Cosmology with relativistically varying physical constants

TL;DR

This paper explores a model where physical constants vary over time, showing it aligns with observational data and offers alternative explanations for cosmic phenomena, challenging the standard cosmological model.

Contribution

It introduces a relativistically varying constants model consistent with Einstein's equations, fitting observational data better than ΛCDM in some aspects.

Findings

Fits supernovae data marginally better than ΛCDM

Accurately predicts the first peak in CMB power spectrum

Calculates universe age as 14.1 Gyr with less than 3% deviation

Abstract

We have shown that the varying physical constant model is consistent with the recently published variational approach wherein Einstein equations are modified to include the variation of the speed of light c, gravitational constant G and cosmological constant {\Lambda} using the Einstein-Hilbert action. The general constraint resulting from satisfying the local conservation laws and contracted Bianchi identities provides the freedom to choose the form of the variation of the constants as well as how their variations are related. When we choose dG/Gdt=3dc/cdt, c=c_0.exp[(a^{\alpha}-1)], G=G_0.exp[3(a^{\alpha}-1)] and {\Lambda}={\Lambda}_0.exp[(a^(-{\alpha})-1)], where a is the scale factor and {\alpha}=1.8, we are able to show that the resulting model: (a) fits the supernovae 1a observational data marginally better than the {\Lambda}CDM model; (b) determines the first peak in the power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies at multipole value of l=217.3; (c) calculates the age of the universe as 14.1 Gyr; and (d) finds the BAO acoustic scale to be 145.2 Mpc. These numbers are within less than 3% of the values derived using the {\Lambda}CDM model. Surprisingly we find that the dark-energy density is negative in a universe that has significant negative curvature and whose expansion is accelerating at a faster rate than predicted by the {\Lambda}CDM model.