The deceleration parameter in cosmology is a
dimensionless measure of the cosmic acceleration of the expansion of the universe. It is defined by: where is the
scale factor of the universe and the dots indicate derivatives by
proper time. Recent measurements of
dark energy imply that the expansion of the universe is actually accelerating; the minus sign and name "deceleration parameter" are historical; at the time of definition q was thought to be positive, now it is believed to be negative.
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