Tues 15 Sep 2009

• KOWALSKI - some recent SNe Ia results
• John BARROW - varying alpha results:
  • Chand, Srianand et al. 2004 results wrong because started from assuming alpha = constant (instead of free parameter) and then seeing if it can be varied; and because their best fit chi^2 is not a nice parabola and they missed fitting many lines; someone has reanalysed the data and got back to the varying alpha result;
  • varying alpha for various absorption lines (Fe II(?), ...)
  • results from 3 groups agree dalpha/alpha \approx -0.6 \times 10^{-5}
  • varying alpha model BSBM - scalar field model - interpret Webb et al. results
  • BSBM => violation of weak equivalence principle
  • 
  • present bounds = 10^{-12} - probably need to go to space to get stronger constraints, e.g. 10^{-18}
  • ... bouncing BSBM models....
• Pouria PEDRAM
  • Wheeler de Witt equation
• Piotr DZIERZAK
  • Bianchi I type model and LQC
  • T^3 model !!!
  • ... Big Bounce at classical level
  • algebra of observables:
  • aim: singularity aspects of the model in terms of observables
• E. MELAS
  • canonical QQ for geometries admitting maximally symmetric 2D surfaces
  • final expression for WDW eqn
  • Conclusion:
    • TODO:
      • (1) render finite the 3 smooth functionals y^1, y^2, y^3
      • (2) select an appropriate inner product
    • requires only first derivatives, cf. Cartan-Karlhede which requires up to the 7th derivatives
• Mariusz DABROWSKI
  • Big Rip, SFS (Sudden Future Singularity), TLB, radially inhomogeneous pressure models, possible solutions to DE with sudden singularity (in future(?))
• Przemyslaw MALKIEWICZ
  • see papers with Piechocki - strings, membranes, in time-dependent orbifold
• Ghodsi HODA
  • working with Martin Hendry
  • q = fn(z), differs for SFS model vs standard concordance model
  • with m=constant, SFS fails to fit all fashionable data sets simultaneously
• Boguslaw BRODA (Lodz)
  • DE from quantum flucutations
  • ... get rho approx rho_experimental where rho_experimental = rho_Lambda (?)
  • other interesting approaches: holographic DE e.g. Ricci DE which is similar to Broda's approach
  • Volovik approach - about 10 papers on arXiv.org