Ricci focusing, shearing, and the expansion rate in an almost homogeneous Universe

Abstract

The Universe is inhomogeneous, and yet it seems to be incredibly well-characterised by a homogeneous relativistic model. One of the current challenges is to accurately characterise the properties of such a model. In this paper we explore how inhomogeneities may affect the overall optical properties of the Universe by quantifying how they can bias the redshift-distance relation in a number of toy models that mimic the real Universe. The models that we explore are statistically homogeneous on large scales. We find that the effect of inhomogeneities is of order of a few percent, which can be quite important in precise estimation of cosmological parameters. We discuss what lessons can be learned to help us tackle a more realistic inhomogeneous universe. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl.