Swiss Cheese Cosmologies Research Articles

Swiss-cheese cosmologies with variable G and Λ from the renormalization group

A convincing explanation for the nature of the dark energy and dark matter is still missing. In recent works a RG-improved swiss-cheese cosmology with an evolving cosmological constant dependent on the \sch radius has been proven to be a promising model to explain the observed cosmic acceleration. In this work we extend this model to consider the combined scaling of the Newton constant $G$ and the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ according to the IR-fixed point hypothesis. We shall show that our model easily generates the observed recent passage from deceleration to acceleration without need of extra energy scales, exotic fields or fine tuning. In order to check the generality of the concept, two different scaling relations have been analysed and we proved that both are in very good agreement with $\Lambda$CDM cosmology. We also show that our model satisfies the observational local constraints on $\dot{G}/G$.

Constraining the Swiss-Cheese IR-Fixed Point Cosmology with Cosmic Expansion

A recent work proposed that the recent cosmic passage to a cosmic acceleration era is the result of the existence of small anti-gravity sources in each galaxy and clusters of galaxies. In particular, a Swiss-cheese cosmology model, which relativistically integrates the contribution of all these anti-gravity sources on a galactic scale has been constructed assuming the presence of an infrared fixed point for a scale dependent cosmological constant. The derived cosmological expansion provides an explanation for both the fine tuning and the coincidence problem. The present work relaxes the previous assumption on the running of the cosmological constant and allows for a generic scaling around the infrared fixed point. Our analysis reveals that, in order to produce a cosmic evolution consistent with the best ΛCDM model, the IR-running of the cosmological constant is consistent with the presence of an IR-fixed point.

Bell Polynomials and Brownian Bridge in Spectral Gravity Models on Multifractal Robertson–Walker Cosmologies

We obtain an explicit formula for the full expansion of the spectral action on Robertson–Walker spacetimes, expressed in terms of Bell polynomials, using Brownian bridge integrals and the Feynman–Kac formula. We then apply this result to the case of multifractal Packed Swiss Cheese Cosmology models obtained from an arrangement of Robertson–Walker spacetimes along an Apollonian sphere packing. Using Mellin transforms, we show that the asymptotic expansion of the spectral action contains the same terms as in the case of a single Robertson–Walker spacetime, but with zeta-regularized coefficients, given by values at integers of the zeta function of the fractal string of the radii of the sphere packing, as well as additional log-periodic correction terms arising from the poles (off the real line) of this zeta function.

Luminosity distance in Swiss-cheese cosmology with randomized voids and galaxy halos

We study the fluctuations in luminosity distance due to gravitational lensing produced both by galaxy halos and large scale voids. Voids are represented via a "Swiss cheese" model consisting of a \LambdaCDM Friedman-Robertson-Walker background in which a number of randomly distributed, spherical regions of comoving radius 35 Mpc are removed. A fraction of the removed mass is then placed on the shells of the spheres, in the form of randomly located halos, modeled with Navarro-Frenk-White profiles. The remaining mass is placed in the interior of the spheres, either smoothly distributed, or as randomly located halos. We compute the distribution of magnitude shifts using a variant of the method of Holz & Wald (1998), which includes the effect of lensing shear. In the two models we consider, the standard deviation of this distribution is 0.065 and 0.072 magnitudes and the mean is -0.0010 and -0.0013 magnitudes, for voids of radius 35 Mpc, sources at redshift 1.5, with the voids chosen so that 90% of the mass is on the shell today. The standard deviation due to voids and halos is a factor ~ 3 larger than that due to 35 Mpc voids alone with a 1 Mpc shell thickness which we studied in our previous work. To a good approximation, the variance of the distribution depends only on the mean column depth and concentration of halos and on the fraction of the mass density that is in the form of halos (as opposed to smoothly distributed): it is independent of how the halos are distributed in space. We derive an approximate analytic formula for the variance that agrees with our numerical results to \lesssim 20% out to z\simeq 1.5.

Generalized Swiss-cheese cosmologies. II. Spherical dust

The generalized Swiss - cheese model, consisting of a Lema\^itre - Tolman (inhomogeneous dust) region matched, by way of a comoving boundary surface, onto a Robertson-Walker background of homogeneous dust, has become a standard construction in modern cosmology. Here we ask if this construction can be made more realistic by introducing some evolution of the boundary surface. The answer we find is no. To maintain a boundary surface using the Darmois - Israel junction conditions, as opposed to the introduction of a surface layer, the boundary must remain exactly comoving. The options are to drop the assumption of dust or allow the development of surface layers. Either option fundamentally changes the original construction.

Light propagation in Swiss-cheese cosmologies

We study the effect of inhomogeneities on light propagation. The Sachs equations are solved numerically in the Swiss-cheese models with inhomogeneities modeled by the Lema\^{\i}tre-Tolman solutions. Our results imply that, within the models we study, inhomogeneities may partially mimic the accelerated expansion of the Universe provided the light propagates through regions with lower than the average density. The effect of inhomogeneities is small and full randomization of the photons' trajectories reduces it to an insignificant level.

Generalized Swiss-cheese cosmologies: Mass scales

We generalize the Swiss-cheese cosmologies so as to include nonzero linear momenta of the associated boundary surfaces. The evolution of mass scales in these generalized cosmologies is studied for a variety of models for the background without having to specify any details within the local inhomogeneities. We find that the final effective gravitational mass and size of the evolving inhomogeneities depends on their linear momenta but these properties are essentially unaffected by the details of the background model.

Swiss cheese and a cheesy CMB

It has been argued that the Swiss-Cheese cosmology can mimic Dark Energy, when it comes to the observed luminosity distance-redshift relation. Besides the fact that this effect tends to disappear on average over random directions,we show in this work that based on the Rees-Sciama effect on the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the Swiss-Cheese model can be ruled out if allholes have a radius larger than about 35 Mpc. We also show that for smaller holes, the CMB is not observably affected, and that the small holes can still mimic Dark Energy, albeit in special directions, as opposed to previous conclusions in the literature.However, in this limit, the probability of looking in a special direction wherethe luminosity of supernovae is sufficiently supressed becomes very small, at leastin the case of a lattice of spherical holes considered in this paper.

Review: Multifractal Analysis of Packed Swiss Cheese Cosmologies

The multifractal spectrum of various three-dimensional representations of Packed Swiss Cheese cosmologies in open, closed, and flat spaces are measured, and it is determined that the curvature of the space does not alter the associated fractal structure. These results are compared to observational data and simulated models of large scale galaxy clustering, to assess the viability of the PSC as a candidate for such structure formation. It is found that the PSC dimension spectra do not match those of observation, and possible solutions to this discrepancy are offered, including accounting for potential luminosity biasing effects. Various random and uniform sets are also analyzed to provide insight into the meaning of the multifractal spectrum as it relates to the observed scaling behaviors.