Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Morganstern, R. E.

Publications and source records attributed to Morganstern, R. E..

Observational constraints imposed by Brans-Dicke cosmologies.

Flat-space Brans-Dicke (BD) cosmologies previously found are analyzed in more detail. It is shown that the observed values of the matter density, the Hubble age, the ages of objects in the universe, the deceleration parameter, and the bound on the (unobserved) fractional time variation of the gravitational constant are too inaccurate to distinguish between the BD and Einstein-Friedmann cosmologies. An attempt is made to argue that because of the great degree of latitude in the observational constraints imposed by the BD cosmologies, efforts to improve the bound on the fractional time variation of G alone are not sufficient to rule out the BD theory.

Morganstern, R. E.↗

Curved space cosmological bounds on the time variation of G.

Additional quantitative and revealing arguments are given in favor of author's previous suggestion (1971) that the introduction of pressure results in a decrease in the theoretical upper bound on the time variation of G, as predicted by the Brans-Dicke theory (1961) for Friedmann-type expanding cosmologies in flat space, and that this suggestion holds in curved spaces as well. Moreover, it is shown that the curvature contribution to G is of the same order of magnitude as the flat space contribution and adds to it or subtracts from it for positive or negative curvatures respectively.

Morganstern, R. E.↗

Exact solutions to Brans-Dicke cosmologies in flat Friedmann universes.

The Brans-Dicke cosmological equations for flat Friedmann-type expanding universes are solved parametrically for time, density, expansion parameter, and scalar field. These results reduce to a previously obtained exact solution to the radiation cosmology. Although the scalar field may be undetectable at the present epoch, it is felt that, if it exists, it must play an important role as one approaches the initial singularity of the cosmology.

Morganstern, R. E.↗