On Recent Claims Concerning the R_h=ct Universe

Abstract

The R_h=ct Universe is a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmology which, like LCDM, assumes the presence of dark energy in addition to (baryonic and non-luminous) matter and radiation. Unlike LCDM, however, it is also constrained by the equation of state (EOS) p=-rho/3, in terms of the total pressure p and energy density rho. One-on-one comparative tests between R_h=ct and LCDM have been carried out using over 14 different cosmological measurements and observations. In every case, the data have favoured R_h=ct over the standard model, with model selection tools yielding a likelihood ~90-95% that the former is correct, versus only ~5-10% for the latter. In other words, the standard model without the EOS p=-rho/3 does not appear to be the optimal description of nature. Yet in spite of these successes---or perhaps because of them---several concerns have been published recently regarding the fundamental basis of the theory itself. The latest paper on this subject even claims---quite remarkably---that R_h=ct is a vacuum solution, though quite evidently rho is not 0. Here, we address these concerns and demonstrate that all criticisms leveled thus far against R_h=ct, including the supposed vacuum condition, are unwarranted. They all appear to be based on incorrect assumptions or basic theoretical errors. Nevertheless, continued scrutiny such as this will be critical to establishing R_h=ct as the correct description of nature.

9 pages (0 figures). Accepted for publication in MNRAS

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• A Test of Cosmological Models using high-z Measurements of H(z)
• Power law cosmology model comparison with CMB scale information
• $R_h=ct$ and the eternal coasting cosmological model
• Primordial Nucleosynthesis in the Rh = ct cosmology: Pouring cold water on the Simmering Universe
• Cosmological singularities and analytical solutions in varying vacuum cosmologies
• Testing Cosmological Models with Type Ic Super Luminous Supernovae
• The Maximum Angular-Diameter Distance in Cosmology
• Cosmological Tests With Strong Gravitational Lenses using Gaussian Processes
• Theory of gravity admitting arbitrary choice of the energy density reference level
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• Reference level of the vacuum energy density of the Universe and astrophysical data
• Plasma Perturbations and Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy in the Linearly Expanding Milne-like Universe
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• Comparison of $\Lambda$CDM and $R_h=ct$ with updated galaxy cluster $f_{gas}$ measurements using Bayesian inference
• When can we compute analytically lookback time, age of the universe, and luminosity distance?
• Holographic dark energy in a coasting cosmology
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