Cosmological acceleration

TL;DR

This paper reviews the current understanding of the universe's accelerated expansion, discussing observational evidence, theoretical models like dark energy and modified gravity, and the underlying cosmological equations and data analysis methods.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of observational data and theoretical frameworks explaining cosmic acceleration, highlighting recent developments and ongoing challenges.

Findings

Strong observational evidence for acceleration from supernovae and BAOs

Discussion of dark energy and modified gravity as explanations

Analysis of systematic uncertainties in cosmological measurements

Abstract

An overview is given of the current status of the theory and observations of the acceleration of the expansion of the observable part of the Universe. Contents 1. Historical Introduction 2. Friedmann equations and cosmological acceleration 3. Vacuum energy problem 4. Data in favor of cosmological acceleration 5.Data on supernovae and baryon acoustic oscillations 5.1 Cosmography primer: distances in the Universe; 5.2 Photometric distance; 5.3 Cosmic distance ladder; 5.4 Variety of type-Ia supernovae light curves and their usage in cosmography; 5.5 Baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs); 5.6 BAOs in the correlation function of galaxies; 5.7 Summary of results on supernovae combined with BAOs; 5.8 Systematics and dependence on z; 5.9 Supernovae as primary distance indicators; 5.10 Merging of neutron stars and the standard siren method 6. Dark energy 7. Modified gravity 8.Conclusion 9.Appendices 9.1 Derivation of the Friedmann equations; 9.2 Cosmological parameters; 9.3 Scalar field