We explore the possibility that fermionic dark matter undergoes a BCS transition to form a superfluid. This requires an attractive interaction between fermions and we describe a possible source of this interaction induced by torsion. We describe the gravitating fermion system with the Bogoliubov-de Gennes formalism in the local density approximation. We solve the Poisson equation along with the equations for the density and gap energy of the fermions to find a self-gravitating, superfluid solution for dark matter halos. In order to produce halos the size of dwarf galaxies, we require a particle mass of $\sim 200\mathrm{eV}$. We find a maximum attractive coupling strength before the halo becomes unstable. If dark matter halos do have a superfluid component, this raises the possibility that they contain vortex lines which may be detectable via gravitational lensing.
We used a consistent and robust solar model to obtain upper limits placed by neutrino telescopes, such as Ice- Cube and Super-Kamiokande, on the Dark Matter-nucleon scattering cross-section, for a general model of Dark Matter with a velocity dependent (p-wave) thermally averaged cross-section. In this picture, the Boltzmann equation for the Dark Matter abundance is numerically solved satisfying the Dark Matter density measured from the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). We show that for lower cross-sections and higher masses, the Dark Matter annihilation rate drops sharply, resulting in upper bounds on the scattering cross-section one order of magnitude above those derived from a velocity independent (s-wave) annihilation cross-section. Our results show that upper limits on the scattering cross-section obtained from Dark Matter annihilating in the Sun are sensible to the uncertainty in current standard solar models, fluctuating a maximum of 20 % depending on the annihilation channel.
We develop a method to simulate galaxy-galaxy weak lensing by utilizing all-sky, light-cone simulations. We populate a real catalog of source galaxies into a light-cone simulation realization, simulate the lensing effect on each galaxy, and then identify lensing halos that are considered to host galaxies or clusters of interest. We use the mock catalog to study the error covariance matrix of galaxy-galaxy weak lensing and find that the super-sample covariance (SSC), which arises from density fluctuations with length scales comparable with or greater than a size of survey area, gives a dominant source of the sample variance. We then compare the full covariance with the jackknife (JK) covariance, the method that estimates the covariance from the resamples of the data itself. We show that, although the JK method gives an unbiased estimator of the covariance in the shot noise or Gaussian regime, it always over-estimates the true covariance in the sample variance regime, because the JK covariance turns out to be affected by SSC of JK subregion area that has a greater power than that of the total survey area. We apply our method to the the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data; the source galaxy catalog and the lensing samples of the redMaPPer clusters and the luminous red galaxies. We first show that the 48 mock SDSS catalogs nicely reproduce the signals and the JK covariance measured from the real data, and then argue that the use of the accurate covariance, compared to the JK covariance, can yield an improvement in the cumulative signal-to-noise ratio of the two-halo term measurement by a factor of 2.4--3.2, which is equivalent to the survey area of about 20,000--30,000 sq. degrees. We discuss that such large-separation weak lensing signals with the accurate covariance allow us to improve constraints on cosmological parameters such as neutrino mass.
We perform a forecast analysis of the capability of the eLISA space-based interferometer to constrain models of early and interacting dark energy using gravitational wave standard sirens. We employ simulated catalogues of standard sirens given by merging massive black hole binaries visible by eLISA, with an electromagnetic counterpart detectable by future telescopes. We consider three-arms mission designs with arm length of 1, 2 and 5 million km, 5 years of mission duration and the best-level low frequency noise as recently tested by the LISA Pathfinder. Standard sirens with eLISA give access to an intermediate range of redshift $1\lesssim z \lesssim 8$, and can therefore provide competitive constraints on models where the onset of the deviation from $\Lambda$CDM (i.e.~the epoch when early dark energy starts to be non-negligible, or when the interaction with dark matter begins) occurs relatively late, at $z\lesssim 6$. If instead early or interacting dark energy is relevant already in the pre-recombination era, current cosmological probes (especially the cosmic microwave background) are more efficient than eLISA in constraining these models, except possibly in the interacting dark energy model if the energy exchange is proportional to the energy density of dark energy.
Spatial correlations of the observed sizes and luminosities of galaxies can be used to estimate the magnification that arises through weak gravitational lensing. However, the intrinsic prop- erties of galaxies can be similarly correlated through local physical effects, and these present a possible contamination to the weak lensing estimation. In an earlier paper (Ciarlariello et al. 2015) we modelled the intrinsic size correlations using the halo model, assuming the galaxy sizes reflect the mass in the associated halo. Here we extend this work to consider galaxy magnitudes and show that these may be even more affected by intrinsic correlations than galaxy sizes, making this a bigger systematic for measurements of the weak lensing signal. We also quantify how these intrinsic correlations are affected by sample selection criteria based on sizes and magnitudes.
We refine the mass and environment dependent spherical collapse model of chameleon $f(R)$ gravity by calibrating a phenomenological correction inspired by the parameterized post-Friedmann framework against high-resolution $N$-body simulations. We employ our method to predict the corresponding modified halo mass function, and provide fitting formulas to calculate the fractional enhancement of the $f(R)$ halo abundance with respect to that of General Relativity (GR) within a precision of $\lesssim 5\%$ from the results obtained in the simulations. Similar accuracy can be achieved for the full $f(R)$ mass function on the condition that the modeling of the reference GR abundance of halos is accurate at the percent level. We use our fits to forecast constraints on the additional scalar degree of freedom of the theory, finding that upper bounds competitive with current Solar System tests are within reach of cluster number count analyses from ongoing and upcoming surveys at much larger scales. Importantly, the flexibility of our method allows also for this to be applied to other scalar-tensor theories characterized by a mass and environment dependent spherical collapse.
According to the general relativistic Birkhoff's theorem, spherically symmetric regions in an isotropic universe behave like mini-universes with their own cosmological parameters. We estimate local expansion rates for a large number of such regions, and use the volume-averaged increment of the scale parameter at each time step in an otherwise standard cosmological $N$-body simulation. The particle mass, corresponding to a coarse graining scale, is an adjustable parameter. This mean field approximation neglects tidal forces and boundary effects, but it is the first step towards a non-perturbative statistical backreaction calculation. We show that a volume-averaged simulation with the $\Omega_m=1$ Einstein--de~Sitter setting in each region closely tracks the expansion and structure growth history of a $\Lambda$CDM cosmology, and confirm the numerical results with analytic calculations as well. The very similar expansion history guarantees consistency with the concordance model and, due to the small but characteristic differences, our model can be distinguished from the standard $\Lambda$CDM model by future precision observations. Furthermore, our model naturally resolves the emerging tension between the local Hubble constant and the Planck best-fitting cosmology.
We present the first image of the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) obtained by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Combining 7-m and 12-m arrays in Band 3, we create an SZE map toward a galaxy cluster RXJ1347.5-1145 with 5 arc-second resolution (corresponding to the physical size of 20 kpc/h), the highest angular and physical spatial resolutions achieved to date for imaging the SZE, while retaining extended signals out to 40 arc-seconds. The 1-sigma statistical sensitivity of the image is 0.017 mJy/beam or 0.12 mK_CMB at the 5 arc-second full width at half maximum. The SZE image shows a good agreement with an electron pressure map reconstructed independently from the X-ray data and offers a new probe of the small-scale structure of the intracluster medium. Our results demonstrate that ALMA is a powerful instrument for imaging the SZE in compact galaxy clusters with unprecedented angular resolution and sensitivity. As the first report on the detection of the SZE by ALMA, we present detailed analysis procedures including corrections for the missing flux, to provide guiding methods for analyzing and interpreting future SZE images by ALMA.
We use the CRPropa code to simulate the propagation of ultra high energy cosmic rays (with energy $\geq 10^{18} \rm eV$ and pure proton composition) through extragalactic magnetic fields that have been simulated with the cosmological ENZO code.We test both primordial and astrophysical magnetogenesis scenarios in order to investigate the impact of different magnetic field strengths in clusters, filaments and voids on the deflection of cosmic rays propagating across cosmological distances. We also study the effect of different source distributions of cosmic rays around simulated Milky-Way like observers. Our analysis shows that the arrival spectra and anisotropy of events are rather insensitive to the distribution of extragalactic magnetic fields, while they are more affected by the clustering of sources within a $\sim 50$ Mpc distance to observers. Finally, we find that in order to reproduce the observed degree of isotropy of cosmic rays at $\sim $ EeV energies, the average magnetic fields in cosmic voids must be $\sim 0.1 \rm \ nG$, providing limits on the strength of primordial seed fields.
We present the Cosmic Web Detachment (CWD) model, a conceptual framework to
interpret galaxy evolution in a cosmological context, providing a direct link
between the star formation history of galaxies and the cosmic web. The CWD
model unifies several mechanism known to disrupt or stop star formation into
one single physical process and provides a natural explanation for a wide range
of galaxy properties. Galaxies begin accreting star-forming gas at early times
via a network of primordial highly coherent filaments. The efficient star
formation phase ends when non-linear interactions with other galaxies or
elements of the cosmic web detach the galaxy from its network of primordial
filaments, thus ending the efficient accretion of cold gas. The stripping of
the filamentary web around galaxies is the physical process responsible of star
formation quenching in gas stripping, harassment, strangulation and starvation.
Being a purely gravitational/mechanical process CWD acts at a more fundamental
level than internal feedback processes.
We introduce a simple and efficient formalism to identify CWD events in
N-body simulations. With it we reproduce and explain, in the context of CWD,
several key observations including downsizing, the cosmic star formation rate
history, the galaxy mass-color diagram and the dependence of the fraction of
red galaxies with mass and local density.
We present a novel way to investigate scalar field profiles around black holes with an accretion disc for a range of models where the Compton wavelength of the scalar is large compared to other length scales. By analysing the problem in "Weyl" coordinates, we are able to calculate the scalar profiles for accretion discs in the static Schwarzschild, as well as rotating Kerr, black holes. We comment on observational effects.
In multi-field inflation one or more non-adiabatic modes may become light, potentially inducing large levels of isocurvature perturbations in the cosmic microwave background. If in addition these light modes are coupled to the adiabatic mode, they influence its evolution on super horizon scales. Here we consider the case in which a non-adiabatic mode becomes approximately massless ("ultralight") while still coupled to the adiabatic mode, a typical situation that arises with pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons or moduli. This ultralight mode freezes on super-horizon scales and acts as a constant source for the curvature perturbation, making it grow linearly in time. We identify a St\"uckelberg-like emergent shift symmetry that underlies this behavior. As inflation lasts for many e-folds, the integrated effect of this source enhances the power spectrum of the adiabatic mode, while keeping the non-adiabatic spectrum approximately untouched. In this case, towards the end of inflation all the fluctuations, adiabatic and non-adiabatic, are dominated by a single degree of freedom.
In this article, we present a bouncing cosmology inspired by a family of regular black holes. This scale-dependent cosmology deviates from the cosmological principle by means of a scale factor which depends on the time and the radial coordinate as well. The model is isotropic but not perfectly homogeneous. That is, this cosmology describes an universe almost homogeneous only for large scales, such as our observable universe.
The Ward identities for conformal symmetries in single field models of inflation are studied in more detail in momentum space. For a class of generalized single field models, where the inflaton action contains arbitrary powers of the scalar and its first derivative, we find that the Ward identities are valid. We also study a one-parameter family of vacua, called $\alpha$-vacua, which preserve conformal invariance in de Sitter space. We find that the Ward identities, upto contact terms, are met for the three point function of a scalar field in the probe approximation in these vacua. Interestingly, the corresponding non-Gaussian term in the wave function does not satisfy the operator product expansion. For scalar perturbations in inflation, in the $\alpha$-vacua, we find that the Ward identities are not satisfied. We argue that this is because the back-reaction on the metric of the full quantum stress tensor has not been self-consistently incorporated. We also present a calculation, drawing on techniques from the AdS/CFT correspondence, for the three point function of scalar perturbations in inflation in the Bunch-Davies vacuum.
We present results of an optical search for Cepheid variable stars using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in 19 hosts of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and the maser-host galaxy NGC 4258, conducted as part of the SH0ES project (Supernovae and H0 for the Equation of State of dark energy). The targets include 9 newly imaged SN Ia hosts using a novel strategy based on a long-pass filter that minimizes the number of HST orbits required to detect and accurately determine Cepheid properties. We carried out a homogeneous reduction and analysis of all observations, including new universal variability searches in all SN Ia hosts, that yielded a total of 2200 variables with well-defined selection criteria -- the largest such sample identified outside the Local Group. These objects are used in a companion paper to determine the local value of H0 with a total uncertainty of 2.4%.
With the development of extremely sensitive ground-based gravitational wave detectors, and the recent detection of gravitational waves by LIGO, extensive theoretical work is going into understanding potential gravitational wave sources. To support this effort, we present here design targets for a new generation of detectors, which will be capable of observing compact binary sources with high signal-to-noise ratio throughout the universe.
Particles weakly interacting with ordinary matter, with an associated mass of the order of an atomic nucleus (WIMPs), are plausible candidates for Dark Matter. The direct detection of an elastic collision of a target nuclei induced by one of these WIMPs has to be discriminated from the signal produced by the neutrons, which leaves the same signal in a detector. The MIMAC (MIcro-tpc MAtrix of Chambers) collaboration has developed an original prototype detector which combines a large pixelated Micromegas coupled with a fast, self-triggering, electronics. Aspects of the two-chamber module in operation in the Modane Underground Laboratory are presented: calibration, characterization of the $^{222}$Rn progeny. A new test bench combining a MIMAC chamber with the COMIMAC portable quenching line has been set up to characterize the 3D tracks of low energy ions in the MIMAC gas mixture: the preliminary results thereof are presented. Future steps are briefly discussed.
In the context of Standard Model Extensions (SMEs), we analyse four general classes of Super Symmetry (SuSy) and Lorentz Symmetry (LoSy) breaking, leading to {observable} imprints at our energy scales. The photon dispersion relations show a non-Maxwellian behaviour for the CPT (Charge-Parity-Time reversal symmetry) odd and even sectors. The group velocities exhibit also a directional dependence with respect to the breaking background vector (odd CPT) or tensor (even CPT). In the former sector, the group velocity may decay following an inverse squared frequency behaviour. Thus, we extract a massive and gauge invariant Carroll-Field-Jackiw photon term in the Lagrangian and show that the mass is proportional to the breaking vector. The latter is estimated by ground measurements and leads to a photon mass upper limit of $10^{-19}$ eV or $2 \times 10^{-55}$ kg and thereby to a potentially measurable delay at low radio frequencies.
Sneutrino inflation employs the fermionic partners of the inflaton and stabilizer field as right-handed neutrinos to realize the seesaw mechanism for light neutrino masses. A crucial ingredient in existing constructions for sneutrino (multi-)natural inflation is an unbroken discrete shift symmetry. We demonstrate that a similar construction applies to $\alpha$-attractor models. In this case the hyperbolic geometry protects the neutrino Yukawa couplings to the inflaton field, and the masses of leptons and Higgs fields, from blowing up when the inflaton is super-Planckian. We find that the predictions for $n_s$ and $r$ for $\alpha$-attractor cosmological models, compatible with the current cosmological data, are preserved in the presence of the neutrino sector.
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We use wavelet and curvelet transforms to extract signals of cosmic strings from cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropy maps, and to study the limits on the cosmic string tension which various ongoing CMB temperature anisotropy experiments will be able to achieve. We construct sky maps with size and angular resolution corresponding to various experiments. These maps contain the signals of a scaling solution of long string segments with a given string tension $G \mu$, the contribution of the dominant Gaussian primordial cosmological fluctuations, and pixel by pixel white noise with an amplitude corresponding to the instrumental noise of the various experiments. In the case that we include white noise, we find that the curvelets are more powerful than wavelets. For maps with Planck specification, we obtain bounds on the string tension comparable to what was obtained by the Planck collaboration. Experiments with better angular resolution such as the South Pole Telescope third generation (SPT-3G) survey will be able to yield stronger limits. For maps with a specification of SPT-3G we find that string signals will be visible down to a string tension of $G \mu = 1.4 \times 10^{-7}$.
The redshift drift of objects moving in the Hubble flow has been proposed as a powerful model-independent probe of the underlying cosmology. A measurement of the first and second order redshift derivatives appears to be well within the reach of upcoming surveys using ELT-HIRES and the SKA Phase 2 array. Here we show that an unambiguous prediction of the R_h=ct cosmology is zero drift at all redshifts, contrasting sharply with all other models in which the expansion rate is variable. For example, multi-year monitoring of sources at redshift z=5 with the ELT-HIRES is expected to show a velocity shift Delta v = -15 cm/s/yr due to the redshift drift in Planck LCDM, while Delta v=0 cm/s/yr in R_h=ct. With an anticipated ELT-HIRES measurement error of +/-5 cm/s/yr after 5 years, these upcoming redshift drift measurements might therefore be able to differentiate between R_h=ct and Planck LCDM at ~3 sigma, assuming that any possible source evolution is well understood. Such a result would provide the strongest evidence yet in favour of the R_h=ct cosmology. With a 20-year baseline, these observations could favor one of these models over the other at better than 5 sigma.
Under the existence of chiral non-Gaussian sources during inflation, the trispectrum of primordial curvature perturbations can break parity. We examine signatures of the induced trispectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies. It is confirmed via harmonic-space analysis that such CMB trispectrum has nonvanishing signal in the $\ell_1 + \ell_2 + \ell_3 + \ell_4 = \text{odd}$ domain, as a consequence of parity violation. When the curvature trispectrum is parametrized with Legendre polynomials, the CMB signal due to the Legendre dipolar term is enhanced at the squeezed configurations in $\ell$ space, yielding a high signal-to-noise ratio. A Fisher matrix computation results in a minimum detectable size of the dipolar coefficient in a cosmic-variance-limited-level temperature survey as $d_1^{\rm odd} = 640$. In an inflationary model where the inflaton field couples to the gauge field via a $f(\phi)(F^2 + F\tilde{F})$ interaction, the curvature trispectrum contains such parity-odd dipolar term. We find that, in this model, the CMB trispectrum has a high signal-to-noise ratio compared with the CMB power spectrum or bispectrum, suggesting an advantage of measuring $d_1^{\rm odd}$.
We perform a Fisher analysis to estimate expected constraints on the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) model parameters (minimum virial temperature, ionizing efficiency, mean free path of ionizing photons) considering with thermal noise of ongoing telescopes, MWA and LOFAR. We consider how the inclusion of the 21cm bispectrum improves the constraints compared with the power spectrum alone. With assumption that we perfectly remove foreground, we found that the bispectrum, which is calculated by 21cmFAST, can constrain the EoR model parameters more tightly than the power spectrum since the bispectrum is more sensitive to the EoR model parameters than the power spectrum. We also found that degeneracy among the EoR model parameters can be broken by combining the bispectrum with the power spectrum.
The present work is based on the holographic dark energy model with Hubble horizon as the infrared cut-off. The interaction rate between dark energy and dark matter has been reconstructed for two different parameterizations of the deceleration parameter. Observational constraints on the model parameters have been obtained by maximum likelihood analysis using the observational Hubble parameter data (OHD), type Ia supernova data (SNe), baryon acoustic oscillation data (BAO) and the distance prior of cosmic microwave background (CMB) namely the CMB shift parameter data (CMBShift). The nature of the dark energy equation of state parameter has also been studied for the present models. The dark energy equation of state shows a phantom nature at present. Different information criteria and the Bayesian evidence, which have been invoked in the context of model selection, show that the these two models are at close proximity of each other.
The Fisher matrix is a widely used tool to forecast the performance of future experiments and approximate the likelihood of large data sets. Most of the forecasts for cosmological parameters in galaxy clustering studies rely on the Fisher matrix approach for large-scale experiments like DES, Euclid, or SKA. Here we improve upon the standard method by taking into account three effects: the finite window function, the correlation between redshift bins, and the uncertainty on the bin redshift. The first two effects are negligible only in the limit of infinite surveys. The third effect, on the contrary, is negligible for infinitely small bins. Here we show how to take into account these effects and what the impact on forecasts of a Euclid-type experiment will be. The main result of this article is that the windowing and the bin cross-correlation induce a considerable change in the forecasted errors, of the order of 10-30% for most cosmological parameters, while the redshift bin uncertainty can be neglected for bins smaller than $\Delta z = 0.1$ roughly.
Viable modifications of gravity on cosmological scales predominantly rely on screening mechanisms to recover Einstein's Theory of General Relativity in the Solar System, where it has been well tested. A parametrisation of the effects of such modifications in the spherical collapse model is presented here for the use of modelling the modified nonlinear cosmological structure. The formalism allows an embedding of the different screening mechanisms operating in scalar-tensor theories through large values of the gravitational potential or its first or second derivatives as well as of linear suppression effects or more general transitions between modified and Einstein gravity limits. Each screening or suppression mechanism is parametrised by a time, mass, and environment dependent screening scale, an effective modified gravitational coupling in the fully unscreened limit that can be matched to linear theory, the exponent of a power-law radial profile of the screened coupling, determined by derivatives, symmetries, and potentials in the scalar field equation, and an interpolation rate between the screened and unscreened limits. Along with generalised perturbative methods, the parametrisation may be used to formulate a nonlinear extension to the linear parametrised post-Friedmannian framework to enable generalised tests of gravity with the wealth of observations from the nonlinear cosmological regime.
An alternative to the postulate of dark energy required to explain the accelerated expansion of the universe is to adopt an inhomogeneous cosmological model to explain the supernovae data without dark energy. We adopt a void cosmology model, based on the inhomogeneous Lema\^{i}tre-Tolman-Bondi solution of Einstein's field equations. The model can resolve observational anomalies in the $\Lambda CDM$ model, such as the discrepancy between the locally measured value of the Hubble constant, $H_0=73.24\pm 1.74\,{\rm km}\,{\rm s}^{-1}\,{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$, and the $H_0=66.93\pm 0.62\,{\rm km}\,{\rm s}^{-1}\,{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$ determined by the Planck satellite data and the $\Lambda CDM$ model, and the lithium $^{7}{\rm Li}$ problem, which is a $5\sigma$ mismatch between the theoretical prediction for the $^{7}{\rm Li}$ from big bang nucleosynthesis and the value that we observe locally today at $z=0$. The void model can also resolve the tension between the number of massive clusters derived from the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect by the Planck satellite and the number expected from the CMB anisotropies, and the CMB weak lensing anomaly observed in the Planck data. The cosmological Copernican principle and the time and position today coincidence conundrums in the $\Lambda CDM$ and void cosmological models are discussed.
Scalar particles are a common prediction of many beyond the Standard Model theories. If they are light and cold enough, there is a possibility they may form Bose-Einstein condensates, which will then become gravitationally bound. These boson stars are solitonic solutions to the Einstein-Klein-Gordon equations, but may be approximated in the non-relativistic regime with a coupled Schr\"odinger-Poisson system. General properties of single soliton states are derived, including the possibility of quartic self-interactions. Binary collisions between two solitons are then studied, and the effects of different mass ratios, relative phases, self-couplings, and separation distances are characterized, leading to an easy conceptual understanding of how these parameters affect the collision outcome in terms of conservation of energy. Applications to dark matter are discussed.
Detecting the imprint of inflationary gravitational waves on the $B$-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is one of the main science cases for current and next-generation CMB experiments. In this work we explore some of the challenges that ground-based facilities will have to face in order to carry out this measurement in the presence of Galactic foregrounds and correlated atmospheric noise. We present forecasts for Stage-3 (S3) and planned Stage-4 (S4) experiments based on the analysis of simulated sky maps using a map-based Bayesian foreground cleaning method. Our results thus consistently propagate the uncertainties on foreground parameters such as spatially-varying spectral indices, as well as the bias on the measured tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ caused by an incorrect modelling of the foregrounds. We find that S3 and S4-like experiments should be able to put constraints on $r$ of the order $\sigma(r)=(0.5-1.0)\times10^{-2}$ and $\sigma(r)=(0.5-1.0)\times10^{-3}$ respectively, assuming instrumental systematic effects are under control. We further study deviations from the fiducial foreground model, finding that, while the effects of a second polarized dust component would be minimal on both S3 and S4, a 2\% polarized anomalous dust emission (AME) component would be clearly detectable by Stage-4 experiments.
A recent study, making use of the number of horizontal branch stars observed in infrared photometric surveys and kinematic measurements of M-giant stars from the BRAVA survey, combined with N-body simulations of stellar populations, has presented a new determination of the dark matter mass within the bulge-bar region of the Milky Way. That study constrains the total mass within the $\pm 2.2 \times \pm 1.4 \times \pm 1.2$ kpc volume of the bulge-bar region to be ($1.84 \pm 0.07) \times 10^{10} \, M_{\odot}$, of which 9-30% is made up of dark matter. Here, we use this result to constrain the the Milky Way's dark matter density profile, and discuss the implications for indirect dark matter searches. Although uncertainties remain significant, these results favor dark matter distributions with a cusped density profile. For example, for a scale radius of 20 kpc and a local dark matter density of 0.4 GeV/cm$^3$, density profiles with an inner slope of 0.69 to 1.40 are favored, approximately centered around the standard NFW value. In contrast, profiles with large flat-density cores are disfavored by this information.
The neutral hydrogen (HI) content of dark matter haloes forms an intermediate state in the baryon cycle that connects the hot shock-heated gas and cold star-forming gas in haloes. Measurement of the relationship between HI mass and halo mass therefore puts important constraints on galaxy formation models. We combine radio observations of HI in emission at low redshift ($z\sim 0$) with optical/UV observations of HI in absorption at high redshift ($1<z<4$) to derive constraints on the evolution of the HI-mass halo-mass (HIHM) relation from redshift $z=4$ to $z=0$. We model the evolution of the HIHM relation in a manner similar to that of the stellar-halo mass (SHM) relation. Combining this parameterisation with a redshift- and mass-dependent modified Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) profile for the HI density within a halo, we draw constraints on the evolution of the HIHM relation from the observed HI column density, incidence rate, and clustering bias at high redshift. We find that the peak HI mass fraction moderately increases from 1% at $z=0$ to about 3.1% at $z=4$. The corresponding halo mass increases from $10^{11.7}$ M$_\odot$ to $10^{12.4}$ M$_\odot$. The data do not suggest a strong evolution in the HI density profile. Predictions of this model are in excellent agreement with the observed column density distribution and incidence rate of high-column-density HI absorption-line systems at high redshift, although the agreement is poor with the column density distribution at $z=0$. The increase in the halo mass with maximum HI mass fraction also enables the model predictions to successfully match the measured clustering bias of high column density HI systems at $z=2.3$. We discuss the resultant evolution of the HIHM relation and its consequences for HI and galaxy evolution. [Abridged Abstract]
We present semi-analytic techniques for finding bubble wall profiles during first order phase transitions with multiple scalar fields. Our method involves reducing the problem to an equation with a single field, finding an analytic solution and perturbing around it. The perturbations can be written in a semi-analytic form. We argue that our technique lacks convergence problems and demonstrate the speed of convergence on an example potential.
Regardless of the long history of gauge theories, it is not well-recognized under which condition gauge fixing at the action level is legitimate. We address this issue from the Lagrangian point of view, and prove the following theorem on the relation between gauge fixing and Euler-Lagrange equations: In any gauge theory, if a gauge fixing is complete, i.e., the gauge functions are determined uniquely by the gauge conditions, the Euler-Lagrange equations derived from the gauge-fixed action are equivalent to those derived from the original action supplemented with the gauge conditions. Otherwise, it is not appropriate to impose the gauge conditions before deriving Euler-Lagrange equations as it may in general lead to inconsistent results. The criterion to check whether a gauge fixing is complete or not is further investigated. We also provide applications of the theorem to scalar-tensor theories and make comments on recent relevant papers on theories of modified gravity, in which there are confusions on gauge fixing and counting physical degrees of freedom.
Modified gravity theories have the potential of explaining the recent acceleration of the Universe without resorting to the mysterious concept of dark energy. In particular, it has been pointed out that matter-geometry coupling may be responsible for the recent cosmological dynamics of the Universe, and matter itself may play a more fundamental role in the description of the gravitational processes that usually assumed. We study the quantum cosmology of the $f(R,T)$ gravity theory, in which the effective Lagrangian of the gravitational field is given by an arbitrary function of the Ricci scalar, and the trace of the matter energy-momentum tensor, respectively. For the background geometry we adopt the Friedmann--Robertson--Walker metric, and we assume that matter content of the Universe consists of a perfect fluid. We obtain the general form of the gravitational Hamiltonian, of the quantum potential, and of the canonical momenta, respectively. This allows us to formulate the full Wheeler-de Witt equation describing the quantum properties of this modified gravity model. As a specific application we consider in detail the quantum cosmology of the $f(R,T)=F^0(R)+\theta RT$ model, in which $F^0(R)$ is an arbitrary function of the Ricci scalar, and $\theta $ is a function of the scale factor only. The Hamiltonian form of the equations of motion, and the Wheeler-de Witt equations are obtained, and a time parameter for the corresponding dynamical system is identified, which allows to formulate the Schr\"{o}dinger--Wheeler--de Witt equation for the quantum-mechanical description of the model under consideration. A perturbative approach for the study of this equation is developed, and the energy levels of the Universe are obtained by using a twofold degenerate perturbation approach. A second quantization approach for the description of quantum time is also proposed, and briefly discussed.
We consider a broad class of inflationary models of two unconstrained chiral superfields, the stabilizer $S$ and the inflaton $\Phi$, which can describe inflationary models with nearly arbitrary potentials. These models include, in particular, the recently introduced theories of cosmological attractors, which provide an excellent fit to the latest Planck data. We show that by adding to the superpotential of the fields $S$ and $\Phi$ a small term depending on a nilpotent chiral superfield $P$ one can break SUSY and introduce a small cosmological constant without affecting main predictions of the original inflationary scenario.
I use a library of controlled minor merger N-body simulations, a particle tagging technique and Monte Carlo generated $\Lambda$CDM accretion histories to study the highly stochastic process of stellar deposition onto the accreted stellar halos (ASHs) of $L_*$ galaxies. I explore the main physical mechanisms that drive the connection between the accretion history and the density profile of the ASH. I find that: i) through dynamical friction, more massive satellites are more effective at delivering their stars deeper into the host; ii) as a consequence, ASHs feature a negative gradient between radius and the local mass-weighed virial satellite-to-host mass ratio; iii) in $L_*$ galaxies, most ASHs feature a density profile that steepens towards sharper logarithmic slopes at increasing radii, though with significant halo-to-halo scatter; iv) the ASHs with the largest total ex-situ mass are such because of the chance accretion of a small number of massive satellites (rather than of a large number of low-mass ones).
In this paper we address the problem of dark energy oscillations in the context of mimetic $F(R)$ gravity with potential. The issue of dark energy oscillations can be a problem in some models of ordinary $F(R)$ gravity and a remedy that can make the oscillations milder is to introduce additional modifications in the functional form of the $F(R)$ gravity. As we demonstrate the power-law modifications are not necessary in the mimetic $F(R)$ case, and by appropriately choosing the mimetic potential and the Lagrange multiplier, it is possible to make the oscillations almost to vanish at the end of the matter domination era and during the late-time acceleration era. We examine the behavior of the dark energy equation of state parameter and of the total effective equation of state parameter as functions of the redshift and we compare the resulting picture with the ordinary $F(R)$ gravity case. As we also show, the present day values of the dark energy equation of state parameter and of the total effective equation of state parameter are in better agreement with the observational data, in comparison to the ordinary $F(R)$ gravity case. Finally, we study the evolution of the growth factor as a function of the redshift for all the mimetic models we shall use.
MSSM4G models, in which the minimal supersymmetric standard model is extended to include vector-like copies of standard model particles, are promising possibilities for weak-scale supersymmetry. In particular, two models, called QUE and QDEE, realize the major virtues of supersymmetry (naturalness consistent with the 125 GeV Higgs boson, gauge coupling unification, and thermal relic neutralino dark matter) without the need for fine-tuned relations between particle masses. We determine the implications of these models for dark matter and collider searches. The QUE and QDEE models revive the possibility of heavy Bino dark matter with mass in the range 300-700 GeV, which is not usually considered. Dark matter direct detection cross sections are typically below current limits, but are naturally expected above the neutrino floor and may be seen at next-generation experiments. Indirect detection prospects are bright at the Cherenkov Telescope Array, provided the 4th-generation leptons have mass above 350 GeV or decay to taus. In a completely complementary way, discovery prospects at the LHC are dim if the 4th-generation leptons are heavy or decay to taus, but are bright for 4th-generation leptons with masses below 350 GeV that decay either to electrons or to muons. We conclude that the combined set of direct detection, CTA, and LHC experiments will discover or exclude these MSSM4G models in the coming few years, assuming the Milky Way has an Einasto dark matter profile.
We perform a Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD) modeling of the projected two-point correlation function (2PCF) of quasars that are observed in the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope with counter-parts in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release (DR)-8 quasar catalog at a median redshift of $z\sim 1.04 (\pm 0.58)$. Using a four parameter HOD model we derive the host mass scales of WISE selected quasars. Our results show that the median halo masses of central and satellite quasars lie in the range $M_{\mathrm{cen}} = (5 \pm 1.0) \times 10^{12} M_{\odot}$ and $M_{\mathrm{sat}} = 8 (^{+7.8} _{-4.8}) \times 10^{13} M_{\odot}$, respectively. The derived satellite fraction is $f_{\mathrm{sat}}= 5.5 (^{+35} _{-5.0})\times 10^{-3}$. Previously Richardson et al.\ used the SDSS DR7 quasar clustering data to obtain the halo mass distributions of $z\sim 1.4$ quasars. Our results on the HOD of central quasars are in excellent agreement with Richardson et al.\ but the host mass scale of satellite quasars for the WISE sample, is lower than that of Richardson et al.\ resulting in an order of magnitude higher satellite fraction for the WISE sample. We note that our sample of quasars are systematically brighter in the WISE frequency bands compared to the full quasar sample of SDSS. We discuss the implication of this result in the context of current theories of galaxy evolution.
We consider cosmological backreaction effects in Buchert's averaging formalism on the basis of an explicit solution of the Lema\^itre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) dynamics which is linear in the LTB curvature parameter and has an inhomogeneous bang time. The volume Hubble rate is found in terms of the volume scale factor which represents a derivation of the simplest phenomenological solution of Buchert's equations in which the fractional densities corresponding to average curvature and kinematic backreaction are explicitly determined by the parameters of the underlying LTB solution at the boundary of the averaging volume. This configuration represents an exactly solvable toy model but it does not adequately describe our "real" Universe.
We determine the 22$\mu$m luminosity evolution and luminosity function for quasars from a data set of over 20,000 objects obtained by combining flux-limited Sloan Digital Sky Survey optical and Wide field Infrared Survey Explorer mid-infrared data. We apply methods developed in previous works to access the intrinsic population distributions non-parametrically, taking into account the truncations and correlations inherent in the data. We find that the population of quasars exhibits positive luminosity evolution with redshift in the mid-infrared, but with considerably less mid-infrared evolution than in the optical or radio bands. With the luminosity evolutions accounted for, we determine the density evolution and local mid-infrared luminosity function. The latter displays a sharp flattening at local luminosities below $\sim 10^{31}$ erg sec$^{-1}$ Hz$^{-1}$, which has been reported previously at 15 $\mu$m for AGN classified as both type-1 and type-2. We calculate the integrated total emission from quasars at 22 $\mu$m and find it to be a small fraction of both the cosmic infrared background light and the integrated emission from all sources at this wavelength.
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Taking into account the mass splittings between three active neutrinos, we investigate potential impacts of dark energy on constraining the total neutrino mass $\sum m_{\nu}$ by using recent cosmological observations. We consider two typical dark energy models, namely, the $w$CDM model and the holographic dark energy (HDE) model, which both have an additional parameter than the $\Lambda$CDM model. We employ the Planck 2015 data of CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies, combined with low-redshift measurements on BAO distance scales, type Ia supernovae, Hubble constant, and Planck lensing. Comparing with the $\Lambda$CDM model, our studies show that the upper limit on $\sum m_{\nu}$ becomes much looser in the $w$CDM model while much tighter in the HDE model. In the HDE model, we obtain the $95\%$ CL upper limit $\sum m_{\nu}<0.105~\textrm{eV}$ for three degenerate neutrinos. This might be the most stringent constraint on $\sum m_{\nu}$ by far. Even though the minimal $\chi^2$ is slightly smaller for the normal hierarchy than that for the inverted hierarchy, the difference $\Delta \chi^2$ is still not significant enough to distinguish the neutrino mass hierarchies.
We study cosmological structure formation with ultra-light axion dark matter (or "fuzzy dark matter", FDM) using a particle-mesh scheme to account for the quantum pressure arising in the Madelung formulation of the Schr\"odinger-Poisson equations. Sub-percent level energy conservation and correct linear behavior are demonstrated. Whereas the code gives rise to the same core-halo profiles as direct simulations of the Schr\"odinger equation, it does not reproduce the detailed interference patterns at the resolution used here. In cosmological simulations with FDM inital conditions, we find a maximum relative difference of O($10\%$) in the power spectrum near the quantum Jeans length compared to using a standard N-body code with identical initial conditions. This shows that the effect of quantum pressure during nonlinear structure formation cannot be neglected for precision constraints on a dark matter component consisting of ultra-light axions.
We study the behaviour of linear perturbations in multifield coupled quintessence models. Using gauge invariant linear cosmological perturbation theory we provide the full set of governing equations for this class of models, and solve the system numerically. We apply the numerical code to generate growth functions for various examples, and compare these both to the standard $\Lambda$CDM model and to current and future observational bounds. Finally, we examine the applicability of the "small scale approximation", often used to calculate growth functions in quintessence models, in light of upcoming experiments such as SKA and Euclid. We find the deviation of the full equation results for large k modes from the approximation exceeds the experimental uncertainty for these future surveys. The numerical code, PYESSENCE, written in Python will be publicly available.
This paper is a guide to the installation and use of the Python package PYESSENCE. PYESSENCE is designed to evolve linear perturbations to Coupled Quintessence models with a arbitrary number of cold dark matter (CDM) fluids and dark energy (DE) scalar fields as dictated by a given model. The equations are sufficiently general to allow for more exotic dark matter with a non-zero equation of state. Several example uses are included in order to demonstrate typical functionality to the potential user. PYESSENCE is released under an open source modified BSD license and is available on Bitbucket.
In the Ratra scenario of inflationary magnetogenesis, the kinematic coupling between the photon and the inflaton undergoes a nonanalytical jump at the end of inflation. Using smooth interpolating analytical forms of the coupling function, we show that such unphysical jump does not invalidate the main prediction of the model, which still represents a viable mechanism for explaining cosmic magnetization. Nevertheless, there is a spurious result associated with the nonanaliticity of the coupling, to wit, the prediction that the spectrum of created photons has a power-law decay in the ultraviolet regime. This issue is discussed using both semiclassical approximation and smooth coupling functions.
We propose a novel mechanism for production of baryonic asymmetry in the early Universe. The mechanism takes advantage of the strong first order phase transition that produces runaway bubbles in the hidden sector that propagate almost without friction with ultra-relativistic velocities. Collisions of such bubbles can non-thermally produce heavy particles that further decay out-of-equilibrium into the SM and produce the observed baryonic asymmetry. This process can proceed at the very low temperatures, providing a new mechanism of post-sphaleron baryogenesis. In this paper we present a fully calculable model which produces the baryonic asymmetry along these lines as well as evades all the existing cosmological constraints. We emphasize that the Gravitational Waves signal from the first order phase transition is completely generic and can potentially be detected by the future eLISA interferometer. We also discuss other potential signals, which are more model dependent, and point out the unresolved theoretical questions related to our proposal.
We explore the detection, with upcoming spectroscopic surveys, of three-dimensional power spectra of emission line fluctuations produced in different phases of the Interstellar Medium (ISM) by ionized carbon, ionized nitrogen and neutral oxygen at redshift z>4. The emission line [CII] from ionized carbon at 157.7 micron, and multiple emission lines from carbon monoxide, are the main targets of planned ground-based surveys, and an important foreground for future space-based surveys like the Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE). However, the oxygen [OI] (145.5 micron) line, and the nitrogen [NII] (121.9 micron and 205.2 micron) lines, might be detected in correlation with [CII] with reasonable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). These lines are important coolants of both the neutral and the ionized medium, and probe multiple phases of the ISM. We compute predictions of the three-dimensional power spectra for two surveys designed to target the [CII] line, showing that they have the required sensitivity to detect cross-power spectra with the [OI] line, and the [NII] lines with sufficient SNR. The importance of cross-correlating multiple lines is twofold. On the one hand, we will have multiple probes of the different phases of the ISM, which is key to understand the interplay between energetic sources, the gas and dust at high redshift. This kind of studies will be useful for a next-generation space observatory such as the NASA Far-IR Surveyor. On the other end, emission lines from external galaxies are an important foreground when measuring spectral distortions of the Cosmic Microwave Background spectrum with future space-based experiments like PIXIE; measuring fluctuations in the intensity mapping regime will help constraining the mean amplitude of these lines, and will allow us to better handle this important foreground.
Using the concept of apparent horizon for dynamical black holes, we revisit the formation of primordial black holes (PBH) in the early universe for both linear and non-linear regimes. First, we develop the perturbation theory for spherically symmetric spacetimes to study the formation of spherical PBHs in linear regime and we fix two gauges. We also introduce a well defined gauge invariant quantity for the expansion. Using this quantity, we argue that PBHs do not form in the linear regime. Finally, we study the non-linear regime. We adopt the spherical collapse picture by taking a closed FRW model in the radiation dominated era to investigate PBH formation. Taking the initial condition of the spherical collapse from the linear theory of perturbations, we allow for both density and velocity perturbations. Our model gives a constraint on the velocity perturbation. This model also predicts that the apparent horizon of PBHs forms when $\delta > 3$. Applying the sound horizon constraint, we have shown the threshold value of density perturbations at horizon re-entry must be larger than $\delta_{th} > 0.7$ to overcome the pressure gradients.
We provide CTA sensitivities to Dark Matter (DM) annihilation in $\gamma$-ray lines, from the observation of the Galactic Center (GC) as well as, for the first time, of dwarf Spheroidal galaxies (dSphs). We compare the GC reach with that of dSphs as a function of a putative core radius of the DM distribution, which is itself poorly known. We find that the currently best dSph candidates constitute a more promising target than the GC, for core radii of one to a few kpc. We use the most recent instrument response functions and background estimations by CTA, on top of which we add the diffuse photon component. Our analysis is of particular interest for TeV-scale electroweak multiplets as DM candidates, such as the supersymmetric Wino and the Minimal Dark Matter fiveplet, whose predictions we compare with our projected sensitivities.
We report a measurement of the ionization efficiency of silicon nuclei recoiling with sub-keV kinetic energy in the bulk silicon of a charge-coupled device (CCD). Nuclear recoils were produced by low-energy neutrons ($<$24 keV) from a $^{124}$Sb-$^{9}$Be photoneutron source, and their ionization signal was measured down to 60 eV electron-equivalent. This energy range, previously unexplored, is relevant for the detection of low-mass dark matter particles. The measured efficiency was found to deviate from the extrapolation to low energies of Lindhard model. This measurement also demonstrates the sensitivity to nuclear recoils of CCDs employed by DAMIC, a dark matter direct detection experiment located in the SNOLAB underground laboratory.
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Within the framework of chaotic inflationary scenario, a natural question regarding the eternal bubble production is that what is the essential condition to have a universe being habitable ? In this work we investigate the minimum amount of e-folding for the inflationary area that results in the large scale structure formation at least in the linear regime. We extended this question to the sufficient condition of having enough initial baryonic asymmetry for the formation of the stars, planets and consequently life in the universe.
We describe a technique for using simulated tensor perturbations in order to place upper limits on the intensity of magnetic fields in the early universe. As an example, we apply this technique to the beginning of primordial nucleosynthesis. We determined that any magnetic seed fields that existed before that time were still in the process of being amplified. In the future, we plan to apply this technique to a wider range of initial magnetic fields and cosmological epochs.
The inclusion of dissipative effects in cosmic fluids modifies their clustering properties and could have observable effects on the formation of large scale structures. We analyse the evolution of density perturbations of cold dark matter endowed with causal bulk viscosity. The perturbative analysis is carried out in the Newtonian approximation and the bulk viscosity is described by the causal Israel-Stewart (IS) theory. In contrast to the non-causal Eckart theory, we obtain a third order evolution equation for the density contrast that depends on three free parameters. For certain parameter values, the density contrast and growth factor in IS mimic their behaviour in $\Lambda$CDM when $z \geq 1$. Interestingly, and contrary to intuition, certain sets of parameters lead to an increase of the clustering.
We calculate the equation of state after inflation and provide an upper bound on the duration before radiation domination by taking the nonlinear dynamics of the fragmented inflaton field into account. A broad class of single-field inflationary models with observationally consistent flattening of the potential at a scale $M$ away from the origin, $V(\phi)\propto |\phi|^{2n}$ near the origin, and where the couplings to other fields are ignored are included in our analysis. We find that the equation of state parameter $w\rightarrow 0$ for $n=1$ and $w\rightarrow 1/3$ (after sufficient time) for $n\gtrsim 1$. We calculate how the number of $e$-folds to radiation domination depends on both $n$ and $M$ when $M\sim m_{\rm pl}$, whereas when $M\ll m_{\rm pl}$, we find that the duration to radiation domination is negligible. Our results are explained in terms of a linear instability analysis in an expanding universe, scaling arguments, and are supported by detailed 3+1 dimensional lattice simulations. We show how our work significantly reduces the uncertainty in inflationary observables, even after including couplings to additional light fields.
We investigate how the properties of dark energy affect the cosmological measurements of neutrino mass and extra relativistic degrees of freedom. We limit ourselves to the most basic extensions of $\Lambda$CDM model, i.e., the $w$CDM model with one additional parameter $w$, and the $w_{0}w_{a}$CDM model with two additional parameters, $w_{0}$ and $w_{a}$. In the cosmological fits, we employ the 2015 CMB temperature and polarization data from the Planck mission, in combination with low-redshift measurements such as the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), type Ia supernovae (SN) and the Hubble constant ($H_{0}$). Given effects of massive neutrinos on large-scale structure, we further include weak lensing (WL), redshift space distortion (RSD), Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster counts (SZ), and Planck lensing data. We find that $w$ is anti-correlated with $\sum m_{\nu}$, and dynamical dark energy models allow for larger neutrino masses than $\Lambda$CDM model. Moreover, observations from large-scale structure also allow higher neutrino masses. Under the constraints from Planck+BAO+SN+$H_{0}$+WL+RSD+SZ+lensing, we obtain $\sum m_{\nu}<0.22$ eV (95\% CL) for $\Lambda$CDM, $\sum m_{\nu}<0.36$ eV (95\% CL) for $w$CDM, and $\sum m_{\nu}<0.52$ eV (95\% CL) for $w_{0}w_{a}$CDM. For the case of dark radiation, we find that $w$ is in slight positive-correlation with $N_{\rm eff}$. Under the constraints from the same data combination, we obtain $N_{\rm eff}=3.11\pm0.17$ (68\% CL) for $\Lambda$CDM, $N_{\rm eff}=2.97^{+0.18}_{-0.19}$ (68\% CL) for $w$CDM, and $N_{\rm eff}=2.95\pm0.19$ (68\% CL) for $w_{0}w_{a}$CDM.
Observed CMB anisotropies are lensed, and the lensed power spectra can be calculated accurately assuming the lensing deflections are Gaussian. However, the lensing deflections are actually slightly non-Gaussian due to both non-linear large-scale structure growth and post-Born corrections. We calculate the leading correction to the lensed CMB power spectra from the non-Gaussianity, which is determined by the lensing bispectrum. The lowest-order result gives $\sim 0.3\%$ corrections to the BB and EE polarization spectra on small-scales, however we show that the effect on EE is reduced by about a factor of two by higher-order Gaussian lensing smoothing, rendering the total effect safely negligible for the foreseeable future. We give a simple analytic model for the signal expected from skewness of the large-scale lensing field; the effect is similar to a net demagnification and hence a small change in acoustic scale (and therefore out of phase with the dominant lensing smoothing that predominantly affects the peaks and troughs of the power spectrum).
Since Hubble and Lamaitre's discovery of the expanding universe using galaxies till the recent discovery of the accelerating universe using standard candles, direct measurements of the evolution of the scale factor of the universe a(t) have played central roles in establishing the standard model of cosmology. In this letter, we show that such a measurement may be extended to the primordial universe using massive fields as standard clocks, providing a direct evidence for the scenario responsible for the Big Bang. This is a short and non-technical introduction to the idea of classical and quantum primordial standard clocks.
We study radial perturbations of a wormhole in $R^2$ gravity to determine regions of stability. We also investigate massive and massless particle orbits and tidal forces in this space-time for a radially infalling observer.
PFS (Prime Focus Spectrograph), a next generation facility instrument on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope, is a very wide-field, massively multiplexed, optical and near-infrared spectrograph. Exploiting the Subaru prime focus, 2394 reconfigurable fibers will be distributed over the 1.3 deg field of view. The spectrograph has been designed with 3 arms of blue, red, and near-infrared cameras to simultaneously observe spectra from 380nm to 1260nm in one exposure at a resolution of ~1.6-2.7A. An international collaboration is developing this instrument under the initiative of Kavli IPMU. The project is now going into the construction phase aiming at undertaking system integration in 2017-2018 and subsequently carrying out engineering operations in 2018-2019. This article gives an overview of the instrument, current project status and future paths forward.
Motivated by the tensions in the Hubble constant $H_0$ and the structure growth $\sigma_8$ between $Planck$ results and other low redshift measurements, we discuss some cosmological effects of a dark sector model in which dark matter (DM) interacts with fermionic dark radiation (DR) through a light gauge boson (dark photon). Such kind of models are very generic in particle physics with a dark sector with dark gauge symmetries. The effective number of neutrinos is increased by $\delta N_{eff} \sim 0.5$ due to light dark photon and fermionic DR, thereby resolving the conflicts in $H_0$. The elastic scattering between DM and DR induces suppression for DM's density perturbation, but without acoustic oscillations. For weakly-interacting DM around $100$GeV, the new gauge coupling should be $\sim 10^{-4}$ to have sizable effect on matter power spectrum in order to relax the tension in $\sigma_8$.
Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Large Binocular Telescope, we followed the evolution of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2011fe for an unprecedented 1622 days past B-band maximum light and over a factor of 5 million in flux. At 1622 days, the 4000 - 17000 \AA{} quasi-bolometric luminosity is just ($710 \pm 30$ $L_{\odot}$). By measuring the late-time quasi-bolometric light curve we present the first confident detection of 57Co decay in a SN Ia light curve and estimate a mass ratio of log(57Co/56Co) = -1.62+0.08. We do not have a clean detection of 55Fe, but find a limit of 55Fe/57Co $< 0.3$ with 90$\%$ confidence. These abundance ratios provide unique constraints on the progenitor system because the central density of the exploding white dwarf(s) dictates these nucleosynthetic yields. The observed ratios strongly prefer the lower central densities of double-degenerate models (55Fe/57Co = 0.27) over the higher central densities of near Chandrasekhar-mass single-degenerate models (55Fe/57Co = 0.68). We will continue to observe SN 2011fe for another $\sim$900 days with HST and possibly beyond.
Here, we model the effect of non-uniform dynamical mass distributions and their associated gravitational fields on the stationary galactic superwind solution. We do this by considering an analogue injection of mass and energy from stellar winds and SNe. We consider both compact dark-matter and baryonic haloes that does not extend further from the galaxies optical radii $R_{\rm opt}$ as well as extended gravitationally-interacting ones. We consider halo profiles that emulate the results of recent cosmological simulations and coincide also with observational estimations from galaxy surveys. This allows to compare the analytical superwind solution with outflows from different kinds of galaxies. We give analytical formulae that establish when an outflow is possible and also characterize distinct flow regimes and enrichment scenarios. We also constraint the parameter space by giving approximate limits above which gravitation, self-gravitation and radiative cooling can inhibit the stationary flow. We obtain analytical expressions for the free superwind hydrodynamical profiles. We find that the existence or inhibition of the superwind solution highly depends on the steepness and concentration of the dynamical mass and the mass and energy injection rates. We compare our results with observational data and a recent numerical work. We put our results in the context of the mass-metallicity relationship to discuss observational evidence related to the selective loss of metals from the least massive galaxies and also discuss the case of massive galaxies.
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Precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum are in excellent agreement with the predictions of the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model. However, there is some tension between the value of the Hubble parameter $H_0$ inferred from the CMB and that inferred from observations of the Universe at lower redshifts, and the unusually small value of the dark-energy density is a puzzling ingredient of the model. In this paper, we explore a scenario with a new exotic energy density that behaves like a cosmological constant at early times and then decays quickly at some critical redshift $z_c$. An exotic energy density like this is motivated by some string-axiverse-inspired scenarios for dark energy. By increasing the expansion rate at early times, the very precisely determined angular scale of the sound horizon at decoupling can be preserved with a larger Hubble constant. We find, however, that the Planck temperature power spectrum tightly constrains the magnitude of the early dark-energy density and thus any shift in the Hubble constant obtained from the CMB. If the reionization optical depth is required to be smaller than the Planck 2016 $2\sigma$ upper bound $\tau\lesssim 0.0774$, then early dark energy allows a Hubble-parameter shift of at most 1.6 km~s$^{-1}$~Mpc$^{-1}$ (at $z_c\simeq 1585$), too small to fully alleviate the Hubble-parameter tension. Only if $\tau$ is increased by more than $5\sigma$ can the CMB Hubble parameter be brought into agreement with that from local measurements. In the process, we derive strong constraints to the contribution of early dark energy at the time of recombination---it can never exceed $\sim2\%$ of the radiation/matter density for $10 \lesssim z_c \lesssim 10^5$.
We apply an orthogonalization procedure on the effective field theory of large scale structure (EFT of LSS) shapes, relevant for the angle-averaged bispectrum and non-Gaussian covariance of the matter power spectrum at one loop. Assuming natural-sized EFT parameters, this identifies a linear combination of EFT shapes - referred to as the principal shape - that gives the dominant contribution for the whole kinematic plane, with subdominant combinations suppressed by a few orders of magnitude. For the covariance, our orthogonal transformation is in excellent agreement with a principal component analysis applied to available data. Additionally we find that, for both observables, the coefficients of the principal shapes are well approximated by the EFT coefficients appearing in the squeezed limit, and are thus measurable from power spectrum response functions. Employing data from N-body simulations for the growth-only response, we measure the single EFT coefficient describing the angle-averaged bispectrum with $\mathcal{O}(10\%)$ precision. These methods of shape orthogonalization and measurement of coefficients from response functions are valuable tools for developing the EFT of LSS framework, and can be applied to more general observables.
The angular momentum properties of virialised dark matter haloes have been measured with good statistics in collisionless N-body simulations, but an equally accurate analysis of the baryonic spin is still missing. We employ the Illustris simulation suite, one of the first simulations of galaxy formation with full hydrodynamics that produces a realistic galaxy population in a sizeable volume, to quantify the baryonic spin properties for more than $\sim$ 320,000 haloes. We first compare the systematic differences between different spin parameter and halo definitions, and the impact of sample selection criteria on the derived properties. We confirm that dark matter only haloes exhibit a close to self-similar spin distribution in mass and redshift of lognormal form. However, the physics of galaxy formation radically changes the baryonic spin distribution. While the dark matter component remains largely unaffected, strong trends with mass and redshift appear for the spin of diffuse gas and the formed stellar component. With time the baryons staying bound to the halo develop a misalignment of their spin vector with respect to dark matter, and increase their specific angular momentum by a factor of $\sim$ 1.3 in the non-radiative case and $\sim$ 1.8 in the full physics setup at z = 0. We show that this enhancement in baryonic spin can be explained by the combined effect of specific angular momentum transfer from dark matter onto gas during mergers and from feedback expelling low specific angular momentum gas from the halo. Our results challenge certain models for spin evolution and underline the significant changes induced by baryonic physics in the structure of haloes.
We present upper limits on the 21 cm power spectrum at $z = 5.9$ calculated from the model-independent limit on the neutral fraction of the intergalactic medium of $x_{\rm H{\small I }} < 0.06 + 0.05\ (1\sigma)$ derived from dark pixel statistics of quasar absorption spectra. Using 21CMMC, a Markov chain Monte Carlo Epoch of Reionization analysis code, we explore the probability distribution of 21 cm power spectra consistent with this constraint on the neutral fraction. We present 99 per cent confidence upper limits of $\Delta^2(k) < 10$ to $20\ {\rm mK}^2$ over a range of $k$ from 0.5 to $2.0\ h{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$, with the exact limit dependent on the sampled $k$ mode. This limit can be used as a null test for 21 cm experiments: a detection of power at $z=5.9$ in excess of this value is highly suggestive of residual foreground contamination or other systematic errors affecting the analysis.
We present an analysis of the merging cluster MACS J1149.5+2223 using archival imaging from Subaru/Suprime-Cam and multi-object spectroscopy from Keck/DEIMOS and Gemini/GMOS. We employ two and three dimensional substructure tests and determine that MACS J1149.5+2223 is composed of two separate mergers between three subclusters occurring $\sim$1 Gyr apart. The primary merger gives rise to elongated X-ray morphology and a radio relic in the southeast. The brightest cluster galaxy is a member of the northern subcluster of the primary merger. This subcluster is very massive (16.7$^{+\text{1.25}}_{-\text{1.60}}\times\text{10}^{\text{14}}$ M$_{\odot}$). The southern subcluster is also very massive (10.8$^{+\text{3.37}}_{-\text{3.54}}\times\text{10}^{\text{14}}$ M$_{\odot}$), yet it lacks an associated X-ray surface brightness peak, and it has been unidentified previously despite the detailed study of this \emph{Frontier Field} cluster. A secondary merger is occurring in the north along the line of sight with a third, less massive, subcluster (1.20$^{+\text{0.19}}_{-\text{0.34}}\times\text{10}^{\text{14}}$ M$_{\odot}$). We perform a Monte Carlo dynamical analysis on the main merger and estimate a collision speed at pericenter of 2770$^{+\text{610}}_{-\text{310}}$ km s$^{-\text{1}}$. We show the merger to be returning from apocenter with core passage occurring 1.16$^{+\text{0.50}}_{-\text{0.25}}$ Gyr before the observed state. We identify the line of sight merging subcluster in a strong lensing analysis in the literature and show that it is likely bound to MACS J1149 despite having reached an extreme collision velocity of $\sim$4000 km s$^{-\text{1}}$.
A bound-violation designates a case that the turn-around radius of a bound object exceeds the upper limit put by the spherical collapse model based on the standard $\Lambda$CDM paradigm. Given that the turn-around radius of a bound object is a stochastic quantity and that the spherical model overly simplifies the true gravitational collapse which actually proceeds anisotropically along the cosmic web, the rarity of the occurrence of a bound violation may depend on the web environment. Assuming a Planck cosmology, we numerically construct the bound-zone peculiar velocity profiles along the cosmic web (filaments and sheets) around the isolated groups with virial mass $M_{\rm v}\ge 3\times 10^{13}\,h^{-1}M_{\odot}$ identified in the Small MultiDark Planck simulations and determine the radial distances at which their peculiar velocities equal the Hubble expansion speed as the turn-around radii of the groups. We find that although the average turn-around radii of the isolated groups are well below the spherical bound-limit on all mass scales, the bound violations are not forbidden for individual groups and that the cosmic web has an effect of reducing the rarity of the occurrence of a bound violation. We also make a serendipitous discovery that the spherical bound limit on the turn-around radius in fact represents the threshold distance up to which the intervention of the external gravitational field in the bound-zone peculiar velocity profiles around the {\it non-isolated} groups stays negligible and discuss the possibility of using the threshold distance scale to constrain locally the equation of state of dark energy.
We investigate how precisely we can determine the nature of dark energy such as the equation of state (EoS) and its time dependence by using future observations of 21 cm fluctuations such as Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and Omniscope in combination with those from cosmic microwave background, baryon acoustic oscillation, type Ia supernovae and direct measurement of the Hubble constant. We consider several parametrizations for the EoS and find that future 21 cm observations will be powerful in constraining models of dark energy, especially when its EoS varies at high redshifts.
We address the origin of Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies (UDGs), which have stellar masses typical of dwarf galaxies but effective radii of Milky Way-sized objects. Their formation mechanism, and whether they are failed $\rm L_{\star}$ galaxies or diffuse dwarfs, are challenging issues. Using zoom-in cosmological simulations from the NIHAO project, we show that UDG analogues form naturally in medium-mass haloes due to episodes of gas outflows associated with star formation. The simulated UDGs live in isolated haloes of masses $10^{10-11}\rm M_{\odot}$, have stellar masses of $10^{7-8.5}\rm M_{\odot}$, effective radii larger than 1 kpc and dark matter cores. They show a broad range of colors, an average S\'ersic index of 0.83, a typical distribution of halo spin and concentration, and a non-negligible HI gas mass of $10^{7-9}\rm M_{\odot}$, which correlates with the extent of the galaxy. Gas availability is crucial to the internal processes that form UDGs: feedback driven gas outflows, and subsequent dark matter and stellar expansion, are the key to reproduce faint, yet unusually extended, galaxies. This scenario implies that UDGs represent a dwarf population of low surface brightness galaxies and should exist in the field. The largest isolated UDGs should contain more HI gas than less extended dwarfs of similar $\rm M_{\star}$.
We investigate neutrino flavor transformation in the early universe in the presence of a lepton asymmetry, focusing on a two-flavor system with 1 - 3 mixing parameters. We identify five distinct regimes that emerge in an approximate treatment neglecting collisions as the initial lepton asymmetry at high temperature is varied from values comparable to current constraints on the lepton number down to values at which the neutrino-neutrino forward-scattering potential is negligible. The characteristic phenomena occurring in these regimes are (1) large synchronized oscillations, (2) minimal flavor transformation, (3) asymmetric (neutrino- or antineutrino-only) MSW, (4) partial MSW, and (5) symmetric MSW. We examine our numerical results in the framework of adiabaticity, and we illustrate how they are modified by collisional damping. Finally, we point out the existence of matter-neutrino resonances in the early universe and show that they suffer from non-adiabaticity.
We investigate the future evolution of the universe using the Buchert
framework for averaged backreaction in the context of a two-domain partition of
the universe. We show that this approach allows for the possibility of the
global acceleration vanishing at a finite future time, provided that none of
the subdomains accelerate individually. The model at large scales is
analogously described in terms of a homogeneous scalar field emerging with a
potential that is fixed and free from phenomenological parametrization. The
dynamics of this scalar field is explored in the analogous FLRW cosmology.
We use observational data from Type Ia Supernovae, Baryon Acoustic
Oscillations, and Cosmic Microwave Background to constrain the parameters of
the model for a viable cosmology, providing the corresponding likelihood
contours.
Analysis of cosmic microwave background (CMB) datasets typically requires some filtering of the raw time-ordered data. Filtering is frequently used to minimize the impact of low frequency noise, atmospheric contributions and/or scan synchronous signals on the resulting maps. In this work we explicitly construct a general filtering operator, which can unambiguously remove any set of unwanted modes in the data, and then amend the map-making procedure in order to incorporate and correct for it. We show that such an approach is mathematically equivalent to the solution of a problem in which the sky signal and unwanted modes are estimated simultaneously and the latter are marginalized over. We investigate the conditions under which this amended map-making procedure can render an unbiased estimate of the sky signal in realistic circumstances. We then study the effects of time-domain filtering on the noise correlation structure in the map domain, as well as impact it may have on the performance of the popular pseudo-spectrum estimators. We conclude that although maps produced by the proposed estimators arguably provide the most faithful representation of the sky possible given the data, they may not straightforwardly lead to the best constraints on the power spectra of the underlying sky signal and special care may need to be taken to ensure this is the case. By contrast, simplified map-makers which do not explicitly correct for time-domain filtering, but leave it to subsequent steps in the data analysis, may perform equally well and be easier and faster to implement. We focus on polarization-sensitive measurements targeting the B-mode component of the CMB signal and apply the proposed methods to realistic simulations based on characteristics of an actual CMB polarization experiment, POLARBEAR.
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