A model of Lorentz invariant random fluctuations in photon polarization is presented. The effects are frequency dependent and affect the polarization of photons as they propagate through space. We test for this effect by confronting the model with the latest measurements of polarization of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) photons.
Occurrence of spacetime singularities is one of the peculiar features of Einstein gravity, signalling limitation on probing short distances in spacetime. This alludes to the existence of a fundamental length scale in nature. On contrary, Heisenberg quantum uncertainty relation seems to allow for probing arbitrarily small length scales. To reconcile these two conflicting ideas in line with a well known framework of quantum gravity, several modifications of Heisenberg algebra have been proposed. However, it has been extensively argued that such a minimum length would introduce nonlocality in theories of quantum gravity. In this Letter, we analyze a previously proposed deformation of the Heisenberg algebra (i.e. $p rightarrow p (1 + lambda p^{-1})$) for a particle confined in a box subjected to a gravitational field. For the problem in hand, such deformation seems to yield an energy-dependent behavior of spacetime in a way consistent with gravitys rainbow, hence demonstrating a connection between non-locality and gravitys rainbow.
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 Einsteins 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 cosmological time despite the generality of the setting, and we put the statistical nature of effective cosmologies into perspective.
We present modified cosmological scenarios that arise from the application of the gravity-thermodynamics conjecture, using the Barrow entropy instead of the usual Bekenstein-Hawking one. The former is a modification of the black hole entropy due to quantum-gravitational effects that deform the black-hole horizon by giving it an intricate, fractal structure. We extract modified cosmological equations which contain new extra terms that constitute an effective dark-energy sector, and which coincide with the usual Friedmann equations in the case where the new Barrow exponent acquires its Bekenstein-Hawking value. We present analytical expressions for the evolution of the effective dark energy density parameter, and we show that the universe undergoes through the usual matter and dark-energy epochs. Additionally, the dark-energy equation-of-state parameter is affected by the value of the Barrow deformation exponent and it can lie in the quintessence or phantom regime, or experience the phantom-divide crossing. Finally, at asymptotically large times the universe always results in the de-Sitter solution.
The underlying geometri of spacetime algebra allows one to derive a force by contracting the relativistic generalization of angular momentum, M, with the mass-current, mw, where w is a proper 4-vector velocity. By applying this force to a cosmological object, a repulsive inverse distance-square law is found, which is proportional to the velocity dispersion squared of that structure. It is speculated if this finding may be relevant to the recent suggestion, that such a force may accelerate the expanding universe with no need for a cosmological constant.
Unimodular gravity is an appealing approach to address the cosmological constant problem. In this scenario, the vacuum energy density of quantum fields does not gravitate and the cosmological constant appears merely as an integration constant. Recently, it has been shown that energy diffusion that may arise in quantum gravity and in theories with spontaneous collapse is compatible with this framework by virtue of its restricted diffeomorphism invariance. New studies suggest that this phenomenon could lead to higher-order equations in the context of homogeneous and isotropic Universe, affecting the well-posedness of their Cauchy initial-value problem. In this work, we show that this issue can be circumvented by assuming an equation of state that relates the energy density to the function that characterizes the diffusion. As an application, we solve the field equations analytically for an isotropic and homogeneous Universes in a barotropic model and in the mass-proportional continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) scenario, assuming that only dark matter develops energy diffusion. Different solutions possessing phase transition from decelerated to accelerated expansion are found. We use cosmological data of type Ia Supernovae and observational Hubble data to constrain the free parameters of both models. It is found that very small but nontrivial energy nonconservation is compatible with the barotropic model. However, for the CSL model, we find that the best-fit values are not compatible with previous laboratory experiments. We comment on this fact and propose future directions to explore energy diffusion in cosmology.