Cosmological tests of the Hoyle-Narlikar conformal gravity

Abstract

For the first time we subject the Hoyle-Narlikar theory with creation of matter and a variable gravitational constant G, to the following cosmological tests: the magnitude versus z relation, the N(m) versus m relation, the metric angular diameters versus z relation, the isophotal angles versus z relation, the log N-log S radio source count, and finally the 3 K radiation. It is shown that the theory passes all these tests just as well as the standard cosmology, with the additional advantage that the geometry of the universe is uniquely determined, with k = 0. It is also interesting to note that the variability of G affects the log N-log S curve in a way similar to the density evolution introduced in standard cosmologies. The agreement with the data is therefore achieved without recourse to an ad hoc density evolution.