Modified brane cosmologies with induced gravity, arbitrary matter content and a Gauss-Bonnet term in the bulk

Understand

We extend the covariant analysis of the brane cosmological evolution in order to take into account, apart from a general matter content and an induced-gravity term on the brane, a Gauss-Bonnet term in the bulk.

• The gravitational effect of the bulk matter on the brane evolution can be described in terms of the total bulk mass as measured by a bulk observer at the location of the brane.
• This mass appears in the effective Friedmann equation through a term characterized as generalized dark radiation that induces mirage effects in the evolution.
• We discuss the normal and self-accelerating branches of the combined system.