Astrophysical observations spanning dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters indicate that dark matter (DM) halos are less dense in their central regions compared to expectations from collisionless DM N-body simulations. Using detailed fits to DM halos of galaxies and clusters, we show that self-interacting DM (SIDM) may provide a consistent solution to the DM deficit problem across all scales, even though individual systems exhibit a wide diversity in halo properties. Since the characteristic velocity of DM particles varies across these systems, we are able to measure the self-interaction cross section as a function of kinetic energy and thereby deduce the SIDM particle physics model parameters. Our results prefer a mildly velocity-dependent cross section, from $\sigma/m \simeq 2\; {\rm cm^2/g}$ on galaxy scales to $\sigma/m \simeq 0.1\; {\rm cm^2/g}$ on cluster scales, consistent with the upper limits from merging clusters. Our results dramatically improve the constraints on SIDM models and may allow the masses of both DM and dark mediator particles to be measured even if the dark sector is completely hidden from the Standard Model, which we illustrate for the dark photon model.
The Planck design and scanning strategy provide many levels of redundancy that can be exploited to provide tests of internal consistency. One of the most important is the comparison of the 70GHz and 100GHz channels. Based on different instrument technologies, with feeds located differently in the focal plane, analysed independently by different teams using different software, and near the minimum of diffuse foreground emission, these channels are in effect two different experiments. The 143GHz channel has the lowest noise level on Planck, and is near the minimum of unresolved foreground emission. In this paper, we analyse the level of consistency achieved in the 2013 Planck data. We concentrate on comparisons between the 70/100/143GHz channel maps and power spectra, particularly over the angular scales of the first and second acoustic peaks, on maps masked for diffuse Galactic emission and for strong unresolved sources. Difference maps covering angular scales from 8deg-15arcmin are consistent with noise, and show no evidence of cosmic microwave background structure. Including small but important corrections for unresolved-source residuals, we demonstrate agreement between 70 and 100GHz power spectra averaged over 70<l<390 at the 0.8% level, and agreement between 143 and 100GHz power spectra of 0.4% over the same l range. These values are within and consistent with the overall uncertainties in calibration given in the Planck 2013 results. We also present results based on the 2013 likelihood analysis showing consistency at the 0.35% between the 100/143/217GHz power spectra. We analyse calibration procedures and beams to determine what fraction of these differences can be accounted for by known approximations or systematic errors that could be controlled even better in the future, reducing uncertainties still further. Several possible small improvements are described...(abridged)
Weakly interacting massive dark matter (DM) particles are expected to self-annihilate or decay, generating high-energy photons in these processes. This establishes the possibility for indirect detection of DM by \gamma-ray telescopes. For probing the secondary products of DM, accurate knowledge about the DM density distribution in potential astrophysical targets is crucial. In this contribution, the prospects for the detection of subhalos in the Galactic DM halo with present and future imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACT) are investigated. The source count distribution and angular power spectra for \gamma-rays originating from annihilating DM in subhalos are calculated from N-body simulation results. To study the systematic uncertainties coming from the modeling of the DM density distribution, parameters describing the \gamma-ray yield from subhalos are varied in 16 benchmark models. We conclude that Galactic subhalos of annihilating DM are probably too faint to be a promising target for IACT observations, even with the prospective Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA).
A dozen most luminous galaxies at distances up to 10 Mpc from the Local Group
are moving away from the group forming the local expansion flow of giants. We
use recent Hubble Space Telescope data on the local giants and their numerous
fainter companions to study the dynamical structure and evolutionary trends of
the flow. It is demonstrated that the dynamics of the flow is dominated by
local dark energy.
Keywords: Galaxies, groups and clusters of galaxies; local flows of galaxies;
dark energy.
I propose a model of dipole modulation in Cosmic Background Microwave Radiation (CMBR) polarization fields Q and U. It is shown that the modulation leads to correlations between l and l multipoles where either l = l or l = l \pm 1, but the contribution for the case l = l cancels out after summing over m. We perform a detailed mathematical analysis of the E and B mode correlations and obtain the final result in a closed form.
It has been recently pointed out by Mithani-Vilenkin that certain emergent universe scenarios which are classically stable are nevertheless unstable semiclassically to collapse. Here, we show that there is a class of emergent universes derived from scale invariant two measures theories with spontaneous symmetry breaking (s.s.b) of the scale invariance, which can have both classical stability and do not suffer the instability pointed out by Mithani-Vilenkin towards collapse. We find that this stability is due to the presence of a symmetry in the "emergent phase", which together with the non linearities of the theory, does not allow that the FLRW scale factor to be smaller that a certain minimum value $a_0$ in a certain protected region.
Thermal inflation is an attractive idea to dilute cosmic density of unwanted particles such as moduli fields which cause cosmological difficulties. However, it also dilutes preexisting baryon asymmetry and some viable baryogenesis is necessary for a cosmologically consistent scenario. We investigate whether the Affleck-Dine mechanism can produce baryon asymmetry enough to survive after the dilution in gauge-mediated SUSY breaking models. Flat directions except for $LH_u$ flat direction cannot provide such huge baryon number because of Q-ball formation. We show that although the $LH_u$ flat direction is special in terms of having $\mu$-term which prevents Q-ball formation, it cannot explain the observed baryon asymmetry either.
Strongly lensed variable quasars can serve as precise cosmological probes, provided that time delays between the image fluxes can be accurately measured. A number of methods have been proposed to address this problem. In this paper, we explore in detail a new approach based on kernel regression estimates, which is able to estimate a single time delay given several datasets for the same quasar. We develop realistic artificial data sets in order to carry out controlled experiments to test of performance of this new approach. We also test our method on real data from strongly lensed quasar Q0957+561 and compare our estimates against existing results.
Links to: arXiv, form interface, find, astro-ph, recent, 1508, contact, help (Access key information)
We initially consider two simple situations where inflationary slow roll parameters are large and modes no longer freeze out shortly after exiting the horizon, treating both cases analytically. We then consider applications to transient phases where the slow roll parameters can become large, especially in the context of the common `fast-roll' inflation frequently used as a mechanism to explain the anomalously low scalar power at low $l$ in the CMB. These transient cases we treat numerically. We find when $\epsilon$ and only $\epsilon$ is large, modes decay outside the horizon, and when $\delta$ is large, modes grow outside the horizon. When multiple slow roll parameters are large the behavior in general is more complicated, but we nevertheless show in the 'fast-roll' inflation case, modes grow outside the horizon.
Eternal inflation arising from a potential landscape predicts that our universe is one realization of many possible cosmological histories. One way to access different cosmological histories is via the nucleation of bubble universes from a metastable false vacuum. Another way to sample different cosmological histories is via classical transitions, the creation of pocket universes through the collision between bubbles. Using relativistic numerical simulations, we examine the possibility of observationally determining if our observable universe resulted from a classical transition. We find that classical transitions produce spatially infinite, approximately open Friedman-Robertson-Walker universes. The leading set of observables in the aftermath of a classical transition are negative spatial curvature and a contribution to the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature quadrupole. The level of curvature and magnitude of the quadrupole are dependent on the position of the observer, and we determine the possible range of observables for two classes of single-scalar field models. For the first class, where the inflationary phase has a lower energy than the vacuum preceding the classical transition, the magnitude of the observed quadrupole generally falls to zero with distance from the collision while the spatial curvature grows to a constant. For the second class, where the inflationary phase has a higher energy than the vacuum preceding the classical transition, the magnitude of the observed quadrupole generically falls to zero with distance from the collision while the spatial curvature grows without bound. We find that the magnitude of the quadrupole and curvature grow with increasing centre of mass energy of the collision, and explore variations of the parameters in the scalar field lagrangian.
We explore similarities and differences between several estimators of the cosmological bulk flow, $\bf B$, from the observed radial peculiar velocities of galaxies. A distinction is made between two theoretical definitions of $\bf B$ as a dipole moment of the velocity field weighted by a radial window function. One definition involves the three dimensional (3D) peculiar velocity, while the other is based on its radial component alone. Different methods attempt at inferring $\bf B$ for either of these definitions which coincide only for a constant velocity field. We focus on the Wiener Filtering (WF, Hoffman et al. 2015) and the Constrained Minimum Variance (CMV,Feldman et al. 2010) methodologies. Both methodologies require a prior expressed in terms of the radial velocity correlation function. Hoffman et al. compute $\bf B$ in Top-Hat windows from a WF realization of the 3D peculiar velocity field. Feldman et al. infer $\bf B$ directly from the observed velocities for the second definition of $\bf B$. The WF methodology could easily be adapted to the second definition, in which case it will be equivalent to the CMV with the exception of the imposed constraint. For a prior with vanishing correlations or very noisy data, CMV reproduces the standard Maximum Likelihood (ML, Kaiser 1988) estimation for $\bf B$ of the entire sample independent of the radial weighting function. Therefore, this estimator is likely more susceptible to observational biases that could be present in measurements of distant galaxies. Finally, two additional estimators are proposed.
A number of alternatives to general relativity exhibit gravitational screening in the non-linear regime of structure formation. We describe a set of algorithms that can produce weak lensing maps of large scale structure in such theories and can be used to generate mock surveys for cosmological analysis. By analysing a few basic statistics we indicate how these alternatives can be distinguished from general relativity with future weak lensing surveys.
Sterile neutrinos are $SU(2)$ singlets that mix with active neutrinos via a mass matrix, its diagonalization leads to mass eigenstates that couple via standard model vertices. We study the cosmological production of heavy neutrinos via \emph{standard model charged and neutral current vertices} under a minimal set of assumptions: i) the mass basis contains a hierarchy of heavy neutrinos, ii) these have very small mixing angles with the active (flavor) neutrinos, iii) standard model particles, including light (active-like) neutrinos are in thermal equilibrium. If kinematically allowed, the same weak interaction processes that produce active-like neutrinos also produce the heavier species. We introduce the quantum kinetic equations that describe their production, freeze out and decay and discuss the various processes that lead to their production in a wide range of temperatures assessing their feasibility as dark matter candidates. We identify processes in which finite temperature collective excitations may lead to the production of the heavy species. As a specific example, we consider the production of heavy neutrinos in the mass range $M_h \lesssim 140 \,\mathrm{MeV}$ from pion decay shortly after the QCD crossover including finite temperature corrections to the pion form factors and mass. We consider the different decay channels that allow for the production of heavy neutrinos showing that their frozen distribution functions exhibit effects from "kinematic entanglement" and argue for their viability as mixed dark matter candidates. We discuss abundance, phase space density and stability constraints and argue that heavy neutrinos with lifetime $\tau> 1/H_0$ freeze out of local thermal equilibrium, and \emph{conjecture} that those with lifetimes $\tau \ll 1/H_0$ may undergo cascade decay into lighter DM candidates and/or inject non-LTE neutrinos into the cosmic neutrino background.
We report the detection and mapping of atomic hydrogen in HI 21cm emission from ESO 184-G82, the host galaxy of the gamma ray burst 980425. This is the first instance where HI in emission has been detected from a galaxy hosting a gamma ray burst. ESO 184-G82 is an isolated galaxy and contains a Wolf-Rayet region close to the location of the gamma ray burst and the associated supernova, SN 1998bw. This is one of the most luminous HII regions identified in the local Universe, with a very high inferred density of star formation. The HI 21cm observations reveal a high HI mass for the galaxy, twice as large as the stellar mass. The spatial and velocity distribution of the HI 21cm emission reveals a disturbed rotating gas disk, which suggests that the galaxy has undergone a recent minor merger that disrupted its rotation. We find that the Wolf-Rayet region and the gamma ray burst are both located in the highest HI column density region of the galaxy. We speculate that the merger event has resulted in shock compression of the gas, triggering extreme star formation activity, and resulting in the formation of both the Wolf-Rayet region and the gamma ray burst. The high HI column density environment of the GRB is consistent with the high HI column densities seen in absorption in the host galaxies of high redshift gamma ray bursts.
This is the third paper in a series establishing a quantitative relation between inflationary scalar field potential landscapes and the relic perturbations left by the collision between bubbles produced during eternal inflation. We introduce a new method for computing cosmological observables from numerical relativity simulations of bubble collisions. This method tiles comoving hypersurfaces with locally-perturbed Friedmann-Robertson-Walker coordinate patches. The method extends previous work, which was limited to the spacetime region just inside the future light cone of the collision, and allows us to explore the full bubble-collision spacetime. We validate our new methods against previous work, and present a full set of predictions for the comoving curvature perturbation and local negative spatial curvature produced by identical and non-identical bubble collisions, in single scalar field models of eternal inflation. In both collision types, there is a non-zero contribution to the spatial curvature and cosmic microwave background quadrupole. Some collisions between non-identical bubbles excite wall modes, giving extra structure to the predicted temperature anisotropies. We comment on the implications of our results for future observational searches. For non-identical bubble collisions, we also find that the surfaces of constant field can readjust in the presence of a collision to produce spatially infinite sections that become nearly homogeneous deep into the region affected by the collision. Contrary to previous assumptions, this is true even in the bubble into which the domain wall is accelerating.
The existence of both a minimum mass and a minimum density in nature, in the presence of a positive cosmological constant, is one of the most intriguing results in classical general relativity. These results follow rigorously from the Buchdahl inequalities in four dimensional de Sitter space. In this work, we obtain the generalized Buchdahl inequalities in arbitrary space-time dimensions with $\Lambda \neq 0$ and consider both the de Sitter and anti-de Sitter cases. The dependence on $D$, the number of space-time dimensions, of the minimum and maximum masses for stable spherical objects is explicitly obtained. The analysis is then extended to the case of dark energy satisfying an arbitrary linear barotropic equation of state. The Jeans instability of barotropic dark energy is also investigated, for arbitrary $D$, in the framework of a simple Newtonian model, and we determine the dispersion relation describing the dark energy$-$matter condensation process, along with estimates of the corresponding Jeans mass (and radius). Finally, the quantum mechanical implications of mass limits are investigated, and we show that the existence of a minimum mass scale naturally leads to a model in which dark energy is composed of a `sea' of quantum particles, each with an effective mass proportional to $\Lambda^{1/4}$.
The universe is viewed as a dust gas filling a sphere and floating in
infinite empty space. Einstein's gravitational equations are applied to this
case together with appropriate boundary values. The equations are solved for
initial conditions chosen so as to describe the observed Hubble diagram. We
find that the solution is not unique so that more astronomical observations are
needed. However, those solutions which were found do not exhibit an accelerated
expansion of the universe, nor -- obviously then -- do they need the notion of
a dark energy driving such an expansion.
We present this study as an alternative to the prevailing Robertson-Walker
cosmology.
The axion electromagnetic anomaly induces an oscillating electric dipole for the electron of frequency $m_a$ and strength $\sim 10^{-32}$ e-cm, two orders of magnitude above the nucleon, and within four orders of magnitude of the present standard model constant limit. We give a detailed study of this phenomenon via the interaction of the cosmic axion, through the electromagnetic anomaly, with particular emphasis on the decoupling limit of the axion, $\partial_t a(t)\propto m_a \rightarrow 0$. The general form of the action involves a local contact interaction and a nonlocal contribution that enforces the decoupling limit. We derive the effective action in the Pauli-Schroedinger non-relativistic formalism, and in Georgi's heavy quark formalism adapted to the "heavy electron" (heavy compared to $m_a$). We compute the electric dipole radiation emitted by stationary electrons, and we discuss a number of experimental configurations that may yield detectable signals. Phased array radiators with $N^2$ unit cell magnetic elements may have advantages over resonant cavities that exploit large $Q$, since we can design toward $N^2 >> Q$.
We give a set of exact nonlinear closed--form solutions for the non-spherical
collapse of pressure-less matter in Newtonian gravity, and indicate their
possible cosmological applications.
Keywords: Newtonian gravitation: free collapse, large-scale cosmic structures
Links to: arXiv, form interface, find, astro-ph, recent, 1508, contact, help (Access key information)
Studies of the formation of the first stars have established that they formed in small halos of $\sim 10^5 - 10^6 M_{\odot}$ via molecular hydrogen cooling. Since a low level of ultraviolet radiation from stars suffices to dissociate molecular hydrogen, under the usually-assumed scenario this primordial mode of star formation ended by redshift $z \sim 15$ and much more massive halos came to dominate star formation. However, metal enrichment from the first stars may have allowed the smaller halos to continue to form stars efficiently, a possibility that has been boosted by recent numerical simulations. In this Letter we explore the possible effect of star formation in metal-rich low-mass halos on the redshifted 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen from $z = 6-40$. These halos are significantly affected by the supersonic streaming velocity, with its characteristic baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) signature. We show that enrichment of low-mass galaxies can produce a strong signature in the 21-cm power spectrum over a wide range of redshifts, and can allow the effect of the streaming velocity to survive until the midpoint of reionization. Our predictions, therefore, are relevant for current and upcoming radio telescopes.
In this paper, we study the filamentary structures and the galaxy alignment along filaments at redshift $z=0.06$ in the MassiveBlack-II simulation, a state-of-the-art, high-resolution hydrodynamical cosmological simulation which includes stellar and AGN feedback in a volume of (100 Mpc$/h$)$^3$. The filaments are constructed using the subspace constrained mean shift (SCMS; Ozertem & Erdogmus (2011) and Chen et al. (2015a)). First, we show that reconstructed filaments using galaxies and reconstructed filaments using dark matter particles are similar to each other; over $50\%$ of the points on the galaxy filaments have a corresponding point on the dark matter filaments within distance $0.13$ Mpc$/h$ (and vice versa) and this distance is even smaller at high-density regions. Second, we observe the alignment of the major principal axis of a galaxy with respect to the orientation of its nearest filament and detect a $2.5$ Mpc$/h$ critical radius for filament's influence on the alignment when the subhalo mass of this galaxy is between $10^9M_\odot/h$ and $10^{12}M_\odot/h$. Moreover, we find the alignment signal to increase significantly with the subhalo mass. Third, when a galaxy is close to filaments (less than $0.25$ Mpc$/h$), the galaxy alignment toward the nearest galaxy group depends on the galaxy subhalo mass. Finally, we find that galaxies close to filaments or groups tend to be rounder than those away from filaments or groups.
Mach's principle is surely one of those tantalizingly beautiful concepts in
physics which remain elusive. Though General Relativity (GR) was conceived in
the spirit of realizing it, the theory failed to fulfill this expectation.
Here a study on the implications of imposing Mach's principle on GR with an
insight that spacetime has no independent existence without a material
background, is presented. This inclusion of the principle in GR turns out to be
unexpectedly rewarding. The resulting theory solves many mysteries and averts
lingering problems of the conventional forms of GR and cosmology.
Axion like particles (ALPs) are quite generic in many scenarios for physics beyond the Standard Model, they are pseudoscalar Nambu-Goldstone bosons, and appear once any global $U(1)$ symmetry is broken spontaneously. The ALPs can gain mass from various non-perturbative quantum effects, such as anomalies or instantons. ALPs can couple to the matter sector incluidng a scalar condensate such as inflaton or moduli field via derivative interactions, which are suppressed by the axion {\it decay constant}, $f_\chi$ . Although weakly interacting, the ALPs can be produced abundantly from the coherent oscillations of a homogeneous condensate. In this paper we will study such a scenario where the ALPs can be produced abundantly, and in some cases can even overclose the Universe via odd and even dimensional operators, as long as $f_\chi/\Phi_{\rm I} \ll 1$, where $\Phi_{\rm I}$ denotes the initial amplitude of the coherent oscillations of the scalar condensate, $\phi$. We will briefly mention how such dangerous overproduction would affect dark matter and dark radiation abundances in the Universe.
Assuming that curvature perturbations and gravitational waves originally arise from vacuum fluctuations in a matter-dominated phase of contraction, we study the dynamics of the cosmological perturbations evolving through a nonsingular bouncing phase described by a generic single scalar field Lagrangian minimally coupled to Einstein gravity. In order for such a model to be consistent with the current upper limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, there must be an enhancement of the curvature fluctuations during the bounce phase. We show that, while it remains possible to enlarge the amplitude of curvature perturbations due to the non-trivial background evolution, this growth is very limited because of the conservation of curvature perturbations on super-Hubble scales. We further perform a general analysis of the evolution of primordial non-Gaussianities through the bounce phase. By studying the general form of the bispectrum we show that the non-Gaussianity parameter $f_{\mathrm{NL}}$ (which is of order unity before the bounce phase) is enhanced during the bounce phase if the curvature fluctuations grow. Hence, in such nonsingular bounce models with matter given by a single scalar field, there appears to be a tension between obtaining a small enough tensor-to-scalar ratio and not obtaining a value of $f_{\mathrm{NL}}$ in excess of the current upper bounds. This conclusion may be considered as a "no-go" theorem for single field matter bounce cosmologies starting with vacuum initial conditions for the fluctuations.
We use high resolution simulations of isolated dwarf galaxies to study the
physics of dark matter cusp-core transformation at the edge of galaxy formation
(Mvir = 10^7 - 10^9 Msun). We work at a resolution (4 pc) at which the impact
from individual supernovae explosions can be resolved, becoming insensitive to
even large changes in our numerical 'sub-grid' parameters. We find that our
dwarf galaxies give a remarkable match to the stellar light profile; star
formation history; metallicity distribution function; and star/gas kinematics
of isolated dwarf irregular galaxies. Our key result is that dark matter cores
of size comparable to the half light radius r_1/2 always form if star formation
proceeds for long enough. Cores fully form in less than 4 Gyrs for the Mvir
=10^8 Msun and 14 Gyrs for the 10^9 Msun dwarf. We provide a convenient two
parameter 'coreNFW' fitting function that captures this dark matter core growth
as a function of star formation time and the projected half light radius.
Our results have several important implications: (i) we make a strong
prediction that if LambdaCDM is correct, then 'pristine' dark matter cusps will
be found either in systems that have truncated star formation and/or at radii r
> r_1/2; (ii) complete core formation lowers the projected velocity dispersion
at r_1/2 by a factor ~2, which is sufficient to fully explain the 'too big to
fail problem' (though we stress that a full solution likely also involves
unmodelled environmental effects); and (iii) cored dwarfs will be much more
susceptible to tides, leading to a dramatic scouring of the subhalo mass
function inside galaxies and groups. We will explore such environmental effects
in a forthcoming paper.
We compare two different methods of constraining the characteristic velocity and spatial scales of gas motions in the X-ray bright, nearby Centaurus cluster, using new deep (760ks) Chandra observations. The power spectrum of excess surface brightness fluctuations in the 0.5-6.0 keV band in a sector to the west is measured and compared to theoretical expectations for Kolmogorov index fluctuations. The observed power spectrum is flatter than these expectations, and the surface brightness fluctuations are around the 8 percent level on length scales of 2 kpc. We convert the 2D power spectrum of fluctuations into a 3D power spectrum using the method of Churazov et al., and then convert this into constraints on the one-component velocity of the gas motions as a function of their length scale. We find one-component velocities in the range 100-150 km/s on spatial scales of 4-10 kpc. An independent constraint on the characteristic velocity and length scales of the gas motions is then found by considering the diffusion coefficient needed to explain the distribution of metals in the Centaurus cluster, combined with the need to balance the rate of gas cooling with the rate of heat dissipated by the gas motions. We find that these two methods of constraining the velocity and length scales of the gas motions are in good agreement.
The purpose of the present study is to compare the predictions of different models of star formation rate (SFR) history in the universe with the upper limit of Super Kamiokande for the neutrino background. To this aim we have calculated the expected neutrino density for the most popular models of SFR history, Hogg et al. ,Glazebrook et al., Cole et al., Yuksel et al., Hernquist et al. and Kaplinghat et al. Differerent from previous studies we have used the $\Lambda$CDM model with $\Omega_{\Lambda} = 0.7$. We have assumed that the detector used for the detection the neutrino flux is SuperK and also we have assumed that the electron neutrinos produced in the Supernovae oscillate equally to the three standard model flavors. By these assumptions all models stay below the upper limit of SuperK on the event rate and the detection of the supernova relic neutrino background (SRNB) remains undetected. Future neutrino detectors such as KM3Net will be able to detect the SRNB and distinguish between the models of the SFR history.
We assume that dust near active galactic nuclei (AGN) is distributed in a torus-like geometry, which may be described by a clumpy medium or a homogeneous disk or as a combination of the two (i.e. a 2-phase medium). The dust particles considered are fluffy and have higher submillimeter emissivities than grains in the diffuse ISM. The dust-photon interaction is treated in a fully self-consistent three dimensional radiative transfer code. We provide an AGN library of spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Its purpose is to quickly obtain estimates of the basic parameters of the AGN, such as the intrinsic luminosity of the central source, the viewing angle, the inner radius, the volume filling factor and optical depth of the clouds, and the optical depth of the disk midplane, and to predict the flux at yet unobserved wavelengths. The procedure is simple and consists of finding an element in the library that matches the observations. We discuss the general properties of the models and in particular the 10mic. silicate band. The AGN library accounts well for the observed scatter of the feature strengths and wavelengths of the peak emission. AGN extinction curves are discussed and we find that there is no direct one-to-one link between the observed extinction and the wavelength dependence of the dust cross sections. We show that objects of the library cover the observed range of mid IR colors of known AGN. The validity of the approach is demonstrated by matching the SEDs of a number of representative objects: Four Seyferts and two quasars for which we present new Herschel photometry, two radio galaxies, and one hyperluminous infrared galaxy. Strikingly, for the five luminous objects we find pure AGN models fit the SED without a need to postulate starburst activity.
In order to observe annihilation and decay of dark matter, several types of potential sources should be considered. Some sources, such as dwarf galaxies, are expected to have very low astrophysical backgrounds but fairly small dark matter densities. Other sources, like the Galactic center, are expected to have larger densities of dark matter but also have more complicated backgrounds from other astrophysical sources. To search for signatures of dark matter, the large field-of-view of the HAWC detector, covering 2 sr at a time, especially enables searches from sources of dark matter annihilation and decay, which are extended over several degrees on the sky. With a sensitivity over 2/3 of the sky, HAWC has the ability to probe a large fraction of the sky for the signals of TeV-mass dark matter. In particular, HAWC should be the most sensitive experiment to signals coming from dark matter with masses greater than 10-100 TeV. We present the HAWC sensitivity to annihilating and decaying dark matter signals for several likely sources of these signals.
Links to: arXiv, form interface, find, astro-ph, recent, 1508, contact, help (Access key information)
As part of the SDSS-IV the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) will perform measurements of the cosmological distance scale via application of the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) method to samples of quasars and galaxies. Quasar surveys are particularly useful in the BAO context as they can trace extremely large volumes back to moderately high redshift. eBOSS will adopt two approaches to target quasars over a 7500 sq. deg. area. First, z > 2.1 quasars will be targeted to improve BAO measurements in the Lyman-Alpha Forest. Second, a homogeneously selected "CORE" sample of quasars at 0.9 < z < 2.2 will be targeted to yield the first few-%-level BAO constraint near z~1.5. eBOSS CORE quasar targeting will combine optical selection in ugriz using a likelihood-based routine called XDQSOz, with a mid-IR-optical color-cut. A spectroscopic survey of ~300 sq. deg. of eBOSS targets shows that eBOSS CORE selection (to g < 22 OR r < 22) should return ~70 per sq. deg. 0.9 < z < 2.2 quasars and ~7 per sq. deg. z > 2.1 quasars. A supplemental selection based on variability of quasars in multi-epoch imaging from the Palomar Transient Factory should recover an additional ~3-4 per sq. deg. z > 2.1 quasars to g < 22.5. Regression tests demonstrate that a linear model of the effects of imaging systematics on target density can recover the angular distribution of CORE quasars over 96.7% (76.7%) of the SDSS North (South) Galactic Cap area. eBOSS is completely robust to changes in quasar target density due to imprecision in imaging zero points. Beyond its key cosmological goals, eBOSS should be the next-generation quasar survey, ultimately comprising > 500,000 new spectroscopically confirmed quasars and > 500,000 uniformly selected spectroscopically confirmed 0.9 < z < 2.2 quasars. At the conclusion of SDSS-IV, the SDSS will have provided unique spectra of over 800,000 quasars.
The Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) will conduct novel cosmological observations using the BOSS spectrograph at Apache Point Observatory. Observations will be simultaneous with the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS) designed for variability studies and the Spectroscopic Identification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS) program designed for studies of X-ray sources. eBOSS will use four different tracers to measure the distance-redshift relation with baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter. Using more than 250,000 new, spectroscopically confirmed luminous red galaxies at a median redshift z=0.72, we project that eBOSS will yield measurements of $d_A(z)$ to an accuracy of 1.2% and measurements of H(z) to 2.1% when combined with the z>0.6 sample of BOSS galaxies. With ~195,000 new emission line galaxy redshifts, we expect BAO measurements of $d_A(z)$ to an accuracy of 3.1% and H(z) to 4.7% at an effective redshift of z= 0.87. A sample of more than 500,000 spectroscopically-confirmed quasars will provide the first BAO distance measurements over the redshift range 0.9<z<2.2, with expected precision of 2.8% and 4.2% on $d_A(z)$ and H(z), respectively. Finally, with 60,000 new quasars and re-observation of 60,000 quasars known from BOSS, we will obtain new Lyman-alpha forest measurements at redshifts z>2.1; these new data will enhance the precision of $d_A(z)$ and H(z) by a factor of 1.44 relative to BOSS. Furthermore, eBOSS will provide new tests of General Relativity on cosmological scales through redshift-space distortion measurements, new tests for non-Gaussianity in the primordial density field, and new constraints on the summed mass of all neutrino species. Here, we provide an overview of the cosmological goals, spectroscopic target sample, demonstration of spectral quality from early data, and projected cosmological constraints from eBOSS.
We describe the algorithm used to select the Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) sample for the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV) using photometric data from both the SDSS and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). LRG targets are required to meet a set of color selection criteria and have z-band and i-band MODEL magnitudes z < 19.95 and 19.9 < i < 21.8, respectively. Our algorithm selects roughly 50 LRG targets per square degree, the great majority of which lie in the redshift range 0.6 < z < 1.0 (median redshift 0.71). We demonstrate that our methods are highly effective at eliminating stellar contamination and lower-redshift galaxies. We perform a number of tests using spectroscopic data from SDSS-III/BOSS to determine the redshift reliability of our target selection and its ability to meet the science requirements of eBOSS. The SDSS spectra are of high enough signal-to-noise ratio that at least 89% of the target sample yields secure redshift measurements. We also present tests of the uniformity and homogeneity of the sample, demonstrating that it should be clean enough for studies of the large-scale structure of the universe at higher redshifts than SDSS-III/BOSS LRGs reached.
We present a weak-lensing analysis for the merging galaxy cluster, CIZA J2242.8+5301, hosting double radio relics, using three-band Subaru/Suprime-Cam imaging ($Br'z'$). Since the lifetime of dark matter halos colliding into clusters is longer than that of X-ray emitting gas halos, weak-lensing analysis is a powerful method to constrain a merger dynamics. Two-dimensional shear fitting using a clean background catalog suggests that the cluster undergoes a merger with a mass ratio of about 2:1. The main halo is located around the gas core in the southern region, while no concentrated gas core is associated with the northern sub halo. We find that the projected cluster mass distribution resulting from an unequal-mass merger is in excellent agreement with the curved shapes of the two radio relics and the overall X-ray morphology except for the lack of the northern gas core. The lack of a prominent radio halo enables us to constrain an upper limit of the fractional energy of magneto-hydrodynamics turbulence of $(\delta B/B)^2<\mathcal{O}(10^{-6})$ at a resonant wavenumber, by a balance between the acceleration time and the time after the core passage or the cooling time, with an assumption of resonant acceleration by second-order Fermi process.
We study the equations for the evolution of cosmological perturbations in $f\left(\mathcal{R}\right)$ and conclude that this modified gravity model can be expressed as a dark energy fluid at background and linearised perturbation order. By eliminating the extra scalar degree of freedom known to be present in such theories, we are able to characterise the evolution of the perturbations in the scalar sector in terms of equations of state for the entropy perturbation and anisotropic stress which are written in terms of the density and velocity perturbations of the dark energy fluid and those in the matter, or the metric perturbations. We also do the same in the much simpler vector and tensor sectors. In order to illustrate the simplicity of this formulation, we numerically evolve perturbations in a small number of cases.
We point out the possibility to test the simplest scalar dark matter model at gamma-ray telescopes. We discuss the relevant constraints and show the predictions for direct detection, gamma line searches and LHC searches. Since the final state radiation processes are suppressed by small Yukawa couplings one could observe the gamma lines from dark matter annihilation.
We consider monojet searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) for spin-1 dark matter that interacts with quarks through a contact operator. If the dark matter particles are produced with longitudinal polarizations, then the production matrix element is enhanced by factors of the energy. We show that this particularly effective search strategy can test models for which the energy suppression scale of the operator is as large as $10^5$ TeV. As such, these searches can probe a large class of models for which the contact operator approximation is valid. We find that for contact operators that permit velocity-independent dark matter-nucleon scattering, LHC monojet searches for spin-1 dark matter are competitive with or far surpass direct detection searches depending on whether the scattering is spin-independent or spin-dependent, respectively.
The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) gamma-ray observatory is a wide field-of-view observatory sensitive to 100 GeV - 100 TeV gamma rays and cosmic rays. The HAWC observatory is also sensitive to diverse indirect searches for dark matter annihilation, including annihilation from extended dark matter sources, the diffuse gamma-ray emission from dark matter annihilation, and gamma-ray emission from non-luminous dark matter subhalos. Among the most promising classes of objects for the indirect detection of dark matter are dwarf spheroidal galaxies. These objects are expected to have few astrophysical sources of gamma rays but high dark matter content, making them ideal candidates for an indirect dark matter detection with gamma rays. Here we present independent limits on the annihilation cross section for 14 dwarf spheroidal galaxies within the HAWC field-of-view, as well as their combined limit. These are the first limits on the annihilation cross section using data collected with HAWC.
We study the Einstein Yang-Mills Higgs equations in the $SO(3)$ representation on a isotropic and homogeneous flat Universe, in the presence of radiation and matter fluids. We map the equations of motion into a closed dynamical system of first-order differential equations and we find the equilibrium points. We show that there is only one stable fixed point that corresponds to an accelerated expanding Universe in the future. In the past, instead, there is an unstable fixed point that implies a stiff-matter domination. In between, we find three other unstable fixed points, corresponding, in chronological order, to radiation domination, to matter domination, and, finally, to a transition from decelerated expansion to accelerated expansion. We solve the system numerically and we confirm that there are smooth trajectories that correctly describe the evolution of the Universe, from a remote past dominated by radiation to a remote future dominated by dark energy, passing through a matter-dominated phase.
The newly established luminosity functions of high-z galaxies at $4 \lesssim z \lesssim 10$ can provide a stringent check on dark matter models that aim to explain the core properties of dwarf galaxies. The cores of dwarf spheroidal galaxies are understood to be too large to be accounted for by free streaming of warm dark matter without overly suppressing the formation of such galaxies. Here we demonstrate with cosmological simulations that wave dark matter, $\psi$DM, appropriate for light bosons such as axions, does not suffer this problem, given a boson mass of $m_{\psi} \ge 1.2 \times 10^{-22}{\,\rm eV}$ ($2\sigma$). In this case, the halo mass function is suppressed below $\sim 10^{10}{\,M_\odot}$ at a level that is consistent with the high-z luminosity functions, while simultaneously generating the kpc-scale cores in dwarf galaxies arising from the solitonic ground state in $\psi$DM. We demonstrate that the reionization history in this scenario is consistent with the Thomson optical depth recently reported by Planck, assuming a reasonable ionizing photon production rate. We show that for galaxies magnified $\mathord{>}10\times$ in the Hubble Frontier Fields, $\psi$DM predicts an order of magnitude fewer detections than cold dark matter at $z \gtrsim 10$ down to an intrinsic UV luminosity of $M_{\rm UV} \sim -15$, allowing us to distinguish between these very different interpretations for the observed coldness of dark matter.
Recently, the phenomenology of f(R) gravity has been scrutinized motivated by the possibility to account for the self-accelerated cosmic expansion without invoking dark energy sources. Besides, this kind of modified gravity is capable of addressing the dynamics of several self-gravitating systems alternatively to the presence of dark matter. It has been established that both metric and Palatini versions of these theories have interesting features but also manifest severe and different downsides. A hybrid combination of theories, containing elements from both these two formalisms, turns out to be also very successful accounting for the observed phenomenology and is able to avoid some drawbacks of the original approaches. This article reviews the formulation of this hybrid metric-Palatini approach and its main achievements in passing the local tests and in applications to astrophysical and cosmological scenarios, where it provides a unified approach to the problems of dark energy and dark matter.
We compute the one-loop renormalization group equations for Standard Model Higgs inflation. The calculation is done in the Einstein frame, using a covariant formalism for the multi-field system. All counterterms, and thus the betafunctions, can be extracted from the radiative corrections to the two-point functions; the calculation of higher n-point functions then serves as a consistency check of the approach. We find that the theory is renormalizable in the effective field theory sense in the small, mid and large field regime. In the large field regime our results differ slightly from those found in the literature, due to a different treatment of the Goldstone bosons.
While in the standard cosmological model the accelerated expansion of the Universe is explained by invoking the presence of the cosmological constant term, it is still unclear the true origin of this stunning observational fact. It is therefore interesting to explore alternatives to the simplest scenario, in particular by assuming a more general framework where the fluid responsible of the accelerated expansion is characterised by a time-dependant equation of state. Usually these models, dubbed dark energy models, are purely phenomenological, but in this work we concentrate on a theoretically justified model, the ghost dark energy model. Within the framework of the spherical collapse model, we evaluate effects of dark energy perturbations both at the linear and non-linear level and transfer these results into an observable quantity, the mass function, by speculatively taking into account contributions of dark energy to the mass of the halos. We showed that the growth rate is higher in ghost models and that perturbations enhance the number of structures with respect to the $\Lambda$CDM model, with stronger effects when the total mass takes into account dark energy clumps.
Links to: arXiv, form interface, find, astro-ph, recent, 1508, contact, help (Access key information)
We investigate the effect of the cosmological expansion on the bending of light due to an isolated point-like mass. We adopt McVittie solution as the description of the geometry of the lens. Assuming a constant Hubble factor we find an analytic expression involving the bending angle, which turns out to be increased by a factor $1 + z_L$, where $z_L$ is the redshift of the lens. Consequently, exploiting the lens equation, we find that for Einstein ring systems the lens mass gains a correction $(1 + z_L)^{-1}$.
This paper aims to introduce a new parameterisation for the coupling Q in interacting dark matter and dark energy models by connecting said models with the Continuous Tower of Scalar Fields model. Based upon the existence of a dark matter and a dark energy sectors in the Continuous Tower of Scalar Fields, a simplification is considered for the evolution of a single scalar field from the tower, validated in this paper. This allows for the results obtained with the Continuous Tower of Scalar Fields model to match those of an interacting dark matter - dark energy system, considering that the energy transferred from one fluid to the other is given by the energy of the scalar fields that start oscillating at a given time, rather than considering that the energy transference depends on properties of the whole fluids that are interacting.
The cosmological dark matter field is not completely described by its hierarchy of $N$-point functions, a non-perturbative effect with the consequence that only part of the theory can be probed with the hierarchy. We give here an exact characterization of the joint information of the full set of $N$-point correlators of the lognormal field. The lognormal field is the archetypal example of a field where this effect occurs, and, at the same time, one of the few tractable and insightful available models to specify fully the statistical properties of the evolved matter density field beyond the perturbative regime. Nonlinear growth in the Universe in that model is set letting the log-density field probability density functional evolve keeping its Gaussian shape, according to the diffusion equation in Euclidean space. We show that the hierarchy probes a different evolution equation, the diffusion equation defined not in Euclidean space but on the compact torus, with uniformity as the long-term solution. The extraction of the hierarchy of correlators can be recast in the form of a nonlinear transformation applied to the field, 'wrapping', undergoing a sharp transition towards complete disorder in the deeply nonlinear regime, where all memory of the initial conditions is lost.
We propose a strategy to search for bulk motions in the intracluster medium (ICM) of merging clusters based on {\sl Chandra} CCD data. Our goal is to derive robust measurements of the average redshift of projected ICM regions obtained from the centroid of the $K_\alpha$ line emission. We thoroughly explore the effect of the unknown temperature structure along the line of sight to accurately evaluate the systematic uncertainties on the ICM redshift. We apply our method to the "Bullet cluster" (1E~0657-56). We directly identify 23 independent regions on the basis of the surface brightness contours, and measure the redshift of the ICM averaged along the line of sight in each. We find that the redshift distribution across these regions is marginally inconsistent with the null hypothesis of a constant redshift or no bulk motion in the ICM, at a confidence level of about $2\, \sigma$. We tentatively identify the regions most likely affected by bulk motions and find a maximum velocity gradient of about $(46\pm 13)$ $\rm km~s^{-1}~kpc^{-1}$ along the line of sight on a scale of $\sim 260 $ kpc along the path of the "bullet." We interpret this as the possible signature of a significant mass of ICM pushed away along a direction perpendicular to the merging. This preliminary result is promising for a systematic search for bulk motions in bright, moderate-redshift clusters based on spatially resolved spectral analysis of {\sl Chandra} CCD data. This preliminary result is promising for a systematic search for bulk motions in bright, moderate-redshift clusters based on spatially resolved spectral analysis of {\sl Chandra} CCD data.
We investigate the evolution of the galaxy two point correlation function (CF) over a wide redshift range, 0.2 < z < 3. For the first time the systematic analysis covers the redshifts above 1 - 1.5. The catalogue of ~250000 galaxies with i+ < 25 and known photometric redshifts in the Subaru Deep field is used. The galaxies are divided into three luminosity classes and several distance/redshift bins. First, the 2D CF is determined for each luminosity class and distance bin. Calculations are based on the quantitative differences between the surface distributions of galaxy pairs with comparable and distinctly different photometric redshifts. The power law approximation for the CF is used. A limited accuracy of photometric redshifts as compared to the spectroscopic ones has been examined and taken into account. Then, the 3D functions for all the selected luminosities and distances are calculated. The power-law parameters of the CF, the slope and the correlation length, are determined. Both parameters do not show strong variations over the whole investigated redshift range. The slope of the luminous galaxies appears to be consistently steeper than that for the fainter ones. The linear bias factor, b(z), grows systematically with redshift; assuming the local normalization b(0) = 1.1-1.2, the bias reaches 3 - 3.5 at the high redshift limit.
The unprecedentedly bright afterglow of GRB 130606A at z = 5.91 gave us a unique opportunity to probe the reionization era by high precision analyses of the redward damping wing of Lyman alpha absorption, but the reported constraints on the neutral hydrogen fraction (f_{HI}) in intergalactic medium (IGM) derived from spectra taken by different telescopes are in contradiction. Here we examine the origin of this discrepancy by analyzing the spectrum taken by VLT with our own analysis code previously used to fit the Subaru spectrum. Though the VLT team reported no evidence for IGM HI using the VLT spectrum, we confirmed our previous result of 3-4 sigma preference for non-zero IGM HI (f_{HI} ~ 0.06, when IGM HI extends to the GRB redshift). The fit residuals of the VLT spectrum by the model without IGM HI show the same systematic trend as the Subaru spectrum. We consider that the likely origin of the discrepancy between the two teams is the difference of the wavelength ranges adopted in the fittings; our wavelength range is wider than that of the VLT team, and also we avoided the shortest wavelength range of deep Lyman alpha absorption (lambda_{obs} < 8426 A), because this region is dominated by HI in the host galaxy and the systematic uncertainty about host HI velocity distribution is large. We also study the sensitivity of these results to the adopted Lyman alpha cross section formulae, ranging from the classical Lorentzian function to the most recent one taking into account fully quantum mechanical scattering. It is found that the preference for non-zero IGM HI is robust against the choice of the cross section formulae, but it is quantitatively not negligible and hence one should be careful in future analyses.
Searches for dark matter imprints are one of the most active areas of current research. We focus here on light fields with mass $m_B$, such as axions and axion-like candidates. Using perturbative techniques and full-blown nonlinear Numerical Relativity methods, we show that (i) dark matter can pile up in the center of stars, leading to configurations and geometries oscillating with frequency which is a multiple of f=$2.5 10^{14}$ $m_B c^2$/eV Hz. These configurations are stable throughout most of the parameter space, and arise out of credible mechanisms for dark-matter capture. Stars with bosonic cores may also develop in other theories with effective mass couplings, such as (massless) scalar-tensor theories. We also show that (ii) collapse of the host star to a black hole is avoided by efficient gravitational cooling mechanisms.
We show that the Standard Model vacuum can be stabilized if all particle propagators are non-minimally coupled to gravity. This is due to a Higgs-background dependent redefinition of the Standard Model fields: in terms of canonical variables and in the large Higgs field limit, the quantum fluctuations of the redefined fields are suppressed by the Higgs background. Thus, in this regime, quantum corrections to the tree-level electroweak potential are negligible. Finally, we show that in this framework the Higgs boson can be responsible for inflation. Due to a numerical coincidence that originates from the CMB data, inflation can happen if the Higgs boson mass, the top mass, and the QCD coupling lie in a region of the parameter space approximately equivalent than the one allowing for electroweak vacuum stability in the Standard Model. We find some (small) regions in the Standard Model parameter space in which the new interaction "rescues" the electroweak vacuum, which would not be stable in the Standard Model.
It is known that the galaxy stellar-to-halo mass ratio (SHMR) is nearly independent of redshift from z=0-4. This motivates us to construct a toy model in which we assume that the SMHR for central galaxies measured at redshift z~0 is independent of redshift, which implies that the star formation rate (SFR) is determined by the halo mass accretion rate, a phenomenon we call Stellar-Halo Accretion Rate Coevolution (SHARC). Moreover, we show here that the ~0.3 dex dispersion of the halo mass accretion rate (MAR) is similar to the observed dispersion of the SFR on the main sequence. In the context of bathtub-type models of galaxy formation, SHARC leads to mass-dependent constraints on the relation between SFR and MAR. The SHARC assumption is no doubt over-simplified, but we expect it to be possibly valid for central galaxies with stellar masses of 10^9 - 10^10.5 M_sol that are on the star formation main sequence. Such galaxies represent most of the life history of M_* galaxies, and therefore most of the star formation in the Universe. The predictions from SHARC agree remarkably well with the observed SFR of galaxies on the main sequence at low redshifts and fairly well out to higher redshifts, although the predicted SFR exceeds observations at z<4. If we also assume that the interstellar gas mass is constant for each galaxy, equilibrium condition, the SHARC model allows calculation of mass loading factors for inflowing and outflowing gas. With assumptions about preventive feedback based on simulations, the model allows calculation of galaxy metallicity evolution. If the SFR in star-forming galaxies is indeed largely regulated by halo mass accretion, especially at low redshifts, that may help to explain the success of models that tie galaxy properties to those of their host halos, such as age matching and the relation between two-halo galaxy conformity and halo mass accretion conformity.
We have discovered an optically rich galaxy cluster at z=1.7089 with star formation occurring in close proximity to the central galaxy. The system, SpARCS104922.6+564032.5, was detected within the Spitzer Adaptation of the red-sequence Cluster Survey, (SpARCS), and confirmed through Keck-MOSFIRE spectroscopy. The rest-frame optical richness of Ngal(500kpc) = 30+/-8 implies a total halo mass, within 500kpc, of ~3.8+/-1.2 x 10^14 Msun, comparable to other clusters at or above this redshift. There is a wealth of ancillary data available, including Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope optical, UKIRT-K, Spitzer-IRAC/MIPS, and Herschel-SPIRE. This work adds submillimeter imaging with the SCUBA2 camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and near-infrared imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The mid/far-infrared (M/FIR) data detect an Ultra-luminous Infrared Galaxy spatially coincident with the central galaxy, with LIR = 6.2+/-0.9 x 10^12 Lsun. The detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at z=1.7 in a Spitzer-IRS spectrum of the source implies the FIR luminosity is dominated by star formation (an Active Galactic Nucleus contribution of 20%) with a rate of ~860+/-30 Msun/yr. The optical source corresponding to the IR emission is likely a chain of of > 10 individual clumps arranged as "beads on a string" over a linear scale of 66 kpc. Its morphology and proximity to the Brightest Cluster Galaxy imply a gas-rich interaction at the center of the cluster triggered the star formation. This system indicates that wet mergers may be an important process in forming the stellar mass of BCGs at early times.
With a fantastic sensitivity improving significantly over the advanced GW detectors, Einstein Telescope (ET) will be able to observe hundreds of thousand inspiralling double compact objects per year. By virtue of gravitational lensing effect, intrinsically unobservable faint sources can be observed by ET due to the magnification by intervening galaxies. We explore the possibility of observing such faint sources amplified by strong gravitational lensing. Following our previous work, we use the merger rates of DCO (NS-NS,BH-NS,BH-BH systems) as calculated by Dominik et al.(2013). It turns out that tens to hundreds of such (lensed) extra events will be registered by ET. This will strongly broaden the ET's distance reach for signals from such coalescences to the redshift range z=2 - 8. However, with respect to the full inspiral event catalog this magnification bias is at the level of 0.001 and should not affect much cosmological inferences.
We investigate a class of models of topological inflation in which a super-Hubble-sized global monopole seeds inflation. These models are attractive since inflation starts from rather generic initial conditions, but their not so attractive feature is that, unless symmetry is again restored, inflation never ends. In this work we show that, in presence of another nonminimally coupled scalar field, that is both quadratically and quartically coupled to the Ricci scalar, inflation naturally ends, representing an elegant solution to the graceful exit problem of topological inflation. While the monopole core grows during inflation, the growth stops after inflation, such that the monopole eventually enters the Hubble radius, and shrinks to its Minkowski space size, rendering it immaterial for the subsequent Universe's dynamics. Furthermore, we find that our model can produce cosmological perturbations that source CMB temperature fluctuations and seed large scale structure statistically consistent (within one standard deviation) with all available data. In particular, for small and (in our convention) negative nonminimal couplings, the scalar spectral index can be as large as $n_s\simeq 0.955$, which is about one standard deviation lower than the central value quoted by the most recent Planck Collaboration.
In this work a cosmological scenario where dark matter interacts with a variable vacuum energy for a spatially flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker space-time is analysed. One of the aims is to show how a particular interaction in the dark sector can be used to get a model of an Emergent Universe. After that we analyse the viability of two particular models by taking into account recent observations. The updated observational Hubble data is used in order to constrain the cosmological parameters of the models and the amount of dark energy in the radiation era is estimated. It is shown that the two models fulfill the severe bounds of $\Omega_{x}(z\simeq 1100)<0.009$ at the $2\sigma$ level of Planck.
Links to: arXiv, form interface, find, astro-ph, recent, 1508, contact, help (Access key information)