Browsing by Author "Dunsby, Peter"

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    1+1+2 covariant approach to gravitational lensing in f(R) gravity
    (2009) Nzioki, Anne Marie; Dunsby, Peter
    In this thesis, we develop the 1 + 1 + 2 formalism, a technique originally devised for General Relativity, to treat spherically symmetric spacetimes in for fourth order theories of gravity. Using this formalism, we derive equations for a static and spherically symmetric spacetime for general f(R) gravity. We apply these master eqautions to derive some exact solutions, which are used to gain insight on Birkhoff's theorem in this framework. Additionally, we derive a covariant form of the lensing angle for a specific spherically symmetric solution in f(R) = Rn gravity.
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    Applied mathematics - dynamics
    (2010) Dunsby, Peter
    These resources are a selection of audio and video podcasts from a first year Dynamics class (MAM1044H) at the University of Cape Town. The lectures cover a wide range of topics. A selection of audio and video podcasts from a first year class in dynamics introducing a wide range of topics from Newton's laws of motion to orbital mechanics. These resources can be used to supplement teaching materials in undergraduate level mathematics or applied mathematics courses.
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    Cosmological magnetogenesis
    (2005) Zunckel, Caroline L; Dunsby, Peter
    In this thesis, second-order gauge-invariant perturbation theory is used to develop a selfconsistent framework in which the non-linear coupling between inflationary gravitational waves and a large-scale magnetic field is investigated, as means of amplifying the field to within the strength limits required to support the galactic dynamo. For the purpose of performing an entirely gauge-invariant analysis, the seed field and the gravitational wave spectrum are treated as small perturbations of a Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) background.
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    Investigating the parameter space of viable models for f(R) gravity
    (2019) Kandhai, Sulona; Dunsby, Peter; de la Cruz, Alvaro; Weltman, Amanda
    The accelerated expansion of spacetime intuitively points to the existence of new, unknown energy fields pervading the universe, but it is has also spurred the growth of the research field of modified gravity theories. Of these, f(R) theories of gravity is the first and simplest modification to General Relativity, and have been studied extensively for their astrophysical and cosmological predictions. Power law f(R) modifications have been shown to exhibit desirable characteristics, producing the late time accelerated expansion as well as satisfying local tests of gravity. However, there is wide degeneracy among models in this class, and they are known to suffer from cosmological instabilities, which could lead to curvature singularities at finite times. This thesis addresses questions directly relating to model degeneracy and sudden singularities. Cosmologies and cosmological perturbations, resulting from a general broken power law modification to GR are generated, studied and evolved. Simulations are performed using 1+3 space time decomposition of the field equations and a dynamical systems approach to f(R) cosmology. The parameter space of this model, which includes the HuSawicki [6], Starobinsky [96] and Miranda [7] f(R) forms as subclasses, is investigated. It is found that there are regions in the parameter space which are completely singular and bound by continuous curves. We also investigate regions of the parameter space in which the attractive nature of gravity is preserved, and find that these regions intersect. The results of a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis significantly narrowed the viable region of the exponent parameter space of the general power law f(R) model. Current cosmological distance data; SNIa (Union 2), BAO (6dFGS, BOSS, SDSS, WiggleZ) as well as the LRG power spectrum (SDSS DR9), were used to obtain these constraints. The best fits are compared with the ΛCDM model, and leads to the conclusion that this class is still a candidate for the gravitational interaction.