Thesis Reference

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Thesis Reference Thesis Aspects of non standard cosmology VONLANTHEN, Marc Abstract Divers aspects de la cosmologie au-delà du modèle standard ont été explorés durant cette thèse. Le modèle standard fait face à de nombreux problèmes (énergie noire...), à tel point qu'un consensus s'est établi dans la communauté scientifique portant sur la nécessité de dépasser ce modèle. Nous avons successivement étudier des modèles à dimensions spatiales additionnelles, analyser des données cosmologiques de façon indépendante du modèle standard, étudier les conséquences d'une expansion anisotrope causée par un champ magnétique en présence de neutrinos et finalement, nous avons remis en question le principe d'homogénéité du modèle standard au travers d'un modèle comportant une densité d'énergie dépendant des coordonnées spatiales. Reference VONLANTHEN, Marc. Aspects of non standard cosmology. Thèse de doctorat : Univ. Genève, 2012, no. Sc. 4428 URN : urn:nbn:ch:unige-217895 DOI : 10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:21789 Available at: http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:21789 Disclaimer: layout of this document may differ from the published version. 1 / 1 UNIVERSITE´ DE GENEVE` FACULTE´ DES SCIENCES D´epartement de physique th´eorique Prof. Ruth DURRER Aspects of non standard cosmology THESE` pr´esent´ee `ala Facult´edes Sciences de l’Universit´ede Gen`eve pour obtenir le grade de Docteur `es sciences, mention physique par Marc Vonlanthen de Romont (FR) Th`ese N◦ XXXXXX GENEVE` Atelier de reproduction de la Section de physique 2012 3 Remerciements En premier lieu, je tiens `asinc`erement remercier ma directrice de th`ese Ruth Durrer. Tout au long de ces quatre ann´ees de th`ese, Ruth Durrer a su r´eunir et mettre `ama disposition une intelligence et des qualit´es qui vont largement au-del`ade ses comp´etences purement scientifiques unaniment reconnues. Elle est encore parvenue `amettre en place et `amain- tenir un climat de travail serein bas´esur la confiance, qui m’a largement permis de mener `aterme ce travail, tout en le conjuguant avec les exigences de mon heureuse paternit´eet de mes autres engagements. Davantage qu’une simple et banale formation scientifique, c’est une mani`ere de former et de guider l’´etudiant, de lui montrer un chemin en y investissant de sa personne, tout en le laissant libre de faire ses propres d´etours, dont j’ai eu la chance de b´en´eficier. Et c’est avant tout ceci que je retiendrai de Ruth. Je remercie ensuite celles et ceux qui m’ont apport´eune aide quelconque ou avec qui j’ai eu la chance de discuter ou de collaborer scientifiquement: Marcus Ruser, Peter Wittwer, Syksy R¨as¨anen, Domenico Sapone, Julian Adamek, Elisa Fenu, Enea Didio, Martin Kunz et Andreas Malaspinas. Pour leur travail et leur gentillesse, je remercie encore les deux secr´etaires du d´epartement, Francine Gennai-Nicole et C´ecile Jaggi. Tout aussi important que la dimension scientifique, et sans doute mˆeme davantage, je remercie celles et ceux avec qui, au fil des doutes, des interrogations, des discussions et des joies, j’ai eu le privil`ege de cheminer durant ces ann´ees pass´ees. Parmi ces derni`eres et derniers, je ne peux manquer de citer mes amies et amis, compagnons et compagnes de groupe ou de bureau, G´eraldine Haack, Elisa Fenu, Mona Frommert, Lukas Hollenstein, Umberto Canella et Enea Didio. Finalement, mais `ace niveau-l`ad’engagement, ce ne sont plus des remerciements qu’elle m´erite, mais ma plus profonde reconnaissance `aJulia, ma compagne de coeur et de route, dont la patience, la tendresse, la confiance et les encouragements continuels ont ´et´ela clef de voˆute de ce travail. Julia m’a de plus donn´ecelle dont les yeux rayonnent `aen faire pˆalir de jalousie les feux c´elestes les plus intenses, Jeanne ma fille, que je remercie simplement de me rappeler tous les jours, sans mots, ce qui est essentiel pour moi. Examinateurs Le jury de cette th`ese se compose de Prof. Dr. Ruth Durrer, D´epartement de Physique Th´eorique de l’Universit´ede • Gen`eve (Suisse) Dr. Chiara Caprini, CEA-Saclay (France) • Dr. Martin Kunz, D´epartement de Physique Th´eorique de l’Universit´ede Gen`eve • (Suisse) Dr. Julien Lesgourgues, CERN (Gen`eve, Suisse) et Ecole´ Polytechnique F´ed´erale de • Lausanne (EPFL) Je les remercie chaleureusement d’avoir accept´ede faire partie du jury, ainsi que d’avoir consacr´edu temps `ala lecture de cette th`ese. 4 5 Pr´eliminaires Une science se d´efinit par son objet. Celui de la cosmologie est l’univers, le cosmos pour en r´ef´erer `al’´ethymologie grecque du mot. L’extension du concept de cosmos n’est pas demeur´ee fig´ee depuis l’av´enement de la longue chaˆıne de penseurs dont les r´eflexions ont ´et´enourries de l’insatiable curiosit´e`acomprendre l’infini qui nous entoure. De mani`ere simple, l’´evolution de la cosmologie depuis les philosophes pr´esocratiques, Thal`es (VIIe si`ecle av. J.-C.), Anaximandre (VIe si`ecle av. J.-C.), Anaxim`ene (VIe si`ecle av. J.-C.) et consorts, peut se comprendre comme un mouvement double ayant des composantes verticale de d´emythologisation du cosmos et plus largement de la nature s’accompa- • gnant d’une dramatique r´eduction de la densit´eontologique de l’univers `asa seule r´ealit´ephysique et horizontale d’hyper-scientifisation et de m´ecanisation irr´esistiblement conduites par • la math´ematisation de cette r´ealit´ephysique et des succ`es cons´ecutifs en termes de pr´edictions. Pour illustrer correctement ce mouvement double, il conviendrait de dresser un historique de l’id´ee de nature lors des deux derniers mill´enaires. Un tel travail d´epasse le cadre de cette introduction, et a de plus d´ej`a´et´emen´epar le philosophe Pierre Hadot1. Il est n´eanmoins int´eressant d’en relever quelques caract´eristiques permettant d’en appr´ehender le contenu essentiel. Dans les grands syst`emes cosmologiques antiques, tels celui d´ecrit par Platon (428-347 av. J.-C.) dans le Tim´ee, par Aristote (384-322 av. J.-C.) dans Du Ciel ou par Plotin (205- 270 ap. J.-C.) dans les Enn´eades, le r´e´el d´efinit une hi´erarchie de mondes dont le monde sensible, objet exclusif de la cosmologie moderne, repr´esente le niveau le plus grossier, celui dans lequels les objets naissent et meurent, croissent et d´ecroissent, sont g´en´er´es et cor- rompus. Le monde sensible est le monde du devenir. A ce titre, la connaissance du monde sensible poss`ede une valeur toute relative, car elle ne porte pas sur des lois ou principes immuables, mais bien sur des corps appel´es `adisparaˆıtre. C’est en ce sens que pour Platon, la science du monde physique n’est pas une connaissance `aproprement parler, mais une opinion incertaine. N´eanmoins, l’int´erˆet de la connaissance de la r´ealit´ephysique tient au fait qu’elle manifeste des r´ealit´es sup´erieures dans la hi´erarchie des mondes, dont elle est en quelque sorte le signe qui invite `ala connaissance de principes plus fondamentaux, lesquels sont `aleur tour eux-mˆemes signes de principes sup´erieurs. Il s’agit donc, dans ces syst`emes antiques, d’une conception du cosmos en pyramide, dont la base est constitu´ee par le monde sensible, les ´etages interm´ediaires par des principes immuables d´ependants du syst`eme en question (les Id´ees platoniciennes, les diff´erentes Amesˆ plotiniennes...) et le sommet par un principe premier qui produit et met en mouvement l’ensemble du r´eel. Ce premier principe est nomm´eD´emiurge dans le syst`eme de Platon, Moteur Immobile chez Aristote, l’Un chez Plotin, ou encore, plus tard, Dieu dans la vision cosmologique du christianisme et des autres monoth´eismes. Il convient toutefois de se garder d’identifier ces diff´erentes d´enominations, chacune ayant des sp´ecificit´es propres au corpus philosophique dont elle est 1P. Hadot, Le Voile d’Isis, 2004, Gallimard 6 issue. Nous avons d´ej`amentionn´eque du point de vue ´epist´emologique, la connaissance du monde physique n’a pas de valeur en soi. Ceci demande `aˆetre compl´et´een ajoutant que le type de connaissance pr´esente un degr´ede certitude d’autant plus ´elev´eet ferme que son objet affiche un caract`ere principiel ou fondamental. Ainsi, le degr´esuprˆeme de la connaissance est la connaissance du principe premier ou divin, et n’est accessible que par la raison (Aristote, Thomas d’Acquin) ou par l’extase mystique (Platon, Plotin, Augustin). L’impulsion cruciale au mouvement double bri`evement d´ecrit ci-dessus se situe au tour- nant de la Renaissance (XVIe-XVIIe si`ecles). Outre un contexte socio-culturel favor- able (apparition des universit´es, d´emocratisation du savoir), cette impulsion est due `a une poign´ee de philosophes et scientifiques dont les id´ees novatrices ne tarderont pas `a s’imposer. Galil´ee (1564-1642) compte bien ´evidemment parmi ces penseurs: ”La philosophie est ´ecrite dans ce livre immense qui se tient ouvert sous nos yeux - l’univers - et qui ne peut se comprendre si l’on n’a pr´ealablement appris `aen comprendre la langue et `aconnaˆıtre les caract`eres employ´es pour l’´ecrire. Ce livre est ´ecrit dans la langue math´ematique; ses caract`eres sont des triangles, des cercles et d’autres figures g´eom´etriques, sans l’interm´ediaire desquels il est impossible d’en comprendre humainement un seul mot.” 2 Clairement, cette citation illustre la r´eduction verticale du cosmos antique et de sa hi´erar- chie des mondes `asa dimension la plus superficielle, celle que l’homme appr´ehende par ses sens, la dimension physique.
Recommended publications
  • Arxiv:Astro-Ph/0402129V2 21 Sep 2004 Abstract
    Cosmological Perturbation Theory Ruth Durrer Universit´ede Gen`eve, D´epartement de Physique Th´eorique, 24 Quai E. Ansermet, CH–1211 Gen`eve, Switzerland [email protected] Abstract. This is a review on cosmological perturbation theory. After an intro- duction, it presents the problem of gauge transformation. Gauge invariant variables are introduced and the Einstein and conservation equations are written in terms of these variables. Some examples, especially perfect fluids and scalar fields are pre- sented in detail. The generation of perturbations during inflation is studied. Lightlike geodesics and their relevance for CMB anisotropies are briefly discussed. Perturba- tion theory in braneworlds is also introduced. February 5, 2004 arXiv:astro-ph/0402129v2 21 Sep 2004 2 Ruth Durrer 1 Introduction The idea that the large scale structure of our Universe might have grown our of small initial fluctuations via gravitational instability goes back to Newton (letter to Bentley, 1692[1]). The first relativistic treatment of linear perturbations in a Friedmann- Lemaˆıtre universe was given by Lifshitz (1946)[2]. There He found that the gravitational potential cannot grow within linear perturbation theory and he concluded that galaxies have not formed by gravitational instability. Today we know that it is sufficient that matter density fluctuations can grow. Nevertheless, considerable initial fluctuations with amplitudes of the 5 order of 10− are needed in order to reproduce the cosmic structures observed today. These are much larger than typical statistical fluctuations on scales of galaxies and we have to propose a mechanism to generate them. Furthermore, the measurements of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background show that the amplitude of fluctuations is constant over a wide range of scales, the spectrum is scale independent.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cosmic Microwave Background: the History of Its Experimental Investigation and Its Significance for Cosmology
    REVIEW ARTICLE The Cosmic Microwave Background: The history of its experimental investigation and its significance for cosmology Ruth Durrer Universit´ede Gen`eve, D´epartement de Physique Th´eorique,1211 Gen`eve, Switzerland E-mail: [email protected] Abstract. This review describes the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation in 1965 and its impact on cosmology in the 50 years that followed. This discovery has established the Big Bang model of the Universe and the analysis of its fluctuations has confirmed the idea of inflation and led to the present era of precision cosmology. I discuss the evolution of cosmological perturbations and their imprint on the CMB as temperature fluctuations and polarization. I also show how a phase of inflationary expansion generates fluctuations in the spacetime curvature and primordial gravitational waves. In addition I present findings of CMB experiments, from the earliest to the most recent ones. The accuracy of these experiments has helped us to estimate the parameters of the cosmological model with unprecedented precision so that in the future we shall be able to test not only cosmological models but General Relativity itself on cosmological scales. Submitted to: Class. Quantum Grav. arXiv:1506.01907v1 [astro-ph.CO] 5 Jun 2015 The Cosmic Microwave Background 2 1. Historical Introduction The discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) by Penzias and Wilson, reported in Refs. [1, 2], has been a 'game changer' in cosmology. Before this discovery, despite the observation of the expansion of the Universe, see [3], the steady state model of cosmology still had a respectable group of followers.
    [Show full text]
  • Model-Independent Cosmological Constraints from the CMB
    Outline Motivations Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): basic ideas Model-independent analyze of the CMB Conclusion Model-independent cosmological constraints from the CMB. Marc Vonlanthen, Ruth Durrer, Syksy Ras¨anen University of Geneva Ascona, January 20th 2010 Marc Vonlanthen, Ruth Durrer, Syksy Ras¨anen Model-independent cosmological constraints from the CMB. Outline Motivations Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): basic ideas Model-independent analyze of the CMB Conclusion Motivations Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): basic ideas The Cosmic Microwave Background CMB anisotropies Model-independent analyze of the CMB Sensitivity of the CMB to the cosmological parameters Methodology Results Conclusion Marc Vonlanthen, Ruth Durrer, Syksy Ras¨anen Model-independent cosmological constraints from the CMB. Outline Motivations Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): basic ideas Model-independent analyze of the CMB Conclusion What we want to study and why it is interesting... 1. The standard model of cosmology in which Ωm ∼ 0.3and ΩΛ ∼ 0.7seemstofitanimpressivevarietyofdata. Λ ρΛ 2. However, Λin ΩΛ = 2 = faces many problems: 3H0 ρc ! why is ρΛ so much smaller than we expect (120 order of magnitudes) ? ! what is the origin of the small nonzero energy that comprises 70% of the universe today ? ! why is the current value of the vacuum energy of the same order of magnitude as the matter density ΩΛ ∼ a3 ∼O(1) Ωm today ? 3. Answers are model-dependent and uncertain, it is therefore worthwhile to study model-independently our universe. Marc Vonlanthen, Ruth Durrer, Syksy Ras¨anen Model-independent cosmological constraints from the CMB. Outline Motivations The Cosmic Microwave Background Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): basic ideas CMB anisotropies Model-independent analyze of the CMB Conclusion Dynamics of a Friedmann-Lemaˆıtre universe ln(ρ) radiation matter Cosmological constant ln(a) aeq arec adec aΛ a0 Marc Vonlanthen, Ruth Durrer, Syksy Ras¨anen Model-independent cosmological constraints from the CMB.
    [Show full text]
  • Cosmic String Searches in New Observational Windows
    Cosmic String Searches in New Observational Windows Rebecca Jean Danos Department of Physics McGill University Montreal, Quebec February 2011 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Doctor of Philosophy c Rebecca Jean Danos, 2011. All rights reserved Abstract Placing observational limits on cosmic strings would provide important con- firmation of or constraints on early universe models. Cosmic strings imprint the cosmic microwave background (CMB) with a distinct position space signa- ture, leaving line discontinuities in the temperature maps due to a combination of gravitational lensing and the Doppler effect. To improve theoretical obser- vational constraints, I wrote sky map simulations with and without cosmic strings, edge detection and counting algorithms, and programs to differentiate statistically between the ambient edges due to the inflationary background and the string signals. Our application of position space algorithms, specifically the Canny edge detection algorithm, was highly successful and allowed us to establish improved limits, by more than an order of magnitude, on the con- tribution of cosmic strings to the total fluctuation spectrum from simulated data. We extended our analysis of the Canny algorithm to distinguish between abelian cosmic strings and cosmic superstrings through the presence of three- string junctions in cosmic superstring maps. To this end, I wrote the first simulations of maps with junctions and found a disparity in the density of edges in maps of string networks with and without junctions. This work re- sulted in a statistic to differentiate between different cosmic string models including string theory models and models with different numbers of cosmic strings.
    [Show full text]
  • Lensing Corrections to the Eg(Z) Statistics from Large Scale Structure
    Prepared for submission to JCAP Lensing corrections to the Eg(z) statistics from large scale structure Azadeh Moradinezhad Dizgah and Ruth Durrer University of Geneva, Department of Theoretical Physics and Center for Astroparticle Physics, 24 quai E. Ansermet, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Abstract. We study the impact of the often neglected lensing contribution to galaxy number counts on the Eg statistics which is used to constrain deviations from GR. This contribution affects both the galaxy-galaxy and the convergence-galaxy spectra, while it is larger for the latter. At higher redshifts probed by upcoming surveys, for instance at z = 1:5, neglecting this term induces an error of (25 − 40)% in the spectra and therefore on the Eg statistics which is constructed from the combination of the two. Moreover, including it, renders the Eg statistics scale and bias-dependent and hence puts into question its very objective. arXiv:1604.08914v2 [astro-ph.CO] 7 Oct 2016 1 Introduction Understanding the cause of the current accelerated expansion of the universe remains a challenge since its discovery [1,2]. Within general relativity (GR), a finely tuned cosmological constant or a dynamical dark energy component can account for the observed acceleration. On the other hand, modifications to GR on cosmological scales can provide an alternative explanation. Distinguishing between these scenarios is one of the main tasks of current and upcoming cosmological large scale structure surveys. At the level of the background, the predictions of most modified gravity and dark energy models are indistinguishable from one another as they can both explain the cosmic acceleration.
    [Show full text]
  • Table of Contents (Print)
    PERIODICALS PHYSICAL REVIEW D Postmaster send address changes to: For editorial and subscription correspondence, PHYSICAL REVIEW D please see inside front cover APS Subscription Services (ISSN: 1550-7998) Suite 1NO1 2 Huntington Quadrangle Melville, NY 11747-4502 THIRD SERIES, VOLUME 75, NUMBER 2 CONTENTS D15 JANUARY 2007 Physical Review D Editorial Policies and Practices . iii Physical Review D Information for Contributors . vii RAPID COMMUNICATIONS Catching supermassive black hole binaries without a net (5 pages) . 021301(R) Neil J. Cornish and Edward K. Porter How well can (renormalized) perturbation theory predict dark matter clustering properties? (3 pages) . 021302(R) Niayesh Afshordi Monopole wall (4 pages) . 021701(R) R. S. Ward ARTICLES Future gravitational physics tests from ranging to the BepiColombo Mercury planetary orbiter (20 pages) . 022001 Neil Ashby, Peter L. Bender, and John M. Wahr Complete model of a spherical gravitational wave detector with capacitive transducers: Calibration and sensitivity optimization (22 pages) ...................................................................... 022002 Luciano Gottardi Detecting a stochastic background of gravitational waves in the presence of non-Gaussian noise: A performance of generalized cross-correlation statistic (12 pages) . 022003 Yoshiaki Himemoto, Atsushi Taruya, Hideaki Kudoh, and Takashi Hiramatsu Limits on neutron Lorentz violation from pulsar timing (5 pages) . 023001 Brett Altschul CMB anisotropies due to cosmological magnetosonic waves (14 pages) . 023002 Tina Kahniashvili and Bharat Ratra Impact of three years of data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe on cosmological models with dynamical dark energy (5 pages) ............................................................... 023003 Michael Doran, Georg Robbers, and Christof Wetterich Search for continuous gravitational waves: Metric of the multidetector F -statistic (20 pages) . 023004 Reinhard Prix Supernova neutrinos: The accretion disk scenario (5 pages) .
    [Show full text]
  • Cosmology II: the Thermal History of the Universe
    Cosmology II: The thermal history of the Universe . Ruth Durrer Département de Physique Théorique et CAP Université de Genève Suisse August 6, 2014 . Ruth Durrer (Université de Genève) Cosmology II August 6, 2014 1 / 21 Contents 1. The thermal history of the Universe 2. The cosmic microwave background 3. Dark matter 4. Dark energy models 5. Conclusions . Ruth Durrer (Université de Genève) Cosmology II August 6, 2014 2 / 21 Nucleosyhthesis (the formation of Helium, Deuterium, ...) Inflation ? Thermal history In the past the Universe was not only much denser than today but also much hotter. The most remarkable events of the hot Universe: Recombination (electrons and protons combine to neutral hydrogen). Age of the Universe: t0 ' 13:7 billion years . Ruth Durrer (Université de Genève) Cosmology II August 6, 2014 3 / 21 Inflation ? Thermal history In the past the Universe was not only much denser than today but also much hotter. The most remarkable events of the hot Universe: Recombination (electrons and protons combine to neutral hydrogen). Nucleosyhthesis (the formation of Helium, Deuterium, ...) Age of the Universe: t0 ' 13:7 billion years . Ruth Durrer (Université de Genève) Cosmology II August 6, 2014 3 / 21 Thermal history In the past the Universe was not only much denser than today but also much hotter. The most remarkable events of the hot Universe: Recombination (electrons and protons combine to neutral hydrogen). Nucleosyhthesis (the formation of Helium, Deuterium, ...) Inflation ? Age of the Universe: t0 ' 13:7 billion years . Ruth Durrer (Université de Genève) Cosmology II August 6, 2014 3 / 21 At T ' 3000K (t ' 3000000years) the Universe is ’cold’ enough that protons and electrons can combine to neutral hydrogen.
    [Show full text]
  • Pos(Cargese)006 Ce
    The Cosmic Microwave Background PoS(cargese)006 Ruth Durrer∗ Université de Genève Département de Physique Théorique 24, Quai E. Ansrmet, 1211 Genève 4, Switzerland E-mail: [email protected] In these lectures on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) we shall first give an overview of cosmological perturbation theory. Then we derive CMB anisotropies in the instant decoupling approximation where we can obtain them by integrating lightlike geodesics from the last scat- tering surface until today. In a second step we use the Boltzmann equation to investigate also polarization and Silk damping. In the final lecture we discuss experimental data and parameter estimation from observations of CMB anisotropies and polarization. Cargèse Summer School: Cosmology and Particle Physics Beyond the Standard Models June 30-August 11 2007 Cargèse, France ∗Speaker. c Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Licence. http://pos.sissa.it/ The Cosmic Microwave Background Ruth Durrer 1. Introduction The cosmic microwave background (CMB) has been discovered accidentally in 1965 by Pen- zias and Wilson [1] who obtained the Nobel prize 1978 for this discovery. It was the decisive evidence which convinced most physicists in favor of the Big Bang model, initiated by Friedmann and Lemaître and worked out be Gamov, Dicke, Peebles and others, as compared to a steady state cosmology which had been advocated by Fred Hoyle and collaborators. More or less immediately after the discovery of the CMB cosmologists began to search for its fluctuations which must be there if the observed cosmic structures, galaxies, clusters, voids etc.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:1103.5331V3 [Astro-Ph.CO]
    What do we really know about Dark Energy? Ruth Durrer∗ CEA, Institut de Physique Th´eorique, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France CNRS, URA-2306, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France and Universit´ede Gen`eve, DPT and CAP, 1211 Gen`eve, Suisse May 28, 2018 Abstract In this paper we discuss what we truly know about dark energy. I shall argue that up to date our single indication for the existence of dark energy comes from distance measurements and their relation to redshift. Supernovae, cosmic microwave background anisotropies and observations of baryon acous- tic oscillations, they all simply tell us that the observed distance to a given redshift z is larger than the one expected from a Friedmann Lemˆıtre universe with matter only and the locally measured Hubble parameter. 1 Introduction Nearly thirteen years ago, measurements of the luminosity of type Ia supernovae (SN1a) as function of their redshift [1] have led to the interpretation that the ex- pansion our Universe is presently accelerated and therefore the energy density of the Universe is presently dominated by a component with strongly negative pres- sure, P < ρ/3, like during inflation. This was an entirely unexpected result but it has been− confirmed with many more observations from SN1a data [2], from observations of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies and polariza- tion [3], from weak lensing [4], from baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) [5], from galaxy surveys [6] and from cluster data [7]. All this data is consistent with the so called concordance model, a Friedmann Lemaˆıtre (FL) universe with a nearly scale invariant spectrum of Gaussian initial fluctuations as predicted by inflation.
    [Show full text]
  • Cosmology of Brane Universes and Brane Gases
    UNIVERSITE¶ DE GENEVE FACULTE¶ DES SCIENCES D¶epartement de physique th¶eorique Professeur R. DURRER Cosmology of Brane Universes and Brane Gases THESE pr¶esent¶ee a la Facult¶e des sciences de l'Universit¶e de Geneve pour l'obtention du grade de Docteur es sciences, mention physique par Timon Georg BOEHM de B^ale (BS) These N± 3481 GENEVE Atelier de reproduction de la Section de physique 2004 . Abstract The standard big bang model gives a fairly good description of the cosmological evolution of our universe from shortly after the big bang to the present. The existence of an initial singularity, however, might be viewed as unsatisfactory in a comprehensive model of the universe. Moreover, if this singularity indeed exists, we are lacking initial conditions which tell us in what state the universe emerged from the big bang. The advent of string theory as a promising candidate for a theory of quantum gravity opened up new possibilities to understand our universe. The hope is that string theory can resolve the initial singularity problem and, in addition, provide initial conditions. String theory makes a number of predictions such as extra-dimensions, the existence of p-branes (fundamental objects with p spatial dimensions) as well as several new particles. Consequently, over the past few years, a new ¯eld of research emerged, which investigates how these predictions manifest themselves in a cosmological context. In particular, the idea that our universe is a 3-brane embedded in a higher-dimensional space received a lot of attention. In this thesis we investigate the dynamical and perturbative behavior of string theory inspired cosmological models.
    [Show full text]
  • MATTEO VIEL Curriculum Vitae
    MATTEO VIEL Date of birth: September 5, 1975 Place of birth: Udine (Italy) Nationality: Italian Contact details: SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Studi Superiori Avanzati via Bonomea 265 I-34136 Trieste, Italy tel. +39-040-3787517 fax. +39-040-3787249 e-mail: [email protected] - [email protected] web-page: http://www.sissa.it/∼viel ORCID identifier: 0000-0002-2642-5707 Curriculum vitae - 7/1999: Degree in Physics, Università di Padova, Italy. Thesis: “A merger tree for the formation of cosmic structures” Thesis supervisors: Prof. Sabino Matarrese, Prof. Giuseppe Tormen. (grade: full mark 110/110 cum laude) - 9/1999 - 3/2000: Fellowship of Università di Padova for a period of six months at Max- Planck-Institut for Astrophysics (Garching, Germany) - 11/1999 - 11/2002: PhD position at the Physics Department of Università di Padova (Italy) - 02/2001 - 04/2001: Visiting period at Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik (Garching, Germany) - 04/2001 - 10/2001: EARA-Marie Curie Fellowship at Max-Planck-Institut fü«ír Astro- physik (Garching, Germany) - 02/2002 - 07/2002: EARA-Marie Curie Fellowship at Institute of Astronomy (Cambridge, UK) - 11/2002 - 10/2003: Research Associate - Institute of Astronomy (Cambridge, UK) - 02/2003: PhD from Università di Padova (Italy), Thesis “Numerical Models of the Intergalactic Medium” - Thesis supervisor: Prof. Sabino Matarrese 1 - 10/2003 - 10/2006: Research Associate - PPARC (Particle Physics Astronomy Re- search Council) fellowship, Institute of Astronomy (Cambridge, UK) - 11/2004 - 12/2004: Visiting period at
    [Show full text]
  • Springer Theses
    Springer Theses Recognizing Outstanding Ph.D. Research Aims and Scope The series “Springer Theses” brings together a selection of the very best Ph.D. theses from around the world and across the physical sciences. Nominated and endorsed by two recognized specialists, each published volume has been selected for its scientific excellence and the high impact of its contents for the pertinent field of research. For greater accessibility to non-specialists, the published versions include an extended introduction, as well as a foreword by the student's supervisor explaining the special relevance of the work for the field. As a whole, the series will provide a valuable resource both for newcomers to the research fields described, and for other scientists seeking detailed background information on special questions. Finally, it provides an accredited documentation of the valuable contributions made by today's younger generation of scientists. Theses are accepted into the series by invited nomination only and must fulfill all of the following criteria • They must be written in good English. • The topic should fall within the confines of Chemistry, Physics, Earth Sciences, Engineering and related interdisciplinary fields such as Materials, Nanoscience, Chemical Engineering, Complex Systems and Biophysics. • The work reported in the thesis must represent a significant scientific advance. • If the thesis includes previously published material, permission to reproduce this must be gained from the respective copyright holder. • They must have been examined and passed during the 12 months prior to nomination. • Each thesis should include a foreword by the supervisor outlining the signifi- cance of its content. • The theses should have a clearly defined structure including an introduction accessible to scientists not expert in that particular field.
    [Show full text]