Exact Solutions and Scalar Fields in Gravity

Part two deals with alternative theories of gravity, all of which include scalar fields and gauge fields. Here, quantum and cosmological effects, which arise from both gravity theories in four and higher dimensions and from metric-affine theories, are investigated. Part three is devoted to cosmological and inflationary scenarios. Local effects, such as the influence of scalar fields in protogalactic interactions, numerical studies of the collapse of molecular cores, as well as the inverse inflationary problem and the blue eigenvalue spectrum of it, are considered. Moreover, the role of scalar fields as dark matter and quantum cosmology in the Bergman-Wagoner and Gowdy theories, together with the relation of the conformal symmetry and deflationary gas universe, are likewise presented.