Some Uncomfortable Thoughts on the Nature of Gravity, Cosmology, and the Early Universe

Abstract

A specific theoretical framework is important for designing and conducting an experiment, and for interpretation of its results. The field of gravitational physics is expanding, and more clarity is needed. It appears that some popular notions, such as `inflation' and `gravity is geometry', have become more like liabilities than assets. A critical analysis is presented and the ways out of the difficulties are proposed.

16 pages, including 4 figures and 2 photographs. Contribution to the 'Nature of Gravity' conference at the International Space Science Institute, October 2008, Bern, Switzerland; v.2 takes into account the referee comments, to be published in Space Science Reviews

References in corpus (4)

• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• On the road to discovery of relic gravitational waves: The TE and BB Correlations in the cosmic microwave background radiation
• The physical significance of the Babak-Grishchuk gravitational energy-momentum tensor
• Discovering Relic Gravitational Waves in Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Post-Newtonian Celestial Dynamics in Cosmology: Field Equations
• Relic gravitational waves: latest revisions and preparations for new data
• Relic gravitational waves in the light of 7-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data and improved prospects for the Planck mission
• Gravitation as a Plastic Distortion of the Lorentz Vacuum
• Testing inflationary consistency relations by the potential CMB observations
• Thermal gravitational-wave background in the general pre-inflationary scenario