Cosmology Definition and 951 Threads

Summary: Could different outcomes have different physics in Wigner's friend? Physicist Eugene Wigner said that consciousness was fundamental for physics and that laws of physics existed because of it. He said that "consciousness can change the usual laws of physics" He also proposed the...

Summary: Questions about the Multiverse hypothesis and the 'No boundary' conditions approach in cosmology I have some questions about James Hartle and Stephen Hawking's 'No-boundary' proposal: - In their approach multiple histories would exist. These histories could yield universes with...

If we take a flat universe dominated by radiation, the scale factor is ##a(t)=t^{1/2}## which can be derived from the first Friedmann Equation:$$(\dot a/a)^2 = \frac{8\pi G}{3c^2}\varepsilon(t)-\frac{kc^2}{R_0^2 a(t)^2}$$ But suppose I want to show this using the second Friedmann Equation (Also...

Summary: Can black means many thing? The black we see in night sky has to mean many things First of all, from point of views of human eyes then the photons can't reach our eyes so it appears black. Secondly, the objects appear smaller as we go farther from that object. So, at some point object...

The thread title is the title of a recently published paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab32da The paper claims to resolve an ambiguity in "cosmological backreaction" models, which are models that take into account spatial inhomogeneity to derive correction terms to...

Summary: What would you study If for some reason you were required to limit your area of study in cosmology to one topic, what would it be?

I know this question sounds stupid but somehow i need confirmation I guess. Is it necessary to learn GR and SR to study cosmology ?

The Friedman Equations is based on the cosmological principle, which states that the universe at sufficiently large scale is homogeneous and isotropic. But what if, as an hypothesis, the universe was anisotropic and the clustering of masses are aligned to an arbitrary axis (axial pole), how...

Assume that we have a flat FRW metric expressed in conformal time ##\eta## so that the line element is $$ds^2=a^2(\eta)(d\eta^2-dx^2-dy^2-dz^2)\tag{1}$$ where ##a=1## at the present time ##\eta=0## and the speed of light ##c=1##. This metric has the following non-zero Christoffel symbols...

I have been interested in Seth Lloyd's cosmological model (which proposes that the universe is a some kind of quantum computer or at least similar to it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_the_Universe, https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0501135) since long ago. I was wondering if his...

Let’s say to the average Astronomer conducting research; generalizing the research to “astronomy” ; which would be more useful for the “average” Astronomer on a day to day basis: Quantum Mechanics or General Relativity? Obviously most are, but which so more? Which would be referred to more?

I know that it would vary depending on the type of research a specific astronomer would be doing ( Astrophysics/Cosmology research versus an Astronomer researching exoplanets ) ; but in your opinion, “how much” or “how well” should an Astronomer with a graduate degree in Astronomy know General...

For Project I need to find something related to the Cosmology and Coding (combined) any ideas ? Btw it should not be so simple such as Ned's Cosmology calculator.

On Ned Wright's pages one can find this graph: plotting some supernova data against different expansion models. The main thing here that gives me a pause is the linear relationship for the closed universe with ##\Omega##=2 (red line). There doesn't seem to be any weird scaling involved. What is...

Hello. If we consider PBH formation from collapse of large density perturbation in the early Universe, a mass PBH depends on density contrast as And δ must be larger then . Also we have β — an abundance of black holes, it's the ratio of the PBH energy density to the total energy density, this...

Hello. I'm trying to study primordial black holes for my work, but I still can't understand what are abundance and mass spectrum? Could you explain? Thanks in advance.

Does the Friedmann vacuum equation have a linear solution rather than an exponential one? Using natural units one can write Friedmann's equation for the vacuum as $$ \begin{eqnarray*} \left(\frac{\dot a}{a}\right)^2 &=& \frac{8\pi G}{3}\rho_{vac}\\\tag{1} &=& L^2 \left(\frac{\rho_0}{L^4}\right)...

The majority of the universe is made up of a currently mysterious entity that pervades space: dark energy. We don’t know exactly what it is, but we do know that dark energy accelerates the expansion of space.

Hello. I'd just like to check a some points concerning the two kinds of singularities that Penrose and Hawking describe in this paper. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspa.1970.0021 The Singularities of Gravitational Collapse and Cosmology. 1. According to the Cosmic...

Homework Statement Given that there are 10-2 Ellipticals per Mpc3 and my garden telescope can reach to 14 mag. How large an area of sky would I need to survey to find 100 Elliptical galaxies ? (assume the typical absolute magnitude for an Elliptical galaxy is -21 mag).Homework Equations...

Homework Statement Homework Equations modified Freidmann: The Attempt at a Solution for part b) I am not sure what to do as I am not sure what they mean by and

Hi everyone, I'm unable to understand how to derive Formula (6.3.11) in Weinberg's cosmology book. It's a relation between time-related derivation (d/dt) and RW-scale-factor-related derivation (d/dy, where y = a(t)/aEQ, a(t) is the RW scale factor in the metric and the EQ subscript denotes the...

I am fascinated by Einstein’s quote that the most unbelievable aspect of the universe was that it was intelligible. So my question is does anyone know whether it is so unlikely as to be absurd to suppose that random unguided processes could produce a rational brain in man in as little as 3...

Homework Statement Homework Equations [/B]The Attempt at a Solution (a) (b) Could you tell me if what I am doing is correct? In part (b) they want M as a function of L so I assumed we have to get rid of the l. Do I have to use l(m=0) = 1.52 x 10 ^(-8) ?[/B]

Hi I am now about to pursue my PhD in cosmology and my guide has told me to find a problem which can be solved (which will be my research topic) regarding dark energy or general relativity. I find it very difficult to choose a topic . Now it would be very beneficial if this community people...

I have searched and came across: Introduction to Cosmology by Barbara Ryden https://www.amazon.com/dp/0805389121/?tag=pfamazon01-20 Modern Cosmology by Dodelson https://www.amazon.com/dp/0122191412/?tag=pfamazon01-20 What would you recommend? This is for a Master's course where basic...

I came across a theory called "timescape" cosmology. If I understand the theory correctly it assumes that the universe is not homogenenous due to the large voids and gravitationally bounded system. Also time would be different for the observers on these two different locations. 1- Is CMBR and...

For calculating the proper distance in cosmology why is the proper time between two points (galaxy) dΓ is taken 0?? e.g dΓ2=dt2-a(t)2dr2 Taking dΓ=0 and ∫dr=∫dt/a(t)

Hello. The book "General Relativity, Astrophysics, and Cosmology", by Raychaudhuri, et al., looks like a good compact exposition of GR, astrophysics and cosmology, which is exactly the kind of book I'm looking for. What do you think of this book? Thank you in advance.

Hi all, In this footnote, it is mentioned that Eq. 3.1.7, giving the pressure p(T) of a particle, can be derived from the law of conservation of energy (Eq. 3.1.4) Tdp(T)/dT = ρ(T)+p(T) and a previous definition (Eq. 3.1.6) of the energy density ρ(T) based on Fermi-Dirac or Bose-Einstein...

While studying the proper distance in cosmology I came across the thing as The FRW metric ds2=c2dt2-a(t)2[dr2+Sk(r)2dω2] And Sk(r)=Rsin(r/R) Where a(t) is the scale factor and dω2= dθ2+sin2θdΦ2, While calculating the proper distance at the time of emmission of light the term ds and dω are...

Homework Statement Show that the temperature of non-relativistic matter scales as ##a^{-2}## in the absence of interactions. Start from the zero-order part of Eq. (4.68) and assume a form ##f_{dm} \propto e^{-E/T}=e^{-p^2/2mT}##. Note that his argument does not apply to electrons and protons...

I am trying to estimate the distance of closest galaxy neighbor knowing the expression of number of neighbors into a volume ##\text{d}V##, the mean density ##n_\text{gal}## and the correlation function, i.e with this expression : ##\text{d}N=n_{\text{gal}}\,\text{d}V\,(1+\xi(r))## with...

Hello, I am asked to give the formal expression of the total number density of galaxies and explain why is this expression problematic in practice? From what I saw from my research and into my lectures, I have found the follwing relation which gives the number of galaxies ##N## with mass ##(m...

How to get to the expression for equilibrium recombination temperature for Helium?

Hi everyone, On Page 72 of S. Weinberg's Cosmology book, it's mentioned, just after Equation 1.9.16, that, for the universe matter density ρ(r) to be an analytic function near the origin (spherical symmetry), it has to be given near r = 0 by a power series of r2. I'm not a math wizard, so can...

{Reference: Wikipedia's Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) Metric article)} The FLRW (1935) mathematical model of the universe is the one most used by cosmologists. It is differentiable, which means it is based on sound, consistent, mathematical formulations. (The Lambda-CDM model is...

Hi Everyone, One of Hawking's last publications studied the model of universe/multiverse and conjectured that the exit from eternal inflation is "finite and reasonably smooth" - in other words, the inflated boundaries of multiverses could be finite and smooth. Here is the paper link -...

Hi Everyone, I'm interested in how to annihilate black holes (they are like blenders separating all the things apart and agglomerate like "tumors/cancers" in the universe). However, I'm new to this field and need some clarifications on some of the basic concepts like "annihilation" and...

I have been studying primordial black hole formation through inflation for a while and I was curious to know how the parameters in an inflation model are determined such that they are consistent with CMB constraints. In my literature reviews, there are quite a few models that exhibit an...

Homework Statement Show that Eq. (6.33) follows from Eq. (6.32) by changing variables from t to ##\eta##. Homework Equations (6.32) $$\frac{d^2\phi^{(0)}}{dt^2}+3H\frac{d\phi^{(0)}}{dt}+V'=0$$ (6.33) $$\ddot{\phi^{(0)}}+2aH\dot{\phi}^{(0)}+a^2V'=0$$ The Attempt at a Solution So...

Why should you prefer the view that cosmological expansion is due to distant galaxies moving apart according to the Hubble Law instead of cosmic space stretching, like stretching of space(-time) in the vicinity of black holes?

Hi, I am trying to figure out how to solve the Mukhanov equation numerically in Mathematica, but have some problems dealing with it. In terms of the number of efolds, the Fourier modes satisfy the following ODE in terms of the Hubble slow roll parameters: $$...

In 'Introduction to Cosmology' by Barbara Ryden, there is an argument made using the first law of thermodynamics to derive the relation T(t) ∝ a(t)-1 on pages 29 and 30. MENTOR NOTE: removed copyrighted material. I've been able to work out all the omitted details up to 2.37, which gives the...

Hello everybody, I'm a undergraduate student in Physics at my first year, and we got a project in our course: Astrophysics and Relativity. The topic is basically about how we can use the experiments at LHC in astrophysics/cosmology, (Which of course is trying understand the early universe etc)...

The Compton wavelength of a particle is given by $$\lambda=\frac{h}{mc}.$$ One can construct an expression for the energy density ##\rho## of a particle of mass ##m## given by $$\rho = \frac{mc^2}{\lambda^3}=\frac{m^4 c^5}{h^3}.$$ What is the physical significance of the mass scale ##m## in the...

Homework Statement For a power spectrum density fluctuations ##P(k) \propto k^n##, I need to find the scaling (with respect to ##a##) of the horizon wavenumber ##\frac{2\pi}{\chi_H}## in a matter dominated universe in terms of ##n##. ##\chi_H(a)## is the evolving particle horizon, in a flat...

Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, or CCC, is a hypothesis put forward by Roger Penrose in the early 2000s. My understanding of physics is lacking so my explanation will not be that clear, but I will summarize it here. Essentially, the existence of a previous spacetime, or "aeon," is postulated. This...

I'm beginning to study the Matt Roots book Introduction to Cosmology and in the section 1.3 Olbers' Paradox he writes: "If the surface area of an average star is A, then its brightness is B=L/A. The sun may be taken to be such an average star, mainly because we know it so well. The number of...

Homework Statement Suppose (incorrectly) that H scales as temperature squared all the way back until the time when the temperature of the universe was 1019 GeV/kB (i.e., suppose the universe was radiation dominated all the way back to the Planck time). Also suppose that today the dark energy...