A fragment-based approach towards <Emphasis Type="Italic">ab-initio</Emphasis> treatment of polymeric materials

The present study deals with hypersurface-homogeneous cosmological models with anisotropic dark energy in Saez–Ballester theory of gravitation. Exact solutions of field equations are obtained by applying a special law of variation of Hubble’s parameter that yields a constant negative value of the deceleration parameter. Three physically viable cosmological models of the Universe are presented for the values of parameter K occurring in the metric of the space–time. The model for K = 0 corresponds to an accelerating Universe with isotropic dark energy. The other two models for K = 1 and ?1 represent accelerating Universe with anisotropic dark energy, which isotropize for large time. The physical and geometric behaviours of the models are also discussed.     

A new pressure-parametrization unified dark fluid model

We propose a new pressure-parametrization model to explain the accelerated expansion of the late-time Universe by considering the baryon matter and dark contents (dark matter and dark energy) as a unified dark fluid. To realize this model more physically, we reconstruct it with the quintessence and phantom scalar fields, respectively. We use the recent cosmological data to constrain this model, distinguish it from the standard cosmological model and find that the value of the Hubble constant \(H_0=68.34^{+0.53}_{-0.92}\) supports the global measurement by the Planck satellite at the \(1\sigma \) confidence level.     

Why there is something rather than nothing: cosmological constant from summing over everything in lorentzian quantum gravity

The density matrix of the Universe for the microcanonical ensemble in quantum cosmology describes an equipartition in the physical phase space of the theory (sum over everything), but in terms of the observable spacetime geometry this ensemble is peaked about the set of recently obtained cosmological instantons limited to a bounded range of the cosmological constant. This suggests the mechanism of constraining the landscape of string vacua and a possible solution to the dark energy problem in the form of the quasiequilibrium decay of the microcanonical state of the Universe.     

Basic properties of the Einstein equations with a Ricci-Scalar-Dependent cosmological term

Basic properties of the Einstein equations modified by a cosmological Λ-term dependent on the Ricci scalar R are considered. We show that in addition to a nonzero divergence of the energy-momentum tensor of the matter and the consequent cold matter mass nonconservation as the Universe expands, this model suggests a significant modification of the equations for the gravitational potential and particle acceleration in the Newtonian approximation. These circumstances allow the necessary criteria for possible functional dependences Λ(R) to be formulated. Nevertheless, by introducing a variable Λ-term, we can look at the problems of dark matter and dark energy anew. In particular, we show that the model in which the cosmological term depends linearly on the Ricci scalar (this corresponds to the approximation of a more complex dependence in the case of low matter densities) makes it possible to satisfactorily describe the rotation curves of galaxies without invoking the dark matter hypothesis and to construct a cosmological model with a variable vacuum energy density, in qualitative agreement with the present views of the early Universe.     

Inflationary Cosmology with Two-component Fluid and Thermodynamics

We present a simple and self-consistent cosmology with a phenomenological model of quantum creation of radiation and matter due to the decay of the cosmological constant . The decay drives a non-isentropic inflationary epoch, which exits smoothly to the radiation-dominated era, without reheating, and then evolves to the dust era. The initial vacuum for radiation and matter is a regular Minkowski vacuum. The created radiation and matter obeys standard thermodynamic laws, and the total entropy produced is consistent with the accepted value. This paper is an extension of the model with the decaying cosmological constant considered in [1]. We compare our model with the quantum field theory approach to creation of particles in curved space.     

Holographic Dark Energy Density

In this article we consider the cosmological model based on the holographic dark energy. We study dark energy density in Universe with arbitrary spatially curvature described by the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric. We use Chevallier-Polarski-Linder parametrization to specify dark energy density.     

Varying vacuum energy of a self-interacting scalar field

Understanding mechanisms capable of altering the vacuum energy is currently of interest in field theories and cosmology. We consider an interacting scalar field and show that the vacuum energy naturally takes any value between its maximum and zero because interaction affects the number of operating field modes, the assertion that involves no assumptions or postulates. The mechanism is similar to the recently discussed temperature evolution of collective modes in liquids. The cosmological implication concerns the evolution of scalar field ?$?$ during the inflation of the Universe. ?$?$ starts with all field modes operating and maximal vacuum energy in the early inflation-dominated epoch. As a result of inflation, ?$?$ undergoes a dynamical crossover and arrives in the state with one long-wavelength longitudinal mode and small positive vacuum energy predicted to be asymptotically decreasing to zero in the late epoch. Accordingly, we predict that the currently observed cosmological constant will decrease in the future, and comment on the possibility of a cyclic Universe.     

$$\Lambda $$CDM: Much More Than We Expected,but Now Less Than What We Want

The \(\Lambda \)CDM cosmological model is remarkable: with just six parameters it describes the evolution of the Universe from a very early time when all structures were quantum fluctuations on subatomic scales to the present, and it is consistent with a wealth of high-precision data, both laboratory measurements and astronomical observations. However, the foundation of \(\Lambda \)CDM involves physics beyond the standard model of particle physics: particle dark matter, dark energy and cosmic inflation. Until this ‘new physics’ is clarified, \(\Lambda \)CDM is at best incomplete and at worst a phenomenological construct that accommodates the data. I discuss the path forward, which involves both discovery and disruption, some grand challenges and finally the limits of scientific cosmology.     

Current lookback time-redshift bounds on dark energy

We investigate observational constraints on dark energy models from lookback time (LT) estimates of 32 old passive galaxies distributed over the redshift interval 0.11?z?1.84$0.11?z?1.84$. To build up our LT sample we combine the age measurements for these 32 objects with estimates of the total age of the Universe, as obtained from current CMB data. We show that LT data may provide bounds on the cosmological parameters with accuracy competitive with type Ia Supernova methods. In order to break possible degeneracies between models parameters, we also discuss the bounds when our lookback time versus redshift sample is combined with the recent measurement of the baryonic acoustic oscillation peak and the derived age of the Universe from current CMB measurements.     

Gamma-ray spectrum from gravitino dark matter decay

Gravitinos are very promising candidates for the cold dark matter of the Universe. Interestingly, to achieve a sufficiently long gravitino lifetime, R parity conservation is not required, thus preventing any dangerous cosmological influence of the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle. When R parity is violated, gravitinos decay into photons and other particles with a lifetime much longer than the age of the Universe, producing a diffuse gamma-ray flux with a characteristic spectrum that could be measured in future experiments, such as GLAST or AMS-02. In this Letter we compute the energy spectrum of photons from gravitino decay and discuss its main qualitative features.     

Bulk viscosity,interaction and the viability of phantom solutions

We study the dynamics of a bulk viscosity model in the Eckart approach for a spatially flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) Universe. We have included radiation and dark energy, assumed as perfect fluids, and dark matter treated as an imperfect fluid having bulk viscosity. We also introduce an interaction term between the dark matter and dark energy components. Considering that the bulk viscosity is proportional to the dark matter energy density and imposing a complete cosmological dynamics, we find bounds on the bulk viscosity in order to reproduce a matter-dominated era (MDE). This constraint is independent of the interaction term. Some late time phantom solutions are mathematically possible. However, the constraint imposed by a MDE restricts the interaction parameter, in the phantom solutions, to a region consistent with a null value, eliminating the possibility of late time stable solutions with \(w<-1\). From the different cases that we study, the only possible scenario, with bulk viscosity and interaction term, belongs to the quintessence region. In the latter case, we find bounds on the interaction parameter compatible with latest observational data.     

Interacting Dark Energy in the Dark <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">U</Emphasis>(2)<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis></Subscript> Model

We explore the cosmological implications of the interactions among the dark particles in the dark SU(2) _R model. It turns out that the relevant interaction is between dark energy and dark matter, through a decay process. With respect to the standard ΛCDM model, it changes only the background equations. We note that the observational aspects of the model are dominated by degeneracies between the parameters that describe the process. Thus, only the usual Λ CDM parameters such as the Hubble expansion rate and the dark energy density parameter (interpreted as the combination of the densities of the dark energy doublet) could be constrained by observations at this moment.     

Statefinder—A new geometrical diagnostic of dark energy

We introduce a new cosmological diagnostic pair {r, s} called the Statefinder. The Statefinder is a geometrical diagnostic and allows us to characterize the properties of dark energy in a model-independent manner. The Statefinder is dimensionless and is constructed from the scale factor of the Universe and its time derivatives only. The parameter r forms the next step in the hierarchy of geometrical cosmological parameters after the Hubble parameter H and the deceleration parameter q, while a is a linear combination of q and r chosen in such a way that it does not depend upon the dark energy density. The Statefinder pair {r, s} is algebraically related to the equation of state of dark energy and its first time derivative. The Statefinder pair is calculated for a number of existing models of dark energy having both constant and variable w. For the case of a cosmological constant, the Statefinder acquires a particularly simple form. We demonstrate that the Statefinder diagnostic can effectively differentiate between different forms of dark energy. We also show that the mean Statefinder pair can be determined to very high accuracy from a SNAP-type experiment.     

Quintessence reconstruction of the new agegraphic dark energy model

In this Letter we implement the new agegraphic dark energy model with quintessence field. We demonstrate that the new agegraphic evolution of the universe can be described completely by a single quintessence field. Its potential as a function of the quintessence field is reconstructed numerically. In particular, the analytical solution of the new agegraphic quintessence dark energy model (NAQDE) is approximately obtained in the matter-dominated epoch. Furthermore, we investigate the evolution of the NAQDE model in the ω–ω^′$\omega \text{–}{\omega }^{\prime }$ phase plane. It turns out that by quantum corrections, the trajectory of this model lies outside the thawing and freezing regions at early times. But at late times, it enters the freezing regions and gradually approaches to a static cosmological constant state in the future. Therefore the NAQDE should belong to the freezing model at late times. For comparison, we further extend this model by including the interaction between the NADE and DM and discuss its evolution in the ω–ω^′$\omega \text{–}{\omega }^{\prime }$ phase plane.     

Growth index with the exact analytic solution of sub-horizon scale linear perturbation for dark energy models with constant equation of state

Three decades ago Heath found the integral form of the exact analytic growing mode solution of the linear density perturbation δ on sub-horizon scales including the cosmological constant or the curvature term. Recently, we obtained the exact analytic form of this solution in our previous work [1]. Interestingly, we are able to extend this solution for general dark energy models with the constant equation of state ωde${\omega }_{\mathit{de}}$ in a flat universe. This analytic solution provides the accurate and efficient tools for probing the properties of dark energy models such as the behavior of the growth factor and the growth index. We investigate the growth index and its parameter at any epoch with this exact solution for different dark energy models and find that the growth index is quite model dependent in the redshift space, 0.25?z?1.5$0.25?z?1.5$, so observations of the structure growth around this epoch would be very interesting. Also one may be able to rule out some dark energy models by using the analysis from this exact solution. Thus, the analytic solution for the growth factor provides the very useful tools for future observations to constrain the exact values of observational quantities at any epoch related to the growth factor in the dark energy models.     

Supersymmetron

We consider a supersymmetric model of dark energy coupled to cold dark matter: the supersymmetron. In the absence of cold dark matter, the supersymmetron converges to a supersymmetric minimum with a vanishing cosmological constant. When cold dark matter is present, the supersymmetron evolves to a matter dependent minimum where its energy density does not vanish. In the early Universe until the recent past of the Universe, the energy density of the supersymmetron is negligible compared to the cold dark matter energy density. Away from the supersymmetric minimum, the equation of state of the supersymmetron is constant and negative. When the supersymmetron reaches the neighbourhood of the supersymmetric minimum, its equation of state vanishes rapidly. This leads to an acceleration of the Universe which is transient unless supersymmetry breaking induces a pure cosmological constant and acceleration of the Universe does not end. Moreover, we find that the mass of supersymmetron is always greater than the gravitino mass. As a result, the supersymmetron generates a short ranged fifth force which evades gravitational tests. On the other hand, we find that the supersymmetron may lead to relevant effects on large scale structures.     

The $$B\rightarrow \bar{K}\pi \ell \ell $$ distribution at low hadronic recoil

The general class of Bianchi cosmological models with dark energy in the form of modified Chaplygin gas with variable Λ and G and bulk viscosity have been considered. We discuss three types of average scale factor by using a special law for deceleration parameter which is linear in time with negative slope. The exact solutions to the corresponding field equations are obtained. We obtain the solution of bulk viscosity (ξ), cosmological constant (Λ), gravitational parameter (G) and deceleration parameter (q) for different equations of state. The model describes an accelerating Universe for large value of time t, wherein the effective negative pressure induced by Chaplygin gas and bulk viscous pressure are driving the acceleration.     

Non-linear coupling in the dark sector as a running vacuum model

In this work we study a phenomenological non-gravitational interaction between dark matter and dark energy. The scenario studied in this work extends the usual interaction model proportional to the derivative of the dark component density adding to the coupling a non-linear term of the form \(Q = \rho '/3(\alpha + \beta \rho _{Dark})\) This dark sector interaction model could be interpreted as a particular case of a running vacuum model of the type \(\Lambda (H) = n_0 + n_1 H^2 + n_2 H^4\) in which the vacuum decays into dark matter. For a flat FRW Universe filled with dark energy, dark matter and decoupled baryonic matter and radiation we calculate the energy density evolution equations of the dark sector and solve them. The different sign combinations of the two parameters of the model show clear qualitative different cosmological scenarios, from basic cosmological insights we discard some of them. The linear scalar perturbation equations of the dark matter were calculated. Using the CAMB code we calculate the CMB and matter power spectra for some values of the parameters \(\alpha \) and \(\beta \) and compare it with \(\Lambda \)CDM. The model modify mainly the lower multipoles of the CMB power spectrum remaining almost the same the high ones. The matter power spectrum for low wave numbers is not modified by the interaction but after the maximum it is clearly different. Using observational data from Planck, and various galaxy surveys we obtain the constraints of the parameters, the best fit values obtained are the combinations \(\alpha = (3.7 \pm 7 )\times 10^{-4} \), \(-\,(1.5\times 10^{-5}\, \mathrm{eV}^{-1})^{4} \ll \beta < (0.07\,\mathrm{eV}^{-1})^4\).     

Letter: A Model of Dark Energy for the Accelerating Universe

Recent observations of large scale structure of the Universe, especially that of Type Ia supernovae, indicate that the Universe is flat and is accelerating, and that the dominant energy density in the Universe is the cosmic dark energy. We propose a model in which the cosmic effective Yang-Mills condensate familiar in particle physics plays the role of the dark energy that causes the acceleration of the Universe. Since the quantum effective Yang-Mills field in certain states has the equation of state p _y = – _y , when employed as the cosmic matter source, it naturally results in an accelerating expansion of the Universe. With the matter components ( _m 1/3) being added into the model, the composition of YM condensate and matter components can give rise to the desired equation of state w –2/3 for the Universe.     

Cosmic inhomogeneities and averaged cosmological dynamics

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 inhomogeneous Universe, the averaged 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.