Effect of inhomogeneities on high precision measurements of cosmological distances

Understand

We study effects of inhomogeneities on distance measures in an exact relativistic Swiss-cheese model of the universe, focusing on the distance modulus.

• The model has LCDM background dynamics, and the `holes' are non-symmetric structures described by the Szekeres metric.
• The Szekeres exact solution of Einstein's equations, which is inhomogeneous and anisotropic, allows us to capture potentially relevant effects on light propagation due to nontrivial evolution of structures in an exact framework.
• Light beams traversing a single Szekeres structure in different ways can experience either magnification or demagnification, depending on the particular path, and we explore a small additional effect due time evolution of the structures.