A cosmological model with a new variant of Chaplygin gas obeying an equation of state(EoS), P = Aρ − B ρ α where B = B 0 a n is investigated in the context of its thermodynamical behaviour. Here B 0 and n are constants and a is the scale factor. We show that the equation of state of this 'Variable Modified Chaplygin gas' (VMCG) can describe the current accelerated expansion of the universe. Following standard thermodynamical criteria we mainly discuss the classical thermodynamical stability of the model and find that the new parameter, n introduced in VMCG plays a crucial role in determining the stability considerations and should always be negative. We further observe that although the earlier model of Lu explains many of the current observational findings of different probes it fails the desirable tests of thermodynamical stability. We also note that for n < 0 our model points to a phantom type of expansion which, however, is found to be compatible with current SNe Ia observations and CMB anisotropy measurements. Further the third law of thermodynamics is obeyed in our case. Our model is very general in the sense that many of earlier works in this field may be obtained as a special case of our solution. An interesting point to note is that the model also apparently suggests a smooth transition from the big bang to the big rip in its whole evaluation process.

Homogeneous cosmological solutions are obtained in five dimensional space time assuming equations of state p = kρ and p 1 = γρ where p is the isotropic 3 -pressure and p 1 , that for the fifth dimension. Using different values for the constants k and γ many known solutions are rediscovered. Further the current acceleration of the universe has led us to investigate higher dimensional gravity theory, which is able to explain acceleration from a theoretical view point without the need of introducing dark energy by hand. We also extend a recent work of Mohammedi where using a special form of the extra dimensional scale factor a new interpretation of the higher dimensional equations of motion is given and the concept of an effective four dimensional pressure is introduced. Interestingly the 5D matter field remains regular while the effective negative pressure is responsible for the inflation. Relaxing the assumptions of two equations of state we also present a class of solutions which provide early deceleration followed by a late acceleration in a unified manner. Relevant to point out that in this case our cosmology apparently mimics the well known quintessence scenario fuelled by a generalised Chaplygin-type of fluid where a smooth transition from a dust dominated model to a de Sitter like one takes place. Depending on the relative magnitude of the different constants appearing in our solutions we show that some of the cases are amenable to the desirable property of dimensional reduction.

The viability of the variable generalised Chaplygin gas (VGCG) model is analysed from the standpoint of its thermodynamical stability criteria with the help of an equation of state,Here B 0 is assumed to be a positive universal constant, n is a constant parameter and V is the volume of the cosmic fluid. We get the interesting result that if the well-known stability conditions of a fluid is adhered to, the values of n are constrained to be negative definite to make ∂P ∂V S < 0 & ∂P ∂V T < 0 throughout the evolution. Moreover the positivity of thermal capacity at constant volume c V as also the validity of the third law of thermodynamics are ensured in this case. For the particular case n = 0 the effective equation of state reduces to ΛCDM model in the late stage of the universe while for n < 0 it mimics a phantom-like cosmology which is in broad agreement with the present SNe Ia constraints like VGCG model. The thermal equation of state is discussed and the EoS parameter is found to be an explicit function of temperature only. Further for large volume the thermal equation of state parameter is identical with the caloric equation of state parameter when T → 0. It may also be mentioned that like Santos et al our model does not admit of any critical points. We also observe that although the earlier model of Lu explains many of the current observational findings of different probes it fails to explain the crucial tests of thermodynamical stability.

We investigate the late time acceleration with a Chaplygin type of gas in spherically symmetric inhomogeneous model. At the early phase we get Einstien-deSitter type of solution generalised to inhomogeneous spacetime. But at late stage of the evolution our solutions admit the accelerating nature of the universe. For a large scale factor our model behaves like a ΛCDM model. We calculate the deceleration parameter for this anisotropic model, which, unlike its homogeneous counterpart, shows that the flip is not synchronous occurring early at the outer shells. This is in line with other physical processes in any inhomogeneous models. Depending upon initial conditions our solution also gives bouncing universe. In the absence of inhomogeneity our solution reduces to wellknown solutions in homogeneous case. We have also calculated the effective deceleration parameter in terms of Hubble parameter. The whole situation is later discussed with the help of wellknown Raychaudhury equation and the results are compared with the previous case. This work is an extension of our recent communication where an attempt was made to see if the presence of extra dimensions and/or inhomogeneity can trigger an inflation in a matter dominated Lemaitre Tolman Bondi model.