We consider a cosmological model in which the tensor mode becomes massive during inflation, and study the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization bispectra arising from the mixing between the scalar mode and the massive tensor mode during inflation. The model assumes the existence of a preferred spatial frame during inflation. The local Lorentz invariance is already broken in cosmology due to the existence of a preferred rest frame. The existence of a preferred spatial frame further breaks the remaining local SO(3) invariance and in particular gives rise to a mass in the tensor mode. At linear perturbation level, we minimize our model so that the vector mode remains non-dynamical, while the scalar mode is the same as the one in single-field slow-roll inflation. At non-linear perturbation level, this inflationary massive graviton phase leads to a sizeable scalar-scalar-tensor coupling, much greater than the scalar-scalar-scalar one, as opposed to the conventional case. This scalar-scalar-tensor interaction imprints a scale dependent feature in the CMB temperature and polarization bispectra. Very intriguingly, we find a surprizing similarity between the predicted scale dependence and the scale-dependent non-Gaussianities at low multipoles hinted in the WMAP and Planck results.
Supernova (SN) classification and redshift estimation using photometric data only have become very important for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), given the large number of SNe that LSST will observe and the impossibility of spectroscopically following up all the SNe. We investigate the performance of a SN classifier that uses SN colors to classify LSST SNe with the Random Forest classification algorithm. Our classifier results in an AUC of 0.98 which represents excellent classification. We are able to obtain a photometric SN sample containing 99\% SNe Ia by choosing a probability threshold. We estimate the photometric redshifts (photo-z) of SNe in our sample by fitting the SN light curves using the SALT2 model with nested sampling. We obtain a mean bias ($\left<z_\mathrm{phot}-z_\mathrm{spec}\right>$) of 0.012 with $\sigma\left( \frac{z_\mathrm{phot}-z_\mathrm{spec}}{1+z_\mathrm{spec}}\right) = 0.0294$ without using a host-galaxy photo-z prior, and a mean bias ($\left<z_\mathrm{phot}-z_\mathrm{spec}\right>$) of 0.0017 with $\sigma\left( \frac{z_\mathrm{phot}-z_\mathrm{spec}}{1+z_\mathrm{spec}}\right) = 0.0116$ using a host-galaxy photo-z prior. Assuming a flat $\Lambda CDM$ model with $\Omega_m=0.3$, we obtain $\Omega_m$ of $0.298\pm0.008$ (statistical errors only), using the simulated LSST sample of photometric SNe Ia (with intrinsic scatter $\sigma_\mathrm{int}=0.07$) derived using our methodology without using host-galaxy photo-z prior. Our method will help boost the power of SNe from the LSST as cosmological probes.
Upcoming and existing large-scale surveys of galaxies require accurate theoretical predictions of the dark matter clustering statistics for thousands of mock galaxy catalogs. We demonstrate that this goal can be achieve with our new Parallel Particle-Mesh (PM) Nbody code (PPM-GLAM) at a very low computational cost. We run about 15,000 simulations with ~2 billion particles that provide ~1% accuracy of the dark matter power spectra P(k) for wave-numbers up to k~ 1h/Mpc. Using this large data-set we study the power spectrum covariance matrix, the stepping stone for producing mock catalogs. In contrast to many previous analytical and numerical results, we find that the covariance matrix normalised to the power spectrum C(k,k')/P(k)P(k') has a complex structure of non-diagonal components. It has an upturn at small k, followed by a minimum at k=0.1-0.2h/Mpc. It also has a maximum at k=0.5-0.6h/Mpc. The normalised covariance matrix strongly evolves with redshift: C(k,k')~delta(t)^alpha P(k)P(k'), where delta is the linear growth factor and alpha ~ 1-1.25, which indicates that the covariance matrix depends on cosmological parameters. We also show that waves longer than 1Gpc have very little impact on the power spectrum and covariance matrix. This significantly reduces the computational costs and complexity of theoretical predictions: relatively small volume ~ (1Gpc)^3 simulations capture the necessary properties of dark matter clustering statistics. All the power spectra obtained from many thousands of our simulations are publicly available.
Recent direct registration of gravitational waves by LIGO and astronomical observations of the universe at redshifts 5-10 demonstrate that the standard astrophysics and cosmology are in tension with the data. The origin of the source of the GW150914 event, which presumably is a binary of coalescing black holes with masses about 30 solar masses, each with zero spin, as well as the densely populated universe at z= 5-10 by superheavy black holes, blight galaxies, supernovae, and dust does not fit the standard astrophysical picture. It is shown here that the model of primordial black hole (PBH) formation, suggested in 1993, nicely explains all these and more puzzles, including those in contemporary universe, such as MACHOs and the mass spectrum of the observed solar mass black holes.. The mass spectrum and density of PBH is predicted. The scenario may possibly lead to abundant antimatter in the universe and even in the Galaxy.
The evidence is that the mass of the universe is dominated by an exotic nonbaryonic form of matter largely draped around the galaxies. It approximates an initially low pressure gas of particles that interact only with gravity, but we know little more than that. Searches for detection thus must follow many difficult paths to a great discovery, what the universe is made of. The nonbaryonic picture grew out of a convergence of evidence and ideas in the early 1980s. Developments two decades later considerably improved the evidence, and advances since then have made the case for nonbaryonic dark matter compelling.
We derive a direct correlation between the power spectrum and bispectrum of the primordial curvature perturbation in terms of the Goldstone mode based on the effective field theory approach to inflation. We show examples of correlated bispectra for the parametrized feature models presented by the Planck collaboration. We also discuss the consistency relation and the validity of our explicit correlation between the power spectrum and bispectrum.
In an influential recent paper, Harvey et al (2015) derive an upper limit to the self-interaction cross section of dark matter ($\sigma_{\rm DM} < 0.47$ cm$^2$/g at 95\% confidence) by averaging the dark matter-galaxy offsets in a sample of merging galaxy clusters. Using much more comprehensive data on the same clusters, we identify several substantial errors in their offset measurements. Correcting these errors relaxes the upper limit on $\sigma_{\rm DM}$ to $\lesssim 2$ cm$^2$/g, if we follow the Harvey et al (2015) prescription for relating offsets to cross sections. Furthermore, many clusters in the sample violate the assumptions behind this prescription, so even this revised upper limit should be used with caution. Although this particular sample does not tightly constrain self-interacting dark matter models when analyzed this way, we discuss how merger ensembles may be used more effectively in the future.
We investigate whether Effective Field Theory (EFT) approaches, which have been useful in examining inflation and dark energy, can also be used to establish a systematic approach to inflationary reheating. We consider two methods. First, we extend Weinberg's background EFT to the end of inflation and reheating. We establish when parametric resonance and decay of the inflaton occurs, but also find intrinsic theoretical limitations, which make it difficult to capture some reheating models. This motivates us to next consider Cheung, et. al.'s EFT approach, which instead focuses on perturbations and the symmetry breaking induced by the cosmological background. Adapting the latter approach to reheating implies some new and important differences compared to the EFT of Inflation. In particular, there are new hierarchical scales, and we must account for inflaton oscillations during reheating, which lead to discrete symmetry breaking. Guided by the fundamental symmetries, we construct the EFT of reheating, and as an example of its usefulness we establish a new class of reheating models and the corresponding predictions for gravity wave observations. In this paper we primarily focus on the first stages of preheating. We conclude by discussing challenges for the approach and future directions. This paper builds on ideas first proposed in the note arXiv:1507.06651.
We present dynamical measurements for 586 H-alpha detected star-forming galaxies from the KMOS (K-band Multi-Object Spectrograph) Redshift One Spectroscopic Survey (KROSS). The sample represents typical star-forming galaxies at this redshift (z=0.6-1.0), with a median star formation rate of ~7 Msol/yr and a stellar mass range of log[M/Msol]~9-11. We find that the rotation velocity-stellar mass relationship (the inverse of the Tully-Fisher relationship) for our rotationally-dominated sources (v/sigma>1) has a consistent slope and normalisation as that observed for z=0 disks. In contrast, the specific angular momentum (j; angular momentum divided by stellar mass), is ~0.2-0.3 dex lower on average compared to z=0 disks. The specific angular momentum scales as M^[0.6+/-0.2], consistent with that expected for dark matter (i.e., proportional to M^[2/3]). We find that z~0.9 star-forming galaxies have decreasing specific angular momentum with increasing Sersic index. Visually, the sources with the highest specific angular momentum, for a given mass, have the most disk-dominated morphologies. This implies that an angular momentum-mass-morphology relationship, similar to that observed in local massive galaxies, is already in place by z~1.
We report the first large, systematic study of the dynamics and energetics of a representative sample of FRII radio galaxies with well-characterized group/cluster environments. We used X-ray inverse-Compton and radio synchrotron measurements to determine the internal radio-lobe conditions, and these were compared with external pressures acting on the lobes, determined from measurements of the thermal X-ray emission of the group/cluster. Consistent with previous work, we found that FRII radio lobes are typically electron-dominated by a small factor relative to equipartition, and are over-pressured relative to the external medium in their outer parts. These results suggest that there is typically no energetically significant proton population in the lobes of FRII radio galaxies (unlike for FRIs), and so for this population, inverse-Compton modelling provides an accurate way of measuring total energy content and estimating jet power. We estimated the distribution of Mach numbers for the population of expanding radio lobes, finding that at least half of the radio galaxies are currently driving strong shocks into their group/cluster environments. Finally, we determined a jet power--radio luminosity relation for FRII radio galaxies based on our estimates of lobe internal energy and Mach number. The slope and normalisation of this relation are consistent with theoretical expectations, given the departure from equipartition and environmental distribution for our sample.
In this paper we explore the idea that black holes can persist in a universe that collapses to a big crunch and then bounces into a new phase of expansion. We use a scalar field to model the matter content of such a universe near the time of the bounce, and look for solutions that represent a network of black holes within a dynamical cosmology. We find exact solutions to Einstein's constraint equations that provide the geometry of space at the minimum of expansion and that can be used as initial data for the evolution of hyperspherical cosmologies. These solutions illustrate that there exist models in which multiple distinct black holes can persist through a bounce, and allow for concrete computations of quantities such as number density. We then consider solutions in flat cosmologies, as well as in higher-dimensional spaces (with up to nine spatial dimensions). We derive conditions for the black holes to remain distinct (i.e. avoid merging) and hence persist into the new expansion phase. Some potentially interesting consequences of these models are also discussed.
The early universe could feature multiple reheating events, leading to jumps in the visible sector entropy density that dilute both particle asymmetries and the number density of frozen-out states. In fact, late time entropy jumps are usually required in models of Affleck-Dine baryogenesis, which typically produces an initial particle-antiparticle asymmetry that is much too large. An important consequence of late time dilution, is that a smaller dark matter annihilation cross section is needed to obtain the observed dark matter relic density. For cosmologies with high scale baryogenesis, followed by radiation-dominated dark matter freeze-out, we show that the perturbative unitarity mass bound on thermal relic dark matter is relaxed to $10^{10}$ GeV. We proceed to study superheavy asymmetric dark matter models, made possible by a sizable entropy injection after dark matter freeze-out, and identify how the Affleck-Dine mechanism would generate the baryon and dark asymmetries.
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Standard candles can probe the evolution of dark energy in a large redshift range. But the cosmic opacity can degrade the quality of standard candles. In this paper, we use the latest observations, including type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from JLA sample and Hubble parameters, to probe the opacity of the universe. In order to avoid the cosmological dependence of SNe Ia luminosity distances, a joint fitting of the SNe Ia light-curve parameters, cosmological parameters and opacity is used. In order to explore the cosmic opacity at high redshifts, the latest gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are used. At high redshifts, cosmic reionization process is considered. We find that the sample supports an almost transparent universe for flat $\Lambda$CDM and XCDM models. Meanwhile, free electrons deplete photons from standard candles through the (inverse) Compton scattering, known as an important component of opacity. This Compton dimming may paly an important role in future supernova surveys. From analysis, we find that about a few percent cosmic opacity is caused by Compton dimming in the two models, which can be correctable.
In general three frequency channels are necessary for extracting the CMB signal from the polarized dust and synchrotron emission. We make an optimistic estimation on the potential sensitivity to detect primordial gravitational waves with the cosmic microwave background B-mode polarization only, and explore how to access the thresholds for the tensor-to-scalar ratio in the well-motivated inflation models. In addition, unfortunately, considering the current limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, the consistency relation $n_t=-r/8$ cannot be tested due to the cosmic variance of the power spectrum of primordial B-modes which places an inevitable limit of measuring the tensor spectral index $n_t$, namely, $\sigma_{n_t}\simeq1.1\times10^{-2}$ for $2\leqslant\ell\leqslant \ell_\text{max}=300$.
We study the stochastic distribution of spectator fields predicted in different slow-roll inflation backgrounds. Spectator fields have a negligible energy density during inflation but may play an important dynamical role later, even giving rise to primordial density perturbations within our observational horizon today. During de-Sitter expansion there is an equilibrium solution for the spectator field which is often used to estimate the stochastic distribution during slow-roll inflation. However slow roll only requires that the Hubble rate varies slowly compared to the Hubble time, while the time taken for the stochastic distribution to evolve to the de-Sitter equilibrium solution can be much longer than a Hubble time. We study both chaotic (monomial) and plateau inflaton potentials, with quadratic, quartic and axionic spectator fields. We give an adiabaticity condition for the spectator field distribution to relax to the de-Sitter equilibrium, and find that the de-Sitter approximation is never a reliable estimate for the typical distribution at the end of inflation for a quadratic spectator during monomial inflation. The existence of an adiabatic regime at early times can erase the dependence on initial conditions of the final distribution of field values. In these cases, spectator fields acquire sub-Planckian expectation values. Otherwise spectator fields may acquire much larger field displacements than suggested by the de-Sitter equilibrium solution. We quantify the information about initial conditions that can be obtained from the final field distribution. Our results may have important consequences for the viability of spectator models for the origin of structure, such as the simplest curvaton models.
An anomalous signal has been found in Fermi Gamma-Ray Large Area Telescope data covering the center of the Galaxy. Given its morphological and spectral characteristics, this "Galactic Center Excess" is ascribable to self-annihilation of dark matter particles. We report on an analysis that exploits hydrodynamical modeling to register the position of interstellar gas associated with diffuse Galactic $\gamma$-ray emission. Our improved analysis reveals that the excess $\gamma$-rays are spatially correlated with both the X-shaped stellar over-density in the Galactic bulge and the nuclear stellar bulge. Given these correlations, we argue that the excess is not a dark matter phenomenon but rather associated with the stellar population of the X-bulge and the nuclear bulge.
We study the orbital properties of dark matter haloes by combining a spectral method and cosmological simulations of Milky Way-sized galaxies. We compare the dynamics and orbits of individual dark matter particles from both hydrodynamic and $N$-body simulations, and find that the fraction of box, tube and resonant orbits of the dark matter halo decreases significantly due to the effects of baryons. In particular, the central region of the dark matter halo in the hydrodynamic simulation is dominated by regular, short-axis tube orbits, in contrast to the chaotic, box and thin orbits dominant in the $N$-body run. This leads to a more spherical dark matter halo in the hydrodynamic run compared to a prolate one as commonly seen in the $N$-body simulations. Furthermore, by using a kernel based density estimator, we compare the coarse-grained phase-space densities of dark matter haloes in both simulations and find that it is lower by $\sim0.5$ dex in the hydrodynamic run due to changes in the angular momentum distribution, which indicates that the baryonic process that affects the dark matter is irreversible. Our results imply that baryons play an important role in determining the shape, kinematics and phase-space density of dark matter haloes in galaxies.
We point out that there are only three polarizations for gravitational waves in $f(R)$ gravity, and the polarization due to the massive scalar mode is a mix of the pure longitudinal and transverse breathing polarization. The classification of the six polarizations by the Newman-Penrose formalism is based on weak, plane and null gravitational waves, so it is not applicable to the massive mode.
Measurements of the galaxy stellar mass function are crucial to understand the formation of galaxies in the Universe. In a hierarchical clustering paradigm it is plausible that there is a connection between the properties of galaxies and their environments. Evidence for environmental trends has been established in the local Universe. The Dark Energy Survey (DES) provides large photometric datasets that enable further investigation of the assembly of mass. In this study we use ~3.2 million galaxies from the (South Pole Telescope) SPT-East field in the DES science verification (SV) dataset. From grizY photometry we derive galaxy stellar masses and absolute magnitudes, and determine the errors on these properties using Monte-Carlo simulations using the full photometric redshift probability distributions. We compute galaxy environments using a fixed conical aperture for a range of scales. We construct galaxy environment probability distribution functions and investigate the dependence of the environment errors on the aperture parameters. We compute the environment components of the galaxy stellar mass function for the redshift range 0.15<z<1.05. For z<0.75 we find that the fraction of massive galaxies is larger in high density environment than in low density environments. We show that the low density and high density components converge with increasing redshift up to z~1.0 where the shapes of the mass function components are indistinguishable. Our study shows how high density structures build up around massive galaxies through cosmic time.
Ho\v{r}ava's quantum gravity at a Lifshitz point is a theory intended to quantize gravity by using traditional quantum field theories. To avoid Ostrogradsky's ghosts, a problem that has been facing in quantization of general relativity since the middle of 1970's, Ho\v{r}ava chose to break the Lorentz invariance by a Lifshitz-type of anisotropic scaling between space and time at the ultra-high energy, while recovering (approximately) the invariance at low energies. With the stringent observational constraints and self-consistency, it turns out that this is not an easy task, and various modifications have been proposed, since the first incarnation of the theory in 2009. In this review, we shall provide a progress report on the recent development of Ho\v{r}ava gravity. In particular, we first present four so far most-studied versions of Ho\v{r}ava gravity, by focusing first on their self-consistency and then their consistency with experiments, including the solar system tests and cosmological observations. Then, we provide a general review on the recent development of the theory in three different but also related areas: (i) universal horizons, black holes and their thermodynamics; (ii) non-relativistic gauge/gravity duality; and (iii) quantization of the theory. The studies in these areas can be easily generalized to other gravitational theories with broken Lorentz invariance.
Luminosity correlations of long Gamma-ray bursts (GRB) are extensively proposed as an effective complementarity to trace the Hubble diagram of Universe at high redshifts, which is of great importance to explore properties of dark energy. Recently, several empirical luminosity correlations have been statistically proposed from GRB observations. However, to treat GRB as the distance indicator, there are two key issues: the redshift evolution of luminosity correlations and their calibrations. In this paper, we choose the Amati relation, the correlation between the peak spectra energy and the equivalent isotropic energy of GRBs ($E_{\rm p}-E_{\rm iso}$), as an example, and find that the current GRB dataset implies that there could be a evolution of the luminosity correlation with respect to the redshift. Therefore, we propose an extended Amati relation with two extra redshift-dependent terms to correct the redshift evolution of GRB relation. Secondly, we carefully check the reliability of the calibration method using the low-redshift GRB data. Importantly, we find that the low-redshift calibration method does not take whole correlations between $\Omega_{\rm m}$ and coefficients into account. Neglecting these correlation information can break the degeneracies and obtain the biased constraint on $\Omega_{\rm m}$ which is very sensitive to values of parameters for the calibration. A small shift of parameters of "calibrated" relation could significantly change the final constraint on $\Omega_{\rm m}$ in the low-redshift calibration method. Finally, we simulate several GRB samples with different statistical errors and find that, in order to correctly recover the fiducial value of $\Omega_{\rm m}$ using the low-redshift calibration method, we need a large number of GRB samples with high precisions.
A correlation among the radio luminosity ($L_{\rm R}$), X-ray luminosity ($L_{\rm X}$), and black hole mass ($M_{\rm BH}$) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and black hole binaries is known to exist and is called the "Fundamental Plane" of black hole activity. Yuan & Cui (2005) predicts that the radio/X-ray correlation index, $\xi_{\rm X}$, changes from $\xi_{\rm X}\approx 0.6$ to $\xi_{\rm X}\approx 1.2-1.3$ when $L_{\rm X}/L_{\rm Edd}$ decreases below a critical value $\sim 10^{-6}$. While many works favor such a change, there are also several works claiming the opposite. In this paper, we gather from literature a largest quiescent AGN (defined as $L_{\rm X}/L_{\rm Edd} < 10^{-6}$) sample to date, consisting of $75$ sources. We find that these quiescent AGNs follow a $\xi_{\rm X}\approx 1.23$ radio/X-ray relationship, in excellent agreement with the Yuan \& Cui prediction. The reason for the discrepancy between the present result and some previous works is that their samples contain not only quiescent sources but also "normal" ones (i.e., $L_{\rm X}/L_{\rm Edd} > 10^{-6}$). In this case, the quiescent sources will mix up with those normal ones in $L_{\rm R}$ and $L_{\rm X}$. The value of $\xi_{\rm X}$ will then be between $0.6$ and $\sim1.3$, with the exact value being determined by the sample composition, i.e., the fraction of the quiescent and normal sources. Based on this result, we propose that a more physical way to study the Fundamental Plane is to replace $L_{\rm R}$ and $L_{\rm X}$ with $L_{\rm R}/L_{\rm Edd}$ and $L_{\rm X}/L_{\rm Edd}$, respectively.
Conjectures play a central role in theoretical physics, especially those that assert an upper bound to some dimensionless ratio of physical quantities. In this paper we introduce a new such conjecture bounding the ratio of the magnetic moment to angular momentum in nature. We also discuss the current status of some old bounds on dimensionless and dimensional quantities in arbitrary spatial dimension. Our new conjecture is that the dimensionless Schuster-Wilson-Blackett number, c{\mu}/JG^{(1/2)}, where {\mu} is the magnetic moment and J is the angular momentum, is bounded above by a number of order unity. We verify that such a bound holds for charged rotating black holes in those theories for which exact solutions are available, including the Einstein-Maxwell theory, Kaluza-Klein theory, the Kerr-Sen black hole, and the so-called STU family of charged rotating supergravity black holes. We also discuss the current status of the Maximum Tension Conjecture, the Dyson Luminosity Bound, and Thorne's Hoop Conjecture.
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Future galaxy surveys require realistic mock catalogues to understand and quantify systematics in order to make precise cosmological measurements. We present a halo lightcone catalogue and halo occupation distribution (HOD) galaxy catalogue built using the Millennium-XXL (MXXL) simulation. The halo catalogue covers the full sky, extending to z = 2 with a mass resolution of ~1e11 Msun/h . We use this to build a galaxy catalogue, which has an r-band magnitude limit of r < 20.0, with a median redshift of z~0.2. A Monte Carlo HOD method is used to assign galaxies to the halo lightcone catalogue, and we evolve the HODs to reproduce a target luminosity function; by construction, the luminosity function of galaxies in the mock is in agreement with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) at low redshifts and the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey at high redshifts. A Monte Carlo method is used to assign a 0.1(g-r) colour to each galaxy, and the colour distribution of galaxies at different redshifts agrees with measurements from GAMA. The clustering of galaxies in the mock for galaxies in different magnitude and redshift bins is in good agreement with measurements from SDSS and GAMA, and the colour-dependent clustering is in reasonable agreement. We show that the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) can be measured in the mock catalogue, and the redshift space distortions (RSDs) are in agreement with measurements from SDSS, illustrating that this catalogue will be useful for upcoming surveys.
We perform a Fourier space decomposition of the dynamics of non-linear cosmological structure formation in LCDM models. From N-body simulations involving only cold dark matter we calculate 3-dimensional non-linear density, velocity divergence and vorticity Fourier realizations, and use these to calculate the fully non-linear mode coupling integrals in the corresponding fluid equations. Our approach allows for a reconstruction of the amount of mode coupling between any two wavenumbers as a function of redshift. With our Fourier decomposition method we identify the transfer of power from larger to smaller scales, the stable clustering regime, the scale where vorticity becomes important, and the suppression of the non-linear divergence power spectrum as compared to linear theory. Our results can be used to improve and calibrate semi-analytical structure formation models.
We present a comprehensive study of the regularity of the covariance matrix of a discretized field on the sphere. In a particular situation, the rank of the matrix depends on the number of pixels, the number of spherical harmonics, the symmetries of the pixelization scheme and the presence of a mask. Taking into account the above mentioned components, we provide analytical expressions that constrain the rank of the matrix. They are obtained by expanding the determinant of the covariance matrix as a sum of determinants of matrices made up of spherical harmonics. We investigate these constraints for five different pixelizations that have been used in the context of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data analysis: Cube, Icosahedron, Igloo, GLESP and HEALPix, finding that, at least in the considered cases, the HEALPix pixelization tends to provide a covariance matrix with a rank closer to the maximum expected theoretical value than the other pixelizations. The effect of the propagation of numerical errors in the regularity of the covariance matrix is also studied for different computational precisions, as well as the effect of adding a certain level of noise in order to regularize the matrix. In addition, we investigate the application of the previous results to a particular example that requires the inversion of the covariance matrix: the estimation of the CMB temperature power spectrum through the Quadratic Maximum Likelihood algorithm. Finally, some general considerations in order to achieve a regular covariance matrix are also presented.
We have studied radio haloes and relics in nine merging galaxy clusters using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). The images used for this study were obtained from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky MWA (GLEAM) Survey which was carried out at 5 frequencies, viz. 88, 118, 154, 188 and 215 MHz. We detect diffuse radio emission in 8 of these clusters. We have estimated the spectra of haloes and relics in these clusters over the frequency range 80-1400 MHz; the first such attempt to estimate their spectra at low frequencies. The spectra follow a power law with a mean value of $\alpha = -1.13\pm0.21$ for haloes and $\alpha = -1.2\pm0.19$ for relics where, $S \propto \nu^{\alpha}$. We reclassify two of the cluster sources as radio galaxies. The low frequency spectra are thus an independent means of confirming the nature of cluster sources. Five of the nine clusters host radio haloes. For the remaining four clusters, we place upper limits on the radio powers of possible haloes in them. These upper limits are a factor of 2-20 below those expected from the $L_{\rm X}-P_{\rm 1.4}$ relation. These limits are the lowest ever obtained and the implications of these limits to the hadronic model of halo emission are discussed.
The Thomson optical depth from reionization is a limiting factor in measuring the amplitude of primordial fluctuations, and hence in measuring physics that affects the low-redshift amplitude, such as the neutrino masses. Current constraints on the optical depth, based on directly measuring large-scale cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization, are challenging due to foregrounds and systematic effects. Here, we consider an indirect measurement of large-scale polarization, using observed maps of small-scale polarization together with maps of fields that distort the CMB, such as CMB lensing and patchy reionization. We find that very futuristic CMB surveys will be able to reconstruct large-scale polarization, and thus the mean optical depth, using only measurements on small scales.
We present a halo model-based approach to calculate the cross-correlation between $\rm{21cm}$ HI intensity fluctuations and $\rm{Ly}\alpha$ emitters (LAE) during the epoch of reionization (EoR). Ionizing radiation around dark matter halos are modeled as bubbles with the size and growth determined based on the reionization photon production, among other physical parameters. The cross-correlation shows a clear negative-to-positive transition, associated with transition from ionized to neutral hydrogen in the intergalactic medium during EoR. The cross-correlation is subject to several foreground contaminants, including foreground radio point sources important for $\rm{21cm}$ experiments and low-$z$ interloper emission lines, such as $\rm{H}\alpha$, OIII and OII, for $\rm{Ly}\alpha$ experiments. Our calculations show that by masking out high fluxes in the $\rm{Ly}\alpha$ measurement, the correlated foreground contamination on the $\rm{21cm}$-$\rm{Ly}\alpha$ cross-correlation can be dramatically reduced. We forecast the detectability of $\rm{21cm}$-$\rm{Ly}\alpha$ cross-correlation at different redshifts and adopt a Fisher matrix approach to estimate uncertainties on the key EoR parameters that have not been well constrained by other observations of reionization. This halo model-based approach enables us to explore the EoR parameter space rapidly for different $\rm{21cm}$ and $\rm{Ly}\alpha$ experiments.
Because large-scale structure surveys may very well be the next leading sources of cosmological information, it is important to have a precise understanding of the cosmological observables; for this reason, the Effective Field Theory of Large-Scale Structure (EFTofLSS) was developed. So far, most results in the EFTofLSS have used the so-called Einstein-de Sitter approximation, an approximation of the time dependence which is known to be accurate to better than one percent. However, in order to reach even higher accuracy, the full time dependence must be used. The computation with exact time dependence is sensitive to both infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) effects in the loop integrands, and while these effects must cancel because of diffeomorphism invariance, they make numerical computation much less efficient. We provide a formulation of the one-loop, equal-time exact-time-dependence power spectrum of density perturbations which is manifestly free of these spurious IR and UV divergences at the level of the integrand. We extend our results to the total matter mode with clustering quintessence, show that IR and UV divergences cancel, and provide the associated IR- and UV-safe integrand. This also establishes that the consistency conditions are satisfied in this system. We then use our one-loop result to do an improved precision comparison of the two-loop dark-matter power spectrum with the Dark Sky N-body simulation.
The most massive black holes observed in the Universe weigh up to $\sim 10^{10} \, \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$, nearly independent of redshift. Reaching these final masses likely required copious accretion and several major mergers. Employing a dynamical approach, that rests on the role played by a new, relevant physical scale - the transition radius - we provide a theoretical calculation of the maximum mass achievable by a black hole seed that forms in an isolated halo, one that scarcely merged. Incorporating effects at the transition radius and their impact on the evolution of accretion in isolated haloes we are able to obtain new limits for permitted growth. We find that large black hole seeds ($M_{\bullet} \gtrsim 10^4 \, \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$) hosted in small isolated halos ($M_h \lesssim 10^9 \, \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$) accreting with relatively small radiative efficiencies ($\epsilon \lesssim 0.1$) grow optimally in these circumstances. Moreover, we show that the standard $M_{\bullet}-\sigma$ relation observed at $z \sim 0$ cannot be established in isolated halos at high-$z$, but requires the occurrence of mergers. Since the average limiting mass of black holes formed at $z \gtrsim 10$ is in the range $10^{4-6} \, \mathrm{M_{\odot}}$, we expect to observe them in local galaxies as intermediate-mass black holes, when hosted in the rare haloes that experienced only minor or no merging events. Such ancient black holes, formed in isolation with subsequent scant growth could survive, almost unchanged, until present.
Flux ratio anomalies in quasar lenses can be attributed to dark matter substructure surrounding the lensing galaxy and, thus, used to constrain the substructure mass fraction. Previous applications of this approach infer a substructure abundance that potentially in tension with the predictions of a $\Lambda$CDM cosmology. However, the assumption that all flux ratio anomalies are due to substructure is a strong one, and alternative explanations have not been fully investigated. Here, we use new high-resolution near-IR Keck~II adaptive optics imaging for the lens system CLASS B0712+472 to perform pixel-based lens modelling for this system and, in combination with new VLBA radio observations, show that the inclusion of the disc in the lens model can explain the flux ratio anomalies without the need for dark matter substructures. The projected disc mass comprises 16% of the total lensing mass within the Einstein radius and the total disc mass is $1.79 \times 10^{10} M_{sun}$. The case of B0712+472 adds to the evidence that not all flux ratio anomalies are due to dark subhaloes, and highlights the importance of taking the effects of baryonic structures more fully into account in order to obtain an accurate measure of the substructure mass fraction.
High-redshift quasars are important to study galaxy and active galactic nuclei (AGN) evolution, test cosmological models, and study supermassive black hole growth. Optical searches for high-redshift sources have been very successful, but radio searches are not hampered by dust obscuration and should be more effective at finding sources at even higher redshifts. Identifying high-redshift sources based on radio data is, however, not trivial. Here we report on new multi-frequency Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observations of eight z>4.5 sources previously studied at high angular resolution with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). Combining these observations with those from the literature, we construct broad-band radio spectra of all 30 z>4.5 sources that have been observed with VLBI. In the sample we found flat, steep and peaked spectra in approximately equal proportions. Despite several selection effects, we conclude that the z>4.5 VLBI (and likely also non-VLBI) sources have diverse spectra and that only about a quarter of the sources in the sample have flat spectra. Previously, the majority of high-redshift radio sources were identified based on their ultra-steep spectra (USS). Recently a new method has been proposed to identify these objects based on their megahertz-peaked spectra (MPS). Neither method would have identified more than 18% of the high-redshift sources in this sample. More effective methods are necessary to reliably identify complete samples of high-redshift sources based on radio data.
If the very early Universe is dominated by the non-minimally coupled Higgs field and Starobinsky's curvature-squared term together, the potential diagram would mimic the landscape of a valley, serving as a cosmological attractor. The inflationary dynamics along this valley is studied, model parameters are constrained against observational data, and the isocurvature perturbation is evaluated,
We present the properties of intracluster medium (ICM) in the cool core of the massive cluster of galaxies Abell 1835 obtained with the data by $ Chandra$ $X$-$ray$ $Observatory$. We find distinctive spiral patterns with the radius of 70 kpc (or 18 arcsec) as a whole in the residual image of X-ray surface brightness after the 2-dimensional ellipse model of surface brightness is subtracted. The size is smaller by a factor of 2 -- 4 than that of other clusters known to have a similar pattern. The spiral patterns consist of two arms. One of them appears as positive, and the other does as negative excesses in the residual image. Their X-ray spectra show that the ICM temperatures in the positive- and negative-excess regions are $5.09^{+0.12}_{-0.13}$ keV and $6.52^{+0.18}_{-0.15}$ keV, respectively. In contrast, no significant difference is found in the abundance or pressure, the latter of which suggests that the ICM in the two regions of the spiral patterns is in pressure equilibrium or close. The spatially-resolved X-ray spectroscopy of the central region ($r<40$ arcsec) divided into 92 sub-regions indicates that Abell 1835 is a typical cool core cluster. We also find that the spiral patterns extend from the cool core out to the hotter surrounding ICM. The residual image reveals some lumpy sub-structure in the cool core. The line-of-sight component of the disturbance velocity responsible for the sub-structures is estimated to be lower than 600 km/s. Abell 1835 may be now experiencing an off-axis minor merger.
Oscillatons are spherically symmetric solutions to the Einstein Klein Gordon (EKG) equations for soliton stars made of real time dependent scalar fields. These equations are non singular and satisfy flatness conditions asymptotically with periodic time dependency. In this paper, we investigate the geodesic motion of particles moving around an oscillaton related to a time dependent scalar field. Bound orbital is found for these particles under the condition of particular values of angular momentum L and initial radial position. We discuss this topic for an exponential scalar field potential which could be of the exponential form with a scalar field and investigate whether the radial coordinates of such particles oscillate in time or not and thereby we could predict the corresponding oscillating period as well as amplitude. It is necessary to recall, in general relativity, a geodesic generalizes the notion of a straight line to curved space time. Importantly, the world line of a particle free from all external, non gravitational forces, is a particular type of geodesic. In other words, a freely moving or falling particle always moves along a geodesic. In general relativity, gravity can be regarded as not a force but a consequence of a curved space time geometry where the source of curvature is the stress energy tensor (representing matter, for instance). Thus, for example, the path of a planet orbiting around a star is the projection of a geodesic of the curved 4D space time geometry around the star onto 3D space.
Hybrid Morphology Radio Sources (HyMoRS) are a class of radio galaxies having the lobe morphology of a Fanaroff-Riley (FR) type I on one side of the active nucleus and of a FR type II on the other. The origin of the different morphologies between FR I and FR II sources has been widely discussed in the past 40 years, and HyMoRS may be the best way to understand whether this dichotomy is related to the intrinsic nature of the source and/or to its environment. However, these sources are extremely rare (<1% of radio galaxies) and only for a few of them a detailed radio study, that goes beyond the morphological classification, has been conducted. In this paper we report the discovery of one new HyMoRS; we present X-ray and multi-frequency radio observations. We discuss the source morphological, spectral and polarisation properties and confirm that HyMoRS are intrinsically bimodal with respect to these observational characteristics. We notice that HyMoRS classification based just on morphological properties of the source is hazardous.
Recently, a new measurement of the auto- and cross-correlation angular power spectrum (APS) of the isotropic gamma-ray background was performed, based on 81 months of data of the Fermi Large-Area Telescope (LAT). Here, we fit, for the first time, the new APS data with a model describing the emission of unresolved blazars. These sources are expected to dominate the anisotropy signal. The model we employ in our analysis reproduces well the blazars resolved by Fermi LAT. When considering the APS obtained by masking the sources in the 3FGL catalogue, we find that unresolved blazars under-produce the measured APS below $\sim$1 GeV. Contrary to past results, this suggests the presence of a new contribution to the low-energy APS, with a significance of, at least, 5$\sigma$. The excess can be ascribed to a new class of faint gamma-ray emitters. If we consider the APS obtained by masking the sources in the 2FGL catalogue, there is no under-production of the APS below 1 GeV, but the new source class is still preferred over the blazars-only scenario (with a significance larger than 10$\sigma$). The properties of the new source class and the level of anisotropies induced in the isotropic gamma-ray background are the same, independent of the APS data used. In particular, the new gamma-ray emitters must have a soft energy spectrum, with a spectral index ranging, approximately, from 2.7 to 3.2. This complicates their interpretation in terms of known sources, since, normally, star-forming and radio galaxies are observed with a harder spectrum. The new source class identified here is also expected to contribute significantly to the intensity of the isotropic gamma-ray background.
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The 21 cm signal from the Epoch of Reionization should be observed within the next decade. While a simple statistical detection is expected with SKA pathfinders, the SKA will hopefully produce a full 3D mapping of the signal. To extract from the observed data constraints on the parameters describing the underlying astrophysical processes, inversion methods must be developed. For example, the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method has been successfully applied. Here we test another possible inversion method: artificial neural networks (ANN). We produce a training set which consists of 70 individual sample. Each sample is made of the 21 cm power spectrum at different redshifts produced with the 21cmFast code plus the value of three parameters used in the semi-numerical simulations that describe astrophysical processes. Using this set we train the network to minimize the error between the parameter values it produces as an output and the true values. We explore the impact of the architecture of the network on the quality of the training. Then we test the trained network on the new set of 54 test samples with different values of the parameters. We find that the quality of the parameter reconstruction depends on the sensitivity of the power spectrum to the different parameters at a given redshift, that including thermal noise and sample variance decreases the quality of the reconstruction and that using the power spectrum at several redshifts as an input to the ANN improves the quality of the reconstruction. We conclude that ANNs are a viable inversion method whose main strength is that they require a sparse exploration of the parameter space and thus should be usable with full numerical simulations.
Compensated isocurvature perturbations (CIP), where the baryon and cold dark matter perturbations cancel, do not cause total matter isocurvature perturbation. Consequently, at the linear order in the baryon density contrast $\Delta$, CIP is not detectable by the CMB power spectra. At the second order CIP smoothes the power spectra in a similar manner as lensing, causing a degeneracy between the CIP variance $\Delta^2_{rms}=<\Delta^2>$ and lensing parameter $A_L$. We show that the CMB lensing data breaks this degeneracy. Nested sampling of the LCDM+CIP(+$A_L$) model, the Planck 2015 temperature, polarization, and lensing data give $\Delta^2_{rms}=0.0069\pm0.0030$ at 68% CL. A non-zero value is favored at 2.3$\sigma$. CIP with $\Delta^2_{rms}=0.007$ improves the bestfit $\chi^2$ by 3.6 compared to the adiabatic LCDM model. In contrast, although the temperature data favor $A_L=1.22$, allowing $A_L\ne1$ does not improve the joint fit, since the lensing data disfavor $A_L\ne1$. Indeed, CIP provides a rare example of a simple model, which can reduce the Planck lensing anomaly by fitting well simultaneously the high multipole temperature and lensing data, as well as the polarization data. Finally, we derive forecasts for future satellite missions (LiteBIRD proposal to JAXA and Exploring Cosmic Origins with CORE proposal to ESA's M5 call). Due to its coarse angular resolution, LiteBIRD is not able to improve the constraints on CIP or $A_L$, but CORE-M5 approaches the cosmic variance limit and improves the CIP constraint to $\Delta^2_{rms}<0.0006\ (0.0014)$ at 68% (95%) CL, which is 9 times better than the current trispectrum based upper bound and 6 times better than obtained from the simulated Planck data. In addition, CORE-M5 will exquisitely distinguish between CIP and $A_L$. No matter whether CIP is allowed for or not, the uncertainty of the lensing parameter will be $\sigma(A_L)=0.012$.
Constraints on primordial black holes in the range $10^{-18} M_{\odot}$ to $10^{3} M_{\odot}$ are reevaluated for a general class of extended mass functions. Whereas previous work has assumed that PBHs are produced with one single mass, instead there is expected to be a range of masses even in the case of production from a single mechanism; constraints therefore change from previous literature. Although tightly constrained in the majority of cases, it is shown that, even under conservative assumptions, primordial black holes in the mass range $10^{-10}\.M_{\odot}$ to $10^{-8} M_{\odot}$ could still constitute the entirety of the dark matter. This stresses both the importance for a comprehensive reevaluation of all respective constraints that have previously been evaluated only for a monochromatic mass function, and the need to obtain more constraints in the allowed mass range.
In this paper, new bounds on possible variations of the fine structure constant, $\alpha$, for a class of runaway dilaton models are performed. By considering a possible evolution with redshift, $z$, such as $\frac{\Delta\alpha}{\alpha}=-\gamma\ln(1+z)$, where in $\gamma$ are the physical properties of the model, we constrain this parameter by using a deformed cosmic distance duality relation jointly with gas mass fraction (GMF) measurements of galaxy clusters and luminosity distances of type Ia supernovae. The GMF's used in our analyses are from cluster mass data from 82 galaxy clusters in the redshift range $0.12<z<1.36$, detected via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect at 148 GHz by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The type Ia supernovae are from the Union2.1 compilation. We also explore the dependence of the results from four models used to describe the galaxy clusters. As a result no evidence of variation was obtained.
Despite numerous astronomical and experimental searches, the precise particle nature of dark matter is still unknown. The standard Weakly Interacting Massive Particle(WIMP) dark matter, in spite of successfully explaining the large-scale features of the universe, has long-standing small-scale issues.The spectral distortion in the Cosmic Microwave Background(CMB) caused by Silk damping in the pre-recombination era allows one to access information on a range of small scales $0.3 \, {\rm Mpc} < k < 10^4 \, \rm Mpc^{-1}$, whose dynamics can be precisely described using linear theory. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of using the Silk damping induced CMB spectral distortion as a probe of the small scale power. We consider four suggested alternative dark matter candidates---Warm Dark Matter (WDM), Late Forming Dark Matter(LFDM), Ultra Light Axion Matter(ULA) dark matter and Charged decaying dark matter(CHDM); the matter power in all these models deviate significantly from the $\Lambda$CDM model at small scales. We compute the spectral distortion of CMB for these alternative models and compare our results with the $\Lambda$CDM model. We show that the main impact of alternative models is to alter the sub-horizon evolution of Newtonian potential which affects the late-time behaviour of spectral distortion of CMB. The $y$-parameter diminishes by a few percent as compared to the $\Lambda$CDM model for a range of parameters of these models: LFDM for formation redshift $z_f = 10^5$ (7%); WDM for mass $m_{\rm wdm} = 1 \, \rm keV$ (2%); CHDM for decay redshift $z_{\rm decay} = 10^5$ (5%); ULA for mass $m_a = 10^{-24} \, \rm eV$ (3%). We also briefly discuss the detectability of this deviation in light of the upcoming CMB experiment PIXIE, which might have the sensitivity to detect this signal from the pre-recombination phase.
We constrain cold dark energy of negligible sound speed using observations of the abundance of galaxy clusters. In contrast to standard quasi-homogeneous dark energy, negligible sound speed implies clustering of the dark energy fluid at all scales, allowing us to measure the effects of dark energy perturbations at cluster scales. We compare both models and set the stage for using non-linear information from semi-analytical modelling in cluster growth data analyses. For this, we re-calibrate the halo mass function with non-linear characteristic quantities, the spherical collapse threshold and virial overdensity, that account for model and redshift dependent behaviours, as well as an additional mass contribution for cold dark energy. We present the first constraints from this cold dark matter plus cold dark energy mass function using our cluster abundance likelihood, which self-consistently accounts for selection effects, covariances and systematic uncertainties. We also combine these cluster results with other probes using CMB, SNe Ia and BAO data, and find a shift between cold versus quasi-homogeneous dark energy of up to $1\sigma$. We then employ a Fisher matrix forecast of constraints attainable with cluster growth data from on-going and future surveys. For the Dark Energy Survey, we obtain $\sim$50$\%$ tighter constraints for cold dark energy compared to those of the standard model. In this study we show that cluster abundance analyses are sensitive to cold dark energy, an alternative viable model that should be routinely investigated alongside the standard dark energy scenario.
We establish the existence of $1$-parameter families of $\epsilon$-dependent solutions to the Einstein-Euler equations with a positive cosmological constant $\Lambda >0$ and a linear equation of state $p=\epsilon^2 K \rho$, $0<K\leq 1/3$, for the parameter values $0<\epsilon < \epsilon_0$. These solutions exist globally to the future, converge as $\epsilon \searrow 0$ to solutions of the cosmological Poison-Euler equations of Newtonian gravity, and are inhomogeneous non-linear perturbations of FLRW fluid solutions.
The k-essence theory with a power-law function of $(\partial\phi)^2$ and Rastall's non-conservative theory of gravity with a scalar field are shown to have the same solutions for the metric under the assumption that both the metric and the scalar fields depend on a single coordinate. This equivalence (called k-R duality) holds for static configurations with various symmetries (spherical, plane, cylindrical, etc.) and all homogeneous cosmologies. In the presence of matter, Rastall's theory requires additional assumptions on how the stress-energy tensor non-conservation is distributed between different contributions. Two versions of such non-conservation are considered in the case of isotropic spatially flat cosmological models with a perfect fluid: one (R1) in which there is no coupling between the scalar field and the fluid, and another (R2) in which the fluid separately obeys the usual conservation law. In version R1 it is shown that k-R duality holds not only for the cosmological models themselves but also for their adiabatic perturbations. In version R2, among other results, a particular model is singled out that reproduces the same cosmological expansion history as the standard $\Lambda$CDM model but predicts different behaviors of small fluctuations in the k-essence and Rastall frameworks.
We perform a set of general relativistic, radiative, magneto-hydrodynamical simulations (GR-RMHD) to study the transition from radiatively inefficient to efficient state of accretion on a non-rotating black hole. We study ion to electron temperature ratios ranging from $T_{\rm i}/T_{\rm e}=$ 10 to 100, and simulate flows corresponding to accretion rates as low as 10$^{-6}\,\dot M_{\rm Edd}$, and as high as 10$^{-2}\,\dot M_{\rm Edd}$. We have found that the radiative output of accretion flows increases with accretion rate, and that the transition occurs earlier for hotter electrons (lower $T_{\rm i}/T_{\rm e}$ ratio). At the same time, the mechanical efficiency hardly changes and accounts to $\approx$ 3% of the accreted rest mass energy flux, even at the highest simulated accretion rates. This is particularly important for the mechanical AGN feedback regulating massive galaxies, groups, and clusters. Comparison with recent observations of radiative and mechanical AGN luminosities suggests that the ion to electron temperature ratio in the inner, collisionless accretion flow should fall within 10 $<T_{\rm i}/T_{\rm e}<$ 30, i.e., the electron temperature should be several percent of the ion temperature.
We present a historical review of Einstein's 1917 paper 'Cosmological Considerations in the General Theory of Relativity' to mark the centenary of a key work that set the foundations of modern cosmology. We find that the paper followed as a natural next step after Einstein's development of the general theory of relativity and that the work offers many insights into his thoughts on relativity, astronomy and cosmology. Our review includes a description of the observational and theoretical background to the paper; a paragraph-by-paragraph guided tour of the work; a discussion of Einstein's views of issues such as the relativity of inertia, the curvature of space and the cosmological constant. Particular attention is paid to little-known aspects of the paper such as Einstein's failure to test his model against observation, his failure to consider the stability of the model and a mathematical oversight in his interpretation of the role of the cosmological constant. We discuss the insights provided by Einstein's reaction to alternate models of the universe proposed by Willem de Sitter, Alexander Friedman and Georges Lema\^itre. Finally, we consider the relevance of Einstein's static model of the universe for today's 'emergent' cosmologies.
We present late-time optical $R$-band imaging data from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) for the nearby type Ia supernova SN 2011fe. The stacked PTF light curve provides densely sampled coverage down to $R\simeq22$ mag over 200 to 620 days past explosion. Combining with literature data, we estimate the pseudo-bolometric light curve for this event from 200 to 1600 days after explosion, and constrain the likely near-infrared contribution. This light curve shows a smooth decline consistent with radioactive decay, except over ~450 to ~600 days where the light curve appears to decrease faster than expected based on the radioactive isotopes presumed to be present, before flattening at around 600 days. We model the 200-1600d pseudo-bolometric light curve with the luminosity generated by the radioactive decay chains of $^{56}$Ni, $^{57}$Ni and $^{55}$Co, and find it is not consistent with models that have full positron trapping and no infrared catastrophe (IRC); some additional energy escape other than optical/near-IR photons is required. However, the light curve is consistent with models that allow for positron escape (reaching 75% by day 500) and/or an IRC (with 85% of the flux emerging in non-optical wavelengths by day 600). The presence of the $^{57}$Ni decay chain is robustly detected, but the $^{55}$Co decay chain is not formally required, with an upper mass limit estimated at 0.014 M$_{\odot}$. The measurement of the $^{57}$Ni/$^{56}$Ni mass ratio is subject to significant systematic uncertainties, but all of our fits require a high ratio >0.031 (>1.3 in solar abundances).
Context: Recent XMM-Newton observations have revealed that IRAS 17020+4544 is a very unusual example of black hole wind-produced feedback by a moderately luminous AGN in a spiral galaxy. Aims: Since the source is known for being a radio emitter, we investigated about the presence and the properties of a non-thermal component. Methods: We observed IRAS 17020+4544 with the Very Long Baseline Array at 5, 8, 15, and 24 GHz within a month of the 2014 XMM-Newton observations. We further analysed archival data taken in 2000 and 2012. Results: We detect the source at 5 GHz and on short baselines at 8 GHz. At 15 and 24 GHz, the source is below our baseline sensitivity for fringe fitting, indicating the lack of prominent compact features. The morphology is that of an asymmetric double, with significant diffuse emission. The spectrum between 5 and 8 GHz is rather steep ($S(\nu)\sim\nu^{-(1.0\pm0.2)}$). Our re-analysis of the archival data at 5 and 8 GHz provides results consistent with the new observations, suggesting that flux density and structural variability are not important in this source. We put a limit on the separation speed between the main components of $<0.06c$. Conclusions: IRAS 17020+4544 shows interesting features of several classes of objects: its properties are typical of compact steep spectrum sources, low power compact sources, radio-emitting narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies. However, it can not be classified in any of these categories, remaining so far a one-of-a-kind object.
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The dark matter spike induced by the adiabatic growth of a massive black hole in a cuspy environment, may explain the thermal dark matter density required to fit the cut-off in the HESSJ1745-290 gamma-ray spectra as TeV dark matter signal with a background component. The spike extension appears comparable with the HESS angular resolution.
We discuss the inflationary dynamics of a system with a non-minimal coupling between the Higgs and the Ricci scalar as well as a Ricci scalar squared term. There are two scalar modes in this system, i.e. the Higgs and the spin-zero mode of the graviton, or the scalaron. We study the two-field dynamics of the Higgs and the scalaron during inflation, and clarify the condition where inflation is dominated by the Higgs/scalaron. We also find that the cut-off scale at around the vacuum is as large as the Planck scale, and hence there is no unitarity issue, although there is a constraint on the couplings from the perturbativity of the theory.
Dipolar Dark Matter (DDM) is an alternative model motivated by the challenges faced by the standard cold dark matter model to describe the right phenomenology at galactic scales. A promising realisation of DDM was recently proposed in the context of massive bigravity theory. The model contains dark matter particles, as well as a vector field coupled to the effective composite metric of bigravity. This model is completely safe in the gravitational sector thanks to the underlying properties of massive bigravity. In this work we investigate the exact decoupling limit of the theory, including the contribution of the matter sector, and prove that it is free of ghosts in this limit. We conclude that the theory is acceptable as an Effective Field Theory below the strong coupling scale.
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