An Investigation of the Polarizable Vacuum Cosmology

Michael Ibison
Institute for Advanced Studies at Austin
4030 West Braker Lane, Suite 300
Austin, TX 78759, USA

The basic cosmological predictions of an early theory of gravity due to Dicke predating the scalar-tensor theory are investigated and tested for their compliance with current observations. A Friedmann-like equation is derived for the theory that differs in a significant way from that of GR, for which it is demonstrated that a big bang is not a solution: the initial scale factor may be small but not zero, and must have zero first derivative. Detailed graphs of the predictions of the theory for combinations of the density parameters are given. It is shown that these predictions are compatible with current estimates for the age and deceleration parameter, and the maximum observable red-shift, provided the matter density m is close to the luminous matter density, i.e. provided there is not a significant amount of missing mass. For these best fit parameters, the theory predicts a maximum initial temperature that is too small for BBN and probably too small to support an era of radiation domination. There is some discussion of possible developments, including the relation between this and the quasi-steady-state cosmology.

KEYWORDS
Cosmology: theory – cosmological parameters – dark matter