How does the Hubble Sphere limit our view of the Universe?

Abstract

It has recently been claimed that the Hubble Sphere represents a previously unknown limit to our view of the universe, with light we detect today coming from a proper distance less than this "Cosmic Horizon" at the present time. By considering the paths of light rays in several cosmologies, we show that this claim is not generally true. In particular, in cosmologies dominated by phantom energy (with an equation of state of ω< -1) the proper distance to the Hubble Sphere decreases, and light rays can cross it more than once in both directions; such behaviour further diminishes the claim that the Hubble Sphere is a fundamental, but unrecognised, horizon in the universe.

4 pages, 4 figures: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters

References in corpus (3)

• The R_h = ct Universe
• Photon Geodesics in FRW Cosmologies
• Constraints on Dark Energy from the Observed Expansion of our Cosmic Horizon

Cited by in corpus (16)

• Strong evidence for an accelerating universe
• The Zero Active Mass Condition in Friedmann-Robertson-Walker Cosmologies
• The Apparent (Gravitational) Horizon in Cosmology
• On Recent Claims Concerning the R_h=ct Universe
• A Test of Cosmological Models using high-z Measurements of H(z)
• Model Comparison of $\Lambda$CDM vs $R_h=ct$ using Cosmic Chronometers
• Matter Matters: Unphysical Properties of the Rh = ct Universe
• The Gravitational Horizon for a Universe with Phantom Energy
• Cosmological Tests With Strong Gravitational Lenses using Gaussian Processes
• Friedmann-Robertson-Walker models do not require zero active mass
• Phantom Energy and the Cosmic Horizon: Rh is still not a horizon!
• Puzzling initial conditions in the R_h=ct model
• Causal horizons in a bouncing universe
• Ray tracing in FLRW flat space-times
• Comparison of $\Lambda$CDM and $R_h=ct$ with updated galaxy cluster $f_{gas}$ measurements using Bayesian inference
• Is there a Cosmological Basis for E = mc^2?