It has been suggested that the accelerated expansion of the Universe is due to backreaction of small scale density perturbations on the large scale spacetime geometry. While evidence against this suggestion has accumulated, it has not yet been definitively ruled out. Many investigations of this issue have focused on the Buchert formalism, which computes spatial averages of quantities in synchronous comoving gauge. We argue that, for the deceleration parameter of this formalism to agree with observations, the spatial average of the three dimensional Ricci scalar (spatial curvature) must be large today, with an $Ω_k$ in the range of $1 \le Ω_k \le 1.3$. We argue that this constraint is difficult to reconcile with observations of the location of the first Doppler peak of the CMBR. We illustrate the argument with a simple toy model for the effect of backreaction, which we show is generically incompatible with observations.
Cosmological backreaction has been suggested as an explanation of dark energy and is heavily disputed since. We combine cosmological perturbation theory with Buchert's non-perturbative framework, calculate the relevant averaged observables up to second order in the comoving synchronous gauge, and discuss their gauge dependence. With the help of an integrability condition the leading second order contributions follow from the first order calculation. We focus on the onset of cosmological backreaction, as a perturbative treatment is necessarily restricted to the era when the effect is still smal…
In order to quantitatively test the ability of averaged inhomogeneous cosmologies to correctly describe observations of the large scale properties of the Universe, we introduce a smoothed template metric corresponding to a constant spatial curvature model at any time, but with an evolving curvature parameter. This metric is used to compute quantities along an approximate effective lightcone of the averaged model of the Universe. As opposed to the standard Friedmann model, we parameterize this template metric by exact scaling properties of an averaged inhomogeneous cosmology, and we also motiva…
Due to the non-commutation of spatial averaging and temporal evolution, inhomogeneities and anisotropies (cosmic structures) influence the evolution of the averaged Universe via the cosmological backreaction mechanism. We study the backreaction effect as a function of averaging scale in a perturbative approach up to higher orders. We calculate the hierarchy of the critical scales, at which 10% effects show up from averaging at different orders. The dominant contribution comes from the averaged spatial curvature, observable up to scales of 200 Mpc. The cosmic variance of the local Hubble rate i…
Spatially averaged inhomogeneous cosmologies in classical general relativity can be written in the form of effective Friedmann equations with sources that include backreaction terms. In this paper we propose to describe these backreaction terms with the help of a homogeneous scalar field evolving in a potential; we call it the `morphon field'. This new field links classical inhomogeneous cosmologies to scalar field cosmologies, allowing to reinterpret, e.g., quintessence scenarios by routing the physical origin of the scalar field source to inhomogeneities in the Universe. We investigate a one…
For general relativistic spacetimes filled with an irrotational perfect fluid a generalized form of Friedmann's equations governing the expansion factor of spatially averaged portions of inhomogeneous cosmologies is derived. The averaging problem for scalar quantities is condensed into the problem of finding an `effective equation of state' including kinematical as well as dynamical `backreaction' terms that measure the departure from a standard FLRW cosmology. Applications of the averaged models are outlined including radiation-dominated and scalar field cosmologies (inflationary and dilaton/…
We reformulate the averaged Einstein equations in a form suitable for use with Newtonian gauge linear perturbation theory and track the size of the modifications to standard Robertson-Walker evolution on the largest scales as a function of redshift for both Einstein de-Sitter and Lambda CDM cosmologies. In both cases the effective energy density arising from linear perturbations is of the order of 10^-5 the matter density, as would be expected, with an effective equation of state w ~ -1/19. Employing a modified Halofit code to extend our results to quasilinear scales, we find that, while large…
Backreaction effects of the large scale structure on the background dynamics have been claimed to lead to a renormalization of the background dynamics that may account for the late time acceleration of the cosmic expansion. This article emphasizes that generically the averaged flow is locally anisotropic, a property that can be related to observation. Focusing on perturbation theory, the spatially averaged shear, that characterizes the anisotropy of the flow, is computed. It is shown that this shear arising from backreaction differs from a homogeneous shear: its time evolution is different and…
One possible explanation for the present observed acceleration of the Universe is the breakdown of homogeneity and isotropy due to the formation of non-linear structures. How inhomogeneities affect the averaged cosmological expansion rate and lead to late-time acceleration is generally considered to be due to some backreaction mechanism. General Relativity together with pressure-free matter have until recently been considered as the sole ingredients for averaged calculations. In this communication we focus our attention on more general scenarios, including imperfect fluids as well as alternati…
Previous work in the literature had built a formalism for spatially averaged equations for the scale factor, giving rise to an averaged Raychaudhuri equation and averaged Hamiltonian constraint, which involve a backreaction source term. The present paper extends these equations to include models with variable Newton parameter and variable cosmological term, motivated by the nonperturbative renormalization program for quantum gravity based upon the Einstein-Hilbert action. We focus on the Brans-Dicke form of the renormalization-group improved action functional. The coupling between backreaction…
A system of effective Einstein equations for spatially averaged scalar variables of inhomogeneous cosmological models can be solved by providing a `cosmic equation of state'. Recent efforts to explain Dark Energy focus on `backreaction effects' of inhomogeneities on the effective evolution of cosmological parameters in our Hubble volume, avoiding a cosmological constant in the equation of state. In this Letter it is argued that, if kinematical backreaction effects are indeed of the order of the averaged density (or larger as needed for an accelerating domain of the Universe), then the state of…
In inhomogeneous cosmology, restricting attention to an irrotational dust matter model, backreaction arises in terms of the deviation of the averaged spatial scalar curvature from a constant-curvature model on some averaging domain $D$, $W_D$, and the kinematical backreaction $Q_D$. These backreaction variables can be modeled as an effective scalar field, called the `morphon field'. The general cosmological equations still need a closure condition to be solved. A simple example is the class of scaling solutions where $W_D$ and $Q_D$ are assumed to follow a power law of the volume scale factor …
We investigate the backreaction of cosmological long wavelength perturbations on the evolution of the Universe. By applying the renormalization group method to a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe with long wavelength fluctuations, we demonstrate that the renormalized solution with the backreaction effect is equivalent to that of the separate universe. Then, using the effective Friedmann equation, we show that only non-adiabatic mode of long wavelength fluctuations affects the expansion law of the spatially averaged universe.
One of the outstanding problems in general relativistic cosmology is that of the averaging. That is, how the lumpy universe that we observe at small scales averages out to a smooth Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) model. The root of the problem is that averaging does not commute with the Einstein equations that govern the dynamics of the model. This leads to the well-know question of backreaction in cosmology. In this work, we approach the problem using the covariant framework of Macroscopic Gravity (MG). We use its cosmological solution with a flat FLRW macroscopic background where …
We examine the effects of spatial inhomogeneities on irrotational anisotropic cosmologies by looking at the average properties of anisotropic pressure-free models. Adopting the Buchert scheme, we recast the averaged scalar equations in Bianchi-type form and close the standard system by introducing a propagation formula for the average shear magnitude. We then investigate the evolution of anisotropic average vacuum models and those filled with pressureless matter. In the latter case we show that the backreaction effects can modify the familiar Kasner-like singularity and potentially remove Mixm…
We consider pair production phenomena in spatially homogeneous strong electric fields. We focus on spinor QED in two-dimensions and discuss the potential ambiguity in the adiabatic order assignment for the electromagnetic potential required to fix the renormalization subtractions. This ambiguity can be univocally fixed by imposing, at the semiclassical level, stress-energy conservation when both electric and gravitational backgrounds are present.
We introduce a generalization of the 4-dimensional averaging window function of Gasperini, Marozzi and Veneziano (2010) that may prove useful for a number of applications. The covariant nature of spatial scalar averaging schemes to address the averaging problem in relativistic cosmology is an important property that is implied by construction, but usually remains implicit. We employ here the approach of Gasperini et al. for two reasons. First, the formalism and its generalization presented here are manifestly covariant. Second, the formalism is convenient for disentangling the dependencies on …
For general relativistic spacetimes filled with irrotational `dust' a generalized form of Friedmann's equations for an `effective' expansion factor $a_D (t)$ of inhomogeneous cosmologies is derived. Contrary to the standard Friedmann equations, which hold for homogeneous-isotropic cosmologies, the new equations include the `backreaction effect' of inhomogeneities on the average expansion of the model. A universal relation between `backreaction' and average scalar curvature is also given. For cosmologies whose averaged spatial scalar curvature is proportional to $a_D^{-2}$, the expansion law go…
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 consider cosmological backreaction effects in Buchert's averaging formalism on the basis of an explicit solution of the Lemaître-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) dynamics which is linear in the LTB curvature parameter and has an inhomogeneous bang time. The volume Hubble rate is found in terms of the volume scale factor which represents a derivation of the simplest phenomenological solution of Buchert's equations in which the fractional densities corresponding to average curvature and kinematic backreaction are explicitly determined by the parameters of the underlying LTB solution at the boundary of the …
Within a genuinely gauge invariant approach recently developed for the computation of the cosmological backreaction, we study, in a cosmological inflationary context and with respect to various observers, the impact of scalar fluctuations on the space-time dynamics in the long wavelength limit. We stress that such a quantum backreaction effect is evaluated in a truly gauge independent way using a set of effective equations which describe the dynamics of the averaged geometry. In particular we show under what conditions the free falling (geodetic) observers do not experience any scalar-induced …
The cosmological backreaction arises when one directly averages the Einstein equations to recover an effective Robertson-Walker cosmology, rather than assuming a background a priori. While usually discussed in the context of dark energy, strictly speaking any cosmological model should be recovered from such a procedure. We apply the Buchert averaging formalism to linear Robertson-Walker universes containing matter, radiation and dark energy and evaluate numerically the discrepancies between the assumed and the averaged behaviour, finding the largest deviations for an Einstein-de Sitter univers…
This paper discusses the phenomenon of backreaction within the Szekeres model. Cosmological backreaction describes how the mean global evolution of the Universe deviates from the Friedmannian evolution. The analysis is based on models of a single cosmological environment and the global ensemble of the Szekeres models (of the Swiss-Cheese-type and Styrofoam-type). The obtained results show that non-linear growth of cosmic structures is associated with the growth of the spatial curvature $Ω_{\cal R}$ (in the FLRW limit $Ω_{\cal R} \to Ω_k$). If averaged over global scales the result depends on t…
The averaging problem in general relativity concerns the difficulty of defining meaningful averages of tensor quantities and we consider various aspects of the problem. We first address cosmological backreaction which arises because the averaged Einstein tensor is not the same as the Einstein tensor of the averaged metric. It has been suggested that backreaction might account for the dark energy. We show numerically in the Buchert formalism that the corrections from (quasi)linear perturbations are only of the order of 10^-5 and act as a dark matter. We then focus on constructing averaged metri…
The subject of cosmological backreaction in General Relativity is often approached by coordinate-dependent and metric-based analyses. We present in this letter an averaging formalism for the scalar parts of Einstein's equations that is coordinate-independent and only functionally depends on a metric. This formalism is applicable to general 3+1 foliations of spacetime for an arbitrary fluid with tilted flow. We clarify the dependence on spacetime foliation and argue that this dependence is weak in cosmological settings. We also introduce a new set of averaged equations that feature a global cos…
The expected stress-energy tensor <T_{ab}> of quantum fields generically violates the local positive energy conditions of general relativity. However, <T_{ab}> may satisfy some nonlocal conditions such as the averaged null energy condition (ANEC), which would rule out traversable wormholes. Although ANEC holds in Minkowski spacetime, it can be violated in curved spacetimes if one is allowed to choose the spacetime and quantum state arbitrarily, without imposition of the semiclassical Einstein equation G_{ab} = 8 π<T_{ab}>. In this paper we investigate whether ANEC holds for solutions to this e…
In this contribution we summarize two recent applications of a correspondence between backreaction terms in averaged inhomogeneous cosmologies and an effective scalar field (the `morphon'). Backreaction terms that add to the standard sources of Friedmannian kinematical laws and that emerge from geometrical curvature invariants built from inhomogeneities, can be interpreted in terms of a minimally coupled scalar field in the case of a dust matter source. We consider closure conditions of the averaged equations that lead to different evolution scenarii: a) the standard Chaplygin equation of stat…
The gravitational field equations on cosmological scales are obtained by averaging the Einstein field equations of general relativity. By assuming spatial homogeneity and isotropy on the largest scales, the local inhomogeneities affect the dynamics though correction (backreaction) terms, which can lead to behaviour qualitatively and quantitatively different from the Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker models. The effects of averaging on cosmological observations are discussed. It is argued that, based on estimates from observational data, the backreaction (and, in particular, the averaged spat…
We consider an effective viscous pressure as the result of a backreaction of inhomogeneities within Buchert's formalism. The use of an effective metric with a time-dependent curvature radius allows us to calculate the luminosity distance of the backreaction model. This quantity is different from its counterpart for a "conventional" spatially flat bulk viscous fluid universe. Both expressions are tested against the SNIa data of the Union2.1 sample with only marginally different results for the distance-redshift relation and in accordance with the $Λ$CDM model. Future observations are expected t…
Every theory that modifies gravity at cosmological distances and that is not already ruled out by the Solar system observations must exhibit some nonlinear mechanism that turns off the modification close to a compact matter source. Given this nonlinearity, one might expect such a theory to show a large gravitational backreaction, i.e. an order one influence of the small scale inhomogeneities on the large scale evolution of the Universe. We argue that this is not necessarily the case. If the dominant nonlinear terms in the equations obey a shift symmetry, the averaged effect of the nonlineariti…
A formalism for analyzing the complete set of field equations describing Macroscopic Gravity is presented. Using this formalism, a cosmological solution to the Macroscopic Gravity equations is determined. It is found that if a particular segment of the connection correlation tensor is zero and if the macroscopic geometry is described by a flat Robertson-Walker metric, then the effective correction to the averaged Einstein Field equations of General Relativity i.e., the backreaction, is equivalent to a positive spatial curvature term. This investigation completes the analysis of [Phys. Rev. Let…
We discuss the effect of curvature and matter inhomogeneities on the averaged scalar curvature of the present-day Universe. Motivated by studies of averaged inhomogeneous cosmologies, we contemplate on the question whether it is sensible to assume that curvature averages out on some scale of homogeneity, as implied by the standard concordance model of cosmology, or whether the averaged scalar curvature can be largely negative today, as required for an explanation of Dark Energy from inhomogeneities. We confront both conjectures with a detailed analysis of the kinematical backreaction term and …
This paper presents a general averaging procedure for a set of observers which are tilted with respect to the cosmological matter fluid. After giving the full set of equations describing the local dynamics, we define the averaging procedure and apply it to the scalar parts of Einstein's field equations. In addition to the standard backreaction, new terms appear that account for the effect of the peculiar velocity of the matter fluid as well as the possible effect of a shift in the coordinate system.
We present a model of an inhomogeneous universe that leads to accelerated expansion after taking spatial averaging. The model universe is the Tolman-Bondi solution of the Einstein equation and contains both a region with positive spatial curvature and a region with negative spatial curvature. We find that after the region with positive spatial curvature begins to re-collapse, the deceleration parameter of the spatially averaged universe becomes negative and the averaged universe starts accelerated expansion. We also discuss the generality of the condition for accelerated expansion of the spati…
Smoothing over structures in general relativity leads to a renormalisation of the background, and potentially many other effects which are poorly understood. Observables such as the distance-redshift relation when averaged on the sky do not necessarily yield the same smooth model which arises when performing spatial averages. These issues are thought to be of technical interest only in the standard model of cosmology, giving only tiny corrections. However, when we try to calculate observable quantities such as the all-sky average of the distance-redshift relation, we find that perturbation the…
We construct a particular class of quantum states for a massless, minimally coupled free scalar field which are of the form of a superposition of the vacuum and multi-mode two-particle states. These states can exhibit local negative energy densities. Furthermore, they can produce an arbitrarily large amount of negative energy in a given region of space at a fixed time. This class of states thus provides an explicit counterexample to the existence of a spatially averaged quantum inequality in four-dimensional spacetime.
The calculation of the averaged Hubble expansion rate in an averaged perturbed Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker cosmology leads to small corrections to the background value of the expansion rate, which could be important for measuring the Hubble constant from local observations. It also predicts an intrinsic variance associated with the finite scale of any measurement of H_0, the Hubble rate today. Both the mean Hubble rate and its variance depend on both the definition of the Hubble rate and the spatial surface on which the average is performed. We quantitatively study different definition…
Kinematical and dynamical properties of a generic inhomogeneous cosmological model, spatially averaged with respect to free-falling (generalized fundamental) observers, are investigated for the matter model irrotational dust. Paraphrasing a previous Newtonian investigation, we present a relativistic generalization of a backreaction model based on volume-averaging the Relativistic Zeldovich Approximation. In this model we investigate the effect of kinematical backreaction on the evolution of cosmological parameters as they are defined in an averaged inhomogeneous cosmology, and we show that the…
We develop a method for computing the linearized gravitational backreaction for Nambu-Goto strings using a fully covariant formalism. We work with equations of motion expressed in terms of a higher dimensional analog of the geodesic equation subject to self-generated forcing terms. The approach allows arbitrary spacetime and worldsheet gauge choices for the background and perturbation. The perturbed spacetime metric may be expressed as an integral over a distributional stress-energy tensor supported on the string worldsheet. By formally integrating out the distribution, this quantity may be re…
We study the behavior of gravitational waves and their backreaction on the background in cosmological solutions of the five-dimensional Hořava-Witten theory. As a dynamical background, we consider two cosmological solutions with spatially flat expanding FRW branes, called $(\uparrow)$- and $(\downarrow)$-solutions, in which the orbifold size increases and decreases in time, respectively. % For these background solutions, the wave equation for the tensor perturbation can be solved by the method of separation of variables, and the mode functions are classified by a separation constant which can …
We perform large-scale cosmological simulations that solve Einstein's equations directly via numerical relativity. Starting with initial conditions sampled from the cosmic microwave background, we track the emergence of a cosmic web without the need for a background cosmology. We measure the backreaction of large-scale structure on the evolution of averaged quantities in a matter-dominated universe. Although our results are preliminary, we find the global backreaction energy density is of order $10^{-8}$ compared to the energy density of matter in our simulations, and is thus unlikely to expla…
The present matter density of the Universe, while highly inhomogeneous on small scales, displays approximate homogeneity on large scales. We propose that whereas it is justified to use the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) line element (which describes an exactly homogeneous and isotropic universe) as a template to construct luminosity distances in order to compare observations with theory, the evolution of the scale factor in such a construction must be governed not by the standard Einstein equations for the FLRW metric, but by the modified Friedmann equations derived by Buchert [7, …
The current cosmological model ($Λ$CDM) with the underlying FLRW metric relies on the assumption of local isotropy, hence homogeneity of the Universe. Difficulties arise when one attempts to justify this model as an average description of the Universe from first principles of general relativity, since in general, the Einstein tensor built from the averaged metric is not equal to the averaged stress--energy tensor. In this context, the discrepancy between these quantities is called "cosmological backreaction" and has been the subject of scientific debate among cosmologists and relativists for m…
In the framework of spatially averaged inhomogeneous cosmologies in classical General Relativity, effective Einstein equations govern the regional and the global dynamics of averaged scalar variables of cosmological models. A particular solution may be characterized by a cosmic equation of state. In this paper it is pointed out that a globally static averaged dust model is conceivable without employing a compensating cosmological constant. Much in the spirit of Einstein's original model we discuss consequences for the global, but also for the regional properties of this cosmology. We then cons…
We investigate effective equations governing the volume expansion of spatially averaged portions of inhomogeneous cosmologies in spacetimes filled with an arbitrary fluid. This work is a follow-up to previous studies focused on irrotational dust models (Paper I) and irrotational perfect fluids (Paper II) in flow-orthogonal foliations of spacetime. It complements them by considering arbitrary foliations, arbitrary lapse and shift, and by allowing for a tilted fluid flow with vorticity. As for the first studies, the propagation of the spatial averaging domain is chosen to follow the congruence o…
We investigate the possible occurrence of a positive cosmic acceleration in a spatially averaged, expanding, unbound Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi cosmology. By studying an approximation in which the contribution of three-curvature dominates over the matter density, we construct numerical models which exhibit acceleration.
Cosmological models typically neglect the complicated nature of the spacetime manifold at small scales in order to hypothesize idealized general relativistic solutions for describing the average dynamics of the Universe. Although these solutions are remarkably successful in accounting for data, they introduce a number of puzzles in cosmology, and their foundational assumptions are therefore important to test. In this paper, we go beyond the usual assumptions in cosmology and propose a formalism for averaging the local general relativistic spacetime on an observer's past null cone: we formulate…
We consider averaged null energy conditions (ANEC) for strongly coupled quantum field theories in even (two and four) dimensional curved spacetimes by applying the no-bulk-shortcut principle in the context of the AdS/CFT duality. In the same context but in odd-dimensions, the present authors previously derived a conformally invariant averaged null energy condition (CANEC), which is a version of the ANEC with a certain weight function for conformal invariance. In even-dimensions, however, one has to deal with gravitational conformal anomalies, which make relevant formulas much more complicated …
We confront the problem of giving a fundamental definition to perturbative string theory in spacetimes with totally compact space (taken to be a torus for simplicity, though the nature of the problem is very general) and non-compact time. Due to backreaction induced by the presence of even a single string quantum, the usual formulation of perturbative string theory in a fixed classical background is infrared-divergent at all subleading orders in the string coupling, and needs to be amended. The problem can be seen as a closed string analogue of D0-brane recoil under an impact by closed strings…
We consider spatially averaged inhomogeneous universe models and argue that, already in the absence of sources, an effective scalar field arises through foliating and spatially averaging inhomogeneous geometrical curvature invariants of the Einstein vacuum. This scalar field (the `morphon') acts as an inflaton, if we prescribe a potential of some generic form. We show that, for any initially negative average spatial curvature, the morphon is driven through an inflationary phase and leads - on average - to a spatially flat, homogeneous and isotropic universe model, providing initial conditions …
We construct the first exact statistically homogeneous and isotropic cosmological solution in which inhomogeneity has a significant effect on the expansion rate. The universe is modelled as a Swiss Cheese, with dust FRW background and inhomogeneous holes. We show that if the holes are described by the quasispherical Szekeres solution, their average expansion rate is close to the background under certain rather general conditions. We specialise to spherically symmetric holes and violate one of these conditions. As a result, the average expansion rate at late times grows relative to the backgrou…
We discuss the construction of cosmological models within the framework of Macroscopic Gravity (MG), which is a theory that models the effects of averaging the geometry of space-time on large scales. We find new exact spatially homogeneous and isotropic FLRW solutions to the MG field equations, and investigate large-scale perturbations around them. We find that any inhomogeneous perturbations to the averaged geometry are severely restricted, but that possible anisotropies in the correlation tensor can have dramatic consequences for the measurement of distances. These calculations are a first s…
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 on the interpretation of cosmological data. In particular, all deductions about cosmology are based on light paths; averaging can have an important effect on photon propagation and hence cosmological observations. It would be desirable to describe the physical effects of averaging in terms of observational quantities and focussing on the behaviour of light. Data (e.g., matter terms, su…
Ricci flow deformation of cosmological initial data sets in general relativity is a technique for generating families of initial data sets which potentially would allow to interpolate between distinct spacetimes. This idea has been around since the appearance of the Ricci flow on the scene, but it has been difficult to turn it into a sound mathematical procedure. In this expository talk we illustrate, how Perelman's recent results in Ricci flow theory can considerably improve on such a situation. From a physical point of view this analysis can be related to the issue of finding a constant-curv…
