Cosmological constraints on Lorentz violating dark energy

CERN Document Server

Audren, B; Lesgourgues, J; Sibiryakov, S

2013-01-01

The role of Lorentz invariance as a fundamental symmetry of nature has been lately reconsidered in different approaches to quantum gravity. It is thus natural to study whether other puzzles of physics may be solved within these proposals. This may be the case for the cosmological constant problem. Indeed, it has been shown that breaking Lorentz invariance provides Lagrangians that can drive the current acceleration of the universe without experiencing large corrections from ultraviolet physics. In this work, we focus on the simplest model of this type, called ThetaCDM, and study its cosmological implications in detail. At the background level, this model cannot be distinguished from LambdaCDM. The differences appear at the level of perturbations. We show that in ThetaCDM, the spectrum of CMB anisotropies and matter fluctuations may be affected by a rescaling of the gravitational constant in the Poisson equation, by the presence of extra contributions to the anisotropic stress, and finally by the existence of ...

Confronting dark energy models mimicking ΛCDM epoch with observational constraints: Future cosmological perturbations decay or future Rip?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Astashenok, Artyom V.; Odintsov, Sergei D.

2013-01-01

We confront dark energy models which are currently similar to ΛCDM theory with observational data which include the SNe data, matter density perturbations and baryon acoustic oscillations data. DE cosmology under consideration may evolve to Big Rip, type II or type III future singularity, or to Little Rip or Pseudo-Rip universe. It is shown that matter perturbations data define more precisely the possible deviation from ΛCDM model than consideration of SNe data only. The combined data analysis proves that DE models under consideration are as consistent as ΛCDM model. We demonstrate that growth of matter density perturbations may occur at sufficiently small background density but still before the possible disintegration of bound objects (like clusters of galaxies, galaxies, etc.) in Big Rip, type III singularity, Little Rip or Pseudo-Rip universe. This new effect may bring the future universe to chaotic state well before disintegration or Rip.

Viscous cosmology in new holographic dark energy model and the cosmic acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, C.P.; Srivastava, Milan

2018-01-01

In this work, we study a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe filled with dark matter and viscous new holographic dark energy. We present four possible solutions of the model depending on the choice of the viscous term. We obtain the evolution of the cosmological quantities such as scale factor, deceleration parameter and transition redshift to observe the effect of viscosity in the evolution. We also emphasis upon the two independent geometrical diagnostics for our model, namely the statefinder and the Om diagnostics. In the first case we study new holographic dark energy model without viscous and obtain power-law expansion of the universe which gives constant deceleration parameter and statefinder parameters. In the limit of the parameter, the model approaches to ΛCDM model. In new holographic dark energy model with viscous, the bulk viscous coefficient is assumed as ζ = ζ 0 + ζ 1 H, where ζ 0 and ζ 1 are constants, and H is the Hubble parameter. In this model, we obtain all possible solutions with viscous term and analyze the expansion history of the universe. We draw the evolution graphs of the scale factor and deceleration parameter. It is observed that the universe transits from deceleration to acceleration for small values of ζ in late time. However, it accelerates very fast from the beginning for large values of ζ. By illustrating the evolutionary trajectories in r - s and r - q planes, we find that our model behaves as an quintessence like for small values of viscous coefficient and a Chaplygin gas like for large values of bulk viscous coefficient at early stage. However, model has close resemblance to that of the ΛCDM cosmology in late time. The Om has positive and negative curvatures for phantom and quintessence models, respectively depending on ζ. Our study shows that the bulk viscosity plays very important role in the expansion history of the universe. (orig.)

Viscous cosmology in new holographic dark energy model and the cosmic acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, C. P.; Srivastava, Milan

2018-03-01

In this work, we study a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe filled with dark matter and viscous new holographic dark energy. We present four possible solutions of the model depending on the choice of the viscous term. We obtain the evolution of the cosmological quantities such as scale factor, deceleration parameter and transition redshift to observe the effect of viscosity in the evolution. We also emphasis upon the two independent geometrical diagnostics for our model, namely the statefinder and the Om diagnostics. In the first case we study new holographic dark energy model without viscous and obtain power-law expansion of the universe which gives constant deceleration parameter and statefinder parameters. In the limit of the parameter, the model approaches to Λ CDM model. In new holographic dark energy model with viscous, the bulk viscous coefficient is assumed as ζ =ζ 0+ζ 1H, where ζ 0 and ζ 1 are constants, and H is the Hubble parameter. In this model, we obtain all possible solutions with viscous term and analyze the expansion history of the universe. We draw the evolution graphs of the scale factor and deceleration parameter. It is observed that the universe transits from deceleration to acceleration for small values of ζ in late time. However, it accelerates very fast from the beginning for large values of ζ . By illustrating the evolutionary trajectories in r-s and r-q planes, we find that our model behaves as an quintessence like for small values of viscous coefficient and a Chaplygin gas like for large values of bulk viscous coefficient at early stage. However, model has close resemblance to that of the Λ CDM cosmology in late time. The Om has positive and negative curvatures for phantom and quintessence models, respectively depending on ζ . Our study shows that the bulk viscosity plays very important role in the expansion history of the universe.

Self-accelerating universe in Galileon cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Fabio P.; Koyama, Kazuya

2009-01-01

We present a cosmological model with a solution that self-accelerates at late times without signs of ghost instabilities on small scales. The model is a natural extension of the Brans-Dicke (BD) theory including a nonlinear derivative interaction, which appears in a theory with the Galilean shift symmetry. The existence of the self-accelerating universe requires a negative BD parameter but, thanks to the nonlinear term, small fluctuations around the solution are stable on small scales. General relativity is recovered at early times and on small scales by this nonlinear interaction via the Vainshtein mechanism. At late time, gravity is strongly modified and the background cosmology shows a phantomlike behavior and the growth rate of structure formation is enhanced. Thus this model leaves distinct signatures in cosmological observations and it can be distinguished from standard LCDM cosmology.

Cosmic acceleration in non-flat f( T) cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Capozziello, Salvatore; Luongo, Orlando; Pincak, Richard; Ravanpak, Arvin

2018-05-01

We study f( T) cosmological models inserting a non-vanishing spatial curvature and discuss its consequences on cosmological dynamics. To figure this out, a polynomial f( T) model and a double torsion model are considered. We first analyze those models with cosmic data, employing the recent surveys of Union 2.1, baryonic acoustic oscillation and cosmic microwave background measurements. We then emphasize that the two popular f( T) models enable the crossing of the phantom divide line due to dark torsion. Afterwards, we compute numerical bounds up to 3-σ confidence level, emphasizing the fact that Ω _{k0} turns out to be non-compatible with zero at least at 1σ . Moreover, we underline that, even increasing the accuracy, one cannot remove the degeneracy between our models and the Λ CDM paradigm. So that, we show that our treatments contain the concordance paradigm and we analyze the equation of state behaviors at different redshift domains. We also take into account gamma ray bursts and we describe the evolution of both the f( T) models with high redshift data. We calibrate the gamma ray burst measurements through small redshift surveys of data and we thus compare the main differences between non-flat and flat f( T) cosmology at different redshift ranges. We finally match the corresponding outcomes with small redshift bounds provided by cosmography. To do so, we analyze the deceleration parameters and their variations, proportional to the jerk term. Even though the two models well fit late-time data, we notice that the polynomial f( T) approach provides an effective de-Sitter phase, whereas the second f( T) framework shows analogous results compared with the Λ CDM predictions.

Accelerating cosmologies from exponential potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neupane, Ishwaree P.

2003-11-01

It is learnt that exponential potentials of the form V ∼ exp(-2cφ/M p ) arising from the hyperbolic or flux compactification of higher-dimensional theories are of interest for getting short periods of accelerated cosmological expansions. Using a similar potential but derived for the combined case of hyperbolic-flux compactification, we study a four-dimensional flat (or open) FRW cosmologies and give analytic (and numerical) solutions with exponential behavior of scale factors. We show that, for the M-theory motivated potentials, the cosmic acceleration of the universe can be eternal if the spatial curvature of the 4d spacetime is negative, while the acceleration is only transient for a spatially flat universe. We also briefly discuss about the mass of massive Kaluza-Klein modes and the dynamical stabilization of the compact hyperbolic extra dimensions. (author)

Cosmological constraints on Lorentz violating dark energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Audren, B.; Lesgourgues, J. [FSB/ITP/LPPC, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne (Switzerland); Blas, D. [Theory Group, Physics Department, CERN, CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Sibiryakov, S., E-mail: Benjamin.Audren@epfl.ch, E-mail: Diego.Blas@cern.ch, E-mail: Julien.Lesgourgues@cern.ch, E-mail: Sergey.Sibiryakov@cern.ch [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 60th October Anniversary Prospect, 7a, 117312 Moscow (Russian Federation)

2013-08-01

The role of Lorentz invariance as a fundamental symmetry of nature has been lately reconsidered in different approaches to quantum gravity. It is thus natural to study whether other puzzles of physics may be solved within these proposals. This may be the case for the cosmological constant problem. Indeed, it has been shown that breaking Lorentz invariance provides Lagrangians that can drive the current acceleration of the universe without experiencing large corrections from ultraviolet physics. In this work, we focus on the simplest model of this type, called ΘCDM, and study its cosmological implications in detail. At the background level, this model cannot be distinguished from ΛCDM. The differences appear at the level of perturbations. We show that in ΘCDM, the spectrum of CMB anisotropies and matter fluctuations may be affected by a rescaling of the gravitational constant in the Poisson equation, by the presence of extra contributions to the anisotropic stress, and finally by the existence of extra clustering degrees of freedom. To explore these modifications accurately, we modify the Boltzmann code class. We then use the parameter inference code Monte Python to confront ΘCDM with data from WMAP-7, SPT and WiggleZ. We obtain strong bounds on the parameters accounting for deviations from ΛCDM. In particular, we find that the discrepancy between the gravitational constants appearing in the Poisson and Friedmann equations is constrained at the level of 1.8%.

Particle accelerators test cosmological theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schramm, D.N.; Steigman, G.

1988-01-01

Over the past decade two subfields of science, cosmology and elementary-particle physics, have become married in a symbiotic relationship that has produced a number of exciting offspring. These offspring are beginning to yield insights on the creation of spacetime and matter at epochs as early as 10 to the minus 43 to 10 to the minus 35 second after the birth of the universe in the primordial explosion known as the big bang. Important clues to the nature of the big bang itself may even come from a theory currently under development, known as the ultimate theory of everything (T.E.O.). A T.E.O. would describe all the interactions among the fundamental particles in a single bold stroke. Now that cosmology ahs begun to make predictions about elementary-particle physics, it has become conceivable that those cosmological predictions could be checked with carefully controlled accelerator experiments. It has taken more than 10 years for accelerators to reach the point where they can do the appropriate experiments, but the experiments are now in fact in progress. The preliminary results confirm the predictions of cosmology. The cosmological prediction the authors have been concerned with pertains to setting limits on the number of fundamental particles of matter. It appears that there are 12 fundamental particles, as well as their corresponding antiparticles. Six of the fundamental particles are quarks. The other six are leptons. The 12 particles are grouped in three families, each family consisting of four members. Cosmology suggests there must be a finite number of families and, further limits the possible range of to small values: only three or at most four families exist. 7 figs

How to falsify the GR+ΛCDM model with galaxy redshift surveys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acquaviva, Viviana; Gawiser, Eric

2010-01-01

A wide range of models describing modifications to general relativity have been proposed, but no fundamental parameter set exists to describe them. Similarly, no fundamental theory exists for dark energy to parametrize its potential deviation from a cosmological constant. This motivates a model-independent search for deviations from the concordance GR+ΛCDM cosmological model in large galaxy redshift surveys. We describe two model-independent tests of the growth of cosmological structure, in the form of quantities that must equal one if GR+ΛCDM is correct. The first, ε, was introduced previously as a scale-independent consistency check between the expansion history and structure growth. The second, υ, is introduced here as a test of scale-dependence in the linear evolution of matter density perturbations. We show that the ongoing and near-future galaxy redshift surveys WiggleZ, BOSS, and HETDEX will constrain these quantities at the 5-10% level, representing a stringent test of concordance cosmology at different redshifts. When redshift space distortions are used to probe the growth of cosmological structure, galaxies at higher redshift with lower bias are found to be most powerful in detecting the presence of deviations from the GR+ΛCDM model. However, because many dark energy or modified gravity models predict consistency with GR+ΛCDM at high redshift, it is desirable to apply this approach to surveys covering a wide range of redshifts and spatial scales.

Conformal symmetries of FRW accelerating cosmologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kehagias, A.; Riotto, A.

2014-01-01

We show that any accelerating Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) cosmology with equation of state w<−1/3 (and therefore not only a de Sitter stage with w=−1) exhibits three-dimensional conformal symmetry on future constant-time hypersurfaces if the bulk theory is invariant under bulk conformal Killing vectors. We also offer an alternative derivation of this result in terms of conformal Killing vectors and show that long wavelength comoving curvature perturbations of the perturbed FRW metric are just conformal Killing motions of the FRW background. We then extend the boundary conformal symmetry to the bulk for accelerating cosmologies. Our findings indicate that one can easily generate perturbations of scalar fields which are not only scale invariant, but also fully conformally invariant on super-Hubble scales. Measuring a scale-invariant power spectrum for the cosmological perturbation does not automatically imply that the universe went through a de Sitter stage

Reconciling Dwarf Galaxies with ΛCDM Cosmology: Simulating A Realistic Population of Satellites Around a Milky Way-Mass Galaxy

OpenAIRE

Wetzel, Andrew R.; Hopkins, Philip F.; Kim, Ji-Hoon; Faucher-Giguère, Claude-André; Kereš, Dušan; Quataert, Eliot

2016-01-01

� 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Low-mass "dwarf" galaxies represent the most significant challenges to the cold dark matter (CDM) model of cosmological structure formation. Because these faint galaxies are (best) observed within the Local Group (LG) of the Milky Way (MW) and Andromeda (M31), understanding their formation in such an environment is critical. We present first results from the Latte Project: the Milky Way on Feedback in Realistic Environments (FI...

Simultaneous falsification of ΛCDM and quintessence with massive, distant clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mortonson, Michael J.; Hu, Wayne; Huterer, Dragan

2011-01-01

Observation of even a single massive cluster, especially at high redshift, can falsify the standard cosmological framework consisting of a cosmological constant and cold dark matter (ΛCDM) with Gaussian initial conditions by exposing an inconsistency between the well-measured expansion history and the growth of structure it predicts. Through a likelihood analysis of current cosmological data that constrain the expansion history, we show that the ΛCDM upper limits on the expected number of massive, distant clusters are nearly identical to limits predicted by all quintessence models where dark energy is a minimally coupled scalar field with a canonical kinetic term. We provide convenient fitting formulas for the confidence level at which the observation of a cluster of mass M at redshift z can falsify ΛCDM and quintessence given cosmological parameter uncertainties and sample variance, as well as for the expected number of such clusters in the light cone and the Eddington bias factor that must be applied to observed masses. By our conservative confidence criteria, which equivalently require masses 3 times larger than typically expected in surveys of a few hundred square degrees, none of the presently known clusters falsify these models. Various systematic errors, including uncertainties in the form of the mass function and differences between supernova light curve fitters, typically shift the exclusion curves by less than 10% in mass, making current statistical and systematic uncertainties in cluster mass determination the most critical factor in assessing falsification of ΛCDM and quintessence.

Cosmological tests of modified gravity.

Science.gov (United States)

Koyama, Kazuya

2016-04-01

We review recent progress in the construction of modified gravity models as alternatives to dark energy as well as the development of cosmological tests of gravity. Einstein's theory of general relativity (GR) has been tested accurately within the local universe i.e. the Solar System, but this leaves the possibility open that it is not a good description of gravity at the largest scales in the Universe. This being said, the standard model of cosmology assumes GR on all scales. In 1998, astronomers made the surprising discovery that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating, not slowing down. This late-time acceleration of the Universe has become the most challenging problem in theoretical physics. Within the framework of GR, the acceleration would originate from an unknown dark energy. Alternatively, it could be that there is no dark energy and GR itself is in error on cosmological scales. In this review, we first give an overview of recent developments in modified gravity theories including f(R) gravity, braneworld gravity, Horndeski theory and massive/bigravity theory. We then focus on common properties these models share, such as screening mechanisms they use to evade the stringent Solar System tests. Once armed with a theoretical knowledge of modified gravity models, we move on to discuss how we can test modifications of gravity on cosmological scales. We present tests of gravity using linear cosmological perturbations and review the latest constraints on deviations from the standard [Formula: see text]CDM model. Since screening mechanisms leave distinct signatures in the non-linear structure formation, we also review novel astrophysical tests of gravity using clusters, dwarf galaxies and stars. The last decade has seen a number of new constraints placed on gravity from astrophysical to cosmological scales. Thanks to on-going and future surveys, cosmological tests of gravity will enjoy another, possibly even more, exciting ten years.

On the emergence of the ΛCDM model from self-interacting Brans-Dicke theory in d= 5

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes, Luz Marina; Perez Bergliaffa, Santiago Esteban

2018-01-01

We investigate whether a self-interacting Brans-Dicke theory in d=5 without matter and with a time-dependent metric can describe, after dimensional reduction to d=4, the FLRW model with accelerated expansion and non-relativistic matter. By rewriting the effective 4-dimensional theory as an autonomous 3-dimensional dynamical system and studying its critical points, we show that the ΛCDM cosmology cannot emerge from such a model. This result suggests that a richer structure in d=5 may be needed to obtain the accelerated expansion as well as the matter content of the 4-dimensional universe.

On the emergence of the ΛCDM model from self-interacting Brans-Dicke theory in d = 5

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reyes, Luz Marina [CUCEI, Universidad de Guadalajara, Departamento de Ciencias Computacionales, Guadalajara (Mexico); Perez Bergliaffa, Santiago Esteban [Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Departamento de Fisica Teorica, Instituto de Fisica, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

2018-01-15

We investigate whether a self-interacting Brans-Dicke theory in d = 5 without matter and with a time-dependent metric can describe, after dimensional reduction to d = 4, the FLRW model with accelerated expansion and non-relativistic matter. By rewriting the effective 4-dimensional theory as an autonomous 3-dimensional dynamical system and studying its critical points, we show that the ΛCDM cosmology cannot emerge from such a model. This result suggests that a richer structure in d = 5 may be needed to obtain the accelerated expansion as well as the matter content of the 4-dimensional universe. (orig.)

Cosmology of modified Gauss-Bonnet gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Baojiu; Barrow, John D.; Mota, David F.

2007-01-01

We consider the cosmology where some function f(G) of the Gauss-Bonnet term G is added to the gravitational action to account for the late-time accelerating expansion of the universe. The covariant and gauge invariant perturbation equations are derived with a method which could also be applied to general f(R,R ab R ab ,R abcd R abcd ) gravitational theories. It is pointed out that, despite their fourth-order character, such f(G) gravity models generally cannot reproduce arbitrary background cosmic evolutions; for example, the standard ΛCDM paradigm with Ω DE =0.76 cannot be realized in f(G) gravity theories unless f is a true cosmological constant because it imposes exclusionary constraints on the form of f(G). We analyze the perturbation equations and find that, as in the f(R) model, the stability of early-time perturbation growth puts some constraints on the functional form of f(G), in this case ∂ 2 f/∂G 2 <0. Furthermore, the stability of small-scale perturbations also requires that f not deviate significantly from a constant. These analyses are illustrated by numerically propagating the perturbation equations with a specific model reproducing a representative ΛCDM cosmic history. Our results show how the f(G) models are highly constrained by cosmological data

Cosmological evolution of vacuum and cosmic acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaya, Ali

2010-01-01

It is known that the unregularized expressions for the stress-energy tensor components corresponding to subhorizon and superhorizon vacuum fluctuations of a massless scalar field in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker background are characterized by the equation of state parameters ω = 1/3 and ω = -1/3, which are not sufficient to produce cosmological acceleration. However, the form of the adiabatically regularized finite stress-energy tensor turns out to be completely different. By using the fact that vacuum subhorizon modes evolve nearly adiabatically and superhorizon modes have ω = -1/3, we approximately determine the regularized stress-energy tensor, whose conservation is utilized to fix the time dependence of the vacuum energy density. We then show that vacuum energy density grows from zero up to H 4 in about one Hubble time, vacuum fluctuations give positive acceleration of the order of H 4 /M 2 p and they can completely alter the cosmic evolution of the universe dominated otherwise by the cosmological constant, radiation or pressureless dust. Although the magnitude of the acceleration is tiny to explain the observed value today, our findings indicate that the cosmological backreaction of vacuum fluctuations must be taken into account in early stages of cosmic evolution.

Cosmological consistency tests of gravity theory and cosmic acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Ishak-Boushaki, Mustapha B.

2017-01-01

Testing general relativity at cosmological scales and probing the cause of cosmic acceleration are among the important objectives targeted by incoming and future astronomical surveys and experiments. I present our recent results on consistency tests that can provide insights about the underlying gravity theory and cosmic acceleration using cosmological data sets. We use statistical measures, the rate of cosmic expansion, the growth rate of large scale structure, and the physical consistency of these probes with one another.

Dynamical system approach to running Λ cosmological models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stachowski, Aleksander; Szydlowski, Marek

2016-01-01

We study the dynamics of cosmological models with a time dependent cosmological term. We consider five classes of models; two with the non-covariant parametrization of the cosmological term Λ: Λ(H)CDM cosmologies, Λ(a)CDM cosmologies, and three with the covariant parametrization of Λ: Λ(R)CDM cosmologies, where R(t) is the Ricci scalar, Λ(φ)-cosmologies with diffusion, Λ(X)-cosmologies, where X = (1)/(2)g"α"β∇_α∇_βφ is a kinetic part of the density of the scalar field. We also consider the case of an emergent Λ(a) relation obtained from the behaviour of trajectories in a neighbourhood of an invariant submanifold. In the study of the dynamics we used dynamical system methods for investigating how an evolutionary scenario can depend on the choice of special initial conditions. We show that the methods of dynamical systems allow one to investigate all admissible solutions of a running Λ cosmology for all initial conditions. We interpret Alcaniz and Lima's approach as a scaling cosmology. We formulate the idea of an emergent cosmological term derived directly from an approximation of the exact dynamics. We show that some non-covariant parametrization of the cosmological term like Λ(a), Λ(H) gives rise to the non-physical behaviour of trajectories in the phase space. This behaviour disappears if the term Λ(a) is emergent from the covariant parametrization. (orig.)

Can the Stephani model be an alternative to FRW accelerating models?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Godlowski, Wlodzimierz; Stelmach, Jerzy; Szydlowski, Marek

2004-01-01

A class of Stephani cosmological models as a prototype of a non-homogeneous universe is considered. The non-homogeneity can lead to accelerated evolution, which is now observed from the SNe Ia data. Three samples of type Ia supernovae obtained by Perlmutter et al, Tonry et al and Knop et al are taken into account. Different statistical methods (best fits as well as maximum likelihood method) to obtain estimation for the model parameters are used. The Stephani model is considered as an alternative to the ΛCDM model in the explanation of the present acceleration of the universe. The model explains the acceleration of the universe at the same level of accuracy as the ΛCDM model (χ 2 statistics are comparable). From the best fit analysis it follows that the Stephani model is characterized by a higher value of density parameter Ω m0 than the ΛCDM model. It is also shown that the model is consistent with the location of CMB peaks

Conformal cosmological model and SNe Ia data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zakharov, A. F.; Pervushin, V. N.

2012-01-01

Now there is a huge scientific activity in astrophysical studies and cosmological ones in particular. Cosmology transforms from a pure theoretical branch of science into an observational one. All the cosmological models have to pass observational tests. The supernovae type Ia (SNe Ia) test is among the most important ones. If one applies the test to determine parameters of the standard Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmological model one can conclude that observations lead to the discovery of the dominance of the Λ term and as a result to an acceleration of the Universe. However, there are big mysteries connected with an origin and an essence of dark matter (DM) and the Λ term or dark energy (DE). Alternative theories of gravitation are treated as a possible solution of DM and DE puzzles. The conformal cosmological approach is one of possible alternatives to the standard ΛCDM model. As it was noted several years ago, in the framework of the conformal cosmological approach an introduction of a rigid matter can explain observational data without Λ term (or dark energy). We confirm the claim with much larger set of observational data.

Integrated cosmological probes: concordance quantified

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nicola, Andrina; Amara, Adam; Refregier, Alexandre, E-mail: andrina.nicola@phys.ethz.ch, E-mail: adam.amara@phys.ethz.ch, E-mail: alexandre.refregier@phys.ethz.ch [Department of Physics, ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, CH-8093 Zürich (Switzerland)

2017-10-01

Assessing the consistency of parameter constraints derived from different cosmological probes is an important way to test the validity of the underlying cosmological model. In an earlier work [1], we computed constraints on cosmological parameters for ΛCDM from an integrated analysis of CMB temperature anisotropies and CMB lensing from Planck, galaxy clustering and weak lensing from SDSS, weak lensing from DES SV as well as Type Ia supernovae and Hubble parameter measurements. In this work, we extend this analysis and quantify the concordance between the derived constraints and those derived by the Planck Collaboration as well as WMAP9, SPT and ACT. As a measure for consistency, we use the Surprise statistic [2], which is based on the relative entropy. In the framework of a flat ΛCDM cosmological model, we find all data sets to be consistent with one another at a level of less than 1σ. We highlight that the relative entropy is sensitive to inconsistencies in the models that are used in different parts of the analysis. In particular, inconsistent assumptions for the neutrino mass break its invariance on the parameter choice. When consistent model assumptions are used, the data sets considered in this work all agree with each other and ΛCDM, without evidence for tensions.

Simulations of structure formation in interacting dark energy cosmologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baldi, M.

2009-01-01

The evidence in favor of a dark energy component dominating the Universe, and driving its presently accelerated expansion, has progressively grown during the last decade of cosmological observations. If this dark energy is given by a dynamic scalar field, it may also have a direct interaction with other matter fields in the Universe, in particular with cold dark matter. Such interaction would imprint new features on the cosmological background evolution as well as on the growth of cosmic structure, like an additional long-range fifth-force between massive particles, or a variation in time of the dark matter particle mass. We present here the implementation of these new physical effects in the N-body code GADGET-2, and we discuss the outcomes of a series of high-resolution N-body simulations for a selected family of interacting dark energy models. We interestingly find, in contrast with previous claims, that the inner overdensity of dark matter halos decreases in these models with respect to ΛCDM, and consistently halo concentrations show a progressive reduction for increasing couplings. Furthermore, the coupling induces a bias in the overdensities of cold dark matter and baryons that determines a decrease of the halo baryon fraction below its cosmological value. These results go in the direction of alleviating tensions between astrophysical observations and the predictions of the ΛCDM model on small scales, thereby opening new room for coupled dark energy models as an alternative to the cosmological constant.

Nonlocal gravity. Conceptual aspects and cosmological predictions

Science.gov (United States)

Belgacem, Enis; Dirian, Yves; Foffa, Stefano; Maggiore, Michele

2018-03-01

Even if the fundamental action of gravity is local, the corresponding quantum effective action, that includes the effect of quantum fluctuations, is a nonlocal object. These nonlocalities are well understood in the ultraviolet regime but much less in the infrared, where they could in principle give rise to important cosmological effects. Here we systematize and extend previous work of our group, in which it is assumed that a mass scale Λ is dynamically generated in the infrared, giving rise to nonlocal terms in the quantum effective action of gravity. We give a detailed discussion of conceptual aspects related to nonlocal gravity (including causality, degrees of freedom, ambiguities related to the boundary conditions of the nonlocal operator, scenarios for the emergence of a dynamical scale in the infrared) and of the cosmological consequences of these models. The requirement of providing a viable cosmological evolution severely restricts the form of the nonlocal terms, and selects a model (the so-called RR model) that corresponds to a dynamical mass generation for the conformal mode. For such a model: (1) there is a FRW background evolution, where the nonlocal term acts as an effective dark energy with a phantom equation of state, providing accelerated expansion without a cosmological constant. (2) Cosmological perturbations are well behaved. (3) Implementing the model in a Boltzmann code and comparing with observations we find that the RR model fits the CMB, BAO, SNe, structure formation data and local H0 measurements at a level statistically equivalent to ΛCDM. (4) Bayesian parameter estimation shows that the value of H0 obtained in the RR model is higher than in ΛCDM, reducing to 2.0σ the tension with the value from local measurements. (5) The RR model provides a prediction for the sum of neutrino masses that falls within the limits set by oscillation and terrestrial experiments (in contrast to ΛCDM, where letting the sum of neutrino masses vary as a free

Constraints on cosmological parameters in power-law cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rani, Sarita; Singh, J.K.; Altaibayeva, A.; Myrzakulov, R.; Shahalam, M.

2015-01-01

In this paper, we examine observational constraints on the power law cosmology; essentially dependent on two parameters H 0 (Hubble constant) and q (deceleration parameter). We investigate the constraints on these parameters using the latest 28 points of H(z) data and 580 points of Union2.1 compilation data and, compare the results with the results of ΛCDM . We also forecast constraints using a simulated data set for the future JDEM, supernovae survey. Our studies give better insight into power law cosmology than the earlier done analysis by Kumar [arXiv:1109.6924] indicating it tuning well with Union2.1 compilation data but not with H(z) data. However, the constraints obtained on and i.e. H 0 average and q average using the simulated data set for the future JDEM, supernovae survey are found to be inconsistent with the values obtained from the H(z) and Union2.1 compilation data. We also perform the statefinder analysis and find that the power-law cosmological models approach the standard ΛCDM model as q → −1. Finally, we observe that although the power law cosmology explains several prominent features of evolution of the Universe, it fails in details

Stochastic backgrounds of relic gravitons, T$\\Lambda$CDM paradigm and the stiff ages

CERN Document Server

Giovannini, Massimo

2008-01-01

Absent any indirect tests on the thermal history of the Universe prior to the formation of light nuclear elements, it is legitimate to investigate situations where, before nucleosyntheis, the sound speed of the plasma was larger than $c/\\sqrt{3}$, at most equalling the speed of light $c$. In this plausible extension of the current cosmological paradigm, hereby dubbed Tensor-$\\Lambda$CDM (i.e. T$\\Lambda$CDM) scenario, high-frequency gravitons are copiously produced. Without conflicting with the bounds on the tensor to scalar ratio stemming from the combined analysis of the three standard cosmological data sets (i.e. cosmic microwave background anisotropies, large-scale structure and supenovae), the spectral energy density of the relic gravitons in the T$\\Lambda$CDM scenario can be potentially observable by wide-band interferometers (in their advanced version) operating in a frequency window which ranges between few Hz and few kHz.

Cosmological evidence for leptonic asymmetry after Planck

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caramete, A.; Popa, L.A., E-mail: acaramete@spacescience.ro, E-mail: lpopa@spacescience.ro [Institute of Space Science, 409 Atomistilor Street, Magurele, Ilfov 077125 (Romania)

2014-02-01

Recently, the PLANCK satellite found a larger and most precise value of the matter energy density, that impacts on the present values of other cosmological parameters such as the Hubble constant H{sub 0}, the present cluster abundances S{sub 8}, and the age of the Universe t{sub U}. The existing tension between PLANCK determination of these parameters in the frame of the base ΛCDM model and their determination from other measurements generated lively discussions, one possible interpretation being that some sources of systematic errors in cosmological measurements are not completely understood. An alternative interpretation is related to the fact that the CMB observations, that probe the high redshift Universe are interpreted in terms of cosmological parameters at present time by extrapolation within the base ΛCDM model that can be inadequate or incomplete. In this paper we quantify this tension by exploring several extensions of the base ΛCDM model that include the leptonic asymmetry. We set bounds on the radiation content of the Universe and neutrino properties by using the latest cosmological measurements, imposing also self-consistent BBN constraints on the primordial helium abundance. For all asymmetric cosmological models we find the preference of cosmological data for smaller values of active and sterile neutrino masses. This increases the tension between cosmological and short baseline neutrino oscillation data that favors a sterile neutrino with the mass of around 1 eV. For the case of degenerate massive neutrinos, we find that the discrepancies with the local determinations of H{sub 0}, and t{sub U} are alleviated at ∼ 1.3σ level while S{sub 8} is in agreement with its determination from CFHTLenS survey data at ∼ 1σ and with the prediction of cluster mass-observation relation at ∼ 0.5σ. We also find 2σ statistical preference of the cosmological data for the leptonic asymmetric models involving three massive neutrino species and neutrino direct

Λ(t)CDM model as a unified origin of holographic and agegraphic dark energy models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Yun; Zhu Zonghong; Xu Lixin; Alcaniz, J.S.

2011-01-01

Motivated by the fact that any nonzero Λ can introduce a length scale or a time scale into Einstein's theory, r Λ =ct Λ =√(3/|Λ|). Conversely, any cosmological length scale or time scale can introduce a Λ(t), Λ(t)=3/r Λ 2 (t)=3/(c 2 t Λ 2 (t)). In this Letter, we investigate the time varying Λ(t) corresponding to the length scales, including the Hubble horizon, the particle horizon and the future event horizon, and the time scales, including the age of the universe and the conformal time. It is found out that, in this scenario, the Λ(t)CDM model can be taken as the unified origin of the holographic and agegraphic dark energy models with interaction between the matter and the dark energy, where the interacting term is determined by Q=-ρ . Λ . We place observational constraints on the Λ(t)CDM models originating from different cosmological length scales and time scales with the recently compiled 'Union2 compilation' which consists of 557 Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) covering a redshift range 0.015≤z≤1.4. In conclusion, an accelerating expansion universe can be derived in the cases taking the Hubble horizon, the future event horizon, the age of the universe and the conformal time as the length scale or the time scale.

Small Scale Problems of the ΛCDM Model: A Short Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonino Del Popolo

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The ΛCDM model, or concordance cosmology, as it is often called, is a paradigm at its maturity. It is clearly able to describe the universe at large scale, even if some issues remain open, such as the cosmological constant problem, the small-scale problems in galaxy formation, or the unexplained anomalies in the CMB. ΛCDM clearly shows difficulty at small scales, which could be related to our scant understanding, from the nature of dark matter to that of gravity; or to the role of baryon physics, which is not well understood and implemented in simulation codes or in semi-analytic models. At this stage, it is of fundamental importance to understand whether the problems encountered by the ΛDCM model are a sign of its limits or a sign of our failures in getting the finer details right. In the present paper, we will review the small-scale problems of the ΛCDM model, and we will discuss the proposed solutions and to what extent they are able to give us a theory accurately describing the phenomena in the complete range of scale of the observed universe.

Do current cosmological observations rule out all covariant Galileons?

Science.gov (United States)

Peirone, Simone; Frusciante, Noemi; Hu, Bin; Raveri, Marco; Silvestri, Alessandra

2018-03-01

We revisit the cosmology of covariant Galileon gravity in view of the most recent cosmological data sets, including weak lensing. As a higher derivative theory, covariant Galileon models do not have a Λ CDM limit and predict a very different structure formation pattern compared with the standard Λ CDM scenario. Previous cosmological analyses suggest that this model is marginally disfavored, yet cannot be completely ruled out. In this work we use a more recent and extended combination of data, and we allow for more freedom in the cosmology, by including a massive neutrino sector with three different mass hierarchies. We use the Planck measurements of cosmic microwave background temperature and polarization; baryonic acoustic oscillations measurements by BOSS DR12; local measurements of H0; the joint light-curve analysis supernovae sample; and, for the first time, weak gravitational lensing from the KiDS Collaboration. We find, that in order to provide a reasonable fit, a nonzero neutrino mass is indeed necessary, but we do not report any sizable difference among the three neutrino hierarchies. Finally, the comparison of the Bayesian evidence to the Λ CDM one shows that in all the cases considered, covariant Galileon models are statistically ruled out by cosmological data.

Gauging the cosmic acceleration with recent type Ia supernovae data sets

Science.gov (United States)

Velten, Hermano; Gomes, Syrios; Busti, Vinicius C.

2018-04-01

We revisit a model-independent estimator for cosmic acceleration based on type Ia supernovae distance measurements. This approach does not rely on any specific theory for gravity, energy content, nor parametrization for the scale factor or deceleration parameter and is based on falsifying the null hypothesis that the Universe never expanded in an accelerated way. By generating mock catalogs of known cosmologies, we test the robustness of this estimator, establishing its limits of applicability. We detail the pros and cons of such an approach. For example, we find that there are specific counterexamples in which the estimator wrongly provides evidence against acceleration in accelerating cosmologies. The dependence of the estimator on the H0 value is also discussed. Finally, we update the evidence for acceleration using the recent UNION2.1 and Joint Light-Curve Analysis samples. Contrary to recent claims, available data strongly favor an accelerated expansion of the Universe in complete agreement with the standard Λ CDM model.

Observational constraints on cosmological models with Chaplygin gas and quadratic equation of state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharov, G.S.

2016-01-01

Observational manifestations of accelerated expansion of the universe, in particular, recent data for Type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations, for the Hubble parameter H ( z ) and cosmic microwave background constraints are described with different cosmological models. We compare the ΛCDM, the models with generalized and modified Chaplygin gas and the model with quadratic equation of state. For these models we estimate optimal model parameters and their permissible errors with different approaches to calculation of sound horizon scale r s ( z d ). Among the considered models the best value of χ 2 is achieved for the model with quadratic equation of state, but it has 2 additional parameters in comparison with the ΛCDM and therefore is not favored by the Akaike information criterion.

Universal subhalo accretion in cold and warm dark matter cosmologies

Science.gov (United States)

Kubik, Bogna; Libeskind, Noam I.; Knebe, Alexander; Courtois, Hélène; Yepes, Gustavo; Gottlöber, Stefan; Hoffman, Yehuda

2017-12-01

The influence of the large-scale structure on host haloes may be studied by examining the angular infall pattern of subhaloes. In particular, since warm dark matter (WDM) and cold dark matter (CDM) cosmologies predict different abundances and internal properties for haloes at the low-mass end of the mass function, it is interesting to examine if there are differences in how these low-mass haloes are accreted. The accretion events are defined as the moment a halo becomes a substructure, namely when it crosses its host's virial radius. We quantify the cosmic web at each point by the shear tensor and examine where, with respect to its eigenvectors, such accretion events occur in ΛCDM and ΛWDM (1 keV sterile neutrino) cosmological models. We find that the CDM and WDM subhaloes are preferentially accreted along the principal axis of the shear tensor corresponding to the direction of weakest collapse. The beaming strength is modulated by the host and subhalo masses and by the redshift at which the accretion event occurs. Although strongest for the most massive hosts and subhaloes at high redshift, the preferential infall is found to be always aligned with the axis of weakest collapse, thus we say that it has universal nature. We compare the strength of beaming in the ΛWDM cosmology with the one found in the ΛCDM scenario. While the main findings remain the same, the accretion in the ΛWDM model for the most massive host haloes appears more beamed than in ΛCDM cosmology across all the redshifts.

The importance of local measurements for cosmology

CERN Document Server

Verde, Licia; Jimenez, Raul

2013-01-01

We explore how local, cosmology-independent measurements of the Hubble constant and the age of the Universe help to provide a powerful consistency check of the currently favored cosmological model (flat LambdaCDM) and model-independent constraints on cosmology. We use cosmic microwave background (CMB) data to define the model-dependent cosmological parameters, and add local measurements to assess consistency and determine whether extensions to the model are justified. At current precision, there is no significant tension between the locally measured Hubble constant and age of the Universe (with errors of 3% and 5% respectively) and the corresponding parameters derived from the CMB. However, if errors on the local measurements could be decreased by a factor of two, one could decisively conclude if there is tension or not. We also compare the local and CMB data assuming simple extensions of the flat, $\\Lambda$CDM model (including curvature, dark energy with a constant equation of state parameter not equal to -1...

Efficient simulations of large-scale structure in modified gravity cosmologies with comoving Lagrangian acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Valogiannis, Georgios; Bean, Rachel

2017-05-01

We implement an adaptation of the cola approach, a hybrid scheme that combines Lagrangian perturbation theory with an N-body approach, to model nonlinear collapse in chameleon and symmetron modified gravity models. Gravitational screening is modeled effectively through the attachment of a suppression factor to the linearized Klein-Gordon equations. The adapted cola approach is benchmarked, with respect to an N-body code both for the Λ cold dark matter (Λ CDM ) scenario and for the modified gravity theories. It is found to perform well in the estimation of the dark matter power spectra, with consistency of 1% to k ˜2.5 h /Mpc . Redshift space distortions are shown to be effectively modeled through a Lorentzian parametrization with a velocity dispersion fit to the data. We find that cola performs less well in predicting the halo mass functions but has consistency, within 1 σ uncertainties of our simulations, in the relative changes to the mass function induced by the modified gravity models relative to Λ CDM . The results demonstrate that cola, proposed to enable accurate and efficient, nonlinear predictions for Λ CDM , can be effectively applied to a wider set of cosmological scenarios, with intriguing properties, for which clustering behavior needs to be understood for upcoming surveys such as LSST, DESI, Euclid, and WFIRST.

Cosmology based on f(R) gravity with O(1) eV sterile neutrino

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chudaykin, Anton S.; Gorbunov, Dmitry S. [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 60th October Anniversary prospect 7a, Moscow 117312 (Russian Federation); Starobinsky, Alexei A. [L.D. Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119334 (Russian Federation); Burenin, Rodion A., E-mail: chudy@ms2.inr.ac.ru, E-mail: gorby@ms2.inr.ac.ru, E-mail: alstar@landau.ac.ru, E-mail: rodion@hea.iki.rssi.ru [Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI), Moscow, ul. Profsoyuznaya, 84/32, 117997 (Russian Federation)

2015-05-01

We address the cosmological role of an additional O(1) eV sterile neutrino in modified gravity models. We confront the present cosmological data with predictions of the FLRW cosmological model based on a variant of f(R) modified gravity proposed by one of the authors previously. This viable cosmological model which deviation from general relativity with a cosmological constant Λ decreases as R{sup −2n} for large, but not too large values of the Ricci scalar R (while no Λ is introduced by hand at small R) provides an alternative explanation of present dark energy and the accelerated expansion of the Universe (the case n=2 is considered in the paper). Various up-to-date cosmological data sets exploited include measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy, the CMB lensing potential, the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), the cluster mass function and the Hubble constant. We find that the CMB+BAO constraints strongly restrict the sum of neutrino masses from above. This excludes values of the model parameter λ∼ 1 for which distinctive cosmological features of the model are mostly pronounced as compared to the ΛCDM model, since then free streaming damping of perturbations due to neutrino rest masses is not sufficient to compensate their extra growth occurring in f(R) modified gravity. Thus, in the gravity sector we obtain λ>8.2 (2σ) with the account of systematic uncertainties in galaxy cluster mass function measurements and λ>9.4 (2σ) without them. At the same time in the latter case we find for the sterile neutrino mass 0.47 eV < m{sub ν, sterile} < 1 eV (2σ) assuming that the sterile neutrinos are thermalized and the active neutrinos are massless, not significantly larger than in the standard ΛCDM with the same data set: 0.45 eV < m{sub ν, sterile} < 0.92 eV (2σ). However, a possible discovery of a sterile neutrino with the mass m{sub ν, sterile} ≈ 1.5 eV motivated by various anomalies in neutrino oscillation

ΛCDM model with dissipative nonextensive viscous dark matter

Science.gov (United States)

Gimenes, H. S.; Viswanathan, G. M.; Silva, R.

2018-03-01

Many models in cosmology typically assume the standard bulk viscosity. We study an alternative interpretation for the origin of the bulk viscosity. Using nonadditive statistics proposed by Tsallis, we propose a bulk viscosity component that can only exist by a nonextensive effect through the nonextensive/dissipative correspondence (NexDC). In this paper, we consider a ΛCDM model for a flat universe with a dissipative nonextensive viscous dark matter component, following the Eckart theory of bulk viscosity, without any perturbative approach. In order to analyze cosmological constraints, we use one of the most recent observations of Type Ia Supernova, baryon acoustic oscillations and cosmic microwave background data.

Small scale structure formation in chameleon cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brax, Ph.; Bruck, C. van de; Davis, A.C.; Green, A.M.

2006-01-01

Chameleon fields are scalar fields whose mass depends on the ambient matter density. We investigate the effects of these fields on the growth of density perturbations on sub-galactic scales and the formation of the first dark matter halos. Density perturbations on comoving scales R<1 pc go non-linear and collapse to form structure much earlier than in standard ΛCDM cosmology. The resulting mini-halos are hence more dense and resilient to disruption. We therefore expect (provided that the density perturbations on these scales have not been erased by damping processes) that the dark matter distribution on small scales would be more clumpy in chameleon cosmology than in the ΛCDM model

Comparison of Cluster Lensing Profiles with Lambda CDM Predictions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Broadhurst, Tom; /Tel Aviv U.; Umetsu, Keiichi; /Taipei, Inst. Astron. Astrophys.; Medezinski, Elinor; /Tel Aviv U.; Oguri, Masamune; /KIPAC, Menlo Park; Rephaeli, Yoel; /Tel Aviv U. /San Diego, CASS

2008-05-21

We derive lens distortion and magnification profiles of four well known clusters observed with Subaru. Each cluster is very well fitted by the general form predicted for Cold Dark Matter (CDM) dominated halos, with good consistency found between the independent distortion and magnification measurements. The inferred level of mass concentration is surprisingly high, 8 < c{sub vir} < 15 ( = 10.39 {+-} 0.91), compared to the relatively shallow profiles predicted by the {Lambda}CDM model, c{sub vir} = 5.06 {+-} 1.10 (for = 1.25 x 10{sup 15} M{sub {circle_dot}}/h). This represents a 4{sigma} discrepancy, and includes the relatively modest effects of projection bias and profile evolution derived from N-body simulations, which oppose each other with little residual effect. In the context of CDM based cosmologies, this discrepancy implies some modification of the widely assumed spectrum of initial density perturbations, so clusters collapse earlier (z {ge} 1) than predicted (z < 0.5) when the Universe was correspondingly denser.

Exact solutions for scalar field cosmology in f(R) gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Maharaj, S. D.; Goswami, R.; Chervon, S. V.; Nikolaev, A. V.

2017-09-01

We study scalar field FLRW cosmology in the content of f(R) gravity. Our consideration is restricted to the spatially flat Friedmann universe. We derived the general evolution equations of the model, and showed that the scalar field equation is automatically satisfied for any form of the f(R) function. We also derived representations for kinetic and potential energies, as well as for the acceleration in terms of the Hubble parameter and the form of the f(R) function. Next we found the exact cosmological solutions in modified gravity without specifying the f(R) function. With negligible acceleration of the scalar curvature, we found that the de Sitter inflationary solution is always attained. Also we obtained new solutions with special restrictions on the integration constants. These solutions contain oscillating, accelerating, decelerating and even contracting universes. For further investigation, we selected special cases which can be applied with early or late inflation. We also found exact solutions for the general case for the model with negligible acceleration of the scalar curvature in terms of special Airy functions. Using initial conditions which represent the universe at the present epoch, we determined the constants of integration. This allows for the comparison of the scale factor in the new solutions with that for current stage of the universe evolution in the ΛCDM model.

Cosmic acceleration in a dust only universe via energy-momentum powered gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Akarsu, Özgür; Katırcı, Nihan; Kumar, Suresh

2018-01-01

We propose a modified theory of gravitation constructed by the addition of the term f (Tμ νTμ ν) to the Einstein-Hilbert action, and elaborate a particular case f (Tμ νTμ ν)=α (Tμ νTμ ν)η, where α and η are real constants, dubbed energy-momentum powered gravity (EMPG). We search for viable cosmologies arising from EMPG, especially in the context of the late-time accelerated expansion of the Universe. We investigate the ranges of the EMPG parameters (α ,η ) on theoretical as well as observational grounds leading to the late-time acceleration of the Universe with pressureless matter only, while keeping the successes of standard general relativity at early times. We find that η =0 corresponds to the Λ CDM model, whereas η ≠0 leads to a w CDM -type model. However, the underlying physics of the EMPG model is entirely different in the sense that the energy in the EMPG Universe is sourced by pressureless matter only. Moreover, the energy of the pressureless matter is not conserved, namely, in general it does not dilute as ρ ∝a-3 with the expansion of the Universe. Finally, we constrain the parameters of an EMPG-based cosmology with a recent compilation of 28 Hubble parameter measurements, and find that this model describes an evolution of the Universe similar to that in the Λ CDM model. We briefly discuss that EMPG can be unified with Starobinsky gravity to describe the complete history of the Universe including the inflationary era.

Cosmic Rays Accelerated at Cosmological Shock Waves Renyi Ma1 ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Cosmic Rays Accelerated at Cosmological Shock Waves. Renyi Ma1,2,∗ ... ratio of CR to thermal energy in the ICM and WHIM based on numerical simulations and diffusive shock ... Hence, the nonthermal radiation of CRs may provide us a.

Dark interactions and cosmological fine-tuning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quartin, Miguel; Calvao, Mauricio O; Joras, Sergio E; Reis, Ribamar R R; Waga, Ioav, E-mail: mquartin@if.ufrj.br, E-mail: orca@if.ufrj.br, E-mail: joras@if.ufrj.br, E-mail: ribamar@if.ufrj.br, E-mail: ioav@if.ufrj.br [Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CEP 21941-972, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2008-05-15

Cosmological models involving an interaction between dark matter and dark energy have been proposed in order to solve the so-called coincidence problem. Different forms of coupling have been studied, but there have been claims that observational data seem to narrow (some of) them down to something annoyingly close to the {Lambda}CDM (CDM: cold dark matter) model, thus greatly reducing their ability to deal with the problem in the first place. The smallness problem of the initial energy density of dark energy has also been a target of cosmological models in recent years. Making use of a moderately general coupling scheme, this paper aims to unite these different approaches and shed some light on whether this class of models has any true perspective in suppressing the aforementioned issues that plague our current understanding of the universe, in a quantitative and unambiguous way.

THE CHALLENGE OF THE LARGEST STRUCTURES IN THE UNIVERSE TO COSMOLOGY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Changbom; Choi, Yun-Young; Kim, Sungsoo S.; Kim, Kap-Sung; Kim, Juhan; Gott III, J. Richard

2012-01-01

Large galaxy redshift surveys have long been used to constrain cosmological models and structure formation scenarios. In particular, the largest structures discovered observationally are thought to carry critical information on the amplitude of large-scale density fluctuations or homogeneity of the universe, and have often challenged the standard cosmological framework. The Sloan Great Wall (SGW) recently found in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) region casts doubt on the concordance cosmological model with a cosmological constant (i.e., the flat ΛCDM model). Here we show that the existence of the SGW is perfectly consistent with the ΛCDM model, a result that only our very large cosmological N-body simulation (the Horizon Run 2, HR2) could supply. In addition, we report on the discovery of a void complex in the SDSS much larger than the SGW, and show that such size of the largest void is also predicted in the ΛCDM paradigm. Our results demonstrate that an initially homogeneous isotropic universe with primordial Gaussian random phase density fluctuations growing in accordance with the general relativity can explain the richness and size of the observed large-scale structures in the SDSS. Using the HR2 simulation we predict that a future galaxy redshift survey about four times deeper or with 3 mag fainter limit than the SDSS should reveal a largest structure of bright galaxies about twice as big as the SGW.

Cosmological tests of coupled Galileons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brax, Philippe; Burrage, Clare; Davis, Anne-Christine; Gubitosi, Giulia

2015-01-01

We investigate the cosmological properties of Galileon models which admit Minkowski space as a stable solution in vacuum. This is motivated by stable, positive tension brane world constructions that give rise to Galileons. We include both conformal and disformal couplings to matter and focus on constraints on the theory that arise because of these couplings. The disformal coupling to baryonic matter is extremely constrained by astrophysical and particle physics effects. The disformal coupling to photons induces a cosmological variation of the speed of light and therefore distorsions of the Cosmic Microwave Background spectrum which are known to be very small. The conformal coupling to baryons leads to a variation of particle masses since Big Bang Nucleosynthesis which is also tightly constrained. We consider the background cosmology of Galileon models coupled to Cold Dark Matter (CDM), photons and baryons and impose that the speed of light and particle masses respect the observational bounds on cosmological time scales. We find that requiring that the equation of state for the Galileon models must be close to -1 now restricts severely their parameter space and can only be achieved with a combination of the conformal and disformal couplings. This leads to large variations of particle masses and the speed of light which are not compatible with observations. As a result, we find that cosmological Galileon models are viable dark energy theories coupled to dark matter but their couplings, both disformal and conformal, to baryons and photons must be heavily suppressed making them only sensitive to CDM

Determination of the cosmological parameters and the nature of dark energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Linden, S.

2010-04-01

The measured properties of the dark energy component being consistent with a Cosmological Constant, Λ, this cosmological standard model is referred to as the Λ-Cold-Dark-Matter (ΛCDM) model. Despite its overall success, this model suffers from various problems. The existence of a Cosmological Constant raises fundamental questions. Attempts to describe it as the energy contribution from the vacuum as following from Quantum Field Theory failed quantitatively. In consequence, a large number of alternative models have been developed to describe the dark energy component: modified gravity, additional dimensions, Quintessence models. Also, astrophysical effects have been considered to mimic an accelerated expansion. The basics of the ΛCDM model and the various attempts of explaining dark energy are outlined in this thesis. Another major problem of the model comes from the dependencies of the fit results on a number of a priori assumptions and parameterization effects. Today, combined analyses of the various cosmological probes are performed to extract the parameters of the model. Due to a wrong model assumption or a bad parameterization of the real physics, one might end up measuring with high precision something which is not there. We show, that indeed due to the high precision of modern cosmological measurements, purely kinematic approaches to distance measurements no longer yield valid fit results except for accidental special cases, and that a fit of the exact (integral) redshift-distance relation is necessary. The main results of this work concern the use of the CPL parameterization of dark energy when coping with the dynamics of tracker solutions of Quintessence models, and the risk of introducing biases on the parameters due to the possibly prohibited extrapolation to arbitrary high redshifts of the SN type Ia magnitude calibration relation, which is obtained in the low-redshift regime. Whereas the risks of applying CPL shows up to be small for a wide range of

Cosmology and Gravitation: the grand scheme for High-Energy Physics

CERN Document Server

Binétruy, P.

2014-12-10

These lectures describe how the Standard Model of cosmology ( Λ CDM) has developped, based on observational facts but also on ideas formed in the context of the theory of fundamental interactions, both gravitational and non-gravitational, the latter being described by the Standard Model of high energy physics. It focuses on the latest developments, in particular the precise knowledge of the early Universe provided by the observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background and the discovery of the present acceleration of the expansion of the Universe. While insisting on the successes of the Standard Model of cosmology, we will stress that it rests on three pillars which involve many open questions: the theory of inflation, the nature of dark matter and of dark energy. We will devote one chapter to each of these issues, describing in particular how this impacts our views on the theory of fundamental interactions. More technical parts are given in italics. They may be skipped altogether.

Early cosmology constrained

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verde, Licia; Jimenez, Raul [Institute of Cosmos Sciences, University of Barcelona, IEEC-UB, Martí Franquès, 1, E08028 Barcelona (Spain); Bellini, Emilio [University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Pigozzo, Cassio [Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA (Brazil); Heavens, Alan F., E-mail: liciaverde@icc.ub.edu, E-mail: emilio.bellini@physics.ox.ac.uk, E-mail: cpigozzo@ufba.br, E-mail: a.heavens@imperial.ac.uk, E-mail: raul.jimenez@icc.ub.edu [Imperial Centre for Inference and Cosmology (ICIC), Imperial College, Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

2017-04-01

We investigate our knowledge of early universe cosmology by exploring how much additional energy density can be placed in different components beyond those in the ΛCDM model. To do this we use a method to separate early- and late-universe information enclosed in observational data, thus markedly reducing the model-dependency of the conclusions. We find that the 95% credibility regions for extra energy components of the early universe at recombination are: non-accelerating additional fluid density parameter Ω{sub MR} < 0.006 and extra radiation parameterised as extra effective neutrino species 2.3 < N {sub eff} < 3.2 when imposing flatness. Our constraints thus show that even when analyzing the data in this largely model-independent way, the possibility of hiding extra energy components beyond ΛCDM in the early universe is seriously constrained by current observations. We also find that the standard ruler, the sound horizon at radiation drag, can be well determined in a way that does not depend on late-time Universe assumptions, but depends strongly on early-time physics and in particular on additional components that behave like radiation. We find that the standard ruler length determined in this way is r {sub s} = 147.4 ± 0.7 Mpc if the radiation and neutrino components are standard, but the uncertainty increases by an order of magnitude when non-standard dark radiation components are allowed, to r {sub s} = 150 ± 5 Mpc.

From Planck Data to Planck Era: Observational Tests of Holographic Cosmology.

Science.gov (United States)

Afshordi, Niayesh; Corianò, Claudio; Delle Rose, Luigi; Gould, Elizabeth; Skenderis, Kostas

2017-01-27

We test a class of holographic models for the very early Universe against cosmological observations and find that they are competitive to the standard cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant (ΛCDM) of cosmology. These models are based on three-dimensional perturbative superrenormalizable quantum field theory (QFT), and, while they predict a different power spectrum from the standard power law used in ΛCDM, they still provide an excellent fit to the data (within their regime of validity). By comparing the Bayesian evidence for the models, we find that ΛCDM does a better job globally, while the holographic models provide a (marginally) better fit to the data without very low multipoles (i.e., l≲30), where the QFT becomes nonperturbative. Observations can be used to exclude some QFT models, while we also find models satisfying all phenomenological constraints: The data rule out the dual theory being a Yang-Mills theory coupled to fermions only but allow for a Yang-Mills theory coupled to nonminimal scalars with quartic interactions. Lattice simulations of 3D QFTs can provide nonperturbative predictions for large-angle statistics of the cosmic microwave background and potentially explain its apparent anomalies.

Cosmological reconstruction of realistic modified F(R) gravities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nojiri, Shin'ichi; Odintsov, Sergei D.; Saez-Gomez, Diego

2009-01-01

The cosmological reconstruction scheme for modified F(R) gravity is developed in terms of e-folding (or, redshift). It is demonstrated how any FRW cosmology may emerge from specific F(R) theory. The specific examples of well-known cosmological evolution are reconstructed, including ΛCDM cosmology, deceleration with transition to phantom superacceleration era which may develop singularity or be transient. The application of this scheme to viable F(R) gravities unifying inflation with dark energy era is proposed. The additional reconstruction of such models leads to non-leading gravitational correction mainly relevant at the early/late universe and helping to pass the cosmological bounds (if necessary). It is also shown how cosmological reconstruction scheme may be generalized in the presence of scalar field.

CDM Country Guides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

Under the Integrated Capacity Strengthening for the Clean Development Mechanism (ICS-CDM) programme, IGES presents the CDM Country Guides, a series of manuals on CDM project development for Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. These guidebooks aim at facilitating CDM project developments in Asia by providing essential information to both project developers and potential investors. Chapter 1, Introduction, is a summary of issues that developers and investors in CDM projects should be aware of. Includes tips for readers to effectively use the guidebook to find specific information. Chapter 2, Country Profile, comprises a profile that provides a broad picture of the country, including social, economic, and political information, as well as an overview of the country's energy situation, which is important for project development and investment. Chapter 3, The CDM Project Cycle, gives an explanation of the general CDM project cycle, which includes identifying a project, issuance of carbon credits, requirements, and stakeholders for each process. Chapter 4, Possible CDM Projects in the Country, is an overview of the country's potential resources and sectoral or project type categories that hold potential for CDM projects. Chapter 5, Government Authorities, gives a comprehensive picture of the CDM-related institutional framework and its inter-organisational relationships. Chapter 6, CDM Project Approval Procedures and Requirements Steps, informs about obtaining project approval and its requirements (e.g., country-specific provisions on additionality, sustainable development criteria, and environmental impact assessment) in the host country. Chapter 7, Laws and Regulations, is an overview of basic investment-related laws, environmental and property law, and sector-specific regulations relevant to CDM project activities. Chapter 8, Fiscal and Financing Issues, gives practical information on the financial market in the host country (both

Sterile neutrinos with eV masses in cosmology — How disfavoured exactly?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamann, Jan; Hannestad, Steen; Raffelt, Georg G.; Wong, Yvonne Y.Y.

2011-01-01

We study cosmological models that contain sterile neutrinos with eV-range masses as suggested by reactor and short-baseline oscillation data. We confront these models with both precision cosmological data (probing the CMB decoupling epoch) and light-element abundances (probing the BBN epoch). In the minimal ΛCDM model, such sterile neutrinos are strongly disfavoured by current data because they contribute too much hot dark matter. However, if the cosmological framework is extended to include also additional relativistic degrees of freedom beyond the three standard neutrinos and the putative sterile neutrinos, then the hot dark matter constraint on the sterile states is considerably relaxed. A further improvement is achieved by allowing a dark energy equation of state parameter w e degeneracy. Any model containing eV-mass sterile neutrinos implies also strong modifications of other cosmological parameters. Notably, the inferred cold dark matter density can shift up by 20–75% relative to the standard ΛCDM value

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cosmological Constraints from Galaxy Clustering and Weak Lensing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abbott, T.M.C.; et al.

2017-08-04

We present cosmological results from a combined analysis of galaxy clustering and weak gravitational lensing, using 1321 deg$^2$ of $griz$ imaging data from the first year of the Dark Energy Survey (DES Y1). We combine three two-point functions: (i) the cosmic shear correlation function of 26 million source galaxies in four redshift bins, (ii) the galaxy angular autocorrelation function of 650,000 luminous red galaxies in five redshift bins, and (iii) the galaxy-shear cross-correlation of luminous red galaxy positions and source galaxy shears. To demonstrate the robustness of these results, we use independent pairs of galaxy shape, photometric redshift estimation and validation, and likelihood analysis pipelines. To prevent confirmation bias, the bulk of the analysis was carried out while blind to the true results; we describe an extensive suite of systematics checks performed and passed during this blinded phase. The data are modeled in flat $\\Lambda$CDM and $w$CDM cosmologies, marginalizing over 20 nuisance parameters, varying 6 (for $\\Lambda$CDM) or 7 (for $w$CDM) cosmological parameters including the neutrino mass density and including the 457 $\\times$ 457 element analytic covariance matrix. We find consistent cosmological results from these three two-point functions, and from their combination obtain $S_8 \\equiv \\sigma_8 (\\Omega_m/0.3)^{0.5} = 0.783^{+0.021}_{-0.025}$ and $\\Omega_m = 0.264^{+0.032}_{-0.019}$ for $\\Lambda$CDM for $w$CDM, we find $S_8 = 0.794^{+0.029}_{-0.027}$, $\\Omega_m = 0.279^{+0.043}_{-0.022}$, and $w=-0.80^{+0.20}_{-0.22}$ at 68% CL. The precision of these DES Y1 results rivals that from the Planck cosmic microwave background measurements, allowing a comparison of structure in the very early and late Universe on equal terms. Although the DES Y1 best-fit values for $S_8$ and $\\Omega_m$ are lower than the central values from Planck ...

Deconstructing cosmology

CERN Document Server

Sanders, Robert H

2016-01-01

The advent of sensitive high-resolution observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation and their successful interpretation in terms of the standard cosmological model has led to great confidence in this model's reality. The prevailing attitude is that we now understand the Universe and need only work out the details. In this book, Sanders traces the development and successes of Lambda-CDM, and argues that this triumphalism may be premature. The model's two major components, dark energy and dark matter, have the character of the pre-twentieth-century luminiferous aether. While there is astronomical evidence for these hypothetical fluids, their enigmatic properties call into question our assumptions of the universality of locally determined physical law. Sanders explains how modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) is a significant challenge for cold dark matter. Overall, the message is hopeful: the field of cosmology has not become frozen, and there is much fundamental work ahead for tomorrow's cosmologis...

Supernova cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leibundgut, B.

2005-01-01

Supernovae have developed into a versatile tool for cosmology. Their impact on the cosmological model has been profound and led to the discovery of the accelerated expansion. The current status of the cosmological model as perceived through supernova observations will be presented. Supernovae are currently the only astrophysical objects that can measure the dynamics of the cosmic expansion during the past eight billion years. Ongoing experiments are trying to determine the characteristics of the accelerated expansion and give insight into what might be the physical explanation for the acceleration. (author)

A comparison of cosmological models using time delay lenses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wei, Jun-Jie; Wu, Xue-Feng; Melia, Fulvio, E-mail: jjwei@pmo.ac.cn, E-mail: xfwu@pmo.ac.cn, E-mail: fmelia@email.arizona.edu [Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China)

2014-06-20

The use of time-delay gravitational lenses to examine the cosmological expansion introduces a new standard ruler with which to test theoretical models. The sample suitable for this kind of work now includes 12 lens systems, which have thus far been used solely for optimizing the parameters of ΛCDM. In this paper, we broaden the base of support for this new, important cosmic probe by using these observations to carry out a one-on-one comparison between competing models. The currently available sample indicates a likelihood of ∼70%-80% that the R {sub h} = ct universe is the correct cosmology versus ∼20%-30% for the standard model. This possibly interesting result reinforces the need to greatly expand the sample of time-delay lenses, e.g., with the successful implementation of the Dark Energy Survey, the VST ATLAS survey, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. In anticipation of a greatly expanded catalog of time-delay lenses identified with these surveys, we have produced synthetic samples to estimate how large they would have to be in order to rule out either model at a ∼99.7% confidence level. We find that if the real cosmology is ΛCDM, a sample of ∼150 time-delay lenses would be sufficient to rule out R {sub h} = ct at this level of accuracy, while ∼1000 time-delay lenses would be required to rule out ΛCDM if the real universe is instead R {sub h} = ct. This difference in required sample size reflects the greater number of free parameters available to fit the data with ΛCDM.

A comparison of cosmological models using time delay lenses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, Jun-Jie; Wu, Xue-Feng; Melia, Fulvio

2014-01-01

The use of time-delay gravitational lenses to examine the cosmological expansion introduces a new standard ruler with which to test theoretical models. The sample suitable for this kind of work now includes 12 lens systems, which have thus far been used solely for optimizing the parameters of ΛCDM. In this paper, we broaden the base of support for this new, important cosmic probe by using these observations to carry out a one-on-one comparison between competing models. The currently available sample indicates a likelihood of ∼70%-80% that the R h = ct universe is the correct cosmology versus ∼20%-30% for the standard model. This possibly interesting result reinforces the need to greatly expand the sample of time-delay lenses, e.g., with the successful implementation of the Dark Energy Survey, the VST ATLAS survey, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. In anticipation of a greatly expanded catalog of time-delay lenses identified with these surveys, we have produced synthetic samples to estimate how large they would have to be in order to rule out either model at a ∼99.7% confidence level. We find that if the real cosmology is ΛCDM, a sample of ∼150 time-delay lenses would be sufficient to rule out R h = ct at this level of accuracy, while ∼1000 time-delay lenses would be required to rule out ΛCDM if the real universe is instead R h = ct. This difference in required sample size reflects the greater number of free parameters available to fit the data with ΛCDM.

Models of f(R) cosmic acceleration that evade solar system tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, Wayne; Sawicki, Ignacy

2007-01-01

We study a class of metric-variation f(R) models that accelerates the expansion without a cosmological constant and satisfies both cosmological and solar-system tests in the small-field limit of the parameter space. Solar-system tests alone place only weak bounds on these models, since the additional scalar degree of freedom is locked to the high-curvature general-relativistic prediction across more than 25 orders of magnitude in density, out through the solar corona. This agreement requires that the galactic halo be of sufficient extent to maintain the galaxy at high curvature in the presence of the low-curvature cosmological background. If the galactic halo and local environment in f(R) models do not have substantially deeper potentials than expected in ΛCDM, then cosmological field amplitudes |f R | > or approx.10 -6 will cause the galactic interior to evolve to low curvature during the acceleration epoch. Viability of large-deviation models therefore rests on the structure and evolution of the galactic halo, requiring cosmological simulations of f(R) models, and not directly on solar-system tests. Even small deviations that conservatively satisfy both galactic and solar-system constraints can still be tested by future, percent-level measurements of the linear power spectrum, while they remain undetectable to cosmological-distance measures. Although we illustrate these effects in a specific class of models, the requirements on f(R) are phrased in a nearly model-independent manner

Testing and selecting cosmological models with ultra-compact radio quasars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Xiaolei [Beijing Normal University, Department of Astronomy, Beijing (China); University of Michigan, Department of Physics, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Cao, Shuo; Qi, Jingzhao; Zhu, Zong-Hong [Beijing Normal University, Department of Astronomy, Beijing (China); Zheng, Xiaogang; Biesiada, Marek [Beijing Normal University, Department of Astronomy, Beijing (China); University of Silesia, Department of Astrophysics and Cosmology, Institute of Phyisics, Katowice (Poland)

2017-10-15

In this paper, we place constraints on four alternative cosmological models under the assumption of the spatial flatness of the Universe: CPL, EDE, GCG and MPC. A new compilation of 120 compact radio quasars observed by very-long-baseline interferometry, which represents a type of new cosmological standard rulers, are used to test these cosmological models. Our results show that the fits on CPL obtained from the quasar sample are well consistent with those obtained from BAO. For other cosmological models considered, quasars provide constraints in agreement with those derived with other standard probes at 1σ confidence level. Moreover, the results obtained from other statistical methods including figure of merit, Om(z) and statefinder diagnostics indicate that: (1) Radio quasar standard ruler could provide better statistical constraints than BAO for all cosmological models considered, which suggests its potential to act as a powerful complementary probe to BAO and galaxy clusters. (2) Turning to Om(z) diagnostics, CPL, GCG and EDE models cannot be distinguished from each other at the present epoch. (3) In the framework of statefinder diagnostics, MPC and EDE will deviate from the ΛCDM model in the near future, while GCG model cannot be distinguished from the ΛCDM model unless much higher precision observations are available. (orig.)

The H II galaxy Hubble diagram strongly favours Rh = ct over ΛCDM

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Jun-Jie; Wu, Xue-Feng; Melia, Fulvio

2016-12-01

We continue to build support for the proposal to use H II galaxies (HIIGx) and giant extragalactic H II regions (GEHR) as standard candles to construct the Hubble diagram at redshifts beyond the current reach of Type Ia supernovae. Using a sample of 25 high-redshift HIIGx, 107 local HIIGx, and 24 GEHR, we confirm that the correlation between the emission-line luminosity and ionized-gas velocity dispersion is a viable luminosity indicator, and use it to test and compare the standard model ΛCDM and the Rh = ct universe by optimizing the parameters in each cosmology using a maximization of the likelihood function. For the flat ΛCDM model, the best fit is obtained with Ω _m= 0.40_{-0.09}^{+0.09}. However, statistical tools, such as the Akaike (AIC), Kullback (KIC) and Bayes (BIC) Information Criteria favour Rh = ct over the standard model with a likelihood of ≈94.8-98.8 per cent versus only ≈1.2-5.2 per cent. For wCDM (the version of ΛCDM with a dark-energy equation of state wde ≡ pde/ρde rather than wde = wΛ = -1), a statistically acceptable fit is realized with Ω _m=0.22_{-0.14}^{+0.16} and w_de= -0.51_{-0.25}^{+0.15} which, however, are not fully consistent with their concordance values. In this case, wCDM has two more free parameters than Rh = ct, and is penalized more heavily by these criteria. We find that Rh = ct is strongly favoured over wCDM with a likelihood of ≈92.9-99.6 per cent versus only 0.4-7.1 per cent. The current HIIGx sample is already large enough for the BIC to rule out ΛCDM/wCDM in favour of Rh = ct at a confidence level approaching 3σ.

Kaluza-Klein cosmological model in f(R, T) gravity with Λ(T)

Science.gov (United States)

Sahoo, P. K.; Mishra, B.; Tripathy, S. K.

2016-04-01

A class of Kaluza-Klein cosmological models in $f(R,T)$ theory of gravity have been investigated. In the work, we have considered the functional $f(R,T)$ to be in the form $f(R,T)=f(R)+f(T)$ with $f(R)=\\lambda R$ and $f(T)=\\lambda T$. Such a choice of the functional $f(R,T)$ leads to an evolving effective cosmological constant $\\Lambda$ which depends on the stress energy tensor. The source of the matter field is taken to be a perfect cosmic fluid. The exact solutions of the field equations are obtained by considering a constant deceleration parameter which leads two different aspects of the volumetric expansion namely a power law and an exponential volumetric expansion. Keeping an eye on the accelerating nature of the universe in the present epoch, the dynamics and physical behaviour of the models have been discussed. From statefinder diagnostic pair we found that the model with exponential volumetric expansion behaves more like a $\\Lambda$CDM model.

Anisotropic SD2 brane: accelerating cosmology and Kasner-like space-time from compactification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nayek, Kuntal; Roy, Shibaji

2017-01-01

Starting from an anisotropic (in all directions including the time direction of the brane) non-SUSY D2 brane solution of type IIA string theory we construct an anisotropic space-like D2 brane (or SD2 brane, for short) solution by the standard trick of a double Wick rotation. This solution is characterized by five independent parameters. We show that compactification on six-dimensional hyperbolic space (H_6) of a time-dependent volume of this SD2 brane solution leads to accelerating cosmologies (for some time t ∝ t_0, with t_0 some characteristic time) where both the expansions and the accelerations are different in three spatial directions of the resultant four-dimensional universe. On the other hand at early times (t << t_0) this four-dimensional space, in certain situations, leads to four-dimensional Kasner-like cosmology, with two additional scalars, namely, the dilaton and a volume scalar of H_6. Unlike in the standard four-dimensional Kasner cosmology here all three Kasner exponents could be positive definite, leading to expansions in all three directions. (orig.)

Higgs-dilaton cosmology: An inflation-dark-energy connection and forecasts for future galaxy surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Casas, Santiago; Pauly, Martin; Rubio, Javier

2018-02-01

The Higgs-dilaton model is a scale-invariant extension of the Standard Model nonminimally coupled to gravity and containing just one additional degree of freedom on top of the Standard Model particle content. This minimalistic scenario predicts a set of measurable consistency relations between the inflationary observables and the dark-energy equation-of-state parameter. We present an alternative derivation of these consistency relations that highlights the connections and differences with the α -attractor scenario. We study how far these constraints allow one to distinguish the Higgs-dilaton model from Λ CDM and w CDM cosmologies. To this end we first analyze existing data sets using a Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. Second, we perform forecasts for future galaxy surveys using a Fisher matrix approach, both for galaxy clustering and weak lensing probes. Assuming that the best fit values in the different models remain comparable to the present ones, we show that both Euclid- and SKA2-like missions will be able to discriminate a Higgs-dilaton cosmology from Λ CDM and w CDM .

A non-parametric consistency test of the ΛCDM model with Planck CMB data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aghamousa, Amir; Shafieloo, Arman [Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Daejeon 305-348 (Korea, Republic of); Hamann, Jan, E-mail: amir@aghamousa.com, E-mail: jan.hamann@unsw.edu.au, E-mail: shafieloo@kasi.re.kr [School of Physics, The University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052 (Australia)

2017-09-01

Non-parametric reconstruction methods, such as Gaussian process (GP) regression, provide a model-independent way of estimating an underlying function and its uncertainty from noisy data. We demonstrate how GP-reconstruction can be used as a consistency test between a given data set and a specific model by looking for structures in the residuals of the data with respect to the model's best-fit. Applying this formalism to the Planck temperature and polarisation power spectrum measurements, we test their global consistency with the predictions of the base ΛCDM model. Our results do not show any serious inconsistencies, lending further support to the interpretation of the base ΛCDM model as cosmology's gold standard.

Bimetric gravity is cosmologically viable

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yashar Akrami

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Bimetric theory describes gravitational interactions in the presence of an extra spin-2 field. Previous work has suggested that its cosmological solutions are generically plagued by instabilities. We show that by taking the Planck mass for the second metric, Mf, to be small, these instabilities can be pushed back to unobservably early times. In this limit, the theory approaches general relativity with an effective cosmological constant which is, remarkably, determined by the spin-2 interaction scale. This provides a late-time expansion history which is extremely close to ΛCDM, but with a technically-natural value for the cosmological constant. We find Mf should be no larger than the electroweak scale in order for cosmological perturbations to be stable by big-bang nucleosynthesis. We further show that in this limit the helicity-0 mode is no longer strongly-coupled at low energy scales.

Colliders as a simultaneous probe of supersymmetric dark matter and Terascale cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barenboim, Gabriela; /Valencia U.; Lykken, Joseph D.; /Fermilab

2006-08-01

Terascale supersymmetry has the potential to provide a natural explanation of the dominant dark matter component of the standard {Lambda}CDM cosmology. However once we impose the constraints on minimal supersymmetry parameters from current particle physics data, a satisfactory dark matter abundance is no longer prima facie natural. This Neutralino Tuning Problem could be a hint of nonstandard cosmology during and/or after the Terascale era. To quantify this possibility, we introduce an alternative cosmological benchmark based upon a simple model of quintessential inflation. This benchmark has no free parameters, so for a given supersymmetry model it allows an unambiguous prediction of the dark matter relic density. As a example, we scan over the parameter space of the CMSSM, comparing the neutralino relic density predictions with the bounds from WMAP. We find that the WMAP-allowed regions of the CMSSM are an order of magnitude larger if we use the alternative cosmological benchmark, as opposed to {Lambda}CDM. Initial results from the CERN Large Hadron Collider will distinguish between the two allowed regions.

Colliders as a simultaneous probe of supersymmetric dark matter and Terascale cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barenboim, Gabriela; Valencia U.; Lykken, Joseph D.; Fermilab

2006-01-01

Terascale supersymmetry has the potential to provide a natural explanation of the dominant dark matter component of the standard ΛCDM cosmology. However once we impose the constraints on minimal supersymmetry parameters from current particle physics data, a satisfactory dark matter abundance is no longer prima facie natural. This Neutralino Tuning Problem could be a hint of nonstandard cosmology during and/or after the Terascale era. To quantify this possibility, we introduce an alternative cosmological benchmark based upon a simple model of quintessential inflation. This benchmark has no free parameters, so for a given supersymmetry model it allows an unambiguous prediction of the dark matter relic density. As a example, we scan over the parameter space of the CMSSM, comparing the neutralino relic density predictions with the bounds from WMAP. We find that the WMAP-allowed regions of the CMSSM are an order of magnitude larger if we use the alternative cosmological benchmark, as opposed to ΛCDM. Initial results from the CERN Large Hadron Collider will distinguish between the two allowed regions

Colliders as a simultaneous probe of supersymmetric dark matter and Terascale cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barenboim, Gabriela [Departament de Fisica Teorica, Universitat de Valencia, Carrer Dr. Moliner 50, E-46100 Burjassot (Valencia) (Spain); Lykken, Joseph D. [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States)

2006-12-15

Terascale supersymmetry has the potential to provide a natural explanation of the dominant dark matter component of the standard {lambda}CDM cosmology. However once we impose the constraints on minimal supersymmetry parameters from current particle physics data, a satisfactory dark matter abundance is no longer prima facie natural. This Neutralino Tuning Problem could be a hint of nonstandard cosmology during and/or after the Terascale era. To quantify this possibility, we introduce an alternative cosmological benchmark based upon a simple model of quintessential inflation. This benchmark has no free parameters, so for a given supersymmetry model it allows an unambiguous prediction of the dark matter relic density. As a example, we scan over the parameter space of the CMSSM, comparing the neutralino relic density predictions with the bounds from WMAP. We find that the WMAP-allowed regions of the CMSSM are an order of magnitude larger if we use the alternative cosmological benchmark, as opposed to {lambda}CDM. Initial results from the CERN Large Hadron Collider will distinguish between the two allowed regions.

Cosmological constraints from radial baryon acoustic oscillation measurements and observational Hubble data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhai Zhongxu; Wan Haoyi; Zhang Tongjie

2010-01-01

We use the Radial Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (RBAO) measurements, distant type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), the observational H(z) data (OHD) and the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) shift parameter data to constrain cosmological parameters of ΛCDM and XCDM cosmologies and further examine the role of OHD and SNe Ia data in cosmological constraints. We marginalize the likelihood function over h by integrating the probability density P∝e -χ 2 /2 to obtain the best fitting results and the confidence regions in the Ω m -Ω Λ plane. With the combination analysis for both of the ΛCDM and XCDM models, we find that the confidence regions of 68.3%, 95.4% and 99.7% levels using OHD+RBAO+CMB data are in good agreement with that of SNe Ia+RBAO+CMB data which is consistent with the result of Lin et al.'s (2009) work. With more data of OHD, we can probably constrain the cosmological parameters using OHD data instead of SNe Ia data in the future.

Late-time acceleration with steep exponential potentials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shahalam, M. [Zhejiang University of Technology, Institute for Advanced Physics and Mathematics, Hangzhou (China); Yang, Weiqiang [Liaoning Normal University, Department of Physics, Dalian (China); Myrzakulov, R. [Eurasian National University, Department of General and Theoretical Physics, Eurasian International Center for Theoretical Physics, Astana (Kazakhstan); Wang, Anzhong [Zhejiang University of Technology, Institute for Advanced Physics and Mathematics, Hangzhou (China); Baylor University, GCAP-CASPER, Department of Physics, Waco, TX (United States)

2017-12-15

In this letter, we study the cosmological dynamics of steeper potential than exponential. Our analysis shows that a simple extension of an exponential potential allows to capture late-time cosmic acceleration and retain the tracker behavior. We also perform statefinder and Om diagnostics to distinguish dark energy models among themselves and with ΛCDM. In addition, to put the observational constraints on the model parameters, we modify the publicly available CosmoMC code and use an integrated data base of baryon acoustic oscillation, latest Type Ia supernova from Joint Light Curves sample and the local Hubble constant value measured by the Hubble Space Telescope. (orig.)

Late-time acceleration with steep exponential potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shahalam, M.; Yang, Weiqiang; Myrzakulov, R.; Wang, Anzhong

2017-01-01

In this letter, we study the cosmological dynamics of steeper potential than exponential. Our analysis shows that a simple extension of an exponential potential allows to capture late-time cosmic acceleration and retain the tracker behavior. We also perform statefinder and Om diagnostics to distinguish dark energy models among themselves and with ΛCDM. In addition, to put the observational constraints on the model parameters, we modify the publicly available CosmoMC code and use an integrated data base of baryon acoustic oscillation, latest Type Ia supernova from Joint Light Curves sample and the local Hubble constant value measured by the Hubble Space Telescope. (orig.)

Disentangling interacting dark energy cosmologies with the three-point correlation function

Science.gov (United States)

Moresco, Michele; Marulli, Federico; Baldi, Marco; Moscardini, Lauro; Cimatti, Andrea

2014-10-01

We investigate the possibility of constraining coupled dark energy (cDE) cosmologies using the three-point correlation function (3PCF). Making use of the CODECS N-body simulations, we study the statistical properties of cold dark matter (CDM) haloes for a variety of models, including a fiducial ΛCDM scenario and five models in which dark energy (DE) and CDM mutually interact. We measure both the halo 3PCF, ζ(θ), and the reduced 3PCF, Q(θ), at different scales (2 values of the halo 3PCF for perpendicular (elongated) configurations. The effect is also scale-dependent, with differences between ΛCDM and cDE models that increase at large scales. We made use of these measurements to estimate the halo bias, that results in fair agreement with the one computed from the two-point correlation function (2PCF). The main advantage of using both the 2PCF and 3PCF is to break the bias-σ8 degeneracy. Moreover, we find that our bias estimates are approximately independent of the assumed strength of DE coupling. This study demonstrates the power of a higher order clustering analysis in discriminating between alternative cosmological scenarios, for both present and forthcoming galaxy surveys, such as e.g. Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and Euclid.

Acceleration-enlarged symmetries in nonrelativistic space-time with a cosmological constant TH1"-->

Science.gov (United States)

Lukierski, J.; Stichel, P. C.; Zakrzewski, W. J.

2008-05-01

By considering the nonrelativistic limit of de Sitter geometry one obtains the nonrelativistic space-time with a cosmological constant and Newton Hooke (NH) symmetries. We show that the NH symmetry algebra can be enlarged by the addition of the constant acceleration generators and endowed with central extensions (one in any dimension (D) and three in D=(2+1)). We present a classical Lagrangian and Hamiltonian framework for constructing models quasi-invariant under enlarged NH symmetries that depend on three parameters described by three nonvanishing central charges. The Hamiltonian dynamics then splits into external and internal sectors with new noncommutative structures of external and internal phase spaces. We show that in the limit of vanishing cosmological constant the system reduces to the one, which possesses acceleration-enlarged Galilean symmetries.

Implications of an absolute simultaneity theory for cosmology and universe acceleration.

Science.gov (United States)

Kipreos, Edward T

2014-01-01

An alternate Lorentz transformation, Absolute Lorentz Transformation (ALT), has similar kinematics to special relativity yet maintains absolute simultaneity in the context of a preferred reference frame. In this study, it is shown that ALT is compatible with current experiments to test Lorentz invariance only if the proposed preferred reference frame is locally equivalent to the Earth-centered non-rotating inertial reference frame, with the inference that in an ALT framework, preferred reference frames are associated with centers of gravitational mass. Applying this theoretical framework to cosmological data produces a scenario of universal time contraction in the past. In this scenario, past time contraction would be associated with increased levels of blueshifted light emissions from cosmological objects when viewed from our current perspective. The observation that distant Type Ia supernovae are dimmer than predicted by linear Hubble expansion currently provides the most direct evidence for an accelerating universe. Adjusting for the effects of time contraction on a redshift-distance modulus diagram produces a linear distribution of supernovae over the full redshift spectrum that is consistent with a non-accelerating universe.

Implications of an absolute simultaneity theory for cosmology and universe acceleration.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward T Kipreos

Full Text Available An alternate Lorentz transformation, Absolute Lorentz Transformation (ALT, has similar kinematics to special relativity yet maintains absolute simultaneity in the context of a preferred reference frame. In this study, it is shown that ALT is compatible with current experiments to test Lorentz invariance only if the proposed preferred reference frame is locally equivalent to the Earth-centered non-rotating inertial reference frame, with the inference that in an ALT framework, preferred reference frames are associated with centers of gravitational mass. Applying this theoretical framework to cosmological data produces a scenario of universal time contraction in the past. In this scenario, past time contraction would be associated with increased levels of blueshifted light emissions from cosmological objects when viewed from our current perspective. The observation that distant Type Ia supernovae are dimmer than predicted by linear Hubble expansion currently provides the most direct evidence for an accelerating universe. Adjusting for the effects of time contraction on a redshift-distance modulus diagram produces a linear distribution of supernovae over the full redshift spectrum that is consistent with a non-accelerating universe.

Anisotropic SD2 brane: accelerating cosmology and Kasner-like space-time from compactification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nayek, Kuntal; Roy, Shibaji [Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Calcutta (India); Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai (India)

2017-07-15

Starting from an anisotropic (in all directions including the time direction of the brane) non-SUSY D2 brane solution of type IIA string theory we construct an anisotropic space-like D2 brane (or SD2 brane, for short) solution by the standard trick of a double Wick rotation. This solution is characterized by five independent parameters. We show that compactification on six-dimensional hyperbolic space (H{sub 6}) of a time-dependent volume of this SD2 brane solution leads to accelerating cosmologies (for some time t ∝ t{sub 0}, with t{sub 0} some characteristic time) where both the expansions and the accelerations are different in three spatial directions of the resultant four-dimensional universe. On the other hand at early times (t << t{sub 0}) this four-dimensional space, in certain situations, leads to four-dimensional Kasner-like cosmology, with two additional scalars, namely, the dilaton and a volume scalar of H{sub 6}. Unlike in the standard four-dimensional Kasner cosmology here all three Kasner exponents could be positive definite, leading to expansions in all three directions. (orig.)

Anisotropic cosmological constant and the CMB quadrupole anomaly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodrigues, Davi C.

2008-01-01

There are evidences that the cosmic microwave background (CMB) large-angle anomalies imply a departure from statistical isotropy and hence from the standard cosmological model. We propose a ΛCDM model extension whose dark energy component preserves its nondynamical character but wields anisotropic vacuum pressure. Exact solutions for the cosmological scale factors are presented, upper bounds for the deformation parameter are evaluated and its value is estimated considering the elliptical universe proposal to solve the quadrupole anomaly. This model can be constructed from a Bianchi I cosmology with a cosmological constant from two different ways: (i) a straightforward anisotropic modification of the vacuum pressure consistently with energy-momentum conservation; (ii) a Poisson structure deformation between canonical momenta such that the dynamics remain invariant under scale factors rescalings

Solar System constraints on a cosmologically viable f(R) theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bisabr, Yousef

2010-01-01

Recently, a model f(R) theory is proposed (Miranda et al. (2009)) which is cosmologically viable and distinguishable from ΛCDM. We use chameleon mechanism to investigate viability of the model in terms of Solar System experiments.

Searching for sterile neutrinos in dynamical dark energy cosmologies

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Lu; Zhang, Jing-Fei; Zhang, Xin

2018-05-01

We investigate how the dark energy properties change the cosmological limits on sterile neutrino parameters by using recent cosmological observations. We consider the simplest dynamical dark energy models, the wCDM model and the holographic dark energy (HDE) model, to make an analysis. The cosmological observations used in this work include the Planck 2015 CMB temperature and polarization data, the baryon acoustic oscillation data, the type Ia supernova data, the Hubble constant direct measurement data, and the Planck CMB lensing data. We find that, m v,terile ff energy properties could significantly influence the constraint limits of sterile neutrino parameters.

Cosmological dynamics of extended chameleons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamanini, Nicola; Wright, Matthew

2016-01-01

We investigate the cosmological dynamics of the recently proposed extended chameleon models at both background and linear perturbation levels. Dynamical systems techniques are employed to fully characterize the evolution of the universe at the largest distances, while structure formation is analysed at sub-horizon scales within the quasi-static approximation. The late time dynamical transition from dark matter to dark energy domination can be well described by almost all extended chameleon models considered, with no deviations from ΛCDM results at both background and perturbation levels. The results obtained in this work confirm the cosmological viability of extended chameleons as alternative dark energy models.

Cosmological dynamics of extended chameleons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tamanini, Nicola [Institut de Physique Théorique, CEA-Saclay, CNRS UMR 3681, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Wright, Matthew, E-mail: nicola.tamanini@cea.fr, E-mail: matthew.wright.13@ucl.ac.uk [Department of Mathematics, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom)

2016-04-01

We investigate the cosmological dynamics of the recently proposed extended chameleon models at both background and linear perturbation levels. Dynamical systems techniques are employed to fully characterize the evolution of the universe at the largest distances, while structure formation is analysed at sub-horizon scales within the quasi-static approximation. The late time dynamical transition from dark matter to dark energy domination can be well described by almost all extended chameleon models considered, with no deviations from ΛCDM results at both background and perturbation levels. The results obtained in this work confirm the cosmological viability of extended chameleons as alternative dark energy models.

Exact Solution and Exotic Fluid in Cosmology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Phillial Oh

2012-09-01

Full Text Available We investigate cosmological consequences of nonlinear sigma model coupled with a cosmological fluid which satisfies the continuity equation. The target space action is of the de Sitter type and is composed of four scalar fields. The potential which is a function of only one of the scalar fields is also introduced. We perform a general analysis of the ensuing cosmological equations and give various critical points and their properties. Then, we show that the model exhibits an exact cosmological solution which yields a transition from matter domination into dark energy epoch and compare it with the Λ-CDM behavior. Especially, we calculate the age of the Universe and show that it is consistent with the observational value if the equation of the state ωf of the cosmological fluid is within the range of 0.13 < ωf < 0.22. Some implication of this result is also discussed.

Planck 2015 results: XIII. Cosmological parameters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ade, P. A R; Aghanim, N.; Arnaud, M.

2016-01-01

is constrained to w =-1.006 ± 0.045, consistent with the expected value for a cosmological constant. The standard big bang nucleosynthesis predictions for the helium and deuterium abundances for the best-fit Planck base ΛCDM cosmology are in excellent agreement with observations. We also constraints...... of the theory; for example, combining Planck observations with other astrophysical data we find Neff = 3.15 ± 0.23 for the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom, consistent with the value Neff = 3.046 of the Standard Model of particle physics. The sum of neutrino masses is constrained to â'mν

Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on Flavor Symmetries and Consequences in Accelerators and Cosmology

CERN Document Server

Meloni, D; Morisi, S; Pastor, S; Peinado, E; Valle, J W F; FLASY2011

2012-01-01

The main goals of the first "Workshop on FLAvor SYmmetries and consequences in accelerators and cosmology" (FLASY) was to summarize the theoretical status of flavor symmetries, bringing together young researchers in the field to stimulate discussions and new collaborations, with the aim of investigating possible new physics scenarios to be tested at the LHC, as well as in future neutrino, cosmology experiments and dark matter searches.

The Coyote Universe II: Cosmological Models and Precision Emulation of the Nonlinear Matter Power Spectrum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heitmann, Katrin [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Habib, Salman [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Higdon, David [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Williams, Brian J [Los Alamos National Laboratory; White, Martin [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Wagner, Christian [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2008-01-01

The power spectrum of density fluctuations is a foundational source of cosmological information. Precision cosmological probes targeted primarily at investigations of dark energy require accurate theoretical determinations of the power spectrum in the nonlinear regime. To exploit the observational power of future cosmological surveys, accuracy demands on the theory are at the one percent level or better. Numerical simulations are currently the only way to produce sufficiently error-controlled predictions for the power spectrum. The very high computational cost of (precision) N-body simulations is a major obstacle to obtaining predictions in the nonlinear regime, while scanning over cosmological parameters. Near-future observations, however, are likely to provide a meaningful constraint only on constant dark energy equation of state 'wCDM' cosmologies. In this paper we demonstrate that a limited set of only 37 cosmological models -- the 'Coyote Universe' suite -- can be used to predict the nonlinear matter power spectrum at the required accuracy over a prior parameter range set by cosmic microwave background observations. This paper is the second in a series of three, with the final aim to provide a high-accuracy prediction scheme for the nonlinear matter power spectrum for wCDM cosmologies.

Conformal coupling associated with the Noether symmetry and its connection with the ΛCDM dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Souza, Rudinei C; Kremer, Gilberto M

2013-01-01

The aim of this work is to investigate a non-minimally coupled scalar field model through the Noether symmetry approach, with the radiation, matter and cosmological constant eras being analyzed. The Noether symmetry condition allows a conformal coupling and by means of a change of coordinates in the configuration space the field equations can be reduced to a single equation, which is of the form of the Friedmann equation for the ΛCDM model. In this way, it is formally shown that the dynamical system can furnish solutions with the same form as those of the ΛCDM model, although the theory here considered is physically different from the former. The conserved quantity associated with the Noether symmetry can be related to the kinetic term of the scalar field and could constrain the possible deviations of the model from the ΛCDM picture. Observational constraints on the variation of the gravitational constant can be imposed on the model through the initial condition of the scalar field. (paper)

Observational constraints on Visser's cosmological model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alves, M. E. S.; Araujo, J. C. N. de; Miranda, O. D.; Wuensche, C. A.; Carvalho, F. C.; Santos, E. M.

2010-01-01

Theories of gravity for which gravitons can be treated as massive particles have presently been studied as realistic modifications of general relativity, and can be tested with cosmological observations. In this work, we study the ability of a recently proposed theory with massive gravitons, the so-called Visser theory, to explain the measurements of luminosity distance from the Union2 compilation, the most recent Type-Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) data set, adopting the current ratio of the total density of nonrelativistic matter to the critical density (Ω m ) as a free parameter. We also combine the SNe Ia data with constraints from baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements. We find that, for the allowed interval of values for Ω m , a model based on Visser's theory can produce an accelerated expansion period without any dark energy component, but the combined analysis (SNe Ia+BAO+CMB) shows that the model is disfavored when compared with the ΛCDM model.

CDM Country Guide for Indonesia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

Under the Integrated Capacity Strengthening for the CDM (ICS-CDM) programme, IGES presents the CDM Country Guides, a series of manuals on CDM project development for Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. These guidebooks aim at facilitating CDM project developments in Asia by providing essential information to both project developers and potential investors. This volume is on Indonesia

CDM Country Guide for China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

Under the Integrated Capacity Strengthening for the CDM (ICS-CDM) programme, IGES presents the CDM Country Guides, a series of manuals on CDM project development for Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. These guidebooks aim at facilitating CDM project developments in Asia by providing essential information to both project developers and potential investors. This volume is on China

CDM Country Guide for India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

Under the Integrated Capacity Strengthening for the CDM (ICS-CDM) programme, IGES presents the CDM Country Guides, a series of manuals on CDM project development for Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. These guidebooks aim at facilitating CDM project developments in Asia by providing essential information to both project developers and potential investors. This volume is on India

CDM Country Guide for Thailand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

Under the Integrated Capacity Strengthening for the CDM (ICS-CDM) programme, IGES presents the CDM Country Guides, a series of manuals on CDM project development for Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. These guidebooks aim at facilitating CDM project developments in Asia by providing essential information to both project developers and potential investors. This volume is on Thailand

CDM Country Guide for Cambodia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

Under the Integrated Capacity Strengthening for the CDM (ICS-CDM) programme, IGES presents the CDM Country Guides, a series of manuals on CDM project development for Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. These guidebooks aim at facilitating CDM project developments in Asia by providing essential information to both project developers and potential investors. This volume is on Cambodia

DIRECTIONAL DEPENDENCE OF ΛCDM COSMOLOGICAL PARAMETERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Axelsson, M.; Fantaye, Y.; Hansen, F. K.; Eriksen, H. K.; Banday, A. J.; Gorski, K. M.

2013-01-01

We study hemispherical power asymmetry in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 9 yr data. We analyze the combined V- and W-band sky maps, after application of the KQ85 mask, and find that the asymmetry is statistically significant at the 3.4σ confidence level for l = 2-600, where the data are signal-dominated, with a preferred asymmetry direction (l, b) = (227, –27). Individual asymmetry axes estimated from six independent multipole ranges are all consistent with this direction. Subsequently, we estimate cosmological parameters on different parts of the sky and show that the parameters A s , n s , and Ω b are the most sensitive to this power asymmetry. In particular, for the two opposite hemispheres aligned with the preferred asymmetry axis, we find n s = 0.959 ± 0.022 and n s = 0.989 ± 0.024, respectively

Cosmological parameters from pre-planck cosmic microwave background measurements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Calabrese, E.; Hlozek, R.; Battaglia, N.; Battistelli, E.; Bond, J.; Chluba, J.; Crichton, D.; Das, S.; Devlin, M.; Dunkley, J.; Dünner, R.; Farhang, M.; Gralla, M.; Hajian, A.; Halpern, M.; Hasselfield, M.; Hincks, A.; Irwin, K.; Kosowsky, A.; Louis, T.; Marriage, T.; Moodley, K.; Newburgh, L.; Niemack, M.; Nolta, M.; Page, L.; Sehgal, N.; Sherwin, B.; Sievers, J.; Sifon, Andalaft C.J.; Spergel, D.; Staggs, S.; Switzer, E.; Wollack, E.

2013-01-01

Recent data from the WMAP, ACT and SPT experiments provide precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background temperature power spectrum over a wide range of angular scales. The combination of these observations is well fit by the standard, spatially flat {$Lambda$}CDM cosmological model,

Narrowing down the possible explanations of cosmic acceleration with geometric probes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dhawan, Suhail; Goobar, Ariel; Mörtsell, Edvard; Amanullah, Rahman; Feindt, Ulrich, E-mail: suhail.dhawan@fysik.su.se, E-mail: ariel@fysik.su.se, E-mail: edvard@fysik.su.se, E-mail: rahman@fysik.su.se, E-mail: ulrich.feindt@fysik.su.se [Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, Roslagstullbacken 21, SE 106 91 Stockholm (Sweden)

2017-07-01

Recent re-calibration of the Type Ia supernova (SNe Ia) magnitude-redshift relation combined with cosmic microwave background (CMB) and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) data have provided excellent constraints on the standard cosmological model. Here, we examine particular classes of alternative cosmologies, motivated by various physical mechanisms, e.g. scalar fields, modified gravity and phase transitions to test their consistency with observations of SNe Ia and the ratio of the angular diameter distances from the CMB and BAO. Using a model selection criterion for a relative comparison of the models (the Bayes Factor), we find moderate to strong evidence that the data prefer flat ΛCDM over models invoking a thawing behaviour of the quintessence scalar field. However, some exotic models like the growing neutrino mass cosmology and vacuum metamorphosis still present acceptable evidence values. The bimetric gravity model with only the linear interaction term as well as a simplified Galileon model can be ruled out by the combination of SNe Ia and CMB/BAO datasets whereas the model with linear and quadratic interaction terms has a comparable evidence value to standard ΛCDM. Thawing models are found to have significantly poorer evidence compared to flat ΛCDM cosmology under the assumption that the CMB compressed likelihood provides an adequate description for these non-standard cosmologies. We also present estimates for constraints from future data and find that geometric probes from oncoming surveys can put severe limits on non-standard cosmological models.

Non-linear corrections to the cosmological matter power spectrum and scale-dependent galaxy bias: implications for parameter estimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamann, Jan; Hannestad, Steen; Melchiorri, Alessandro; Wong, Yvonne Y Y

2008-01-01

We explore and compare the performances of two non-linear correction and scale-dependent biasing models for the extraction of cosmological information from galaxy power spectrum data, especially in the context of beyond-ΛCDM (CDM: cold dark matter) cosmologies. The first model is the well known Q model, first applied in the analysis of Two-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey data. The second, the P model, is inspired by the halo model, in which non-linear evolution and scale-dependent biasing are encapsulated in a single non-Poisson shot noise term. We find that while the two models perform equally well in providing adequate correction for a range of galaxy clustering data in standard ΛCDM cosmology and in extensions with massive neutrinos, the Q model can give unphysical results in cosmologies containing a subdominant free-streaming dark matter whose temperature depends on the particle mass, e.g., relic thermal axions, unless a suitable prior is imposed on the correction parameter. This last case also exposes the danger of analytic marginalization, a technique sometimes used in the marginalization of nuisance parameters. In contrast, the P model suffers no undesirable effects, and is the recommended non-linear correction model also because of its physical transparency

Non-linear corrections to the cosmological matter power spectrum and scale-dependent galaxy bias: implications for parameter estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Hamann, Jan; Hannestad, Steen; Melchiorri, Alessandro; Wong, Yvonne Y. Y.

2008-07-01

We explore and compare the performances of two non-linear correction and scale-dependent biasing models for the extraction of cosmological information from galaxy power spectrum data, especially in the context of beyond-ΛCDM (CDM: cold dark matter) cosmologies. The first model is the well known Q model, first applied in the analysis of Two-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey data. The second, the P model, is inspired by the halo model, in which non-linear evolution and scale-dependent biasing are encapsulated in a single non-Poisson shot noise term. We find that while the two models perform equally well in providing adequate correction for a range of galaxy clustering data in standard ΛCDM cosmology and in extensions with massive neutrinos, the Q model can give unphysical results in cosmologies containing a subdominant free-streaming dark matter whose temperature depends on the particle mass, e.g., relic thermal axions, unless a suitable prior is imposed on the correction parameter. This last case also exposes the danger of analytic marginalization, a technique sometimes used in the marginalization of nuisance parameters. In contrast, the P model suffers no undesirable effects, and is the recommended non-linear correction model also because of its physical transparency.

Inflation and late-time acceleration in braneworld cosmological models with varying brane tension

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, K.C.; Cheng, K.S.; Harko, T.

2010-01-01

Braneworld models with variable brane tension λ introduce a new degree of freedom that allows for evolving gravitational and cosmological constants, the latter being a natural candidate for dark energy. We consider a thermodynamic interpretation of the varying brane tension models, by showing that the field equations with variable λ can be interpreted as describing matter creation in a cosmological framework. The particle creation rate is determined by the variation rate of the brane tension, as well as by the brane-bulk energy-matter transfer rate. We investigate the effect of a variable brane tension on the cosmological evolution of the Universe, in the framework of a particular model in which the brane tension is an exponentially dependent function of the scale factor. The resulting cosmology shows the presence of an initial inflationary expansion, followed by a decelerating phase, and by a smooth transition towards a late accelerated de Sitter type expansion. The varying brane tension is also responsible for the generation of the matter in the Universe (reheating period). The physical constraints on the model parameters, resulting from the observational cosmological data, are also investigated. (orig.)

Testing averaged cosmology with type Ia supernovae and BAO data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, B.; Alcaniz, J.S. [Departamento de Astronomia, Observatório Nacional, 20921-400, Rio de Janeiro – RJ (Brazil); Coley, A.A. [Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, B3H 3J5 Canada (Canada); Devi, N. Chandrachani, E-mail: thoven@on.br, E-mail: aac@mathstat.dal.ca, E-mail: chandrachaniningombam@astro.unam.mx, E-mail: alcaniz@on.br [Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Box 70-264, México City, México (Mexico)

2017-02-01

An important problem in precision cosmology is the determination of the effects of averaging and backreaction on observational predictions, particularly in view of the wealth of new observational data and improved statistical techniques. In this paper, we discuss the observational viability of a class of averaged cosmologies which consist of a simple parametrized phenomenological two-scale backreaction model with decoupled spatial curvature parameters. We perform a Bayesian model selection analysis and find that this class of averaged phenomenological cosmological models is favored with respect to the standard ΛCDM cosmological scenario when a joint analysis of current SNe Ia and BAO data is performed. In particular, the analysis provides observational evidence for non-trivial spatial curvature.

Testing averaged cosmology with type Ia supernovae and BAO data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos, B.; Alcaniz, J.S.; Coley, A.A.; Devi, N. Chandrachani

2017-01-01

An important problem in precision cosmology is the determination of the effects of averaging and backreaction on observational predictions, particularly in view of the wealth of new observational data and improved statistical techniques. In this paper, we discuss the observational viability of a class of averaged cosmologies which consist of a simple parametrized phenomenological two-scale backreaction model with decoupled spatial curvature parameters. We perform a Bayesian model selection analysis and find that this class of averaged phenomenological cosmological models is favored with respect to the standard ΛCDM cosmological scenario when a joint analysis of current SNe Ia and BAO data is performed. In particular, the analysis provides observational evidence for non-trivial spatial curvature.

THE COSMOLOGICAL BULK FLOW: CONSISTENCY WITH ΛCDM AND z ∼ 0 CONSTRAINTS ON σ8 AND γ

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nusser, Adi; Davis, Marc

2011-01-01

We derive estimates for the cosmological bulk flow from the SFI++ Tully-Fisher (TF) catalog. For a sphere of radius 40 h -1 Mpc centered on the Milky Way, we derive a bulk flow of 333 ± 38 km s -1 toward Galactic (l, b) = (276 deg., 14 deg.) within a 3 0 1σ error. Within a radius of 100h -1 Mpc we get 257 ± 44 km s -1 toward (l, b) = (279 deg., 10 deg.) within a 6 deg. error. These directions are at 40 deg. to the Supergalactic plane, close to the apex of the motion of the Local Group of galaxies after the Virgocentric infall correction. Our findings are consistent with the ΛCDM model with the latest Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) best-fit cosmological parameters, but the bulk flow allows independent constraints. For the WMAP-inferred Hubble parameter h = 0.71 and baryonic mean density parameter Ω b = 0.0449, the constraint from the bulk flow on the matter density, Ω m , the normalization of the density fluctuations, σ 8 , and the growth index, γ, can be expressed as σ 8 Ω γ-0.55 m (Ω m /0.266) 0.28 = 0.86 ± 0.11 (for Ω m ∼ 0.266). Fixing σ 8 = 0.8 and Ω m = 0.266 as favored by WMAP, we get γ = 0.495 ± 0.096. The constraint derived here rules out popular Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati models at more than the 99% confidence level. Our results are based on the All Space Constrained Estimate (ACSE) model which reconstructs the bulk flow from an all space three-dimensional peculiar velocity field constrained to match the TF measurements. At large distances, ASCE generates a robust bulk flow from the SFI++ survey that is insensitive to the assumed prior. For comparison, a standard straightforward maximum likelihood estimate leads to very similar results.

Cosmology in Poincaré gauge gravity with a pseudoscalar torsion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Jianbo; Chee, Guoying [Department of Physics, Liaoning Normal University,Dalian 116029 (China)

2016-05-04

A cosmology of Poincare{sup ´} gauge theory is developed, where several properties of universe corresponding to the cosmological equations with the pseudoscalar torsion function are investigated. The cosmological constant is found to be the intrinsic torsion and curvature of the vacuum universe and is derived from the theory naturally rather than added artificially, i.e. the dark energy originates from geometry and includes the cosmological constant but differs from it. The cosmological constant puzzle, the coincidence and fine tuning problem are relieved naturally at the same time. By solving the cosmological equations, the analytic cosmological solution is obtained and can be compared with the ΛCDM model. In addition, the expressions of density parameters of the matter and the geometric dark energy are derived, and it is shown that the evolution of state equations for the geometric dark energy agrees with the current observational data. At last, the full equations of linear cosmological perturbations and the solutions are obtained.

Relativistic numerical cosmology with silent universes

Science.gov (United States)

Bolejko, Krzysztof

2018-01-01

Relativistic numerical cosmology is most often based either on the exact solutions of the Einstein equations, or perturbation theory, or weak-field limit, or the BSSN formalism. The silent universe provides an alternative approach to investigate relativistic evolution of cosmological systems. The silent universe is based on the solution of the Einstein equations in 1  +  3 comoving coordinates with additional constraints imposed. These constraints include: the gravitational field is sourced by dust and cosmological constant only, both rotation and magnetic part of the Weyl tensor vanish, and the shear is diagnosable. This paper describes the code simsilun (free software distributed under the terms of the reposi General Public License), which implements the equations of the silent universe. The paper also discusses applications of the silent universe and it uses the Millennium simulation to set up the initial conditions for the code simsilun. The simulation obtained this way consists of 16 777 216 worldlines, which are evolved from z  =  80 to z  =  0. Initially, the mean evolution (averaged over the whole domain) follows the evolution of the background ΛCDM model. However, once the evolution of cosmic structures becomes nonlinear, the spatial curvature evolves from ΩK =0 to ΩK ≈ 0.1 at the present day. The emergence of the spatial curvature is associated with ΩM and Ω_Λ being smaller by approximately 0.05 compared to the ΛCDM.

Guidebook to financing CDM projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kamel, S.

2007-07-01

One of the challenges facing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects today is their limited ability to secure financing for the underlying greenhouse gas emission reduction activities, particularly in the least developed countries. Among the key reasons for this is the fact that most financial intermediaries in the CDM host countries have limited or no knowledge of the CDM Modalities and Procedures. Moreover, approaches, tools and skills for CDM project appraisal are lacking or are asymmetrical to the skills in comparable institutions in developed countries. Consequently, developing country financial institutions are unable to properly evaluate the risks and rewards associated with investing or lending to developers undertaking CDM projects, and therefore have, by-and-large, refrained from financing these projects. In addition, some potential project proponents lack experience in structuring arrangements for financing a project. This Guidebook - commissioned by the UNEP Risoe Centre as part of the activities of the Capacity Development for CDM (CD4CDM) project (http://www.cd4cdm.org) - addresses these barriers by providing information aimed at both developing country financial institutions and at CDM project proponents. It should be noted that while the Guidebook was developed particularly with the CDM in mind, most sections will also be relevant for Joint Implementation (JI) project activities. For more detailed information on JI modalities and procedures please consult: http://ji.unfccc.int The purpose of this Guidebook is two-fold: 1) To guide project developers on obtaining financing for the implementation of activities eligible under the CDM; and 2) To demonstrate to developing country financial institutions typical approaches and methods for appraising the viability of CDM projects and for optimally integrating carbon revenue into overall project financing. The target audiences for the Guidebook are therefore, primarily: 1) CDM project proponents in

Sterile neutrinos with eV masses in cosmology — How disfavoured exactly?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hamann, Jan; Hannestad, Steen; Raffelt, G.G.

2011-01-01

We study cosmological models that contain sterile neutrinos with eV-range masses as suggested by reactor and short-baseline oscillation data. We confront these models with both precision cosmological data (probing the CMB decoupling epoch) and light-element abundances (probing the BBN epoch...... be circumvented by a small νe degeneracy. Any model containing eV-mass sterile neutrinos implies also strong modifications of other cosmological parameters. Notably, the inferred cold dark matter density can shift up by 20-75% relative to the standard ΛCDM value....

Cosmological model-independent Gamma-ray bursts calibration and its cosmological constraint to dark energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Lixin

2012-01-01

As so far, the redshift of Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) can extend to z ∼ 8 which makes it as a complementary probe of dark energy to supernova Ia (SN Ia). However, the calibration of GRBs is still a big challenge when they are used to constrain cosmological models. Though, the absolute magnitude of GRBs is still unknown, the slopes of GRBs correlations can be used as a useful constraint to dark energy in a completely cosmological model independent way. In this paper, we follow Wang's model-independent distance measurement method and calculate their values by using 109 GRBs events via the so-called Amati relation. Then, we use the obtained model-independent distances to constrain ΛCDM model as an example

New observational constraints on f(T) cosmology from radio quasars

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qi, Jing-Zhao; Cao, Shuo; Zhu, Zong-Hong [Beijing Normal University, Department of Astronomy, Beijing (China); Biesiada, Marek; Zheng, Xiaogang [Beijing Normal University, Department of Astronomy, Beijing (China); University of Silesia, Department of Astrophysics and Cosmology, Institute of Physics, Katowice (Poland)

2017-08-15

Using a new recently compiled milliarcsecond compact radio data set of 120 intermediate-luminosity quasars in the redshift range 0.46 < z < 2.76, whose statistical linear sizes show negligible dependence on redshifts and intrinsic luminosity and thus represent standard rulers in cosmology, we constrain three viable and most popular f(T) gravity models, where T is the torsion scalar in teleparallel gravity. Our analysis reveals that constraining power of the quasars data (N = 120) is comparable to the Union2.1 SN Ia data (N = 580) for all three f(T) models. Together with other standard ruler probes such as cosmic microwave background and baryon acoustic oscillation distance measurements, the present value of the matter density parameter Ω{sub m} obtained by quasars is much larger than that derived from other observations. For one of the models considered (f{sub 1}CDM) a small but noticeable deviation from ΛCDM cosmology is present, while in the framework of f{sub 3}CDM the effective equation of state may cross the phantom divide line at lower redshifts. These results indicate that intermediate-luminosity quasars could provide an effective observational probe comparable to SN Ia at much higher redshifts, and f(T) gravity is a reasonable candidate for the modified gravity theory. (orig.)

Issues related to a programme of activities under the CDM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ellis, J.

2006-05-15

Emissions of CO2 from the energy and land-use change and forestry sectors are responsible for the majority of emissions in non-Annex I Parties to the UNFCCC. Tackling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from these sectors is a key to slowing the growth in GHG emissions in non-Annex I countries. Implementing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects can help achieve this aim, while also assisting non-Annex I countries to move towards sustainable development and Annex I countries achieve their emission commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. There has been rapid progress in the CDM over the last year - in terms of the number of projects in the pipeline and registered, and in terms of credits issued. However, some important sectors are notable by their small share in the CDM portfolio. Several countries have also called attention to the need to accelerate the process of approving CDM methodologies and projects. In order to improve the effectiveness of the CDM to achieve its dual objectives, the COP/MOP agreed a decision on 'further guidance relating to the clean development mechanism. This decision lays out guidance on how to improve the operation of the CDM, and includes provisions that allow: (1) Bundling of project activities; and (2) Project activities under a programme of activities, to be registered as a CDM project activity. At present, of the 172 currently registered CDM project activities, 27 involve programmes or bundles. These project activities can include more than one project type, be implemented in several locations, and/or occur in more than one sector. This paper assesses how project activities under a programme of activities under the CDM (referred to here as PCDM) could help to increase the effectiveness of the CDM by encouraging a wide spread of emission mitigation activities. This paper also explores the key issues that may need to be considered for the PCDM concept to be further implemented. The paper concludes that: (1) Key concepts and issues

La abundancia de galaxias y halos de materia oscura en el universo CDM

Science.gov (United States)

Abadi, M. G.; Benítez-Llambay, A.; Ferrero, I.

A long-standing puzzle of CDM cosmological model concerns to the different shape of the galaxy stellar mass function and the halo mass function on dwarf galaxy scales. Dwarf galaxies are much less numerous than halos massive enough to host them; suggesting a complex non-linear relation between the mass of a galaxy and the mass of its surrounding halo. Usually; this is reconciled by appealing to baryonic processes that can reduce the efficiency of galaxy formation in low-mass halos. Recent work applying the abundance matching technique require that virtually no dwarf galaxies form in halos with virial mass below . We use rotation curves of dwarf galaxies compiled from the literature to explore whether their total enclosed mass is consistent with these constraints. Almost one-half of the dwarfs in our sample are at odds with this restriction; they are in halos with masses substantially below . Using a cosmological simulation of the formation of the Local Group of galaxies we found that ram-pressure stripping against the cosmic web removes baryons from low-mass halos without appealing to feedback or reionization. This mechanism may help to explain the scarcity of dwarf galaxies compared with the numerous low-mass halos expected in CDM and the large diversity of star formation histories and morphologies characteristic of faint galaxies. FULL TEXT IN SPANISH

The Turning Point for the Recent Acceleration of the Universe with a Cosmological Constant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang T. X.

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The turning point and acceleration expansion of the universe are investigated according to the standard cosmological theory with a non-zero cosmological constant. Choosing the Hubble constant H 0 , the radius of the present universe R 0 , and the density parameter in matter Ω M , 0 as three independent parameters, we have analytically examined the other properties of the universe such as the density parameter in dark energy, the cosmologi- cal constant, the mass of the universe, the turning point redshift, the age of the present universe, and the time-dependent radius, expansion rate, velocity, and acceleration pa- rameter of the universe. It is shown that the turning point redshift is only dependent of the density parameter in matter, not explicitly on the Hubble constant and the radius of the present universe. The universe turned its expansion from past deceleration to recent acceleration at the moment when its size was about 3 / 5 of the present size if the density parameter in matter is about 0.3 (or the turning point redshift is 0.67. The expansion rate is very large in the early period and decreases with time to approach the Hubble constant at the present time. The expansion velocity exceeds the light speed in the early period. It decreases to the minimum at the turning point and then increases with time. The minimum and present expansion velocities are determined with the independent parameters. The solution of time-dependent radius shows the universe expands all the time. The universe with a larger present radius, smaller Hubble constant, and / or smaller density parameter in matter is elder. The universe with smaller density parameter in matter accelerates recently in a larger rate but less than unity.

CDM Country Guide for The Philippines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

Under the Integrated Capacity Strengthening for the CDM (ICS-CDM) programme, IGES presents the CDM Country Guides, a series of manuals on CDM project development for Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. These guidebooks aim at facilitating CDM project developments in Asia by providing essential information to both project developers and potential investors. This volume is on The Philippines

Gravitino/axino as decaying dark matter and cosmological tensions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koichi Hamaguchi

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In supersymmetric axion models, if the gravitino or axino is the lightest SUSY particle (LSP, the other is often the next-to-LSP (NLSP. We investigate the cosmology of such a scenario and point out that the lifetime of the NLSP naturally becomes comparable to the present age of the universe in a viable parameter region. This is a well-motivated example of the so-called decaying dark matter model, which is recently considered as an extension of the ΛCDM model to relax some cosmological tensions.

Distinguishing CDM dwarfs from SIDM dwarfs in baryonic simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Strickland, Emily; Fitts, Alex B.; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael

2017-06-01

Dwarf galaxies in the nearby Universe are the most dark-matter-dominated systems known. They are therefore natural probes of the nature of dark matter, which remains unknown. Our collaboration has performed several high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations of isolated dwarf galaxies. We simulate each galaxy in standard cold dark matter (ΛCDM) as well as self-interacting dark matter (SIDM, with a cross section of σ/m ~ 1 cm2/g), both with and without baryons, in order to identify distinguishing characteristics between the two. The simulations are run using GIZMO, a meshless-finite-mass hydrodynamical code, and are part of the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. By analyzing both the global properties and inner structure of the dwarfs in varying dark matter prescriptions, we provide a side-by-side comparison of isolated, dark-matter-dominated galaxies at the mass scale where differences in the two models of dark matter are thought to be the most obvious. We find that the edge of classical dwarfs and ultra-faint dwarfs (at stellar masses of ~105 solar masses) provides the clearest window for distinguishing between the two theories. At these low masses, our SIDM galaxies have a cored inner density profile, while their CDM counterparts have “cuspy” centers. The SIDM versions of each galaxy also have measurably lower stellar velocity dispersions than their CDM counterparts. Future observations of ultra faint dwarfs with JWST and 30-m telescopes will be able to discern whether such alternate theories of dark matter are viable.

Spherical collapse model in time varying vacuum cosmologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basilakos, Spyros; Plionis, Manolis; Sola, Joan

2010-01-01

We investigate the virialization of cosmic structures in the framework of flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker cosmological models, in which the vacuum energy density evolves with time. In particular, our analysis focuses on the study of spherical matter perturbations, as they decouple from the background expansion, 'turn around', and finally collapse. We generalize the spherical collapse model in the case when the vacuum energy is a running function of the Hubble rate, Λ=Λ(H). A particularly well-motivated model of this type is the so-called quantum field vacuum, in which Λ(H) is a quadratic function, Λ(H)=n 0 +n 2 H 2 , with n 0 ≠0. This model was previously studied by our team using the latest high quality cosmological data to constrain its free parameters, as well as the predicted cluster formation rate. It turns out that the corresponding Hubble expansion history resembles that of the traditional ΛCDM cosmology. We use this Λ(t)CDM framework to illustrate the fact that the properties of the spherical collapse model (virial density, collapse factor, etc.) depend on the choice of the considered vacuum energy (homogeneous or clustered). In particular, if the distribution of the vacuum energy is clustered, then, under specific conditions, we can produce more concentrated structures with respect to the homogeneous vacuum energy case.

A Solution to the Cosmological Problem of Relativity Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Janzen, Daryl

After nearly a century of scientific investigation, the standard cosmological theory continues to have many unexplained problems, which invariably amount to one troubling statement: we know of no good reason for the Universe to appear just as it does, which is described extremely well by the flat ΛCDM cosmological model. Therefore, the problem is not that the physical model is at all incompatible with observation, but that, as our empirical results have been increasingly constrained, it has also become increasingly obvious that the Universe does not meet our prior expectations; e.g., the evidence suggests that the Universe began from a singularity of the theory that is used to describe it, and with space expanding thereafter in cosmic time, even though relativity theory is thought to imply that no such objective foliation of the spacetime continuum should reasonably exist. Furthermore, the expanding Universe is well-described as being flat, isotropic, and homogeneous, even though its shape and expansion rate are everywhere supposed to be the products of local energy-content---and the necessary prior uniform distribution, of just the right amount of matter for all three of these conditions to be met, could not have been causally determined to begin with. And finally, the empirically constrained density parameters now indicate that all of the matter that we directly observe should make up only four percent of the total, so that the dominant forms of energy in the Universe should be dark energy in the form of a cosmological constant, Λ, and cold dark matter (CDM). The most common ways of attacking these problems have been: to apply modifications to the basic physical model, e.g. as in the inflation and quintessence theories which strive to resolve the horizon, flatness, and cosmological constant problems; to use particle physics techniques in order to formulate the description of dark matter candidates that might fit with observations; and, in the case of the Big

Primer on CDM programme of activities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hinostroza, M. (UNEP Risoe Centre, Roskilde (Denmark)); Lescano, A.D. (A2G Carbon Partners (Peru)); Alvarez, J.M. (Ministerio del Ambiente del Peru (Peru)); Avendano, F.M. (EEA Fund Management Ltd. (United Kingdom)

2009-07-01

As an advanced modality introduced in 2005, the Programmatic CDM (POA) is expected to address asymmetries of participation, especially of very small-scale project activities in certain areas, key sectors and many countries with considerable potential for greenhouse gas emission reductions, not reached by the traditional single-project-based CDM. Latest experiences with POAs and the recently finalized official guidance governing the Programmatic CDM are the grassroots of this Primer, which has the purpose of supporting the fully understanding of rules and procedures of POAs by interpreting them and analyzing real POA cases. Professional and experts from the public and private entities have contributed to the development of this Primer, produced by the UNEP Risoe Centre, as part of knowledge support activities for the Capacity Development for the CDM (CD4CDM) project. The overall objective of the CD4CDM is to develop the capacities of host countries to identify, design, approve, finance, implement CDM projects and commercialize CERs in participating countries. The CDM4CDM is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (author)

COSMOLOGY FROM GRAVITATIONAL LENS TIME DELAYS AND PLANCK DATA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suyu, S. H.; Treu, T.; Sonnenfeld, A.; Hilbert, S.; Spiniello, C.; Auger, M. W.; Collett, T.; Blandford, R. D.; Marshall, P. J.; Courbin, F.; Meylan, G.; Tewes, M.; Fassnacht, C. D.; Koopmans, L. V. E.

2014-01-01

Under the assumption of a flat ΛCDM cosmology, recent data from the Planck satellite point toward a Hubble constant that is in tension with that measured by gravitational lens time delays and by the local distance ladder. Prosaically, this difference could arise from unknown systematic uncertainties in some of the measurements. More interestingly—if systematics were ruled out—resolving the tension would require a departure from the flat ΛCDM cosmology, introducing, for example, a modest amount of spatial curvature, or a non-trivial dark energy equation of state. To begin to address these issues, we present an analysis of the gravitational lens RXJ1131–1231 that is improved in one particular regard: we examine the issue of systematic error introduced by an assumed lens model density profile. We use more flexible gravitational lens models with baryonic and dark matter components, and find that the exquisite Hubble Space Telescope image with thousands of intensity pixels in the Einstein ring and the stellar velocity dispersion of the lens contain sufficient information to constrain these more flexible models. The total uncertainty on the time-delay distance is 6.6% for a single system. We proceed to combine our improved time-delay distance measurement with the WMAP9 and Planck posteriors. In an open ΛCDM model, the data for RXJ1131–1231 in combination with Planck favor a flat universe with Ω k =0.00 −0.02 +0.01 (68% credible interval (CI)). In a flat wCDM model, the combination of RXJ1131–1231 and Planck yields w=−1.52 −0.20 +0.19 (68% CI)

Cosmological Reflection of Particle Symmetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maxim Khlopov

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The standard model involves particle symmetry and the mechanism of its breaking. Modern cosmology is based on inflationary models with baryosynthesis and dark matter/energy, which involves physics beyond the standard model. Studies of the physical basis of modern cosmology combine direct searches for new physics at accelerators with its indirect non-accelerator probes, in which cosmological consequences of particle models play an important role. The cosmological reflection of particle symmetry and the mechanisms of its breaking are the subject of the present review.

CDM sustainable development impacts developed for the UNEP project 'CD4CDM'

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olhoff, Anne; Markandya, Anil; Halsnaes, Kirsten; Taylor, Tim

2004-07-01

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), an innovative cooperative mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol, is designed with the dual aim of assisting developing countries in achieving sustainable development (SD) and of assisting industrialised countries in achieving compliance with their greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction commitments. The SD dimension is not merely a requirement of the CDM; it should be seen as a main driver for developing country interest in participating in CDM projects. This is so, since apart from GHG emission reductions CDM projects will have a number of impacts in the host countries, including impacts on economic and social development and on the local environment. Furthermore, the selecting of the SD criteria and the assessment of the SD impacts are sovereign matters of the host countries in the current operationalisation of the Kyoto Protocol. National authorities can thus use the SD dimension to evaluate key linkages between national development goals and CDM projects, with the aim of selecting and designing CDM projects so that they create and maximise synergies with local development goals. (au)

Simple cosmological model with inflation and late times acceleration

Science.gov (United States)

Szydłowski, Marek; Stachowski, Aleksander

2018-03-01

In the framework of polynomial Palatini cosmology, we investigate a simple cosmological homogeneous and isotropic model with matter in the Einstein frame. We show that in this model during cosmic evolution, early inflation appears and the accelerating phase of the expansion for the late times. In this frame we obtain the Friedmann equation with matter and dark energy in the form of a scalar field with a potential whose form is determined in a covariant way by the Ricci scalar of the FRW metric. The energy density of matter and dark energy are also parameterized through the Ricci scalar. Early inflation is obtained only for an infinitesimally small fraction of energy density of matter. Between the matter and dark energy, there exists an interaction because the dark energy is decaying. For the characterization of inflation we calculate the slow roll parameters and the constant roll parameter in terms of the Ricci scalar. We have found a characteristic behavior of the time dependence of density of dark energy on the cosmic time following the logistic-like curve which interpolates two almost constant value phases. From the required numbers of N-folds we have found a bound on the model parameter.

The Abacus Cosmos: A Suite of Cosmological N-body Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Garrison, Lehman H.; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Ferrer, Douglas; Tinker, Jeremy L.; Pinto, Philip A.; Weinberg, David H.

2018-06-01

We present a public data release of halo catalogs from a suite of 125 cosmological N-body simulations from the ABACUS project. The simulations span 40 wCDM cosmologies centered on the Planck 2015 cosmology at two mass resolutions, 4 × 1010 h ‑1 M ⊙ and 1 × 1010 h ‑1 M ⊙, in 1.1 h ‑1 Gpc and 720 h ‑1 Mpc boxes, respectively. The boxes are phase-matched to suppress sample variance and isolate cosmology dependence. Additional volume is available via 16 boxes of fixed cosmology and varied phase; a few boxes of single-parameter excursions from Planck 2015 are also provided. Catalogs spanning z = 1.5 to 0.1 are available for friends-of-friends and ROCKSTAR halo finders and include particle subsamples. All data products are available at https://lgarrison.github.io/AbacusCosmos.

Reconstructing matter profiles of spherically compensated cosmic regions in ΛCDM cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

de Fromont, Paul; Alimi, Jean-Michel

2018-02-01

The absence of a physically motivated model for large-scale profiles of cosmic voids limits our ability to extract valuable cosmological information from their study. In this paper, we address this problem by introducing the spherically compensated cosmic regions, named CoSpheres. Such cosmic regions are identified around local extrema in the density field and admit a unique compensation radius R1 where the internal spherical mass is exactly compensated. Their origin is studied by extending the standard peak model and implementing the compensation condition. Since the compensation radius evolves as the Universe itself, R1(t) ∝ a(t), CoSpheres behave as bubble Universes with fixed comoving volume. Using the spherical collapse model, we reconstruct their profiles with a very high accuracy until z = 0 in N-body simulations. CoSpheres are symmetrically defined and reconstructed for both central maximum (seeding haloes and galaxies) and minimum (identified with cosmic voids). We show that the full non-linear dynamics can be solved analytically around this particular compensation radius, providing useful predictions for cosmology. This formalism highlights original correlations between local extremum and their large-scale cosmic environment. The statistical properties of these spherically compensated cosmic regions and the possibilities to constrain efficiently both cosmology and gravity will be investigated in companion papers.

Implementing CDM projects. A guidebook to host country legal issues; CDM - Clean Development Mechanism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Curnow, P [Baker and McKenzie, London (United Kingdom); Hodes, G [UNEP Risoe Centre on Energy, Climate and Sustainable Development, DTU, Roskilde (Denmark)

2009-08-15

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) continues to evolve organically, and many legal issues remain to be addressed in order to maximise its effectiveness. This Guidebook explains through case studies how domestic laws and regulatory frameworks in CDM Host Countries interact with international rules on carbon trading, and how the former can be enhanced to facilitate the implementation and financing of CDM projects. (author)

Caching and interpolated likelihoods: accelerating cosmological Monte Carlo Markov chains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bouland, Adam; Easther, Richard; Rosenfeld, Katherine, E-mail: adam.bouland@aya.yale.edu, E-mail: richard.easther@yale.edu, E-mail: krosenfeld@cfa.harvard.edu [Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven CT 06520 (United States)

2011-05-01

We describe a novel approach to accelerating Monte Carlo Markov Chains. Our focus is cosmological parameter estimation, but the algorithm is applicable to any problem for which the likelihood surface is a smooth function of the free parameters and computationally expensive to evaluate. We generate a high-order interpolating polynomial for the log-likelihood using the first points gathered by the Markov chains as a training set. This polynomial then accurately computes the majority of the likelihoods needed in the latter parts of the chains. We implement a simple version of this algorithm as a patch (InterpMC) to CosmoMC and show that it accelerates parameter estimatation by a factor of between two and four for well-converged chains. The current code is primarily intended as a ''proof of concept'', and we argue that there is considerable room for further performance gains. Unlike other approaches to accelerating parameter fits, we make no use of precomputed training sets or special choices of variables, and InterpMC is almost entirely transparent to the user.

Caching and interpolated likelihoods: accelerating cosmological Monte Carlo Markov chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bouland, Adam; Easther, Richard; Rosenfeld, Katherine

2011-01-01

We describe a novel approach to accelerating Monte Carlo Markov Chains. Our focus is cosmological parameter estimation, but the algorithm is applicable to any problem for which the likelihood surface is a smooth function of the free parameters and computationally expensive to evaluate. We generate a high-order interpolating polynomial for the log-likelihood using the first points gathered by the Markov chains as a training set. This polynomial then accurately computes the majority of the likelihoods needed in the latter parts of the chains. We implement a simple version of this algorithm as a patch (InterpMC) to CosmoMC and show that it accelerates parameter estimatation by a factor of between two and four for well-converged chains. The current code is primarily intended as a ''proof of concept'', and we argue that there is considerable room for further performance gains. Unlike other approaches to accelerating parameter fits, we make no use of precomputed training sets or special choices of variables, and InterpMC is almost entirely transparent to the user

Second-order Cosmological Perturbations Engendered by Point-like Masses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brilenkov, Ruslan [Institute for Astro- and Particle Physics, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25/8, A‐6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Eingorn, Maxim, E-mail: ruslan.brilenkov@gmail.com, E-mail: maxim.eingorn@gmail.com [North Carolina Central University, CREST and NASA Research Centers, 1801 Fayetteville St., Durham, NC 27707 (United States)

2017-08-20

In the ΛCDM framework, presenting nonrelativistic matter inhomogeneities as discrete massive particles, we develop the second‐order cosmological perturbation theory. Our approach relies on the weak gravitational field limit. The derived equations for the second‐order scalar, vector, and tensor metric corrections are suitable at arbitrary distances, including regions with nonlinear contrasts of the matter density. We thoroughly verify fulfillment of all Einstein equations, as well as self‐consistency of order assignments. In addition, we achieve logical positive results in the Minkowski background limit. Feasible investigations of the cosmological back-reaction manifestations by means of relativistic simulations are also outlined.

Large Scale Cosmological Anomalies and Inhomogeneous Dark Energy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leandros Perivolaropoulos

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A wide range of large scale observations hint towards possible modifications on the standard cosmological model which is based on a homogeneous and isotropic universe with a small cosmological constant and matter. These observations, also known as “cosmic anomalies” include unexpected Cosmic Microwave Background perturbations on large angular scales, large dipolar peculiar velocity flows of galaxies (“bulk flows”, the measurement of inhomogenous values of the fine structure constant on cosmological scales (“alpha dipole” and other effects. The presence of the observational anomalies could either be a large statistical fluctuation in the context of ΛCDM or it could indicate a non-trivial departure from the cosmological principle on Hubble scales. Such a departure is very much constrained by cosmological observations for matter. For dark energy however there are no significant observational constraints for Hubble scale inhomogeneities. In this brief review I discuss some of the theoretical models that can naturally lead to inhomogeneous dark energy, their observational constraints and their potential to explain the large scale cosmic anomalies.

Cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering in the presence of massive neutrinos

Science.gov (United States)

Zennaro, M.; Bel, J.; Dossett, J.; Carbone, C.; Guzzo, L.

2018-06-01

The clustering ratio is defined as the ratio between the correlation function and the variance of the smoothed overdensity field. In Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmologies without massive neutrinos, it has already been proven to be independent of bias and redshift space distortions on a range of linear scales. It therefore can provide us with a direct comparison of predictions (for matter in real space) against measurements (from galaxies in redshift space). In this paper we first extend the applicability of such properties to cosmologies that account for massive neutrinos, by performing tests against simulated data. We then investigate the constraining power of the clustering ratio on cosmological parameters such as the total neutrino mass and the equation of state of dark energy. We analyse the joint posterior distribution of the parameters that satisfy both measurements of the galaxy clustering ratio in the SDSS-DR12, and the angular power spectra of cosmic microwave background temperature and polarization anisotropies measured by the Planck satellite. We find the clustering ratio to be very sensitive to the CDM density parameter, but less sensitive to the total neutrino mass. We also forecast the constraining power the clustering ratio will achieve, predicting the amplitude of its errors with a Euclid-like galaxy survey. First we compute parameter forecasts using the Planck covariance matrix alone, then we add information from the clustering ratio. We find a significant improvement on the constraint of all considered parameters, and in particular an improvement of 40 per cent for the CDM density and 14 per cent for the total neutrino mass.

f(R,T,RμνTμν) gravity phenomenology and ΛCDM universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Odintsov, Sergei D.; Sáez-Gómez, Diego

2013-01-01

We propose general f(R,T,R μν T μν ) theory as generalization of covariant Hořava-like gravity with dynamical Lorentz symmetry breaking. FRLW cosmological dynamics for several versions of such theory is considered. The reconstruction of the above action is explicitly done, including the numerical reconstruction for the occurrence of ΛCDM universe. De Sitter universe solutions in the presence of non-constant fluid are also presented. The problem of matter instability in f(R,T,R μν T μν ) gravity is discussed

Overview of UNEP's CDM activities. Enhancing a more equitable regional distribution of CDM project activities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2007-12-15

More than thirty months after the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol, CDM transactions continue to gain momentum. By November 2007, 2,647 CDM projects are in the CDM pipeline. Of these, 827 are registered projects, and a further 154 are inthe registration process. The CDM Executive Board (CDM EB) has issued more than 82 million Certified Emissions Reductions (CER). In terms of number of projects by type of technology, renewables CDM projects are the leading type with 62% of the pipeline. However, N{sub 2}O, HFC and PFC projects have the biggest share (34%) of CERs expected to be generated by end of first commitment period. At the same time, more and more renewables and other non-industrial gases projects are going into the pipeline increasing their share of emissions reductions to be achieved. Geographically, the distribution of CDM projects has so far not been very equitable. A limited number of countries including China, India, Brazil and Mexico have captured the largest share of the global CDM project portfolio. Specific regions in the developing world, namely Sub-Saharan Africa, have been largely bypassed by the CDM market and are struggling to attract a decent number of CDM projects. In fact, of the total 2,647 projects, only 33 projects are in Sub-Saharan Africa where 21 of these are actually in South Africa, making the distribution even more skewed. (au)

A 6% measurement of the Hubble parameter at z ∼0.45: direct evidence of the epoch of cosmic re-acceleration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moresco, Michele; Cimatti, Andrea; Citro, Annalisa [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, V.le Berti Pichat, 6/2, 40127, Bologna (Italy); Pozzetti, Lucia [INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, via Ranzani 1, 40127 Bologna (Italy); Jimenez, Raul; Verde, Licia [ICREA and ICC, University of Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Barcelona 08028 (Spain); Maraston, Claudia; Thomas, Daniel; Wilkinson, David [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Dennis Sciama Building, University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Tojeiro, Rita, E-mail: michele.moresco@unibo.it, E-mail: lucia.pozzetti@oabo.inaf.it, E-mail: a.cimatti@unibo.it, E-mail: rauljimenez@g.harvard.edu, E-mail: claudia.maraston@port.ac.uk, E-mail: liciaverde@icc.ub.edu, E-mail: daniel.thomas@port.ac.uk, E-mail: annalisa.citro@unibo.it, E-mail: rmftr@st-andrews.ac.uk, E-mail: david.wilkinson@port.ac.uk [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, Saint Andrews, KY16 9SS (United Kingdom)

2016-05-01

Deriving the expansion history of the Universe is a major goal of modern cosmology. To date, the most accurate measurements have been obtained with Type Ia Supernovae (SNe) and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), providing evidence for the existence of a transition epoch at which the expansion rate changes from decelerated to accelerated. However, these results have been obtained within the framework of specific cosmological models that must be implicitly or explicitly assumed in the measurement. It is therefore crucial to obtain measurements of the accelerated expansion of the Universe independently of assumptions on cosmological models. Here we exploit the unprecedented statistics provided by the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS, [1-3]) Data Release 9 to provide new constraints on the Hubble parameter H ( z ) using the cosmic chronometers approach. We extract a sample of more than 130000 of the most massive and passively evolving galaxies, obtaining five new cosmology-independent H ( z ) measurements in the redshift range 0.3 < z < 0.5, with an accuracy of ∼11–16% incorporating both statistical and systematic errors. Once combined, these measurements yield a 6% accuracy constraint of H ( z = 0.4293) = 91.8 ± 5.3 km/s/Mpc. The new data are crucial to provide the first cosmology-independent determination of the transition redshift at high statistical significance, measuring z {sub t} = 0.4 ± 0.1, and to significantly disfavor the null hypothesis of no transition between decelerated and accelerated expansion at 99.9% confidence level. This analysis highlights the wide potential of the cosmic chronometers approach: it permits to derive constraints on the expansion history of the Universe with results competitive with standard probes, and most importantly, being the estimates independent of the cosmological model, it can constrain cosmologies beyond—and including—the ΛCDM model.

A 6% measurement of the Hubble parameter at z ∼0.45: direct evidence of the epoch of cosmic re-acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moresco, Michele; Cimatti, Andrea; Citro, Annalisa; Pozzetti, Lucia; Jimenez, Raul; Verde, Licia; Maraston, Claudia; Thomas, Daniel; Wilkinson, David; Tojeiro, Rita

2016-01-01

Deriving the expansion history of the Universe is a major goal of modern cosmology. To date, the most accurate measurements have been obtained with Type Ia Supernovae (SNe) and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), providing evidence for the existence of a transition epoch at which the expansion rate changes from decelerated to accelerated. However, these results have been obtained within the framework of specific cosmological models that must be implicitly or explicitly assumed in the measurement. It is therefore crucial to obtain measurements of the accelerated expansion of the Universe independently of assumptions on cosmological models. Here we exploit the unprecedented statistics provided by the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS, [1-3]) Data Release 9 to provide new constraints on the Hubble parameter H ( z ) using the cosmic chronometers approach. We extract a sample of more than 130000 of the most massive and passively evolving galaxies, obtaining five new cosmology-independent H ( z ) measurements in the redshift range 0.3 < z < 0.5, with an accuracy of ∼11–16% incorporating both statistical and systematic errors. Once combined, these measurements yield a 6% accuracy constraint of H ( z = 0.4293) = 91.8 ± 5.3 km/s/Mpc. The new data are crucial to provide the first cosmology-independent determination of the transition redshift at high statistical significance, measuring z t = 0.4 ± 0.1, and to significantly disfavor the null hypothesis of no transition between decelerated and accelerated expansion at 99.9% confidence level. This analysis highlights the wide potential of the cosmic chronometers approach: it permits to derive constraints on the expansion history of the Universe with results competitive with standard probes, and most importantly, being the estimates independent of the cosmological model, it can constrain cosmologies beyond—and including—the ΛCDM model.

Constraints on Cosmological Parameters from the Angular Power Spectrum of a Combined 2500 deg$^2$ SPT-SZ and Planck Gravitational Lensing Map

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simard, G.; et al.

2017-12-20

We report constraints on cosmological parameters from the angular power spectrum of a cosmic microwave background (CMB) gravitational lensing potential map created using temperature data from 2500 deg$^2$ of South Pole Telescope (SPT) data supplemented with data from Planck in the same sky region, with the statistical power in the combined map primarily from the SPT data. We fit the corresponding lensing angular power spectrum to a model including cold dark matter and a cosmological constant ($\\Lambda$CDM), and to models with single-parameter extensions to $\\Lambda$CDM. We find constraints that are comparable to and consistent with constraints found using the full-sky Planck CMB lensing data. Specifically, we find $\\sigma_8 \\Omega_{\\rm m}^{0.25}=0.598 \\pm 0.024$ from the lensing data alone with relatively weak priors placed on the other $\\Lambda$CDM parameters. In combination with primary CMB data from Planck, we explore single-parameter extensions to the $\\Lambda$CDM model. We find $\\Omega_k = -0.012^{+0.021}_{-0.023}$ or $M_{\

Accelerating Approximate Bayesian Computation with Quantile Regression: application to cosmological redshift distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Kacprzak, T.; Herbel, J.; Amara, A.; Réfrégier, A.

2018-02-01

Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) is a method to obtain a posterior distribution without a likelihood function, using simulations and a set of distance metrics. For that reason, it has recently been gaining popularity as an analysis tool in cosmology and astrophysics. Its drawback, however, is a slow convergence rate. We propose a novel method, which we call qABC, to accelerate ABC with Quantile Regression. In this method, we create a model of quantiles of distance measure as a function of input parameters. This model is trained on a small number of simulations and estimates which regions of the prior space are likely to be accepted into the posterior. Other regions are then immediately rejected. This procedure is then repeated as more simulations are available. We apply it to the practical problem of estimation of redshift distribution of cosmological samples, using forward modelling developed in previous work. The qABC method converges to nearly same posterior as the basic ABC. It uses, however, only 20% of the number of simulations compared to basic ABC, achieving a fivefold gain in execution time for our problem. For other problems the acceleration rate may vary; it depends on how close the prior is to the final posterior. We discuss possible improvements and extensions to this method.

A Comparative Analysis of the Supernova Legacy Survey Sample With ΛCDM and the Rh=ct Universe

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Jun-Jie; Wu, Xue-Feng; Melia, Fulvio; Maier, Robert S.

2015-03-01

The use of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) has thus far produced the most reliable measurement of the expansion history of the universe, suggesting that ΛCDM offers the best explanation for the redshift-luminosity distribution observed in these events. However, analysis of other kinds of sources, such as cosmic chronometers, gamma-ray bursts, and high-z quasars, conflicts with this conclusion, indicating instead that the constant expansion rate implied by the Rh = ct universe is a better fit to the data. The central difficulty with the use of SNe Ia as standard candles is that one must optimize three or four nuisance parameters characterizing supernova (SN) luminosities simultaneously with the parameters of an expansion model. Hence, in comparing competing models, one must reduce the data independently for each. We carry out such a comparison of ΛCDM and the Rh = ct universe using the SN Legacy Survey sample of 252 SN events, and show that each model fits its individually reduced data very well. However, since Rh = ct has only one free parameter (the Hubble constant), it follows from a standard model selection technique that it is to be preferred over ΛCDM, the minimalist version of which has three (the Hubble constant, the scaled matter density, and either the spatial curvature constant or the dark energy equation-of-state parameter). We estimate using the Bayes Information Criterion that in a pairwise comparison, the likelihood of Rh = ct is ˜90%, compared with only ˜10% for a minimalist form of ΛCDM, in which dark energy is simply a cosmological constant. Compared to Rh = ct, versions of the standard model with more elaborate parametrizations of dark energy are judged to be even less likely. This work is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Tan Lu, who sadly passed away 2014 December 3. Among his many achievements, he is considered to be one of the founders of high-energy astrophysics, and a pioneer in modern cosmology, in China.

An instability of the standard model of cosmology creates the anomalous acceleration without dark energy

Science.gov (United States)

Smoller, Joel; Temple, Blake; Vogler, Zeke

2017-11-01

We identify the condition for smoothness at the centre of spherically symmetric solutions of Einstein's original equations without the cosmological constant or dark energy. We use this to derive a universal phase portrait which describes general, smooth, spherically symmetric solutions near the centre of symmetry when the pressure p=0. In this phase portrait, the critical k=0 Friedmann space-time appears as a saddle rest point which is unstable to spherical perturbations. This raises the question as to whether the Friedmann space-time is observable by redshift versus luminosity measurements looking outwards from any point. The unstable manifold of the saddle rest point corresponding to Friedmann describes the evolution of local uniformly expanding space-times whose accelerations closely mimic the effects of dark energy. A unique simple wave perturbation from the radiation epoch is shown to trigger the instability, match the accelerations of dark energy up to second order and distinguish the theory from dark energy at third order. In this sense, anomalous accelerations are not only consistent with Einstein's original theory of general relativity, but are a prediction of it without the cosmological constant or dark energy.

An instability of the standard model of cosmology creates the anomalous acceleration without dark energy.

Science.gov (United States)

Smoller, Joel; Temple, Blake; Vogler, Zeke

2017-11-01

We identify the condition for smoothness at the centre of spherically symmetric solutions of Einstein's original equations without the cosmological constant or dark energy. We use this to derive a universal phase portrait which describes general, smooth, spherically symmetric solutions near the centre of symmetry when the pressure p =0. In this phase portrait, the critical k =0 Friedmann space-time appears as a saddle rest point which is unstable to spherical perturbations. This raises the question as to whether the Friedmann space-time is observable by redshift versus luminosity measurements looking outwards from any point. The unstable manifold of the saddle rest point corresponding to Friedmann describes the evolution of local uniformly expanding space-times whose accelerations closely mimic the effects of dark energy. A unique simple wave perturbation from the radiation epoch is shown to trigger the instability, match the accelerations of dark energy up to second order and distinguish the theory from dark energy at third order. In this sense, anomalous accelerations are not only consistent with Einstein's original theory of general relativity, but are a prediction of it without the cosmological constant or dark energy.

Constraining holographic cosmology using Planck data

Science.gov (United States)

Afshordi, Niayesh; Gould, Elizabeth; Skenderis, Kostas

2017-06-01

Holographic cosmology offers a novel framework for describing the very early Universe in which cosmological predictions are expressed in terms of the observables of a three-dimensional quantum field theory (QFT). This framework includes conventional slow-roll inflation, which is described in terms of a strongly coupled QFT, but it also allows for qualitatively new models for the very early Universe, where the dual QFT may be weakly coupled. The new models describe a universe which is nongeometric at early times. While standard slow-roll inflation leads to a (near-) power-law primordial power spectrum, perturbative super-renormalizable QFTs yield a new holographic spectral shape. Here, we compare the two predictions against cosmological observations. We use CosmoMC to determine the best fit parameters, and MultiNest for Bayesian evidence, comparing the likelihoods. We find that the dual QFT should be nonperturbative at the very low multipoles (l ≲30 ), while for higher multipoles (l ≳30 ) the new holographic model, based on perturbative QFT, fits the data just as well as the standard power-law spectrum assumed in Λ CDM cosmology. This finding opens the door to applications of nonperturbative QFT techniques, such as lattice simulations, to observational cosmology on gigaparsec scales and beyond.

Stakeholder participation in CDM and new climate mitigation mechanisms: China CDM case study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dong, Yan; Olsen, Karen Holm

2017-01-01

exists on how LSC is practised, and synergies between climate mechanisms are largely unexplored. This study explores how international LSC rules are practised at national and local levels. It aims to better shape future LSC in climate mechanisms by learning from the case of China. First, LSC policies...... in CDM, REDD +, and GCF are identified. Relevant rules in China’s local policies are analysed. To understand the interaction between CDM policies and China’s local LSC rules, a selection of Chinese CDM Projects Design Documents (PDDs) are analysed, providing an overall impression of the stakeholder...

The Rh = ct universe in alternative theories of gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Sultana, Joseph; Kazanas, Demosthenes

2017-12-01

The Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model (one comprising of a cosmological constant Λ and cold dark matter) is generally considered the standard model in cosmology. One of the alternatives that has received attention in the last few years is the Rh = ct universe, which provides an age for the Universe similar to that of ΛCDM and whose (vanishing) deceleration parameter is apparently not inconsistent with observations. Like the ΛCDM, the Rh = ct universe is based on a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology with the total energy density ρ and pressure p of the cosmic fluid satisfying the simple equation of state ρ + 3p = 0, i.e. a vanishing total active gravitational mass. In an earlier paper, we examined the possible sources for the Rh = ct universe within general relativity, and we have shown that it still contains a dark energy component, albeit not in the form of a cosmological constant. The growing interest in gravitational theories, alternative to Einstein's general relativity, in cosmology, is mainly driven by the need for cosmological models that attain a late-time accelerated expansion without the presence of a cosmological constant as in the ΛCDM, and thereby avoiding the problems associated with it. In this paper, we discuss some of these common alternative theories and show that the Rh = ct is also a solution to some of them.

Cosmology

CERN Document Server

García-Bellido, J

2015-01-01

In these lectures I review the present status of the so-called Standard Cosmological Model, based on the hot Big Bang Theory and the Inflationary Paradigm. I will make special emphasis on the recent developments in observational cosmology, mainly the acceleration of the universe, the precise measurements of the microwave background anisotropies, and the formation of structure like galaxies and clusters of galaxies from tiny primordial fluctuations generated during inflation.

Developed feedback from the Swedish CDM and JI program; Utvecklad aaterrapportering fraan det svenska CDM- och JI-programmet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-11-01

The Swedish Energy Agency is responsible for the Swedish government program for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI). CDM and JI is the Kyoto Protocol's two project-based flexible mechanisms. This program focuses on participation in individual CDM- and JI-projects and on participation in multilateral CDM- and JI- funds. In the report the Swedish Energy Agency, on behalf of the Government, presents a proposal for developed reporting for the CDM- and JI-program. Furthermore, issues related to how CDM and JI can assist in meeting the Swedish climate objective by 2020 are discussed. Also, the role for potential new flexible mechanisms under UN Climate Convention is mentioned.

New Cosmological Model and Its Implications on Observational Data Interpretation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlahovic Branislav

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The paradigm of ΛCDM cosmology works impressively well and with the concept of inflation it explains the universe after the time of decoupling. However there are still a few concerns; after much effort there is no detection of dark matter and there are significant problems in the theoretical description of dark energy. We will consider a variant of the cosmological spherical shell model, within FRW formalism and will compare it with the standard ΛCDM model. We will show that our new topological model satisfies cosmological principles and is consistent with all observable data, but that it may require new interpretation for some data. Considered will be constraints imposed on the model, as for instance the range for the size and allowed thickness of the shell, by the supernovae luminosity distance and CMB data. In this model propagation of the light is confined along the shell, which has as a consequence that observed CMB originated from one point or a limited space region. It allows to interpret the uniformity of the CMB without inflation scenario. In addition this removes any constraints on the uniformity of the universe at the early stage and opens a possibility that the universe was not uniform and that creation of galaxies and large structures is due to the inhomogeneities that originated in the Big Bang.

Determination of the cosmological parameters and the nature of dark energy; Extraction des parametres cosmologiques et des proprietes de l'energie noire

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Linden, S.

2010-04-15

The measured properties of the dark energy component being consistent with a Cosmological Constant, {Lambda}, this cosmological standard model is referred to as the {Lambda}-Cold-Dark-Matter ({Lambda}CDM) model. Despite its overall success, this model suffers from various problems. The existence of a Cosmological Constant raises fundamental questions. Attempts to describe it as the energy contribution from the vacuum as following from Quantum Field Theory failed quantitatively. In consequence, a large number of alternative models have been developed to describe the dark energy component: modified gravity, additional dimensions, Quintessence models. Also, astrophysical effects have been considered to mimic an accelerated expansion. The basics of the {Lambda}CDM model and the various attempts of explaining dark energy are outlined in this thesis. Another major problem of the model comes from the dependencies of the fit results on a number of a priori assumptions and parameterization effects. Today, combined analyses of the various cosmological probes are performed to extract the parameters of the model. Due to a wrong model assumption or a bad parameterization of the real physics, one might end up measuring with high precision something which is not there. We show, that indeed due to the high precision of modern cosmological measurements, purely kinematic approaches to distance measurements no longer yield valid fit results except for accidental special cases, and that a fit of the exact (integral) redshift-distance relation is necessary. The main results of this work concern the use of the CPL parameterization of dark energy when coping with the dynamics of tracker solutions of Quintessence models, and the risk of introducing biases on the parameters due to the possibly prohibited extrapolation to arbitrary high redshifts of the SN type Ia magnitude calibration relation, which is obtained in the low-redshift regime. Whereas the risks of applying CPL shows up to be

Can CDM bring technology transfer to China?-An empirical study of technology transfer in China's CDM projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Bo

2010-01-01

China has undertaken the greatest number of projects and reported the largest emission reductions on the global clean development mechanism (CDM) market. As technology transfer (TT) was designed to play a key role for Annex II countries in achieving greenhouse gas emission reductions, this study examines various factors that have affected CDM and TT in China. The proportion of total income derived from the certified emissions reductions (CER) plays a key role in the project owners' decision to adopt foreign technology. Incompatibility of CDM procedures with Chinese domestic procedures, technology diffusion (TD) effects, Chinese government policy and the role of carbon traders and CDM project consultants all contribute to the different degrees and forms of TT. International carbon traders and CDM consultants could play a larger role in TT in China's CDM projects as investors and brokers in the future.

Cosmology of a Friedmann-Lamaître-Robertson-Walker 3-brane, late-time cosmic acceleration, and the cosmic coincidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Doolin, Ciaran; Neupane, Ishwaree P

2013-04-05

A late epoch cosmic acceleration may be naturally entangled with cosmic coincidence--the observation that at the onset of acceleration the vacuum energy density fraction nearly coincides with the matter density fraction. In this Letter we show that this is indeed the case with the cosmology of a Friedmann-Lamaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) 3-brane in a five-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime. We derive the four-dimensional effective action on a FLRW 3-brane, from which we obtain a mass-reduction formula, namely, M(P)(2) = ρ(b)/|Λ(5)|, where M(P) is the effective (normalized) Planck mass, Λ(5) is the five-dimensional cosmological constant, and ρ(b) is the sum of the 3-brane tension V and the matter density ρ. Although the range of variation in ρ(b) is strongly constrained, the big bang nucleosynthesis bound on the time variation of the effective Newton constant G(N) = (8πM(P)(2))(-1) is satisfied when the ratio V/ρ ≳ O(10(2)) on cosmological scales. The same bound leads to an effective equation of state close to -1 at late epochs in accordance with astrophysical and cosmological observations.

Can superhorizon cosmological perturbations explain the acceleration of the universe?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirata, Christopher M.; Seljak, Uros

2005-01-01

We investigate the recent suggestions by Barausse et al. and Kolb et al. that the acceleration of the universe could be explained by large superhorizon fluctuations generated by inflation. We show that no acceleration can be produced by this mechanism. We begin by showing how the application of Raychaudhuri equation to inhomogeneous cosmologies results in several 'no go' theorems for accelerated expansion. Next we derive an exact solution for a specific case of initial perturbations, for which application of the Kolb et al. expressions leads to an acceleration, while the exact solution reveals that no acceleration is present. We show that the discrepancy can be traced to higher-order terms that were dropped in the Kolb et al. analysis. We proceed with the analysis of initial value formulation of general relativity to argue that causality severely limits what observable effects can be derived from superhorizon perturbations. By constructing a Riemann normal coordinate system on initial slice we show that no infrared divergence terms arise in this coordinate system. Thus any divergences found previously can be eliminated by a local rescaling of coordinates and are unobservable. We perform an explicit analysis of the variance of the deceleration parameter for the case of single-field inflation using usual coordinates and show that the infrared-divergent terms found by Barausse et al. and Kolb et al. cancel against several additional terms not considered in their analysis. Finally, we argue that introducing isocurvature perturbations does not alter our conclusion that the accelerating expansion of the universe cannot be explained by superhorizon modes

Particle theory and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaisser, T.K.; Shafi, Q.; Barr, S.M.; Seckel, D.; Rusjan, E.; Fletcher, R.S.

1991-01-01

This report discusses research of professor at Bartol research institute in the following general areas: particle phenomenology and non-accelerator physics; particle physics and cosmology; theories with higher symmetry; and particle astrophysics and cosmology

Separating expansion from contraction: generalized TOV condition, LTB models with pressure and $\\Lambda$CDM

CERN Document Server

Delliou, Morgan Le; Mimoso, José Pedro

2010-01-01

We discuss the existence of a dividing shell separating expanding and collapsing regions in spherically symmetric solutions with pressure. We obtain gauge invariant conditions relating not only the intrinsic spatial curvature of the shells to the ADM mass, but also a function of the pressure which we introduce that generalises the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equilibrium condition, in the framework of a 3+1 spacetime splitting. We consider the particular case of a Lema\\^itre-Tolman-Bondi dust models with a cosmological constant (a $\\Lambda$-CDM model) as an example of our results.

Cosmological simulations using a static scalar-tensor theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

RodrIguez-Meza, M A [Depto. de Fisica, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, Col. Escandon, Apdo. Postal 18-1027, 11801 Mexico D.F (Mexico); Gonzalez-Morales, A X [Departamento Ingenierias, Universidad Iberoamericana, Prol. Paseo de la Reforma 880 Lomas de Santa Fe, Mexico D.F. Mexico (Mexico); Gabbasov, R F [Depto. de Fisica, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, Col. Escandon, Apdo. Postal 18-1027, 11801 Mexico D.F (Mexico); Cervantes-Cota, Jorge L [Depto. de Fisica, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, Col. Escandon, Apdo. Postal 18-1027, 11801 Mexico D.F (Mexico)

2007-11-15

We present {lambda}CDM N-body cosmological simulations in the framework of of a static general scalar-tensor theory of gravity. Due to the influence of the non-minimally coupled scalar field, the gravitational potential is modified by a Yukawa type term, yielding a new structure formation dynamics. We present some preliminary results and, in particular, we compute the density and velocity profiles of the most massive group.

Nonparametric test of consistency between cosmological models and multiband CMB measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aghamousa, Amir [Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 790-784 (Korea, Republic of); Shafieloo, Arman, E-mail: amir@apctp.org, E-mail: shafieloo@kasi.re.kr [Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Daejeon 305-348 (Korea, Republic of)

2015-06-01

We present a novel approach to test the consistency of the cosmological models with multiband CMB data using a nonparametric approach. In our analysis we calibrate the REACT (Risk Estimation and Adaptation after Coordinate Transformation) confidence levels associated with distances in function space (confidence distances) based on the Monte Carlo simulations in order to test the consistency of an assumed cosmological model with observation. To show the applicability of our algorithm, we confront Planck 2013 temperature data with concordance model of cosmology considering two different Planck spectra combination. In order to have an accurate quantitative statistical measure to compare between the data and the theoretical expectations, we calibrate REACT confidence distances and perform a bias control using many realizations of the data. Our results in this work using Planck 2013 temperature data put the best fit ΛCDM model at 95% (∼ 2σ) confidence distance from the center of the nonparametric confidence set while repeating the analysis excluding the Planck 217 × 217 GHz spectrum data, the best fit ΛCDM model shifts to 70% (∼ 1σ) confidence distance. The most prominent features in the data deviating from the best fit ΛCDM model seems to be at low multipoles  18 < ℓ < 26 at greater than 2σ, ℓ ∼ 750 at ∼1 to 2σ and ℓ ∼ 1800 at greater than 2σ level. Excluding the 217×217 GHz spectrum the feature at ℓ ∼ 1800 becomes substantially less significance at ∼1 to 2σ confidence level. Results of our analysis based on the new approach we propose in this work are in agreement with other analysis done using alternative methods.

Phantom cosmologies and fermions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chimento, Luis P; Forte, Monica; Devecchi, Fernando P; Kremer, Gilberto M

2008-01-01

Form invariance transformations can be used for constructing phantom cosmologies starting with conventional cosmological models. In this work we reconsider the scalar field case and extend the discussion to fermionic fields, where the 'phantomization' process exhibits a new class of possible accelerated regimes. As an application we analyze the cosmological constant group for a fermionic seed fluid

Perturbations in electromagnetic dark energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiménez, Jose Beltrán; Maroto, Antonio L.; Koivisto, Tomi S.; Mota, David F.

2009-01-01

It has been recently proposed that the presence of a temporal electromagnetic field on cosmological scales could explain the phase of accelerated expansion that the universe is currently undergoing. The field contributes as a cosmological constant and therefore, the homogeneous cosmology produced by such a model is exactly the same as that of ΛCDM. However, unlike a cosmological constant term, electromagnetic fields can acquire perturbations which in principle could affect CMB anisotropies and structure formation. In this work, we study the evolution of inhomogeneous scalar perturbations in this model. We show that provided the initial electromagnetic fluctuations generated during inflation are small, the model is perfectly compatible with both CMB and large scale structure observations at the same level of accuracy as ΛCDM

DGP cosmological model with generalized Ricci dark energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aguilera, Yeremy [Universidad de Santiago, Departamento de Matematicas y Ciencia de la Computacion, Santiago (Chile); Avelino, Arturo [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (United States); Cruz, Norman [Universidad de Santiago, Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencia, Santiago (Chile); Lepe, Samuel [Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Fisica, Valparaiso (Chile); Pena, Francisco [Universidad de La Frontera, Departamento de Ciencias Fisicas, Facultad de Ingenieria y Ciencias, Temuco (Chile)

2014-11-15

The brane-world model proposed by Dvali, Gabadadze and Porrati (DGP) leads to an accelerated universe without cosmological constant or other form of dark energy for the positive branch (element of = +1). For the negative branch (element of = -1) we have investigated the behavior of a model with an holographic Ricci-like dark energy and dark matter, where the IR cutoff takes the form αH{sup 2} + βH, H being the Hubble parameter and α, β positive constants of the model. We perform an analytical study of the model in the late-time dark energy dominated epoch, where we obtain a solution for r{sub c}H(z), where r{sub c} is the leakage scale of gravity into the bulk, and conditions for the negative branch on the holographic parameters α and β, in order to hold the conditions of weak energy and accelerated universe. On the other hand, we compare the model versus the late-time cosmological data using the latest type Ia supernova sample of the Joint Light-curve Analysis (JLA), in order to constrain the holographic parameters in the negative branch, as well as r{sub c}H{sub 0} in the positive branch, where H{sub 0} is the Hubble constant. We find that the model has a good fit to the data and that the most likely values for (r{sub c}H{sub 0}, α, β) lie in the permitted region found from an analytical solution in a dark energy dominated universe. We give a justification to use a holographic cutoff in 4D for the dark energy in the 5-dimensional DGP model. Finally, using the Bayesian Information Criterion we find that this model is disfavored compared with the flat ΛCDM model. (orig.)

Combined cosmological tests of a bivalent tachyonic dark energy scalar field model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keresztes, Zoltán; Gergely, László Á.

2014-01-01

A recently investigated tachyonic scalar field dark energy dominated universe exhibits a bivalent future: depending on initial parameters can run either into a de Sitter exponential expansion or into a traversable future soft singularity followed by a contraction phase. We also include in the model (i) a tiny amount of radiation, (ii) baryonic matter (Ω b h 2  = 0.022161, where the Hubble constant is fixed as h = 0.706) and (iii) cold dark matter (CDM). Out of a variety of six types of evolutions arising in a more subtle classification, we identify two in which in the past the scalar field effectively degenerates into a dust (its pressure drops to an insignificantly low negative value). These are the evolutions of type IIb converging to de Sitter and type III hitting the future soft singularity. We confront these background evolutions with various cosmological tests, including the supernova type Ia Union 2.1 data, baryon acoustic oscillation distance ratios, Hubble parameter-redshift relation and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) acoustic scale. We determine a subset of the evolutions of both types which at 1σ confidence level are consistent with all of these cosmological tests. At perturbative level we derive the CMB temperature power spectrum to find the best agreement with the Planck data for Ω CDM  = 0.22. The fit is as good as for the ΛCDM model at high multipoles, but the power remains slightly overestimated at low multipoles, for both types of evolutions. The rest of the CDM is effectively generated by the tachyonic field, which in this sense acts as a combined dark energy and dark matter model

Multi-dimensional cosmology and GUP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeynali, K.; Motavalli, H.; Darabi, F.

2012-01-01

We consider a multidimensional cosmological model with FRW type metric having 4-dimensional space-time and d-dimensional Ricci-flat internal space sectors with a higher dimensional cosmological constant. We study the classical cosmology in commutative and GUP cases and obtain the corresponding exact solutions for negative and positive cosmological constants. It is shown that for negative cosmological constant, the commutative and GUP cases result in finite size universes with smaller size and longer ages, and larger size and shorter age, respectively. For positive cosmological constant, the commutative and GUP cases result in infinite size universes having late time accelerating behavior in good agreement with current observations. The accelerating phase starts in the GUP case sooner than the commutative case. In both commutative and GUP cases, and for both negative and positive cosmological constants, the internal space is stabilized to the sub-Planck size, at least within the present age of the universe. Then, we study the quantum cosmology by deriving the Wheeler-DeWitt equation, and obtain the exact solutions in the commutative case and the perturbative solutions in GUP case, to first order in the GUP small parameter, for both negative and positive cosmological constants. It is shown that good correspondence exists between the classical and quantum solutions

Multi-dimensional cosmology and GUP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zeynali, K.; Motavalli, H. [Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, University of Tabriz, 51666-16471, Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Darabi, F., E-mail: k.zeinali@arums.ac.ir, E-mail: f.darabi@azaruniv.edu, E-mail: motavalli@tabrizu.ac.ir [Department of Physics, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, 53714-161, Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2012-12-01

We consider a multidimensional cosmological model with FRW type metric having 4-dimensional space-time and d-dimensional Ricci-flat internal space sectors with a higher dimensional cosmological constant. We study the classical cosmology in commutative and GUP cases and obtain the corresponding exact solutions for negative and positive cosmological constants. It is shown that for negative cosmological constant, the commutative and GUP cases result in finite size universes with smaller size and longer ages, and larger size and shorter age, respectively. For positive cosmological constant, the commutative and GUP cases result in infinite size universes having late time accelerating behavior in good agreement with current observations. The accelerating phase starts in the GUP case sooner than the commutative case. In both commutative and GUP cases, and for both negative and positive cosmological constants, the internal space is stabilized to the sub-Planck size, at least within the present age of the universe. Then, we study the quantum cosmology by deriving the Wheeler-DeWitt equation, and obtain the exact solutions in the commutative case and the perturbative solutions in GUP case, to first order in the GUP small parameter, for both negative and positive cosmological constants. It is shown that good correspondence exists between the classical and quantum solutions.

Host country attractiveness for CDM non-sink projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Martina

2006-01-01

In the present study, CDM host countries are classified according to their attractiveness for CDM non-sink projects by using cluster analysis. The attractiveness of host countries for CDM non-sink projects is described by three indicators: mitigation potential, institutional CDM capacity and general investment climate. The results suggest that only a small proportion of potential host countries will attract most of the CDM investment. The CDM (non-sink) stars are China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, Indonesia and Thailand. They are followed by attractive countries like Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Mongolia, Panama, and Chile. While most of the promising CDM host countries are located in Latin America and Asia, the general attractiveness of African host countries is relatively low (with the exception of South Africa). Policy implications of this rather inequitable geographical distribution of CDM project activities are discussed briefly

Stakeholder preferences towards the sustainable development of CDM projects: Lessons from biomass (rice husk) CDM project in Thailand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parnphumeesup, Piya; Kerr, Sandy A.

2011-01-01

This research applies both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate stakeholder preferences towards sustainable development (SD) priorities in Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. The CDM's contribution to SD is explored in the context of a biomass (rice husk) case study conducted in Thailand. Quantitative analysis ranks increasing the usage of renewable energy as the highest priority, followed by employment and technology transfer. Air pollution (dust) is ranked as the most important problem. Preference weights expressed by experts and local resident are statistically different in the cases of: employment generation; emission reductions; dust; waste disposal; and noise. Qualitative results, suggest that rice husk CDM projects contribute significantly to SD in terms of employment generation, an increase in usage of renewable energy, and transfer of knowledge. However, rice husk biomass projects create a potential negative impact on air quality. In order to ensure the environmental sustainability of CDM projects, stakeholders suggest that Thailand should cancel an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) exemption for CDM projects with an installed capacity below 10 MW and apply it to all CDM projects. - Highlights: → Stakeholders rank increasing the usage of renewable energy as the highest priority. → Biomass (rice husk) CDM projects create a potential negative impact on air quality. → Rice husk CDM projects cannot give an extra income to farmers. → Preference weights expressed by experts and local residents are statistically different.

CDM. Information and guidebook - Developed for the UNEP project 'CD4CDM'[Clean development nedianism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, M.K. (ed.)

2003-12-01

Since the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was defined at Conference of the Parties 3 in Kyoto 1997, it took the international community another 4 years to reach the Marrakesh Accords in which the modalities and procedures to implement the CDM was elaborated. Even if more detailed rules, procedures and modalities have to be further developed a general framework to implement the CDM and other Kyoto mechanisms are now in place. This guidebook is produced to support the UNEP project 'Capacity Development for the Clean Development Mechanism'. Focus is on the CDM project cycle, the Project Design Document (PDD), and related issues such as sustainable development goals, financing and market intelligence. The appendices present frequently asked questions and answers, a short overview of existing guidelines and a possible future list of eligible CDM projects categories. (BA)

16. Paris Cosmology Colloquium 2012 - Slides of the presentations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lasenby, A.; Page, L.; Vega, H.J. de; Biermann, P.L.; Ma, E.; Laveder, M.; Kormendy, J.; Weinheimer, C.; Freeman, K.; Walker, M.; Conselice, C.J.; Rebolo, R.; Wehus, K.; Mirabel, F.; Serenelli, A.; Das, S.; Cooray, A.; Burigana, C.; Sanchez, N.G.; Mather, J.C.; Smoot, G.F.; Schmidt, B.P.; Tognini, M.A.

2014-01-01

Recently, Warm (keV scale) Dark Matter emerged impressively over CDM (Cold Dark Matter) as the leading Dark Matter candidate. In the context of this new Dark Matter situation, which implies novelties in the astrophysical, cosmological and keV particle physics context, this 16. Paris Colloquium 2012 is devoted to the LambdaWDM Standard Model of the Universe. The topics of the colloquium are as follows: -) observational and theoretical progress on the nature of dark matter: keV scale warm dark matter, -) large and small scale structure formation in agreement with observations at large scales and small galactic scales, and -) neutrinos in astrophysics and cosmology. This document gathers the slides of the presentations.

Bulk viscous cosmology with causal transport theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piattella, Oliver F.; Fabris, Júlio C.; Zimdahl, Winfried

2011-01-01

We consider cosmological scenarios originating from a single imperfect fluid with bulk viscosity and apply Eckart's and both the full and the truncated Müller-Israel-Stewart's theories as descriptions of the non-equilibrium processes. Our principal objective is to investigate if the dynamical properties of Dark Matter and Dark Energy can be described by a single viscous fluid and how such description changes when a causal theory (Müller-Israel-Stewart's, both in its full and truncated forms) is taken into account instead of Eckart's non-causal one. To this purpose, we find numerical solutions for the gravitational potential and compare its behaviour with the corresponding ΛCDM case. Eckart's and the full causal theory seem to be disfavoured, whereas the truncated theory leads to results similar to those of the ΛCDM model for a bulk viscous speed in the interval 10 −11 || cb 2 ∼ −8

Cosmological tests on Visser's massive graviton dark matter cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hu, Xin-Yun; Liu, Xian-Ming [Hubei University for Nationalities, Department of Physics, Enshi, Hubei (China); Zeng, Xiao-Xiong [Chongqing Jiaotong University, School of Science, Nanan (China)

2013-06-15

We present the constraints on the Massive Graviton Dark Matter scenario (MGCDM) using the cosmological observations, including type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB), Observational Hubble Parameter Data (OHD), Cosmic Microwave Background shift parameter, and the Radial Baryon Acoustic Oscillation. In order to compare the goodness of the data samples and their combinations, we adopt the Fisher matrix analysis and the figure of merit (FoM) diagnostic. Based on the constraint results, we further discuss the cosmic age problem in MGCDM. The calculation shows that the universe in MGCDM frame is older than that in standard {Lambda}CDM model, but the cosmic age crisis is still unresolved with just an alleviation. (orig.)

Arbitrary scalar-field and quintessence cosmological models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harko, Tiberiu; Lobo, Francisco S.N.; Mak, M.K.

2014-01-01

The mechanism of the initial inflationary scenario of the Universe and of its late-time acceleration can be described by assuming the existence of some gravitationally coupled scalar fields φ, with the inflaton field generating inflation and the quintessence field being responsible for the late accelerated expansion. Various inflationary and late-time accelerated scenarios are distinguished by the choice of an effective self-interaction potential V(φ), which simulates a temporarily non-vanishing cosmological term. In this work, we present a new formalism for the analysis of scalar fields in flat isotropic and homogeneous cosmological models. The basic evolution equation of the models can be reduced to a first-order non-linear differential equation. Approximate solutions of this equation can be constructed in the limiting cases of the scalar-field kinetic energy and potential energy dominance, respectively, as well as in the intermediate regime. Moreover, we present several new accelerating and decelerating exact cosmological solutions, based on the exact integration of the basic evolution equation for scalar-field cosmologies. More specifically, exact solutions are obtained for exponential, generalized cosine hyperbolic, and power-law potentials, respectively. Cosmological models with power-law scalar field potentials are also analyzed in detail. (orig.)

No Evidence for Extensions to the Standard Cosmological Model

Science.gov (United States)

Heavens, Alan; Fantaye, Yabebal; Sellentin, Elena; Eggers, Hans; Hosenie, Zafiirah; Kroon, Steve; Mootoovaloo, Arrykrishna

2017-09-01

We compute the Bayesian evidence for models considered in the main analysis of Planck cosmic microwave background data. By utilizing carefully defined nearest-neighbor distances in parameter space, we reuse the Monte Carlo Markov chains already produced for parameter inference to compute Bayes factors B for many different model-data set combinations. The standard 6-parameter flat cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant (Λ CDM ) is favored over all other models considered, with curvature being mildly favored only when cosmic microwave background lensing is not included. Many alternative models are strongly disfavored by the data, including primordial correlated isocurvature models (ln B =-7.8 ), nonzero scalar-to-tensor ratio (ln B =-4.3 ), running of the spectral index (ln B =-4.7 ), curvature (ln B =-3.6 ), nonstandard numbers of neutrinos (ln B =-3.1 ), nonstandard neutrino masses (ln B =-3.2 ), nonstandard lensing potential (ln B =-4.6 ), evolving dark energy (ln B =-3.2 ), sterile neutrinos (ln B =-6.9 ), and extra sterile neutrinos with a nonzero scalar-to-tensor ratio (ln B =-10.8 ). Other models are less strongly disfavored with respect to flat Λ CDM . As with all analyses based on Bayesian evidence, the final numbers depend on the widths of the parameter priors. We adopt the priors used in the Planck analysis, while performing a prior sensitivity analysis. Our quantitative conclusion is that extensions beyond the standard cosmological model are disfavored by Planck data. Only when newer Hubble constant measurements are included does Λ CDM become disfavored, and only mildly, compared with a dynamical dark energy model (ln B ˜+2 ).

A viable CDM model for solar water heaters; CDM-Clean Development Mechanism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2008-09-15

It is a well known fact that solar water Heaters (SWH) replace fossil fuels and they do not represent business as usual scenario. Therefore use of this appliance can qualify to be considered as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project. However a single solar water heater is a very small unit to be able to generate sufficient Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) to pursue it as a CDM project. Even if the project is considered at the level of local venders or at the level of a company engaged in manufacturing SWH, the CERs still remain very small. The study examines the size of the project from the perspective of its viability as a CDM project and also explores other related issues such as additionality requirement, selection of methodology, baseline calculations, approach for stakeholders' comments, potential bundlers, monitoring and verification, and required policy interventions. Bank of Maharashtra (BOM), a commercial bank in India engaged in financing Solar Water Heaters (SWH), was considered as the base for the study. The CERs were calculated considering Electricity and LPG as the baseline. For the purpose of sensitivity analysis, various price bands for CERs (between US$ 15-25/CER) were considered. The analysis was carried out with bundling of SWH at BOM level, and at the Association of Banks (AOB) / Ministry level (in which case SWH financed by several banks are bundled). Recently approved Programme of Activities (PoA) approach was also considered in the analysis. The analysis clearly indicated that: 1) The CDM project with bundling at an individual bank level with about 8600 installations, though cash surplus, would generate the cash just to meet its own sustainability. But it is a very small project. 2) Bundling of installations by various banks, through an entity such as Association of Banks, would be a viable and sustainable CDM project due to benefits arising out of scale of economy. 3) The profitability of the CDM project would improve further if

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmology from Galaxy Clusters Detected Via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect

Science.gov (United States)

Sehgal, Neelima; Trac, Hy; Acquaviva, Viviana; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Battistelli, Elia S.; Bond, J. Richard;

Unveiling ν secrets with cosmological data: Neutrino masses and mass hierarchy

Science.gov (United States)

Vagnozzi, Sunny; Giusarma, Elena; Mena, Olga; Freese, Katherine; Gerbino, Martina; Ho, Shirley; Lattanzi, Massimiliano

2017-12-01

Using some of the latest cosmological data sets publicly available, we derive the strongest bounds in the literature on the sum of the three active neutrino masses, Mν, within the assumption of a background flat Λ CDM cosmology. In the most conservative scheme, combining Planck cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) data, as well as the up-to-date constraint on the optical depth to reionization (τ ), the tightest 95% confidence level upper bound we find is Mν0.06 eV from oscillations data would raise the quoted upper bounds by O (0.1 σ ) and would not affect our conclusions.

KiDS-450: testing extensions to the standard cosmological model

Science.gov (United States)

Joudaki, Shahab; Mead, Alexander; Blake, Chris; Choi, Ami; de Jong, Jelte; Erben, Thomas; Fenech Conti, Ian; Herbonnet, Ricardo; Heymans, Catherine; Hildebrandt, Hendrik; Hoekstra, Henk; Joachimi, Benjamin; Klaes, Dominik; Köhlinger, Fabian; Kuijken, Konrad; McFarland, John; Miller, Lance; Schneider, Peter; Viola, Massimo

2017-10-01

We test extensions to the standard cosmological model with weak gravitational lensing tomography using 450 deg2 of imaging data from the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS). In these extended cosmologies, which include massive neutrinos, non-zero curvature, evolving dark energy, modified gravity and running of the scalar spectral index, we also examine the discordance between KiDS and cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements from Planck. The discordance between the two data sets is largely unaffected by a more conservative treatment of the lensing systematics and the removal of angular scales most sensitive to non-linear physics. The only extended cosmology that simultaneously alleviates the discordance with Planck and is at least moderately favoured by the data includes evolving dark energy with a time-dependent equation of state (in the form of the w0 - wa parametrization). In this model, the respective S_8=σ _8√{Ω m/0.3} constraints agree at the 1σ level, and there is 'substantial concordance' between the KiDS and Planck data sets when accounting for the full parameter space. Moreover, the Planck constraint on the Hubble constant is wider than in Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) and in agreement with the Riess et al. (2016) direct measurement of H0. The dark energy model is moderately favoured as compared to ΛCDM when combining the KiDS and Planck measurements, and marginalized constraints in the w0-wa plane are discrepant with a cosmological constant at the 3σ level. KiDS further constrains the sum of neutrino masses to 4.0 eV (95% CL), finds no preference for time or scale-dependent modifications to the metric potentials, and is consistent with flatness and no running of the spectral index.

Cosmological measurements with forthcoming radio continuum surveys

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Raccanelli, A

2012-08-01

Full Text Available is to measure the cosmo- logical parameters of particular current interest. Among the biggest challenges in cosmology is to determine whether the standard � cold dark matter (CDM) model and its general relativity (GR) con- text are correct, or whether we need a... as a function of redshift and the bias of different source populations as a function of red- shift. These are required in order to make predictions for cosmo- logical probes, such as the autocorrelation function and the cross- correlation of radio...

Cosmological bound from the neutron star merger GW170817 in scalar–tensor and F(R gravity theories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shin'ichi Nojiri

2018-04-01

Full Text Available We consider the evolution of cosmological gravitational waves in scalar–tensor theory and F(R gravity theory as typical models of the modified gravity. Although the propagation speed is not changed from the speed of light, the propagation phase changes when we compare the propagation in these modified gravity theories with the propagation in the ΛCDM model. The phase change might be detected in future observations. Keywords: Gravitational waves, Alternative theories of gravity, Cosmology

Integrating ecological restoration into CDM forestry projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, Maohua; Haapanen, Toni; Singh, Ram Babu; Hietala, Reija

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Concerns and issues in sustainability of CDM forestry projects are reviewed. • Ecological restoration is suggested to be integrated in the CDM framework. • As an ecosystem supporting service, soil restoration on degraded land is of primary importance. • Regenerating forests naturally rather than through monoculture plantations is suggested. • Potential social impacts of ecological restoration are discussed. - Abstract: The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is proposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable development. CDM forestry projects should contribute to mitigation of climate change through afforestation and reforestation (A/R) activities on degraded land in developing countries. However, like other types of CDM projects, the forestry projects have encountered a number of concerns and critiques. Appropriate approaches and concrete aims to achieve long-term sustainability have been lacking, and reforms have therefore been called for. The aims of this paper are to examine the published information relevant to these concerns, and frame appropriate approaches for a more sustainable CDM. In this review, as a first step to tackle some of these issues, ecological restoration is suggested for integration into the CDM framework. Essentially, this involves the restoration of ecosystem supporting service (soil restoration), upon which forests regenerate naturally rather than establishing monoculture plantations. In this way, forestry projects would bring cost-effective opportunities for multiple ecosystem services. Potential approaches, necessary additions to the monitoring plans, and social impacts of ecological restoration in CDM projects are discussed

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmology from Galaxy Clusters Detected via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sehgal, N.

2011-01-01

We present constraints on cosmological parameters based on a sample of Sunyaev-Zeldovich-selected galaxy clusters detected in a millimeter-wave survey by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The cluster sample used in this analysis consists of 9 optically-confirmed high-mass clusters comprising the high-significance end of the total cluster sample identified in 455 square degrees of sky surveyed during 2008 at 148GHz. We focus on the most massive systems to reduce the degeneracy between unknown cluster astrophysics and cosmology derived from SZ surveys. We describe the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal with a 4-parameter fit. Marginalizing over the values of the parameters in this fit with conservative priors gives σ 8 = 0.851 ± 0.115 and w = -1.14 ± 0.35 for a spatially-flat wCDM cosmological model with WMAP 7-year priors on cosmological parameters. This gives a modest improvement in statistical uncertainty over WMAP 7-year constraints alone. Fixing the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal to a fiducial relation obtained from numerical simulations and calibrated by X-ray observations, we find σ 8 = 0.821 ± 0.044 and w = -1.05 ± 0.20. These results are consistent with constraints from WMAP 7 plus baryon acoustic oscillations plus type Ia supernoava which give σ 8 = 0.802 ± 0.038 and w = -0.98 ± 0.053. A stacking analysis of the clusters in this sample compared to clusters simulated assuming the fiducial model also shows good agreement. These results suggest that, given the sample of clusters used here, both the astrophysics of massive clusters and the cosmological parameters derived from them are broadly consistent with current models.

New cosmological constraints with extended-Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey DR14 quasar sample

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Lu; Wang, Ke [Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Beijing (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, Beijing (China); Huang, Qing-Guo [Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Beijing (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, Beijing (China); Hunan Normal University, Synergetic Innovation Center for Quantum Effects and Applications, Changsha (China)

2017-11-15

We update the constraints on the cosmological parameters by adopting the Planck data released in 2015 and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements including the new DR14 quasar sample measurement at redshift z = 1.52, and we conclude that the six-parameter ΛCDM model is preferred. Exploring some extensions to the ΛCDM model, we find that the equation of state of dark energy reads w = -1.036 ± 0.056 in the wCDM model, the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom in the Universe is N{sub eff} = 3.09{sub -0.20}{sup +0.18} in the N{sub eff} + ΛCDM model and the spatial curvature parameter is Ω{sub k} = (1.8 ± 1.9) x 10{sup -3} in the Ω{sub k} + ΛCDM model at 68% confidence level (C.L.), and the 95% C.L. upper bounds on the sum of three active neutrinos masses are sum m{sub ν} < 0.16 eV for the normal hierarchy (NH) and sum m{sub ν} < 0.19 eV for the inverted hierarchy (IH) with Δχ{sup 2} ≡ χ{sup 2}{sub NH} - χ{sup 2}{sub IH} = -1.25. (orig.)

CDM: Taking stock and looking forward

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellis, Jane; Winkler, Harald; Corfee-Morlot, Jan; Gagnon-Lebrun, Frederic

2007-01-01

The Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism (CDM) was established in 1997 with the dual purposes of assisting non-Annex I Parties in achieving sustainable development and assisting Annex I Parties in achieving compliance with their quantified greenhouse gas (GHG) emission commitments. This paper looks at the development of the CDM portfolio as well as achievements of the CDM to date in the context of wider private and public flows of investment into developing countries. These achievements include the development of 325 (by May 2005) proposed CDM projects which are together expected to generate more than 79 Mt CO 2 -eq credits/year during 2008-2012, increasing awareness of climate change mitigation options among possible investors and others that may facilitate transactions (i.e. governments), and the strengthening of climate-relevant institutions within countries. The paper also draws lessons from this experience to date, and outlines what changes may be needed to transform the CDM concept to a broader scale after the end of the first commitment period in 2012

NINE-YEAR WILKINSON MICROWAVE ANISOTROPY PROBE (WMAP) OBSERVATIONS: COSMOLOGICAL PARAMETER RESULTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hinshaw, G.; Halpern, M.; Larson, D.; Bennett, C. L.; Weiland, J. L.; Komatsu, E.; Spergel, D. N.; Dunkley, J.; Nolta, M. R.; Hill, R. S.; Odegard, N.; Page, L.; Jarosik, N.; Smith, K. M.; Gold, B.; Kogut, A.; Wollack, E.; Limon, M.; Meyer, S. S.; Tucker, G. S.

2013-01-01

We present cosmological parameter constraints based on the final nine-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data, in conjunction with a number of additional cosmological data sets. The WMAP data alone, and in combination, continue to be remarkably well fit by a six-parameter ΛCDM model. When WMAP data are combined with measurements of the high-l cosmic microwave background anisotropy, the baryon acoustic oscillation scale, and the Hubble constant, the matter and energy densities, Ω b h 2 , Ω c h 2 , and Ω Λ , are each determined to a precision of ∼1.5%. The amplitude of the primordial spectrum is measured to within 3%, and there is now evidence for a tilt in the primordial spectrum at the 5σ level, confirming the first detection of tilt based on the five-year WMAP data. At the end of the WMAP mission, the nine-year data decrease the allowable volume of the six-dimensional ΛCDM parameter space by a factor of 68,000 relative to pre-WMAP measurements. We investigate a number of data combinations and show that their ΛCDM parameter fits are consistent. New limits on deviations from the six-parameter model are presented, for example: the fractional contribution of tensor modes is limited to r k = -0.0027 +0.0039 -0.0038 ; the summed mass of neutrinos is limited to Σm ν eff = 3.84 ± 0.40, when the full data are analyzed. The joint constraint on N eff and the primordial helium abundance, Y He , agrees with the prediction of standard big bang nucleosynthesis. We compare recent Planck measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect with our seven-year measurements, and show their mutual agreement. Our analysis of the polarization pattern around temperature extrema is updated. This confirms a fundamental prediction of the standard cosmological model and provides a striking illustration of acoustic oscillations and adiabatic initial conditions in the early universe

Cosmology with a decaying vacuum energy parametrization derived from quantum mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szydłowski, M; Stachowski, A; Urbanowski, K

2015-01-01

Within the quantum mechanical treatment of the decay problem one finds that at late times tthe survival probability of an unstable state cannot have the form of an exponentially decreasing function of time t but it has an inverse power-like form. This is a general property of unstable states following from basic principles of quantum theory. The consequence of this property is that in the case of false vacuum states the cosmological constant becomes dependent on time: Λ — Λ bare ≡ Λ(t) — Λ bare ∼ 1/t 2 . We construct the cosmological model with decaying vacuum energy density and matter for solving the cosmological constant problem and the coincidence problem. We show the equivalence of the proposed decaying false vacuum cosmology with the Λ(t) cosmologies (the Λ(t)CDM models). The cosmological implications of the model of decaying vacuum energy (dark energy) are discussed. We constrain the parameters of the model with decaying vacuum using astronomical data. For this aim we use the observation of distant supernovae of type Ia, measurements of H(z), BAO, CMB and others. The model analyzed is in good agreement with observation data and explain a small value of the cosmological constant today. (paper)

Holographic dark energy with cosmological constant

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Yazhou; Li, Miao; Li, Nan; Zhang, Zhenhui

2015-08-01

Inspired by the multiverse scenario, we study a heterotic dark energy model in which there are two parts, the first being the cosmological constant and the second being the holographic dark energy, thus this model is named the ΛHDE model. By studying the ΛHDE model theoretically, we find that the parameters d and Ωhde are divided into a few domains in which the fate of the universe is quite different. We investigate dynamical behaviors of this model, and especially the future evolution of the universe. We perform fitting analysis on the cosmological parameters in the ΛHDE model by using the recent observational data. We find the model yields χ2min=426.27 when constrained by Planck+SNLS3+BAO+HST, comparable to the results of the HDE model (428.20) and the concordant ΛCDM model (431.35). At 68.3% CL, we obtain -0.07<ΩΛ0<0.68 and correspondingly 0.04<Ωhde0<0.79, implying at present there is considerable degeneracy between the holographic dark energy and cosmological constant components in the ΛHDE model.

Holographic dark energy with cosmological constant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hu, Yazhou; Li, Nan; Zhang, Zhenhui [State Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190 (China); Li, Miao, E-mail: asiahu@itp.ac.cn, E-mail: mli@itp.ac.cn, E-mail: linan@itp.ac.cn, E-mail: zhangzhh@mail.ustc.edu.cn [School of Astronomy and Space Science, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275 (China)

2015-08-01

Inspired by the multiverse scenario, we study a heterotic dark energy model in which there are two parts, the first being the cosmological constant and the second being the holographic dark energy, thus this model is named the ΛHDE model. By studying the ΛHDE model theoretically, we find that the parameters d and Ω{sub hde} are divided into a few domains in which the fate of the universe is quite different. We investigate dynamical behaviors of this model, and especially the future evolution of the universe. We perform fitting analysis on the cosmological parameters in the ΛHDE model by using the recent observational data. We find the model yields χ{sup 2}{sub min}=426.27 when constrained by Planck+SNLS3+BAO+HST, comparable to the results of the HDE model (428.20) and the concordant ΛCDM model (431.35). At 68.3% CL, we obtain −0.07<Ω{sub Λ0}<0.68 and correspondingly 0.04<Ω{sub hde0}<0.79, implying at present there is considerable degeneracy between the holographic dark energy and cosmological constant components in the ΛHDE model.

Holographic dark energy with cosmological constant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, Yazhou; Li, Nan; Zhang, Zhenhui; Li, Miao

2015-01-01

Inspired by the multiverse scenario, we study a heterotic dark energy model in which there are two parts, the first being the cosmological constant and the second being the holographic dark energy, thus this model is named the ΛHDE model. By studying the ΛHDE model theoretically, we find that the parameters d and Ω hde are divided into a few domains in which the fate of the universe is quite different. We investigate dynamical behaviors of this model, and especially the future evolution of the universe. We perform fitting analysis on the cosmological parameters in the ΛHDE model by using the recent observational data. We find the model yields χ 2 min =426.27 when constrained by Planck+SNLS3+BAO+HST, comparable to the results of the HDE model (428.20) and the concordant ΛCDM model (431.35). At 68.3% CL, we obtain −0.07<Ω Λ0 <0.68 and correspondingly 0.04<Ω hde0 <0.79, implying at present there is considerable degeneracy between the holographic dark energy and cosmological constant components in the ΛHDE model

A null test of the cosmological constant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chiba, Takeshi; Nakamura, Takashi

2007-01-01

We provide a consistency relation between cosmological observables in general relativity with the cosmological constant. Breaking of this relation at any redshift would imply the breakdown of the hypothesis of the cosmological constant as an explanation of the current acceleration of the universe. (author)

Can the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) deliver?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Subbarao, Srikanth; Lloyd, Bob

2011-01-01

The paper investigates whether the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol has played a significant role in the development of rural communities, specifically investigating uptake of small-scale renewable energy projects. The investigation involved an assessment of 500 registered small-scale CDM projects under the Kyoto Protocol in terms of their potential impact on the envisaged sustainable development goals for rural communities. Five case studies from the Indian subcontinent were also examined. The paper concludes that the CDM in its current state and design has typically failed to deliver the promised benefits with regard to development objectives in rural areas. Successful projects were found to have had good community involvement and such projects were typically managed by cooperative ventures rather than money making corporations. The paper puts forward a new framework for the assessment of such benefits in the hope that future projects can be better assessed in this regard. The key problem, however, remains on how to deal with the inherent contradiction between development and sustainability. - Research Highlights: → Role of CDM towards sustainable development of rural communities. → Assessment of 500 registered small-scale CDM projects. → CDM in its current state and design has typically failed to deliver. → A new framework for sustainable development assessment of small-scale CDM projects. → Inherent contradiction between development and sustainability.

Cosmological implications of primordial black holes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luis Bernal, José; Bellomo, Nicola; Raccanelli, Alvise; Verde, Licia, E-mail: joseluis.bernal@icc.ub.edu, E-mail: nicola.bellomo@icc.ub.edu, E-mail: alvise@icc.ub.edu, E-mail: liciaverde@icc.ub.edu [ICC, University of Barcelona, IEEC-UB, Martí i Franquès, 1, E08028 Barcelona (Spain)

2017-10-01

The possibility that a relevant fraction of the dark matter might be comprised of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) has been seriously reconsidered after LIGO's detection of a ∼ 30 M {sub ⊙} binary black holes merger. Despite the strong interest in the model, there is a lack of studies on possible cosmological implications and effects on cosmological parameters inference. We investigate correlations with the other standard cosmological parameters using cosmic microwave background observations, finding significant degeneracies, especially with the tilt of the primordial power spectrum and the sound horizon at radiation drag. However, these degeneracies can be greatly reduced with the inclusion of small scale polarization data. We also explore if PBHs as dark matter in simple extensions of the standard ΛCDM cosmological model induces extra degeneracies, especially between the additional parameters and the PBH's ones. Finally, we present cosmic microwave background constraints on the fraction of dark matter in PBHs, not only for monochromatic PBH mass distributions but also for popular extended mass distributions. Our results show that extended mass distribution's constraints are tighter, but also that a considerable amount of constraining power comes from the high-ℓ polarization data. Moreover, we constrain the shape of such mass distributions in terms of the correspondent constraints on the PBH mass fraction.

How does pressure gravitate? Cosmological constant problem confronts observational cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Narimani, Ali; Afshordi, Niayesh; Scott, Douglas

2014-08-01

An important and long-standing puzzle in the history of modern physics is the gross inconsistency between theoretical expectations and cosmological observations of the vacuum energy density, by at least 60 orders of magnitude, otherwise known as the cosmological constant problem. A characteristic feature of vacuum energy is that it has a pressure with the same amplitude, but opposite sign to its energy density, while all the precision tests of General Relativity are either in vacuum, or for media with negligible pressure. Therefore, one may wonder whether an anomalous coupling to pressure might be responsible for decoupling vacuum from gravity. We test this possibility in the context of the Gravitational Aether proposal, using current cosmological observations, which probe the gravity of relativistic pressure in the radiation era. Interestingly, we find that the best fit for anomalous pressure coupling is about half-way between General Relativity (GR), and Gravitational Aether (GA), if we include Planck together with WMAP and BICEP2 polarization cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations. Taken at face value, this data combination excludes both GR and GA at around the 3 σ level. However, including higher resolution CMB observations (``highL'') or baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO) pushes the best fit closer to GR, excluding the Gravitational Aether solution to the cosmological constant problem at the 4- 5 σ level. This constraint effectively places a limit on the anomalous coupling to pressure in the parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) expansion, ζ4 = 0.105 ± 0.049 (+highL CMB), or ζ4 = 0.066 ± 0.039 (+BAO). These represent the most precise measurement of this parameter to date, indicating a mild tension with GR (for ΛCDM including tensors, with 0ζ4=), and also among different data sets.

How does pressure gravitate? Cosmological constant problem confronts observational cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narimani, Ali; Scott, Douglas; Afshordi, Niayesh

2014-01-01

An important and long-standing puzzle in the history of modern physics is the gross inconsistency between theoretical expectations and cosmological observations of the vacuum energy density, by at least 60 orders of magnitude, otherwise known as the cosmological constant problem. A characteristic feature of vacuum energy is that it has a pressure with the same amplitude, but opposite sign to its energy density, while all the precision tests of General Relativity are either in vacuum, or for media with negligible pressure. Therefore, one may wonder whether an anomalous coupling to pressure might be responsible for decoupling vacuum from gravity. We test this possibility in the context of the Gravitational Aether proposal, using current cosmological observations, which probe the gravity of relativistic pressure in the radiation era. Interestingly, we find that the best fit for anomalous pressure coupling is about half-way between General Relativity (GR), and Gravitational Aether (GA), if we include Planck together with WMAP and BICEP2 polarization cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations. Taken at face value, this data combination excludes both GR and GA at around the 3 σ level. However, including higher resolution CMB observations (''highL'') or baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO) pushes the best fit closer to GR, excluding the Gravitational Aether solution to the cosmological constant problem at the 4- 5 σ level. This constraint effectively places a limit on the anomalous coupling to pressure in the parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) expansion, ζ 4  = 0.105 ± 0.049 (+highL CMB), or ζ 4  = 0.066 ± 0.039 (+BAO). These represent the most precise measurement of this parameter to date, indicating a mild tension with GR (for ΛCDM including tensors, with 0ζ 4 =), and also among different data sets

Cosmological perturbation theory using the FFTLog: formalism and connection to QFT loop integrals

Science.gov (United States)

Simonović, Marko; Baldauf, Tobias; Zaldarriaga, Matias; Carrasco, John Joseph; Kollmeier, Juna A.

2018-04-01

We present a new method for calculating loops in cosmological perturbation theory. This method is based on approximating a ΛCDM-like cosmology as a finite sum of complex power-law universes. The decomposition is naturally achieved using an FFTLog algorithm. For power-law cosmologies, all loop integrals are formally equivalent to loop integrals of massless quantum field theory. These integrals have analytic solutions in terms of generalized hypergeometric functions. We provide explicit formulae for the one-loop and the two-loop power spectrum and the one-loop bispectrum. A chief advantage of our approach is that the difficult part of the calculation is cosmology independent, need be done only once, and can be recycled for any relevant predictions. Evaluation of standard loop diagrams then boils down to a simple matrix multiplication. We demonstrate the promise of this method for applications to higher multiplicity/loop correlation functions.

f(R,T,R{sub μν}T{sup μν}) gravity phenomenology and ΛCDM universe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Odintsov, Sergei D., E-mail: odintsov@ieec.uab.es [Instituciò Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona (Spain); Institut de Ciències de l' Espai ICE (CSIC-IEEC), Campus UAB Facultat de Ciències, Torre C5-Parell-2a pl, E-08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) (Spain); Sáez-Gómez, Diego, E-mail: diego.saezgomez@uct.ac.za [Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravity Centre (ACGC) and Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, Cape Town (South Africa); Fisika Teorikoaren eta Zientziaren Historia Saila, Zientzia eta Teknologia Fakultatea, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, 644 Posta Kutxatila, 48080 Bilbao (Spain)

2013-10-01

We propose general f(R,T,R{sub μν}T{sup μν}) theory as generalization of covariant Hořava-like gravity with dynamical Lorentz symmetry breaking. FRLW cosmological dynamics for several versions of such theory is considered. The reconstruction of the above action is explicitly done, including the numerical reconstruction for the occurrence of ΛCDM universe. De Sitter universe solutions in the presence of non-constant fluid are also presented. The problem of matter instability in f(R,T,R{sub μν}T{sup μν}) gravity is discussed.

Potential impacts of CCS on the CDM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bakker, S; Mikunda, T.; Rivera Tinoco, R.

2011-02-01

CO2 capture and storage can ensure that stringent climate change mitigation targets are achieved more cost-effectively. However, in order to ensure a substantial role for CCS, deployment of CCS is required on a significant global scale by 2020. Currently, the CDM is the only international instrument that could provide a financial incentive for CCS in developing countries. In December 2010 it was decided that CCS could in principle be eligible under the CDM, provided a number of issues are resolved, including non-permanence, liability, monitoring and potential perverse outcomes. The latter issue relates to the concern that that CCS projects could flood the CDM market, thereby crowding out other technologies that could be considered more sustainable. This report, therefore, aims to quantify the possible impact of CCS on the CDM market, in order to assess the relevance of the CDM market objection. However, the analysis in the report is also valid for the role of CCS in other types of international support mechanisms. The first result of this study is a marginal abatement cost curve (MAC) for CCS in developing countries for 2020. Based on existing MAC studies, the IEA CCS Roadmap and an overview of ongoing and planned CCS activities, we compiled three scenarios for CCS in the power, industry and upstream sector, as shown below. The major part of the potential below $30/tCO2eq (70 - 100 MtCO2/yr) is in the natural gas processing sector. Using the MACs for the CDM market, we estimate the economic potential for CCS projects to be 4-19% of the CDM credit supply in 2020. The potential impact inclusion of CCS in the CDM may have is assessed by using several possible CER supply and demand scenarios, as well as scenarios related to market price responsiveness and the role of CDM in the post-2012 carbon market. The impact is estimated to be between $0 and $4 per tonne of CO2-eq, with three out of four scenarios indicating the lower part of this range.

Cosmological Constraints from the SDSS maxBCG Cluster Catalog

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rozo, Eduardo; /CCAPP; Wechsler, Risa H.; /KIPAC, Menlo Park /SLAC; Rykoff, Eli S.; /UC, Santa Barbara; Annis, James T.; /Fermilab; Becker, Matthew R.; /Chicago U. /KICP, Chicago; Evrard, August E.; /Michigan U. /Michigan U., MCTP; Frieman, Joshua A.; /Fermilab /KICP, Chicago /Chicago U.; Hansen, Sarah M.; /UC, Santa Cruz; Hao, Jia; /Michigan U.; Johnston, David E.; /Northwestern U.; Koester, Benjamin P.; /KICP, Chicago /Chicago U.; McKay, Timothy A.; /Michigan U. /Michigan U., MCTP; Sheldon, Erin S.; /Brookhaven; Weinberg, David H.; /CCAPP /Ohio State U.

2009-08-03

We use the abundance and weak lensing mass measurements of the SDSS maxBCG cluster catalog to simultaneously constrain cosmology and the richness-mass relation of the clusters. Assuming a flat {Lambda}CDM cosmology, we find {sigma}{sub 8}({Omega}{sub m}/0.25){sup 0.41} = 0.832 {+-} 0.033 after marginalization over all systematics. In common with previous studies, our error budget is dominated by systematic uncertainties, the primary two being the absolute mass scale of the weak lensing masses of the maxBCG clusters, and uncertainty in the scatter of the richness-mass relation. Our constraints are fully consistent with the WMAP five-year data, and in a joint analysis we find {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.807 {+-} 0.020 and {Omega}{sub m} = 0.265 {+-} 0.016, an improvement of nearly a factor of two relative to WMAP5 alone. Our results are also in excellent agreement with and comparable in precision to the latest cosmological constraints from X-ray cluster abundances. The remarkable consistency among these results demonstrates that cluster abundance constraints are not only tight but also robust, and highlight the power of optically-selected cluster samples to produce precision constraints on cosmological parameters.

Is LambdaCDM consistent with the Tully-Fisher relation?

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes, Reinabelle; Gunn, J. E.; Mandelbaum, R.

2013-07-01

We consider the question of the origin of the Tully-Fisher relation in LambdaCDM cosmology. Reproducing the observed tight relation between stellar masses and rotation velocities of disk galaxies presents a challenge for semi-analytical models and hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy formation. Here, our goal is to construct a suite of galaxy mass models that is fully consistent with observations, and that also reproduces the observed Tully-Fisher relation. We take advantage of a well-defined sample of disk galaxies in SDSS with measured rotation velocities (from long-slit spectroscopy of H-alpha), stellar bulge and disk profiles (from fits to SDSS images), and average dark matter halo masses (from stacked weak lensing of a larger, similarly-selected sample). The primary remaining freedom in the mass models come from the final dark matter halo profile (after contraction from baryon infall and, possibly, feedback) and the stellar IMF. We find that the observed velocities are reproduced by models with Kroupa IMF and NFW (i.e., unmodified) dark matter haloes for galaxies with stellar masses 10^9-10^10 M_sun. For higher stellar masses, models with contracted NFW haloes are favored. A scenario in which the amount of halo contraction varies with stellar mass is able to reproduce the observed Tully-Fisher relation over the full stellar mass range of our sample from 10^9 to 10^11 M_sun. We present this as a proof-of-concept for consistency between LambdaCDM and the Tully-Fisher relation.

Potential of CDM in renewable projects in Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kannan, K.S.

2006-01-01

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a market-based tool introduced under the Kyoto Protocol to assist developing countries achieve their sustainable development objectives and at the same time provide opportunities for developed countries to meet their greenhouse gas targets cost-effectively. Projects based on renewable sources are eligible under the CDM. Such projects are also in line with the development of the fifth fuel option in Malaysia. The paper assesses the potential of CDM in renewable energy projects in particular the grid-connected biomass power projects under the Small Renewable Energy Power (SREP) Programme. The criteria (both national and international) that have to be met for the renewable energy projects to obtain approval as a CDM projects is outlined. The additional CDM activities are elaborated. The methodology for the determination of reduction in carbon dioxide emissions is provided. The paper further investigates the impact of CDM in the promotion of renewable energy projects in Malaysia

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmology from Galaxy Clusters Detected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sehgal, Neelima; Trac, Hy; Acquaviva, Viviana; Ade, Peter A.R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Barrientos, L.Felipe; Battistelli, Elia S.; Bond, J.Richard; Brown, Ben; Burger, Bryce; Chervenak, Jay; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon R.; Doriese, W.Bertrand; Dunkley, Joanna; Dunner, Rolando; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fisher, Ryan P.

2011-08-18

We present constraints on cosmological parameters based on a sample of Sunyaev-Zeldovich-selected galaxy clusters detected in a millimeter-wave survey by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The cluster sample used in this analysis consists of 9 optically-confirmed high-mass clusters comprising the high-significance end of the total cluster sample identified in 455 square degrees of sky surveyed during 2008 at 148GHz. We focus on the most massive systems to reduce the degeneracy between unknown cluster astrophysics and cosmology derived from SZ surveys. We describe the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal with a 4-parameter fit. Marginalizing over the values of the parameters in this fit with conservative priors gives {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.851 {+-} 0.115 and w = -1.14 {+-} 0.35 for a spatially-flat wCDM cosmological model with WMAP 7-year priors on cosmological parameters. This gives a modest improvement in statistical uncertainty over WMAP 7-year constraints alone. Fixing the scaling relation between cluster mass and SZ signal to a fiducial relation obtained from numerical simulations and calibrated by X-ray observations, we find {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.821 {+-} 0.044 and w = -1.05 {+-} 0.20. These results are consistent with constraints from WMAP 7 plus baryon acoustic oscillations plus type Ia supernoava which give {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.802 {+-} 0.038 and w = -0.98 {+-} 0.053. A stacking analysis of the clusters in this sample compared to clusters simulated assuming the fiducial model also shows good agreement. These results suggest that, given the sample of clusters used here, both the astrophysics of massive clusters and the cosmological parameters derived from them are broadly consistent with current models.

Cosmological and astrophysical neutrino mass measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abazajian, K.N.; Calabrese, E.; Cooray, A.

2011-01-01

Cosmological and astrophysical measurements provide powerful constraints on neutrino masses complementary to those from accelerators and reactors. Here we provide a guide to these different probes, for each explaining its physical basis, underlying assumptions, current and future reach.......Cosmological and astrophysical measurements provide powerful constraints on neutrino masses complementary to those from accelerators and reactors. Here we provide a guide to these different probes, for each explaining its physical basis, underlying assumptions, current and future reach....

Cosmological evolution of p-brane networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sousa, L.; Avelino, P. P.

2011-01-01

In this paper we derive, directly from the Nambu-Goto action, the relevant components of the acceleration of cosmological featureless p-branes, extending previous analysis based on the field theory equations in the thin-brane limit. The component of the acceleration parallel to the velocity is at the core of the velocity-dependent one-scale model for the evolution of p-brane networks. We use this model to show that, in a decelerating expanding universe in which the p-branes are relevant cosmologically, interactions cannot lead to frustration, except for fine-tuned nonrelativistic networks with a dimensionless curvature parameter k<<1. We discuss the implications of our findings for the cosmological evolution of p-brane networks.

Cosmology and particle physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steigman, G [California Univ., Santa Barbara (USA). Inst. for Theoretical Physics; Bartol Research Foundation, Newark, Delaware (USA))

1982-01-29

The cosmic connections between physics on the very largest and very smallest scales are reviewed with an emphasis on the symbiotic relation between elementary particle physics and cosmology. After a review of the early Universe as a cosmic accelerator, various cosmological and astrophysical constraints on models of particle physics are outlined. To illustrate this approach to particle physics via cosmology, reference is made to several areas of current research: baryon non-conservation and baryon asymmetry; free quarks, heavy hadrons and other exotic relics; primordial nucleosynthesis and neutrino masses.

Cosmological effects of nonlinear electrodynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novello, M; Goulart, E; Salim, J M; Bergliaffa, S E Perez

2007-01-01

It will be shown that a given realization of nonlinear electrodynamics, used as a source of Einstein's equations, generates a cosmological model with interesting features, namely a phase of current cosmic acceleration, and the absence of an initial singularity, thus pointing to a way of solving two important problems in cosmology

Carbon quota price and CDM potentials after Marrakesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wenying Chen

2003-01-01

The Kyoto Protocol sets quantified GHG emission reduction commitments for Annex I Parties. But their emission reduction requirements related to BAU projections, one of the key factors to effect on future carbon market, are uncertain. Both the decisions made in Bonn and Marrakesh would have further consequences for how the future carbon market will take shape. This paper, with application of the carbon emission reduction trading model, evaluates future carbon quota price and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) potentials under different BAU projections, and does sensitivity analysis on carry-over of AAUs, CERs and ERUs, implementation rate, transaction cost, holding of CERs in Non-Annex I Parties, etc. to assess the impacts of relevant decisions of COP6-bis and COP7 on the carbon market. Under different BAU projections, future carbon quota price and CDM potentials could vary widely. Carry over of AAUs, CERs, ERUs, and holding of CERs in Non-Annex I Parties could raise both quota price and total CDM potentials considerably. Implementation rate could have big impacts on both carbon quota price and CDM potentials, especially for the cases formerly with relatively high CDM potentials, and it could also change the regional distribution of CDM potentials. Transaction cost's effect on the carbon market would be comparatively low, but would become unignorable in the market whose quota price is low. It would lead to a downward trend in price while upward in CDM potentials when increasing the implementation rate or lowering transaction cost. Withdrawal of USA would dramatically shrink carbon price and credit amount, and large numbers of hot air and sink credits would further greatly crowd out the CDM projects; carry over of AAUs, CERs and ERUs, holding of CERs in Non-Annex I Parties, prompt start of CDM projects, etc., would, however, enhance the total CDM credits to ensure more investment and technology flow to developing countries to promote their sustainable development

Carbon quota price and CDM potentials after Marrakesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Wenying

2003-01-01

The Kyoto Protocol sets quantified GHG emission reduction commitments for Annex I Parties. But their emission reduction requirements related to BAU projections, one of the key factors to effect on future carbon market, are uncertain. Both the decisions made in Bonn and Marrakesh would have further consequences for how the future carbon market will take shape. This paper, with application of the carbon emission reduction trading model, evaluates future carbon quota price and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) potentials under different BAU projections, and does sensitivity analysis on carry-over of AAUs, CERs and ERUs, implementation rate, transaction cost, holding of CERs in Non-Annex I Parties, etc. to assess the impacts of relevant decisions of COP6-bis and COP7 on the carbon market. Under different BAU projections, future carbon quota price and CDM potentials could vary widely. Carry over of AAUs, CERs, ERUs, and holding of CERs in Non-Annex I Parties could raise both quota price and total CDM potentials considerably. Implementation rate could have big impacts on both carbon quota price and CDM potentials, especially for the cases formerly with relatively high CDM potentials, and it could also change the regional distribution of CDM potentials. Transaction cost's effect on the carbon market would be comparatively low, but would become unignorable in the market whose quota price is low. It would lead to a downward trend in price while upward in CDM potentials when increasing the implementation rate or lowering transaction cost. Withdrawal of USA would dramatically shrink carbon price and credit amount, and large numbers of hot air and sink credits would further greatly crowd out the CDM projects; carry over of AAUs, CERs and ERUs, holding of CERs in Non-Annex I Parties, prompt start of CDM projects, etc., would, however, enhance the total CDM credits to ensure more investment and technology flow to developing countries to promote their sustainable development

Theoretical implications of the galactic radial acceleration relation of McGaugh, Lelli, and Schombert

Science.gov (United States)

Nesbet, Robert K.

2018-05-01

Velocities in stable circular orbits about galaxies, a measure of centripetal gravitation, exceed the expected Kepler/Newton velocity as orbital radius increases. Standard Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) attributes this anomaly to galactic dark matter. McGaugh et al. have recently shown for 153 disc galaxies that observed radial acceleration is an apparently universal function of classical acceleration computed for observed galactic baryonic mass density. This is consistent with the empirical modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) model, not requiring dark matter. It is shown here that suitably constrained ΛCDM and conformal gravity (CG) also produce such a universal correlation function. ΛCDM requires a very specific dark matter distribution, while the implied CG non-classical acceleration must be independent of galactic mass. All three constrained radial acceleration functions agree with the empirical baryonic v4 Tully-Fisher relation. Accurate rotation data in the nominally flat velocity range could distinguish between MOND, ΛCDM, and CG.

Dark energy with a gradient coupling to the dark matter fluid: cosmological dynamics and structure formation

Science.gov (United States)

Dutta, Jibitesh; Khyllep, Wompherdeiki; Tamanini, Nicola

2018-01-01

We consider scalar field models of dark energy interacting with dark matter through a coupling proportional to the contraction of the four-derivative of the scalar field with the four-velocity of the dark matter fluid. The coupling is realized at the Lagrangian level employing the formalism of Scalar-Fluid theories, which use a consistent Lagrangian approach for relativistic fluid to describe dark matter. This framework produces fully covariant field equations, from which we can derive unequivocal cosmological equations at both background and linear perturbations levels. The background evolution is analyzed in detail applying dynamical systems techniques, which allow us to find the complete asymptotic behavior of the universe given any set of model parameters and initial conditions. Furthermore we study linear cosmological perturbations investigating the growth of cosmic structures within the quasi-static approximation. We find that these interacting dark energy models give rise to interesting phenomenological dynamics, including late-time transitions from dark matter to dark energy domination, matter and accelerated scaling solutions and dynamical crossing of the phantom barrier. Moreover we obtain possible deviations from standard ΛCDM behavior at the linear perturbations level, which have an impact on the dynamics of structure formation and might provide characteristic observational signatures.

Constraint on neutrino masses from SDSS-III/BOSS Ly$\\alpha$ forest and other cosmological probes

CERN Document Server

Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Lesgourgues, Julien; Rossi, Graziano; Borde, Arnaud; Viel, Matteo; Aubourg, Eric; Kirkby, David; LeGoff, Jean-Marc; Rich, James; Roe, Natalie; Ross, Nicholas P.; Schneider, Donald P.; Weinberg, David

2015-02-27

We present constraints on the parameters of the $\\Lambda$CDM cosmological model in the presence of massive neutrinos, using the one-dimensional Ly$\\alpha$ forest power spectrum obtained with the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) by Palanque-Delabrouille et al. (2013), complemented by additional cosmological probes. The interpretation of the measured Ly$\\alpha$ spectrum is done using a second-order Taylor expansion of the simulated power spectrum. BOSS Ly$\\alpha$ data alone provide better bounds than previous Ly$\\alpha$ results, but are still poorly constraining, especially for the sum of neutrino masses $\\sum m_\

Cosmic constraint on massive neutrinos in viable f(R) gravity with producing ΛCDM background expansion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Jianbo; Wu, Yabo; Wang, Yan; Yang, Weiqiang [Liaoning Normal University, Department of Physics, Dalian (China); Liu, Molin [Xinyang Normal University, Department of Physics, Xinyang (China)

2016-12-15

Tensions between several cosmic observations were found recently, such as the inconsistent values of H{sub 0} (or σ{sub 8}) were indicated by the different cosmic observations. Introducing the massive neutrinos in ΛCDM could potentially solve the tensions. Viable f(R) gravity producing ΛCDM background expansion with massive neutrinos is investigated in this paper. We fit the current observational data: Planck-2015 CMB, RSD, BAO, and SNIa to constrain the mass of neutrinos in viable f(R) theory. The constraint results at 95% confidence level are: Σm{sub ν} < 0.202 eV for the active-neutrino case, m{sub ν,sterile}{sup eff} < 0.757 eV with N{sub eff} < 3.22 for the sterile neutrino case. For the effects due to the mass of the neutrinos, the constraint results on model parameter at 95% confidence level become f{sub R0} x 10{sup -6} > -1.89 and f{sub R0} x 10{sup -6} > -2.02 for two cases, respectively. It is also shown that the fitting values of several parameters much depend on the neutrino properties, such as the cold dark matter density, the cosmological quantities at matter-radiation equality, the neutrino density and the fraction of baryonic mass in helium. Finally, the constraint result shows that the tension between direct and CMB measurements of H{sub 0} gets slightly weaker in the viable f(R) model than that in the base ΛCDM model. (orig.)

Averaging Robertson-Walker cosmologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, Iain A.; Robbers, Georg; Behrend, Juliane

2009-01-01

The cosmological backreaction arises when one directly averages the Einstein equations to recover an effective Robertson-Walker cosmology, rather than assuming a background a priori. While usually discussed in the context of dark energy, strictly speaking any cosmological model should be recovered from such a procedure. We apply the scalar spatial averaging formalism for the first time to linear Robertson-Walker universes containing matter, radiation and dark energy. The formalism employed is general and incorporates systems of multiple fluids with ease, allowing us to consider quantitatively the universe from deep radiation domination up to the present day in a natural, unified manner. Employing modified Boltzmann codes we evaluate numerically the discrepancies between the assumed and the averaged behaviour arising from the quadratic terms, finding the largest deviations for an Einstein-de Sitter universe, increasing rapidly with Hubble rate to a 0.01% effect for h = 0.701. For the ΛCDM concordance model, the backreaction is of the order of Ω eff 0 ≈ 4 × 10 −6 , with those for dark energy models being within a factor of two or three. The impacts at recombination are of the order of 10 −8 and those in deep radiation domination asymptote to a constant value. While the effective equations of state of the backreactions in Einstein-de Sitter, concordance and quintessence models are generally dust-like, a backreaction with an equation of state w eff < −1/3 can be found for strongly phantom models

A search for sterile neutrinos with the latest cosmological observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng, Lu; Zhang, Jing-Fei [Northeastern University, Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Shenyang (China); Zhang, Xin [Northeastern University, Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Shenyang (China); Peking University, Center for High Energy Physics, Beijing (China)

2017-06-15

We report the result of a search for sterile neutrinos with the latest cosmological observations. Both cases of massless and massive sterile neutrinos are considered in the ΛCDM cosmology. The cosmological observations used in this work include the Planck 2015 temperature and polarization data, the baryon acoustic oscillation data, the Hubble constant direct measurement data, the Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster counts data, the Planck lensing data, and the cosmic shear data. We find that the current observational data give a hint of the existence of massless sterile neutrino (as dark radiation) at the 1.44σ level, and the consideration of an extra massless sterile neutrino can indeed relieve the tension between observations and improve the cosmological fit. For the case of massive sterile neutrino, the observations give a rather tight upper limit on the mass, which implies that actually a massless sterile neutrino is more favored. Our result is consistent with the recent result of neutrino oscillation experiment done by the Daya Bay and MINOS collaborations, as well as the recent result of cosmic ray experiment done by the IceCube collaboration. (orig.)

Working group report: Cosmology and astroparticle physics

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

This is the report of the cosmology and astroparticle physics working group ... origin of the accelerating Universe: Dark energy and particle cosmology by Y-Y Keum, .... Neutrino oscillations with two and three mass varying supernova neutrinos ...

Accelerated and decelerated expansion in a causal dissipative cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Miguel; Cruz, Norman; Lepe, Samuel

2017-12-01

In this work we explore a new cosmological solution for an universe filled with one dissipative fluid, described by a barotropic equation of state (EoS) p =ω ρ , in the framework of the full Israel-Stewart theory. The form of the bulk viscosity has been assumed of the form ξ =ξ0ρ1 /2. The relaxation time is taken to be a function of the EoS, the bulk viscosity and the speed of bulk viscous perturbations, cb. The solution presents an initial singularity, where the curvature scalar diverges as the scale factor goes to zero. Depending on the values for ω , ξ0, cb accelerated and decelerated cosmic expansion can be obtained. In the case of accelerated expansion, the viscosity drives the effective EoS to be of quintessence type, for the single fluid with positive pressure. Nevertheless, we show that only the solution with decelerated expansion satisfies the thermodynamics conditions d S /d t >0 (growth of the entropy) and d2S /d t2<0 (convexity condition). We show that an exact stiff matter EoS is not allowed in the framework of the full causal thermodynamic approach; and in the case of a EoS very close to the stiff matter regime, we found that dissipative effects becomes negligible so the entropy remains constant. Finally, we show numerically that the solution is stable under small perturbations.

Beyond the Standard Model of Cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellis, John; Nanopoulos, D. V.

2004-01-01

Recent cosmological observations of unprecented accuracy, by WMAP in particular, have established a 'Standard Model' of cosmology, just as LEP established the Standard Model of particle physics. Both Standard Models raise open questions whose answers are likely to be linked. The most fundamental problems in both particle physics and cosmology will be resolved only within a framework for Quantum Gravity, for which the only game in town is string theory. We discuss novel ways to model cosmological inflation and late acceleration in a non-critical string approach, and discuss possible astrophysical tests

Employment impacts of CDM projects in China's power sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Can; Zhang, Weishi; Cai, Wenjia; Xie, Xi

2013-01-01

There are continuous debates around the question of whether CDM really contributes to sustainable development (SD) in host countries. Employment impact is an essential indicator of SD. Based on an input-out approach this research builds a quantitative assessment model to evaluate the employment impacts of CDM. Both direct and indirect jobs creation and job losses of CDM projects in the power sector registered by the end of 2011 are calculated by project types and power grids where the project is located. Results of this study show that, although the above mentioned CDM projects causes about 99,000 net direct job losses, they also create about 3.08 million indirect jobs, resulting in the gross employment of CDM to be about 2.98 million. Thereof, hydro projects induce both direct and indirect job losses, which comes to approximately 0.89 million. Solar projects have the most potential since they own the highest indirect jobs created by one GWh generation, about 104 jobs/GWh. - Highlights: • An input–output model was built for assessment of CDM projects' employment impact; • CDM projects create direct and indirect jobs while cause some losses in short. • Significant indirect job gains of CDM projects were found; • Solar projects cause 104 jobs/GWh in average, ranking as the highest contributor

Cosmic microwave background anisotropies in cold dark matter models with cosmological constant: The intermediate versus large angular scales

Science.gov (United States)

Stompor, Radoslaw; Gorski, Krzysztof M.

1994-01-01

We obtain predictions for cosmic microwave background anisotropies at angular scales near 1 deg in the context of cold dark matter models with a nonzero cosmological constant, normalized to the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) detection. The results are compared to those computed in the matter-dominated models. We show that the coherence length of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy is almost insensitive to cosmological parameters, and the rms amplitude of the anisotropy increases moderately with decreasing total matter density, while being most sensitive to the baryon abundance. We apply these results in the statistical analysis of the published data from the UCSB South Pole (SP) experiment (Gaier et al. 1992; Schuster et al. 1993). We reject most of the Cold Dark Matter (CDM)-Lambda models at the 95% confidence level when both SP scans are simulated together (although the combined data set renders less stringent limits than the Gaier et al. data alone). However, the Schuster et al. data considered alone as well as the results of some other recent experiments (MAX, MSAM, Saskatoon), suggest that typical temperature fluctuations on degree scales may be larger than is indicated by the Gaier et al. scan. If so, CDM-Lambda models may indeed provide, from a point of view of CMB anisotropies, an acceptable alternative to flat CDM models.

Bulk viscous matter and recent acceleration of the universe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sasidharan, Athira; Mathew, Titus K. [Cochin University of Science and Technology, Department of Physics, Kochi (India)

2015-07-15

We consider a cosmological model dominated by bulk viscous matter with a total bulk viscosity coefficient proportional to the velocity and acceleration of the expansion of the universe in such a way that ζ = ζ{sub 0} + ζ{sub 1}(a)/(a) + ζ{sub 2}(a)/(a). We show that there exist two limiting conditions in the bulk viscous coefficients (ζ{sub 0}, ζ{sub 1}, ζ{sub 2}) which correspond to a universe having a Big Bang at the origin, followed by an early decelerated epoch and then making a smooth transition into an accelerating epoch. We have constrained the model using the type Ia Supernovae data, evaluated the best estimated values of all the bulk viscous parameters and the Hubble parameter corresponding to the two limiting conditions. We found that even though the evolution of the cosmological parameters are in general different for the two limiting cases, they show identical behavior for the best estimated values of the parameters from both limiting conditions. A recent acceleration would occur if ζ{sub 0} + ζ{sub 1} > 1 for the first limiting conditions and if ζ{sub 0} + ζ{sub 1} < 1 for the second limiting conditions. The age of the universe predicted by this model is found to be less than that predicted from the oldest galactic globular clusters. The total bulk viscosity seems to be negative in the past and becomes positive when z ≤ 0.8. So the model violates the local second law of thermodynamics. However, the model satisfies the generalized second law of thermodynamics at the apparent horizon throughout the evolution of the universe. We also made a statefinder analysis of the model and found that it is distinguishably different from the standard ΛCDM model at present, but it shows a de Sitter type behavior in the far future of the evolution. (orig.)

Final Scientific/Technical Report-Quantum Field Theories for Cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nicolis, Alberto [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). Physics Dept.

2018-03-10

The research funded by this award spanned a wide range of subjects in theoretical cosmology and in field theory. In the first part, the PI and his collaborators applied effective field theory techniques to the study of macroscopic media and of cosmological perturbations. Such an approach—now standard in particle physics—is quite unconventional for theoretical cosmology. They addressed several concrete questions where this formalism proved valuable, both within and outside the cosmological context, concerning for instance macroscopic physical phenomena for fluids, superfluids, and solids, and their relationship to the dynamics of cosmological perturbations. A particularly successful outcome of this line of research has been the development of “solid inflation”: a cosmological model for primordial inflation where the expansion of the universe is driven by an exotic solid substance. In the second part, the PI and his collaborators investigated more fundamental questions and ideas, for the present universe as well as for the very early one, using quantum field theory as a guide. The questions addressed include: Is the present cosmic acceleration due to a new, ‘dark’ form of energy, or are we instead observing a breakdown of Einstein’s general relativity at cosmological distances? Is the cosmic acceleration accelerating? Is the Big Bang unavoidable? Related to this, is early inflation the only sensible cure for the shortcomings of the standard Big Bang model, and the only possible source for the observed scale-invariant cosmological perturbations?

Fermionic cosmologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chimento, L P; Forte, M; Devecchi, F P; Kremer, G M; Ribas, M O; Samojeden, L L

2011-01-01

In this work we review if fermionic sources could be responsible for accelerated periods during the evolution of a FRW universe. In a first attempt, besides the fermionic source, a matter constituent would answer for the decelerated periods. The coupled differential equations that emerge from the field equations are integrated numerically. The self-interaction potential of the fermionic field is considered as a function of the scalar and pseudo-scalar invariants. It is shown that the fermionic field could behave like an inflaton field in the early universe, giving place to a transition to a matter dominated (decelerated) period. In a second formulation we turn our attention to analytical results, specifically using the idea of form-invariance transformations. These transformations can be used for obtaining accelerated cosmologies starting with conventional cosmological models. Here we reconsider the scalar field case and extend the discussion to fermionic fields. Finally we investigate the role of a Dirac field in a Brans-Dicke (BD) context. The results show that this source, in combination with the BD scalar, promote a final eternal accelerated era, after a matter dominated period.

Introduction to cosmology

CERN Document Server

Ryden, Barbara

2017-01-01

This second edition of Introduction to Cosmology is an exciting update of an award-winning textbook. It is aimed primarily at advanced undergraduate students in physics and astronomy, but is also useful as a supplementary text at higher levels. It explains modern cosmological concepts, such as dark energy, in the context of the Big Bang theory. Its clear, lucid writing style, with a wealth of useful everyday analogies, makes it exceptionally engaging. Emphasis is placed on the links between theoretical concepts of cosmology and the observable properties of the universe, building deeper physical insights in the reader. The second edition includes recent observational results, fuller descriptions of special and general relativity, expanded discussions of dark energy, and a new chapter on baryonic matter that makes up stars and galaxies. It is an ideal textbook for the era of precision cosmology in the accelerating universe.

Cosmographic Constraints and Cosmic Fluids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salvatore Capozziello

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The problem of reproducing dark energy effects is reviewed here with particular interest devoted to cosmography. We summarize some of the most relevant cosmological models, based on the assumption that the corresponding barotropic equations of state evolve as the universe expands, giving rise to the accelerated expansion. We describe in detail the ΛCDM (Λ-Cold Dark Matter and ωCDM models, considering also some specific examples, e.g., Chevallier–Polarsky–Linder, the Chaplygin gas and the Dvali–Gabadadze–Porrati cosmological model. Finally, we consider the cosmological consequences of f(R and f(T gravities and their impact on the framework of cosmography. Keeping these considerations in mind, we point out the model-independent procedure related to cosmography, showing how to match the series of cosmological observables to the free parameters of each model. We critically discuss the role played by cosmography, as a selection criterion to check whether a particular model passes or does not present cosmological constraints. In so doing, we find out cosmological bounds by fitting the luminosity distance expansion of the redshift, z, adopting the recent Union 2.1 dataset of supernovae, combined with the baryonic acoustic oscillation and the cosmic microwave background measurements. We perform cosmographic analyses, imposing different priors on the Hubble rate present value. In addition, we compare our results with recent PLANCK limits, showing that the ΛCDM and ωCDM models seem to be the favorite with respect to other dark energy models. However, we show that cosmographic constraints on f(R and f(T cannot discriminate between extensions of General Relativity and dark energy models, leading to a disadvantageous degeneracy problem.

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE SUPERNOVA LEGACY SURVEY SAMPLE WITH ΛCDM AND THE Rh=ct UNIVERSE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, Jun-Jie; Wu, Xue-Feng; Melia, Fulvio; Maier, Robert S.

2015-01-01

The use of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) has thus far produced the most reliable measurement of the expansion history of the universe, suggesting that ΛCDM offers the best explanation for the redshift–luminosity distribution observed in these events. However, analysis of other kinds of sources, such as cosmic chronometers, gamma-ray bursts, and high-z quasars, conflicts with this conclusion, indicating instead that the constant expansion rate implied by the R h = ct universe is a better fit to the data. The central difficulty with the use of SNe Ia as standard candles is that one must optimize three or four nuisance parameters characterizing supernova (SN) luminosities simultaneously with the parameters of an expansion model. Hence, in comparing competing models, one must reduce the data independently for each. We carry out such a comparison of ΛCDM and the R h = ct universe using the SN Legacy Survey sample of 252 SN events, and show that each model fits its individually reduced data very well. However, since R h = ct has only one free parameter (the Hubble constant), it follows from a standard model selection technique that it is to be preferred over ΛCDM, the minimalist version of which has three (the Hubble constant, the scaled matter density, and either the spatial curvature constant or the dark energy equation-of-state parameter). We estimate using the Bayes Information Criterion that in a pairwise comparison, the likelihood of R h = ct is ∼90%, compared with only ∼10% for a minimalist form of ΛCDM, in which dark energy is simply a cosmological constant. Compared to R h = ct, versions of the standard model with more elaborate parametrizations of dark energy are judged to be even less likely

Brane cosmology with curvature corrections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kofinas, Georgios; Maartens, Roy; Papantonopoulos, Eleftherios

2003-01-01

We study the cosmology of the Randall-Sundrum brane-world where the Einstein-Hilbert action is modified by curvature correction terms: a four-dimensional scalar curvature from induced gravity on the brane, and a five-dimensional Gauss-Bonnet curvature term. The combined effect of these curvature corrections to the action removes the infinite-density big bang singularity, although the curvature can still diverge for some parameter values. A radiation brane undergoes accelerated expansion near the minimal scale factor, for a range of parameters. This acceleration is driven by the geometric effects, without an inflation field or negative pressures. At late times, conventional cosmology is recovered. (author)

Understanding the CDM's contribution to technology transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, Malte; Holzer, Andreas; Hoffmann, Volker H.

2008-01-01

Developing countries are increasingly contributing to global greenhouse gas emissions and, consequently, climate change as a result of their rapid economic growth. In order to reduce their impact, the private sector needs to be engaged in the transfer of low-carbon technology to those countries. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is currently the only market mechanism aimed at triggering changes in the pattern of emissions-intensive activities in developing countries and is likely to play a role in future negotiations. In this paper, we analyse how the CDM contributes to technology transfer. We first develop a framework from the literature that delineates the main factors which characterise technology transfer. Second, we apply this framework to the CDM by assessing existing empirical studies and drawing on additional expert interviews. We find that the CDM does contribute to technology transfer by lowering several technology-transfer barriers and by raising the transfer quality. On the basis of this analysis, we give preliminary policy recommendations

A Time-Dependent Λ and G Cosmological Model Consistent with Cosmological Constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Kantha

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The prevailing constant Λ-G cosmological model agrees with observational evidence including the observed red shift, Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN, and the current rate of acceleration. It assumes that matter contributes 27% to the current density of the universe, with the rest (73% coming from dark energy represented by the Einstein cosmological parameter Λ in the governing Friedmann-Robertson-Walker equations, derived from Einstein’s equations of general relativity. However, the principal problem is the extremely small value of the cosmological parameter (~10−52 m2. Moreover, the dark energy density represented by Λ is presumed to have remained unchanged as the universe expanded by 26 orders of magnitude. Attempts to overcome this deficiency often invoke a variable Λ-G model. Cosmic constraints from action principles require that either both G and Λ remain time-invariant or both vary in time. Here, we propose a variable Λ-G cosmological model consistent with the latest red shift data, the current acceleration rate, and BBN, provided the split between matter and dark energy is 18% and 82%. Λ decreases (Λ~τ-2, where τ is the normalized cosmic time and G increases (G~τn with cosmic time. The model results depend only on the chosen value of Λ at present and in the far future and not directly on G.

Constraining cosmological parameters with observational data including weak lensing effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Hong [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, PO Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Theoretical Physics Center for Science Facilities (TPCSF), Chinese Academy of Science (China)], E-mail: hongli@mail.ihep.ac.cn; Liu Jie [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, PO Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Xia Junqing [Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Beirut 2-4, I-34014 Trieste (Italy); Sun Lei; Fan Zuhui [Department of Astronomy, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Tao Charling; Tilquin, Andre [Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, CNRS/IN2P3-Luminy and Universite de la Mediterranee, Case 907, F-13288 Marseille Cedex 9 (France); Zhang Xinmin [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, PO Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Theoretical Physics Center for Science Facilities (TPCSF), Chinese Academy of Science (China)

2009-05-11

In this Letter, we study the cosmological implications of the 100 square degree Weak Lensing survey (the CFHTLS-Wide, RCS, VIRMOS-DESCART and GaBoDS surveys). We combine these weak lensing data with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements from the WMAP5, BOOMERanG, CBI, VSA, ACBAR, the SDSS LRG matter power spectrum and the Type Ia Supernoave (SNIa) data with the 'Union' compilation (307 sample), using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to determine the cosmological parameters, such as the equation-of-state (EoS) of dark energy w, the density fluctuation amplitude {sigma}{sub 8}, the total neutrino mass {sigma}m{sub {nu}} and the parameters associated with the power spectrum of the primordial fluctuations. Our results show that the {lambda}CDM model remains a good fit to all of these data. In a flat universe, we obtain a tight limit on the constant EoS of dark energy, w=-0.97{+-}0.041 (1{sigma}). For the dynamical dark energy model with time evolving EoS parameterized as w{sub de}(a)=w{sub 0}+w{sub a}(1-a), we find that the best-fit values are w{sub 0}=-1.064 and w{sub a}=0.375, implying the mildly preference of Quintom model whose EoS gets across the cosmological constant boundary during evolution. Regarding the total neutrino mass limit, we obtain the upper limit, {sigma}m{sub {nu}}<0.471 eV (95% C.L.) within the framework of the flat {lambda}CDM model. Due to the obvious degeneracies between the neutrino mass and the EoS of dark energy model, this upper limit will be relaxed by a factor of 2 in the framework of dynamical dark energy models. Assuming that the primordial fluctuations are adiabatic with a power law spectrum, within the {lambda}CDM model, we find that the upper limit on the ratio of the tensor to scalar is r<0.35 (95% C.L.) and the inflationary models with the slope n{sub s}{>=}1 are excluded at more than 2{sigma} confidence level. In this Letter we pay particular attention to the contribution from the weak lensing data and

Dynamic CDM strategies in an EHR environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Bieker, Michael; Bailey, Spencer

2012-02-01

A dynamic charge description master (CDM) integrates information from clinical ancillary systems into the charge-capture process, so an organization can reduce its reliance on the patient accounting system as the sole source of billing information. By leveraging the information from electronic ancillary systems, providers can eliminate the need for paper charge-capture forms and see increased accuracy and efficiency in the maintenance of billing information. Before embarking on a dynamic CDM strategy, organizations should first determine their goals for implementing an EHR system, include revenue cycle leaders on the EHR implementation team, and carefully weigh the pros and cons of CDM design decisions.

Towards Accurate Modelling of Galaxy Clustering on Small Scales: Testing the Standard ΛCDM + Halo Model

Science.gov (United States)

Sinha, Manodeep; Berlind, Andreas A.; McBride, Cameron K.; Scoccimarro, Roman; Piscionere, Jennifer A.; Wibking, Benjamin D.

2018-04-01

Interpreting the small-scale clustering of galaxies with halo models can elucidate the connection between galaxies and dark matter halos. Unfortunately, the modelling is typically not sufficiently accurate for ruling out models statistically. It is thus difficult to use the information encoded in small scales to test cosmological models or probe subtle features of the galaxy-halo connection. In this paper, we attempt to push halo modelling into the "accurate" regime with a fully numerical mock-based methodology and careful treatment of statistical and systematic errors. With our forward-modelling approach, we can incorporate clustering statistics beyond the traditional two-point statistics. We use this modelling methodology to test the standard ΛCDM + halo model against the clustering of SDSS DR7 galaxies. Specifically, we use the projected correlation function, group multiplicity function and galaxy number density as constraints. We find that while the model fits each statistic separately, it struggles to fit them simultaneously. Adding group statistics leads to a more stringent test of the model and significantly tighter constraints on model parameters. We explore the impact of varying the adopted halo definition and cosmological model and find that changing the cosmology makes a significant difference. The most successful model we tried (Planck cosmology with Mvir halos) matches the clustering of low luminosity galaxies, but exhibits a 2.3σ tension with the clustering of luminous galaxies, thus providing evidence that the "standard" halo model needs to be extended. This work opens the door to adding interesting freedom to the halo model and including additional clustering statistics as constraints.

Thermodynamics and cosmological reconstruction in f(T , B) gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Bahamonde, Sebastian; Zubair, M.; Abbas, G.

2018-03-01

Recently, it was formulated a teleparallel theory called f(T , B) gravity which connects both f(T) and f(R) under suitable limits. In this theory, the function in the action is assumed to depend on the torsion scalar T and also on a boundary term related with the divergence of torsion, B = 2∇μTμ. In this work, we study different features of a flat Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) cosmology in this theory. First, we show that the FLRW equations can be transformed to the form of Clausius relation TˆhSeff = - dE + WdV, where Tˆh is the horizon temperature and Seff is the entropy which contains contributions both from horizon entropy and an additional entropy term introduced due to the non-equilibrium. We also formulate the constraint for the validity of the generalised second law of thermodynamics (GSLT). Additionally, using a cosmological reconstruction technique, we show that both f(T , B) and - T + F(B) gravity can mimic power-law, de-Sitter and ΛCDM models. Finally, we formulate the perturbed evolution equations and analyse the stability of some important cosmological solutions.

Cosmological backreaction within the Szekeres model and emergence of spatial curvature

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolejko, Krzysztof, E-mail: krzysztof.bolejko@sydney.edu.au [Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics A28, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006 (Australia)

2017-06-01

This paper discusses the phenomenon of backreaction within the Szekeres model. Cosmological backreaction describes how the mean global evolution of the Universe deviates from the Friedmannian evolution. The analysis is based on models of a single cosmological environment and the global ensemble of the Szekeres models (of the Swiss-Cheese-type and Styrofoam-type). The obtained results show that non-linear growth of cosmic structures is associated with the growth of the spatial curvature Ω{sub R} (in the FLRW limit Ω{sub R} → Ω {sub k} ). If averaged over global scales the result depends on the assumed global model of the Universe. Within the Swiss-Cheese model, which does have a fixed background, the volume average follows the evolution of the background, and the global spatial curvature averages out to zero (the background model is the ΛCDM model, which is spatially flat). In the Styrofoam-type model, which does not have a fixed background, the mean evolution deviates from the spatially flat ΛCDM model, and the mean spatial curvature evolves from Ω{sub R} =0 at the CMB to Ω{sub R} ∼ 0.1 at 0 z =. If the Styrofoam-type model correctly captures evolutionary features of the real Universe then one should expect that in our Universe, the spatial curvature should build up (local growth of cosmic structures) and its mean global average should deviate from zero (backreaction). As a result, this paper predicts that the low-redshift Universe should not be spatially flat (i.e. Ω {sub k} ≠ 0, even if in the early Universe Ω {sub k} = 0) and therefore when analysing low- z cosmological data one should keep Ω {sub k} as a free parameter and independent from the CMB constraints.

Cosmological model-independent test of ΛCDM with two-point diagnostic by the observational Hubble parameter data

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Shu-Lei; Duan, Xiao-Wei; Meng, Xiao-Lei; Zhang, Tong-Jie

2018-04-01

Aiming at exploring the nature of dark energy (DE), we use forty-three observational Hubble parameter data (OHD) in the redshift range 0 measurements. The binning methods turn out to be promising and considered to be robust. By applying the two-point diagnostic to the binned data, we find that although the best-fit values of Omh^2 fluctuate as the continuous redshift intervals change, on average, they are continuous with being constant within 1 σ confidence interval. Therefore, we conclude that the ΛCDM model cannot be ruled out.

The Principles of Self Creation Cosmology and its Comparison with General Relativity

OpenAIRE

Barber, G. A.

2002-01-01

There are, at present, several gravitational and cosmological anomalies; the dark energy problem, the lambda problem, accelerating cosmological expansion, the anomalous Pioneer spacecraft acceleration, a spin-up of the Earth and an apparent variation of G observed from analysis of the evolution of planetary longitudes. These conundrums may be resolved in the theory of Self Creation Cosmology, in which the Principle of Mutual Interaction subsumes both Mach's Principle and the Local Conservatio...

Tachyon cosmology, supernovae data, and the big brake singularity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keresztes, Z.; Gergely, L. A.; Gorini, V.; Moschella, U.; Kamenshchik, A. Yu.

2009-01-01

We compare the existing observational data on type Ia supernovae with the evolutions of the Universe predicted by a one-parameter family of tachyon models which we have introduced recently [Phys. Rev. D 69, 123512 (2004)]. Among the set of the trajectories of the model which are compatible with the data there is a consistent subset for which the Universe ends up in a new type of soft cosmological singularity dubbed big brake. This opens up yet another scenario for the future history of the Universe besides the one predicted by the standard ΛCDM model.

Evidence for dark matter interactions in cosmological precision data?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lesgourgues, Julien; Marques-Tavares, Gustavo; Schmaltz, Martin

2016-01-01

We study a two-parameter extension of the cosmological standard model ΛCDM in which cold dark matter interacts with a new form of dark radiation. The two parameters correspond to the energy density in the dark radiation fluid ΔN fluid and the interaction strength between dark matter and dark radiation. The interactions give rise to a very weak ''dark matter drag'' which damps the growth of matter density perturbations throughout radiation domination, allowing to reconcile the tension between predictions of large scale structure from the CMB and direct measurements of σ 8 . We perform a precision fit to Planck CMB data, BAO, large scale structure, and direct measurements of the expansion rate of the universe today. Our model lowers the χ-squared relative to ΛCDM by about 12, corresponding to a preference for non-zero dark matter drag by more than 3σ. Particle physics models which naturally produce a dark matter drag of the required form include the recently proposed non-Abelian dark matter model in which the dark radiation corresponds to massless dark gluons

Late time acceleration in a non-commutative model of modified cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malekolkalami, B., E-mail: b.malakolkalami@uok.ac.ir [Department of Physics, University of Kurdistan, Pasdaran St., Sanandaj (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Atazadeh, K., E-mail: atazadeh@azaruniv.ac.ir [Department of Physics, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, 53714-161, Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Vakili, B., E-mail: b-vakili@iauc.ac.ir [Department of Physics, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2014-12-12

We investigate the effects of non-commutativity between the position–position, position–momentum and momentum–momentum of a phase space corresponding to a modified cosmological model. We show that the existence of such non-commutativity results in a Moyal Poisson algebra between the phase space variables in which the product law between the functions is of the kind of an α-deformed product. We then transform the variables in such a way that the Poisson brackets between the dynamical variables take the form of a usual Poisson bracket but this time with a noncommutative structure. For a power law expression for the function of the Ricci scalar with which the action of the gravity model is modified, the exact solutions in the commutative and noncommutative cases are presented and compared. In terms of these solutions we address the issue of the late time acceleration in cosmic evolution.

Late time acceleration in a non-commutative model of modified cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malekolkalami, B.; Atazadeh, K.; Vakili, B.

2014-01-01

We investigate the effects of non-commutativity between the position–position, position–momentum and momentum–momentum of a phase space corresponding to a modified cosmological model. We show that the existence of such non-commutativity results in a Moyal Poisson algebra between the phase space variables in which the product law between the functions is of the kind of an α-deformed product. We then transform the variables in such a way that the Poisson brackets between the dynamical variables take the form of a usual Poisson bracket but this time with a noncommutative structure. For a power law expression for the function of the Ricci scalar with which the action of the gravity model is modified, the exact solutions in the commutative and noncommutative cases are presented and compared. In terms of these solutions we address the issue of the late time acceleration in cosmic evolution

How universe evolves with cosmological and gravitational constants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

She-Sheng Xue

2015-08-01

Full Text Available With a basic varying space–time cutoff ℓ˜, we study a regularized and quantized Einstein–Cartan gravitational field theory and its domains of ultraviolet-unstable fixed point gir≳0 and ultraviolet-stable fixed point guv≈4/3 of the gravitational gauge coupling g=(4/3G/GNewton. Because the fundamental operators of quantum gravitational field theory are dimension-2 area operators, the cosmological constant is inversely proportional to the squared correlation length Λ∝ξ−2. The correlation length ξ characterizes an infrared size of a causally correlate patch of the universe. The cosmological constant Λ and the gravitational constant G are related by a generalized Bianchi identity. As the basic space–time cutoff ℓ˜ decreases and approaches to the Planck length ℓpl, the universe undergoes inflation in the domain of the ultraviolet-unstable fixed point gir, then evolves to the low-redshift universe in the domain of ultraviolet-stable fixed point guv. We give the quantitative description of the low-redshift universe in the scaling-invariant domain of the ultraviolet-stable fixed point guv, and its deviation from the ΛCDM can be examined by low-redshift (z≲1 cosmological observations, such as supernova Type Ia.

Conservative constraints on early cosmology with MONTE PYTHON

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Audren, Benjamin; Lesgourgues, Julien; Benabed, Karim; Prunet, Simon

2013-01-01

Models for the latest stages of the cosmological evolution rely on a less solid theoretical and observational ground than the description of earlier stages like BBN and recombination. As suggested in a previous work by Vonlanthen et al., it is possible to tweak the analysis of CMB data in such way to avoid making assumptions on the late evolution, and obtain robust constraints on ''early cosmology parameters''. We extend this method in order to marginalise the results over CMB lensing contamination, and present updated results based on recent CMB data. Our constraints on the minimal early cosmology model are weaker than in a standard ΛCDM analysis, but do not conflict with this model. Besides, we obtain conservative bounds on the effective neutrino number and neutrino mass, showing no hints for extra relativistic degrees of freedom, and proving in a robust way that neutrinos experienced their non-relativistic transition after the time of photon decoupling. This analysis is also an occasion to describe the main features of the new parameter inference code MONTE PYTHON, that we release together with this paper. MONTE PYTHON is a user-friendly alternative to other public codes like COSMOMC, interfaced with the Boltzmann code CLASS

Quantum Gravity and Cosmology: an intimate interplay

Science.gov (United States)

Sakellariadou, Mairi

2017-08-01

I will briefly discuss three cosmological models built upon three distinct quantum gravity proposals. I will first highlight the cosmological rôle of a vector field in the framework of a string/brane cosmological model. I will then present the resolution of the big bang singularity and the occurrence of an early era of accelerated expansion of a geometric origin, in the framework of group field theory condensate cosmology. I will then summarise results from an extended gravitational model based on non-commutative spectral geometry, a model that offers a purely geometric explanation for the standard model of particle physics.

Hubble Diagram Test of Expanding and Static Cosmological Models: The Case for a Slowly Expanding Flat Universe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laszlo A. Marosi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We present a new redshift (RS versus photon travel time ( test including 171 supernovae RS data points. We extended the Hubble diagram to a range of z = 0,0141–8.1 in the hope that at high RSs, the fitting of the calculated RS/ diagrams to the observed RS data would, as predicted by different cosmological models, set constraints on alternative cosmological models. The Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM, the static universe model, and the case for a slowly expanding flat universe (SEU are considered. We show that on the basis of the Hubble diagram test, the static and the slowly expanding models are favored.

A Guide to Bundling Small-scale CDM Projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mariyappan, J.; Bhardwaj, N.; De Coninck, H.; Van der Linden, N.

2005-07-01

Small-scale renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that fit the development needs of many developing countries, can potentially be supported via the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), one of the Kyoto Protocol's flexible mechanisms for tackling climate change. However, there is concern that due to high transaction costs, as well as many existing barriers, very few investments will be made in small-scale projects, which are often the most suitable development option in countries such as India. In view of this, the 'bundling' together of appropriate small-scale projects on a regional basis has been proposed as a way in which funding can be leveraged from international sources and transaction costs reduced. IT Power, IT Power India and the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) are carrying out a 2-year project to establish the capacity within India to enable individual small scale projects to be bundled as a single CDM project. Overall objectives are to develop the necessary institutional capabilities to formulate and implement small scale CDM projects in India; to provide a guide on how to bundle small scale projects under the CDM in developing countries; and to raise the awareness of the potential for investment in small scale energy projects which can gain funding through the CDM

THE INNER STRUCTURE OF DWARF-SIZED HALOS IN WARM AND COLD DARK MATTER COSMOLOGIES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

González-Samaniego, A.; Avila-Reese, V. [Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 70-264, 04510, México, D.F., México (Mexico); Colín, P. [Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 72-3 (Xangari), Morelia, Michoacán 58089, México (Mexico)

2016-03-10

By means of N-body + hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations we study the evolution of the inner dark matter and stellar mass distributions of central dwarf galaxies formed in halos of virial masses M{sub v} = (2–3) × 10{sup 10} h{sup −1} M{sub ⊙} at z = 0, both in a warm dark matter (WDM) and cold dark matter (CDM) cosmology. The half-mode mass in the WDM power spectrum of our simulations is M{sub f} = 2 × 10{sup 10} h{sup −1} M{sub ⊙}. In the dark matter (DM) only simulations halo density profiles are well described by the Navarro–Frenk–White parametric fit in both cosmologies, though the WDM halos have concentrations lower by factors of 1.5–2.0 than their CDM counterparts. In the hydrodynamic simulations, the effects of baryons significantly flatten the inner density, velocity dispersion, and pseudo phase space density profiles of the WDM halos but not of the CDM ones. The density slope, measured at ≈0.02R{sub v}, α{sub 0.02}, becomes shallow in periods of 2–5 Gyr in the WDM runs. We explore whether this flattening process correlates with the global star formation (SF), M{sub s}/M{sub v} ratio, gas outflow, and internal specific angular momentum histories. We do not find any clear trends, but when α{sub 0.02} is shallower than −0.5, M{sub s}/M{sub v} is always between 0.25% and 1%. We conclude that the main reason for the formation of the shallow core is the presence of strong gas mass fluctuations inside the inner halo, which are a consequence of the feedback driven by a very bursty and sustained SF history in shallow gravitational potentials. Our WDM halos, which assemble late and are less concentrated than the CDM ones, obey these conditions. There are also (rare) CDM systems with extended mass assembly histories that obey these conditions and form shallow cores. The dynamical heating and expansion processes behind the DM core flattening apply also to the stars in such a way that the stellar age and metallicity gradients of the

Improving the attractiveness of CDM projects through allowing and incorporating options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carmichael, David G.; Ballouz, Joseph J.; Balatbat, Maria C.A.

2015-01-01

The paper puts forward a proposal that, within Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, investors be allowed to benefit from options; this will require a CDM rule change. Through the presence of options, the downside risk resulting from low carbon prices and/or low achieved emission reductions on projects can be limited, while any upside resulting from high carbon prices and/or high achieved emission reductions can be taken advantage of. It is demonstrated that the presence of options improves the financial attractiveness of CDM projects, and this is at no detriment to any stakeholder. The flow-on from the proposal is that more CDM projects should be realisable if options are available, and this in turn will lead to reduced global emissions and improved sustainability. The proposal is supported by the necessary theory and is demonstrated on two registered CDM projects, one on hydropower and one on wind power. - Highlights: • The paper proposes that options be allowed within CDM projects. • Introducing options will require a CDM rule change. • Options improve the financial attractiveness of CDM projects. • Allowing options comes at no cost or detriment to any party. • Allowing options is a win–win situation to both society and the project proponent.

Was Newtonian cosmology really inconsistent?

Science.gov (United States)

Vickers, Peter

This paper follows up a debate as to the consistency of Newtonian cosmology. Whereas Malament [(1995). Is Newtonian cosmology really inconsistent? Philosophy of Science 62, 489-510] has shown that Newtonian cosmology is not inconsistent, to date there has been no analysis of Norton's claim [(1995). The force of Newtonian cosmology: Acceleration is relative. Philosophy of Science 62, 511-522.] that Newtonian cosmology was inconsistent prior to certain advances in the 1930s, and in particular prior to Seeliger's seminal paper of Seeliger [(1895). Über das Newton'sche Gravitationsgesetz. Astronomische Nachrichten 137 (3273), 129-136.] In this paper I agree that there are assumptions, Newtonian and cosmological in character, and relevant to the real history of science, which are inconsistent. But there are some important corrections to make to Norton's account. Here I display for the first time the inconsistencies-four in total-in all their detail. Although this extra detail shows there to be several different inconsistencies, it also goes some way towards explaining why they went unnoticed for 200 years.

Cosmological bound from the neutron star merger GW170817 in scalar-tensor and F(R) gravity theories

Science.gov (United States)

Nojiri, Shin'ichi; Odintsov, Sergei D.

2018-04-01

We consider the evolution of cosmological gravitational waves in scalar-tensor theory and F (R) gravity theory as typical models of the modified gravity. Although the propagation speed is not changed from the speed of light, the propagation phase changes when we compare the propagation in these modified gravity theories with the propagation in the ΛCDM model. The phase change might be detected in future observations.

Weighing galaxy clusters with gas. II. On the origin of hydrostatic mass bias in ΛCDM galaxy clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, Kaylea; Nagai, Daisuke; Yu, Liang; Lau, Erwin T.; Rudd, Douglas H.

2014-01-01

The use of galaxy clusters as cosmological probes hinges on our ability to measure their masses accurately and with high precision. Hydrostatic mass is one of the most common methods for estimating the masses of individual galaxy clusters, which suffer from biases due to departures from hydrostatic equilibrium. Using a large, mass-limited sample of massive galaxy clusters from a high-resolution hydrodynamical cosmological simulation, in this work we show that in addition to turbulent and bulk gas velocities, acceleration of gas introduces biases in the hydrostatic mass estimate of galaxy clusters. In unrelaxed clusters, the acceleration bias is comparable to the bias due to non-thermal pressure associated with merger-induced turbulent and bulk gas motions. In relaxed clusters, the mean mass bias due to acceleration is small (≲ 3%), but the scatter in the mass bias can be reduced by accounting for gas acceleration. Additionally, this acceleration bias is greater in the outskirts of higher redshift clusters where mergers are more frequent and clusters are accreting more rapidly. Since gas acceleration cannot be observed directly, it introduces an irreducible bias for hydrostatic mass estimates. This acceleration bias places limits on how well we can recover cluster masses from future X-ray and microwave observations. We discuss implications for cluster mass estimates based on X-ray, Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, and gravitational lensing observations and their impact on cluster cosmology.

Accelerating the implementation of the clean development mechanism in South African industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G Little

2014-05-01

Full Text Available One of the responses to the threat of global warming is the Kyoto Protocol and the associated Clean Development Mechanism (CDM to reduce greenhouse gases. South Africa is an ideal country for the implementation of industrial CDM projects, yet lags behind many other countries. This qualitative research determines the factors that cause South Africa to lag other developing countries in the implementation of industrial CDM projects and the interventions that will have the most impact on accelerating implementation. The research involved interviews with 30 experts involved in the South African CDM process. The results identify the factors perceived to be facilitating and inhibiting the use of CDM opportunities and a framework for CDM practitioners to develop an implementation strategy within South African industry is established.

The cosmological constant in theories with finite spacetime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kummer, Janis

2014-08-01

We study the role of the cosmological constant in different theories with finite spacetime. The cosmological constant appears both as an initial condition and as a constant of integration. In the context of the cosmological constant problem a new model will be presented. This modification of general relativity generates a small, non-vanishing cosmological constant, which is radiatively stable. The dynamics of the expansion of the universe in this model will be analyzed. Eventually, we try to solve the emergent problems concerning the generation of accelerated expansion using a quintessence model of dark energy.

Cosmological models in the generalized Einstein action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arbab, A.I.

2007-12-01

We have studied the evolution of the Universe in the generalized Einstein action of the form R + β R 2 , where R is the scalar curvature and β = const. We have found exact cosmological solutions that predict the present cosmic acceleration. These models predict an inflationary de-Sitter era occurring in the early Universe. The cosmological constant (Λ) is found to decay with the Hubble constant (H) as, Λ ∝ H 4 . In this scenario the cosmological constant varies quadratically with the energy density (ρ), i.e., Λ ∝ ρ 2 . Such a variation is found to describe a two-component cosmic fluid in the Universe. One of the components accelerated the Universe in the early era, and the other in the present era. The scale factor of the Universe varies as a ∼ t n = 1/2 in the radiation era. The cosmological constant vanishes when n = 4/3 and n =1/2. We have found that the inclusion of the term R 2 mimics a cosmic matter that could substitute the ordinary matter. (author)

Moving from the CDM to 'various approaches'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shishlov, Igor; Bellassen, Valentin

2014-03-01

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) facilitated the emergence and deployment of low-cost greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement technologies such as destruction of industrial gases and capturing methane from landfills and coal mines. Some of these technologies are now ripe to 'graduate' from the CDM into other, more mainstream, economic tools. The first such step was taken in September 2013 when the G20 leaders agreed to phase out HFCs - highly potent greenhouse gases - including HFC-23 that was the focus of 19 CDM projects. A potential HFC-23 abatement fund under the Montreal Protocol could reduce up to 1.8 Gt CO 2 e by 2020 at a cost of under US$0.2 per ton of CO 2 e, i.e. much cheaper than the price paid to CDM projects through carbon crediting. The next potential candidate technology to 'graduate' from the CDM is the abatement of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions in the chemical industry, which have already been placed on the agenda of the Montreal Protocol. (authors)

The New Era of Precision Cosmology: Testing Gravity at Large Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Prescod-Weinstein, Chanda

2011-01-01

Cosmic acceleration may be the biggest phenomenological mystery in cosmology today. Various explanations for its cause have been proposed, including the cosmological constant, dark energy and modified gravities. Structure formation provides a strong test of any cosmic acceleration model because a successful dark energy model must not inhibit the development of observed large-scale structures. Traditional approaches to studies of structure formation in the presence of dark energy ore modified gravity implement the Press & Schechter formalism (PGF). However, does the PGF apply in all cosmologies? The search is on for a better understanding of universality in the PGF In this talk, I explore the potential for universality and talk about what dark matter haloes may be able to tell us about cosmology. I will also discuss the implications of this and new cosmological experiments for better understanding our theory of gravity.

Cosmology and Dark Matter

CERN Document Server

Tkachev, Igor

2017-01-01

This lecture course covers cosmology from the particle physicist perspective. Therefore, the emphasis will be on the evidence for the new physics in cosmological and astrophysical data together with minimal theoretical frameworks needed to understand and appreciate the evidence. I review the case for non-baryonic dark matter and describe popular models which incorporate it. In parallel, the story of dark energy will be developed, which includes accelerated expansion of the Universe today, the Universe origin in the Big Bang, and support for the Inflationary theory in CMBR data.

Cosmological models in energy-momentum-squared gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Board, Charles V. R.; Barrow, John D.

2017-12-01

We study the cosmological effects of adding terms of higher order in the usual energy-momentum tensor to the matter Lagrangian of general relativity. This is in contrast to most studies of higher-order gravity which focus on generalizing the Einstein-Hilbert curvature contribution to the Lagrangian. The resulting cosmological theories give rise to field equations of similar form to several particular theories with different fundamental bases, including bulk viscous cosmology, loop quantum gravity, k -essence, and brane-world cosmologies. We find a range of exact solutions for isotropic universes, discuss their behaviors with reference to the early- and late-time evolution, accelerated expansion, and the occurrence or avoidance of singularities. We briefly discuss extensions to anisotropic cosmologies and delineate the situations where the higher-order matter terms will dominate over anisotropies on approach to cosmological singularities.

Off-shell dark matter: A cosmological relic of quantum gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Saravani, Mehdi; Afshordi, Niayesh

2017-02-01

We study a novel proposal for the origin of cosmological cold dark matter (CDM) which is rooted in the quantum nature of spacetime. In this model, off-shell modes of quantum fields can exist in asymptotic states as a result of spacetime nonlocality (expected in generic theories of quantum gravity) and play the role of CDM, which we dub off-shell dark matter (O f DM ). However, their rate of production is suppressed by the scale of nonlocality (e.g. Planck length). As a result, we show that O f DM is only produced in the first moments of big bang, and then effectively decouples (except through its gravitational interactions). We examine the observational predictions of this model: In the context of cosmic inflation, we show that this proposal relates the reheating temperature to the inflaton mass, which narrows down the uncertainty in the number of e -foldings of specific inflationary scenarios. We also demonstrate that O f DM is indeed cold, and discuss potentially observable signatures on small scale matter power spectrum.

How fabulous is Fab 5 cosmology?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Linder, Eric V.

2013-01-01

Extended gravity origins for cosmic acceleration can solve some fine tuning issues and have useful characteristics, but generally have little to say regarding the cosmological constant problem. Fab 5 gravity can be ghost free and stable, have attractor solutions in the past and future, and possess self tuning that solves the original cosmological constant problem. Here we show however it does not possess all these qualities at the same time. We also demonstrate that the self tuning is so powerful that it not only cancels the cosmological constant but also all other energy density, and we derive the scalings of its approach to a renormalized de Sitter cosmology. While this strong cancellation is bad for the late universe, it greatly eases early universe inflation

How fabulous is Fab 5 cosmology?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Linder, Eric V., E-mail: evlinder@lbl.gov [Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics and Berkeley Lab, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720 (United States)

2013-12-01

Extended gravity origins for cosmic acceleration can solve some fine tuning issues and have useful characteristics, but generally have little to say regarding the cosmological constant problem. Fab 5 gravity can be ghost free and stable, have attractor solutions in the past and future, and possess self tuning that solves the original cosmological constant problem. Here we show however it does not possess all these qualities at the same time. We also demonstrate that the self tuning is so powerful that it not only cancels the cosmological constant but also all other energy density, and we derive the scalings of its approach to a renormalized de Sitter cosmology. While this strong cancellation is bad for the late universe, it greatly eases early universe inflation.

Studies into the nature of cosmic acceleration: Dark energy or a modification to gravity on cosmological scales

Science.gov (United States)

Dossett, Jason Nicholas

Since its discovery more than a decade ago, the problem of cosmic acceleration has become one of the largest in cosmology and physics as a whole. An unknown dark energy component of the universe is often invoked to explain this observation. Mathematically, this works because inserting a cosmic fluid with a negative equation of state into Einstein's equations provides an accelerated expansion. There are, however, alternative explanations for the observed cosmic acceleration. Perhaps the most promising of the alternatives is that, on the very largest cosmological scales, general relativity needs to be extended or a new, modified gravity theory must be used. Indeed, many modified gravity models are not only able to replicate the observed accelerated expansion without dark energy, but are also more compatible with a unified theory of physics. Thus it is the goal of this dissertation to develop and study robust tests that will be able to distinguish between these alternative theories of gravity and the need for a dark energy component of the universe. We will study multiple approaches using the growth history of large-scale structure in the universe as a way to accomplish this task. These approaches include studying what is known as the growth index parameter, a parameter that describes the logarithmic growth rate of structure in the universe, which describes the rate of formation of clusters and superclusters of galaxies over the entire age of the universe. We will explore the effectiveness of this parameter to distinguish between general relativity and modifications to gravity physics given realistic expectations of results from future experiments. Next, we will explore the modified growth formalism wherein deviations from the growth expected in general relativity are parameterized via changes to the growth equations, i.e. the perturbed Einstein's equations. We will also explore the impact of spatial curvature on these tests. Finally, we will study how dark energy

Cosmic Microwave Background as a Thermal Gas of SU(2 Photons: Implications for the High-z Cosmological Model and the Value of H0

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steffen Hahn

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Presently, we are facing a 3σ tension in the most basic cosmological parameter, the Hubble constant H0. This tension arises when fitting the Lambda-cold-dark-matter model (ΛCDM to the high-precision temperature-temperature (TT power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB and to local cosmological observations. We propose a resolution of this problem by postulating that the thermal photon gas of the CMB obeys an SU(2 rather than U(1 gauge principle, suggesting a high-z cosmological model which is void of dark-matter. Observationally, we rely on precise low-frequency intensity measurements in the CMB spectrum and on a recent model independent (low-z extraction of the relation between the comoving sound horizon rs at the end of the baryon drag epoch and H0 (rsH0=const. We point out that the commonly employed condition for baryon-velocity freeze-out is imprecise, judged by a careful inspection of the formal solution to the associated Euler equation. As a consequence, the above-mentioned 3σ tension actually transforms into a 5σ discrepancy. To make contact with successful low-z  ΛCDM cosmology we propose an interpolation based on percolated/depercolated vortices of a Planck-scale axion condensate. For a first consistency test of such an all-z model we compute the angular scale of the sound horizon at photon decoupling.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: two-season ACTPol spectra and parameters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Louis, Thibaut [UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR7095, Institut d' Astrophysique de Paris, F-75014, Paris (France); Grace, Emily; Aiola, Simone; Choi, Steve K. [Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Jadwin Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Hasselfield, Matthew [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Lungu, Marius; Angile, Elio [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Maurin, Loïc [Instituto de Astrofísica and Centro de Astro-Ingeniería, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 7820436 Macul, Santiago (Chile); Addison, Graeme E. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Ade, Peter A. R. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff, Wales, CF24 3AA (United Kingdom); Allison, Rupert; Calabrese, Erminia [Sub-Department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Amiri, Mandana [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Battaglia, Nicholas [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Beall, James A.; Britton, Joe; Cho, Hsiao-mei [NIST Quantum Devices Group, 325 Broadway Mailcode 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); De Bernardis, Francesco [Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Bond, J Richard, E-mail: louis@iap.fr [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H8 (Canada); and others

2017-06-01

We present the temperature and polarization angular power spectra measured by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter (ACTPol). We analyze night-time data collected during 2013–14 using two detector arrays at 149 GHz, from 548 deg{sup 2} of sky on the celestial equator. We use these spectra, and the spectra measured with the MBAC camera on ACT from 2008–10, in combination with planck and wmap data to estimate cosmological parameters from the temperature, polarization, and temperature-polarization cross-correlations. We find the new ACTPol data to be consistent with the ΛCDM model. The ACTPol temperature-polarization cross-spectrum now provides stronger constraints on multiple parameters than the ACTPol temperature spectrum, including the baryon density, the acoustic peak angular scale, and the derived Hubble constant. The new ACTPol data provide information on damping tail parameters. The joint uncertainty on the number of neutrino species and the primordial helium fraction is reduced by 20% when adding ACTPol to Planck temperature data alone.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Two-Season ACTPol Spectra and Parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Louis, Thibaut; Grace, Emily; Hasselfield, Matthew; Lungu, Marius; Maurin, Loic; Addison, Graeme E.; Adem Peter A. R.; Aiola, Simone; Allison, Rupert; Amiri, Mandana;

COSMOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS FROM THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY MaxBCG CLUSTER CATALOG

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozo, Eduardo; Weinberg, David H.; Wechsler, Risa H.; Rykoff, Eli S.; Annis, James T.; Frieman, Joshua A.; Becker, Matthew R.; Evrard, August E.; Hao Jiangang; McKay, Timothy A.; Hansen, Sarah M.; Johnston, David E.; Koester, Benjamin P.; Sheldon, Erin S.

2010-01-01

We use the abundance and weak-lensing mass measurements of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey maxBCG cluster catalog to simultaneously constrain cosmology and the richness-mass relation of the clusters. Assuming a flat ΛCDM cosmology, we find σ 8 (Ω m /0.25) 0.41 = 0.832 ± 0.033 after marginalization over all systematics. In common with previous studies, our error budget is dominated by systematic uncertainties, the primary two being the absolute mass scale of the weak-lensing masses of the maxBCG clusters, and uncertainty in the scatter of the richness-mass relation. Our constraints are fully consistent with the WMAP five-year data, and in a joint analysis we find σ 8 = 0.807 ± 0.020 and Ω m = 0.265 ± 0.016, an improvement of nearly a factor of 2 relative to WMAP5 alone. Our results are also in excellent agreement with and comparable in precision to the latest cosmological constraints from X-ray cluster abundances. The remarkable consistency among these results demonstrates that cluster abundance constraints are not only tight but also robust, and highlight the power of optically selected cluster samples to produce precision constraints on cosmological parameters.

Could the cosmic acceleration be transient?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guimaraes, Antonio C.C.; Lima, J.A.S. [Universidade de Sao Paulo (IAG/USP), SP (Brazil). Inst. de Astronomia, Geofisica e Ciencias Atmosfericas

2011-07-01

Full text: The possibility of a transient cosmic acceleration appears in several theoretical scenarios and is theoretically interesting because it solves some difficulties inherent to eternally accelerating universes (like {Lambda}CDM). On the observational side, some authors, using a dynamical Ansatz for the dark energy equation of state, have suggested that the cosmic acceleration have already peaked and that we are currently witnessing its slowing down. Here, a possible slowing down of the cosmic expansion is investigated through a cosmographic approach. By expanding the luminous distance to fourth order and fitting the SNe Ia data from the most recent compilations (Union, Constitution and Union 2), the marginal likelihood distribution for the deceleration parameter today indicates that there is a considerable probability for q{sub 0} > 0. Also in contrast to the prediction of the {Lambda}CDM model, the cosmographic q(z) reconstruction suggests that the cosmic acceleration could already have peaked and be presently slowing down, what would imply that the recent accelerated expansion of the Universe is a transient phenomenon. It is also shown that to describe a transient acceleration the luminous distance needs to be expanded at least to fourth order. The present cosmographic results depend neither on the validity of general relativity nor on the matter-energy contents of the Universe. (author)

78 FR 32250 - CDM Smith and Dynamac Corp; Transfer of Data

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-29

... ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA-HQ-OPP-2013-0036; FRL-9387-5] CDM Smith and Dynamac Corp... the submitter, will be transferred to CDM Smith and its subcontractor, Dynamac Corp, in accordance with 40 CFR 2.307(h)(3) and 2.308(i)(2). CDM Smith and its subcontractor, Dynamac Corp, have been...

Analysis of registered CDM projects: potential removal of evidenced bottlenecks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agosto, D.; Bombard, P.; Gostinelli, F.

2007-07-01

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has developed during its first period of implementation, a distinctive set of patterns. The authors thought of concentrating on the CDM analysis in order to highlight potential remedies or reasons for given bottlenecks. In order to establish a sort of extensive SWOT analysis for CDMs, all the 356 projects actually (November 2006) registered at UNFCCC were examined, together with all the about 1000 PDDs presented to the UNFCCC but not registered yet. The CDM projects have been studied trying to cluster projects according to relevant characteristics, both from a technical and an economic point of view. Chosen indicators are meant to identify: more convenient/more diffused energy system for a CDM; reasons for a geographical distribution of different types of projects; potentials for a future exploitation of lower used technologies in CDM. Conclusions are drawn and appropriate tables and graphs presented. (1) the Baseline Emission Factor, combined to economic patterns, is the pivotal factor that characterizes both choices of host country and technology; (2) some technologies can exploit appropriately CDM scheme, whilst other technologies, are constrained by it. (3) there are still some important weak points: grouping of non Annex I countries; crediting period; criteria for the evaluation of sustainable development. (auth)

Did Cosmology Trigger the Origin of the Solar System?

Science.gov (United States)

Blome, H.-J.; Wilson, T. L.

2011-01-01

It is a matter of curious coincidence that the Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago around the same epoch that the Friedmann-Lemaitre (FL) universe became -dominated or dark-energy-dominated, where is the cosmological constant. This observation was made in the context of known gravitational anomalies that affect spacecraft orbits during planetary flyby's and the Pioneer anomaly, both possibly having connections with cosmology. In addition, it has been known for some time that the Universe is not only expanding but accelerating as well. Hence one must add the onset of cosmological acceleration in the FL universe as having a possible influence on the origin of the Solar System. These connections will now be examined in greater detail.

Cosmic acceleration driven by mirage inhomogeneities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galfard, Christophe [DAMTP, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce road, Cambridge CB3 0WA (United Kingdom); Germani, Cristiano [DAMTP, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce road, Cambridge CB3 0WA (United Kingdom); Kehagias, Alex [Physics Division, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Zografou Campus, Athens (Greece)

2006-03-21

A cosmological model based on an inhomogeneous D3-brane moving in an AdS{sub 5} x S{sub 5} bulk is introduced. Although there are no special points in the bulk, the brane universe has a centre and is isotropic around it. The model has an accelerating expansion and its effective cosmological constant is inversely proportional to the distance from the centre, giving a possible geometrical origin for the smallness of a present-day cosmological constant. Besides, if our model is considered as an alternative of early-time acceleration, it is shown that the early stage accelerating phase ends in a dust-dominated FRW homogeneous universe. Mirage-driven acceleration thus provides a dark matter component for the brane universe final state. We finally show that the model fulfils the current constraints on inhomogeneities.

CDM and JI in View of the Sustainability Debate

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schoot Uiterkamp, A.J.M.

2001-01-01

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Joint Implementation (JI) and emissions trading are the three flexible instruments incorporated in the Kyoto Protocol. This paper presents a critical assessment of the sustainability of energy-related technology innovation and transfer in the context of CDM and JI.

Cosmology of hybrid metric-Palatini f(X)-gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Capozziello, Salvatore; Harko, Tiberiu; Koivisto, Tomi S.; Lobo, Francisco S.N.; Olmo, Gonzalo J.

2013-01-01

A new class of modified theories of gravity, consisting of the superposition of the metric Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian with an f(R) term constructed à la Palatini was proposed recently. The dynamically equivalent scalar-tensor representation of the model was also formulated, and it was shown that even if the scalar field is very light, the theory passes the Solar System observational constraints. Therefore the model predicts the existence of a long-range scalar field, modifying the cosmological and galactic dynamics. An explicit model that passes the local tests and leads to cosmic acceleration was also obtained. In the present work, it is shown that the theory can be also formulated in terms of the quantity X≡κ 2 T+R, where T and R are the traces of the stress-energy and Ricci tensors, respectively. The variable X represents the deviation with respect to the field equation trace of general relativity. The cosmological applications of this hybrid metric-Palatini gravitational theory are also explored, and cosmological solutions coming from the scalar-tensor representation of f(X)-gravity are presented. Criteria to obtain cosmic acceleration are discussed and the field equations are analyzed as a dynamical system. Several classes of dynamical cosmological solutions, depending on the functional form of the effective scalar field potential, describing both accelerating and decelerating Universes are explicitly obtained. Furthermore, the cosmological perturbation equations are derived and applied to uncover the nature of the propagating scalar degree of freedom and the signatures these models predict in the large-scale structure

The Age of Precision Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Chuss, David T.

2012-01-01

In the past two decades, our understanding of the evolution and fate of the universe has increased dramatically. This "Age of Precision Cosmology" has been ushered in by measurements that have both elucidated the details of the Big Bang cosmology and set the direction for future lines of inquiry. Our universe appears to consist of 5% baryonic matter; 23% of the universe's energy content is dark matter which is responsible for the observed structure in the universe; and 72% of the energy density is so-called "dark energy" that is currently accelerating the expansion of the universe. In addition, our universe has been measured to be geometrically flat to 1 %. These observations and related details of the Big Bang paradigm have hinted that the universe underwent an epoch of accelerated expansion known as Uinflation" early in its history. In this talk, I will review the highlights of modern cosmology, focusing on the contributions made by measurements of the cosmic microwave background, the faint afterglow of the Big Bang. I will also describe new instruments designed to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background in order to search for evidence of cosmic inflation.

Cosmological Studies with Galaxy Clusters, Active Galactic Nuclei, and Strongly Lensed Quasars

Science.gov (United States)

Rumbaugh, Nicholas Andrew

The large-scale structure (LSS) of the universe provides scientists with one of the best laboratories for studying Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LambdaCDM) cosmology. Especially at high redshift, we see increased rates of galaxy cluster and galaxy merging in LSS relative to the field, which is useful for studying the hierarchical merging predicted by LambdaCDM. The largest identified bound structures, superclusters, have not yet virialized. Despite the wide range of dynamical states of their constituent galaxies, groups, and clusters, they are all still actively evolving, providing an ideal laboratory in which to study cluster and galaxy evolution. In this dissertation, I present original research on several aspects of LSS and LambdaCDM cosmology. Three separate studies are included, each one focusing on a different aspect. In the first study, we use X-ray and optical observations from nine galaxy clusters at high redshift, some embedded in larger structures and some isolated, to study their evolutionary states. We extract X-ray gas temperatures and luminosities as well as optical velocity dispersions. These cluster properties are compared using low-redshift scaling relations. In addition, we employ several tests of substructure, using velocity histograms, Dressler-Shectman tests, and centroiding offsets. We conclude that two clusters out of our sample are most likely unrelaxed, and find support for deviations from self-similarity in the redshift evolution of the Lx-T relation. Our numerous complementary tests of the evolutionary state of clusters suggest potential under-estimations of systematic error in studies employing only a single such test. In the second study, we use multi-band imaging and spectroscopy to study active galactic nuclei (AGN) in high-redshift LSS. The AGN were identified using X-ray imaging and matched to optical catalogs that contained spectroscopic redshifts to identify members of the structures. AGN host galaxies tended to be associated with the

Acceleration parameters for fluid physics with accelerating bodies

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Gledhill, Irvy MA

2016-06-01

Full Text Available to an acceleration parameter that appears to be new in fluid physics, but is known in cosmology. A selection of cases for rectilinear acceleration has been chosen to illustrate the point that this parameter alone does not govern regimes of flow about significantly...

FORECASTING COSMOLOGICAL PARAMETER CONSTRAINTS FROM NEAR-FUTURE SPACE-BASED GALAXY SURVEYS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavlov, Anatoly; Ratra, Bharat; Samushia, Lado

2012-01-01

The next generation of space-based galaxy surveys is expected to measure the growth rate of structure to a level of about one percent over a range of redshifts. The rate of growth of structure as a function of redshift depends on the behavior of dark energy and so can be used to constrain parameters of dark energy models. In this work, we investigate how well these future data will be able to constrain the time dependence of the dark energy density. We consider parameterizations of the dark energy equation of state, such as XCDM and ωCDM, as well as a consistent physical model of time-evolving scalar field dark energy, φCDM. We show that if the standard, specially flat cosmological model is taken as a fiducial model of the universe, these near-future measurements of structure growth will be able to constrain the time dependence of scalar field dark energy density to a precision of about 10%, which is almost an order of magnitude better than what can be achieved from a compilation of currently available data sets.

A Reformed CDM - including new mechanisms for sustainable development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holm Olsen, K; Fenhann, J

2009-07-01

The annual CD4CDM Perspectives Series features a topic of pivotal importance to the global carbon market. The series seeks to communicate the diverse insights and visions of leading actors in the carbon market to better inform the decisions of professionals and policymakers in developing countries. The second theme of the series focuses on how the CDM can be reformed in a post-2012 climate regime, including new mechanism for sustainable development. Seventeen contributors from the private sector, Designated National Authorities, the Executive Board, research, and development agencies present their perspective on meeting challenges such as the unequal regional distribution of CDM projects, concerns about environmental integrity and technology transfer, complex governance procedures, and questions about the CDM's contribution to sustainable development. The new ideas and solutions to these challenges proposed by the authors in this edition of Perspectives have been solicited to help professionals and policy makers make the best decisions in the lead-up to COP 15 in Copenhagen and beyond. (au)

A Reformed CDM - including new mechanisms for sustainable development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holm Olsen, K.; Fenhann, J.

2009-07-01

The annual CD4CDM Perspectives Series features a topic of pivotal importance to the global carbon market. The series seeks to communicate the diverse insights and visions of leading actors in the carbon market to better inform the decisions of professionals and policymakers in developing countries. The second theme of the series focuses on how the CDM can be reformed in a post-2012 climate regime, including new mechanism for sustainable development. Seventeen contributors from the private sector, Designated National Authorities, the Executive Board, research, and development agencies present their perspective on meeting challenges such as the unequal regional distribution of CDM projects, concerns about environmental integrity and technology transfer, complex governance procedures, and questions about the CDM's contribution to sustainable development. The new ideas and solutions to these challenges proposed by the authors in this edition of Perspectives have been solicited to help professionals and policy makers make the best decisions in the lead-up to COP 15 in Copenhagen and beyond. (au)

How robust are inflation model and dark matter constraints from cosmological data?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hamann, Jan; Hannestad, Steen; Sloth, Martin Snoager

2006-01-01

the tensor-to-scalar ratio r and the neutrino mass prevents lambda phi^4 from being excluded by present data. Reversing the argument, if lambda phi^4 is the correct model of inflation, it predicts a sum of neutrino masses at 0.3-0.5 eV, a range compatible with present experimental limits and within the reach......High-precision data from observation of the cosmic microwave background and the large scale structure of the universe provide very tight constraints on the effective parameters that describe cosmological inflation. Indeed, within a constrained class of LambdaCDM models, the simple lambda phi^4...... chaotic inflation model already appears to be ruled out by cosmological data. In this paper, we compute constraints on inflationary parameters within a more general framework that includes other physically motivated parameters such as a nonzero neutrino mass. We find that a strong degeneracy between...

arXiv Neutrino masses and cosmology with Lyman-alpha forest power spectrum

CERN Document Server

Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Baur, Julien; Magneville, Christophe; Rossi, Graziano; Lesgourgues, Julien; Borde, Arnaud; Burtin, Etienne; LeGoff, Jean-Marc; Rich, James; Viel, Matteo; Weinberg, David

2015-11-06

We present constraints on neutrino masses, the primordial fluctuation spectrum from inflation, and other parameters of the $\\Lambda$CDM model, using the one-dimensional Ly$\\alpha$-forest power spectrum measured by Palanque-Delabrouille et al. (2013) from SDSS-III/BOSS, complemented by Planck 2015 cosmic microwave background (CMB) data and other cosmological probes. This paper improves on the previous analysis by Palanque-Delabrouille et al. (2015) by using a more powerful set of calibrating hydrodynamical simulations that reduces uncertainties associated with resolution and box size, by adopting a more flexible set of nuisance parameters for describing the evolution of the intergalactic medium, by including additional freedom to account for systematic uncertainties, and by using Planck 2015 constraints in place of Planck 2013. Fitting Ly$\\alpha$ data alone leads to cosmological parameters in excellent agreement with the values derived independently from CMB data, except for a weak tension on the scalar index ...

CDM Convective Forecast Planning guidance

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The CDM Convective Forecast Planning (CCFP) guidance product provides a foreast of en-route aviation convective hazards. The forecasts are updated every 2 hours and...

Manufacturing of nuclear power components in CDM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krishnan, J.; Jawale, S.B.

2002-01-01

Full text: In the nuclear research programme in India, Dr. H.J. Bhabha, the architecture of the Indian Nuclear programme felt a need for proto-type development and precision manufacturing facility to fulfill the requirements of mechanical components in establishing the manufacturing capability for the successful and self sustained nuclear programme. Centre for Design and Manufacture (CDM) hitherto known as CWS was established in 1964 to cater to the specific requirements of DAE and other associated units like ISRO, DRDO. Since then CDM has made multiple technological achievements and changes towards high quality products. The acquisition of up-to-date machines during High-Tech facility under VIII Plan project and Advance Precision Fabrication facility under IX Plan project has changed the capability of CDM towards CAD, CAM, CAE and CNC machining centres. Considering the rapid growth in the design and manufacturing, it was renamed as Centre for Design and Manufacture in March 2002, with the mission of quality output through group effort and team work

Extracting the resource rent from the CDM projects: Can the Chinese Government do better?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Xuemei

2010-01-01

The revenue generated from a CDM project in China will be shared by the government and the project owner, and is also subject to the corporate income tax. This paper studies the impacts of the revenue sharing policy and income tax on the CDM market. The economic model presented in this paper shows that higher-cost CDM projects will be more affected by the CDM policies than lower-cost projects. In addition, the majority of CERs will be generated from lower-cost projects. This kind of distribution of CERs across different types of CDM projects, which is in line with the current picture of the CDM market in China, is not consistent with the goal of sustainable development. A simulation shows that a type-by-type tax/fee scheme would be more effective in assisting sustainable development than the current CDM policies. The study also suggests the government use negative tax/fee with the type-by-type scheme to subsidize the CDM projects that generate large sustainability benefits but would otherwise not be developed due to high costs. If all of the revenue from the CDM is recycled, it is estimated that CERs generation will increase by 98.28 MtC, mainly from the CDM projects that have substantial sustainability benefits for the host country.

Dark Energy, scalar-curvature couplings and a critical acceleration scale

CERN Document Server

Navarro, Ignacio

2008-01-01

We study the effects of coupling a cosmologically rolling scalar field to higher order curvature terms. We show that when the strong coupling scale of the theory is on the 10^{-3}-10^{-1}eV range, the model passes all experimental bounds on the existence of fifth forces even if the field has a mass of the order of the Hubble scale in vacuum and non-suppressed couplings to SM fields. The reason is that the coupling to certain curvature invariant acts as an effective mass that grows in regions of large curvature. This prevents the field from rolling down its potential near sources and makes its effects on fifth-force search experiments performed in the laboratory to be observable only at the sub-mm scale. We obtain the static spherically symmetric solutions of the theory and show that a long-range force appears but it is turned on only below a fixed Newtonian acceleration scale of the order of the Hubble constant. We comment on the possibility of using this feature of the model to alleviate the CDM small scale ...

Modelling the impacts of CDM incentives for the Thai electricity sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weiss, Philipp; Lefevre, Thierry; Moest, Dominik

2008-01-01

The CDM Executive Board recently took a positive decision on programmatic CDM, also known as a CDM Programme of Activities. This prompts the author to present a new tool that has been developed recently for the Thai electricity market. The Renewable Energy Development (RED) Model, initially developed in the framework of the DANIDA funded project: Promotion of Renewable Energy in Thailand (PRET), at the Ministry of Energy of Thailand, was designed for the modelling of different incentive schemes and their effects on the Thai power system for the promotion of renewable energy technologies (RETs). Within this article, an extension of the existing RED model, including the CDM as additional incentive measure, is presented (RED-CDM). Along with the project-based approach, also a sectoral and programmatic approach is included as well. Several scenarios developed with the RED-CDM model show the influence of different incentive mechanisms on the Thai power market and their potentials for reaching the policy targets stated in the Energy Strategy of Thailand for Competitiveness. The main results show that reaching the policy targets is possible, while the price can be extremely high if the targets are to be achieved on schedule. Another important result is that a sectoral CDM approach could help financing about 20% of the incentives needed for a shift towards a more sustainable power grid, if the certified emission reductions (CERs) are sold at a price of 15 Euro/ton

One hundred years of the cosmological constant: from "superfluous stunt" to dark energy

Science.gov (United States)

O'Raifeartaigh, Cormac; O'Keeffe, Michael; Nahm, Werner; Mitton, Simon

2018-05-01

We present a centennial review of the history of the term known as the cosmological constant. First introduced to the general theory of relativity by Einstein in 1917 in order to describe a universe that was assumed to be static, the term fell from favour in the wake of the discovery of the expanding universe, only to make a dramatic return in recent times. We consider historical and philosophical aspects of the cosmological constant over four main epochs; (i) the use of the term in static cosmologies (both Newtonian and relativistic): (ii) the marginalization of the term following the discovery of cosmic expansion: (iii) the use of the term to address specific cosmic puzzles such as the timespan of expansion, the formation of galaxies and the redshifts of the quasars: (iv) the re-emergence of the term in today's Λ-CDM cosmology. We find that the cosmological constant was never truly banished from theoretical models of the universe, but was marginalized by astronomers for reasons of convenience. We also find that the return of the term to the forefront of modern cosmology did not occur as an abrupt paradigm shift due to one particular set of observations, but as the result of a number of empirical advances such as the measurement of present cosmic expansion using the Hubble Space Telescope, the measurement of past expansion using type SN Ia supernovae as standard candles, and the measurement of perturbations in the cosmic microwave background by balloon and satellite. We give a brief overview of contemporary interpretations of the physics underlying the cosmic constant and conclude with a synopsis of the famous cosmological constant problem.

One hundred years of the cosmological constant: from "superfluous stunt" to dark energy

Science.gov (United States)

O'Raifeartaigh, Cormac; O'Keeffe, Michael; Nahm, Werner; Mitton, Simon

2018-03-01

We present a centennial review of the history of the term known as the cosmological constant. First introduced to the general theory of relativity by Einstein in 1917 in order to describe a universe that was assumed to be static, the term fell from favour in the wake of the discovery of the expanding universe, only to make a dramatic return in recent times. We consider historical and philosophical aspects of the cosmological constant over four main epochs; (i) the use of the term in static cosmologies (both Newtonian and relativistic): (ii) the marginalization of the term following the discovery of cosmic expansion: (iii) the use of the term to address specific cosmic puzzles such as the timespan of expansion, the formation of galaxies and the redshifts of the quasars: (iv) the re-emergence of the term in today's Λ-CDM cosmology. We find that the cosmological constant was never truly banished from theoretical models of the universe, but was marginalized by astronomers for reasons of convenience. We also find that the return of the term to the forefront of modern cosmology did not occur as an abrupt paradigm shift due to one particular set of observations, but as the result of a number of empirical advances such as the measurement of present cosmic expansion using the Hubble Space Telescope, the measurement of past expansion using type SN Ia supernovae as standard candles, and the measurement of perturbations in the cosmic microwave background by balloon and satellite. We give a brief overview of contemporary interpretations of the physics underlying the cosmic constant and conclude with a synopsis of the famous cosmological constant problem.

Experiences of project developers around CDM projects in South Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thurner, Thomas W.; Varughese, Arun

2013-01-01

Project developers in South Africa are puzzled with the long process of evaluating and registering their CDM projects. In addition to other obstacles, we find that South African big businesses are rather reluctant to engage in any new business activities such as CDM projects and municipalities often lack the necessary flexibility. This offers opportunities for small-scale project developers who spot the opportunities and find creative solutions to overcome these difficulties. - Highlights: • First paper analysing the experience of small project developers in South Africa. • Project developers in South Africa are puzzled with the long process. • South African big businesses are reluctant to engage in CDM projects. • Small-scale project developers spot opportunities and find creative solutions to overcome difficulties. • Also, we saw learning processes of South African administration in support of CDM projects

Annual Report 2011 for the Swedish CDM and JI program; Aarsredovisning 2011 foer Sveriges CDM och JI-program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-11-01

The report is an annual report of the Swedish CDM [Clean Development Mechanism] and JI [Joint Implementation]program for 2011. The report shows aims and goals of the business and the work of individual CDM and JI projects and multilateral funds which have been performed over the entire duration of life and especially during 2011. The report presents volume orders, deliveries of emission reduction units as well as the volumes expected to be needed for the fulfillment of the national target by 2020. The report also includes information about the average price for the emission reductions as well as alternative costs.

Earth’s gravity and the cosmological constant: a worked example

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pereira, J A M

2016-01-01

The cosmological constant regained the attention of the scientific community following the recent discovery of the accelerated expansion of the Universe. Consequently, interest in the subject increased amongst the public such that it now often appears in the classroom and popular science publications. The purpose of this article is to use basic concepts of Newtonian mechanics, like dynamics, kinetic energy and potential energy diagrams, in a scenario where the cosmological constant’s action, considered as being an inertial force driven by the accelerated expansion of the Universe, could counteract Earth’s gravity. The effect that the cosmological constant might have near the Earth’s surface is discussed showing how everyday life would change. This is done in such a way that makes it accessible to students in their first year of college. Finally, the modern interpretation of the cosmological constant, associated with the existence of dark energy, is briefly discussed along with upper limit estimations for its value based on the anthropic principle. (paper)

Linking renewable energy CDM projects and TGC schemes: An analysis of different options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Del Rio, Pablo

2006-01-01

Renewable energy CDM (RE-CDM) projects encourage cost-effective GHG mitigation and enhanced sustainable development opportunities for the host countries. CERs from CDM projects include the value of the former benefits (i.e., 'climate change benefits'), whereas the second can be given value through the issuing and trading of tradable green certificates (TGCs). Countries could agree to trade these TGCs, leading to additional revenues for the investors in renewable energy projects and, therefore, further encouraging the deployment of CDM projects, currently facing significant barriers. However, the design of a combination of CDM projects and TGC schemes raises several conflicting issues and leads to trade-offs. This paper analyses these issues, identifies the alternatives that may exist to link TGC schemes with RE-CDM projects and analyses the impacts of those options on different variables and actors

Linking renewable energy CDM projects and TGC schemes: An analysis of different options

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Del Rio, Pablo [Department of Economics and Business, Facultad de Ciencias Juridicas y Sociales, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, C/ Cobertizo de S. Pedro Martir s/n., Toledo-45071 (Spain)]. E-mail: pablo.rio@uclm.es

2006-11-15

Renewable energy CDM (RE-CDM) projects encourage cost-effective GHG mitigation and enhanced sustainable development opportunities for the host countries. CERs from CDM projects include the value of the former benefits (i.e., 'climate change benefits'), whereas the second can be given value through the issuing and trading of tradable green certificates (TGCs). Countries could agree to trade these TGCs, leading to additional revenues for the investors in renewable energy projects and, therefore, further encouraging the deployment of CDM projects, currently facing significant barriers. However, the design of a combination of CDM projects and TGC schemes raises several conflicting issues and leads to trade-offs. This paper analyses these issues, identifies the alternatives that may exist to link TGC schemes with RE-CDM projects and analyses the impacts of those options on different variables and actors.

Nonlinear evolution of f(R) cosmologies. I. Methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oyaizu, Hiroaki

2008-01-01

We introduce the method and the implementation of a cosmological simulation of a class of metric-variation f(R) models that accelerate the cosmological expansion without a cosmological constant and evade solar-system bounds of small-field deviations to general relativity. Such simulations are shown to reduce to solving a nonlinear Poisson equation for the scalar degree of freedom introduced by the f(R) modifications. We detail the method to efficiently solve the nonlinear Poisson equation by using a Newton-Gauss-Seidel relaxation scheme coupled with the multigrid method to accelerate the convergence. The simulations are shown to satisfy tests comparing the simulated outcome to analytical solutions for simple situations, and the dynamics of the simulations are tested with orbital and Zeldovich collapse tests. Finally, we present several static and dynamical simulations using realistic cosmological parameters to highlight the differences between standard physics and f(R) physics. In general, we find that the f(R) modifications result in stronger gravitational attraction that enhances the dark matter power spectrum by ∼20% for large but observationally allowed f(R) modifications. A more detailed study of the nonlinear f(R) effects on the power spectrum are presented in a companion paper.

The cosmological slingshot scenario: a stringy early times universe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Germani, Cristiano [D.A.M.T.P., Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA (United Kingdom); Grandi, Nicolas [SISSA, via Beirut 4, 34014 Trieste (Italy); Kehagias, Alex [Physics Division, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Zografou Campus, Athens (Greece)], E-mail: Germani@sissa.it, E-mail: grandi@fisica.unlp.edu.ar, E-mail: kehagias@central.ntua.gr

2008-07-07

A cosmological model for the early time universe is proposed. In this model, the universe is a wandering brane moving in a warped throat of a Calabi-Yau space. A nonzero angular momentum induces a turning point in the brane trajectory, and leads to a bouncing cosmology as experienced by an observer living on the brane. The universe undergoes a decelerated contraction followed by an accelerating expansion and no big-bang singularity. Although the number of e-folds of accelerated motion is low (less than 2), standard cosmological problems are not present in our model; thanks to the absence of an initial singularity and the violation of energy conditions of mirage matter at high energies. Density perturbations are also calculated in our model and we find a slightly red spectral index with negligible tensorial perturbations in compatibility with WMAP data.

Tachyon field in cosmology

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

This report is based on a recent work in collaboration with Bagla and Padmanabhan. [1]. In this paper, we construct cosmological models with homogeneous tachyon matter [2] to provide the dark energy component which drives acceleration of the universe (for a recent review of dark energy models, see [3]). We assume that.

Cosmological perturbations on the phantom brane

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bag, Satadru; Sahni, Varun [Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune (India); Viznyuk, Alexander; Shtanov, Yuri, E-mail: satadru@iucaa.in, E-mail: viznyuk@bitp.kiev.ua, E-mail: shtanov@bitp.kiev.ua, E-mail: varun@iucaa.in [Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kiev 03680 (Ukraine)

2016-07-01

We obtain a closed system of equations for scalar perturbations in a multi-component braneworld. Our braneworld possesses a phantom-like equation of state at late times, w {sub eff} < −1, but no big-rip future singularity. In addition to matter and radiation, the braneworld possesses a new effective degree of freedom—the 'Weyl fluid' or 'dark radiation'. Setting initial conditions on super-Hubble spatial scales at the epoch of radiation domination, we evolve perturbations of radiation, pressureless matter and the Weyl fluid until the present epoch. We observe a gradual decrease in the amplitude of the Weyl-fluid perturbations after Hubble-radius crossing, which results in a negligible effect of the Weyl fluid on the evolution of matter perturbations on spatial scales relevant for structure formation. Consequently, the quasi-static approximation of Koyama and Maartens provides a good fit to the exact results during the matter-dominated epoch. We find that the late-time growth of density perturbations on the brane proceeds at a faster rate than in ΛCDM. Additionally, the gravitational potentials Φ and Ψ evolve differently on the brane than in ΛCDM, for which Φ = Ψ. On the brane, by contrast, the ratio Φ/Ψ exceeds unity during the late matter-dominated epoch ( z ∼< 50). These features emerge as smoking gun tests of phantom brane cosmology and allow predictions of this scenario to be tested against observations of galaxy clustering and large-scale structure.

Inflation with primordial broken power law spectrum as an alternative to the concordance cosmological model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pandolfi, Stefania; Giusarma, Elena; Lattanzi, Massimiliano; Melchiorri, Alessandro

2010-01-01

We consider cosmological models with a non-scale-invariant spectrum of primordial perturbations and assess whether they represent a viable alternative to the concordance ΛCDM model. We find that in the framework of a model selection analysis, the WMAP and 2dF data do not provide any conclusive evidence in favor of one or the other kind of model. However, when a marginalization over the entire space of nuisance parameters is performed, models with a modified primordial spectrum and Ω Λ =0 are strongly disfavored.

The clean development mechanism (CDM) an international perspective and implications for the LAC region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-08-01

This paper addresses activity a) an analysis of international CDM experiences and its potential contribution to the LAC region. The paper begins with a section describing the basic principles of the CDM and retrieves the lessons learned from the first two years of the CDM operation. This is followed by a more detailed review in section 2 of the on-going baseline and monitoring methodology approval process. In section 3, the development value of the CDM is explored. Section 4 describes the current CDM markets, while section 5 reviews the response of host countries to the CDM outside the LAC region. Section 6 describes the various capacity building programs established by Annex 1 countries to support the CDM. In each of the first 6 sections, implications for the LAC region are identified. Section 7 brings these conclusions together into a concise summary. (The author)

Modified geodetic brane cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cordero, Rubén; Cruz, Miguel; Molgado, Alberto; Rojas, Efraín

2012-01-01

We explore the cosmological implications provided by the geodetic brane gravity action corrected by an extrinsic curvature brane term, describing a codimension-1 brane embedded in a 5D fixed Minkowski spacetime. In the geodetic brane gravity action, we accommodate the correction term through a linear term in the extrinsic curvature swept out by the brane. We study the resulting geodetic-type equation of motion. Within a Friedmann–Robertson–Walker metric, we obtain a generalized Friedmann equation describing the associated cosmological evolution. We observe that, when the radiation-like energy contribution from the extra dimension is vanishing, this effective model leads to a self-(non-self)-accelerated expansion of the brane-like universe in dependence on the nature of the concomitant parameter β associated with the correction, which resembles an analogous behaviour in the DGP brane cosmology. Several possibilities in the description for the cosmic evolution of this model are embodied and characterized by the involved density parameters related in turn to the cosmological constant, the geometry characterizing the model, the introduced β parameter as well as the dark-like energy and the matter content on the brane. (paper)

Testing ΛCDM at the lowest redshifts with SN Ia and galaxy velocities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huterer, Dragan; Shafer, Daniel L. [Department of Physics, University of Michigan, 450 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Scolnic, Daniel M. [University of Chicago, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Schmidt, Fabian, E-mail: huterer@umich.edu, E-mail: dshafer2@jhu.edu, E-mail: dscolnic@kicp.uchicago.edu, E-mail: fabians@mpa-garching.mpg.de [Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, 85748 Garching (Germany)

2017-05-01

Peculiar velocities of objects in the nearby universe are correlated due to the gravitational pull of large-scale structure. By measuring these velocities, we have a unique opportunity to test the cosmological model at the lowest redshifts. We perform this test, using current data to constrain the amplitude of the ''signal'' covariance matrix describing the velocities and their correlations. We consider a new, well-calibrated ''Supercal'' set of low-redshift SNe Ia as well as a set of distances derived from the fundamental plane relation of 6dFGS galaxies. Analyzing the SN and galaxy data separately, both results are consistent with the peculiar velocity signal of our fiducial ΛCDM model, ruling out the noise-only model with zero peculiar velocities at greater than 7σ (SNe) and 8σ (galaxies). When the two data sets are combined appropriately, the precision of the test increases slightly, resulting in a constraint on the signal amplitude of A = 1.05{sub −0.21}{sup +0.25}, where A = 1 corresponds to our fiducial model. Equivalently, we report an 11% measurement of the product of the growth rate and amplitude of mass fluctuations evaluated at z {sub eff} = 0.02, f σ{sub 8} = 0.428{sub −0.045}{sup +0.048}, valid for our fiducial ΛCDM model. We explore the robustness of the results to a number of conceivable variations in the analysis and find that individual variations shift the preferred signal amplitude by less than ∼0.5σ. We briefly discuss our Supercal SN Ia results in comparison with our previous results using the JLA compilation.

The Hubble IR cutoff in holographic ellipsoidal cosmologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cataldo, Mauricio [Universidad del Bio-Bio, Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias, Concepcion (Chile); Cruz, Norman [Grupo de Cosmologia y Gravitacion-UBB, Concepcion (Chile)

2018-01-15

It is well known that for spatially flat FRW cosmologies, the holographic dark energy disfavors the Hubble parameter as a candidate for the IR cutoff. For overcoming this problem, we explore the use of this cutoff in holographic ellipsoidal cosmological models, and derive the general ellipsoidal metric induced by a such holographic energy density. Despite the drawbacks that this cutoff presents in homogeneous and isotropic universes, based on this general metric, we developed a suitable ellipsoidal holographic cosmological model, filled with a dark matter and a dark energy components. At late time stages, the cosmic evolution is dominated by a holographic anisotropic dark energy with barotropic equations of state. The cosmologies expand in all directions in accelerated manner. Since the ellipsoidal cosmologies given here are not asymptotically FRW, the deviation from homogeneity and isotropy of the universe on large cosmological scales remains constant during all cosmic evolution. This feature allows the studied holographic ellipsoidal cosmologies to be ruled by an equation of state ω = p/ρ, whose range belongs to quintessence or even phantom matter. (orig.)

A hydrodynamic approach to cosmology - Texture-seeded cold dark matter and hot dark matter cosmogonies

Science.gov (United States)

Cen, R. Y.; Ostriker, J. P.; Spergel, D. N.; Turok, N.

1991-01-01

Hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation in a texture-seeded cosmology are presented, with attention given to Omega = 1 galaxies dominated by both hot dark matter (HDM) and cold dark matter (CDM). The simulations include both gravitational and hydrodynamical physics with a detailed treatment of collisional and radiative thermal processes, and use a cooling criterion to estimate galaxy formation. Background radiation fields and Zel'dovich-Sunyaev fluctuations are explicitly computed. The derived galaxy mass function is well fitted by the observed Schechter luminosity function for a baryonic M/L of 3 and total M/L of 60 in galaxies. In both HDM and CDM texture scenarios, the 'galaxies' and 'clusters' are significantly more strongly correlated than the dark matter due to physical bias processes. The slope of the correlation function in both cases is consistent with observations. In contrast to Gaussian models, peaks in the dark matter density distributrion are less correlated than average.

CDM in sub-Saharan Africa and the prospects of the Nairobi Framework Initiative

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Byigero, Alfred D.; Clancy, Joy S.; Skutsch, Margaret

2010-01-01

To what extent can capacity-building activities under the Nairobi Framework (NF) Initiative overcome barriers to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in sub-Saharan Africa and, in particular, the East African region? The level of CDM penetration into sub-Saharan Africa is compared with CDM market

CDM criticisms: don't throw the baby out with the bathwater

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buen, Joerund

2012-07-01

CDM has delivered greater offset volumes than anticipated, mainly with money from the private sector in host countries (underlying project investment) and investor countries (carbon offset purchasing) and has built considerable institutional capacity. Criticisms have focused on high transaction costs and lack of scalability; additionality challenges and lack of net mitigation impact; preventing more ambitious targets and changes in emissions paths in developed and developing countries alike; excessive rents and perverse incentives; unbalanced regional distribution; low local sustainable development benefits; corruption and lack of transparency; and lack of technology transfer. While some of these criticisms are justified, others are outdated. Transaction costs have been drastically reduced. Excessive rents and perverse incentives in the CDM will be substantially reduced post-2012. Unbalanced regional distribution will be reduced by new rules; moreover, this is probably less of a problem than commonly thought. Some criticisms are erroneously founded. There is no evidence of CDM preventing more ambitious targets in developing countries while it could prevent changes in emissions paths in developed countries. Few CDM projects have serious known problems as regards sustainable development. Corruption and fraud seem limited; and technology transfer has never been a core CDM concern. Ironically, critics often neglect the elements that need to be improved. To ensure additionality, CDM rules must be tightened to exclude common practice projects and prevent host countries from changing their policies to cater for CDM projects. CDM's scalability and additionality challenges could be substantially reduced by discounting emission reductions. There could still be some non-additional projects, but the volume of the overall portfolio of projects would be additional.(Author)

Big Bang, inflation, standard Physics… and the potentialities of new Physics and alternative cosmologies. Present statuts of observational and experimental Cosmology. Open questions and potentialities of alternative cosmologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez-Mestres, Luis

2016-01-01

A year ago, we wrote [1] that the field of Cosmology was undergoing a positive and constructive crisis. The possible development of more direct links between the Mathematical Physics aspects of cosmological patterns and the interpretation of experimental and observational results was particularly emphasized. Controversies on inflation are not really new, but in any case inflation is not required in pre-Big Bang models and the validity of the standard Big Bang + inflation + ΛCDM pattern has not by now been demonstrated by data. Planck has even explicitly reported the existence of “anomalies”. Remembering the far-reaching work of Yoichiro Nambu published in 1959-61, it seems legitimate to underline the need for a cross-disciplinary approach in the presence of deep, unsolved theoretical problems concerning new domains of matter properties and of the physical world. The physics of a possible preonic vacuum and the associated cosmology constitute one of these domains. If the vacuum is made of superluminal preons (superbradyons), and if standard particles are vacuum excitations, how to build a suitable theory to describe the internal structure of such a vacuum at both local and cosmic level? Experimental programs (South Pole, Atacama, AUGER, Telescope Array…) and observational ones (Planck, JEM-EUSO…) devoted to the study of cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) and of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) are crucial to elucidate such theoretical interrogations and guide new phenomenological developments. Together with a brief review of the observational and experimental situation, we also examine the main present theoretical and phenomenological problems and point out the role new physics and alternative cosmologies can potentially play. The need for data analyses less focused a priori on the standard models of Particle Physics and Cosmology is emphasized in this discussion. An example of a new approach to both fields is provided by the pre-Big Bang

Big Bang, inflation, standard Physics… and the potentialities of new Physics and alternative cosmologies. Present statuts of observational and experimental Cosmology. Open questions and potentialities of alternative cosmologies

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez-Mestres, Luis

2016-11-01

A year ago, we wrote [1] that the field of Cosmology was undergoing a positive and constructive crisis. The possible development of more direct links between the Mathematical Physics aspects of cosmological patterns and the interpretation of experimental and observational results was particularly emphasized. Controversies on inflation are not really new, but in any case inflation is not required in pre-Big Bang models and the validity of the standard Big Bang + inflation + ΛCDM pattern has not by now been demonstrated by data. Planck has even explicitly reported the existence of "anomalies". Remembering the far-reaching work of Yoichiro Nambu published in 1959-61, it seems legitimate to underline the need for a cross-disciplinary approach in the presence of deep, unsolved theoretical problems concerning new domains of matter properties and of the physical world. The physics of a possible preonic vacuum and the associated cosmology constitute one of these domains. If the vacuum is made of superluminal preons (superbradyons), and if standard particles are vacuum excitations, how to build a suitable theory to describe the internal structure of such a vacuum at both local and cosmic level? Experimental programs (South Pole, Atacama, AUGER, Telescope Array…) and observational ones (Planck, JEM-EUSO…) devoted to the study of cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) and of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) are crucial to elucidate such theoretical interrogations and guide new phenomenological developments. Together with a brief review of the observational and experimental situation, we also examine the main present theoretical and phenomenological problems and point out the role new physics and alternative cosmologies can potentially play. The need for data analyses less focused a priori on the standard models of Particle Physics and Cosmology is emphasized in this discussion. An example of a new approach to both fields is provided by the pre-Big Bang pattern

EU-MENA energy technology transfer under the CDM: Israel as a frontrunner?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karakosta, Charikleia; Doukas, Haris; John, Psarras

2010-01-01

The majority of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries possess substantial potential for the implementation of CDM projects. Abatement of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions can mainly be achieved through utilizing the abundant Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in the region and the implementation of Energy Efficiency (ENEF) measures. However, most of the MENA countries have a limited track record as regards CDM projects in the pipeline comparing to the major CDM-players, like Asia-Pacific regions and Latin America. In the above framework, this paper investigates the current status of CDM in the MENA region and the related perspectives for further diffusion of the CDM though the elaboration of a Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis. Particular emphasis is laid on the case of Israel, which seems to make an exception to the rule, since it hosts most projects in the region and dominates among the MENA countries.

Why only few CDM projects?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Urs Steiner; Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard

2013-01-01

CDM projects have large potentials but also face significant obstacles that have so far limited their applicability. Two serious problems that an effective contracting faces are the presence of private information and the lack of sufficiently precise output measures. In a principal-agent framewor...

Simple inhomogeneous cosmological (toy) models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Isidro, Eddy G. Chirinos; Zimdahl, Winfried; Vargas, Cristofher Zuñiga

2016-01-01

Based on the Lemaître-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) metric we consider two flat inhomogeneous big-bang models. We aim at clarifying, as far as possible analytically, basic features of the dynamics of the simplest inhomogeneous models and to point out the potential usefulness of exact inhomogeneous solutions as generalizations of the homogeneous configurations of the cosmological standard model. We discuss explicitly partial successes but also potential pitfalls of these simplest models. Although primarily seen as toy models, the relevant free parameters are fixed by best-fit values using the Joint Light-curve Analysis (JLA)-sample data. On the basis of a likelihood analysis we find that a local hump with an extension of almost 2 Gpc provides a better description of the observations than a local void for which we obtain a best-fit scale of about 30 Mpc. Future redshift-drift measurements are discussed as a promising tool to discriminate between inhomogeneous configurations and the ΛCDM model.

Introduction to the application of dynamical systems theory in the study of the dynamics of cosmological models of dark energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

García-Salcedo, Ricardo; Sanchez-Guzmán, Daniel; Gonzalez, Tame; Horta-Rangel, Francisco A; Quiros, Israel

2015-01-01

The theory of dynamical systems is a very complex subject that has produced several surprises in the recent past in connection with the theory of chaos and fractals. The application of the tools of dynamical systems in cosmological settings is less known, in spite of the number of published scientific papers on this subject. In this paper, a mostly pedagogical introduction to the cosmological application of the basic tools of dynamical systems theory is presented. It is shown that, in spite of their amazing simplicity, these tools allow us to extract essential information on the asymptotic dynamics of a wide variety of cosmological models. The power of these tools is illustrated within the context of the so-called Λ-cold dark matter (ΛCDM) and scalar field models of dark energy. This paper is suitable for teachers, undergraduate students, and postgraduate students in the disciplines of physics and mathematics. (paper)

Trojan horse or horn of plenty? Reflections on allowing CCS in the CDM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coninck, Heleen de

2008-01-01

The discussion around allowing CO 2 capture and geological storage (CCS) into the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is important, as the CDM is currently the only structural incentive for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the developing world. Without the potential incentives given by the CDM, CCS in developing countries will only take place sporadically in niche sectors. The debate around CCS in the CDM has developed into a highly polarised discussion, with a deep divide between proponents and opponents and no view on reconciliation between the various perspectives. Environmental organisations and several developing-country parties in the climate negotiations are increasingly vehemently opposed against CCS in the CDM, and industrialised countries, several large fossil-fuel-dependent developing countries and industry view CCS as a natural option under the CDM, provided some surmountable technical and procedural barriers are taken care of. This paper argues that the efforts of those trying to bring the discussion to a close by solving technical and procedural issues around CCS in the CDM will not lead to agreement because of underlying convictions of all stakeholders. Six convictions are identified and discussed. Based on the discussion of the convictions of both opponents and proponents, research needs and a potential negotiation package are suggested. The research needs are primarily in the field of the CDM market impacts of CCS, the issue of enhanced oil emission accounting, and sustainable development aspects, and particularly whether developing countries could actually benefit from technological leadership in the field of CCS, or whether they will be worse off. Devoting attention to the identified convictions could provide information for a more acceptable negotiation package on CCS in the CDM. (author)

Development of the Universe and New Cosmology

CERN Document Server

Sakharov, Alexander S

2003-01-01

Cosmology is undergoing an explosive period of activity, fueled both by new, accurate astrophysical data and by innovative theoretical developments. Cosmological parameters such as the total density of the Universe and the rate of cosmological expansion are being precisely measured for the first time, and a consistent standard picture of the Universe is beginning to emerge. Recent developments in cosmology give rise the intriguing possibility that all structures in the Universe, from superclusters to planets, had a quantum-mechanical origin in its earliest moments. Furthermore, these ideas are not idle theorizing, but predictive, and subject to meaningful experimental test. We review the concordance model of the development of the Universe, as well as evidence for the observational revolution that this field is going through. This already provides us with important information on particle physics, which is inaccessible to accelerators.

Relaxing a large cosmological constant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bauer, Florian; Sola, Joan; Stefancic, Hrvoje

2009-01-01

The cosmological constant (CC) problem is the biggest enigma of theoretical physics ever. In recent times, it has been rephrased as the dark energy (DE) problem in order to encompass a wider spectrum of possibilities. It is, in any case, a polyhedric puzzle with many faces, including the cosmic coincidence problem, i.e. why the density of matter ρ m is presently so close to the CC density ρ Λ . However, the oldest, toughest and most intriguing face of this polyhedron is the big CC problem, namely why the measured value of ρ Λ at present is so small as compared to any typical density scale existing in high energy physics, especially taking into account the many phase transitions that our Universe has undergone since the early times, including inflation. In this Letter, we propose to extend the field equations of General Relativity by including a class of invariant terms that automatically relax the value of the CC irrespective of the initial size of the vacuum energy in the early epochs. We show that, at late times, the Universe enters an eternal de Sitter stage mimicking a tiny positive cosmological constant. Thus, these models could be able to solve the big CC problem without fine-tuning and have also a bearing on the cosmic coincidence problem. Remarkably, they mimic the ΛCDM model to a large extent, but they still leave some characteristic imprints that should be testable in the next generation of experiments.

Multiscale cosmology and structure-emerging dark energy: A plausibility analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiegand, Alexander; Buchert, Thomas

2010-01-01

Cosmological backreaction suggests a link between structure formation and the expansion history of the Universe. In order to quantitatively examine this connection, we dynamically investigate a volume partition of the Universe into over- and underdense regions. This allows us to trace structure formation using the volume fraction of the overdense regions λ M as its characterizing parameter. Employing results from cosmological perturbation theory and extrapolating the leading mode into the nonlinear regime, we construct a three-parameter model for the effective cosmic expansion history, involving λ M 0 , the matter density Ω m D 0 , and the Hubble rate H D 0 of today's Universe. Taking standard values for Ω m D 0 and H D 0 as well as a reasonable value for λ M 0 , that we derive from N-body simulations, we determine the corresponding amounts of backreaction and spatial curvature. We find that the obtained values that are sufficient to generate today's structure also lead to a ΛCDM-like behavior of the scale factor, parametrized by the same parameters Ω m D 0 and H D 0 , but without a cosmological constant. However, the temporal behavior of λ M does not faithfully reproduce the structure formation history. Surprisingly, however, the model matches with structure formation with the assumption of a low matter content, Ω m D 0 ≅3%, a result that hints to a different interpretation of part of the backreaction effect as kinematical dark matter. A complementary investigation assumes the ΛCDM fit-model for the evolution of the global scale factor by imposing a global replacement of the cosmological constant through backreaction, and also supposes that a Newtonian simulation of structure formation provides the correct volume partition into over- and underdense regions. From these assumptions we derive the corresponding evolution laws for backreaction and spatial curvature on the partitioned domains. We find the correct scaling limit predicted by perturbation

Chalonge-de Vega Meudon Workshop 2016

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

Warm Dark Matter (WDM) is hot topic in galaxies, cosmology and implies novelties in the astrophysical, cosmological particle and nuclear physics context.Warm Dark Matter Cosmology (ΛWDM) provides the same successfull large scale results and CMB results than Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) and succesfully agrees with the observations at the galactic and small scales. A Turning Point operated recently in the Dark Matter research: Warm Dark Matter (WDM) emerged impressively over Cold Dark Matter (CDM) as the leading Dark Matter candidate. WDM solves naturally the problems of CDM and CDM + baryons. ΛWDM provides the same large scale and CMB results than ΛCDM and agrees with the observations at the galactic and small scales. Warm Dark Matter (WDM) implies progresses in the astrophysical,cosmological, particle and nuclear physics context. This workshop addresses the last developpements in WDM, including its distribution function and equation of state, the quantum mechanical framework to galaxy structure reproducing in ...

Expanding wave solutions of the Einstein equations that induce an anomalous acceleration into the Standard Model of Cosmology.

Science.gov (United States)

Temple, Blake; Smoller, Joel

2009-08-25

We derive a system of three coupled equations that implicitly defines a continuous one-parameter family of expanding wave solutions of the Einstein equations, such that the Friedmann universe associated with the pure radiation phase of the Standard Model of Cosmology is embedded as a single point in this family. By approximating solutions near the center to leading order in the Hubble length, the family reduces to an explicit one-parameter family of expanding spacetimes, given in closed form, that represents a perturbation of the Standard Model. By introducing a comoving coordinate system, we calculate the correction to the Hubble constant as well as the exact leading order quadratic correction to the redshift vs. luminosity relation for an observer at the center. The correction to redshift vs. luminosity entails an adjustable free parameter that introduces an anomalous acceleration. We conclude (by continuity) that corrections to the redshift vs. luminosity relation observed after the radiation phase of the Big Bang can be accounted for, at the leading order quadratic level, by adjustment of this free parameter. The next order correction is then a prediction. Since nonlinearities alone could actuate dissipation and decay in the conservation laws associated with the highly nonlinear radiation phase and since noninteracting expanding waves represent possible time-asymptotic wave patterns that could result, we propose to further investigate the possibility that these corrections to the Standard Model might be the source of the anomalous acceleration of the galaxies, an explanation not requiring the cosmological constant or dark energy.

How to Improve the Likelihood of CDM Approval?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Urs Steiner; Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard

2014-01-01

How can the likelihood of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) approval be improved in the face of institutional shortcomings? To answer this question, we focus on the three institutional shortcomings of income sharing, risk sharing and corruption prevention concerning afforestation/reforestation (A....../R). Furthermore, three main stakeholders are identified, namely investors, governments and agents in a principal-agent model regarding monitoring and enforcement capacity. Developing countries such as West Africa have, despite huge potentials, not been integrated in A/R CDM projects yet. Remote sensing, however...

Why the CDM can reduce carbon leakage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kallbekken, S.

2006-04-01

Carbon leakage is an important concern because it can reduce the environmental effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol. The Clean Development Mechanism, one of the flexibility mechanisms allowed under the protocol, has the potential to reduce carbon leakage significantly because it reduces the relative competitive disadvantage to Annex B countries of restricting greenhouse gas emissions. The economic intuition behind this mechanism is explored in a theoretical analysis. It is then analyzed numerically using a CGE model. The results indicate that, assuming appropriate accounting for leakage and under realistic assumptions on CDM activity, the CDM has the potential to reduce the magnitude of carbon leakage by around three fifths

Gravitational redshift of galaxies in clusters as predicted by general relativity.

Science.gov (United States)

Wojtak, Radosław; Hansen, Steen H; Hjorth, Jens

2011-09-28

The theoretical framework of cosmology is mainly defined by gravity, of which general relativity is the current model. Recent tests of general relativity within the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) model have found a concordance between predictions and the observations of the growth rate and clustering of the cosmic web. General relativity has not hitherto been tested on cosmological scales independently of the assumptions of the ΛCDM model. Here we report an observation of the gravitational redshift of light coming from galaxies in clusters at the 99 per cent confidence level, based on archival data. Our measurement agrees with the predictions of general relativity and its modification created to explain cosmic acceleration without the need for dark energy (the f(R) theory), but is inconsistent with alternative models designed to avoid the presence of dark matter. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

Carbon market risks and rewards: Firm perceptions of CDM investment decisions in Brazil and India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hultman, Nathan E.; Pulver, Simone; Guimarães, Leticia; Deshmukh, Ranjit; Kane, Jennifer

2012-01-01

The carbon market experiences of Brazil and India represent policy success stories under several criteria. A careful evaluation, however, reveals challenges to market development that should be addressed in order to make the rollout of a post-2012 CDM more effective. We conducted firm-level interviews covering 82 CDM plants in the sugar and cement sectors in Brazil and India, focusing on how individual managers understood the potential benefits and risks of undertaking clean development mechanism (CDM) investments. Our results indicate that the CDM operates in a far more complex way in practice than that of simply adding a marginal increment to a project's internal rate of return. Our results indicate the following: first, although anticipated revenue played a central role in most managers' decisions to pursue CDM investments, there was no standard practice to account for financial benefits of CDM investments; second, some managers identified non-financial reputational factors as their primary motivation for pursuing CDM projects; and third, under fluctuating regulatory regimes with real immediate costs and uncertain CDM revenue, managers favored projects that often did not require carbon revenue to be viable. The post-2012 CDM architecture can benefit from incorporating these insights, and in particular reassess goals for strict additionality and mechanisms for achieving it.

Latin America-Alberta-Canada CDM Conference: Conference Summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon

2000-01-01

Proposals for joint initiatives put forward by participants at the Clean Development Mechanisms Conference included (1) the development of regional guidelines to assist governments in setting regulatory framework for projects to qualify as CDMs, (2) development of regional baselines and regional performance indicators for social benefit and sustainable development, (3) a specific project in Mexico to test the CDM framework and eligibility criteria, (4) development of bilateral agreements between governments, (5) staff exchanges between associations and governments, (6) government recognition for private sector actions such as a letter affirming that certified emission reductions would be accepted for commitments, (7) sharing of information on websites, and (8) capacity building, training programs and workshops. The Conference also identified common ground and shared interest in CDM initiatives among participants, and readiness to explore joint ventures and technology transfer opportunities. There is wide-spread agreement on the need to resolve uncertainties of CDM, such as baseline and additionality; monitoring, reporting, certification; buyer/seller liability; adaptation levy for international emissions trading, joint implementation and clean development mechanism transactions. Significant consensus exists regarding benefits of 'learning by doing' and the need for minimizing transaction costs and risks. Baseline and Additionality are recognized as the critical issues, with social benefits, sustainable development aspects of projects, and the critical nature of integrity, technical expertise, and track record of both partners as close seconds. The importance of framework arrangements, host country approval, clear designation of responsibility and authority to approve projects, the need for specific guidelines and specific approval procedures, country-to-country agreements and national crediting arrangement are recognized by all participants. With regard to issues

Cosmological constant, inflation and no-cloning theorem

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang Qingguo, E-mail: huangqg@itp.ac.cn [State Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100190 (China); Lin Fengli, E-mail: linfengli@phy.ntnu.edu.tw [Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Department of Physics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, 116, Taiwan (China)

2012-05-30

From the viewpoint of no-cloning theorem we postulate a relation between the current accelerated expansion of our universe and the inflationary expansion in the very early universe. It implies that the fate of our universe should be in a state with accelerated expansion. Quantitatively we find that the no-cloning theorem leads to a lower bound on the cosmological constant which is compatible with observations.

Options for utilizing the CDM for global emission reductions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Butzengeiger-Geyer, Sonja; Castro, Paula; Harthan, Ralph O.; Hayashi, Daisuke; Healy, Sean; Maribu, Karl Magnus; Michaelowa, Axel; Okubo, Yuri; Schneider, Lambert; Storroe, Ingunn [Zuerich Univ. (Switzerland); Oeko-Institut e.V., Berlin (Germany); Perspectives GmbH, Hamburg (Germany); Point Carbon A/S, Oslo (Norway)

2010-11-15

The study describes and discusses in detail how four CDM reform alternatives, namely discounting of emission reductions, ambitious baselines, purchase and cancellation of CERs and reinvestment of CER levies, could be integrated in a Post-2012 climate regime. The study assesses these alternatives, according to their impacts on GHG emission reductions, contribution to sustainable development, cost-efficiency, technical feasibility, incentives and distributional effects as well as negotiability. The study shows that the introduction of discounting and ambitious baselines is technically feasible but politically a massive challenge. With the help of an economic model the study shows that the introduction of reform alternatives increases the amount of emission reductions but in comparison to the current CDM the impact is rather limited. But a CDM reform can in any case increase the credibility and improve the environmental integrity of the mechanism. (orig.)

Challenges to self-acceleration in modified gravity from gravitational waves and large-scale structure

Science.gov (United States)

Lombriser, Lucas; Lima, Nelson A.

2017-02-01

With the advent of gravitational-wave astronomy marked by the aLIGO GW150914 and GW151226 observations, a measurement of the cosmological speed of gravity will likely soon be realised. We show that a confirmation of equality to the speed of light as indicated by indirect Galactic observations will have important consequences for a very large class of alternative explanations of the late-time accelerated expansion of our Universe. It will break the dark degeneracy of self-accelerated Horndeski scalar-tensor theories in the large-scale structure that currently limits a rigorous discrimination between acceleration from modified gravity and from a cosmological constant or dark energy. Signatures of a self-acceleration must then manifest in the linear, unscreened cosmological structure. We describe the minimal modification required for self-acceleration with standard gravitational-wave speed and show that its maximum likelihood yields a 3σ poorer fit to cosmological observations compared to a cosmological constant. Hence, equality between the speeds challenges the concept of cosmic acceleration from a genuine scalar-tensor modification of gravity.

Challenges to self-acceleration in modified gravity from gravitational waves and large-scale structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lombriser, Lucas, E-mail: llo@roe.ac.uk; Lima, Nelson A.

2017-02-10

With the advent of gravitational-wave astronomy marked by the aLIGO GW150914 and GW151226 observations, a measurement of the cosmological speed of gravity will likely soon be realised. We show that a confirmation of equality to the speed of light as indicated by indirect Galactic observations will have important consequences for a very large class of alternative explanations of the late-time accelerated expansion of our Universe. It will break the dark degeneracy of self-accelerated Horndeski scalar–tensor theories in the large-scale structure that currently limits a rigorous discrimination between acceleration from modified gravity and from a cosmological constant or dark energy. Signatures of a self-acceleration must then manifest in the linear, unscreened cosmological structure. We describe the minimal modification required for self-acceleration with standard gravitational-wave speed and show that its maximum likelihood yields a 3σ poorer fit to cosmological observations compared to a cosmological constant. Hence, equality between the speeds challenges the concept of cosmic acceleration from a genuine scalar–tensor modification of gravity.

Challenges to self-acceleration in modified gravity from gravitational waves and large-scale structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucas Lombriser

2017-02-01

Full Text Available With the advent of gravitational-wave astronomy marked by the aLIGO GW150914 and GW151226 observations, a measurement of the cosmological speed of gravity will likely soon be realised. We show that a confirmation of equality to the speed of light as indicated by indirect Galactic observations will have important consequences for a very large class of alternative explanations of the late-time accelerated expansion of our Universe. It will break the dark degeneracy of self-accelerated Horndeski scalar–tensor theories in the large-scale structure that currently limits a rigorous discrimination between acceleration from modified gravity and from a cosmological constant or dark energy. Signatures of a self-acceleration must then manifest in the linear, unscreened cosmological structure. We describe the minimal modification required for self-acceleration with standard gravitational-wave speed and show that its maximum likelihood yields a 3σ poorer fit to cosmological observations compared to a cosmological constant. Hence, equality between the speeds challenges the concept of cosmic acceleration from a genuine scalar–tensor modification of gravity.

CDM and JI in View of the Sustainability Debate

OpenAIRE

Schoot Uiterkamp, A.J.M.

2001-01-01

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Joint Implementation (JI) and emissions trading are the three flexible instruments incorporated in the Kyoto Protocol. This paper presents a critical assessment of the sustainability of energy-related technology innovation and transfer in the context of CDM and JI. The rebound effect is discussed by comparing intended and unintended project and process outcomes. Attention is given to the role of nations and key actors like multinationals in achieving sustain...

CLUSTERING OF SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY III PHOTOMETRIC LUMINOUS GALAXIES: THE MEASUREMENT, SYSTEMATICS, AND COSMOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ho, Shirley; White, Martin; Schlegel, David J.; Seljak, Uros; Reid, Beth; Cuesta, Antonio; Padmanabhan, Nikhil; Seo, Hee-Jong; De Putter, Roland; Ross, Ashley J.; Percival, Will J.; Saito, Shun; Schlafly, Eddie; Hernández-Monteagudo, Carlos; Sánchez, Ariel G.; Blanton, Michael; Skibba, Ramin; Schneider, Don; Mena, Olga; Viel, Matteo

2012-01-01

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) surveyed 14,555 deg 2 , and delivered over a trillion pixels of imaging data. We present a study of galaxy clustering using 900,000 luminous galaxies with photometric redshifts, spanning between z = 0.45 and z = 0.65, constructed from the SDSS using methods described in Ross et al. This data set spans 11,000 deg 2 and probes a volume of 3 h –3 Gpc 3 , making it the largest volume ever used for galaxy clustering measurements. We describe in detail the construction of the survey window function and various systematics affecting our measurement. With such a large volume, high-precision cosmological constraints can be obtained given careful control and understanding of the observational systematics. We present a novel treatment of the observational systematics and its applications to the clustering signals from the data set. In this paper, we measure the angular clustering using an optimal quadratic estimator at four redshift slices with an accuracy of ∼15%, with a bin size of δ l = 10 on scales of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs; at l ∼ 40-400). We also apply corrections to the power spectra due to systematics and derive cosmological constraints using the full shape of the power spectra. For a flat ΛCDM model, when combined with cosmic microwave background Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7 (WMAP7) and H 0 constraints from using 600 Cepheids observed by Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3; HST), we find Ω Λ = 0.73 ± 0.019 and H 0 to be 70.5 ± 1.6 s –1 Mpc –1 km. For an open ΛCDM model, when combined with WMAP7 + HST, we find Ω K = 0.0035 ± 0.0054, improved over WMAP7+HST alone by 40%. For a wCDM model, when combined with WMAP7+HST+SN, we find w = –1.071 ± 0.078, and H 0 to be 71.3 ± 1.7 s –1 Mpc –1 km, which is competitive with the latest large-scale structure constraints from large spectroscopic surveys such as the SDSS Data Release 7 (DR7) and WiggleZ. We also find that systematic-corrected power

CDM potential of bagasse cogeneration in India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purohit, Pallav; Michaelowa, Axel

2007-01-01

So far, the cumulative capacity of renewable energy systems such as bagasse cogeneration in India is far below their theoretical potential despite government subsidy programmes. One of the major barriers is the high investment cost of these systems. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) provides industrialized countries with an incentive to invest in emission reduction projects in developing countries to achieve a reduction in CO 2 emissions at lowest cost that also promotes sustainable development in the host country. Bagasse cogeneration projects could be of interest under the CDM because they directly displace greenhouse gas emissions while contributing to sustainable rural development. This study assesses the maximum theoretical as well as the realistically achievable CDM potential of bagasse cogeneration in India. Our estimates indicate that there is a vast theoretical potential of CO 2 mitigation by the use of bagasse for power generation through cogeneration process in India. The preliminary results indicate that the annual gross potential availability of bagasse in India is more than 67 million tonnes (MT). The potential of electricity generation through bagasse cogeneration in India is estimated to be around 34 TWh i.e. about 5575 MW in terms of the plant capacity. The annual CER potential of bagasse cogeneration in India could theoretically reach 28 MT. Under more realistic assumptions about diffusion of bagasse cogeneration based on past experiences with the government-run programmes, annual CER volumes by 2012 could reach 20-26 million. The projections based on the past diffusion trend indicate that in India, even with highly favorable assumptions, the dissemination of bagasse cogeneration for power generation is not likely to reach its maximum estimated potential in another 20 years. CDM could help to achieve the maximum utilization potential more rapidly as compared to the current diffusion trend if supportive policies are introduced

Cosmological special relativity the large scale structure of space, time and velocity

CERN Document Server

Carmeli, Moshe

2002-01-01

This book presents Einstein's theory of space and time in detail, and describes the large-scale structure of space, time and velocity as a new cosmological special relativity. A cosmological Lorentz-like transformation, which relates events at different cosmic times, is derived and applied. A new law of addition of cosmic times is obtained, and the inflation of the space at the early universe is derived, both from the cosmological transformation. The relationship between cosmic velocity, acceleration and distances is given. In the appendices gravitation is added in the form of a cosmological g

Cosmology of a covariant Galilean field.

Science.gov (United States)

De Felice, Antonio; Tsujikawa, Shinji

2010-09-10

We study the cosmology of a covariant scalar field respecting a Galilean symmetry in flat space-time. We show the existence of a tracker solution that finally approaches a de Sitter fixed point responsible for cosmic acceleration today. The viable region of model parameters is clarified by deriving conditions under which ghosts and Laplacian instabilities of scalar and tensor perturbations are absent. The field equation of state exhibits a peculiar phantomlike behavior along the tracker, which allows a possibility to observationally distinguish the Galileon gravity from the cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant.

General relativistic self-similar waves that induce an anomalous acceleration into the standard model of cosmology

CERN Document Server

Smoller, Joel

2012-01-01

We prove that the Einstein equations in Standard Schwarzschild Coordinates close to form a system of three ordinary differential equations for a family of spherically symmetric, self-similar expansion waves, and the critical ($k=0$) Friedmann universe associated with the pure radiation phase of the Standard Model of Cosmology (FRW), is embedded as a single point in this family. Removing a scaling law and imposing regularity at the center, we prove that the family reduces to an implicitly defined one parameter family of distinct spacetimes determined by the value of a new {\\it acceleration parameter} $a$, such that $a=1$ corresponds to FRW. We prove that all self-similar spacetimes in the family are distinct from the non-critical $k\

Ghost-Free Massive $f(R)$ Theories Modelled as Effective Einstein Spaces and Cosmic Acceleration

CERN Document Server

Vacaru, Sergiu I

2014-01-01

We study how massive ghost-free gravity $f(R)$-modified theories, MGFTs, can be encoded into generic off-diagonal Einstein spaces. Using "auxiliary" connections completely defined by the metric fields and adapted to nonholonomic frames with associated to nonlinear connection structure, we decouple and integrate in certain general forms the field equations in MGFT. Imposing additional nonholonomic constraints, we can generate Levi--Civita, LC, configurations and mimic MGFT effects via off-diagonal interactions of effective Einstein and/or Einstein-Cartan gravity with nonholonomically induced torsion. The cosmological evolution of ghost-free off--diagonal Einstein spaces is investigated. Certain compatibility of MGFT cosmology to small off-diagonal deformations of $\\Lambda $CDM models is established. %

A method of predicting the reliability of CDM coil insulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kytasty, A.; Ogle, C.; Arrendale, H.

1992-01-01

This paper presents a method of predicting the reliability of the Collider Dipole Magnet (CDM) coil insulation design. The method proposes a probabilistic treatment of electrical test data, stress analysis, material properties variability and loading uncertainties to give the reliability estimate. The approach taken to predict reliability of design related failure modes of the CDM is to form analytical models of the various possible failure modes and their related mechanisms or causes, and then statistically assess the contributions of the various contributing variables. The probability of the failure mode occurring is interpreted as the number of times one would expect certain extreme situations to combine and randomly occur. One of the more complex failure modes of the CDM will be used to illustrate this methodology

The implementation of clean development mechanism (CDM) in the construction and built environment industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mok, Ken L.; Han, Seung H.; Choi, Seokjin

2014-01-01

Greenhouse gas emissions due to human activities are the main contributors to global climate change, a problem that should not be ignored. Through the clean development mechanism (CDM) introduced under the Kyoto Protocol, developing countries are able to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits through a myriad of emission reduction projects. This study aims to explore the potential of implementing CDM projects in the construction and built environment (C and BE) industry, which has been criticized for not only consuming an enormous amount of resources, but also for contributing to adverse environmental health. In this research, we limit the boundary of the C and BE industry to include the planning, procurement, construction, occupation and refurbishment/demolition phases of a project's life cycle. Surveys and in-depth follow-up interviews with experts have generated useful insights pertaining to CDM potential and its adaptation into the C and BE industry. From this foundation, this paper evaluates the current obstacles to CDM and presents feasible suggestions to increase CDM projects related to the C and BE industry. - Highlights: • We review the development and limitation of CDM relates to the construction and built environment (C and BE) industry. • We obtain experts' opinions on the feasibility of CDM in the C and BE industry. • Validation, monitoring, verification and additionality of CDM projects are crucial. • Experts agreed that most of our suggestions are feasible in principle

The Relation between Cosmological Redshift and Scale Factor for Photons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tian, Shuxun, E-mail: tshuxun@mail.bnu.edu.cn [Department of Astronomy, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875 (China); Department of Physics, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072 (China)

2017-09-10

The cosmological constant problem has become one of the most important ones in modern cosmology. In this paper, we try to construct a model that can avoid the cosmological constant problem and have the potential to explain the apparent late-time accelerating expansion of the universe in both luminosity distance and angular diameter distance measurement channels. In our model, the core is to modify the relation between cosmological redshift and scale factor for photons. We point out three ways to test our hypothesis: the supernova time dilation; the gravitational waves and its electromagnetic counterparts emitted by the binary neutron star systems; and the Sandage–Loeb effect. All of this method is feasible now or in the near future.

Jeans that fit: weighing the mass of the Milky Way analogues in the ΛCDM universe

Science.gov (United States)

Kafle, Prajwal R.; Sharma, Sanjib; Robotham, Aaron S. G.; Elahi, Pascal J.; Driver, Simon P.

2018-04-01

The spherical Jeans equation is a widely used tool for dynamical study of gravitating systems in astronomy. Here, we test its efficacy in robustly weighing the mass of Milky Way analogues, given they need not be in equilibrium or even spherical. Utilizing Milky Way stellar haloes simulated in accordance with Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmology by Bullock and Johnston and analysing them under the Jeans formalism, we recover the underlying mass distribution of the parent galaxy, within distance r/kpc ∈ [10, 100], with a bias of ˜ 12 per cent and a dispersion of ˜ 14 per cent. Additionally, the mass profiles of triaxial dark matter haloes taken from the SURFS simulation, within scaled radius 0.2 < r/rmax < 3, are measured with a bias of ˜ - 2.4 per cent and a dispersion of ˜ 10 per cent. The obtained dispersion is not because of Poisson noise due to small particle numbers as it is twice the later. We interpret the dispersion to be due to the inherent nature of the ΛCDM haloes, for example being aspherical and out-of-equilibrium. Hence, the dispersion obtained for stellar haloes sets a limit of about 12 per cent (after adjusting for random uncertainty) on the accuracy with which the mass profiles of the Milky Way-like galaxies can be reconstructed using the spherical Jeans equation. This limit is independent of the quantity and quality of the observational data. The reason for a non-zero bias is not clear, hence its interpretation is not obvious at this stage.

Fiscal 1998 research report. Research on the possibility of promoting CDM project through technology transfer with plant exports; 1998 nendo chosa hokokusho. Plant yushutsugata gijutsu iten wo tsujita CDM project suishin kanosei ni kansuru chosa hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-03-01

Study was made on promotion of CDM (clean development mechanism) project through technology transfer with plant exports. Although CDM system was provided in COP3 on climate change held in Kyoto in 1997, its detailed rules including project approval are yet undecided, and only the schedule to provide the detailed rules until COP6 in 2000 was decided in COP4 in 1998. The common recognition that the CDM project with plant exports produces various merits for both Japan and the partner country is increasing. However, from the viewpoint of forming concrete CDM projects, most Japanese enterprises are passive in approach to the CDM project because of no detailed design of CDM, uncertain profitability and procedures, and avoidance of additional burdens. Plant export is also difficult because of the fact that assessment of a new project is difficult. Enterprises' deeper recognition on the CDM project, and a governmental integrated support system are desirable. (NEDO)

Dark Energy and the Cosmological Constant: A Brief Introduction

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, Alex

2009-01-01

The recently observed acceleration of the expansion of the universe is a topic of intense interest. The favoured causes are the "cosmological constant" or "dark energy". The former, which appears in the Einstein equations as the term [lambda]g[subscript [mu]v], provides an extremely simple, well-defined mechanism for the acceleration. However,…

Point Climat no. 20 'CDM Policy Dialogue: a traditional 'treatment' coupled with new 'prescriptions' '

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shishlov, Igor; Bellassen, Valentin

2012-01-01

Among the publications of CDC Climat Research, 'Climate Briefs' presents, in a few pages, hot topics in climate change policy. This issue addresses the following points: As the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) reached the milestone billionth CER issued and the secondary CER price tipped below 2 euros, the recommendations of the High Level Panel on the CDM Policy Dialogue published on 11 September 2012 could not be timelier. By focusing on the current supply-demand disequilibrium that threatens the very survival of the CDM, the Panel extended its recommendations beyond the traditional scope of CDM reform. The Panel's ambition to pro-actively engage with other climate initiatives such as the Green Fund and regional markets is also innovative. Indeed, the CDM toolbox enriched by 10-years of experience stands to apply to or be partly recycled through new mechanisms. Along the 51 recommendations from the Policy Dialogue, there are calls for further standardization and streamlining, together with both old and new ideas on governance and contribution of the CDM to sustainable development

Etude Climat no. 37 '10 lessons from 10 years of the CDM'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shishlov, Igor; Bellassen, Valentin

2012-01-01

Among the publications of CDC Climat Research, 'Climate Reports' offer in-depth analyses on a given subject. This issue addresses the following points: The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is the first and by far the largest carbon offset instrument in the world. To date, it is the only market based on an environmental commodity which managed to attract several billions of euros of private capital on an annual basis. Being the first-of-a-kind climate change mitigation instrument, the CDM followed a 'learning by doing' pattern undergoing numerous reforms throughout its more than 10-year history. Although the post-2012 fate of the mechanism remains uncertain, one should not 'throw out the baby with the bath water' as the lessons from the CDM experience may be useful not only for the CDM reform but also for new market instruments

A TWO-PHASE SCENARIO FOR BULGE ASSEMBLY IN {Lambda}CDM COSMOLOGIES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Obreja, A.; Dominguez-Tenreiro, R.; Brook, C. [Departamento de Fisica Teorica, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, E-28049 Cantoblanco Madrid (Spain); Martinez-Serrano, F. J.; Domenech-Moral, M.; Serna, A. [Departamento de Fisica y Arquitectura de Computadores, Universidad Miguel Hernandez, E-03202 Elche (Spain); Molla, M. [Departamento de Investigacion Basica, CIEMAT, E-28040 Madrid (Spain); Stinson, G., E-mail: aura.obreja@uam.es [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astronomie, Koenigstuhl 17, D-69117, Heidelberg (Germany)

2013-01-20

We analyze and compare the bulges of a sample of L {sub *} spiral galaxies in hydrodynamical simulations in a cosmological context, using two different codes, P-DEVA and GASOLINE. The codes regulate star formation in very different ways, with P-DEVA simulations inputting low star formation efficiency under the assumption that feedback occurs on subgrid scales, while the GASOLINE simulations have feedback that drives large-scale outflows. In all cases, the marked knee shape in mass aggregation tracks, corresponding to the transition from an early phase of rapid mass assembly to a later slower one, separates the properties of two populations within the simulated bulges. The bulges analyzed show an important early starburst resulting from the collapse-like fast phase of mass assembly, followed by a second phase with lower star formation, driven by a variety of processes such as disk instabilities and/or mergers. Classifying bulge stellar particles identified at z = 0 into old and young according to these two phases, we found bulge stellar sub-populations with distinct kinematics, shapes, stellar ages, and metal contents. The young components are more oblate, generally smaller, more rotationally supported, with higher metallicity and less alpha-element enhanced than the old ones. These results are consistent with the current observational status of bulges, and provide an explanation for some apparently paradoxical observations, such as bulge rejuvenation and metal-content gradients observed. Our results suggest that bulges of L {sub *} galaxies will generically have two bulge populations that can be likened to classical and pseudo-bulges, with differences being in the relative proportions of the two, which may vary due to galaxy mass and specific mass accretion and merger histories.

Duality gives rise to Chaplygin cosmologies with a big rip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chimento, Luis P; Lazkoz, Ruth

2006-01-01

We consider modifications to the Friedmann equation motivated by recent proposals along these lines pursuing an explanation to the observed late time acceleration. Here we show that these approaches can be framed within a theory with modified gravity, and we discuss the construction of the duals of the cosmologies generated within that framework. We then investigate the modifications required to generate extended, generalized and modified Chaplygin cosmologies, and then show that their duals belong to a larger family of cosmologies we call enlarged Chaplygin cosmologies. Finally, by letting the parameters of these models take values not earlier considered in the literature we show that some representatives of that family of cosmologies display sudden future singularities. This fact indicates that the behaviour of these spacetimes is rather different from that of generalized or modified Chaplygin gas cosmologies. This reinforces the idea that modifications of gravity can be responsible for unexpected evolutionary features in the universe

Growth of matter perturbation in quintessence cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Mulki, Fargiza A. M.; Wulandari, Hesti R. T.

2017-01-01

Big bang theory states that universe emerged from singularity with very high temperature and density, then expands homogeneously and isotropically. This theory gives rise standard cosmological principle which declares that universe is homogeneous and isotropic on large scales. However, universe is not perfectly homogeneous and isotropic on small scales. There exist structures starting from clusters, galaxies even to stars and planetary system scales. Cosmological perturbation theory is a fundamental theory that explains the origin of structures. According to this theory, the structures can be regarded as small perturbations in the early universe, which evolves as the universe expands. In addition to the problem of inhomogeneities of the universe, observations of supernovae Ia suggest that our universe is being accelerated. Various models of dark energy have been proposed to explain cosmic acceleration, one of them is cosmological constant. Because of several problems arise from cosmological constant, the alternative models have been proposed, one of these models is quintessence. We reconstruct growth of structure model following quintessence scenario at several epochs of the universe, which is specified by the effective equation of state parameters for each stage. Discussion begins with the dynamics of quintessence, in which exponential potential is analytically derived, which leads to various conditions of the universe. We then focus on scaling and quintessence dominated solutions. Subsequently, we review the basics of cosmological perturbation theory and derive formulas to investigate how matter perturbation evolves with time in subhorizon scales which leads to structure formation, and also analyze the influence of quintessence to the structure formation. From analytical exploration, we obtain the growth rate of matter perturbation and the existence of quintessence as a dark energy that slows down the growth of structure formation of the universe.

Non-decoupling of heavy scalars in cosmology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hardeman, Sjoerd Reimer

2012-01-01

The theory describing physics at the highest energy scales likely contains extra dimensions, whose internal degrees of freedom result in many massive field and particles. At accelerator experiments these fields and particles generally decouple from the low energy physics. However, in cosmology

Milgrom's revision of Newton's laws - Dynamical and cosmological consequences

Science.gov (United States)

Felten, J. E.

1984-01-01

Milgrom's (1983) recent revision of Newtonian dynamics was introduced to eliminate the inference that large quantities of invisible mass exist in galaxies. It is shown by simple examples that a Milgrom acceleration, in the form presented so far, implies other far-reaching changes in dynamics. The momentum of an isolated system is not conserved, and the usual theorem for center-of-mass motion of any system does not hold. Naive applications require extreme caution. The model fails to provide a complete description of particle dynamics and should be thought of as a revision of Kepler's laws rather than Newton's. The Milgrom acceleration also implies fundamental changes in cosmology. A quasi-Newtonian calculation adapted from Newtonian cosmology suggests that a 'Milgrom universe' will recollapse even if the classical closure parameter Omega is much less than unity. The solution, however, fails to satisfy the cosmological principle. Reasons for the breakdown of this calculation are examined. A new theory of gravitation will be needed before the behavior of a Milgrom universe can be predicted.

AIC, BIC, Bayesian evidence against the interacting dark energy model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szydlowski, Marek; Krawiec, Adam; Kurek, Aleksandra; Kamionka, Michal

2015-01-01

Recent astronomical observations have indicated that the Universe is in a phase of accelerated expansion. While there are many cosmological models which try to explain this phenomenon, we focus on the interacting ΛCDM model where an interaction between the dark energy and dark matter sectors takes place. This model is compared to its simpler alternative - the ΛCDM model. To choose between these models the likelihood ratio test was applied as well as the model comparison methods (employing Occam's principle): the Akaike information criterion (AIC), the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) and the Bayesian evidence. Using the current astronomical data: type Ia supernova (Union2.1), h(z), baryon acoustic oscillation, the Alcock- Paczynski test, and the cosmic microwave background data, we evaluated both models. The analyses based on the AIC indicated that there is less support for the interacting ΛCDM model when compared to the ΛCDM model, while those based on the BIC indicated that there is strong evidence against it in favor of the ΛCDM model. Given the weak or almost non-existing support for the interacting ΛCDM model and bearing in mind Occam's razor we are inclined to reject this model. (orig.)

Trends in renewable energy strategy development and the role of CDM in Bangladesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noim Uddin, Sk; Taplin, Ros

2009-01-01

This article analyses and discusses trends in renewable energy strategy development in Bangladesh and the prospective role of the clean development mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol. Use of renewables for electricity generation results in less greenhouse gas emissions compared with fossil fuel energy systems and often offers additional synergistic benefits. Despite the large potential for development of renewable energy sources in Bangladesh, currently their contribution to electricity generation remains insignificant. Existing policies and programs on renewable energy in Bangladesh are reviewed in relation to the specific requirements needed for CDM. A number of barriers are identified that impede the implementation of the CDM mechanism. Overall, it is recommended that more appropriate energy strategies, including a new national renewable energy strategy, need to be formulated and implemented and more suitable institutional settings need to be provided to promote energy sustainability for Bangladesh. Also, the suggestion is made that incorporation of objectives for CDM promotion in the new national renewable energy strategy to tie in with Bangladesh's CDM strategy should assist in advancement of renewables

Wind farm investment risks under uncertain CDM benefit in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Ming; Nguyen, Francois; T'Serclaes, Philippine de; Buchner, Barbara

2010-01-01

China has set an ambitious target to increase its wind power capacity by 35 GW from 2007 to 2020. The country's hunger for clean power provides great opportunities for wind energy investors. However, risks from China's uncertain electricity market regulation and an uncertain energy policy framework, mainly due to uncertain Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) benefits, prevent foreign investors from investing in China's wind energy. The objectives of this paper are to: (1) quantify wind energy investment risk premiums in an uncertain international energy policy context and (2) evaluate the impact of uncertain CDM benefits on the net present values of wind power projects. With four scenarios, this study simulates possible prices of certified emissions reductions (CERs) from wind power projects. Project net present values (NPVs) have been calculated. The project risk premiums are drawn from different and uncertain CER prices. Our key findings show that uncertain CDM benefits will significantly affect the project NPVs. This paper concludes that the Chinese government needs revising its tariff incentives, most likely by introducing fixed feed-in tariffs (FITs), and re-examining its CDM-granting policy and its wind project tax rates, to facilitate wind power development and enable China to achieve its wind energy target. (author)

Origin of a small cosmological constant in a brane world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghoroku, Kazuo; Yahiro, Masanobu

2002-01-01

We address the relation between the parameters of an accelerating brane universe embedded in five-dimensional bulk space. It is pointed out that the tiny cosmological constant of our world can be obtained as quantum corrections around a given brane solution in the bulk theory or in the field theory on the boundary from a holographic viewpoint. Some implications to the cosmology and constraints on the parameters are also given

Quintessential brane cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kunze, K.E.; Vazquez-Mozo, M.A.

2002-01-01

We study a class of braneworlds where the cosmological evolution arises as the result of the movement of a three-brane in a five-dimensional static dilatonic bulk, with and without reflection symmetry. The resulting four-dimensional Friedmann equation includes a term which, for a certain range of the parameters, effectively works as a quintessence component, producing an acceleration of the universe at late times. Using current observations and bounds derived from big-bang nucleosynthesis, we estimate the parameters that characterize the model

On the contribution of labelled Certified Emission Reductions to sustainable development: A multi-criteria evaluation of CDM projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nussbaumer, Patrick

2009-01-01

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has a twofold objective, to offset greenhouse gas emissions and to contribute to sustainable development in the host country. The contribution to the latter objective seems marginal in most CDM activities. Also, CDM activities are unevenly spread among developing countries. In response to these concerns, initiatives with the objective of promoting CDM projects with broad local sustainable development dividends have been launched, such as the Gold Standard and the Community Development Carbon Fund. The Gold Standard label rewards best-practice CDM projects while the Community Development Carbon Fund focuses on promoting CDM activities in underprivileged communities. Using a multi-criteria method, the potential contribution to local sustainable development of those CDM projects with particular attributes is compared with ordinary ones. This evaluation suggests that labelled CDM activities tend to slightly outperform comparable projects, although not unequivocally

Averaging in spherically symmetric cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coley, A. A.; Pelavas, N.

2007-01-01

The averaging problem in cosmology is of fundamental importance. When applied to study cosmological evolution, the theory of macroscopic gravity (MG) can be regarded as a long-distance modification of general relativity. In the MG approach to the averaging problem in cosmology, the Einstein field equations on cosmological scales are modified by appropriate gravitational correlation terms. We study the averaging problem within the class of spherically symmetric cosmological models. That is, we shall take the microscopic equations and effect the averaging procedure to determine the precise form of the correlation tensor in this case. In particular, by working in volume-preserving coordinates, we calculate the form of the correlation tensor under some reasonable assumptions on the form for the inhomogeneous gravitational field and matter distribution. We find that the correlation tensor in a Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) background must be of the form of a spatial curvature. Inhomogeneities and spatial averaging, through this spatial curvature correction term, can have a very significant dynamical effect on the dynamics of the Universe and cosmological observations; in particular, we discuss whether spatial averaging might lead to a more conservative explanation of the observed acceleration of the Universe (without the introduction of exotic dark matter fields). We also find that the correlation tensor for a non-FLRW background can be interpreted as the sum of a spatial curvature and an anisotropic fluid. This may lead to interesting effects of averaging on astrophysical scales. We also discuss the results of averaging an inhomogeneous Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi solution as well as calculations of linear perturbations (that is, the backreaction) in an FLRW background, which support the main conclusions of the analysis

General very special relativity in Finsler cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kouretsis, A. P.; Stathakopoulos, M.; Stavrinos, P. C.

2009-01-01

General very special relativity (GVSR) is the curved space-time of very special relativity (VSR) proposed by Cohen and Glashow. The geometry of general very special relativity possesses a line element of Finsler geometry introduced by Bogoslovsky. We calculate the Einstein field equations and derive a modified Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology for an osculating Riemannian space. The Friedmann equation of motion leads to an explanation of the cosmological acceleration in terms of an alternative non-Lorentz invariant theory. A first order approach for a primordial-spurionic vector field introduced into the metric gives back an estimation of the energy evolution and inflation.

Cosmological constraints on the gravitational interactions of matter and dark matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bai, Yang; Salvado, Jordi; Stefanek, Ben A.

2015-01-01

Although there is overwhelming evidence of dark matter from its gravitational interaction, we still do not know its precise gravitational interaction strength or whether it obeys the equivalence principle. Using the latest available cosmological data and working within the framework of ΛCDM, we first update the measurement of the multiplicative factor of cosmology-relevant Newton’s constant over the standard laboratory-based value and find that it is consistent with one. In general relativity, dark matter equivalence principle breaking can be mimicked by a long-range dark matter force mediated by an ultra light scalar field. Using the Planck three year data, we find that the dark matter “fifth-force” strength is constrained to be weaker than 10 −4 of the gravitational force. We also introduce a phenomenological, post-Newtonian two-fluid description to explicitly break the equivalence principle by introducing a difference between dark matter inertial and gravitational masses. Depending on the decoupling time of the dark matter and ordinary matter fluids, the ratio of the dark matter gravitational mass to inertial mass is constrained to be unity at the 10 −6 level

The Learning Process and Technological Change in Wind Power: Evidence from China's CDM Wind Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Tian; Popp, David

2016-01-01

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a project-based carbon trade mechanism that subsidizes the users of climate-friendly technologies and encourages technology transfer. The CDM has provided financial support for a large share of Chinese wind projects since 2002. Using pooled cross-sectional data of 486 registered CDM wind projects in China…

Cosmological Tests of Gravity

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2017-01-01

Extensions of Einstein’s theory of General Relativity are under investigation as a potential explanation of the accelerating expansion rate of the universe. I’ll present a cosmologist’s overview of attempts to test these ideas in an efficient and unbiased manner. I’ll start by introducing the bestiary of alternative gravity theories that have been put forwards. This proliferation of models motivates us to develop model-independent, agnostic tools for comparing the theory space to cosmological data. I’ll introduce the effective field theory for cosmological perturbations, a framework designed to unify modified gravity theories in terms of a manageable set of parameters. Having outlined the formalism, I’ll talk about the current constraints on this framework, and the improvements expected from the next generation of large galaxy clustering, weak lensing and intensity mapping experiments.

Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics in Parabolic LTB Inhomogeneous Cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheykhi, A.; Moradpour, H.; Sarab, K. Rezazadeh; Wang, B.

2015-01-01

We study thermodynamics of the parabolic Lemaitre–Tolman–Bondi (LTB) cosmology supported by a perfect fluid source. This model is the natural generalization of the flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) universe, and describes an inhomogeneous universe with spherical symmetry. After reviewing some basic equations in the parabolic LTB cosmology, we obtain a relation for the deceleration parameter in this model. We also obtain a condition for which the universe undergoes an accelerating phase at the present time. We use the first law of thermodynamics on the apparent horizon together with the Einstein field equations to get a relation for the apparent horizon entropy in LTB cosmology. We find out that in LTB model of cosmology, the apparent horizon's entropy could be feeded by a term, which incorporates the effects of the inhomogeneity. We consider this result and get a relation for the total entropy evolution, which is used to examine the generalized second law of thermodynamics for an accelerating universe. We also verify the validity of the second law and the generalized second law of thermodynamics for a universe filled with some kinds of matters bounded by the event horizon in the framework of the parabolic LTB model. (paper)

Cosmology in time asymmetric extensions of general relativity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leon, Genly; Saridakis, Emmanuel N.

2015-01-01

We investigate the cosmological behavior in a universe governed by time asymmetric extensions of general relativity, which is a novel modified gravity based on the addition of new, time-asymmetric, terms on the Hamiltonian framework, in a way that the algebra of constraints and local physics remain unchanged. Nevertheless, at cosmological scales these new terms can have significant effects that can alter the universe evolution, both at early and late times, and the freedom in the choice of the involved modification function makes the scenario able to produce a huge class of cosmological behaviors. For basic ansatzes of modification, we perform a detailed dynamical analysis, extracting the stable late-time solutions. Amongst others, we find that the universe can result in dark-energy dominated, accelerating solutions, even in the absence of an explicit cosmological constant, in which the dark energy can be quintessence-like, phantom-like, or behave as an effective cosmological constant. Moreover, it can result to matter-domination, or to a Big Rip, or experience the sequence from matter to dark energy domination. Additionally, in the case of closed curvature, the universe may experience a cosmological bounce or turnaround, or even cyclic behavior. Finally, these scenarios can easily satisfy the observational and phenomenological requirements. Hence, time asymmetric cosmology can be a good candidate for the description of the universe

GALAXY CLUSTER RADIO RELICS IN ADAPTIVE MESH REFINEMENT COSMOLOGICAL SIMULATIONS: RELIC PROPERTIES AND SCALING RELATIONSHIPS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skillman, Samuel W.; Hallman, Eric J.; Burns, Jack O.; Smith, Britton D.; O'Shea, Brian W.; Turk, Matthew J.

2011-01-01

Cosmological shocks are a critical part of large-scale structure formation, and are responsible for heating the intracluster medium in galaxy clusters. In addition, they are capable of accelerating non-thermal electrons and protons. In this work, we focus on the acceleration of electrons at shock fronts, which is thought to be responsible for radio relics-extended radio features in the vicinity of merging galaxy clusters. By combining high-resolution adaptive mesh refinement/N-body cosmological simulations with an accurate shock-finding algorithm and a model for electron acceleration, we calculate the expected synchrotron emission resulting from cosmological structure formation. We produce synthetic radio maps of a large sample of galaxy clusters and present luminosity functions and scaling relationships. With upcoming long-wavelength radio telescopes, we expect to see an abundance of radio emission associated with merger shocks in the intracluster medium. By producing observationally motivated statistics, we provide predictions that can be compared with observations to further improve our understanding of magnetic fields and electron shock acceleration.

CLUSTERING OF SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY III PHOTOMETRIC LUMINOUS GALAXIES: THE MEASUREMENT, SYSTEMATICS, AND COSMOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ho, Shirley; White, Martin; Schlegel, David J.; Seljak, Uros; Reid, Beth [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd, MS 50R-5045, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Cuesta, Antonio; Padmanabhan, Nikhil [Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 (United States); Seo, Hee-Jong [Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, LBL and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); De Putter, Roland [ICC, University of Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Marti i Franques 1, E-08028 Barcelona (Spain); Ross, Ashley J.; Percival, Will J. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Dennis Sciama Building, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Saito, Shun [Department of Astronomy, University of California Berkeley, CA (United States); Schlafly, Eddie [Department of Astronomy, Harvard University, 60 Garden St. MS 20, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Hernandez-Monteagudo, Carlos [Centro de Estudios de Fisica del Cosmos de Aragon (CEFCA), Plaza de San Juan 1, planta 2, E-44001 Teruel (Spain); Sanchez, Ariel G. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse 1, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Blanton, Michael [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 (United States); Skibba, Ramin [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Schneider, Don [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Mena, Olga [Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular, Universidad de Valencia-CSIC (Spain); Viel, Matteo, E-mail: cwho@lbl.gov [INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via G. B. Tiepolo 11, I-34131 Trieste (Italy); and others

2012-12-10

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) surveyed 14,555 deg{sup 2}, and delivered over a trillion pixels of imaging data. We present a study of galaxy clustering using 900,000 luminous galaxies with photometric redshifts, spanning between z = 0.45 and z = 0.65, constructed from the SDSS using methods described in Ross et al. This data set spans 11,000 deg{sup 2} and probes a volume of 3 h {sup -3} Gpc{sup 3}, making it the largest volume ever used for galaxy clustering measurements. We describe in detail the construction of the survey window function and various systematics affecting our measurement. With such a large volume, high-precision cosmological constraints can be obtained given careful control and understanding of the observational systematics. We present a novel treatment of the observational systematics and its applications to the clustering signals from the data set. In this paper, we measure the angular clustering using an optimal quadratic estimator at four redshift slices with an accuracy of {approx}15%, with a bin size of {delta}{sub l} = 10 on scales of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs; at l {approx} 40-400). We also apply corrections to the power spectra due to systematics and derive cosmological constraints using the full shape of the power spectra. For a flat {Lambda}CDM model, when combined with cosmic microwave background Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7 (WMAP7) and H{sub 0} constraints from using 600 Cepheids observed by Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3; HST), we find {Omega}{sub {Lambda}} = 0.73 {+-} 0.019 and H{sub 0} to be 70.5 {+-} 1.6 s{sup -1} Mpc{sup -1} km. For an open {Lambda}CDM model, when combined with WMAP7 + HST, we find {Omega}{sub K} = 0.0035 {+-} 0.0054, improved over WMAP7+HST alone by 40%. For a wCDM model, when combined with WMAP7+HST+SN, we find w = -1.071 {+-} 0.078, and H{sub 0} to be 71.3 {+-} 1.7 s{sup -1} Mpc{sup -1} km, which is competitive with the latest large-scale structure constraints from large spectroscopic

Cosmology in massive gravity with effective composite metric

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heisenberg, Lavinia [Institute for Theoretical Studies, ETH Zurich Clausiusstrasse 47, 8092 Zurich (Switzerland); Refregier, Alexandre, E-mail: lavinia.heisenberg@eth-its.ethz.ch, E-mail: alexandre.refregier@phys.ethz.ch [Institute for Astronomy, Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, 8093, Zurich (Switzerland)

2016-09-01

This paper is dedicated to scrutinizing the cosmology in massive gravity. A matter field of the dark sector is coupled to an effective composite metric while a standard matter field couples to the dynamical metric in the usual way. For this purpose, we study the dynamical system of cosmological solutions by using phase analysis, which provides an overview of the class of cosmological solutions in this setup. This also permits us to study the critical points of the cosmological equations together with their stability. We show the presence of stable attractor de Sitter critical points relevant to the late-time cosmic acceleration. Furthermore, we study the tensor, vector and scalar perturbations in the presence of standard matter fields and obtain the conditions for the absence of ghost and gradient instabilities. Hence, massive gravity in the presence of the effective composite metric can accommodate interesting dark energy phenomenology, that can be observationally distinguished from the standard model according to the expansion history and cosmic growth.

Early universe cosmology and tests of fundamental physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albrecht, Andreas; Frieman, Joshua A.; Trodden, Mark

2002-01-01

This is the report of the Working Group on Early Universe Cosmology and tests of Fundamental Physics, group P4.8 of the of the Snowmass 2001 conference. Here we summarize the impressive array of advances that have taken place in this field, and identify opportunities for even greater progress in the future. Topics include Dark Energy, Cosmic Acceleration, Inflation, Phase Transitions, Baryogenesis, and String/M-theory Cosmology. The introductory section gives an executive summary with six key open questions on which we can expect to make significant progress

COSMOLOGY OF CHAMELEONS WITH POWER-LAW COUPLINGS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mota, David F.; Winther, Hans A.

2011-01-01

In chameleon field theories, a scalar field can couple to matter with gravitational strength and still evade local gravity constraints due to a combination of self-interactions and the couplings to matter. Originally, these theories were proposed with a constant coupling to matter; however, the chameleon mechanism also extends to the case where the coupling becomes field dependent. We study the cosmology of chameleon models with power-law couplings and power-law potentials. It is found that these generalized chameleons, when viable, have a background expansion very close to ΛCDM, but can in some special cases enhance the growth of the linear perturbations at low redshifts. For the models we consider, it is found that this region of the parameter space is ruled out by local gravity constraints. Imposing a coupling to dark matter only, the local constraints are avoided, and it is possible to have observable signatures on the linear matter perturbations.

CLUMP-3D: Testing ΛCDM with Galaxy Cluster Shapes

Science.gov (United States)

Sereno, Mauro; Umetsu, Keiichi; Ettori, Stefano; Sayers, Jack; Chiu, I.-Non; Meneghetti, Massimo; Vega-Ferrero, Jesús; Zitrin, Adi

2018-06-01

The ΛCDM model of structure formation makes strong predictions on the concentration and shape of dark matter (DM) halos, which are determined by mass accretion processes. Comparison between predicted shapes and observations provides a geometric test of the ΛCDM model. Accurate and precise measurements needs a full three-dimensional (3D) analysis of the cluster mass distribution. We accomplish this with a multi-probe 3D analysis of the X-ray regular Cluster Lensing and Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) clusters combining strong and weak lensing, X-ray photometry and spectroscopy, and the Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect (SZe). The cluster shapes and concentrations are consistent with ΛCDM predictions. The CLASH clusters are randomly oriented, as expected given the sample selection criteria. Shapes agree with numerical results for DM-only halos, which hints at baryonic physics being less effective in making halos rounder.

Addressing the need for a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) specific project management strategy

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Lotz, M

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects have additional technical, financial and regulatory requirements that are not fully addressed by classic project management approaches. Research has been done on individual novel concepts of the CDM, like...

Measuring the cosmological background of relativistic particles with WMAP

CERN Document Server

Crotty, P; Pastor, S; Crotty, Patrick; Lesgourgues, Julien; Pastor, Sergio

2003-01-01

We show that the first year results of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) constrain very efficiently the energy density in relativistic particles in the universe. We derive new bounds on additional relativistic degrees of freedom expressed in terms of an excess in the effective number of light neutrinos Delta N_eff. Within the flat LambdaCDM scenario, the allowed range is Delta N_eff < 6 (95% CL) using WMAP data only, or -2.6 < Delta N_eff < 4 with the prior H_0= 72 \\pm 8 km/s/Mpc. When other cosmic microwave background and large scale structure experiments are taken into account, the window shrinks to -1.5 < Delta N_eff < 4.2. These results are in perfect agreement with the bounds from primordial nucleosynthesis. Non-minimal cosmological models with extra relativistic degrees of freedom are now severely restricted.

Implications of the Cosmological Constant for Spherically Symmetric Mass Distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Zubairi, Omair; Weber, Fridolin

2013-04-01

In recent years, scientists have made the discovery that the expansion rate of the Universe is increasing rather than decreasing. This acceleration leads to an additional term in Albert Einstein's field equations which describe general relativity and is known as the cosmological constant. This work explores the aftermath of a non-vanishing cosmological constant for relativistic spherically symmetric mass distributions, which are susceptible to change against Einstein's field equations. We introduce a stellar structure equation known as the Tolman-Oppenhiemer-Volkoff (TOV) equation modified for a cosmological constant, which is derived from Einstein's modified field equations. We solve this modified TOV equation for these spherically symmetric mass distributions and obtain stellar properties such as mass and radius and investigate changes that may occur depending on the value of the cosmological constant.

Self-accelerated brane Universe with warped extra dimension

CERN Document Server

Gorbunov, D S

2008-01-01

We propose a cosmological model which exhibits the phenomenon of self-acceleration: the Universe is attracted to the phase of accelerated expansion at late times even in the absence of the cosmological constant. The self-acceleration is inevitable in the sense that it cannot be neutralized by any negative explicit cosmological constant. The model is formulated in the framework of brane-world theories with a warped extra dimension. The key ingredient of the model is the brane-bulk energy transfer which is carried by bulk vector fields with a sigma-model-like boundary condition on the brane. We explicitly find the 5-dimensional metric corresponding to the late-time de Sitter expansion on the brane; this metric describes an AdS_5 black hole with growing mass. The present value of the Hubble parameter implies the scale of new physics of order 1 TeV, where the proposed model has to be replaced by putative UV-completion. The mechanism leading to the self-acceleration has AdS/CFT interpretation as occurring due to s...

On the anomalous acceleration in the solar system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palle, D.

2005-01-01

We study an impact of the cosmological environment on the cosmological environment on the solar gravitational system by the imbedding formalism of Gautreau. It turns out that the cosmic mean-mass density and the cosmological constant give negligible small contribution to the gravity potentials. On the other hand, the cosmic acceleration beyond the Robertson-Walker geometry can considerably influence the curvature of spacetime in the solar system. The resulting anomalous constant acceleration towards the Sun is order of magnitude smaller than that measured by Pioneer 10 and 11. However, it is larger than the second order terms of potentials, thus well within the sensitivity of new gravity probes such as the LATOR mission (Author)

Testing theories of gravity and supergravity with inflation and observations of the cosmic microwave background

Science.gov (United States)

Chakravarty, G. K.; Mohanty, S.; Lambiase, G.

Cosmological and astrophysical observations lead to the emerging picture of a universe that is spatially flat and presently undertaking an accelerated expansion. The observations supporting this picture come from a range of measurements encompassing estimates of galaxy cluster masses, the Hubble diagram derived from type-Ia supernovae observations, the measurements of Cosmic Microwave Background radiation anisotropies, etc. The present accelerated expansion of the universe can be explained by admitting the existence of a cosmic fluid, with negative pressure. In the simplest scenario, this unknown component of the universe, the Dark Energy, is represented by the cosmological constant (Λ), and accounts for about 70% of the global energy budget of the universe. The remaining 30% consist of a small fraction of baryons (4%) with the rest being Cold Dark Matter (CDM). The Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) model, i.e. General Relativity with cosmological constant, is in good agreement with observations. It can be assumed as the first step towards a new standard cosmological model. However, despite the satisfying agreement with observations, the ΛCDM model presents lack of congruence and shortcomings and therefore theories beyond Einstein’s General Relativity are called for. Many extensions of Einstein’s theory of gravity have been studied and proposed with various motivations like the quest for a quantum theory of gravity to extensions of anomalies in observations at the solar system, galactic and cosmological scales. These extensions include adding higher powers of Ricci curvature R, coupling the Ricci curvature with scalar fields and generalized functions of R. In addition, when viewed from the perspective of Supergravity (SUGRA), many of these theories may originate from the same SUGRA theory, but interpreted in different frames. SUGRA therefore serves as a good framework for organizing and generalizing theories of gravity beyond General Relativity. All these

Assessing Usefulness. Do Stakeholders Regard the CDM's SD Tool as Practicial?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Karen Holm; Fenhann, Jørgen Villy; Hinostroza, Miriam L.

implementation of this requirement. The independent High-Level Panel on the CDM Policy Dialogue has also considered the need for improvement. Subsequently the Conference of the Parties serving as the meetings of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) 7 at Durban called on the CDM Executive Board to develop...... criteria, superficial examinations and difficult stakeholder consultations. Such new approaches include scoring of indicators, priority sectors, checklists as well as improved documentation requirements for verification, municipal approval or on-site visits by DNA staff. When developing the Sustainable...... contributions, and project developers. Host countries of different size and various levels of experience with CDM and sustainability assessment and project developers with expertise for various types of projects were interviewed in a survey about their experiences. Subjects were the sustainability assessment...

Course of cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Desert, F.-Xavier

2004-01-01

After an introduction comprising some definitions, an historical overview, and a discussion of the paradoxical Universe, this course proposes a presentation of fundamental notions and theories, i.e. the restrained relativity and the universal gravitation. The next part addresses the general relativity with the following notions: space-time metrics and principle of generalised covariance, basics of tensor analysis, geodesics, energy-pulse tensor, curvature, Einstein equations, Newtonian limit, Schwarzschild metrics, gravitational waves, gravitational redshift. The next part addresses the standard cosmology with the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metrics and the Friedmann-Lemaitre equations of the evolution of the Universe. The Universe expansion is then addressed: distances and horizons, Hubble law, determination of the Hubble constant. The next chapter deals with the constituents of the Universe: light matter, baryonic dark matter, black matter, supernovae, Universe acceleration and black energy. Then comes the nuclear evolution of the Universe: thermodynamics of the primordial Universe, the matter-antimatter asymmetry, from quarks to atoms, cosmic abundance, neutron cosmological background, matter-radiation equality, cosmo-chronology or the age of the Universe. The next chapter addresses the cosmological background at 3 K: sky electromagnetic spectrum, measurement of CMB anisotropies, interpretation of anisotropies, growth of perturbations. The last chapter addresses the quantum field theory and inflation: paradoxes of the standard Big Bang, the simple inflation, noticeable consequences

Particles in astrophysics and cosmology: a dark connection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fornengo, Nicolao

2010-01-01

The particle physics interpretation of the missing-mass, or dark-matter, problem of cosmological and astrophysical nature is going to be posed under deep scrutiny in the next years. From the particle physics side, accelerators will deeply test theoretical ideas of new physics beyond the Standard Model, where particle candidates of dark matter are predicted. From the astrophysical side, many probes are already providing a great deal of independent information on the foreseen signals which can be produced by the galactic or extra-galactic dark matter. The ultimate hope is in fact the emergence of dark matter signals from the various sources of backgrounds and the rise of a coherent picture of new physics from the accelerator physics, astrophysics and cosmology sides. A very ambitious and far-reaching project, which will bring to a deeper level our understanding of the fundamental laws which rule the Universe.

Probing non-standard gravity with the growth index: a background independent analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steigerwald, Heinrich; Marinoni, Christian; Bel, Julien

2014-01-01

Measurements of the growth index of linear matter density fluctuations γ(z) provide a clue as to whether Einstein's field equations encompass gravity also on large cosmic scales, those where the expansion of the universe accelerates. We show that the information encoded in this function can be satisfactorily parameterized using a small set of coefficients γ i , in such a way that the true scaling of the growth index is recovered to better than 1% in most dark energy and dark gravity models. We find that the likelihood of current data, given this formalism and the Λ Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) expansion model of Planck, is maximal for γ 0 = 0.74 +0.44 −0.41 and γ 1 = 0.01 +0.46 −0.46 , a measurement compatible with the ΛCDM predictions (γ 0 = 0.545, γ 1 = −0.007). In addition, data tend to favor models predicting slightly less growth of structures than the Planck ΛCDM scenario. The main aim of the paper is to provide a prescription for routinely calculating, in an analytic way, the amplitude of the growth indices γ i in relevant cosmological scenarios, and to show that these parameters naturally define a space where predictions of alternative theories of gravity can be compared against growth data in a manner which is independent from the expansion history of the cosmological background. As the standard Ω-plane provides a tool to identify different expansion histories H(t) and their relation to various cosmological models, the γ-plane can thus be used to locate different growth rate histories f(t) and their relation to alternatives model of gravity. As a result, we find that the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati gravity model is rejected with a 95% confidence level. By simulating future data sets, such as those that a Euclid-like mission will provide, we also show how to tell apart ΛCDM predictions from those of more extreme possibilities, such as smooth dark energy models, clustering quintessence or parameterized post-Friedmann cosmological models

Singularities in and stability of Ooguri-Vafa-Verlinde cosmologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McInnes, B.

2005-04-01

Ooguri, Vafa, and Verlinde have recently proposed an approach to string cosmology which is based on the idea that cosmological string moduli should be selected by a Hartle-Hawking wave function. They are led to consider a certain Euclidean space which has two different Lorentzian interpretations, one of which is a model of an accelerating cosmology. We describe in detail how to implement this idea without resorting to a 'complex metric'. We show that the four-dimensional version of the OVV cosmology is null geodesically incomplete but has no curvature singularity; also that it is (barely) stable against the Seiberg-Witten process (nucleation of brane pairs). The introduction of matter satisfying the Null Energy Condition has the paradoxical effect of both stabilizing the spacetime and rendering it genuinely singular. We show however that it is possible to arrange for an effective violation of the NEC in such a way that the singularity is avoided and yet the spacetime remains stable. The possible implications for the early history of these cosmologies are discussed. (author)

Cosmological implications of the transition from the false vacuum to the true vacuum state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stachowski, Aleksander; Szydlowski, Marek; Urbanowski, Krzysztof

2017-01-01

We study cosmology with running dark energy. The energy density of dark energy is obtained from the quantum process of transition from the false vacuum state to the true vacuum state. We use the Breit-Wigner energy distribution function to model the quantum unstable systems and obtain the energy density of the dark energy parametrization ρ_d_e(t). We also use Krauss and Dent's idea linking properties of the quantum mechanical decay of unstable states with the properties of the observed Universe. In the cosmological model with this parametrization there is an energy transfer between dark matter and dark energy. The intensity of this process, measured by a parameter α, distinguishes two scenarios. As the Universe starts from the false vacuum state, for the small value of α (0 0.4 the density of the dark energy jumps down. In both cases the present value of the density of dark energy is reached. From a statistical analysis we find this model to be in good agreement with the astronomical data and practically indistinguishable from the ΛCDM model. (orig.)

Inflationary cosmologies from compactification?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wohlfarth, Mattias N.R.

2004-01-01

We consider the compactification of (d+n)-dimensional pure gravity and of superstring or M-theory on an n-dimensional internal space to a d-dimensional Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) cosmology, with a spatial curvature k=0,±1, in the Einstein conformal frame. The internal space is taken to be a product of Einstein spaces, each of which is allowed to have arbitrary curvature and a time-dependent volume. By investigating the effective d-dimensional scalar potential, which is a sum of exponentials, it is shown that such compactifications, in the k=0,+1 cases, do not lead to large amounts of accelerating expansion of the scale factor of the resulting FLRW universe, and, in particular, do not lead to inflation. The case k=-1 admits solutions with eternal accelerating expansion for which the acceleration, however, tends to zero at late times

The role of energy conditions in f(R) cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Capozziello, S.; Nojiri, S.; Odintsov, S. D.

2018-06-01

Energy conditions can play an important role in defining the cosmological evolution. Specifically acceleration/deceleration of cosmic fluid, as well as the emergence of Big Rip singularities, can be related to the constraints imposed by the energy conditions. Here we discuss this issue for f (R) gravity considering also conformal transformations. Cosmological solutions and equations of state can be classified according to energy conditions. The qualitative change of some energy conditions when transformation from the Jordan frame to the Einstein frame done is also observed.

Constraints on cosmological models from strong gravitational lensing systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao, Shuo; Pan, Yu; Zhu, Zong-Hong; Biesiada, Marek; Godlowski, Wlodzimierz

2012-01-01

Strong lensing has developed into an important astrophysical tool for probing both cosmology and galaxies (their structure, formation, and evolution). Using the gravitational lensing theory and cluster mass distribution model, we try to collect a relatively complete observational data concerning the Hubble constant independent ratio between two angular diameter distances D ds /D s from various large systematic gravitational lens surveys and lensing by galaxy clusters combined with X-ray observations, and check the possibility to use it in the future as complementary to other cosmological probes. On one hand, strongly gravitationally lensed quasar-galaxy systems create such a new opportunity by combining stellar kinematics (central velocity dispersion measurements) with lensing geometry (Einstein radius determination from position of images). We apply such a method to a combined gravitational lens data set including 70 data points from Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) and Lens Structure and Dynamics survey (LSD). On the other hand, a new sample of 10 lensing galaxy clusters with redshifts ranging from 0.1 to 0.6 carefully selected from strong gravitational lensing systems with both X-ray satellite observations and optical giant luminous arcs, is also used to constrain three dark energy models (ΛCDM, constant w and CPL) under a flat universe assumption. For the full sample (n = 80) and the restricted sample (n = 46) including 36 two-image lenses and 10 strong lensing arcs, we obtain relatively good fitting values of basic cosmological parameters, which generally agree with the results already known in the literature. This results encourages further development of this method and its use on larger samples obtained in the future

Constraints on cosmological models from strong gravitational lensing systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cao, Shuo; Pan, Yu; Zhu, Zong-Hong [Department of Astronomy, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875 (China); Biesiada, Marek [Department of Astrophysics and Cosmology, Institute of Physics, University of Silesia, Uniwersytecka 4, 40-007 Katowice (Poland); Godlowski, Wlodzimierz, E-mail: baodingcaoshuo@163.com, E-mail: panyu@cqupt.edu.cn, E-mail: biesiada@us.edu.pl, E-mail: godlowski@uni.opole.pl, E-mail: zhuzh@bnu.edu.cn [Institute of Physics, Opole University, Oleska 48, 45-052 Opole (Poland)

2012-03-01

Strong lensing has developed into an important astrophysical tool for probing both cosmology and galaxies (their structure, formation, and evolution). Using the gravitational lensing theory and cluster mass distribution model, we try to collect a relatively complete observational data concerning the Hubble constant independent ratio between two angular diameter distances D{sub ds}/D{sub s} from various large systematic gravitational lens surveys and lensing by galaxy clusters combined with X-ray observations, and check the possibility to use it in the future as complementary to other cosmological probes. On one hand, strongly gravitationally lensed quasar-galaxy systems create such a new opportunity by combining stellar kinematics (central velocity dispersion measurements) with lensing geometry (Einstein radius determination from position of images). We apply such a method to a combined gravitational lens data set including 70 data points from Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) and Lens Structure and Dynamics survey (LSD). On the other hand, a new sample of 10 lensing galaxy clusters with redshifts ranging from 0.1 to 0.6 carefully selected from strong gravitational lensing systems with both X-ray satellite observations and optical giant luminous arcs, is also used to constrain three dark energy models (ΛCDM, constant w and CPL) under a flat universe assumption. For the full sample (n = 80) and the restricted sample (n = 46) including 36 two-image lenses and 10 strong lensing arcs, we obtain relatively good fitting values of basic cosmological parameters, which generally agree with the results already known in the literature. This results encourages further development of this method and its use on larger samples obtained in the future.

Elementary particles and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Audouze, J.; Paty, M.

2000-01-01

The universe is the most efficient laboratory of particle physics and the understanding of cosmological processes implies the knowledge of how elementary particles interact. This article recalls the mutual influences between on the one hand: astrophysics and cosmology and on the other hand: nuclear physics and particle physics. The big-bang theory relies on nuclear physics to explain the successive stages of nucleo-synthesis and the study of solar neutrinos has led to discover new aspects of this particle: it is likely that neutrinos undergo oscillations from one neutrino type to another. In some universe events such as the bursting of a super-nova, particles are released with a kinetic energy that would be impossible to reach on earth with a particle accelerator. These events are become common points of interest between astrophysicists and particle physicists and have promoted a deeper cooperation between astrophysics and elementary particle physics. (A.C.)

E10 cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleinschmidt, Axel; Nicolai, Hermann

2006-01-01

We construct simple exact solutions to the E 10 /K(E 10 ) coset model by exploiting its integrability. Using the known correspondences with the bosonic sectors of maximal supergravity theories, these exact solutions translate into exact cosmological solutions. In this way, we are able to recover some recently discovered solutions of M-theory exhibiting phases of accelerated expansion, or, equivalently, S-brane solutions, and thereby accommodate such solutions within the E 10 /K(E 10 ) model. We also discuss the situation regarding solutions with non-vanishing (constant) curvature of the internal manifold

Can vacuum decay in our universe?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Peng; Meng Xinhe

2005-01-01

We take a phenomenological approach to the study of the cosmological evolution of decaying vacuum cosmology (Λ(t)CDM) based on a simple assumption about the form of the modified matter expansion rate. In this framework, almost all current vacuum decaying models can be unified in a simple manner. We argue that the idea of letting vacuum decay to resolve the fine-tuning problem is inconsistent with cosmological observations. We also discuss some issues in confronting Λ(t)CDM with observation. Using the effective equation-of-state formalism, we indicate that Λ(t)CDM is a possible candidate for phantom cosmology. Moreover, confronted with a possible problem with the effective equation-of-state formalism, we construct the effective dark energy density. Finally, we discuss the evolution of linear perturbation

GDINA and CDM Packages in R

Science.gov (United States)

Rupp, André A.; van Rijn, Peter W.

2018-01-01

We review the GIDNA and CDM packages in R for fitting cognitive diagnosis/diagnostic classification models. We first provide a summary of their core capabilities and then use both simulated and real data to compare their functionalities in practice. We found that the most relevant routines in the two packages appear to be more similar than…

Future restrictions for sinks in the CDM. How about a cap on supply?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forner, C.; Jotzo, F.

2002-01-01

The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol is expected to result in only a small role for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), including afforestation and reforestation projects. Wide ranging concerns regarding sinks in the CDM have been reflected in the Marrakech Accords capping the total amount of emission offsets from sinks projects to be used by Annex I countries. Decisions about the second commitment period and beyond are likely to be of far greater importance for these projects. This paper contributes to the discussion on how caps on sinks under the CDM could be used to obtain overall improved outcomes for developing countries. We examine two distinctive ways in which quantitative caps on sinks in the CDM can be implemented: one, restricting the use of sinks CERs to meet targets, as under the Marrakech Accords (a cap on demand); and two, restricting supply of sink CERs using a quota system. We argue in favour of a supply side cap, if Parties are to preserve the idea of limiting sinks in the CDM. Limiting the supply of credits could lead to better financial outcomes for developing countries as a whole, make higher-cost projects viable which may have better sustainability impacts, and provide an alternative to deal with equity concerns between developing countries

Cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novikov, I.D.

1979-01-01

Progress made by this Commission over the period 1976-1978 is reviewed. Topics include the Hubble constant, deceleration parameter, large-scale distribution of matter in the universe, radio astronomy and cosmology, space astronomy and cosmology, formation of galaxies, physics near the cosmological singularity, and unconventional cosmological models. (C.F.)

ESD full chip simulation: HBM and CDM requirements and simulation approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Franell

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Verification of ESD safety on full chip level is a major challenge for IC design. Especially phenomena with their origin in the overall product setup are posing a hurdle on the way to ESD safe products. For stress according to the Charged Device Model (CDM, a stumbling stone for a simulation based analysis is the complex current distribution among a huge number of internal nodes leading to hardly predictable voltage drops inside the circuits.

This paper describes an methodology for Human Body Model (HBM simulations with an improved ESD-failure coverage and a novel methodology to replace capacitive nodes within a resistive network by current sources for CDM simulation. This enables a highly efficient DC simulation clearly marking CDM relevant design weaknesses allowing for application of this software both during product development and for product verification.

Cosmological evolution in vector-tensor theories of gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beltran Jimenez, Jose; Maroto, Antonio L.

2009-01-01

We present a detailed study of the cosmological evolution in general vector-tensor theories of gravity without potential terms. We consider the evolution of the vector field throughout the expansion history of the Universe and carry out a classification of models according to the behavior of the vector field in each cosmological epoch. We also analyze the case in which the Universe is dominated by the vector field, performing a complete analysis of the system phase map and identifying those attracting solutions which give rise to accelerated expansion. Moreover, we consider the evolution in a universe filled with a pressureless fluid in addition to the vector field and study the existence of attractors in which we can have a transition from matter domination to vector domination with accelerated expansion so that the vector field may play the role of dark energy. We find that the existence of solutions with late-time accelerated expansion is a generic prediction of vector-tensor theories and that such solutions typically lead to the presence of future singularities. Finally, limits from local gravity tests are used to get constraints on the value of the vector field at small (Solar System) scales.

Observational constraints on undulant cosmologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barenboim, Gabriela; /Valencia U.; Mena Requejo, Olga; Quigg, Chris; /Fermilab

2005-10-01

In an undulant universe, cosmic expansion is characterized by alternating periods of acceleration and deceleration. We examine cosmologies in which the dark-energy equation of state varies periodically with the number of e-foldings of the scale factor of the universe, and use observations to constrain the frequency of oscillation. We find a tension between a forceful response to the cosmic coincidence problem and the standard treatment of structure formation.

Beta Function Quintessence Cosmological Parameters and Fundamental Constants I: Power and Inverse Power Law Dark Energy Potentials

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Rodger I.

2018-04-01

This investigation explores using the beta function formalism to calculate analytic solutions for the observable parameters in rolling scalar field cosmologies. The beta function in this case is the derivative of the scalar ϕ with respect to the natural log of the scale factor a, β (φ )=d φ /d ln (a). Once the beta function is specified, modulo a boundary condition, the evolution of the scalar ϕ as a function of the scale factor is completely determined. A rolling scalar field cosmology is defined by its action which can contain a range of physically motivated dark energy potentials. The beta function is chosen so that the associated "beta potential" is an accurate, but not exact, representation of the appropriate dark energy model potential. The basic concept is that the action with the beta potential is so similar to the action with the model potential that solutions using the beta action are accurate representations of solutions using the model action. The beta function provides an extra equation to calculate analytic functions of the cosmologies parameters as a function of the scale factor that are that are not calculable using only the model action. As an example this investigation uses a quintessence cosmology to demonstrate the method for power and inverse power law dark energy potentials. An interesting result of the investigation is that the Hubble parameter H is almost completely insensitive to the power of the potentials and that ΛCDM is part of the family of quintessence cosmology power law potentials with a power of zero.

Cosmic Microwave Background: cosmology from the Planck perspective

Science.gov (United States)

De Zotti, Gianfranco

2017-08-01

The Planck mission has measured the angular anisotropies in the temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with an accuracy set by fundamental limits. These data have allowed the determination of the cosmological parameters with extraordinary precision. These lecture notes present an overview of the mission and of its cosmological results. After a short history of the project, the Planck instruments and their performances are introduced and compared with those of the WMAP satellite. Next the approach to data analysis adopted by the Planck collaboration is described. This includes the techniques for dealing with the contamination of the CMB signal by astrophysical foreground emissions and for determining cosmological parameters from the analysis of the CMB power spectrum. The power spectra measured by Planck were found to be very well described by the standard spatially flat six-parameter ΛCDM cosmology with a power-law spectrum of adiabatic scalar perturbations. This is a remarkable result, considering that the six parameters account for the about 2500 independent power spectrum values measured by Planck (the power was measured for about 2500 multipoles), not to mention the about one trillion science samples produced. A large grid of cosmological models was also explored, using a range of additional astrophysical data sets in addition to Planck and high-resolution CMB data from ground-based experiments. On the whole, the Planck analysis of the CMB power spectrum allowed to vary and determined 16 parameters. Many other interesting parameters were derived from them. Although Planck was not initially designed to carry out high accuracy measurements of the CMB polarization anisotropies, its capabilities in this respect were significantly enhanced during its development. The quality of its polarization measurements have exceeded all original expectations. Planck's polarisation data confirmed and improved the understanding of the details of the cosmological

AIC, BIC, Bayesian evidence against the interacting dark energy model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Szydlowski, Marek [Jagiellonian University, Astronomical Observatory, Krakow (Poland); Jagiellonian University, Mark Kac Complex Systems Research Centre, Krakow (Poland); Krawiec, Adam [Jagiellonian University, Institute of Economics, Finance and Management, Krakow (Poland); Jagiellonian University, Mark Kac Complex Systems Research Centre, Krakow (Poland); Kurek, Aleksandra [Jagiellonian University, Astronomical Observatory, Krakow (Poland); Kamionka, Michal [University of Wroclaw, Astronomical Institute, Wroclaw (Poland)

2015-01-01

Recent astronomical observations have indicated that the Universe is in a phase of accelerated expansion. While there are many cosmological models which try to explain this phenomenon, we focus on the interacting ΛCDM model where an interaction between the dark energy and dark matter sectors takes place. This model is compared to its simpler alternative - the ΛCDM model. To choose between these models the likelihood ratio test was applied as well as the model comparison methods (employing Occam's principle): the Akaike information criterion (AIC), the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) and the Bayesian evidence. Using the current astronomical data: type Ia supernova (Union2.1), h(z), baryon acoustic oscillation, the Alcock- Paczynski test, and the cosmic microwave background data, we evaluated both models. The analyses based on the AIC indicated that there is less support for the interacting ΛCDM model when compared to the ΛCDM model, while those based on the BIC indicated that there is strong evidence against it in favor of the ΛCDM model. Given the weak or almost non-existing support for the interacting ΛCDM model and bearing in mind Occam's razor we are inclined to reject this model. (orig.)

AIC, BIC, Bayesian evidence against the interacting dark energy model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Szydłowski, Marek, E-mail: marek.szydlowski@uj.edu.pl [Astronomical Observatory, Jagiellonian University, Orla 171, 30-244, Kraków (Poland); Mark Kac Complex Systems Research Centre, Jagiellonian University, Reymonta 4, 30-059, Kraków (Poland); Krawiec, Adam, E-mail: adam.krawiec@uj.edu.pl [Institute of Economics, Finance and Management, Jagiellonian University, Łojasiewicza 4, 30-348, Kraków (Poland); Mark Kac Complex Systems Research Centre, Jagiellonian University, Reymonta 4, 30-059, Kraków (Poland); Kurek, Aleksandra, E-mail: alex@oa.uj.edu.pl [Astronomical Observatory, Jagiellonian University, Orla 171, 30-244, Kraków (Poland); Kamionka, Michał, E-mail: kamionka@astro.uni.wroc.pl [Astronomical Institute, University of Wrocław, ul. Kopernika 11, 51-622, Wrocław (Poland)

2015-01-14

Recent astronomical observations have indicated that the Universe is in a phase of accelerated expansion. While there are many cosmological models which try to explain this phenomenon, we focus on the interacting ΛCDM model where an interaction between the dark energy and dark matter sectors takes place. This model is compared to its simpler alternative—the ΛCDM model. To choose between these models the likelihood ratio test was applied as well as the model comparison methods (employing Occam’s principle): the Akaike information criterion (AIC), the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) and the Bayesian evidence. Using the current astronomical data: type Ia supernova (Union2.1), h(z), baryon acoustic oscillation, the Alcock–Paczynski test, and the cosmic microwave background data, we evaluated both models. The analyses based on the AIC indicated that there is less support for the interacting ΛCDM model when compared to the ΛCDM model, while those based on the BIC indicated that there is strong evidence against it in favor of the ΛCDM model. Given the weak or almost non-existing support for the interacting ΛCDM model and bearing in mind Occam’s razor we are inclined to reject this model.

Scalar-tensor cosmology with cosmological constant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maslanka, K.

1983-01-01

The equations of scalar-tensor theory of gravitation with cosmological constant in the case of homogeneous and isotropic cosmological model can be reduced to dynamical system of three differential equations with unknown functions H=R/R, THETA=phi/phi, S=e/phi. When new variables are introduced the system becomes more symmetrical and cosmological solutions R(t), phi(t), e(t) are found. It is shown that when cosmological constant is introduced large class of solutions which depend also on Dicke-Brans parameter can be obtained. Investigations of these solutions give general limits for cosmological constant and mean density of matter in plane model. (author)

Small-scale CDM projects in a competitive electricity industry: How good is a simplified baseline methodology?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shrestha, Ram M.; Abeygunawardana, A.M.A.K.

2007-01-01

Setting baseline emissions is one of the principal tasks involved in awarding credits for greenhouse gas emission (GHG) mitigation projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). An emission baseline has to be project-specific in order to be accurate. However, project-specific baseline calculations are subject to high transaction costs, which disadvantage small-scale projects. For this reason, the CDM-Executive Board (CDM-EB) has approved simplified baseline methodologies for selected small-scale CDM project categories. While the simplified methods help reduce the transaction cost, they may also result in inaccuracies in the estimation of emission reductions from CDM projects. The purpose of this paper is to present a rigorous economic scheduling method for calculating the GHG emission reduction in a hypothetical competitive electricity industry due to the operation of a renewable energy-based power plant under CDM and compare the GHG emission reduction derived from the rigorous method with that obtained from the use of a simplified (i.e., standardized) method approved by the CDM-EB. A key finding of the paper is that depending upon the level of power demand, prices of electricity and input fuels, the simplified method can lead to either significant overestimation or substantial underestimation of emission reduction due to the operation of renewable energy-based power projects in a competitive electricity industry

Economic Impact of CDM Implementation through Alternate Energy Resource Substitution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K.J. Sreekanth

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Since the Kyoto protocol agreement, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM hasgarnered large emphasis in terms of certified emission reductions (CER not only amidst the globalcarbon market but also in India. This paper attempts to assess the impact of CDM towardssustainable development particularly in rural domestic utility sector that mainly includes lightingand cooking applications, with electricity as the source of energy. A detailed survey has undertakenin the state of Kerala, in southern part of India to study the rural domestic energy consumptionpattern. The data collected was analyzed that throws insight into the interrelationships of thevarious parameters that influence domestic utility sector pertaining to energy consumption byusing electricity as the source of energy. The interrelationships between the different parameterswere modeled that optimizes the contribution of electricity on domestic utility sector. The resultswere used to estimate the feasible extent of CO2 emission reduction through use of electricity as theenergy resources, vis-à-vis its economic viability through cost effectiveness. The analysis alsoprovides a platform for implementing CDM projects in the sector and related prospects withrespects to the Indian scenario.

Technology and knowledge transfer from Annex 1 countries to non Annex 2 countries under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). An empirical case study of CDM projects implemented in Malaysia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hansen, Ulrich Elmer

2008-10-15

The CDM constitutes a central element in political discussions on climate change concerning means to facilitate transfer of technology and knowledge, regarding greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation technologies, from Annex 1 countries to Non Annex 1 countries. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to answer the question of what role the CDM plays in relation to transfer of technology and knowledge. The thesis relies on multiple sources of qualitative data and is conducted as a multiple case study of thirteen CDM projects implemented in Malaysia. It focuses on the companies involved in implementation of specific technologies in these projects and the channels that can facilitate the transfer process. The aim of the thesis is therefore to provide insights into the dynamics of technology transfer at the micro-level. An analytical framework is put forward on which it can be concluded that the CDM only plays a role in one out of the thirteen projects examined. The thesis may contribute to provide a background on which future provisions concerning technology transfer in the CDM, and/or other mechanisms that involve GHG mitigation activities in Non Annex 1 countries. (au)

Attractor behaviour in ELKO cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basak, Abhishek; Bhatt, Jitesh R.; Shankaranarayanan, S.; Varma, K.V. Prasantha

2013-01-01

We study the dynamics of ELKO in the context of accelerated phase of our universe. To avoid the fine tuning problem associated with the initial conditions, it is required that the dynamical equations lead to an early-time attractor. In the earlier works, it was shown that the dynamical equations containing ELKO fields do not lead to early-time stable fixed points. In this work, using redefinition of variables, we show that ELKO cosmology admits early-time stable fixed points. More interestingly, we show that ELKO cosmology admit two sets of attractor points corresponding to slow and fast-roll inflation. The fast-roll inflation attractor point is unique for ELKO as it is independent of the form of the potential. We also discuss the plausible choice of interaction terms in these two sets of attractor points and constraints on the coupling constant

Theoretical cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raychaudhuri, A.K.

1979-01-01

The subject is covered in chapters, entitled; introduction; Newtonian gravitation and cosmology; general relativity and relativistic cosmology; analysis of observational data; relativistic models not obeying the cosmological principle; microwave radiation background; thermal history of the universe and nucleosynthesis; singularity of cosmological models; gravitational constant as a field variable; cosmological models based on Einstein-Cartan theory; cosmological singularity in two recent theories; fate of perturbations of isotropic universes; formation of galaxies; baryon symmetric cosmology; assorted topics (including extragalactic radio sources; Mach principle). (U.K.)

Observable cosmology and cosmological models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kardashev, N.S.; Lukash, V.N.; Novikov, I.D.

1987-01-01

Modern state of observation cosmology is briefly discussed. Among other things, a problem, related to Hibble constant and slowdown constant determining is considered. Within ''pancake'' theory hot (neutrino) cosmological model explains well the large-scale structure of the Universe, but does not explain the galaxy formation. A cold cosmological model explains well light object formation, but contradicts data on large-scale structure

On the Phenomenology of an Accelerated Large-Scale Universe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martiros Khurshudyan

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In this review paper, several new results towards the explanation of the accelerated expansion of the large-scale universe is discussed. On the other hand, inflation is the early-time accelerated era and the universe is symmetric in the sense of accelerated expansion. The accelerated expansion of is one of the long standing problems in modern cosmology, and physics in general. There are several well defined approaches to solve this problem. One of them is an assumption concerning the existence of dark energy in recent universe. It is believed that dark energy is responsible for antigravity, while dark matter has gravitational nature and is responsible, in general, for structure formation. A different approach is an appropriate modification of general relativity including, for instance, f ( R and f ( T theories of gravity. On the other hand, attempts to build theories of quantum gravity and assumptions about existence of extra dimensions, possible variability of the gravitational constant and the speed of the light (among others, provide interesting modifications of general relativity applicable to problems of modern cosmology, too. In particular, here two groups of cosmological models are discussed. In the first group the problem of the accelerated expansion of large-scale universe is discussed involving a new idea, named the varying ghost dark energy. On the other hand, the second group contains cosmological models addressed to the same problem involving either new parameterizations of the equation of state parameter of dark energy (like varying polytropic gas, or nonlinear interactions between dark energy and dark matter. Moreover, for cosmological models involving varying ghost dark energy, massless particle creation in appropriate radiation dominated universe (when the background dynamics is due to general relativity is demonstrated as well. Exploring the nature of the accelerated expansion of the large-scale universe involving generalized

Combination and interpretation of observables in Cosmology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Virey Jean-Marc

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The standard cosmological model has deep theoretical foundations but need the introduction of two major unknown components, dark matter and dark energy, to be in agreement with various observations. Dark matter describes a non-relativistic collisionless fluid of (non baryonic matter which amount to 25% of the total density of the universe. Dark energy is a new kind of fluid not of matter type, representing 70% of the total density which should explain the recent acceleration of the expansion of the universe. Alternatively, one can reject this idea of adding one or two new components but argue that the equations used to make the interpretation should be modified consmological scales. Instead of dark matter one can invoke a failure of Newton's laws. Instead of dark energy, two approaches are proposed : general relativity (in term of the Einstein equation should be modified, or the cosmological principle which fixes the metric used for cosmology should be abandonned. One of the main objective of the community is to find the path of the relevant interpretations thanks to the next generation of experiments which should provide large statistics of observationnal data. Unfortunately, cosmological in formations are difficult to pin down directly fromt he measurements, and it is mandatory to combine the various observables to get the cosmological parameters. This is not problematic from the statistical point of view, but assumptions and approximations made for the analysis may bias our interprettion of the data. Consequently, a strong attention should be paied to the statistical methods used to make parameters estimation and for model testing. After a review of the basics of cosmology where the cosmological parameters are introduced, we discuss the various cosmological probes and their associated observables used to extract cosmological informations. We present the results obtained from several statistical analyses combining data of diferent nature but

An introduction to cosmological inflation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liddle, A.R.

1999-01-01

An introductory account is given of the inflationary cosmology, which postulates a period of accelerated expansion during the Universe's earliest stages. The historical motivation is briefly outlined, and the modelling of the inflationary epoch explained. The most important aspect of inflation is that it provides a possible model for the origin of structure in the Universe, and key results are reviewed, along with a discussion of the current observational situation and outlook. (author)

BAO Cosmography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lazkoz, Ruth; Escamilla-Rivera, Celia; Salzano, Vincenzo; Sendra, Irene [Fisika Teorikoaren eta Zientziaren Historia Saila, Zientzia eta Teknologia Fakultatea, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, 644 Posta Kutxatila, Bilbao, 48080 (Spain); Alcaniz, Jailson, E-mail: ruth.lazkoz@ehu.es, E-mail: alcaniz@on.br, E-mail: celia_escamilla@ehu.es, E-mail: vincenzo.salzano@ehu.es, E-mail: irene.sendra@ehu.es [Observatório Nacional, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 20921–400 (Brazil)

2013-12-01

Cosmography provides a model-independent way to map the expansion history of the Universe. In this paper we simulate a Euclid-like survey and explore cosmographic constraints from future Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) observations. We derive general expressions for the BAO transverse and radial modes and discuss the optimal order of the cosmographic expansion that provides reliable cosmological constraints. Through constraints on the deceleration and jerk parameters, we show that future BAO data have the potential to provide a model-independent check of the cosmic acceleration as well as a discrimination between the standard ΛCDM model and alternative mechanisms of cosmic acceleration.

Bayesian evidences for dark energy models in light of current observational data

Science.gov (United States)

Lonappan, Anto. I.; Kumar, Sumit; Ruchika; Dinda, Bikash R.; Sen, Anjan A.

2018-02-01

We do a comprehensive study of the Bayesian evidences for a large number of dark energy models using a combination of latest cosmological data from SNIa, CMB, BAO, strong lensing time delay, growth measurements, measurements of Hubble parameter at different redshifts and measurements of angular diameter distance by Megamaser Cosmology Project. We consider a variety of scalar field models with different potentials as well as different parametrizations for the dark energy equation of state. Among 21 models that we consider in our study, we do not find strong evidences in favor of any evolving dark energy model compared to Λ CDM . For the evolving dark energy models, we show that purely nonphantom models have much better evidences compared to those models that allow both phantom and nonphantom behaviors. Canonical scalar field with exponential and tachyon field with square potential have highest evidences among all the models considered in this work. We also show that a combination of low redshift measurements decisively favors an accelerating Λ CDM model compared to a nonaccelerating power law model.

Wind power projects in the CDM: Methodologies and tools for baselines, carbon financing and substainability analysis[CDM=Clean Development Mechanism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ringius, L.; Grohnheit, P.E.; Nielsen, L.H.; Olivier, A.L.; Painuly, J.; Villavicencio, A.

2002-12-01

The report is intended to be a guidance document for project developers, investors, lenders, and CDM host countries involved in wind power projects in the CDM. The report explores in particular those issues that are important in CDM project assessment and development - that is, baseline development, carbon financing, and environmental sustainability. It does not deal in detail with those issues that are routinely covered in a standard wind power project assessment. The report tests, compares, and recommends methodologies for and approaches to baseline development. To present the application and implications of the various methodologies and approaches in a concrete context, Africa's largest wind farm-namely the 60 MW wind farm located in Zafarana, Egypt- is examined as a hypothetical CDM wind power project The report shows that for the present case example there is a difference of about 25% between the lowest (0.5496 tCO2/MWh) and the highest emission rate (0.6868 tCO{sub 2}/MWh) estimated in accordance with these three standardized approaches to baseline development according to the Marrakesh Accord. This difference in emission factors comes about partly as a result of including hydroelectric power in the baseline scenario. Hydroelectric resources constitute around 21% of the generation capacity in Egypt, and, if excluding hydropower, the difference between the lowest and the highest baseline is reduced to 18%. Furthermore, since the two variations of the 'historical' baseline option examined result in the highest and the lowest baselines, by disregarding this baseline option altogether the difference between the lowest and the highest is reduced to 16%. The ES3-model, which the Systems Analysis Department at Risoe National Laboratory has developed, makes it possible for this report to explore the project-specific approach to baseline development in some detail. Based on quite disaggregated data on the Egyptian electricity system, including the wind

A hydrodynamic approach to cosmology: The mixed dark matter cosmological scenario

Science.gov (United States)

Cen, Renyue; Ostriker, Jeremiah P.

1994-01-01

We compute the evolution of spatially flat, mixed cold and hot dark matter models containing both baryonic matter and two kinds of dark matter. Hydrodynamics is treated with a highly developed Eulerian hydrodynamic code (see Cen 1992). A standard particle-mesh (PM) code is also used in parallel to calculate the motion of the dark matter components. We adopt the following parameters: h equivalent to (sub 0)/100 km/s Mpc(exp -1) = 0.5, OMEGA(sub C) = 0.3, and OMEGA(sub B) = 0.06, with amplitude of the perturbation spectrum fixed by the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite (COBE) Dark Matter Radiation (DMR) measurements (Smoot et al. 1992) being sigma (sub 8) = 0.67. Four different boxes are simulated with box sizes of L = (64, 16, 4, 1) h(exp -1) Mpc, respectively, the two small boxes providing good resolution but little valid information due to absence of large-scale power. We use 128(exp 3) approximate 10(exp 6.3) baryonic cells, 128(exp .3) cold dark matter particles, and 2 x 128(exp 3) hot dark matter particles. In addition to the dark matter we follow separately six baryonic species (H, H(+), He, He(+), He(++), e(-)) with allowance for both (nonequilibrium) collisional and radiative ionization in every cell. The background radiation field is also followed in detail with allowance made for both continuum and line processes, to allow nonequilibrium heating and cooling processes to be followed in detail. The mean final Zeldovich-Sunyaev y parameter is estimated to be y Bar = (5.4 + or - 2.7) x 10(exp -7) below currently attainable observations, with a rms fluctuation of approximately delta bar y = (0.6 + or - 3.0) x 10(exp -7) on arcminute scales. The rate of galaxy formation peaks at an even later epoch (z approximate 0.3) than in the standard (OMEGA = 1, sigma sub 8 = 0.67) cold dark matter (CDM) model (z approximate 0.5) and, at a redshift of z = 4, is nearly a factor of 100 lower than for the CDM model with the same value of sigma sub 8. With regard to mass

Technology choice and CDM projects in China: case study of a small steel company in Shandong Province

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaneko, Shinji; Yonamine, Asaka; Jung, Tae Yong

2006-01-01

Corporate motives and strategies of both investing and hosting country affect the outcomes of a clean development mechanism (CDM) project-who introduces what technology to whom-and result in large differences in economic viability and the CO 2 emission reductions. This is particularly true for steel industry in which steel making consists of many detailed and complex processes, a given strategy could produce cumulative effects of the individual technologies used, leading to large energy savings overall. The objective of this study is to demonstrate some analytical methods that can be used to quantitatively evaluate the impacts of technology selection on the profit performance of CDM projects. Specifically, in this study we analyze a CDM project to introduce energy saving technology from Japan to a small steel manufacturer in China's Shandong Province, and conduct a simulation of the quantitative relationships between various technology options and profitability. Based on these results, we examine the environmental and economic significance of technology selection for CDM projects. To take this further, we then reconsider the profitability of a project as typical FDI activity (i.e., without the CDM), and by comparing this outcome with the CDM case, we clarify the significance and potential of the CDM

Future Cosmological Constraints From Fast Radio Bursts

Science.gov (United States)

Walters, Anthony; Weltman, Amanda; Gaensler, B. M.; Ma, Yin-Zhe; Witzemann, Amadeus

2018-03-01

We consider the possible observation of fast radio bursts (FRBs) with planned future radio telescopes, and investigate how well the dispersions and redshifts of these signals might constrain cosmological parameters. We construct mock catalogs of FRB dispersion measure (DM) data and employ Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis, with which we forecast and compare with existing constraints in the flat ΛCDM model, as well as some popular extensions that include dark energy equation of state and curvature parameters. We find that the scatter in DM observations caused by inhomogeneities in the intergalactic medium (IGM) poses a big challenge to the utility of FRBs as a cosmic probe. Only in the most optimistic case, with a high number of events and low IGM variance, do FRBs aid in improving current constraints. In particular, when FRBs are combined with CMB+BAO+SNe+H 0 data, we find the biggest improvement comes in the {{{Ω }}}{{b}}{h}2 constraint. Also, we find that the dark energy equation of state is poorly constrained, while the constraint on the curvature parameter, Ω k , shows some improvement when combined with current constraints. When FRBs are combined with future baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) data from 21 cm Intensity Mapping, we find little improvement over the constraints from BAOs alone. However, the inclusion of FRBs introduces an additional parameter constraint, {{{Ω }}}{{b}}{h}2, which turns out to be comparable to existing constraints. This suggests that FRBs provide valuable information about the cosmological baryon density in the intermediate redshift universe, independent of high-redshift CMB data.

Defining Investment Additionality for CDM projects - practical approaches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greiner, Sandra; Michaelowa, Axel

2003-01-01

The environmental integrity of the CDM under the Kyoto Protocol depends on the possibility to avoid giving emission credits to projects that would have happened anyway. Whether and how 'Investment Additionality' of CDM projects has to be determined is currently a part of climate negotiations. We discuss the rationale of companies to invest in projects and analyse possible criteria to determine Investment Additionality from a theoretical point of view. Differences in the type of investment call for the application of different criteria. Although some criteria are better than others, no single criterion can outweigh the others in all respects. We therefore suggest a scheme for additionality testing that aims at matching types of investment and criteria in a sensible way. Criteria are evaluated on the grounds of robustness to manipulation, degree of coverage and appropriateness for testing the investment decision under consideration

A bridge between unified cosmic history by f( R)-gravity and BIonic system

Science.gov (United States)

Sepehri, Alireza; Capozziello, Salvatore; Setare, Mohammad Reza

2016-04-01

Recently, the cosmological deceleration-acceleration transition redshift in f( R) gravity has been considered in order to address consistently the problem of cosmic evolution. It is possible to show that the deceleration parameter changes sign at a given redshift according to observational data. Furthermore, a f( R) gravity cosmological model can be constructed in brane-antibrane system starting from the very early universe and accounting for the cosmological redshift at all phases of cosmic history, from inflation to late time acceleration. Here we propose a f( R) model where transition redshifts correspond to inflation-deceleration and deceleration-late time acceleration transitions starting froma BIon system. At the point where the universe was born, due to the transition of k black fundamental strings to the BIon configuration, the redshift is approximately infinity and decreases with reducing temperature (z˜ T2). The BIon is a configuration in flat space of a universe-brane and a parallel anti-universe-brane connected by a wormhole. This wormhole is a channel for flowing energy from extra dimensions into our universe, occurring at inflation and decreasing with redshift as z˜ T^{4+1/7}. Dynamics consists with the fact that the wormhole misses its energy and vanishes as soon as inflation ends and deceleration begins. Approaching two universe branes together, a tachyon is originated, it grows up and causes the formation of a wormhole. We show that, in the framework of f( R) gravity, the cosmological redshift depends on the tachyonic potential and has a significant decrease at deceleration-late time acceleration transition point (z˜ T^{2/3}). As soon as today acceleration approaches, the redshift tends to zero and the cosmological model reduces to the standard Λ CDM cosmology.

Quintom cosmology: Theoretical implications and observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai Yifu; Saridakis, Emmanuel N.; Setare, Mohammad R.; Xia Junqing

2010-01-01

We review the paradigm of quintom cosmology. This scenario is motivated by the observational indications that the equation-of-state of dark energy across the cosmological constant boundary is mildly favored, although the data are still far from being conclusive. As a theoretical setup we introduce a no-go theorem existing in quintom cosmology, and based on it we discuss the conditions for the equation-of-state of dark energy realizing the quintom scenario. The simplest quintom model can be achieved by introducing two scalar fields with one being quintessence and the other phantom. Based on the double-field quintom model we perform a detailed analysis of dark energy perturbations and we discuss their effects on current observations. This type of scenario usually suffers from a manifest problem due to the existence of a ghost degree-of-freedom, and thus we review various alternative realizations of the quintom paradigm. The developments in particle physics and string theory provide potential clues indicating that a quintom scenario may be obtained from scalar systems with higher derivative terms, as well as from non-scalar systems. Additionally, we construct a quintom realization in the framework of braneworld cosmology, where the cosmic acceleration and the phantom divide crossing result from the combined effects of the field evolution on the brane and the competition between four- and five-dimensional gravity. Finally, we study the outsets and fates of a universe in quintom cosmology. In a scenario with null energy condition violation one may obtain a bouncing solution at early times and therefore avoid the Big Bang singularity. Furthermore, if this occurs periodically, we obtain a realization of an oscillating universe. Lastly, we comment on several open issues in quintom cosmology and their connection to future investigations.

A cosmological solution to the Impossibly Early Galaxy Problem

Science.gov (United States)

Yennapureddy, Manoj K.; Melia, Fulvio

2018-06-01

To understand the formation and evolution of galaxies at redshifts 0 ≲ z ≲ 10, one must invariably introduce specific models (e.g., for the star formation) in order to fully interpret the data. Unfortunately, this tends to render the analysis compliant to the theory and its assumptions, so consensus is still somewhat elusive. Nonetheless, the surprisingly early appearance of massive galaxies challenges the standard model, and the halo mass function estimated from galaxy surveys at z ≳ 4 appears to be inconsistent with the predictions of ΛCDM, giving rise to what has been termed "The Impossibly Early Galaxy Problem" by some workers in the field. A simple resolution to this question may not be forthcoming. The situation with the halos themselves, however, is more straightforward and, in this paper, we use linear perturbation theory to derive the halo mass function over the redshift range 0 ≲ z ≲ 10 for the Rh = ct universe. We use this predicted halo distribution to demonstrate that both its dependence on mass and its very weak dependence on redshift are compatible with the data. The difficulties with ΛCDM may eventually be overcome with refinements to the underlying theory of star formation and galaxy evolution within the halos. For now, however, we demonstrate that the unexpected early formation of structure may also simply be due to an incorrect choice of the cosmology, rather than to yet unknown astrophysical issues associated with the condensation of mass fluctuations and subsequent galaxy formation.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: temperature and gravitational lensing power spectrum measurements from three seasons of data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Das, Sudeep [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Ave., Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Louis, Thibaut; Calabrese, Erminia; Dunkley, Joanna [Sub-department of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Nolta, Michael R.; Bond, J Richard; Hajian, Amir; Hincks, Adam D. [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H8 Canada (Canada); Addison, Graeme E.; Halpern, Mark [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 Canada (Canada); Battistelli, Elia S. [Department of Physics, University of Rome ' ' La Sapienza' ' , Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, I-00185 Rome (Italy); Crichton, Devin; Gralla, Megan [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-2686 (United States); Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104 (United States); Dünner, Rolando [Departamento de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificía Universidad Católica, Casilla 306, Santiago 22 (Chile); Fowler, Joseph W. [NIST Quantum Devices Group, 325 Broadway Mailcode 817.03, Boulder, CO, 80305 (United States); Hasselfield, Matthew; Hlozek, Renée [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Hilton, Matt, E-mail: sudeepphys@gmail.com [Centre for Astronomy and Particle Theory, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); and others

2014-04-01

We present the temperature power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) derived from the three seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) at 148 GHz and 218 GHz, as well as the cross-frequency spectrum between the two channels. We detect and correct for contamination due to the Galactic cirrus in our equatorial maps. We present the results of a number of tests for possible systematic error and conclude that any effects are not significant compared to the statistical errors we quote. Where they overlap, we cross-correlate the ACT and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) maps and show they are consistent. The measurements of higher-order peaks in the CMB power spectrum provide an additional test of the ΛCDM cosmological model, and help constrain extensions beyond the standard model. The small angular scale power spectrum also provides constraining power on the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects and extragalactic foregrounds. We also present a measurement of the CMB gravitational lensing convergence power spectrum at 4.6σ detection significance.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Temperature and Gravitational Lensing Power Spectrum Measurements from Three Seasons of Data

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Sudeep; Louis, Thibaut; Nolta, Michael R.; Addison, Graeme E.; Battisetti, Elia S.; Bond, J. Richard; Calabrese, Erminia; Crichton, Devin; Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon;

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: temperature and gravitational lensing power spectrum measurements from three seasons of data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Das, Sudeep; Louis, Thibaut; Calabrese, Erminia; Dunkley, Joanna; Nolta, Michael R.; Bond, J Richard; Hajian, Amir; Hincks, Adam D.; Addison, Graeme E.; Halpern, Mark; Battistelli, Elia S.; Crichton, Devin; Gralla, Megan; Devlin, Mark J.; Dicker, Simon; Dünner, Rolando; Fowler, Joseph W.; Hasselfield, Matthew; Hlozek, Renée; Hilton, Matt

2014-01-01

We present the temperature power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) derived from the three seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) at 148 GHz and 218 GHz, as well as the cross-frequency spectrum between the two channels. We detect and correct for contamination due to the Galactic cirrus in our equatorial maps. We present the results of a number of tests for possible systematic error and conclude that any effects are not significant compared to the statistical errors we quote. Where they overlap, we cross-correlate the ACT and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) maps and show they are consistent. The measurements of higher-order peaks in the CMB power spectrum provide an additional test of the ΛCDM cosmological model, and help constrain extensions beyond the standard model. The small angular scale power spectrum also provides constraining power on the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects and extragalactic foregrounds. We also present a measurement of the CMB gravitational lensing convergence power spectrum at 4.6σ detection significance

How to attribute market leakage to CDM projects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vöhringer, F.; Kuosmanen, T.K.; Dellink, R.B.

2006-01-01

Economic studies suggest that market leakage rates of greenhouse gas abatement can reach the two-digit percentage range. Although the Marrakesh Accords require Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects to account for leakage, most projects neglect market leakage. Insufficient leakage accounting is

Particles and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tkachev, Igor

1993-01-01

When the common ground between particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology started to become a developing area, the Institute for Nuclear Research (INR) of the Russian Academy of Sciences had the foresight in 1981 to institute the Baksan Schools on Particles and Cosmology. This now traditional event, held biannually in the Baksan Valley, has gone on to attract international participation. The site is close to the INR Baksan Neutrino Observatory with its underground and surface installations, including the SAGE gallium solar neutrino detector, the Underground Scintillation Telescope, and the 'Carpet' extensive air shower array. Participation is mainly from experimentalists working in non accelerator particle physics and particle astrophysics. The most recent School, held from April 21 to 28, began with an opening address by INR Director V. A. Matveev. J.Frieman reviewed standard big bang cosmology, emphasizing how the recent COBE results and the observations of large scale galaxy clustering fit into a standard cosmology framework. For inflationary cosmology, he showed how different models may be tested through their predictions for large-scale galactic structure and for cosmic microwave background anisotropy. A.Stebbins presented details of the large scale distribution of galaxies which, combined with velocity information and microwave background anisotropy data, provide strong constraints on theories of the origin of primordial inhomogeneities. Inflation requires, and theories of the large scale structure strongly favour the critical value for the cosmic mass density, while, as D.Seckel explained in his lecture on nucleosynthesis and abundances of the light elements, the baryon contribution to this density has to be tens of times smaller. A general review on the observational evidence for dark matter, dark matter particle candidates and the strategy of dark matter searches was given by I. Tkachev, who stressed the gravitational microlensing MACHO

f(R) gravity cosmology in scalar degree of freedom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goswami, Umananda Dev; Deka, Kabita

2014-01-01

The models of f(R) gravity belong to an important class of modified gravity models where the late time cosmic accelerated expansion is considered as the manifestation of the large scale modification of the force of gravity. f(R) gravity models can be expressed in terms of a scalar degree of freedom by explicit redefinition of model's variable. Here we report about the study of the features of cosmological parameters and hence the cosmological evolution using the scalar degree of freedom of the f(R) = ξR n gravity model in the Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) background

Is exponential gravity a viable description for the whole cosmological history?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Odintsov, Sergei D. [Institut de Ciencies de l' Espai, ICE/CSIC-IEEC, Barcelona (Spain); Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats (ICREA), Barcelona (Spain); National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk (Russian Federation); Tomsk State Pedagogical University, Tomsk (Russian Federation); Saez-Chillon Gomez, Diego [Institut de Ciencies de l' Espai, ICE/CSIC-IEEC, Barcelona (Spain); Sharov, German S. [Tver State University, Tver (Russian Federation)

2017-12-15

Here we analyse a particular type of F(R) gravity, the so-called exponential gravity which includes an exponential function of the Ricci scalar in the action. Such a term represents a correction to the usual Hilbert-Einstein action. By using Supernovae Ia, Barionic Acoustic Oscillations, Cosmic Microwave Background and H(z) data, the free parameters of the model are well constrained. The results show that such corrections to General Relativity become important at cosmological scales and at late times, providing an alternative to the dark energy problem. In addition, the fits do not determine any significant difference statistically with respect to the ΛCDM model. Finally, such model is extended to include the inflationary epoch in the same gravitational Lagrangian. As shown in the paper, the additional terms can reproduce the inflationary epoch and satisfy the constraints from Planck data. (orig.)

Long-term prospects of CDM and JI; Langfristige Perspektiven von CDM und JI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cames, Martin; Anger, Niels; Boehringer, Christoph; Harthan, Ralph O.; Schneider, Lambert [Oeko-Institut, Berlin (Germany)

2007-07-15

This study analyses whether Germany should use the flexible mechanisms under the Kyoto protocol or whether it should continue to achieve its greenhouse gas reduction targets by dint of domestic policies and measures. It estimates the future potential of the project-based Kyoto mechanisms (CDM and JI) and the impacts of its use on the German and the global economy, using an integrated-assessment model. In a Delphi survey, the expectations of international experts on the future prospects of the project-based Kyoto mechanisms are assessed. The study finishes with an analysis of options for promoting the use of the flexible mechanisms in Germany and concludes that the Federal Government of Germany should establish a project-based mechanisms fund of 25 to 50 million Kyoto units to cover the compliance uncertainties due to unexpected temperature or business cycle variations. (orig.) [German] Diese Studie untersucht, ob Deutschland die flexiblen Mechanismen unter dem Kyoto-Protokoll nutzen sollte oder weiterhin seine Treibhausgasreduktionsziele durch inlaendische Politiken und Massnahmen erreichen sollte. Das kuenftige Potenzial der projektbezogenen Kyoto-Mechanismen (CDM und JI) wird untersucht und die Auswirkungen von deren Nutzung auf die deutsche und globale Wirtschaft werden mit einem Integrated-Assessment-Modell abgeschaetzt. In einer Delphi-Befragung werden die Erwartungen internationaler Experten in Hinblick auf die kuenftigen Perspektiven der projektbezogenen Kyoto- Mechanismen ermittelt. Abschliessend werden Moeglichkeiten zur Foerderung der Nutzung der flexiblen Mechanismen in Deutschland analysiert, mit der Schlussfolgerung, dass die Bundesregierung einen 25 bis 50 Millionen Kyoto-Einheiten umfassenden Fonds fuer projektbezogene Mechanismen einrichten sollte, um die Unsicherheiten bei der Erfuellung des Kyoto-Ziels infolge unerwarteter Temperaturschwankungen oder einer Aenderung der Konjunkturentwicklung abzudecken. (orig.)

Future evolution in a backreaction model and the analogous scalar field cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ali, Amna; Majumdar, A.S., E-mail: amnaalig@gmail.com, E-mail: archan@bose.res.in [S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD, Sector-III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700106 (India)

2017-01-01

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.

Probing dark energy with braneworld cosmology in the light of recent cosmological data

Science.gov (United States)

García-Aspeitia, Miguel A.; Magaña, Juan; Hernández-Almada, A.; Motta, V.

We investigate a brane model based on Randall-Sundrum scenarios with a generic dark energy component. The latter drives the accelerated expansion at late-times of the universe. In this scheme, extra terms are added into Einstein Field equations that are propagated to the Friedmann equations. To constrain the dark energy equation-of-state (EoS) and the brane tension we use observational data with different energy levels (Supernovae Type Ia, H(z), baryon acoustic oscillations, and cosmic microwave background radiation distance, and a joint analysis) in a background cosmology. Beside EoS being consistent with a cosmological constant at the 3σ confidence level for each dataset, the baryon acoustic oscillations probe favors an EoS consistent with a quintessence dark energy. Although we found different lower limit bounds on the brane tension for each dataset, being the most restricted for CMB, there is not enough evidence of modifications in the cosmological evolution of the universe by the existence of an extra dimension within observational uncertainties. Nevertheless, these new bounds are complementary to those obtained by other probes like table-top experiments, Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, and stellar dynamics. Our results show that a further test of the braneworld model with appropriate correction terms or a profound analysis with perturbations, may be needed to improve the constraints provided by the current data.

Cosmology with cosmic shear observations: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kilbinger, Martin

2015-07-01

Cosmic shear is the distortion of images of distant galaxies due to weak gravitational lensing by the large-scale structure in the Universe. Such images are coherently deformed by the tidal field of matter inhomogeneities along the line of sight. By measuring galaxy shape correlations, we can study the properties and evolution of structure on large scales as well as the geometry of the Universe. Thus, cosmic shear has become a powerful probe into the nature of dark matter and the origin of the current accelerated expansion of the Universe. Over the last years, cosmic shear has evolved into a reliable and robust cosmological probe, providing measurements of the expansion history of the Universe and the growth of its structure. We review here the principles of weak gravitational lensing and show how cosmic shear is interpreted in a cosmological context. Then we give an overview of weak-lensing measurements, and present the main observational cosmic-shear results since it was discovered 15 years ago, as well as the implications for cosmology. We then conclude with an outlook on the various future surveys and missions, for which cosmic shear is one of the main science drivers, and discuss promising new weak cosmological lensing techniques for future observations.

Cosmological evolution of interacting dark energy in Lorentz violation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zen, Freddy P.; Gunara, Bobby E.; Triyanta; Arianto; Purwanto, A.

2009-01-01

The cosmological evolution of an interacting scalar-field model in which the scalar field interacts with dark matter, radiation, and baryons via Lorentz violation is investigated. We propose a model of interaction through the effective coupling, anti β. Using dynamical system analysis, we study the linear dynamics of an interacting model and show that the dynamics of critical points are completely controlled by two parameters. Some results can be mentioned as follows. Firstly, the sequence of radiation, the dark matter, and the scalar-field dark energy exist and baryons are subdominant. Secondly, the model also allows for the possibility of having a universe in the phantom phase with constant potential. Thirdly, the effective gravitational constant varies with respect to time through anti β. In particular, we consider the simple case where anti β has a quadratic form and has a good agreement with the modified ΛCDM and quintessence models. Finally, we also calculate the first post-Newtonian parameters for our model. (orig.)

Propulsion Physics Using the Chameleon Density Model

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Glen A.

2011-01-01

To grow as a space faring race, future spaceflight systems will require a new theory of propulsion. Specifically one that does not require mass ejection without limiting the high thrust necessary to accelerate within or beyond our solar system and return within a normal work period or lifetime. The Chameleon Density Model (CDM) is one such model that could provide new paths in propulsion toward this end. The CDM is based on Chameleon Cosmology a dark matter theory; introduced by Khrouy and Weltman in 2004. Chameleon as it is hidden within known physics, where the Chameleon field represents a scalar field within and about an object; even in the vacuum. The CDM relates to density changes in the Chameleon field, where the density changes are related to matter accelerations within and about an object. These density changes in turn change how an object couples to its environment. Whereby, thrust is achieved by causing a differential in the environmental coupling about an object. As a demonstration to show that the CDM fits within known propulsion physics, this paper uses the model to estimate the thrust from a solid rocket motor. Under the CDM, a solid rocket constitutes a two body system, i.e., the changing density of the rocket and the changing density in the nozzle arising from the accelerated mass. Whereby, the interactions between these systems cause a differential coupling to the local gravity environment of the earth. It is shown that the resulting differential in coupling produces a calculated value for the thrust near equivalent to the conventional thrust model used in Sutton and Ross, Rocket Propulsion Elements. Even though imbedded in the equations are the Universe energy scale factor, the reduced Planck mass and the Planck length, which relates the large Universe scale to the subatomic scale.

Cosmological model with viscosity media (dark fluid) described by an effective equation of state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren Jie; Meng Xinhe

2006-01-01

A generally parameterized equation of state (EOS) is investigated in the cosmological evolution with bulk viscosity media modelled as dark fluid, which can be regarded as a unification of dark energy and dark matter. Compared with the case of the perfect fluid, this EOS has possessed four additional parameters, which can be interpreted as the case of the non-perfect fluid with time-dependent viscosity or the model with variable cosmological constant. From this general EOS, a completely integrable dynamical equation to the scale factor is obtained with its solution explicitly given out. (i) In this parameterized model of cosmology, for a special choice of the parameters we can explain the late-time accelerating expansion universe in a new view. The early inflation, the median (relatively late time) deceleration, and the recently cosmic acceleration may be unified in a single equation. (ii) A generalized relation of the Hubble parameter scaling with the redshift is obtained for some cosmology interests. (iii) By using the SNe Ia data to fit the effective viscosity model we show that the case of matter described by p=0 plus with effective viscosity contributions can fit the observational gold data in an acceptable level

Present accelerated expansion of the universe from new Weyl-integrable gravity approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aguila, Ricardo; Madriz Aguilar, Jose Edgar; Moreno, Claudia [Universidad de Guadalajara (UdG), Departamento de Matematicas, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e ingenierias (CUCEI), Guadalajara, Jalisco (Mexico); Bellini, Mauricio [Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Mar del Plata (Argentina); Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET), Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicas de Mar del Plata (IFIMAR), La Plata (Argentina)

2014-11-15

We investigate if a recently introduced formulation of general relativity on a Weyl-integrable geometry contains cosmological solutions exhibiting acceleration in the present cosmic expansion. We derive the general conditions to have acceleration in the expansion of the universe and obtain a particular solution for the Weyl scalar field describing a cosmological model for the present time in concordance with the data combination Planck + WP + BAO + SN. (orig.)

Dynamics of anisotropic power-law f(R) cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shamir, M. F.

2016-01-01

Modified theories of gravity have attracted much attention of the researchers in the recent years. In particular, the f(R) theory has been investigated extensively due to important f(R) gravity models in cosmological contexts. This paper is devoted to exploring an anisotropic universe in metric f(R) gravity. A locally rotationally symmetric Bianchi type I cosmological model is considered for this purpose. Exact solutions of modified field equations are obtained for a well-known f(R) gravity model. The energy conditions are also discussed for the model under consideration. The viability of the model is investigated via graphical analysis using the present-day values of cosmological parameters. The model satisfies null energy, weak energy, and dominant energy conditions for a particular range of the anisotropy parameter while the strong energy condition is violated, which shows that the anisotropic universe in f(R) gravity supports the crucial issue of accelerated expansion of the universe.

Dynamics of anisotropic power-law f(R) cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shamir, M. F., E-mail: farasat.shamir@nu.edu.pk [National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Lahore Campus, Department of Sciences and Humanities (Pakistan)

2016-12-15

Modified theories of gravity have attracted much attention of the researchers in the recent years. In particular, the f(R) theory has been investigated extensively due to important f(R) gravity models in cosmological contexts. This paper is devoted to exploring an anisotropic universe in metric f(R) gravity. A locally rotationally symmetric Bianchi type I cosmological model is considered for this purpose. Exact solutions of modified field equations are obtained for a well-known f(R) gravity model. The energy conditions are also discussed for the model under consideration. The viability of the model is investigated via graphical analysis using the present-day values of cosmological parameters. The model satisfies null energy, weak energy, and dominant energy conditions for a particular range of the anisotropy parameter while the strong energy condition is violated, which shows that the anisotropic universe in f(R) gravity supports the crucial issue of accelerated expansion of the universe.

Design and Real Time Implementation of CDM-PI Control System in a Conical Tank Liquid Level Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. K. Bhaba

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The work focuses on the design and real time implementation of Coefficient Diagram Method (CDM based PI (CDM-PI control system for a Conical Tank Liquid Level Process (CTLLP which exhibits severe static non-linear characteristics. By taking this static non-linearity into account, a Wiener Model (WM based CDM-PI control system is developed and implemented in real time operations. The performance of this control system for set point tracking and load disturbance rejection is studied. In addition, the performance is compared with other WM based PI controllers. Real time results clearly show that WM based CDM-PI control system outperforms over the others.

νΛMDM: A model for sterile neutrino and dark matter reconciles cosmological and neutrino oscillation data after BICEP2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, P.; Tang, Yong

2014-01-01

We propose an ultraviolet complete theory for cold dark matter (CDM) and sterile neutrinos that can accommodate both cosmological data and neutrino oscillation experiments within 1σ level. We assume a new U(1) X dark gauge symmetry which is broken at ∼O(MeV) scale resulting light dark photon. Such a light mediator for DM's self-scattering and scattering-off sterile neutrinos can resolve three controversies for cold DM on small cosmological scales: cusp vs. core, too-big-to-fail and missing satellites. We can also accommodate ∼O(1) eV scale sterile neutrinos as the hot dark matter (HDM) and can fit some neutrino anomalies from neutrino oscillation experiments within 1σ. Finally, the right amount of HDM can make a sizable contribution to dark radiation, and also helps to reconcile the tension between the data on the tensor-to-scalar ratio reported by Planck and BICEP2 Collaborations

Co-benefits of including CCS projects in the CDM in India's power sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eto, R.; Murata, A.; Uchiyama, Y.; Okajima, K.

2013-01-01

This study examines the effects of the inclusion of the co-benefits on the potential installed capacity of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) projects with a linear programming model by the clean development mechanism (CDM) in India's power sector. It is investigated how different marginal damage costs of air pollutants affect the potential installed capacity of CCS projects in the CDM with a scenario analysis. Three results are found from this analysis. First, large quantity of IGCC with CCS becomes realizable when the certified emission reduction (CER) prices are above US$56/tCO 2 in the integrated Northern, Eastern, Western, and North-Eastern regional grids (NEWNE) and above US $49/tCO 2 in the Southern grid. Second, including co-benefits contributes to decrease CO 2 emissions and air pollutants with introduction of IGCC with CCS in the CDM at lower CER prices. Third, the effects of the co-benefits are limited in the case of CCS because CCS reduces larger amount of CO 2 emissions than that of air pollutants. Total marginal damage costs of air pollutants of US$250/t and US$200/t lead to CER prices of US$1/tCO 2 reduction in the NEWNE grid and the Southern grid. - Highlights: • We estimate effects of co-benefits on installed capacity of CCS projects in the CDM. • We develop a linear programming (LP) model of two grids of India. • Including co-benefits contributes to introduce IGCC with CCS in the CDM at lower CER prices

Implementing the Kyoto protocol : why JI and CDM show more promise than international emissions trading

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Woerdman, E.

The Kyoto protocol allows developed countries to achieve cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions abroad by means of international emissions trading (IET), joint implementation (JI) and the clean development mechanism (CDM). The article argues that JI and CDM projects will be more

The Most Massive Galaxies and Black Holes Allowed by ΛCDM

Science.gov (United States)

Behroozi, Peter; Silk, Joseph

2018-04-01

Given a galaxy's stellar mass, its host halo mass has a lower limit from the cosmic baryon fraction and known baryonic physics. At z > 4, galaxy stellar mass functions place lower limits on halo number densities that approach expected ΛCDM halo mass functions. High-redshift galaxy stellar mass functions can thus place interesting limits on number densities of massive haloes, which are otherwise very difficult to measure. Although halo mass functions at z function of redshift given expected halo number densities from ΛCDM. We apply similar arguments to black holes. If their virial mass estimates are accurate, number density constraints alone suggest that the quasars SDSS J1044-0125 and SDSS J010013.02+280225.8 likely have black hole mass — stellar mass ratios higher than the median z = 0 relation, confirming the expectation from Lauer bias. Finally, we present a public code to evaluate the probability of an apparently ΛCDM-inconsistent high-mass halo being detected given the combined effects of multiple surveys and observational errors.

A real option-based model to valuate CDM projects under uncertain energy policies for emission trading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Taeil; Kim, Changyoon; Kim, Hyoungkwan

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A real option-based model for the valuation of CDM projects is proposed. • This study investigates the impact of energy policies on the value of CDM projects. • Level of target emission and its schedule should be carefully designed. • Government subsidy facilitates the implementation of CDM projects. • Period for free emission allowance prevents promoting CDM projects. - Abstract: Emission trading has been considered a primary policy tool for emission reduction. Governments establish national targets for emission reduction and assign emission reduction goals to private entities to accomplish the targets. To attain the goal, private entities should perform offset projects that can produce emission credits or buy emission credits from the market. However, it is not easy for private entities to decide to implement the projects because energy policies associated with emission trading keep changing; thus, the future benefits of the offset projects are quite uncertain. This study presents a real option-based model to investigate how uncertain energy policies affect the financial viability of an offset project. A case study showed that the establishment of a target emission was attractive to the government because it could make the CDM project financially viable with a small amount of government subsidy. In addition, the level of the government subsidy could determine the investment timing for the CDM project. In this context, governments should be cautious in designing energy policies, because even the same energy policies could have different impacts on private entities. Overall, this study is expected to assist private entities in establishing proper investment strategies for CDM projects under uncertain energy policies

Cosmological stability bound in massive gravity and bigravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fasiello, Matteo; Tolley, Andrew J.

2013-01-01

We give a simple derivation of a cosmological bound on the graviton mass for spatially flat FRW solutions in massive gravity with an FRW reference metric and for bigravity theories. This bound comes from the requirement that the kinetic term of the helicity zero mode of the graviton is positive definite. The bound is dependent only on the parameters in the massive gravity potential and the Hubble expansion rate for the two metrics. We derive the decoupling limit of bigravity and FRW massive gravity, and use this to give an independent derivation of the cosmological bound. We recover our previous results that the tension between satisfying the Friedmann equation and the cosmological bound is sufficient to rule out all observationally relevant FRW solutions for massive gravity with an FRW reference metric. In contrast, in bigravity this tension is resolved due to different nature of the Vainshtein mechanism. We find that in bigravity theories there exists an FRW solution with late-time self-acceleration for which the kinetic terms for the helicity-2, helicity-1 and helicity-0 are generically nonzero and positive making this a compelling candidate for a model of cosmic acceleration. We confirm that the generalized bound is saturated for the candidate partially massless (bi)gravity theories but the existence of helicity-1/helicity-0 interactions implies the absence of the conjectured partially massless symmetry for both massive gravity and bigravity

Establishing a National Authority (NA) for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The Costa Rican Experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manso, P.

2003-01-01

The challenge of climate change is now a global issue and part of the international agenda. The Kyoto Protocol (KP) and its provisions for flexible mechanisms have provided a framework for an effective and equitable global response. Among these instruments, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) using the market as its driven force has the potential to not only contribute to the ultimate objective of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), but also encourage developing countries to move their economic growth under a less carbon-intensive development path. A flexible mechanism such as the CDM, the surprise on the KP menu, has never been attempted before and it is a clear case where lessons can only be learned by doing and every mistake is a valuable lesson learned. One lesson already learned is that host countries that established national oversight entities during the pilot phase of Activities Implemented Jointly (AIJ) were remarkably more successful in accessing its benefits than countries that had not. Now, setting-up a National Authority (NA) is a compulsory requirement for all developing countries wishing to participate in the CDM. The scope of this paper is to present a guide for those developing countries willing to develop its institutional capacity needed to participate in the CDM. Required framework conditions for CDM projects, roles of the NA in the CDM project cycle, possible structures of and tasks to be performed by the NA, steps in creating a NA and challenges of its institutionalisation, are considered from the perspective of a developing country

Local involvement in CDM biogas projects: Argentine experiences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Serna Martín, A.; Dietz, T.

2008-01-01

Mitigating climate change and contributing to the sustainable development of host countries are the goals of the CDM. In order to achieve these goals, projects follow an implementation chain, which starts with the design and ends with the issuance of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs). During the

Precision Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Bernard J. T.

2017-04-01

Preface; Notation and conventions; Part I. 100 Years of Cosmology: 1. Emerging cosmology; 2. The cosmic expansion; 3. The cosmic microwave background; 4. Recent cosmology; Part II. Newtonian Cosmology: 5. Newtonian cosmology; 6. Dark energy cosmological models; 7. The early universe; 8. The inhomogeneous universe; 9. The inflationary universe; Part III. Relativistic Cosmology: 10. Minkowski space; 11. The energy momentum tensor; 12. General relativity; 13. Space-time geometry and calculus; 14. The Einstein field equations; 15. Solutions of the Einstein equations; 16. The Robertson-Walker solution; 17. Congruences, curvature and Raychaudhuri; 18. Observing and measuring the universe; Part IV. The Physics of Matter and Radiation: 19. Physics of the CMB radiation; 20. Recombination of the primeval plasma; 21. CMB polarisation; 22. CMB anisotropy; Part V. Precision Tools for Precision Cosmology: 23. Likelihood; 24. Frequentist hypothesis testing; 25. Statistical inference: Bayesian; 26. CMB data processing; 27. Parametrising the universe; 28. Precision cosmology; 29. Epilogue; Appendix A. SI, CGS and Planck units; Appendix B. Magnitudes and distances; Appendix C. Representing vectors and tensors; Appendix D. The electromagnetic field; Appendix E. Statistical distributions; Appendix F. Functions on a sphere; Appendix G. Acknowledgements; References; Index.

Assessment of CO2 emission reduction and identification of CDM potential in a township

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Misra, R.; Aseri, Tarun Kumar; Jamuwa, Doraj Karnal [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government Engineering College, Ajmer, Rajasthan (India); Bansal, V. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government Mahila Engineering College, Ajmer, Rajasthan (India)

2012-11-15

This paper presents the theoretical investigation of CDM opportunity in a township at Jaipur, India. The purpose of study is to identify and analyze the various opportunities viz., installation of solar water heater, energy efficient lighting, energy efficient air conditioners, and energy efficient submersible water pumps in desert coolers and thus achieve a considerable (65.7 %) reduction in GHG emissions. Out of the various opportunities considered, the retrofitting with solar water heater can be recommended for CDM. Though, the retrofitting with energy efficient lighting, energy efficient air conditioners and energy efficient submersible water pumps in desert coolers claimed CO2 emission reduction of 104.84, 25.92, and 36.94 tons per annum, respectively, but the only opportunity which got through CDM was retrofitting with solar water heater claiming 115.70 tCO2 (100 %) emission reductions per annum which could result into net earnings of 115.70 CERs. The simple and discounted payback period for all four project activities are also calculated with and without CDM and tax benefits.

Inflationary cosmology with Chaplygin gas in Palatini formalism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borowiec, Andrzej; Wojnar, Aneta; Stachowski, Aleksander; Szydłowski, Marek

2016-01-01

We present a simple generalisation of the ΛCDM model which on the one hand reaches very good agreement with the present day experimental data and provides an internal inflationary mechanism on the other hand. It is based on Palatini modified gravity with quadratic Starobinsky term and generalized Chaplygin gas as a matter source providing, besides a current accelerated expansion, the epoch of endogenous inflation driven by type III freeze singularity. It follows from our statistical analysis that astronomical data favors negative value of the parameter coupling quadratic term into Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian and as a consequence the bounce instead of initial Big-Bang singularity is preferred

Inflationary cosmology with Chaplygin gas in Palatini formalism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borowiec, Andrzej; Wojnar, Aneta [Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Wrocław, pl. M. Borna 9, 50-204, Wrocław (Poland); Stachowski, Aleksander; Szydłowski, Marek, E-mail: andrzej.borowiec@ift.uni.wroc.pl, E-mail: aleksander.stachowski@uj.edu.pl, E-mail: marek.szydlowski@uj.edu.pl, E-mail: aneta.wojnar@ift.uni.wroc.pl [Astronomical Observatory, Jagiellonian University, Orla 171, 30-244 Kraków (Poland)

2016-01-01

We present a simple generalisation of the ΛCDM model which on the one hand reaches very good agreement with the present day experimental data and provides an internal inflationary mechanism on the other hand. It is based on Palatini modified gravity with quadratic Starobinsky term and generalized Chaplygin gas as a matter source providing, besides a current accelerated expansion, the epoch of endogenous inflation driven by type III freeze singularity. It follows from our statistical analysis that astronomical data favors negative value of the parameter coupling quadratic term into Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian and as a consequence the bounce instead of initial Big-Bang singularity is preferred.

Sustainable waste management in Africa through CDM projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Couth, R; Trois, C

2012-11-01

Only few Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects (traditionally focussed on landfill gas combustion) have been registered in Africa if compared to similar developing countries. The waste hierarchy adopted by many African countries clearly shows that waste recycling and composting projects are generally the most sustainable. This paper undertakes a sustainability assessment for practical waste treatment and disposal scenarios for Africa and makes recommendations for consideration. The appraisal in this paper demonstrates that mechanical biological treatment of waste becomes more financially attractive if established through the CDM process. Waste will continue to be dumped in Africa with increasing greenhouse gas emissions produced, unless industrialised countries (Annex 1) fund carbon emission reduction schemes through a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol. Such a replacement should calculate all of the direct and indirect carbon emission savings and seek to promote public-private partnerships through a concerted support of the informal sector. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

N-body simulations for coupled scalar-field cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Baojiu; Barrow, John D.

2011-01-01

We describe in detail the general methodology and numerical implementation of consistent N-body simulations for coupled-scalar-field models, including background cosmology and the generation of initial conditions (with the different couplings to different matter species taken into account). We perform fully consistent simulations for a class of coupled-scalar-field models with an inverse power-law potential and negative coupling constant, for which the chameleon mechanism does not work. We find that in such cosmological models the scalar-field potential plays a negligible role except in the background expansion, and the fifth force that is produced is proportional to gravity in magnitude, justifying the use of a rescaled gravitational constant G in some earlier N-body simulation works for similar models. We then study the effects of the scalar coupling on the nonlinear matter power spectra and compare with linear perturbation calculations to see the agreement and places where the nonlinear treatment deviates from the linear approximation. We also propose an algorithm to identify gravitationally virialized matter halos, trying to take account of the fact that the virialization itself is also modified by the scalar-field coupling. We use the algorithm to measure the mass function and study the properties of dark-matter halos. We find that the net effect of the scalar coupling helps produce more heavy halos in our simulation boxes and suppresses the inner (but not the outer) density profile of halos compared with the ΛCDM prediction, while the suppression weakens as the coupling between the scalar field and dark-matter particles increases in strength.

Value of the Cosmological Constant in Emergent Quantum Gravity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hogan, Craig [Fermilab

2018-03-30

It is suggested that the exact value of the cosmological constant could be derived from first principles, based on entanglement of the Standard Model field vacuum with emergent holographic quantum geometry. For the observed value of the cosmological constant, geometrical information is shown to agree closely with the spatial information density of the QCD vacuum, estimated in a free-field approximation. The comparison is motivated by a model of exotic rotational fluctuations in the inertial frame that can be precisely tested in laboratory experiments. Cosmic acceleration in this model is always positive, but fluctuates with characteristic coherence length $\\approx 100$km and bandwidth $\\approx 3000$ Hz.

Dynamical study of DBI-essence in loop quantum cosmology and brane world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhadra, Jhumpa; Debnath, Ujjal

2012-01-01

We have studied homogeneous isotropic FRW model having dynamical dark energy DBI-essence with scalar field. Existence of cosmological scaling solutions restricts the Lagrangian of the scalar field φ. Choosing p=Xg(Xe λφ ), where X=-g μν ∂ μ φ∂ ν φ/2 with g any function of Xe λφ and defining some suitable transformations, we have constructed the dynamical system in different models of gravity: (i) Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC), (ii) DGP brane world and (iii) RS II brane world. We have investigated stability of this dynamical system around the critical point for three gravity models and investigated the scalar-field dominated attractor solution in support of accelerated universe. The roles of the physical parameters have also been shown graphically during the accelerating phase of the universe. (orig.)

Scoping paper on new CDM baseline methodology for cross-border power trade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-07-01

Poeyry has been sub-contracted by Carbon Limits, under the African Development Bank CDM Support Programme, to prepare a new CDM baseline methodology for cross border trade, based on a transmission line from Ethiopia to Kenya. The first step in that process is to review the response of the UNFCCC, particularly the Methodologies Panel ('Meth Panel') of the CDM Executive Board, to the various proposals on cross-border trade and interconnection of grids. This report reviews the Methodology Panel and Executive Board decisions on 4 requests for revisions of ACM2 'Consolidated baseline methodology for grid-connected electricity generation from renewable sources', and 5 proposed new baseline methodologies (NM255, NM269, NM272, NM318, NM342), all of which were rejected. We analyse the reasons the methodologies were rejected, and whether the proposed draft Approved Methodology (AM) that the Methodology Panel created in response to NM269 and NM272 is a suitable basis for a new methodology proposal.(auth)

Cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Contopoulos, G.; Kotsakis, D.

1987-01-01

An extensive first part on a wealth of observational results relevant to cosmology lays the foundation for the second and central part of the book; the chapters on general relativity, the various cosmological theories, and the early universe. The authors present in a complete and almost non-mathematical way the ideas and theoretical concepts of modern cosmology including the exciting impact of high-energy particle physics, e.g. in the concept of the ''inflationary universe''. The final part addresses the deeper implications of cosmology, the arrow of time, the universality of physical laws, inflation and causality, and the anthropic principle