There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Unified cosmic history in modified gravity: from F(R) theory to Lorentz non-invariant models

Over the past decade, f(R) theories have been extensively studied as one of the simplest modifications to General Relativity. In this article we review various applications of f(R) theories to cosmology and gravity - such as inflation, dark energy, local gravity constraints, cosmological perturbations, and spherically symmetric solutions in weak and strong gravitational backgrounds. We present a number of ways to distinguish those theories from General Relativity observationally and experimentally. We also discuss the extension to other modified gravity theories such as Brans-Dicke theory and Gauss-Bonnet gravity, and address models that can satisfy both cosmological and local gravity constraints.

f(R) theories

Classical generalization of general relativity is considered as gravitational alternative for unified description of the early-time inflation with late-time cosmic acceleration. The structure and cosmological properties of number of modified theories, including traditional $F(R)$ and Hořava-Lifshitz $F(R)$ gravity, scalar-tensor theory, string-inspired and Gauss-Bonnet theory, non-local gravity, non-minimally coupled models, and power-counting renormalizable covariant gravity are discussed. Different representations and relations between such theories are investigated. It is shown that some versions of above theories may be consistent with local tests and may provide qualitatively reasonable unified description of inflation with dark energy epoch. The cosmological reconstruction of different modified gravities is made in great detail. It is demonstrated that eventually any given universe evolution may be reconstructed for the theories under consideration: the explicit reconstruction is applied to accelerating spatially-flat FRW universe. Special attention is paid to Lagrange multiplier constrained and conventional $F(R)$ gravities, for last theory the effective $\Lambda$CDM era and phantom-divide crossing acceleration are obtained. The occurrence of Big Rip and other finite-time future singularities in modified gravity is reviewed as well as its curing via the addition of higher-derivative gravitational invariants.

Modified gravity theories on a nutshell: Inflation, bounce and late-time evolution

The Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity removes the constraint of general relativity that the affine connection be symmetric by regarding its antisymmetric part, the torsion tensor, as a dynamical variable. The minimal coupling between the torsion tensor and Dirac spinors generates a spin-spin interaction which is significant in fermionic matter at extremely high densities. We show that such an interaction averts the unphysical big-bang singularity, replacing it with a cusp-like bounce at a finite minimum scale factor, before which the Universe was contracting. This scenario also explains why the present Universe at largest scales appears spatially flat, homogeneous and isotropic.

Nonsingular, big-bounce cosmology from spinor-torsion coupling

Cosmology with torsion: An alternative to cosmic inflation

Radial motion into an Einstein–Rosen bridge

This chapter discusses the history and development of what we propose to rename the Glazier-Graner-Hogeweg model (GGH model), starting with its ancestors, simple models of magnetism, and concluding with its current state as a powerful, cell-oriented method for simulating biological development and tissue physiology. We will discuss some of the choices and accidents of this development and some of the positive and negative consequences of the model’s pedigree.

Magnetization to Morphogenesis: A Brief History of the Glazier-Graner-Hogeweg Model

The Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity naturally extends general relativity to account for the intrinsic spin of matter. Spacetime torsion, generated by spin of Dirac fields, induces gravitational repulsion in fermionic matter at extremely high densities and prevents the formation of singularities. Accordingly, the big bang is replaced by a bounce that occurred when the energy density ${\epsilon \propto gT^4}$ was on the order of ${n^2/m_{\rm Pl}^2}$ (in natural units), where ${n \propto gT^3}$ is the fermion number density and g is the number of thermal degrees of freedom. If the early Universe contained only the known standard-model particles (g ≈ 100), then the energy density at the big bounce was about 15 times larger than the Planck energy. The minimum scale factor of the Universe (at the bounce) was about 1032 times smaller than its present value, giving ≈ 50 μm. If more fermions existed in the early Universe, then the spin-torsion coupling causes a bounce at a lower energy and larger scale factor. Recent observations of high-energy photons from gamma-ray bursts indicate that spacetime may behave classically even at scales below the Planck length, supporting the classical spin-torsion mechanism of the big bounce. Such a classical bounce prevents the matter in the contracting Universe from reaching the conditions at which a quantum bounce could possibly occur.

Nikodem J. Poplawski

Papers

Nonsingular, big-bounce cosmology from spinor-torsion coupling

Cosmology with torsion: An alternative to cosmic inflation

Radial motion into an Einstein–Rosen bridge

Magnetization to Morphogenesis: A Brief History of the Glazier-Graner-Hogeweg Model

Big bounce from spin and torsion