skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Torsion cosmology and the accelerating universe

Journal Article · · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields
 [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Department of Physics, National Central University, Chungli 320, Taiwan (China)
  2. Department of Physics, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan (China)

Investigations of the dynamic modes of the Poincare gauge theory of gravity found only two good propagating torsion modes; they are effectively a scalar and a pseudoscalar. Cosmology affords a natural situation where one might see observational effects of these modes. Here, we consider only the 'scalar torsion' mode. This mode has certain distinctive and interesting qualities. In particular, this type of torsion does not interact directly with any known matter, and it allows a critical nonzero value for the affine scalar curvature. Via numerical evolution of the coupled nonlinear equations we show that this mode can contribute an oscillating aspect to the expansion rate of the Universe. From the examination of specific cases of the parameters and initial conditions we show that for suitable ranges of the parameters the dynamic 'scalar torsion' model can display features similar to those of the presently observed accelerating universe.

OSTI ID:
21250342
Journal Information:
Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 78, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.78.023522; (c) 2008 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English