Can superhorizon perturbations drive the acceleration of the Universe?
- Laboratory for Elementary Particle Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 (United States)
It has recently been suggested that the acceleration of the Universe can be explained as the backreaction effect of superhorizon perturbations using second order perturbation theory. If this mechanism is correct, it should also apply to a hypothetical, gedanken universe in which the subhorizon perturbations are absent. In such a gedanken universe it is possible to compute the deceleration parameter q{sub 0} measured by comoving observers using local covariant Taylor expansions rather than using second order perturbation theory. The result indicates that second order corrections to q{sub 0} are present, but shows that if q{sub 0} is negative then its magnitude is constrained to be less than or of the order of the square of the peculiar velocity on Hubble scales today. We argue that, since this quantity is constrained by observations to be small compared to unity, superhorizon perturbations cannot be responsible for the acceleration of the Universe.
- OSTI ID:
- 20709262
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 71, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.71.103521; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Density perturbations in f(R) gravity theories in metric and Palatini formalisms
Can superhorizon cosmological perturbations explain the acceleration of the universe?