arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Diego Pavón.
Based on recent data about the history of the Hubble factor, it is argued that the second law of thermodynamics holds at the largest scales accessible to observation. This is consistent with previous studies of the same question.
Reasonable parametrizations of the current Hubble data set of the expansion rate of our homogeneous and isotropic universe, after suitable smoothing of these data, strongly suggests that the area of the apparent horizon increases irrespective of whether the spatial curvature of the metric is open, flat or closed. Put in another way, any sign of the spatial curvature appears consistent with the second law of thermodynamics.
We derive an approximate expression for the entropy of Hawking radiation filling a spherical box in stable thermodynamic equilibrium with the Schwarzschild black hole that produced the said radiation. The Bekenstein entropy bound is satisfied but the generalized second law might not be always guaranteed. We briefly discuss the possible origin of this unexpected result.
The second law of thermodynamics is known to hold at small scales also when gravity plays a leading role, as in the case of black holes and self-gravitating radiation spheres. It has been suggested that it should as well at large scales. Here, by a purely kinematic analysis \textemdash based on the history of the Hubble factor and independent of any cosmological model \textemdash , we explore if this law is fulfilled in the case of homogeneous and isotropic universes regardless of the sign of the spatial curvature.
A common feature in the thermodynamic analysis of homogeneous and isotropic world models is the assumption that the temperature of the fluids inside the cosmic horizon (including dark energy) coincides with the temperature of the latter, whether it be either the event or the apparent horizon. We examine up to what extent this assumption may be justified, given that these temperatures evolve under different time-temperature laws. We argue that while radiation cannot reach thermal equilibrium with the horizon, non-relativistic matter may, and dark energy might though only approximately.
An interesting cosmological history was proposed by Prigogine {\it et al.} who considered the Universe as a thermodynamically open system. This scenario is characterized by a process of matter creation, which corresponds to an irreversible energy flow from the gravitational field to the pressureless matter fluid. Here, we show that the gravitationally induced particle production may arise from a nonminimal curvature-matter coupling. By considering the equivalent scalar-tensor theory, the cosmological implications of the model are discussed. As all known natural systems tend to a state of thermodynamic equilibrium, and assuming the universe is not different in this respect, we also discuss the conditions to attain the equilibrium state.
We consider the possibility of a gravitationally induced particle production through the mechanism of a nonminimal curvature-matter coupling. An interesting feature of this gravitational theory is that the divergence of the energy-momentum tensor is nonzero. As a first step in our study we reformulate the model in terms of an equivalent scalar-tensor theory, with two arbitrary potentials. By using the formalism of open thermodynamic systems, we interpret the energy balance equations in this gravitational theory from a thermodynamic point of view, as describing irreversible matter creation processes. The particle number creation rates, the creation pressure, and the entropy production rates are explicitly obtained as functions of the scalar field and its potentials, as well as of the matter Lagrangian. The temperature evolution laws of the newly created particles are also obtained. The cosmological implications of the model are briefly investigated, and it is shown that the late-time cosmic acceleration may be due to particle creation processes. Furthermore, it is also shown that due to the curvature--matter coupling, during the cosmological evolution a large amount of comoving entropy is also produced.
Recent determinations of the equation of state of dark energy hint that this may well be of the phantom type, i.e., $w_{de} < -1$. If confirmed by future experiments, this would strongly point to the existence of fields that violate the dominant energy condition, which are known to present serious theoretical difficulties. This paper presents an alternative to this possibility, namely, that the measured equation of state, $w_{de}$, is in reality an effective one, the equation of state of the quantum vacuum, $w_Λ = -1$, plus the negative equation of state, $w_{c}$, associated to the production of particles by the gravitational field acting on the vacuum. To illustrate this, three phenomenological models are proposed and constrained with recent observational data.
An interesting approach to the cosmological coincidence problem is to allow dark matter and dark energy interact with each other also nongravitationally. We consider two general Ansätze for such an interaction and appraise their ability to address the coincidence problem. We determine the average accuracy required on the cosmic expansion rate data to distinguish interacting cosmological models from the conventional $Λ$CDM scenario. We find that among the planned surveys the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope has the best chance to detect an interaction, though at a low significance level. To unambiguously determine the existence of an interaction one must, therefore, combine the said expansion data with other probes.
This brief report studies the behavior of entropy in two recent models of cosmic evolution by J.A.S. Lima, S. Basilakos, and F.E.M. Costa [Phys. Rev. D \underline{86}, 103534 (2012)], and J. A. S. Lima, S. Basilakos, and J. Solá [arXiv:1209.2802]. Both start with an initial de Sitter expansion, go through the conventional radiation and matter dominated eras to be followed by a final and everlasting de Sitter expansion. In spite of their outward similarities (from the observational viewpoint they are arbitrary close to the conventional $Λ$CDM model), they deeply differ in the physics behind them. Our study reveals that in both cases the universe approaches thermodynamic equilibrium in the last de Sitter era in the sense that the entropy of the apparent horizon plus that of matter and radiation inside it increases and is concave. Accordingly, they are consistent with thermodynamics. Cosmological models that do not approach equilibrium at the last phase of their evolution appear in conflict with the second law of thermodynamics.
We explore whether the generalized second law of thermodynamics is fulfilled in the transition from a generic initial Einstein static phase to the inflationary phase, with constant Hubble rate, and from the end of the latter to the conventional thermal radiation dominated era of expansion. As it turns out, the said law is satisfied provided the radiation component does not contribute largely to the total energy of the static phase.
It is argued that dark energy -or something dynamically equivalent at the background level- is necessary if the expanding universe is to behave as an ordinary macroscopic system; that is, if it is to tend to some thermodynamic equilibrium state in the long run.
We propose and constrain with the latest observational data three parameterizations of the deceleration parameter, valid from the matter era to the far future. They are well behaved and do not diverge at any redshift. On the other hand, they are model independent in the sense that in constructing them the only assumption made was that the Universe is homogeneous and isotropic at large scales.
Ordinary, macroscopic systems, naturally tend to a state of maximum entropy compatible with their constraints. However, this might not hold for gravity-dominated systems since their entropy may increase without bound unless this is precluded by the formation of a black hole. In this short note we suggest, based on the Hubble expansion history, that our Universe likely behaves as an ordinary system, i.e., that its entropy seems to tend to some maximum value.
We study the evolution of LTB Universe models possessing a varying cosmological term and a material fluid.
According to the Harrison-Zel'dovich prescription, the amplitude of matter density perturbations at horizon crossing is the same at all scales. Based on this prescription, we show how to construct the matter power spectrum of generic dark energy models from the power spectrum of a $Λ$CDM model without the need of solving in full the dynamical equations describing the evolution of all energy density perturbations. Our approach allows to make model predictions of observables that can be expressed in terms of the matter power spectrum alone, such as the amplitude of matter fluctuations, peculiar velocities, cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies on large angular scales or the weak lensing convergence spectrum. Then, models that have been tested only at the background level using the rate of the expansion of the Universe can now be tested using data on gravitational clustering and on large scale structure. This method can save a lot of effort in checking the validity of dark energy models. As an example of the accurateness of the approximation used, we compute the power spectrum of different dark energy models with constant equation of state parameter ($w_{DE}=-0.1$, -0.5 and -0.8, ruled out by observations but easy to compare to numerical solutions) using our methodology and discuss the constraints imposed by the low multipoles of the cosmic microwave background.
We study the thermodynamics of some cosmological models based on modified gravity, a braneworld with induced gravity and curvature effect. Dark energy component seems necessary if the models are to approach thermal equilibrium in the long run.
It is argued that the discovery of cosmic acceleration could have been anticipated on thermodynamic grounds, namely, the generalized second law and the approach to equilibrium at large scale factor. Therefore, the existence of dark energy -or equivalently, some modified gravity theory- should have been expected. In general, cosmological models that satisfy the above criteria show compatibility with observational data.