Cosmic Horizon Research Articles

Fractional Action Cosmology: Emergent, Logamediate, Intermediate, Power Law Scenarios of the Universe and Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics

In the framework of Fractional Action Cosmology (FAC), we study the generalized second law of thermodynamics for the Friedmann Universe enclosed by a boundary. We use the four well-known cosmic horizons as boundaries namely, apparent horizon, future event horizon, Hubble horizon and particle horizon. We construct the generalized second law (GSL) using and without using the first law of thermodynamics. To check the validity of GSL, we express the law in the form of four different scale factors namely emergent, logamediate, intermediate and power law. For Hubble, apparent and particle horizons, the GSL holds for emergent and logamediate expansions of the universe when we apply with and without using first law. For intermediate scenario, the GSL is valid for Hubble, apparent, particle horizons when we apply with and without first law. Also for intermediate scenario, the GSL is valid for event horizon when we apply first law but it breaks down without using first law. But for power law expansion, the GSL may be valid for some cases and breaks down otherwise.

The foundation of the theory of the universe dark energy and its nature

Surprisingly recent astronomical observations have provided strong evidence that our universe is not only expanding, but also is expanding at an accelerating rate. This paper pre- sents a basis of the theory of universe space- time dark energy, a solution of Einstein’s cosmological constant problem, physical interpretation of universe dark energy and Einstein’s cosmological constant Lambda and its value ( = 0.29447 × 10-52 m-2), values of universe dark energy density 1.2622 × 10-26 kg/m3 = 6.8023 GeV, universe critical density 1.8069 × 10-26 kg/m3 = 9.7378 GeV, universe matter density 0.54207 × 10-26 kg/m3 = 2.9213 GeV, and universe radiation density 2.7103 × 10-31 kg/m3 = 1.455 MeV. The interpretation in this paper is based on geometric modeling of space-time as a perfect four- dimensional continuum cosmic fluid and the momentum generated by the time. In this modeling time is considered as a mechanical variable along with other variables and treated on an equal footing. In such a modeling, time is considered to have a mechanical nature so that the momentum associated with it is equal to the negative of the universe total energy. Since the momentum associated with the time as a mechanical variable is equal to the negative system total energy, the coupling in the time and its momentum leads to maximum increase in the space-time field with 70.7% of the total energy. Moreover, a null paraboloid is obtained and interpreted as a function of the momentum generated by time. This paper presents also an interpretation of space-time tri-dipoles, gravity field waves, and gravity carriers (the gravitons). This model suggests that the space-time has a polarity and is composed of dipoles which are responsible for forming the orbits and storing the space-time energy-momentum. The tri-di- poles can be unified into a solo space-time dipole with an angle of 45 degrees. Such a result shows that the space-time is not void, on the contrary, it is full of conserved and dynamic energy-momentum structure. Furthermore, the gravity field waves is modeled and assumed to be carried by the gravitons which move in the speed of light. The equivalent mass of the graviton (rest mass) is found to be equal to 0.707 of the equivalent mass of the light photons. Such a result indicates that the lightest particle (up to the author’s knowledge) in the nature is the graviton and has an equivalent mass equals to 2.5119 x 10-52 kg. Based on the fluidic nature of dark energy, a fourth law of thermodynamics is proposed and a new physical interpretation of Kepler’s Laws are presented. Additionally, based on the fact that what we are observing is just the history of our universe, on the Big Bang Theory, Einstein’s General Relativity, Hubble Parameter, cosmic inflation theory and on NASA’s observation of supernova 1a, then a second-order (parabolic) parametric model is obtained in this proposed paper to describe the accelerated ex- pansion of the universe. This model shows that the universe is approaching the universe cosmic horizon line and will pass through a critical point that will influence significantly its fate. Considering the breaking symmetry model and the variational principle of mechanics, then the universe will witness an infinitesimally stationary state and a symmetry breaking. As result of that, our universe will experience in the near future, a very massive impulse force in the order 1083 N. Subsequently, the universe will collapse. Finally, simulation results are demonstrated to verify the analytical results.

Entanglement in holographic dark energy models

We study a process of equilibration of holographic dark energy (HDE) with the cosmic horizon around the dark-energy dominated epoch. This process is characterized by a huge amount of information conveyed across the horizon, filling thereby a large gap in entropy between the system on the brink of experiencing a sudden collapse to a black hole and the black hole itself. At the same time, even in the absence of interaction between dark matter and dark energy, such a process marks a strong jump in the entanglement entropy, measuring the quantum-mechanical correlations between the horizon and its interior. Although the effective quantum field theory (QFT) with a peculiar relationship between the UV and IR cutoffs, a framework underlying all HDE models, may formally account for such a huge shift in the number of distinct quantum states, we show that the scope of such a framework becomes tremendously restricted, devoid virtually any application in other cosmological epochs or particle-physics phenomena. The problem of negative entropies for the non-phantom stuff is also discussed.

Synoptic sky surveys and the diffuse supernova neutrino background: Removing astrophysical uncertainties and revealing invisible supernovae

The cumulative (anti)neutrino production from all core-collapse supernovae within our cosmic horizon gives rise to the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB), which is on the verge of detectability. The observed flux depends on supernova physics, but also on the cosmic history of supernova explosions; currently, the cosmic supernova rate introduces a substantial (+/-40%) uncertainty, largely through its absolute normalization. However, a new class of wide-field, repeated-scan (synoptic) optical sky surveys is coming online, and will map the sky in the time domain with unprecedented depth, completeness, and dynamic range. We show that these surveys will obtain the cosmic supernova rate by direct counting, in an unbiased way and with high statistics, and thus will allow for precise predictions of the DSNB. Upcoming sky surveys will substantially reduce the uncertainties in the DSNB source history to an anticipated +/-5% that is dominated by systematics, so that the observed high-energy flux thus will test supernova neutrino physics. The portion of the universe (z < 1) accessible to upcoming sky surveys includes the progenitors of a large fraction (~ 87%) of the expected 10-26 MeV DSNB event rate. We show that precision determination of the (optically detected) cosmic supernova history will also make the DSNB into a strong probe of an extra flux of neutrinos from optically invisible supernovae, which may be unseen either due to unexpected large dust obscuration in host galaxies, or because some core-collapse events proceed directly to black hole formation and fail to give an optical outburst.

IS DARK ENERGY FROM COSMIC HAWKING RADIATION?

It is suggested that dark energy is the energy of the Hawking radiation from a cosmic horizon. Despite its extremely low Gibbons–Hawking temperature, this radiation could have the appropriate magnitude [Formula: see text]and the equation of state to explain the observed cosmological data if there is a Planck scale UV-cutoff, where H is the Hubble parameter.

A LARGER ESTIMATE OF THE ENTROPY OF THE UNIVERSE

Using recent measurements of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass function, we find that SMBHs are the largest contributor to the entropy of the observable universe, contributing at least an order of magnitude more entropy than previously estimated. The total entropy of the observable universe is correspondingly higher, and is S_obs = 3.1+3.0-1.7x10^104 k. We calculate the entropy of the current cosmic event horizon to be S_CEH = 2.6+-0.3x10^122 k, dwarfing the entropy of its interior, S_CEHint = 1.2+1.1-0.7x10^103 k. We make the first tentative estimate of the entropy of weakly interacting massive particle dark matter within the observable universe, S_dm = 10^87-10^89 k. We highlight several caveats pertaining to these estimates and make recommendations for future work.

Through the looking glass: why the ‘cosmic horizon’ is not a horizon

The present standard model of cosmology, $\Lambda$CDM, contains some intriguing coincidences. Not only are the dominant contributions to the energy density approximately of the same order at the present epoch, but we note that contrary to the emergence of cosmic acceleration as a recent phenomenon, the time averaged value of the deceleration parameter over the age of the universe is nearly zero. Curious features like these in $\Lambda$CDM give rise to a number of alternate cosmologies being proposed to remove them, including models with an equation of state w = -1/3. In this paper, we examine the validity of some of these alternate models and we also address some persistent misconceptions about the Hubble sphere and the event horizon that lead to erroneous conclusions about cosmology.

THE COSMOLOGICAL SPACETIME

We present here the transformations required to recast the Robertson–Walker metric and Friedmann–Robertson–Walker equations in terms of observer-dependent coordinates for several commonly assumed cosmologies. The overriding motivation is the derivation of explicit expressions for the radius Rh of our cosmic horizon in terms of measurable quantities for each of the cases we consider. We show that the cosmological time dt diverges for any finite interval ds associated with a process at R → Rh, which therefore represents a physical limit to our observations. This is a key component required for a complete interpretation of the data, particularly as they pertain to the nature of dark energy. With these results, we affirm the conclusion drawn in our earlier work that the identification of dark energy as a cosmological constant does not appear to be consistent with the data.

Hawking radiation from black holes in de Sitter spaces via covariant anomalies

We apply the covariant anomaly cancellation method to compute the Hawking fluxes from the event and cosmic horizons of the Schwarzschild–de Sitter black hole. The derivation is new from the existing ones as we split the space in three different regions (near to and away from the event and cosmic horizons) and write down the covariant energy–momentum tensor using three step functions which covers the whole region leading elegantly to the conditions required to compute the Hawking fluxes from the event and cosmic horizons.

CONSTRAINTS ON DARK ENERGY FROM THE OBSERVED EXPANSION OF OUR COSMIC HORIZON

Within the context of standard cosmology, an accelerating universe requires the presence of a third "dark" component of energy, beyond matter and radiation. The available data, however, are still deemed insufficient to distinguish between an evolving dark energy component and the simplest model of a time-independent cosmological constant. In this paper, we examine the cosmological expansion in terms of observer-dependent coordinates, in addition to the more conventional comoving coordinates. This procedure explicitly reveals the role played by the radius Rh of our cosmic horizon in the interrogation of the data. (In Rindler's notation, Rh coincides with the "event horizon" in the case of de Sitter, but changes in time for other cosmologies that also contain matter and/or radiation.) With this approach, we show that the interpretation of dark energy as a cosmological constant is clearly disfavored by the observations. Within the framework of standard Friedmann–Robertson–Walker cosmology, we derive an equation describing the evolution of Rh, and solve it using the WMAP and Type Ia supernova data. In particular, we consider the meaning of the observed equality (or near-equality) Rh(t0) ≅ ct0, where t0 is the age of the universe. This empirical result is far from trivial, for a cosmological constant would drive Rh(t) toward ct (t is the cosmic time) only once — and that would have to occur right now. Though we are not here espousing any particular alternative model of dark energy, for comparison we also consider scenarios in which dark energy is given by scaling solutions, which simultaneously eliminate several conundrums in the standard model, including the "coincidence" and "flatness" problems, and account very well for the fact that Rh(t0) ≈ ct0.

A new method of researching fermion tunneling from the Vaidya–Bonner de Sitter black hole

Using the general tortoise coordinate transformation, we research the fermion tunneling of the Vaidya–Bonner de Sitter black hole via a semi-classical method and finally obtain the right surface gravity, Hawking temperature and tunneling rate near the event horizon and cosmical horizon.

Tachyon-Dilaton-induced inflation as an α′-resummed string background

Within the framework of a novel functional method on the world-sheet of the string, we discuss simple but re-summed (in the Regge slope) inflationary scenarios in the context of closed Bosonic strings, living in four target-space dimensions, in the presence of non-trivial tachyon, dilaton and graviton cosmological backgrounds. The inflationary solutions are argued to guarantee the vanishing of the corresponding Weyl anomaly coefficients in a given world-sheet renormalization scheme, thereby ensuring conformal invariance of the corresponding σ-model to all orders in the Regge slope. The key property is the requirement of ``homogeneity'' of the corresponding Weyl anomaly coefficients. Inflation entails appropriate relations between the dilaton and tachyon field configurations, whose form can lead to either a de Sitter vacuum, incompatible though (due to the cosmic horizons) with the perturbative string scattering amplitudes, or to cosmic space-times involving brief inflationary periods, interpolating smoothly between power-law and/or Minkowski Universes. The latter situation is characterized by well-defined scattering amplitudes, and is thus compatible with a perturbative string framework. It is this scenario that we consider a self-consistent ground state in our framework, which is based on local field redefinitions of background fields.

Another universe comes calling

They call it dark flow, and it could be a signal from beyond the cosmic horizon. Amanda Gefter investigates

Does the mass of a black hole decrease due to the accretion of phantom energy?

According to Babichev et al., the accretion of a phantom test fluid onto a Schwarzschild black hole will induce the mass of the black hole to decrease, however the backreaction was ignored in their calculation. Using new exact solutions describing black holes in a background Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe, we find that the physical black hole mass may instead increase due to the accretion of phantom energy. If this is the case, and the future universe is dominated by phantom dark energy, the black hole apparent horizon and the cosmic apparent horizon will eventually coincide and, after that, the black hole singularity will become naked in finite comoving time before the big rip occurs, violating the cosmic censorship conjecture.

Shifting the Universe: early dark energy and standard rulers

The presence of dark energy at high redshift influences both the cosmic sound horizon andthe distance to last scattering of the cosmic microwave background. We demonstrate that,through the degeneracy in their ratio, early dark energy can lie hidden in the CMBtemperature and polarization spectra, leading to an unrecognized shift in the soundhorizon. If the sound horizon is then used as a standard ruler, as in baryon acousticoscillations, then the derived cosmological parameters can be nontrivially biased. Fittingfor the absolute ruler scale (just as supernovae must be fitted for the absolute candlemagnitude) removes the bias but decreases the leverage of the BAO technique by a factorof two.

Quantum statistical entropy corresponding to cosmic horizon in five-dimensional spacetime

The generalized uncertainty relation is introduced to calculate the quantum statistical entropy corresponding to cosmic horizon. By using the new equation of state density motivated by the generalized uncertainty relation, we discuss entropies of Bose field and Fermi field on the background of five-dimensional spacetime. In our calculation, we need not introduce cutoff. There is no divergent logarithmic term in the original brick-wall method. And it is obtained that the quantum statistical entropy corresponding to cosmic horizon is proportional to the area of the horizon. Further it is shown that the entropy corresponding to cosmic horizon is the entropy of quantum state on the surface of horizon. The black hole’s entropy is the intrinsic property of the black hole. The entropy is a quantum effect. In our calculation, by using the quantum statistical method, we obtain the partition function of Bose field and Fermi field on the background of five-dimensional spacetime. We provide a way to study the quantum statistical entropy corresponding to cosmic horizon in the higher-dimensional spacetime.

Black-Hole No-Hair Theorems for a Positive Cosmological Constant

We extend all known black-hole no-hair theorems to space-times endowed with a positive cosmological constant Lambda. Specifically, we prove that static spherical black holes with Lambda > 0 cannot support scalar fields in convex potentials and Proca-massive vector fields in the region between the black hole and the cosmic horizon. We also demonstrate the existence of at least one type of quantum hair, and of exactly one charged solution for the Abelian Higgs model. Our method of proof can be applied to investigate other types of quantum or topological hair on black holes in the presence of a positive Lambda.

First discovery of meteoritic events in deep Antarctic (EPICA‐Dome C) ice cores

Two distinct dust layers in the EPICA‐Dome C ice core (75°06′S, 123°21′E, East Antarctic Plateau) have been shown to relate to individual meteoritic events. Particles forming these layers, investigated by electron microprobe, show peculiar textural, mineralogical and geochemical features and closely resemble extraterrestrial debris in deep‐sea sediments and polar caps. Preliminary estimates of cosmic debris input at the studied layers, obtained from Coulter Counter measurements, are 4–5 orders of magnitude greater than the yearly micrometeorite flux in East Antarctic snow and ice. The cosmic events are accurately dated through glaciological models at 434 ± 6 and 481 ± 6 ka, respectively and are located in the core climatic stratigraphy near the “Mid‐Brunhes Event”. This is the first report of well‐dated cosmic horizons in deep Antarctic ice cores. It significantly improves the extraterrestrial record of Antarctica and opens new correlation perspectives between long climatic records of the South polar region.

An accelerating universe emergent from the landscape

We propose that the existence of the string landscape suggests that the universe can be ina quantum glass state, where an extremely large viscosity is generated, and longdistance dynamics slows down. At the same time, the short distance dynamicsis not altered due to the separation of timescales. This scenario can help us tounderstand some controversies in cosmology, for example the natural existence ofslow roll inflation and dark energy in the landscape, the apparent smallness ofthe cosmological constant. We see also that moduli stabilization is no longernecessary. We further identify the glass transition point, where the viscosity diverges,as the location of the cosmic horizon. We try to reconstruct the geometry ofthe accelerating universe from the structure of the landscape, and find that themetric should have an infinite jump when crossing the horizon. We predict thestatic coordinate metric for de Sitter space to break down outside the horizon.

On the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray horizon

We compute the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray horizon, i.e. the distance up to which cosmicray sources may significantly contribute to the fluxes above a certain threshold on theobserved energies. We obtain results both for proton and heavy nuclei sources.