arXiv subjects

Emmanuel N. Saridakis

Publications and source records attributed to Emmanuel N. Saridakis.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Horava-Lifshitz Dark Energy

We formulate Horava-Lifshitz cosmology with an additional scalar field that leads to an effective dark energy sector. We find that, due to the inherited features from the gravitational background, Horava-Lifshitz dark energy naturally presents very interesting behaviors, possessing a varying equation-of-state parameter, exhibiting phantom behavior and allowing for a realization of the phantom divide crossing. In addition, Horava-Lifshitz dark energy guarantees for a bounce at small scale factors and it may trigger the turnaround at large scale factors, leading naturally to cyclic cosmology.

hep-th↗

arXiv2010

Perturbative instabilities in Horava gravity

We investigate the scalar and tensor perturbations in Horava gravity, with and without detailed balance, around a flat background. Once both types of perturbations are taken into account, it is revealed that the theory is plagued by ghost-like scalar instabilities in the range of parameters which would render it power-counting renormalizable, that cannot be overcome by simple tricks such as analytic continuation. Implementing a consistent flow between the UV and IR limits seems thus more challenging than initially presumed, regardless of whether the theory approaches General Relativity at low energies or not. Even in the phenomenologically viable parameter space, the tensor sector leads to additional potential problems, such as fine-tunings and super-luminal propagation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2010

Quintessence and phantom cosmology with non-minimal derivative coupling

We investigate cosmological scenarios with a non-minimal derivative coupling between the scalar field and the curvature, examining both the quintessence and the phantom cases in zero and constant potentials. In general, we find that the universe transits from one de Sitter solution to another, determined by the coupling parameter. Furthermore, according to the parameter choices and without the need for matter, we can obtain a Big Bang, an expanding universe with no beginning, a cosmological turnaround, an eternally contracting universe, a Big Crunch, a Big Rip avoidance and a cosmological bounce. This variety of behaviors reveals the capabilities of the present scenario.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

Observational constraints on Horava-Lifshitz cosmology

We use observational data from Type Ia Supernovae (SNIa), Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), along with requirements of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), to constrain the cosmological scenarios governed by Horava-Lifshitz gravity. We consider both the detailed and non-detailed balance versions of the gravitational sector, and we include the matter and radiation sectors. We conclude that the detailed-balance scenario cannot be ruled out from the observational point of view, however the corresponding likelihood contours impose tight constraints on the involved parameters. The scenario beyond detailed balance is compatible with observational data, and we present the corresponding stringent constraints and contour-plots of the parameters. Although this analysis indicates that Horava-Lifshitz cosmology can be compatible with observations, it does not enlighten the discussion about its possible conceptual and theoretical problems.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

Falsifying Field-based Dark Energy Models

We survey the application of specific tools to distinguish amongst the wide variety of dark energy models that are nowadays under investigation. The first class of tools is more mathematical in character: the application of the theory of dynamical systems to select the better behaved models, with appropriate attractors in the past and future. The second class of tools is rather physical: the use of astrophysical observations to crack the degeneracy of classes of dark energy models. In this last case the observations related with structure formation are emphasized both in the linear and non-linear regimes. We exemplify several studies based on our research, such as quintom and quinstant dark energy ones. Quintom dark energy paradigm is a hybrid construction of quintessence and phantom fields, which does not suffer from fine-tuning problems associated to phantom field and additionally it preserves the scaling behavior of quintessence. Quintom dark energy is motivated on theoretical grounds as an explanation for the crossing of the phantom divide, i.e. the smooth crossing of the dark energy state equation parameter below the value -1. On the other hand, quinstant dark energy is considered to be formed by quintessence and a negative cosmological constant, the inclusion of this later component allows for a viable mechanism to halt acceleration. We comment that the quinstant dark energy scenario gives good predictions for structure formation in the linear regime, but fails to do that in the non-linear one, for redshifts larger than one. We comment that there might still be some degree of arbitrariness in the selection of the best dark energy models.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

Quintessence and phantom dark energy from ghost D-branes

We present a novel dark energy candidate, based upon the existence and dynamics of Ghost D-branes in a warped compactification of type IIB string theory. Gp-branes cancel the combined BPS sectors of the Dp-branes, while they preserve the same supersymmetries. We show that this scenario can naturally lead to either quintessence or phantom-like behaviors, depending on the form of the involved potentials and brane tension.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

Non-singular cosmology in a model of non-relativistic gravity

We present a model of non-relativistic gravitational theory which is power-counting renormalizable in 3+1 dimensional spacetime. When applied to cosmology, the relativity-violation terms lead to a dark radiation component, which can give rise to a bounce if dark radiation possesses negative energy density. Additionally, we investigate a cyclic extension of the non-singular cosmology in which the universe undergoes contractions and expansions periodically. In both scenarios the background theory is well defined at the quantum level.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

On an exact hydrodynamic solution for the elliptic flow

Looking for the underlying hydrodynamic mechanisms determining the elliptic flow we show that for an expanding relativistic perfect fluid the transverse flow may derive from a solvable hydrodynamic potential, if the entropy is transversally conserved and the corresponding expansion "quasi-stationary", that is mainly governed by the temperature cooling. Exact solutions for the velocity flow coefficients $v_2$ and the temperature dependence of the spatial and momentum anisotropy are obtained and shown to be in agreement with the elliptic flow features of heavy-ion collisions.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2009

Phase-space analysis of Horava-Lifshitz cosmology

We perform a detailed phase-space analysis of Horava-Lifshitz cosmology, with and without the detailed-balance condition. Under detailed-balance we find that the universe can reach a bouncing-oscillatory state at late times, in which dark-energy, behaving as a simple cosmological constant, is dominant. In the case where the detailed-balance condition is relaxed, we find that the universe reaches an eternally expanding, dark-energy-dominated solution, with the oscillatory state preserving also a small probability. Although this analysis indicates that Horava-Lifshitz cosmology can be compatible with observations, it does not enlighten the discussion about its possible conceptual and theoretical problems.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

Unified dark energy thermodynamics: varying w and the -1-crossing

We investigate, in a unified and general way, the thermodynamic properties of dark energy with an arbitrary, varying equation-of-state parameter w(a). We find that all quantities are well defined and regular for every w(a), including at the -1-crossing, with the temperature being negative in the phantom regime (w(a)<-1) and positive in the quintessence one (w(a)>-1). The density and entropy are always positive while the chemical potential can be arbitrary. At the -1-crossing, both temperature and chemical potential are zero. The temperature negativity can only be interpreted in the quantum framework. The regular behavior of all quantities at the -1-crossing, leads to the conclusion that such a crossing does not correspond to a phase transition, but rather to a smooth cross-over.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Holographic dark energy with varying gravitational constant

We investigate the holographic dark energy scenario with a varying gravitational constant, in flat and non-flat background geometry. We extract the exact differential equations determining the evolution of the dark energy density-parameter, which include $G$-variation correction terms. Performing a low-redshift expansion of the dark energy equation of state, we provide the involved parameters as functions of the current density parameters, of the holographic dark energy constant and of the $G$-variation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

Non-minimal quintessence and phantom with nearly flat potentials

We investigate quintessence and phantom dark energy scenarios, in which the scalar fields evolve in nearly flat potentials and are non-minimally coupled to gravity. We show that all such models converge to a common behavior and we provide the corresponding approximate analytical expressions for $w(Ω_ϕ)$ and $w(a)$. We find that non-minimal coupling leads to richer cosmological behavior comparing to its minimal counterpart. In addition, comparison with Baryon Acoustic Oscillation and latest Supernovae data reveals that agreement can be established more easily and with less strict constraints on the model parameters.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Theoretical Limits on the Equation-of-State Parameter of Phantom Cosmology

We investigate the restrictions on the equation-of-state parameter of phantom cosmology, due to the minimum quantum gravitational requirements. We find that for all the examined $w_Λ(z)$-parametrizations and for arbitrary phantom potentials and spatial curvature, the phantom equation-of-state parameter is not restricted at all. This is in radical contrast with the quintessence paradigm, and makes phantom cosmology more robust and capable of constituting the underlying mechanism for dark energy.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

Phantom evolution in power-law potentials

We investigate phantom models with power-law potentials and we extract the early-time, "tracker", solutions under the assumption of matter domination. Contrary to quintessence case, we find that energy positivity requires normal power-law potentials instead of inverse power-law ones, with the potential exponent being bounded by the quadratic form. In addition, we analytically present the general cosmological solution at intermediate times, that is at low redshifts, which is the period of the transition from matter to dark-energy domination. The comparison with the exact evolution, arising from numerical elaboration, shows that the tracker solution agrees with the later within 2% for redshifts z>1.5, while the intermediate solution is accurate within 2% up to $z\approx 0.5$.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

Phantom dark energy with varying-mass dark matter particles: acceleration and cosmic coincidence problem

We investigate several varying-mass dark-matter particle models in the framework of phantom cosmology. We examine whether there exist late-time cosmological solutions, corresponding to an accelerating universe and possessing dark energy and dark matter densities of the same order. Imposing exponential or power-law potentials and exponential or power-law mass dependence, we conclude that the coincidence problem cannot be solved or even alleviated. Thus, if dark energy is attributed to the phantom paradigm, varying-mass dark matter models cannot fulfill the basic requirement that led to their construction.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

Phase-space analysis of interacting phantom cosmology

We perform a detailed phase-space analysis of various phantom cosmological models, where the dark energy sector interacts with the dark matter one. We examine whether there exist late-time scaling attractors, corresponding to an accelerating universe and possessing dark energy and dark matter densities of the same order. We find that all the examined models, although accepting stable late-time accelerated solutions, cannot alleviate the coincidence problem, unless one imposes a form of fine-tuning in the model parameters. It seems that interacting phantom cosmology cannot fulfill the basic requirement that led to its construction.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

Quintom evolution in power-law potentials

We investigate quintom evolution in power-law potentials. We extract the early-time, tracker solutions, under the assumption of matter domination. Additionally, we derive analytical solutions at intermediate times, that is at low redshifts, which is the period during the transition from matter to dark-energy domination. A comparison with exact evolution reveals that the tracker solutions are valid within 98% for z>1.5, while the intermediate ones are accurate within 98% up to z=0.5. Using these expressions we extract two new w-parametrizations, one in terms of the redshift and one in terms of the dark-energy density-parameter, and we present various quintom evolution sub-classes, including quintessence-like or phantom-like cases, realization of the -1-crossing, and non-monotonic w-evolution.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Dark energy from a quintessence (phantom) field rolling near potential minimum (maximum)

We examine dark energy models in which a quintessence or a phantom field, $ϕ$, rolls near the vicinity of a local minimum or maximum, respectively, of its potential $V(ϕ)$. Under the approximation that $(1/V)(dV/dϕ) \ll 1$, [although $(1/V)(d^2 V/dϕ^2)$ can be large], we derive a general expression for the equation of state parameter $w$ as a function of the scale factor for these models. The dynamics of the field depends on the value of $(1/V)(d^2 V/dϕ^2)$ near the extremum, which describes the potential curvature. For quintessence models, when $(1/V)(d^2 V/dϕ^2)<3/4$ at the potential minimum, the equation of state parameter $w(a)$ evolves monotonically, while for $(1/V)(d^2 V/dϕ^2)>3/4$, $w(a)$ has oscillatory behavior. For phantom fields, the dividing line between these two types of behavior is at $(1/V)(d^2 V/dϕ^2) = -3/4$. Our analytical expressions agree within 1% with the exact (numerically-derived) behavior, for all of the particular cases examined, for both quintessence and phantom fields. We present observational constraints on these models.

astro-ph.CO↗