A healthy dose of scepticism or a humbug?

[Andrzej Marecki]

Paper: astro-ph/0301137
From: Blanchard Alain <alain.blanchard w ast.obs-mip.fr>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 2003 17:45:24 GMT   (138kb)

Title: Cosmological Parameters: Fashion and Facts
Authors: A. Blanchard (LAOMP, Toulouse)

Abstract: [...] I would like to emphasize that some results are established
beyond reasonable doubt, like the (nearly) flatness of the universe and the
existence of a dark non-baryonic component of the Universe. But also that
the evidence for a cosmological constant may not be as strong as needed to
be considered as established beyond doubt. In this respect, I will argue
that an Einstein-De Sitter universe might still be a viable option. Three
global tests: 1) the evolution of the abundance of clusters with redshift 2)
the baryon fraction measured in local clusters 3) apparent evolution of the
baryon fraction with redshift might be consistent with a high matter density
for the Universe in the range $0.6-1.$. I therefore conclude that the
dominance of vacuum to the various density contributions to the Universe is
presently an interesting and fascinating possibility, but it is still
premature to consider it as an established scientific fact.

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Andrzej