Matter Matters: Unphysical Properties of the Rh = ct Universe

TL;DR

The paper demonstrates that the presence of matter fundamentally conflicts with the Rh = ct cosmology's assumptions, making it an unphysical and flawed model compared to standard cosmological theories.

Contribution

It critically analyzes the impact of matter on Rh = ct cosmology, revealing unphysical requirements for dark energy to sustain its expansion properties.

Findings

Matter destroys the strict expansion properties of Rh = ct cosmology.

Unphysical dark energy forms are needed to accommodate matter.

Rh = ct cosmology is less consistent with observations than standard models.

Abstract

It is generally agreed that there is matter in the universe and, in this paper, we show that the existence of matter is extremely problematic for the proposed Rh = ct universe. Considering a dark energy component with an equation of state of w=-1/3, it is shown that the presence of matter destroys the strict expansion properties that define the evolution of Rh = ct cosmologies, distorting the observational properties that are touted as its success. We further examine whether an evolving dark energy component can save this form of cosmological expansion in the presence of matter by resulting in an expansion consistent with a mean value of <w> = -1/3, finding that the presence of mass requires unphysical forms of the dark energy component in the early universe. We conclude that matter in the universe significantly limits the fundamental properties of the Rh = ct cosmology, and that novel, and unphysical, evolution of the matter component would be required to save it. Given this, Rh = ct cosmology is not simpler or more accurate description of the universe than prevailing cosmological models, and its presentation to date possesses significant flaws.