Abstract

 Title: "Can the observed cosmic acceleration be a consequence of cosmic inhomogeneities?"

Abstract:It is widely believed that the observed cosmic acceleration is being caused by a `dark energy'. This conclusion has been drawn from observations under the assumption that we live in a strictly homogeneous Universe. However, as we know, the Universe is highly inhomogeneous on smaller scales, and it is homogeneous only when the actual matter distribution is averaged over sufficiently large scales. This process of averaging induces an effective modification of Einstein equations on cosmological scales, and these modifying terms could in principle be responsible for the observed acceleration, thereby eliminating the need for a dark energy. In this talk, we will review the current status of the ongoing research on this idea.