Description
Two ideas that extends on the theory of General Relativity are introduced and then the phenomenology they can offer is explored. The first idea shows how certain types of $f(R)$ gravity allows for traversable wormholes among its vacuum solutions. This is surprising to find in such simple setting as these type of solutions usually requires fairly complex constructions to satisfy the equations of motion of a gravitational theory. The second idea is the matter bounce description of the early universe where a fairly unique feature of the model is identified. Consequences of this feature could allow the paradigm to distinguish itself from other alternative descriptions, such as inflation, through late time observations. An explicit example of this claim is worked out by studying a model involving an interaction in the dark sector. Results of a more astrophysical nature, where a careful analysis of the morphology of blazar halos is performed, are also presented in the Appendix. The analysis determined that the $Q$-statistic is an appropriate tool to probe the properties of the intergalactic magnetic fields responsible for the halos formation.
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Details
Title
- Topics in cosmology and gravitation
Contributors
- Duplessis, Francis (Author)
- Easson, Damien (Thesis advisor)
- Vachaspati, Tanmay (Committee member)
- Mauskopf, Philip (Committee member)
- Parikh, Maulik (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Date Created
The date the item was original created (prior to any relationship with the ASU Digital Repositories.)
2017
Subjects
Resource Type
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Note
- thesisPartial requirement for: Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2017
- bibliographyIncludes bibliographical references (pages 69-82)
- Field of study: Physics
Citation and reuse
Statement of Responsibility
by Francis Duplessis