Iver Brevik

Viscous cosmology for early- and late-time universe

From a hydrodynamicist’s point of view the inclusion of viscosity concepts in the macroscopic theory of the cosmic fluid would appear most natural, as an ideal fluid is after all an abstraction (exluding special cases such as superconductivity). Making use of modern observational results for the Hubble parameter plus standard Friedmann formalism, we may extrapolate the description of the universe back in time up to the inflationary era, or we may go to the opposite extreme and analyze the probable ultimate fate of the universe. In this review, we discuss a variety of topics in cosmology when it is enlarged in order to contain a bulk viscosity. Various forms of this viscosity, when expressed in terms of the fluid density or the Hubble parameter, are discussed. Furthermore, we consider homogeneous as well as inhomogeneous equations of state. We investigate viscous cosmology in the early universe, examining the viscosity effects on the various inflationary observables. Additionally, we study viscous cosmology in the late universe, containing current acceleration and the possible future singularities, and we investigate how one may even unify inflationary and late-time acceleration. Finally, we analyze the viscosity-induced crossing through the quintessence-phantom divide, we examine the realization of viscosity-driven cosmological bounces, and we briefly discuss how the Cardy–Verlinde formula is affected by viscosity.

Minkowski momentum resulting from a vacuum–medium mapping procedure, and a brief review of Minkowski momentum experiments

Abstract A discussion is given on the interpretation and physical importance of the Minkowski momentum in macroscopic electrodynamics (essential for the Abraham–Minkowski problem). We focus on the following two facets: (1) Adopting a simple dielectric model where the refractive index n is constant, we demonstrate by means of a mapping procedure how the electromagnetic field in a medium can be mapped into a corresponding field in vacuum. This mapping was presented many years ago (Brevik and Lautrup, 1970), but is apparently not well known. A characteristic property of this procedure is that it shows how naturally the Minkowski energy–momentum tensor fits into the canonical formalism. Especially the spacelike character of the electromagnetic total four-momentum for a radiation field (implying negative electromagnetic energy in some inertial frames), so strikingly demonstrated in the Cherenkov effect, is worth attention. (2) Our second objective is to give a critical analysis of some recent experiments on electromagnetic momentum. Care must here be taken in the interpretations: it is easy to be misled and conclude that an experiment is important for the energy–momentum problem, while what is demonstrated experimentally is merely the action of the Abraham–Minkowski force acting in surface layers or inhomogeneous regions. The Abraham–Minkowski force is common for the two energy–momentum tensors and carries no information about field momentum. As a final item, we propose an experiment that might show the existence of the Abraham force at high frequencies. This would eventually be a welcome optical analogue to the classic low-frequency 1975 Lahoz–Walker experiment.

Bounce universe induced by an inhomogeneous dark fluid coupled with dark matter

We investigate cosmological models with a linear inhomogeneous time-dependent equation-of-state (EoS) for the dark energy, coupled with dark matter, leading to a bounce cosmology. Equivalent descriptions in terms of the EoS parameters for an exponential, a power-law, or a double exponential form of the scale factor a is obtained. The stability of the solutions is explored, by considering small perturbations around the critical points for the bounce in the early and in the late-time universe.

Inflationary universe in terms of a van der Waals viscous fluid

The inflationary expansion of our early-time universe is considered in terms of the van der Waals equation, as equation of state for the cosmic fluid, where a bulk viscosity contribution is assumed to be present. The corresponding gravitational equations for the energy density in a homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Lema^{i}tre-Robertson-Walker universe are solved, and an analytic expression for the scale factor is obtained. Attention is paid, specifically, to the role of the viscosity term in the accelerated expansion; the values of the slow-roll parameters, the spectral index, and the tensor-to-scalar ratio for the van der Waals model are calculated and compared with the most recent astronomical data from the Planck satellite. By imposing reasonable restrictions on the parameters of the van der Waals equation, in the presence of viscosity, it is shown to be possible for this model to comply quite precisely with the observational data. One can therefore conclude that the inclusion of viscosity in the theory of the inflationary epoch definitely improves the cosmological models.

LITTLE RIP COSMOLOGICAL MODELS WITH TIME-DEPENDENT EQUATION OF STATE

Specific dark energy models, leading to the Little Rip (LR) cosmology in the far future, are investigated. Conditions for the occurrence of LR in terms of the parameters present in the proposed equation of state for the dark energy cosmic fluid are studied. Estimates about the time needed before the occurrence of the small singularity in the standard LR model in which the universe approaches the de Sitter spacetime asymptotically, are given.

Dissipative universe-inflation with soft singularity

We investigate the early-time accelerated universe after the Big Bang. We pay attention to the dissipative properties of the inflationary universe in the presence of a soft type singularity, making use of the parameters of the generalized equation of state of the fluid. Flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric is being used. We consider cosmological models leading to the so-called type IV singular inflation. Our obtained theoretical results are compared with observational data from the Planck satellite. The theoretical predictions for the spectral index turn out to be in agreement with the data, while for the scalar-to tensor ratio there are minor deviations.

Characteristic properties of two different viscous cosmology models for the future universe

We analyze characteristic properties of two different cosmological models: (i) a one-component dark energy model where the bulk viscosity

Inflationary universe with a viscous fluid avoiding self‐reproduction

zeta

Electromagnetic δ -function sphere

is associated with the fluid as a whole, and (ii) a two-component model where

Radiation Forces and the Abraham-Minkowski Problem

zeta