cosmological model based on an inhomogeneous D3-brane moving in an AdS_5 X S_5 bulk is introduced. Although there is no special points in the bulk, the brane Universe has a center and is isotropic around it. The model has an accelerating expansion and its effective cosmological constant is inversely proportional to the distance from the center, giving a possible geometrical origin for the smallness of a present-day cosmological constant. Besides, if our model is considered as an alternative of early time acceleration, it is shown that the early stage accelerating phase ends in a dust dominat…
We evaluate the effect of inhomogeneity energy on the expansion rate of the universe. Our method is to expand to Newtonian order in potential and velocity but to take into account fully nonlinear density inhomogeneities. To linear order in density, kinetic and gravitational potential energy contribute to the total energy of the universe with the same scaling with expansion factor as spatial curvature. In the strongly nonlinear regime, growth saturates, and the net effect of the inhomogeneity energy on the expansion rate remains negligible at all times. In particular, inhomogeneity contribution…
This paper analyses cosmological observations within inhomogeneous and exact solutions of the Einstein equations. In some way the analyses presented here can be freed from assumptions such as small amplitude of the density contrast. The supernova observations are analysed using the Lema\itre-Tolman model and the CMB observations are analysed using the quasispherical Szekeres model. The results show that it is possible to fit the supernova data without the cosmological constant. However if inhomogeneities of sizes and amplitudes as observed in the local Universe are considered, their impact on …
Nonlinear gravitational effects of large-scale inhomogeneities on Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies are studied. based on the relativistic second-order theory of perturbations in nonzero-Lambda flat cosmological models, which has been analytically derived by the present author, and on the second-order formula of CMB anisotropies derived by Mollerach and Matarrese. In this paper we derive the components of the CMB anisotropy power spectra in the range of l = 1 -22 which are caused by asymmetric local inhomogeneities on scales of 300 Mpc. Using our results it is found that there is …
Analytic expressions for distance-redshift relations which have been corrected for the effects of inhomogeneities in the Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) mass density are given in terms of Heun functions and are used to illustrate the significance of inhomogeneities on a determination of the mass parameter $Ω_m$ and the cosmological constant $Λ$. The values of these parameters inferred from a given set of observations depend on the fractional amount of matter in inhomogeneities and can significantly differ from those obtained by using the standard magnitude-redshift ($m$-$z$) result …
We show how inhomogeneous cosmological models can naturally explain the large angle correlation we observe in the CMB (cosmological microwave background) radiation without invoking any inflationary stage, but simply considering the effects of inhomogeneities on the propagation of photons from the last scattering surface.
We study inhomogeneities in the distribution of the excursion sets in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature maps obtained by the three years survey of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). At temperature thresholds |T|<90 μK, the distributions of the excursion sets with over 200 pixels are concentrated in two regions, nearly at the antipodes, with galactic coordinates l= 94^\circ.7, b= 34^\circ.4 and l= 279^\circ.8, b= -29^\circ.2. The centers of these two regions drift towards the equator when the temperature threshold is increased. The centers are located close to one …
We describe the universe as a local, inhomogeneous spherical bubble embedded in a flat matter dominated FLRW universe. Generalized exact Friedmann equations describe the expansion of the universe and an early universe inflationary de Sitter solution is obtained. A non-perturbative expression for the deceleration parameter q is derived that can possibly describe the acceleration of the universe without dark energy, due to the effects associated with very long wave length super-horizon inflationary perturbations. The suggestion by Kolbe et al. [9] that long wave length super-horizon inflationary…
Cosmic strings moving through matter produce wakes where density is higher than the background density. We investigate the effects of such wakes occurring at the time of a first order quark-hadron transition in the early universe and show that they can lead to separation of quark-gluon plasma phase in the wake region, while the region outside the wake converts to the hadronic phase. Moving interfaces then trap large baryon densities in sheet like regions which can extend across the entire horizon. Typical separation between such sheets, at formation, is of the order of a km. Regions of baryon …
Assuming that the cosmological principle holds, Maartens, Ellis and Stoeger (MES) recently constructed a detailed scheme linking anisotropies in the cosmic background radiation (CMB) with anisotropies and inhomogeneities in the large scale structure of the universe and showed how to place limits on those anisotropies and inhomogeneities simply by using CMB quadrupole and octupole limits. First we indicate and discuss the connection between the covariant multipole moments of the temperature anisotropy used in the MES scheme and the quadrupole and octupole results from COBE. Then we introduce th…
The luminosity distance-redshift relation is one of the fundamental tools of modern cosmology. We compute the luminosity distance-redshift relation in a perturbed flat matter-dominated Universe, taking into account the presence of cosmological inhomogeneities up to second order in perturbation theory. Cosmological observations implementing the luminosity distance-redshift relation tell us that the Universe is presently undergoing a phase of accelerated expansion. This seems to call for a mysterious Dark Energy component with negative pressure. Our findings suggest that the need of a Dark Energ…
Averaging and evolving inhomogeneities are non-commuting operations. This implies the existence of deviations of an averaged model from the standard Friedmann-Lemaitre cosmologies. We quantify these deviations, encoded in a backreaction parameter, in the framework of Newtonian cosmology. We employ the linear theory of gravitational instability in the Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches, as well as the spherically- and plane-symmetric solutions as standards of reference. We propose a model for the evolution of the average characteristics of a spatial domain for generic initial conditions that co…
We have earlier shown that cosmic strings moving through the plasma at the time of a first order quark-hadron transition in the early universe can generate large scale baryon inhomogeneities. In this paper, we calculate detailed structure of these inhomogeneities at the quark-hadron transition. Our calculations show that the inhomogeneities generated by cosmic string wakes can strongly affect nucleosynthesis calculations. A comparison with observational data suggests that such baryon inhomogeneities should not have existed at the nucleosynthesis epoch. If this disagreement holds with more accu…
The cosmological QCD transition affects primordial density perturbations. If the QCD transition is first order, the sound speed vanishes during the transition and density perturbations fall freely. For scales below the Hubble radius at the transition the primordial Harrison-Zel'dovich spectrum of density fluctuations develops large peaks and dips. These peaks grow with wave number for both the hadron-photon-lepton fluid and for cold dark matter. At the horizon scale the enhancement is small. This by itself does not lead to the formation of black holes at the QCD transition. The peaks in the ha…
We study cosmological density fluctuations within a covariant and gauge-invariant fluid-flow approach for a perfect fluid in the Einstein-Cartan gravity and derive the corresponding Raychaudhuri type of inhomogeneous coupled differential evolution equations of the second order. It appears that the quantum fluctuations of spin trigger primordial density inhomogeneities at the scale of weak interactions. These inhomogeneities are then evolved precisely to the value measured be COBE mission at the scale of decoupling.
Since its decovery during the late 90's, the dimming of distant SN Ia apparent luminosity has been mostly ascribed to the influence of a mysterious dark energy component. Formulated in a Friedmannian cosmological modelling framework based upon the cosmological ``principle'' hypothesis, this interpretation has given rise to the ``concordance'' model. However, a caveat of such a reasoning is that the cosmological ``principle'' derives from a philosophical Copernican assumption and has never been tested. Furthermore, a weakness of its conclusion, i. e., the existence of a negative-pressure fluid …
The non-linearity of Einstein's equations makes it possible for small-scale matter inhomogeneities to affect the Universe at cosmological distances. We study the size of such effects using a simple heuristic model that captures the most important backreaction effect due to nonrelativistc matter, as well as several exact solutions describing inhomogeneous and anisotropic expanding universes. We find that the effects are $O(H^2l^2/c^2)$ or smaller, where $H$ is the Hubble parameter and $l$ the typical size scale of inhomogeneities. For virialized structures this is of order $v^2/c^2$, where $v$ …
Superstring theory, models with extra dimensions and other SUSY models generically predict that the coupling constants are in fact vacuum expectation values of fields like the dilaton, moduli etc. Assuming some of these fields are light during inflation, we get generation of small classical inhomogeneities in these fields from inflation. Consequently, coupling constants inherit small inhomogeneities at scales much larger than the causal horizon in the early universe. After the moduli get pinned down to their minima, the spatial variations of coupling constants in the late time universe will be…
Since its decovery during the late 90's, the dimming of distant SN Ia apparent luminosity has been mostly ascribed to the influence of a mysterious dark energy component. Based upon the cosmological "principle" hypothesis, this interpretation has given rise to the "concordance" model, developed in the context of a Friedmann-Lemaitre cosmology. However, a caveat of this reasoning is that the cosmological "principle" derives from a philosophical Copernican assumption and has never been tested. Furthermore, a weakness of its conclusion, i. e., the existence of a negative-pressure fluid or a cosmo…
No. It is simply not plausible that cosmic acceleration could arise within the context of general relativity from a back-reaction effect of inhomogeneities in our universe, without the presence of a cosmological constant or ``dark energy.'' We point out that our universe appears to be described very accurately on all scales by a Newtonianly perturbed FLRW metric. (This assertion is entirely consistent with the fact that we commonly encounter $δρ/ρ> 10^{30}$.) If the universe is accurately described by a Newtonianly perturbed FLRW metric, then the back-reaction of inhomogeneities on the dynamic…
The current understanding of structure formation in the early universe is mainly built on a magnification of quantum fluctuations in an initial vacuum state during an early phase of accelerated universe expansion. One usually describes this process by solving equations for a quantum state of matter on a given expanding background space-time, followed by decoherence arguments for the emergence of classical inhomogeneities from the quantum fluctuations. Here, we formulate the coupling of quantum matter fields to a dynamical gravitational background in an effective framework which allows the incl…
We re-analyze the observed magnitude-redshift relation of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and examine the possibility that the apparent acceleration of the cosmic expansion is not caused by dark energy but is instead a consequence of the large-scale inhomogeneities in the universe. We propose a method to phenomenologically describe the effects of the large-scale inhomogeneities without relying on the specific toy models of the inhomogeneous universe. This method clearly illustrates how the post-Friedmannian effects of inhomogeneities, i.e. the effects due to the deviation from a perfectly homogene…
The currently available cosmological data yield, as a most striking result, that the expansion rate of the universe seems to be increasing at late times, contrary to the standard (zero cosmological constant) FLRW prediction. The usual explanation for this discrepancy is that a new component of the energy density of the universe, known as dark energy, dominates this recent evolution. Since the existence of such a new component would have a revolutionary impact on our understanding of the fundamental laws of physics, we think important to check other interpretations. We have therefore shown that…
Perturbations in Prigogine's cosmological model with particle creation are investigated in the framework of Newtonian Theory. The necessary conditions for the density contrast to reach the non-linear regime wich is necessary to garantee structure formation at large scale are obtained. The upper limit of the age of the universe is investigated for the perturbations obtained to find them compatible with the observed data from COBE(Cosmic Background Explorer satellite).
We discuss the two potentially important effects which should be taken into account in the analysis of the cosmological redshift-space distortion especially at high redshifts; the effect of inhomogeneities in the light propagation and the evolution of bias. Although such inhomogeneities affect significantly the degree of the cosmological redshift distortion, one can determine the density parameter $Ω_0$ from the distortion pattern at $z=0$, and the cosmological constant $λ_0$ from that at $z = (1\sim 2)$. In particular we show that in low-density ($Ω_0\ll 1$) universes one can determine the va…
We extend the homogeneous modified Chaplygin cosmologies to large-scale perturbations by formulating a Zeldovich-like approximation. We show that the model interpolates between an epoch with a soft equation of state and a de Sitter phase, and that in the intermediate regime its matter content is simply the sum of dust and a cosmological constant. We then study how the large-scale inhomogeneities evolve and compare the results with cold dark matter (CDM), $Λ$CDM and generalized Chaplygin scenarios. Interestingly, we find that unlike the latter, our models do always resemble $Λ$CDM.
We introduce the notion of the cosmic numbers of a cosmological model, and discuss how they can be used to naturally classify models according to their ability to solve some of the problems of the standard cosmological model.
We discuss the relation between `bare' cosmological parameters as the true spatial average characteristics that determine the cosmological model, and the parameters interpreted by observers with a `Friedmannian bias', i.e., within a homogeneous space geometry. We may say that the latter are `dressed' by the smoothed-out geometrical inhomogeneities of the surveyed spatial region. We identify two effects that quantify the difference between `bare' and `dressed' parameters: `curvature backreaction' and `volume effect'. An estimate of the latter is given in terms of a simple geometrical example.
The cosmic string theory for cosmological fluctuations is a good example of healthy scientific progress in cosmology. It is a well defined physically motivated model that has been tested by cosmological observations and has been ruled out as a primary source of primordial fluctuations. Until about fifteen years ago, the cosmic string theory of cosmological perturbations provided one of the two physically motivated candidate theories for the generation of primordial perturbations. The cosmological data that appeared during the last decade have been compared with the well defined predictions of …
We point out that, due to the nonlinearity of the Einstein equations, a homogeneous approximation in cosmology leads to the appearance of an additional term in the Friedmann equation. This new term is associated with the spatial inhomogeneities of the metric and can be expressed in terms of density fluctuations. Although it is not constant, it decays much slower (as t^(-2/3)) than the other terms (like density) which decrease as t^(-2). The presence of the new term leads to a correction in the scale factor that is proportional to t^2 and may give account of the recently observed accelerating e…
By means of a toy Swiss-cheese cosmological model we will discuss how to set up and carry out in a physically meaningful way the idea of back-reaction, according to which dark energy could be an effective source. We will follow two distinct approaches. One is focused on how cosmological observables are affected by inhomogeneities, while the other is focused on a theoretical description of the inhomogeneous universe by means of a mean-field description.
We investigate the effect of dark energy on the limits on the shear anisotropy in spatially homogeneous Bianchi cosmological models obtained from measurements of the temperature anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. We shall primarily assume that the dark energy is modelled by a cosmological constant. In general, we find that there are tighter bounds on the shear than in models with no cosmological constant, although the limits are (Bianchi) model dependent. In addition, there are special spatially homogeneous cosmological models whose rate of expansion is highly anisotropic, but wh…
Photon geodesics are calculated in a swiss-cheese model, where the cheese is made of the usual Friedmann-Robertson-Walker solution and the holes are constructed from a Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi solution of Einstein's equations. The observables on which we focus are the changes in the redshift, in the angular-diameter--distance relation, in the luminosity-distance--redshift relation, and in the corresponding distance modulus. We find that redshift effects are suppressed when the hole is small because of a compensation effect acting on the scale of half a hole resulting from the special case of sphe…
In this work, I develop an alternative explanation for the acceleration of the cosmic expansion, which seems to be a result of recent high redshift Supernova data. In the current interpretation, this cosmic acceleration is explained by including a positive cosmological constant term (or vacuum energy), in the standard Friedmann models. Instead, I will consider a Locally Rotationally Symmetric (LRS) and spherically symmetric (SS), but inhomogeneous spacetime, with a barotropic perfect fluid equation of state for the cosmic matter. The congruence of matter has acceleration, shear and expansion. …
We investigate the cosmological test recently proposed by B. Fort, Y. Mellier and M. Dantel-Fort (FMD), where the observed location of the critical line in gravitational lensing is used to determine the cosmological parameters, $Ω$ and $λ$. Applying this method to the cluster of galaxies Cl0024+1654, FMD obtained a constraint on the cosmological constant, $λ> 0.6$, assuming the spatially flat universe. It plays a crucial role in this method that the angular diameter distance-redshift relation depends on the cosmological models through the cosmological parameters. First, using the angular diame…
The Universe is not isotropic or spatially homogeneous on local scales. The averaging of local inhomogeneities in general relativity can lead to significant dynamical effects on the evolution of the Universe, and even if the effects are at the 1% level they must be taken into account in a proper interpretation of cosmological observations. We discuss the effects that averaging (and inhomogeneities in general) can have on the dynamical evolution of the Universe and the interpretation of cosmological data. All deductions about cosmology are based on the paths of photons. We discuss some qualitat…
The propagation of cosmological ionization fronts during the reionization of the universe is strongly influenced by small-scale gas inhomogeneities due to structure formation. These inhomogeneities include both collapsed minihalos, which are generally self-shielding, and lower-density structures, which are not. The minihalos are dense and sufficiently optically-thick to trap intergalactic ionization fronts, blocking their path and robbing them of ionizing photons until the minihalo gas is expelled as an evaporative wind. The lower-density structures do not trap these fronts, but they can slow …
We show that a tiny but non-zero positive cosmological constant, which has been strongly suggested by the recent astronomical observations on supernovae and CMBR, may change notably the behaviors of the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray interacting with soft photons. The threshold anomaly of the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray disappears naturally after the effects of the cosmological constant are taken into account.
We have obtained analytical exact solutions of the Dyer-Roeder equation in a cosmological model where creation of particles occurs at the expenses of the gravitational field. We discussed the influences of inhomogeneities in the path of a light beam on the apparent diameter of astrophysical objects and consider both redshift independent as redshift dependent distributions of the inhomogeneities.
I discuss two cosmological tests to determine the cosmological density parameter Ω_0 the cosmological constant λ_0, which make use of the anisotropy of the two-point correlation functions due to the peculiar velocity field and the cosmological redshift-space distortion.
We present a strategy for a statistically rigorous Bayesian approach to the problem of determining cosmological parameters from the results of observations of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave radiation background. We propose the application of Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, specifically the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, to estimate the parameters. A complete statistical analysis is presented, with the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm described in detail.
We present simulations of a cosmic shear survey and show how the survey geometry influences the accuracy of determination of cosmological parameters. We numerically calculate the full covariance matrices of the two-point statistics ξ_+, ξ_- and <Map^2> and use maximum likelihood and Fisher matrix analyses in order to derive expected constraints on the cosmological parameters Ω_m, σ_8, Γ, n_s and Ω_Λ.
Aims: morpholgies, number and energy distributions of Cosmological Shock Waves from a set of ENZO cosmological simulations are produced, along with a study of the connection with Cosmic Rays processes in different environments. Method: we perform cosmological simulations with the public release of the PPM code ENZO, adopt a simple and physically motivated numerical setup to follow the evolution of cosmic structures at the resolution of 125kpc per cell, and characterise shocks with a new post processing scheme. Results: we estimate the efficency of the acceleration of Cosmic Ray particles and p…
We discuss the cosmological evolution of cosmic strings with time-dependent tension. We show that, in the case that the tension changes as a power of time, the cosmic string network obeys the scaling solution: the characteristic scale of the string network grows with the time. But due to the time dependence of the tension, the ratio of the energy density of infinite strings to that of the background universe is {\it not} necessarily constant.
