Transition from decelerated to accelerated cosmic expansion in braneworld universes |
| |
Authors: | J Ponce de Leon |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Physics, Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, PR P.O. Box 23343, 00931, USA |
| |
Abstract: | Braneworld theory provides a natural setting to treat, at a classical level, the cosmological effects of vacuum energy. Non-static
extra dimensions can generally lead to a variable vacuum energy, which in turn may explain the present accelerated cosmic
expansion. We concentrate our attention in models where the vacuum energy decreases as an inverse power law of the scale factor.
These models agree with the observed accelerating universe, while fitting simultaneously the observational data for the density
and deceleration parameter. The redshift at which the vacuum energy can start to dominate depends on the mass density of ordinary
matter. For
m
= 0.3, the transition from decelerated to accelerated cosmic expansion occurs at z
T
≈ 0.48 ± 0.20, which is compatible with SNe data. We set a lower bound on the deceleration parameter today, namely > − 1 + 3
m
/2, i.e., > − 0.55 for
m
= 0.3. The future evolution of the universe crucially depends on the time when vacuum starts to dominate over ordinary matter.
If it dominates only recently, at an epoch z < 0.64, then the universe is accelerating today and will continue that way forever. If vacuum dominates earlier, at z > 0.64, then the deceleration comes back and the universe recollapses at some point in the distant future. In the first case,
quintessence and Cardassian expansion can be formally interpreted as the low energy limit of our model, although they are
entirely different in philosophy. In the second case there is no correspondence between these models and ours. |
| |
Keywords: | Cosmic accelerated expansion Brane theory Cosmology: theory Variable fundamental constants Cardassian expansion Dark matter |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|