GRID-BASED EXPLORATION OF COSMOLOGICAL PARAMETER SPACE WITH SNAKE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mikkelsen, K.; Næss, S. K.; Eriksen, H. K., E-mail: kristin.mikkelsen@astro.uio.no [Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1029, Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo (Norway)

2013-11-10

We present a fully parallelized grid-based parameter estimation algorithm for investigating multidimensional likelihoods called Snake, and apply it to cosmological parameter estimation. The basic idea is to map out the likelihood grid-cell by grid-cell according to decreasing likelihood, and stop when a certain threshold has been reached. This approach improves vastly on the 'curse of dimensionality' problem plaguing standard grid-based parameter estimation simply by disregarding grid cells with negligible likelihood. The main advantages of this method compared to standard Metropolis-Hastings Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods include (1) trivial extraction of arbitrary conditional distributions; (2) direct access to Bayesian evidences; (3) better sampling of the tails of the distribution; and (4) nearly perfect parallelization scaling. The main disadvantage is, as in the case of brute-force grid-based evaluation, a dependency on the number of parameters, N{sub par}. One of the main goals of the present paper is to determine how large N{sub par} can be, while still maintaining reasonable computational efficiency; we find that N{sub par} = 12 is well within the capabilities of the method. The performance of the code is tested by comparing cosmological parameters estimated using Snake and the WMAP-7 data with those obtained using CosmoMC, the current standard code in the field. We find fully consistent results, with similar computational expenses, but shorter wall time due to the perfect parallelization scheme.

Measuring Dark Energy Properties with Photometrically Classified Pan-STARRS Supernovae. II. Cosmological Parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, D. O.; Scolnic, D. M.; Riess, A. G.; Rest, A.; Kirshner, R. P.; Berger, E.; Kessler, R.; Pan, Y.-C.; Foley, R. J.; Chornock, R.; Ortega, C. A.; Challis, P. J.; Burgett, W. S.; Chambers, K. C.; Draper, P. W.; Flewelling, H.; Huber, M. E.; Kaiser, N.; Kudritzki, R.-P.; Metcalfe, N.; Tonry, J.; Wainscoat, R. J.; Waters, C.; Gall, E. E. E.; Kotak, R.; McCrum, M.; Smartt, S. J.; Smith, K. W.

2018-04-01

We use 1169 Pan-STARRS supernovae (SNe) and 195 low-z (z used to infer unbiased cosmological parameters by using a Bayesian methodology that marginalizes over core-collapse (CC) SN contamination. Our sample contains nearly twice as many SNe as the largest previous SN Ia compilation. Combining SNe with cosmic microwave background (CMB) constraints from Planck, we measure the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w to be ‑0.989 ± 0.057 (stat+sys). If w evolves with redshift as w(a) = w 0 + w a (1 ‑ a), we find w 0 = ‑0.912 ± 0.149 and w a = ‑0.513 ± 0.826. These results are consistent with cosmological parameters from the Joint Light-curve Analysis and the Pantheon sample. We try four different photometric classification priors for Pan-STARRS SNe and two alternate ways of modeling CC SN contamination, finding that no variant gives a w differing by more than 2% from the baseline measurement. The systematic uncertainty on w due to marginalizing over CC SN contamination, {σ }wCC}=0.012, is the third-smallest source of systematic uncertainty in this work. We find limited (1.6σ) evidence for evolution of the SN color-luminosity relation with redshift, a possible systematic that could constitute a significant uncertainty in future high-z analyses. Our data provide one of the best current constraints on w, demonstrating that samples with ∼5% CC SN contamination can give competitive cosmological constraints when the contaminating distribution is marginalized over in a Bayesian framework.

Data-constrained reionization and its effects on cosmological parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pandolfi, S.; Ferrara, A.; Choudhury, T. Roy; Mitra, S.; Melchiorri, A.

2011-01-01

We perform an analysis of the recent WMAP7 data considering physically motivated and viable reionization scenarios with the aim of assessing their effects on cosmological parameter determinations. The main novelties are: (i) the combination of cosmic microwave background data with astrophysical results from quasar absorption line experiments; (ii) the joint variation of both the cosmological and astrophysical [governing the evolution of the free electron fraction x e (z)] parameters. Including a realistic, data-constrained reionization history in the analysis induces appreciable changes in the cosmological parameter values deduced through a standard WMAP7 analysis. Particularly noteworthy are the variations in Ω b h 2 =0.02258 -0.00056 +0.00057 [WMAP7 (Sudden)] vs Ω b h 2 =0.02183±0.00054[WMAP7+ASTRO (CF)] and the new constraints for the scalar spectral index, for which WMAP7+ASTRO (CF) excludes the Harrison-Zel'dovich value n s =1 at >3σ. Finally, the electron-scattering optical depth value is considerably decreased with respect to the standard WMAP7, i.e. τ e =0.080±0.012. We conclude that the inclusion of astrophysical data sets, allowing to robustly constrain the reionization history, in the extraction procedure of cosmological parameters leads to relatively important differences in the final determination of their values.

Improved constraints on cosmological parameters from SNIa data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

March, M.C.; Trotta, R.

2011-02-01

We present a new method based on a Bayesian hierarchical model to extract constraints on cosmological parameters from SNIa data obtained with the SALT-II lightcurve fitter. We demonstrate with simulated data sets that our method delivers considerably tighter statistical constraints on the cosmological parameters and that it outperforms the usual χ 2 approach 2/3 of the times. As a further benefit, a full posterior probability distribution for the dispersion of the intrinsic magnitude of SNe is obtained. We apply this method to recent SNIa data and find that it improves statistical constraints on cosmological parameters from SNIa data alone by about 40% w.r.t. the standard approach. From the combination of SNIa, CMB and BAO data we obtain Ω m =0.29±0.01, Ω Λ =0.72±0.01 (assuming w=-1) and Ω m =0.28±0.01, w=-0.90±0.04 (assuming flatness; statistical uncertainties only). We constrain the intrinsic dispersion of the B-band magnitude of the SNIa population, obtaining σ μ int =0.13±0.01 [mag]. Applications to systematic uncertainties will be discussed in a forthcoming paper. (orig.)

Improved constraints on cosmological parameters from SNIa data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

March, M.C.; Trotta, R. [Imperial College, London (United Kingdom). Astrophysics Group; Berkes, P. [Brandeis Univ., Waltham (United States). Volen Centre for Complex Systems; Starkman, G.D. [Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland (United States). CERCA and Dept. of Physics; Vaudrevange, P.M. [Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland (United States). CERCA and Dept. of Physics; Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany)

2011-02-15

We present a new method based on a Bayesian hierarchical model to extract constraints on cosmological parameters from SNIa data obtained with the SALT-II lightcurve fitter. We demonstrate with simulated data sets that our method delivers considerably tighter statistical constraints on the cosmological parameters and that it outperforms the usual {chi}{sup 2} approach 2/3 of the times. As a further benefit, a full posterior probability distribution for the dispersion of the intrinsic magnitude of SNe is obtained. We apply this method to recent SNIa data and find that it improves statistical constraints on cosmological parameters from SNIa data alone by about 40% w.r.t. the standard approach. From the combination of SNIa, CMB and BAO data we obtain {omega}{sub m}=0.29{+-}0.01, {omega}{sub {lambda}}=0.72{+-}0.01 (assuming w=-1) and {omega}{sub m}=0.28{+-}0.01, w=-0.90{+-}0.04 (assuming flatness; statistical uncertainties only). We constrain the intrinsic dispersion of the B-band magnitude of the SNIa population, obtaining {sigma}{sub {mu}}{sup int}=0.13{+-}0.01 [mag]. Applications to systematic uncertainties will be discussed in a forthcoming paper. (orig.)

Measuring Cosmological Parameters with Photometrically Classified Pan-STARRS Supernovae

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, David; Scolnic, Daniel; Riess, Adam; Rest, Armin; Kirshner, Robert; Berger, Edo; Kessler, Rick; Pan, Yen-Chen; Foley, Ryan; Chornock, Ryan; Ortega, Carolyn; Challis, Peter; Burgett, William; Chambers, Kenneth; Draper, Peter; Flewelling, Heather; Huber, Mark; Kaiser, Nick; Kudritzki, Rolf; Metcalfe, Nigel; Tonry, John; Wainscoat, Richard J.; Waters, Chris; Gall, E. E. E.; Kotak, Rubina; McCrum, Matt; Smartt, Stephen; Smith, Ken

2018-01-01

We use nearly 1,200 supernovae (SNe) from Pan-STARRS and ~200 low-z (z energy equation of state parameter w to be -0.986±0.058 (stat+sys). If we allow w to evolve with redshift as w(a) = w0 + wa(1-a), we find w0 = -0.923±0.148 and wa = -0.404±0.797. These results are consistent with measurements of cosmological parameters from the JLA and from a new analysis of 1049 spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia (Scolnic et al. 2017). We try four different photometric classification priors for Pan-STARRS SNe and two alternate ways of modeling the CC SN contamination, finding that none of these variants gives a w that differs by more than 1% from the baseline measurement. The systematic uncertainty on w due to marginalizing over the CC SN contamination, σwCC = 0.019, is approximately equal to the photometric calibration uncertainty and is lower than the systematic uncertainty in the SN\\,Ia dispersion model (σwdisp = 0.024). Our data provide one of the best current constraints on w, demonstrating that samples with ~5% CC SN contamination can give competitive cosmological constraints when the contaminating distribution is marginalized over in a Bayesian framework.

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;

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.

CHANDRA CLUSTER COSMOLOGY PROJECT III: COSMOLOGICAL PARAMETER CONSTRAINTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vikhlinin, A.; Forman, W. R.; Jones, C.; Murray, S. S.; Kravtsov, A. V.; Burenin, R. A.; Voevodkin, A.; Ebeling, H.; Hornstrup, A.; Nagai, D.; Quintana, H.

2009-01-01

Chandra observations of large samples of galaxy clusters detected in X-rays by ROSAT provide a new, robust determination of the cluster mass functions at low and high redshifts. Statistical and systematic errors are now sufficiently small, and the redshift leverage sufficiently large for the mass function evolution to be used as a useful growth of a structure-based dark energy probe. In this paper, we present cosmological parameter constraints obtained from Chandra observations of 37 clusters with (z) = 0.55 derived from 400 deg 2 ROSAT serendipitous survey and 49 brightest z ∼ 0.05 clusters detected in the All-Sky Survey. Evolution of the mass function between these redshifts requires Ω Λ > 0 with a ∼5σ significance, and constrains the dark energy equation-of-state parameter to w 0 = -1.14 ± 0.21, assuming a constant w and a flat universe. Cluster information also significantly improves constraints when combined with other methods. Fitting our cluster data jointly with the latest supernovae, Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, and baryonic acoustic oscillation measurements, we obtain w 0 = -0.991 ± 0.045 (stat) ±0.039 (sys), a factor of 1.5 reduction in statistical uncertainties, and nearly a factor of 2 improvement in systematics compared with constraints that can be obtained without clusters. The joint analysis of these four data sets puts a conservative upper limit on the masses of light neutrinos Σm ν M h and σ 8 from the low-redshift cluster mass function.

A small cosmological constant and backreaction of non-finetuned parameters

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Krause, Axel

2003-01-01

We include the backreaction on warped geometry induced by non-finetuned parameters in a two domain-wall set-up to obtain an exponentially small Cosmological Constant Λ4. The mechanism to suppress the Cosmological Constant involves one classical fine-tuning as compared to an infinity of finetunings at the quantum level in standard D = 4 field theory. (author)

Type Ia Supernova Intrinsic Magnitude Dispersion and the Fitting of Cosmological Parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, A. G.

2011-02-01

I present an analysis for fitting cosmological parameters from a Hubble diagram of a standard candle with unknown intrinsic magnitude dispersion. The dispersion is determined from the data, simultaneously with the cosmological parameters. This contrasts with the strategies used to date. The advantages of the presented analysis are that it is done in a single fit (it is not iterative), it provides a statistically founded and unbiased estimate of the intrinsic dispersion, and its cosmological-parameter uncertainties account for the intrinsic-dispersion uncertainty. Applied to Type Ia supernovae, my strategy provides a statistical measure to test for subtypes and assess the significance of any magnitude corrections applied to the calibrated candle. Parameter bias and differences between likelihood distributions produced by the presented and currently used fitters are negligibly small for existing and projected supernova data sets.

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.

Constraining cosmological parameter with SN Ia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Putri, A N Indra; Wulandari, H R Tri

2016-01-01

A type I supemovae (SN Ia) is an exploding white dwarf, whose mass exceeds Chandrasekar limit (1.44 solar mass). If a white dwarf is in a binary system, it may accrete matter from the companion, resulting in an excess mass that cannot be balanced by the pressure of degenerated electrons in the core. SNe Ia are highly luminous objects, that they are visible from very high distances. After some corrections (stretch (s), colour (c), K-corrections, etc.), the variations in the light curves of SNe Ia can be suppressed to be no more than 10%. Their high luminosity and almost uniform intrinsic brightness at the peak light, i.e. M B ∼ -19, make SNe Ia ideal standard candle. Because of their visibility from large distances, SNe Ia can be employed as a cosmological measuring tool. It was analysis of SNe Ia data that indicated for the first time, that the universe is not only expanding, but also accelerating. This work analyzed a compilation of SNe Ia data to determine several cosmological parameters (H 0 , Ω m , Ω a , and w ). It can be concluded from the analysis, that our universe is a flat, dark energy dominated universe, and that the cosmological constant A is a suitable candidate for dark energy. (paper)

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: cosmological parameters from three seasons of data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sievers, Jonathan L.; Appel, John William; Hlozek, Renée A.; Nolta, Michael R.; Battaglia, Nick; Bond, J. Richard; Acquaviva, Viviana; Addison, Graeme E.; Amiri, Mandana; Battistelli, Elia S.; Burger, Bryce; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Brown, Ben; Calabrese, Erminia; Chervenak, Jay; Crichton, Devin; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.

2013-01-01

We present constraints on cosmological and astrophysical parameters from high-resolution microwave background maps at 148 GHz and 218 GHz made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) in three seasons of observations from 2008 to 2010. A model of primary cosmological and secondary foreground parameters is fit to the map power spectra and lensing deflection power spectrum, including contributions from both the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect and the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect, Poisson and correlated anisotropy from unresolved infrared sources, radio sources, and the correlation between the tSZ effect and infrared sources. The power ℓ 2 C ℓ /2π of the thermal SZ power spectrum at 148 GHz is measured to be 3.4±1.4  μK 2 at ℓ = 3000, while the corresponding amplitude of the kinematic SZ power spectrum has a 95% confidence level upper limit of 8.6  μK 2 . Combining ACT power spectra with the WMAP 7-year temperature and polarization power spectra, we find excellent consistency with the LCDM model. We constrain the number of effective relativistic degrees of freedom in the early universe to be N eff = 2.79±0.56, in agreement with the canonical value of N eff = 3.046 for three massless neutrinos. We constrain the sum of the neutrino masses to be Σm ν < 0.39 eV at 95% confidence when combining ACT and WMAP 7-year data with BAO and Hubble constant measurements. We constrain the amount of primordial helium to be Y p = 0.225±0.034, and measure no variation in the fine structure constant α since recombination, with α/α 0 = 1.004±0.005. We also find no evidence for any running of the scalar spectral index, dn s /dln k = −0.004±0.012

Cosmological parameters from CMB and other data: A Monte Carlo approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, Antony; Bridle, Sarah

2002-01-01

We present a fast Markov chain Monte Carlo exploration of cosmological parameter space. We perform a joint analysis of results from recent cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments and provide parameter constraints, including σ 8 , from the CMB independent of other data. We next combine data from the CMB, HST Key Project, 2dF galaxy redshift survey, supernovae type Ia and big-bang nucleosynthesis. The Monte Carlo method allows the rapid investigation of a large number of parameters, and we present results from 6 and 9 parameter analyses of flat models, and an 11 parameter analysis of non-flat models. Our results include constraints on the neutrino mass (m ν < or approx. 3 eV), equation of state of the dark energy, and the tensor amplitude, as well as demonstrating the effect of additional parameters on the base parameter constraints. In a series of appendixes we describe the many uses of importance sampling, including computing results from new data and accuracy correction of results generated from an approximate method. We also discuss the different ways of converting parameter samples to parameter constraints, the effect of the prior, assess the goodness of fit and consistency, and describe the use of analytic marginalization over normalization parameters

Determination of Cosmological Parameters from GRB Correlation between E_iso (gamma) and Afterglow Flux

Science.gov (United States)

Hannachi, Zitouni; Guessoum, Nidhal; Azzam, Walid

2016-07-01

Context: We use the correlation relations between the energy emitted by the GRBs in their prompt phases and the X-ray afterglow fluxes, in an effort to constrain cosmological parameters and construct a Hubble diagram at high redshifts, i.e. beyond those found in Type Ia supernovae. Methods: We use a sample of 128 Swift GRBs, which we have selected among more than 800 ones observed until July 2015. The selection is based on a few observational constraints: GRB flux higher than 0.4 photons/cm^2/s in the band 15-150 keV; spectrum fitted with simple power law; redshift accurately known and given; and X-ray afterglow observed and flux measured. The statistical method of maximum likelihood is then used to determine the best cosmological parameters (Ω_M, Ω_L) that give the best correlation between the isotropic gamma energies E_{iso} and the afterglow fluxes at the break time t_{b}. The χ^2 statistical test is also used as a way to compare results from two methods. Results & Conclusions: Although the number of GRBs with high redshifts is rather small, and despite the notable dispersion found in the data, the results we have obtained are quite encouraging and promising. The values of the cosmological parameters obtained here are close to those currently used.

Learn-as-you-go acceleration of cosmological parameter estimates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aslanyan, Grigor; Easther, Richard; Price, Layne C.

2015-01-01

Cosmological analyses can be accelerated by approximating slow calculations using a training set, which is either precomputed or generated dynamically. However, this approach is only safe if the approximations are well understood and controlled. This paper surveys issues associated with the use of machine-learning based emulation strategies for accelerating cosmological parameter estimation. We describe a learn-as-you-go algorithm that is implemented in the Cosmo++ code and (1) trains the emulator while simultaneously estimating posterior probabilities; (2) identifies unreliable estimates, computing the exact numerical likelihoods if necessary; and (3) progressively learns and updates the error model as the calculation progresses. We explicitly describe and model the emulation error and show how this can be propagated into the posterior probabilities. We apply these techniques to the Planck likelihood and the calculation of ΛCDM posterior probabilities. The computation is significantly accelerated without a pre-defined training set and uncertainties in the posterior probabilities are subdominant to statistical fluctuations. We have obtained a speedup factor of 6.5 for Metropolis-Hastings and 3.5 for nested sampling. Finally, we discuss the general requirements for a credible error model and show how to update them on-the-fly

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmological Parameters from Three Seasons of Data

Science.gov (United States)

Seivers, Jonathan L.; Hlozek, Renee A.; Nolta, Michael R.; Acquaviva, Viviana; Addison, Graeme E.; Ade, Peter A. R.; Aguirre, Paula; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Barrientos, L. Felipe;

Comparison of sampling techniques for Bayesian parameter estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Allison, Rupert; Dunkley, Joanna

2014-02-01

The posterior probability distribution for a set of model parameters encodes all that the data have to tell us in the context of a given model; it is the fundamental quantity for Bayesian parameter estimation. In order to infer the posterior probability distribution we have to decide how to explore parameter space. Here we compare three prescriptions for how parameter space is navigated, discussing their relative merits. We consider Metropolis-Hasting sampling, nested sampling and affine-invariant ensemble Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling. We focus on their performance on toy-model Gaussian likelihoods and on a real-world cosmological data set. We outline the sampling algorithms themselves and elaborate on performance diagnostics such as convergence time, scope for parallelization, dimensional scaling, requisite tunings and suitability for non-Gaussian distributions. We find that nested sampling delivers high-fidelity estimates for posterior statistics at low computational cost, and should be adopted in favour of Metropolis-Hastings in many cases. Affine-invariant MCMC is competitive when computing clusters can be utilized for massive parallelization. Affine-invariant MCMC and existing extensions to nested sampling naturally probe multimodal and curving distributions.

The redshift distribution of cosmological samples: a forward modeling approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herbel, Jörg; Kacprzak, Tomasz; Amara, Adam; Refregier, Alexandre; Bruderer, Claudio; Nicola, Andrina, E-mail: joerg.herbel@phys.ethz.ch, E-mail: tomasz.kacprzak@phys.ethz.ch, E-mail: adam.amara@phys.ethz.ch, E-mail: alexandre.refregier@phys.ethz.ch, E-mail: claudio.bruderer@phys.ethz.ch, E-mail: andrina.nicola@phys.ethz.ch [Institute for Astronomy, Department of Physics, ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, 8093 Zürich (Switzerland)

2017-08-01

Determining the redshift distribution n ( z ) of galaxy samples is essential for several cosmological probes including weak lensing. For imaging surveys, this is usually done using photometric redshifts estimated on an object-by-object basis. We present a new approach for directly measuring the global n ( z ) of cosmological galaxy samples, including uncertainties, using forward modeling. Our method relies on image simulations produced using \\textsc(UFig) (Ultra Fast Image Generator) and on ABC (Approximate Bayesian Computation) within the MCCL (Monte-Carlo Control Loops) framework. The galaxy population is modeled using parametric forms for the luminosity functions, spectral energy distributions, sizes and radial profiles of both blue and red galaxies. We apply exactly the same analysis to the real data and to the simulated images, which also include instrumental and observational effects. By adjusting the parameters of the simulations, we derive a set of acceptable models that are statistically consistent with the data. We then apply the same cuts to the simulations that were used to construct the target galaxy sample in the real data. The redshifts of the galaxies in the resulting simulated samples yield a set of n ( z ) distributions for the acceptable models. We demonstrate the method by determining n ( z ) for a cosmic shear like galaxy sample from the 4-band Subaru Suprime-Cam data in the COSMOS field. We also complement this imaging data with a spectroscopic calibration sample from the VVDS survey. We compare our resulting posterior n ( z ) distributions to the one derived from photometric redshifts estimated using 36 photometric bands in COSMOS and find good agreement. This offers good prospects for applying our approach to current and future large imaging surveys.

The redshift distribution of cosmological samples: a forward modeling approach

Science.gov (United States)

Herbel, Jörg; Kacprzak, Tomasz; Amara, Adam; Refregier, Alexandre; Bruderer, Claudio; Nicola, Andrina

2017-08-01

Determining the redshift distribution n(z) of galaxy samples is essential for several cosmological probes including weak lensing. For imaging surveys, this is usually done using photometric redshifts estimated on an object-by-object basis. We present a new approach for directly measuring the global n(z) of cosmological galaxy samples, including uncertainties, using forward modeling. Our method relies on image simulations produced using \\textsc{UFig} (Ultra Fast Image Generator) and on ABC (Approximate Bayesian Computation) within the MCCL (Monte-Carlo Control Loops) framework. The galaxy population is modeled using parametric forms for the luminosity functions, spectral energy distributions, sizes and radial profiles of both blue and red galaxies. We apply exactly the same analysis to the real data and to the simulated images, which also include instrumental and observational effects. By adjusting the parameters of the simulations, we derive a set of acceptable models that are statistically consistent with the data. We then apply the same cuts to the simulations that were used to construct the target galaxy sample in the real data. The redshifts of the galaxies in the resulting simulated samples yield a set of n(z) distributions for the acceptable models. We demonstrate the method by determining n(z) for a cosmic shear like galaxy sample from the 4-band Subaru Suprime-Cam data in the COSMOS field. We also complement this imaging data with a spectroscopic calibration sample from the VVDS survey. We compare our resulting posterior n(z) distributions to the one derived from photometric redshifts estimated using 36 photometric bands in COSMOS and find good agreement. This offers good prospects for applying our approach to current and future large imaging surveys.

The redshift distribution of cosmological samples: a forward modeling approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herbel, Jörg; Kacprzak, Tomasz; Amara, Adam; Refregier, Alexandre; Bruderer, Claudio; Nicola, Andrina

2017-01-01

Determining the redshift distribution n ( z ) of galaxy samples is essential for several cosmological probes including weak lensing. For imaging surveys, this is usually done using photometric redshifts estimated on an object-by-object basis. We present a new approach for directly measuring the global n ( z ) of cosmological galaxy samples, including uncertainties, using forward modeling. Our method relies on image simulations produced using \\textsc(UFig) (Ultra Fast Image Generator) and on ABC (Approximate Bayesian Computation) within the MCCL (Monte-Carlo Control Loops) framework. The galaxy population is modeled using parametric forms for the luminosity functions, spectral energy distributions, sizes and radial profiles of both blue and red galaxies. We apply exactly the same analysis to the real data and to the simulated images, which also include instrumental and observational effects. By adjusting the parameters of the simulations, we derive a set of acceptable models that are statistically consistent with the data. We then apply the same cuts to the simulations that were used to construct the target galaxy sample in the real data. The redshifts of the galaxies in the resulting simulated samples yield a set of n ( z ) distributions for the acceptable models. We demonstrate the method by determining n ( z ) for a cosmic shear like galaxy sample from the 4-band Subaru Suprime-Cam data in the COSMOS field. We also complement this imaging data with a spectroscopic calibration sample from the VVDS survey. We compare our resulting posterior n ( z ) distributions to the one derived from photometric redshifts estimated using 36 photometric bands in COSMOS and find good agreement. This offers good prospects for applying our approach to current and future large imaging surveys.

Testing general relativity at cosmological scales: Implementation and parameter correlations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dossett, Jason N.; Ishak, Mustapha; Moldenhauer, Jacob

2011-01-01

The testing of general relativity at cosmological scales has become a possible and timely endeavor that is not only motivated by the pressing question of cosmic acceleration but also by the proposals of some extensions to general relativity that would manifest themselves at large scales of distance. We analyze here correlations between modified gravity growth parameters and some core cosmological parameters using the latest cosmological data sets including the refined Cosmic Evolution Survey 3D weak lensing. We provide the parametrized modified growth equations and their evolution. We implement known functional and binning approaches, and propose a new hybrid approach to evolve the modified gravity parameters in redshift (time) and scale. The hybrid parametrization combines a binned redshift dependence and a smooth evolution in scale avoiding a jump in the matter power spectrum. The formalism developed to test the consistency of current and future data with general relativity is implemented in a package that we make publicly available and call ISiTGR (Integrated Software in Testing General Relativity), an integrated set of modified modules for the publicly available packages CosmoMC and CAMB, including a modified version of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe-galaxy cross correlation module of Ho et al. and a new weak-lensing likelihood module for the refined Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Evolution Survey weak gravitational lensing tomography data. We obtain parameter constraints and correlation coefficients finding that modified gravity parameters are significantly correlated with σ 8 and mildly correlated with Ω m , for all evolution methods. The degeneracies between σ 8 and modified gravity parameters are found to be substantial for the functional form and also for some specific bins in the hybrid and binned methods indicating that these degeneracies will need to be taken into consideration when using future high precision data.

Cosmological-model-parameter determination from satellite-acquired type Ia and IIP Supernova Data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Podariu, Silviu; Nugent, Peter; Ratra, Bharat

2000-01-01

We examine the constraints that satellite-acquired Type Ia and IIP supernova apparent magnitude versus redshift data will place on cosmological model parameters in models with and without a constant or time-variable cosmological constant lambda. High-quality data which could be acquired in the near future will result in tight constraints on these parameters. For example, if all other parameters of a spatially-flat model with a constant lambda are known, the supernova data should constrain the non-relativistic matter density parameter omega to better than 1 (2, 0.5) at 1 sigma with neutral (worst case, best case) assumptions about data quality

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;

Effects of the interaction between dark energy and dark matter on cosmological parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Jian-Hua; Wang, Bin

2008-01-01

We examine the effects of possible phenomenological interactions between dark energy and dark matter on cosmological parameters and their efficiency in solving the coincidence problem. We work with two simple parameterizations of the dynamical dark energy equation of state and the constant dark energy equation of state. Using observational data coming from the new 182 Gold type Ia supernova samples, the shift parameter of the Cosmic Microwave Background given by the three-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe observations and the baryon acoustic oscillation measurement from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we perform a statistical joint analysis of different forms of phenomenological interaction between dark energy and dark matter

Stochastic evolution of cosmological parameters in the early universe

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

We develop a stochastic formulation of cosmology in the early universe, after considering the scatter in the redshift-apparent magnitude diagram in the early epochs as an observational evidence for the non-deterministic evolution of early universe. We consider the stochastic evolution of density parameter in the early ...

Markov chain beam randomization: a study of the impact of PLANCK beam measurement errors on cosmological parameter estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Rocha, G.; Pagano, L.; Górski, K. M.; Huffenberger, K. M.; Lawrence, C. R.; Lange, A. E.

2010-04-01

We introduce a new method to propagate uncertainties in the beam shapes used to measure the cosmic microwave background to cosmological parameters determined from those measurements. The method, called markov chain beam randomization (MCBR), randomly samples from a set of templates or functions that describe the beam uncertainties. The method is much faster than direct numerical integration over systematic “nuisance” parameters, and is not restricted to simple, idealized cases as is analytic marginalization. It does not assume the data are normally distributed, and does not require Gaussian priors on the specific systematic uncertainties. We show that MCBR properly accounts for and provides the marginalized errors of the parameters. The method can be generalized and used to propagate any systematic uncertainties for which a set of templates is available. We apply the method to the Planck satellite, and consider future experiments. Beam measurement errors should have a small effect on cosmological parameters as long as the beam fitting is performed after removal of 1/f noise.

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.)

Cosmological parameters from large scale structure - geometric versus shape information

CERN Document Server

Hamann, Jan; Lesgourgues, Julien; Rampf, Cornelius; Wong, Yvonne Y Y

2010-01-01

The matter power spectrum as derived from large scale structure (LSS) surveys contains two important and distinct pieces of information: an overall smooth shape and the imprint of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). We investigate the separate impact of these two types of information on cosmological parameter estimation, and show that for the simplest cosmological models, the broad-band shape information currently contained in the SDSS DR7 halo power spectrum (HPS) is by far superseded by geometric information derived from the baryonic features. An immediate corollary is that contrary to popular beliefs, the upper limit on the neutrino mass m_\

Impact of Uncertainties in the Cosmological Parameters on the Measurement of Primordial non-Gaussianity

CERN Document Server

Liguori, M

2008-01-01

We study the impact of cosmological parameters' uncertainties on estimates of the primordial NG parameter f_NL in local and equilateral models of non-Gaussianity. We show that propagating these errors increases the f_NL relative uncertainty by 16% for WMAP and 5 % for Planck in the local case, whereas for equilateral configurations the correction term are 14% and 4%, respectively. If we assume for local f_NL a central value of order 60, according to recent WMAP 5-years estimates, we obtain for Planck a final correction \\Delta f_NL = 3. Although not dramatic, this correction is at the level of the expected estimator uncertainty for Planck, and should then be taken into account when quoting the significance of an eventual future detection. In current estimates of f_NL the cosmological parameters are held fixed at their best-fit values. We finally note that the impact of uncertainties in the cosmological parameters on the final f_NL error bar would become totally negligible if the parameters were allowed to vary...

Wormholes and the cosmological constant problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Klebanov, I.

The author reviews the cosmological constant problem and the recently proposed wormhole mechanism for its solution. Summation over wormholes in the Euclidean path integral for gravity turns all the coupling parameters into dynamical variables, sampled from a probability distribution. A formal saddle point analysis results in a distribution with a sharp peak at the cosmological constant equal to zero, which appears to solve the cosmological constant problem. He discusses the instabilities of the gravitational Euclidean path integral and the difficulties with its interpretation. He presents an alternate formalism for baby universes, based on the "third quantization" of the Wheeler-De Witt equation. This approach is analyzed in a minisuperspace model for quantum gravity, where it reduces to simple quantum mechanics. Once again, the coupling parameters become dynamical. Unfortunately, the a priori probability distribution for the cosmological constant and other parameters is typically a smooth function, with no sharp peaks.

Joint cosmic microwave background and weak lensing analysis: constraints on cosmological parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Contaldi, Carlo R; Hoekstra, Henk; Lewis, Antony

2003-06-06

We use cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations together with the red-sequence cluster survey weak lensing results to derive constraints on a range of cosmological parameters. This particular choice of observations is motivated by their robust physical interpretation and complementarity. Our combined analysis, including a weak nucleosynthesis constraint, yields accurate determinations of a number of parameters including the amplitude of fluctuations sigma(8)=0.89+/-0.05 and matter density Omega(m)=0.30+/-0.03. We also find a value for the Hubble parameter of H(0)=70+/-3 km s(-1) Mpc(-1), in good agreement with the Hubble Space Telescope key-project result. We conclude that the combination of CMB and weak lensing data provides some of the most powerful constraints available in cosmology today.

Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect versus redshift test for the cosmological parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Kantowski, R.; Chen, B.; Dai, X.

2015-04-01

We describe a method using the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect caused by individual inhomogeneities to determine the cosmological parameters H0, Ωm , and ΩΛ, etc. This ISW-redshift test requires detailed knowledge of the internal kinematics of a set of individual density perturbations, e.g., galaxy clusters and/or cosmic voids, in particular their density and velocity profiles, and their mass accretion rates. It assumes the density perturbations are isolated and embedded (equivalently compensated) and makes use of the newly found relation between the ISW temperature perturbation of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the Fermat potential of the lens. Given measurements of the amplitudes of the temperature variations in the CMB caused by such clusters or voids at various redshifts and estimates of their angular sizes or masses, one can constrain the cosmological parameters. More realistically, the converse is more likely, i.e., if the background cosmology is sufficiently constrained, measurement of ISW profiles of clusters and voids (e.g., hot and cold spots and rings) can constrain dynamical properties of the dark matter, including accretion, associated with such lenses and thus constrain the evolution of these objects with redshift.

Cosmology and the Bispectrum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sefusatti, Emiliano; /Fermilab /CCPP, New York; Crocce, Martin; Pueblas, Sebastian; Scoccimarro, Roman; /CCPP, New York

2006-04-01

The present spatial distribution of galaxies in the Universe is non-Gaussian, with 40% skewness in 50 h{sup -1} Mpc spheres, and remarkably little is known about the information encoded in it about cosmological parameters beyond the power spectrum. In this work they present an attempt to bridge this gap by studying the bispectrum, paying particular attention to a joint analysis with the power spectrum and their combination with CMB data. They address the covariance properties of the power spectrum and bispectrum including the effects of beat coupling that lead to interesting cross-correlations, and discuss how baryon acoustic oscillations break degeneracies. They show that the bispectrum has significant information on cosmological parameters well beyond its power in constraining galaxy bias, and when combined with the power spectrum is more complementary than combining power spectra of different samples of galaxies, since non-Gaussianity provides a somewhat different direction in parameter space. In the framework of flat cosmological models they show that most of the improvement of adding bispectrum information corresponds to parameters related to the amplitude and effective spectral index of perturbations, which can be improved by almost a factor of two. Moreover, they demonstrate that the expected statistical uncertainties in {sigma}s of a few percent are robust to relaxing the dark energy beyond a cosmological constant.

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

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

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)

Determining cosmological parameters with the latest observational data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xia Junqing; Li Hong; Zhao Gongbo; Zhang Xinmin

2008-01-01

In this paper, we combine the latest observational data, including the WMAP five-year data (WMAP5), BOOMERanG, CBI, VSA, ACBAR, as well as the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and type Ia supernovae (SN) ''union'' compilation (307 sample), and use the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to determine the cosmological parameters, such as the equation of state (EoS) of dark energy, the curvature of the universe, the total neutrino mass, and the parameters associated with the power spectrum of primordial fluctuations. In a flat universe, we obtain the tight limit on the constant EoS of dark energy as w=-0.977±0.056(stat)±0.057(sys). For the dynamical dark energy models with the time evolving EoS parametrized as w de (a)=w 0 +w 1 (1-a), we find that the best-fit values are w 0 =-1.08 and w 1 =0.368, while the ΛCDM model remains a good fit to the current data. For the curvature of the universe Ω k , our results give -0.012 k de =-1. When considering the dynamics of dark energy, the flat universe is still a good fit to the current data, -0.015 k s ≥1 are excluded at more than 2σ confidence level. However, in the framework of dynamical dark energy models, the allowed region in the parameter space of (n s ,r) is enlarged significantly. Finally, we find no strong evidence for the large running of the spectral index.

Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect in WMAP and its effect on cosmological parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huffenberger, Kevin M.; Seljak, Uros; Makarov, Alexey

2004-01-01

We use multifrequency information in first year Wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe (WMAP) data to search for the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect. WMAP has sufficiently broad frequency coverage to constrain the SZ effect without the addition of higher frequency data: the SZ power spectrum amplitude is expected to increase 50% from W to Q frequency band. This, in combination with the low noise in WMAP, allows us to strongly constrain the SZ contribution. We derive an optimal frequency combination of WMAP cross-spectra to extract the SZ effect in the presence of noise, cosmic microwave background (CMB), and radio point sources, which are marginalized over. We find that the SZ contribution is less than 2% (95% C.L.) at the first acoustic peak in W band. Under the assumption that the removed radio point sources are not correlated with the SZ effect this limit implies σ 8 <1.07 at 95% C.L. We investigate the effect on the cosmological parameters of allowing an SZ component. We run Monte Carlo Markov chains with and without an SZ component and find that the addition of the SZ effect does not affect any of the cosmological conclusions. We conclude that the SZ effect does not contaminate the WMAP CMB or change cosmological parameters, refuting the recent claims that they may be corrupted

Gravitational waves during inflation in presence of a decaying cosmological parameter from a 5D vacuum theory of gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomez Martinez, Silvina Paola; Madriz Aguilar, Jose Edgar; Bellini, Mauricio

2007-01-01

We study gravitational waves generated during the inflationary epoch in presence of a decaying cosmological parameter on a 5D geometrical background which is Riemann flat. Two examples are considered, one with a constant cosmological parameter and the second with a decreasing one

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

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

Cosmological parameter uncertainties from SALT-II type Ia supernova light curve models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mosher, J.; Sako, M.; Guy, J.; Astier, P.; Betoule, M.; El-Hage, P.; Pain, R.; Regnault, N.; Kessler, R.; Frieman, J. A.; Marriner, J.; Biswas, R.; Kuhlmann, S.; Schneider, D. P.

2014-01-01

We use simulated type Ia supernova (SN Ia) samples, including both photometry and spectra, to perform the first direct validation of cosmology analysis using the SALT-II light curve model. This validation includes residuals from the light curve training process, systematic biases in SN Ia distance measurements, and a bias on the dark energy equation of state parameter w. Using the SN-analysis package SNANA, we simulate and analyze realistic samples corresponding to the data samples used in the SNLS3 analysis: ∼120 low-redshift (z < 0.1) SNe Ia, ∼255 Sloan Digital Sky Survey SNe Ia (z < 0.4), and ∼290 SNLS SNe Ia (z ≤ 1). To probe systematic uncertainties in detail, we vary the input spectral model, the model of intrinsic scatter, and the smoothing (i.e., regularization) parameters used during the SALT-II model training. Using realistic intrinsic scatter models results in a slight bias in the ultraviolet portion of the trained SALT-II model, and w biases (w input – w recovered ) ranging from –0.005 ± 0.012 to –0.024 ± 0.010. These biases are indistinguishable from each other within the uncertainty; the average bias on w is –0.014 ± 0.007.

Cosmological Parameter Uncertainties from SALT-II Type Ia Supernova Light Curve Models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mosher, J. [Pennsylvania U.; Guy, J. [LBL, Berkeley; Kessler, R. [Chicago U., KICP; Astier, P. [Paris U., VI-VII; Marriner, J. [Fermilab; Betoule, M. [Paris U., VI-VII; Sako, M. [Pennsylvania U.; El-Hage, P. [Paris U., VI-VII; Biswas, R. [Argonne; Pain, R. [Paris U., VI-VII; Kuhlmann, S. [Argonne; Regnault, N. [Paris U., VI-VII; Frieman, J. A. [Fermilab; Schneider, D. P. [Penn State U.

2014-08-29

We use simulated type Ia supernova (SN Ia) samples, including both photometry and spectra, to perform the first direct validation of cosmology analysis using the SALT-II light curve model. This validation includes residuals from the light curve training process, systematic biases in SN Ia distance measurements, and a bias on the dark energy equation of state parameter w. Using the SN-analysis package SNANA, we simulate and analyze realistic samples corresponding to the data samples used in the SNLS3 analysis: ~120 low-redshift (z < 0.1) SNe Ia, ~255 Sloan Digital Sky Survey SNe Ia (z < 0.4), and ~290 SNLS SNe Ia (z ≤ 1). To probe systematic uncertainties in detail, we vary the input spectral model, the model of intrinsic scatter, and the smoothing (i.e., regularization) parameters used during the SALT-II model training. Using realistic intrinsic scatter models results in a slight bias in the ultraviolet portion of the trained SALT-II model, and w biases (w (input) – w (recovered)) ranging from –0.005 ± 0.012 to –0.024 ± 0.010. These biases are indistinguishable from each other within the uncertainty, the average bias on w is –0.014 ± 0.007.

Separating the early universe from the late universe: Cosmological parameter estimation beyond the black box

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tegmark, Max; Zaldarriaga, Matias

2002-01-01

We present a method for measuring the cosmic matter budget without assumptions about speculative early Universe physics, and for measuring the primordial power spectrum P * (k) nonparametrically, either by combining CMB and LSS information or by using CMB polarization. Our method complements currently fashionable 'black box' cosmological parameter analysis, constraining cosmological models in a more physically intuitive fashion by mapping measurements of CMB, weak lensing and cluster abundance into k space, where they can be directly compared with each other and with galaxy and Lyα forest clustering. Including the new CBI results, we find that CMB measurements of P(k) overlap with those from 2dF galaxy clustering by over an order of magnitude in scale, and even overlap with weak lensing measurements. We describe how our approach can be used to raise the ambition level beyond cosmological parameter fitting as data improves, testing rather than assuming the underlying physics

Offline analysis in SNLS: measurement of type-Ia supernovae explosion rate and cosmological parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lusset, Vincent

2006-01-01

The Supernova Legacy Survey is a second generation experiment for the measurement of cosmological parameters using type-la supernovae. Il follows the discovery of the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe, attributed to an unknown 'dark energy'. This thesis presents a type-la supernovae search using an offline analysis of SNLS data. It makes it possible to detect the supernovae that were missed online and to study possible selection biases. One of its principal characteristics is that it uses entirely automatic selection criteria. This type of automated offline analysis had never been carried out before for data reaching this redshift. This analysis enabled us to discover 73 additional SNIa candidates compared to those identified in the real time analysis on the same data, representing an increase of more than 50% of the number of supernovae. The final Hubble diagram contains 262 SNIa which gives us, for a flat ACDM model, the following values for the cosmological parameters: Ω_M = 0,31 ± 0,028 (stat) ± 0,036 (syst) et Ω_A = 0,69. This offline analysis of SNLS data opens new horizons, both by checking for possible biases in current measurements of cosmological parameters by supernovae experiments and by preparing the third generation experiments, on the ground or in space, which will detect thousands of SNIa. (author) [fr

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

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and Cosmological Constraints on Neutrino Oscillation Parameters

CERN Document Server

Kirilova, Daniela P; Kirilova, Daniela; Chizhov, Mihail

2001-01-01

We present a review of cosmological nucleosynthesis (CN) with neutrino oscillations, discussing the different effects of oscillations on CN, namely: increase of the effective degrees of freedom during CN, spectrum distortion of the oscillating neutrinos, neutrino number density depletion, and growth of neutrino-antineutrino asymmetry due to active-sterile oscillations. We discuss the importance of these effects for the primordial yield of helium-4. Primordially produced He-4 value is obtained in a selfconsistent study of the nucleons and the oscillating neutrinos. The effects of spectrum distortion, depletion and neutrino-antineutrino asymmetry growth on helium-4 production are explicitly calculated. An update of the cosmological constraints on active-sterile neutrino oscillations parameters is presented, giving the values: delta m^2 sin^8 (2 theta) 0, and |delta m^2| < 8.2 x 10^{-10} eV^2 at large mixing angles for delta m^2 < 0. According to these constraints, besides the active-sterile LMA solution,...

Evolution of the Brans—Dicke Parameter in Generalized Chameleon Cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jamil, Mubasher; Momeni, D.

2011-01-01

Motivated by an earlier study of Sahoo and Singh [Mod. Phys. Lett. A 17 (2002) 2409], we investigate the time dependence of the Brans-Dicke parameter ω(t) for an expanding Universe in the generalized Brans-Dicke Chameleon cosmology, and obtain an explicit dependence of ω(t) in different expansion phases of the Universe. Also, we discuss how the observed accelerated expansion of the observable Universe can be accommodated in the present formalism. (geophysics, astronomy, and astrophysics)

Effect of the early reionization on the cosmic microwave background and cosmological parameter estimates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Qing-Guo; Wang, Ke, E-mail: huangqg@itp.ac.cn, E-mail: wangke@itp.ac.cn [CAS Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhong Guan Cun East Street 55 #, Beijing 100190 (China)

2017-07-01

The early reionization (ERE) is supposed to be a physical process which happens after recombination, but before the instantaneous reionization caused by the first generation of stars. We investigate the effect of the ERE on the temperature and polarization power spectra of cosmic microwave background (CMB), and adopt principal components analysis (PCA) to model-independently reconstruct the ionization history during the ERE. In addition, we also discuss how the ERE affects the cosmological parameter estimates, and find that the ERE does not impose any significant influences on the tensor-to-scalar ratio r and the neutrino mass at the sensitivities of current experiments. The better CMB polarization data can be used to give a tighter constraint on the ERE and might be important for more precisely constraining cosmological parameters in the future.

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.

Estimating cosmological parameters by the simulated data of gravitational waves from the Einstein Telescope

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Rong-Gen; Yang, Tao

2017-02-01

We investigate the constraint ability of the gravitational wave (GW) as the standard siren on the cosmological parameters by using the third-generation gravitational wave detector: the Einstein Telescope. The binary merger of a neutron with either a neutron or black hole is hypothesized to be the progenitor of a short and intense burst of γ rays; some fraction of those binary mergers could be detected both through electromagnetic radiation and gravitational waves. Thus we can determine both the luminosity distance and redshift of the source separately. We simulate the luminosity distances and redshift measurements from 100 to 1000 GW events. We use two different algorithms to constrain the cosmological parameters. For the Hubble constant H0 and dark matter density parameter Ωm, we adopt the Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. We find that with about 500-600 GW events we can constrain the Hubble constant with an accuracy comparable to Planck temperature data and Planck lensing combined results, while for the dark matter density, GWs alone seem not able to provide the constraints as good as for the Hubble constant; the sensitivity of 1000 GW events is a little lower than that of Planck data. It should require more than 1000 events to match the Planck sensitivity. Yet, for analyzing the more complex dynamical property of dark energy, i.e., the equation of state w , we adopt a new powerful nonparametric method: the Gaussian process. We can reconstruct w directly from the observational luminosity distance at every redshift. In the low redshift region, we find that about 700 GW events can give the constraints of w (z ) comparable to the constraints of a constant w by Planck data with type-Ia supernovae. Those results show that GWs as the standard sirens to probe the cosmological parameters can provide an independent and complementary alternative to current experiments.

Time variation of the cosmological redshift in Dicke-Brans-Jordan cosmologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruediger, R.

1982-01-01

In this paper the time variation z of the cosmological redshift z is discussed for Dicke-Brans-Jordan (DBJ) cosmologies. We determine the general z-z relation in the functional form zH -1 0 = F(z; q 0 , sigma 0 ,xi 0 , ω) for small values of z, where all the symbols have their conventional meanings. For certain combinations of cosmological parameters, which are within the present observational limitations, the DBJ terms in the function F can dominate the general relativistic terms. Furthermore, zH -1 0 can be positive in DBJ cosmologies in contrast to general relativistic cosmologies with q 0 >0

Weak lensing cosmology beyond ΛCDM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Das, Sudeep; Linder, Eric V.; Nakajima, Reiko; Putter, Roland de

2012-01-01

Weak gravitational lensing is one of the key probes of the cosmological model, dark energy, and dark matter, providing insight into both the cosmic expansion history and large scale structure growth history. Taking into account a broad spectrum of physics affecting growth — dynamical dark energy, extended gravity, neutrino masses, and spatial curvature — we analyze the cosmological constraints. Similarly we consider the effects of a range of systematic uncertainties, in shear measurement, photometric redshifts, intrinsic alignments, and the nonlinear power spectrum, on cosmological parameter extraction. We also investigate, and provide fitting formulas for, the influence of survey parameters such as redshift depth, galaxy number densities, and sky area on the cosmological constraints in the beyond-ΛCDM parameter space. Finally, we examine the robustness of results for different fiducial cosmologies

Axion cold dark matter in nonstandard cosmologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Visinelli, Luca; Gondolo, Paolo

2010-01-01

We study the parameter space of cold dark matter axions in two cosmological scenarios with nonstandard thermal histories before big bang nucleosynthesis: the low-temperature reheating (LTR) cosmology and the kination cosmology. If the Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaks during inflation, we find more allowed parameter space in the LTR cosmology than in the standard cosmology and less in the kination cosmology. On the contrary, if the Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaks after inflation, the Peccei-Quinn scale is orders of magnitude higher than standard in the LTR cosmology and lower in the kination cosmology. We show that the axion velocity dispersion may be used to distinguish some of these nonstandard cosmologies. Thus, axion cold dark matter may be a good probe of the history of the Universe before big bang nucleosynthesis.

Exploring cosmic origins with CORE: Cosmological parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Di Valentino, E.; Brinckmann, T.; Gerbino, M.; Poulin, V.; Bouchet, F. R.; Lesgourgues, J.; Melchiorri, A.; Chluba, J.; Clesse, S.; Delabrouille, J.; Dvorkin, C.; Forastieri, F.; Galli, S.; Hooper, D. C.; Lattanzi, M.; Martins, C. J. A. P.; Salvati, L.; Cabass, G.; Caputo, A.; Giusarma, E.; Hivon, E.; Natoli, P.; Pagano, L.; Paradiso, S.; Rubiño-Martin, J. A.; Achúcarro, A.; Ade, P.; Allison, R.; Arroja, F.; Ashdown, M.; Ballardini, M.; Banday, A. J.; Banerji, R.; Bartolo, N.; Bartlett, J. G.; Basak, S.; Baumann, D.; de Bernardis, P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bonaldi, A.; Bonato, M.; Borrill, J.; Boulanger, F.; Bucher, M.; Burigana, C.; Buzzelli, A.; Cai, Z.-Y.; Calvo, M.; Carvalho, C. S.; Castellano, G.; Challinor, A.; Charles, I.; Colantoni, I.; Coppolecchia, A.; Crook, M.; D'Alessandro, G.; De Petris, M.; De Zotti, G.; Diego, J. M.; Errard, J.; Feeney, S.; Fernandez-Cobos, R.; Ferraro, S.; Finelli, F.; de Gasperis, G.; Génova-Santos, R. T.; González-Nuevo, J.; Grandis, S.; Greenslade, J.; Hagstotz, S.; Hanany, S.; Handley, W.; Hazra, D. K.; Hernández-Monteagudo, C.; Hervias-Caimapo, C.; Hills, M.; Kiiveri, K.; Kisner, T.; Kitching, T.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lamagna, L.; Lasenby, A.; Lewis, A.; Liguori, M.; Lindholm, V.; Lopez-Caniego, M.; Luzzi, G.; Maffei, B.; Martin, S.; Martinez-Gonzalez, E.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; McCarthy, D.; Melin, J.-B.; Mohr, J. J.; Molinari, D.; Monfardini, A.; Negrello, M.; Notari, A.; Paiella, A.; Paoletti, D.; Patanchon, G.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Pisano, G.; Polastri, L.; Polenta, G.; Pollo, A.; Quartin, M.; Remazeilles, M.; Roman, M.; Ringeval, C.; Tartari, A.; Tomasi, M.; Tramonte, D.; Trappe, N.; Trombetti, T.; Tucker, C.; Väliviita, J.; van de Weygaert, R.; Van Tent, B.; Vennin, V.; Vermeulen, G.; Vielva, P.; Vittorio, N.; Young, K.; Zannoni, M.

2018-04-01

We forecast the main cosmological parameter constraints achievable with the CORE space mission which is dedicated to mapping the polarisation of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). CORE was recently submitted in response to ESA's fifth call for medium-sized mission proposals (M5). Here we report the results from our pre-submission study of the impact of various instrumental options, in particular the telescope size and sensitivity level, and review the great, transformative potential of the mission as proposed. Specifically, we assess the impact on a broad range of fundamental parameters of our Universe as a function of the expected CMB characteristics, with other papers in the series focusing on controlling astrophysical and instrumental residual systematics. In this paper, we assume that only a few central CORE frequency channels are usable for our purpose, all others being devoted to the cleaning of astrophysical contaminants. On the theoretical side, we assume ΛCDM as our general framework and quantify the improvement provided by CORE over the current constraints from the Planck 2015 release. We also study the joint sensitivity of CORE and of future Baryon Acoustic Oscillation and Large Scale Structure experiments like DESI and Euclid. Specific constraints on the physics of inflation are presented in another paper of the series. In addition to the six parameters of the base ΛCDM, which describe the matter content of a spatially flat universe with adiabatic and scalar primordial fluctuations from inflation, we derive the precision achievable on parameters like those describing curvature, neutrino physics, extra light relics, primordial helium abundance, dark matter annihilation, recombination physics, variation of fundamental constants, dark energy, modified gravity, reionization and cosmic birefringence. In addition to assessing the improvement on the precision of individual parameters, we also forecast the post-CORE overall reduction of the allowed

Gamma-ray bursts as cosmological probes: ΛCDM vs. conformal gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diaferio, Antonaldo; Ostorero, Luisa; Cardone, Vincenzo

2011-01-01

ΛCDM, for the currently preferred cosmological density Ω 0 and cosmological constant Ω Λ , predicts that the Universe expansion decelerates from early times to redshift z ≈ 0.9 and accelerates at later times. On the contrary, the cosmological model based on conformal gravity predicts that the cosmic expansion has always been accelerating. To distinguish between these two very different cosmologies, we resort to gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which have been suggested to probe the Universe expansion history at z > 1, where identified type Ia supernovae (SNe) are rare. We use the full Bayesian approach to infer the cosmological parameters and the additional parameters required to describe the GRB data available in the literature. For the first time, we use GRBs as cosmological probes without any prior information from other data. In addition, when we combine the GRB samples with SNe, our approach neatly avoids all the inconsistencies of most numerous previous methods that are plagued by the so-called circularity problem. In fact, when analyzed properly, current data are consistent with distance moduli of GRBs and SNe that can respectively be, in a variant of conformal gravity, ∼ 15 and ∼ 3 magnitudes fainter than in ΛCDM. Our results indicate that the currently available SN and GRB samples are accommodated equally well by both ΛCDM and conformal gravity and do not exclude a continuous accelerated expansion. We conclude that GRBs are currently far from being effective cosmological probes, as they are unable to distinguish between these two very different expansion histories

Remapping dark matter halo catalogues between cosmological simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Mead, A. J.; Peacock, J. A.

2014-05-01

We present and test a method for modifying the catalogue of dark matter haloes produced from a given cosmological simulation, so that it resembles the result of a simulation with an entirely different set of parameters. This extends the method of Angulo & White, which rescales the full particle distribution from a simulation. Working directly with the halo catalogue offers an advantage in speed, and also allows modifications of the internal structure of the haloes to account for non-linear differences between cosmologies. Our method can be used directly on a halo catalogue in a self-contained manner without any additional information about the overall density field; although the large-scale displacement field is required by the method, this can be inferred from the halo catalogue alone. We show proof of concept of our method by rescaling a matter-only simulation with no baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) features to a more standard Λ cold dark matter model containing a cosmological constant and a BAO signal. In conjunction with the halo occupation approach, this method provides a basis for the rapid generation of mock galaxy samples spanning a wide range of cosmological parameters.

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.

Cosmological principle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wesson, P.S.

1979-01-01

The Cosmological Principle states: the universe looks the same to all observers regardless of where they are located. To most astronomers today the Cosmological Principle means the universe looks the same to all observers because density of the galaxies is the same in all places. A new Cosmological Principle is proposed. It is called the Dimensional Cosmological Principle. It uses the properties of matter in the universe: density (rho), pressure (p), and mass (m) within some region of space of length (l). The laws of physics require incorporation of constants for gravity (G) and the speed of light (C). After combining the six parameters into dimensionless numbers, the best choices are: 8πGl 2 rho/c 2 , 8πGl 2 rho/c 4 , and 2 Gm/c 2 l (the Schwarzchild factor). The Dimensional Cosmological Principal came about because old ideas conflicted with the rapidly-growing body of observational evidence indicating that galaxies in the universe have a clumpy rather than uniform distribution

Regional averaging and scaling in relativistic cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buchert, Thomas; Carfora, Mauro

2002-01-01

Averaged inhomogeneous cosmologies lie at the forefront of interest, since cosmological parameters such as the rate of expansion or the mass density are to be considered as volume-averaged quantities and only these can be compared with observations. For this reason the relevant parameters are intrinsically scale-dependent and one wishes to control this dependence without restricting the cosmological model by unphysical assumptions. In the latter respect we contrast our way to approach the averaging problem in relativistic cosmology with shortcomings of averaged Newtonian models. Explicitly, we investigate the scale-dependence of Eulerian volume averages of scalar functions on Riemannian three-manifolds. We propose a complementary view of a Lagrangian smoothing of (tensorial) variables as opposed to their Eulerian averaging on spatial domains. This programme is realized with the help of a global Ricci deformation flow for the metric. We explain rigorously the origin of the Ricci flow which, on heuristic grounds, has already been suggested as a possible candidate for smoothing the initial dataset for cosmological spacetimes. The smoothing of geometry implies a renormalization of averaged spatial variables. We discuss the results in terms of effective cosmological parameters that would be assigned to the smoothed cosmological spacetime. In particular, we find that on the smoothed spatial domain B-bar evaluated cosmological parameters obey Ω-bar B-bar m + Ω-bar B-bar R + Ω-bar B-bar A + Ω-bar B-bar Q 1, where Ω-bar B-bar m , Ω-bar B-bar R and Ω-bar B-bar A correspond to the standard Friedmannian parameters, while Ω-bar B-bar Q is a remnant of cosmic variance of expansion and shear fluctuations on the averaging domain. All these parameters are 'dressed' after smoothing out the geometrical fluctuations, and we give the relations of the 'dressed' to the 'bare' parameters. While the former provide the framework of interpreting observations with a 'Friedmannian bias

Cosmological applications in Kaluza—Klein theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wanas, M.I.; Nashed, Gamal G. L.; Nowaya, A.A.

2012-01-01

The field equations of Kaluza—Klein (KK) theory have been applied in the domain of cosmology. These equations are solved for a flat universe by taking the gravitational and the cosmological constants as a function of time t. We use Taylor's expansion of cosmological function, Λ(t), up to the first order of the time t. The cosmological parameters are calculated and some cosmological problems are discussed. (geophysics, astronomy, and astrophysics)

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.)

Cosmological Parameter Estimation with Large Scale Structure Observations

CERN Document Server

Di Dio, Enea; Durrer, Ruth; Lesgourgues, Julien

2014-01-01

We estimate the sensitivity of future galaxy surveys to cosmological parameters, using the redshift dependent angular power spectra of galaxy number counts, $C_\\ell(z_1,z_2)$, calculated with all relativistic corrections at first order in perturbation theory. We pay special attention to the redshift dependence of the non-linearity scale and present Fisher matrix forecasts for Euclid-like and DES-like galaxy surveys. We compare the standard $P(k)$ analysis with the new $C_\\ell(z_1,z_2)$ method. We show that for surveys with photometric redshifts the new analysis performs significantly better than the $P(k)$ analysis. For spectroscopic redshifts, however, the large number of redshift bins which would be needed to fully profit from the redshift information, is severely limited by shot noise. We also identify surveys which can measure the lensing contribution and we study the monopole, $C_0(z_1,z_2)$.

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.

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.)

Planck 2013 results. XX. Cosmology from Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster counts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.; Armitage-Caplan, C.

2013-01-01

We present constraints on cosmological parameters using number counts as a function of redshift for a sub-sample of 189 galaxy clusters from the Planck SZ (PSZ) catalogue. The PSZ is selected through the signature of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect, and the sub-sample used here has a signal-to-...

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)

Weak-lensing mass calibration of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope equatorial Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster sample with the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope stripe 82 survey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Battaglia, N.; Miyatake, H.; Hasselfield, M.; Calabrese, E.; Ferrara, S.; Hložek, R. [Dept. of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Leauthaud, A. [Kavli IPMU (WPI), UTIAS, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583 (Japan); Gralla, M.B.; Crichton, D. [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Allison, R.; Dunkley, J. [Dept. of Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Bond, J.R. [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 (Canada); Devlin, M.J. [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Dünner, R. [Dept. de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago (Chile); Erben, T. [Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, University of Bonn, 53121 Bonn (Germany); Halpern, M.; Hincks, A.D. [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Hilton, M. [Astrophysics and Cosmology Research Unit, School of Mathematical, Statistics and Computer Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041 (South Africa); Hill, J.C. [Dept. of Astronomy, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Huffenberger, K.M., E-mail: nbatta@astro.princeton.edu [Dept. of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306 (United States); and others

2016-08-01

Mass calibration uncertainty is the largest systematic effect for using clusters of galaxies to constrain cosmological parameters. We present weak lensing mass measurements from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Stripe 82 Survey for galaxy clusters selected through their high signal-to-noise thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) signal measured with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). For a sample of 9 ACT clusters with a tSZ signal-to-noise greater than five the average weak lensing mass is (4.8±0.8) ×10{sup 14} M{sub ⊙}, consistent with the tSZ mass estimate of (4.70±1.0) ×10{sup 14} M{sub ⊙} which assumes a universal pressure profile for the cluster gas. Our results are consistent with previous weak-lensing measurements of tSZ-detected clusters from the Planck satellite. When comparing our results, we estimate the Eddington bias correction for the sample intersection of Planck and weak-lensing clusters which was previously excluded.

Weak-Lensing Mass Calibration of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Equatorial Sunyaev-Zeldovich Cluster Sample with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Stripe 82 Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Battaglia, N.; Leauthaud, A.; Miyatake, H.; Hasseleld, M.; Gralla, M. B.; Allison, R.; Bond, J. R.; Calabrese, E.; Crichton, D.; Devlin, M. J.;

Weak-lensing mass calibration of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope equatorial Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster sample with the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope stripe 82 survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Battaglia, N.; Miyatake, H.; Hasselfield, M.; Calabrese, E.; Ferrara, S.; Hložek, R.; Leauthaud, A.; Gralla, M.B.; Crichton, D.; Allison, R.; Dunkley, J.; Bond, J.R.; Devlin, M.J.; Dünner, R.; Erben, T.; Halpern, M.; Hincks, A.D.; Hilton, M.; Hill, J.C.; Huffenberger, K.M.

2016-01-01

Mass calibration uncertainty is the largest systematic effect for using clusters of galaxies to constrain cosmological parameters. We present weak lensing mass measurements from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Stripe 82 Survey for galaxy clusters selected through their high signal-to-noise thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) signal measured with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). For a sample of 9 ACT clusters with a tSZ signal-to-noise greater than five the average weak lensing mass is (4.8±0.8) ×10 14 M ⊙ , consistent with the tSZ mass estimate of (4.70±1.0) ×10 14 M ⊙ which assumes a universal pressure profile for the cluster gas. Our results are consistent with previous weak-lensing measurements of tSZ-detected clusters from the Planck satellite. When comparing our results, we estimate the Eddington bias correction for the sample intersection of Planck and weak-lensing clusters which was previously excluded.

Effects of self-calibration of intrinsic alignment on cosmological parameter constraints from future cosmic shear surveys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao, Ji; Ishak, Mustapha; Lin, Weikang; Troxel, Michael

2017-01-01

Intrinsic alignments (IA) of galaxies have been recognized as one of the most serious contaminants to weak lensing. These systematics need to be isolated and mitigated in order for ongoing and future lensing surveys to reach their full potential. The IA self-calibration (SC) method was shown in previous studies to be able to reduce the GI contamination by up to a factor of 10 for the 2-point and 3-point correlations. The SC method does not require the assumption of an IA model in its working and can extract the GI signal from the same photo-z survey offering the possibility to test and understand structure formation scenarios and their relationship to IA models. In this paper, we study the effects of the IA SC mitigation method on the precision and accuracy of cosmological parameter constraints from future cosmic shear surveys LSST, WFIRST and Euclid. We perform analytical and numerical calculations to estimate the loss of precision and the residual bias in the best fit cosmological parameters after the self-calibration is performed. We take into account uncertainties from photometric redshifts and the galaxy bias. We find that the confidence contours are slightly inflated from applying the SC method itself while a significant increase is due to the inclusion of the photo-z uncertainties. The bias of cosmological parameters is reduced from several-σ, when IA is not corrected for, to below 1-σ after SC is applied. These numbers are comparable to those resulting from applying the method of marginalizing over IA model parameters despite the fact that the two methods operate very differently. We conclude that implementing the SC for these future cosmic-shear surveys will not only allow one to efficiently mitigate the GI contaminant but also help to understand their modeling and link to structure formation.

Effects of self-calibration of intrinsic alignment on cosmological parameter constraints from future cosmic shear surveys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yao, Ji; Ishak, Mustapha; Lin, Weikang [Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX 75080 (United States); Troxel, Michael, E-mail: jxy131230@utdallas.edu, E-mail: mxi054000@utdallas.edu, E-mail: wxl123830@utdallas.edu, E-mail: michael.a.troxel@gmail.com [Department of Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States)

2017-10-01

Intrinsic alignments (IA) of galaxies have been recognized as one of the most serious contaminants to weak lensing. These systematics need to be isolated and mitigated in order for ongoing and future lensing surveys to reach their full potential. The IA self-calibration (SC) method was shown in previous studies to be able to reduce the GI contamination by up to a factor of 10 for the 2-point and 3-point correlations. The SC method does not require the assumption of an IA model in its working and can extract the GI signal from the same photo-z survey offering the possibility to test and understand structure formation scenarios and their relationship to IA models. In this paper, we study the effects of the IA SC mitigation method on the precision and accuracy of cosmological parameter constraints from future cosmic shear surveys LSST, WFIRST and Euclid. We perform analytical and numerical calculations to estimate the loss of precision and the residual bias in the best fit cosmological parameters after the self-calibration is performed. We take into account uncertainties from photometric redshifts and the galaxy bias. We find that the confidence contours are slightly inflated from applying the SC method itself while a significant increase is due to the inclusion of the photo-z uncertainties. The bias of cosmological parameters is reduced from several-σ, when IA is not corrected for, to below 1-σ after SC is applied. These numbers are comparable to those resulting from applying the method of marginalizing over IA model parameters despite the fact that the two methods operate very differently. We conclude that implementing the SC for these future cosmic-shear surveys will not only allow one to efficiently mitigate the GI contaminant but also help to understand their modeling and link to structure formation.

Cosmology and the early universe

CERN Document Server

Di Bari, Pasquale

2018-01-01

This book discusses cosmology from both an observational and a strong theoretical perspective. The first part focuses on gravitation, notably the expansion of the universe and determination of cosmological parameters, before moving onto the main emphasis of the book, the physics of the early universe, and the connections between cosmological models and particle physics. Readers will gain a comprehensive account of cosmology and the latest observational results, without requiring prior knowledge of relativistic theories, making the text ideal for students.

Taylor expansion of luminosity distance in Szekeres cosmological models: effects of local structures evolution on cosmographic parameters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Villani, Mattia, E-mail: villani@fi.infn.it [Sezione INFN di Firenze, Polo Scientifico Via Sansone 1, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino (Italy)

2014-06-01

We consider the Goode-Wainwright representation of the Szekeres cosmological models and calculate the Taylor expansion of the luminosity distance in order to study the effects of the inhomogeneities on cosmographic parameters. Without making a particular choice for the arbitrary functions defining the metric, we Taylor expand up to the second order in redshift for Family I and up to the third order for Family II Szekeres metrics under the hypotesis, based on observation, that local structure formation is over. In a conservative fashion, we also allow for the existence of a non null cosmological constant.

Axions in inflationary cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Linde, A.

1991-01-01

The problem of the cosmological constraints on the axion mass is re-examined. It is argued that in the context of inflationary cosmology the constraint m a > or approx.10 -5 eV can be avoided even when the axion perturbations produced during inflation are taken into account. It is shown also that in most axion models the effective parameter f a rapidly changes during inflation. This modifies some earlier statements concerning isothermal perturbations in the axion cosmology. A hybrid inflation scenario is proposed which combines some advantages of chaotic inflation with specific features of new and/or extended inflation. Its implications for the axion cosmology are discussed. (orig.)

Cosmological evolution as squeezing: a toy model for group field cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Adjei, Eugene; Gielen, Steffen; Wieland, Wolfgang

2018-05-01

We present a simple model of quantum cosmology based on the group field theory (GFT) approach to quantum gravity. The model is formulated on a subspace of the GFT Fock space for the quanta of geometry, with a fixed volume per quantum. In this Hilbert space, cosmological expansion corresponds to the generation of new quanta. Our main insight is that the evolution of a flat Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker universe with a massless scalar field can be described on this Hilbert space as squeezing, familiar from quantum optics. As in GFT cosmology, we find that the three-volume satisfies an effective Friedmann equation similar to the one of loop quantum cosmology, connecting the classical contracting and expanding solutions by a quantum bounce. The only free parameter in the model is identified with Newton’s constant. We also comment on the possible topological interpretation of our squeezed states. This paper can serve as an introduction into the main ideas of GFT cosmology without requiring the full GFT formalism; our results can also motivate new developments in GFT and its cosmological application.

On estimating cosmology-dependent covariance matrices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morrison, Christopher B.; Schneider, Michael D.

2013-01-01

We describe a statistical model to estimate the covariance matrix of matter tracer two-point correlation functions with cosmological simulations. Assuming a fixed number of cosmological simulation runs, we describe how to build a 'statistical emulator' of the two-point function covariance over a specified range of input cosmological parameters. Because the simulation runs with different cosmological models help to constrain the form of the covariance, we predict that the cosmology-dependent covariance may be estimated with a comparable number of simulations as would be needed to estimate the covariance for fixed cosmology. Our framework is a necessary first step in planning a simulations campaign for analyzing the next generation of cosmological surveys

Perturbations in loop quantum cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, W; Agullo, I; Ashtekar, A

2014-01-01

The era of precision cosmology has allowed us to accurately determine many important cosmological parameters, in particular via the CMB. Confronting Loop Quantum Cosmology with these observations provides us with a powerful test of the theory. For this to be possible, we need a detailed understanding of the generation and evolution of inhomogeneous perturbations during the early, quantum gravity phase of the universe. Here, we have described how Loop Quantum Cosmology provides a completion of the inflationary paradigm, that is consistent with the observed power spectra of the CMB

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.

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.

Quasars and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fliche, H.-H.; Souriau, J.-M.

1978-03-01

On the basis of colorimetric data a composite spectrum of quasars is established from the visible to the Lyman's limit. Its agreement with the spectrum of the quasar 3C273, obtained directly, confirms the homogeneity of these objects. The compatibility of the following hypotheses: negligible evolution of quasars, Friedmann type model of the universe with cosmological constant, is studied by means of two tests: a non-correlation test adopted to the observation conditions and the construction of diagrams (absolute magnitude, volume) using the K-correction deduced from the composite spectrum. This procedure happens to give relatively well-defined values of the parameters; the central values of the density parameter, the reduced curvature and the reduced cosmological constant are: Ω 0 =0.053, k 0 =0.245, lambda-zero=1.19, which correspond to a big bang model, eternally expanding, spatially finite, in which Hubble's parameter H is presently increasing. This model responds well to different cosmological tests: density of matter, diameter of radio sources, age of the universe. Its characteristics suggest various cosmogonic mechanisms, espacially mass formation by growth of empty spherical bubbles [fr

Parameterized post-Newtonian cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanghai, Viraj A A; Clifton, Timothy

2017-01-01

Einstein’s theory of gravity has been extensively tested on solar system scales, and for isolated astrophysical systems, using the perturbative framework known as the parameterized post-Newtonian (PPN) formalism. This framework is designed for use in the weak-field and slow-motion limit of gravity, and can be used to constrain a large class of metric theories of gravity with data collected from the aforementioned systems. Given the potential of future surveys to probe cosmological scales to high precision, it is a topic of much contemporary interest to construct a similar framework to link Einstein’s theory of gravity and its alternatives to observations on cosmological scales. Our approach to this problem is to adapt and extend the existing PPN formalism for use in cosmology. We derive a set of equations that use the same parameters to consistently model both weak fields and cosmology. This allows us to parameterize a large class of modified theories of gravity and dark energy models on cosmological scales, using just four functions of time. These four functions can be directly linked to the background expansion of the universe, first-order cosmological perturbations, and the weak-field limit of the theory. They also reduce to the standard PPN parameters on solar system scales. We illustrate how dark energy models and scalar-tensor and vector-tensor theories of gravity fit into this framework, which we refer to as ‘parameterized post-Newtonian cosmology’ (PPNC). (paper)

Parameterized post-Newtonian cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Sanghai, Viraj A. A.; Clifton, Timothy

2017-03-01

Einstein’s theory of gravity has been extensively tested on solar system scales, and for isolated astrophysical systems, using the perturbative framework known as the parameterized post-Newtonian (PPN) formalism. This framework is designed for use in the weak-field and slow-motion limit of gravity, and can be used to constrain a large class of metric theories of gravity with data collected from the aforementioned systems. Given the potential of future surveys to probe cosmological scales to high precision, it is a topic of much contemporary interest to construct a similar framework to link Einstein’s theory of gravity and its alternatives to observations on cosmological scales. Our approach to this problem is to adapt and extend the existing PPN formalism for use in cosmology. We derive a set of equations that use the same parameters to consistently model both weak fields and cosmology. This allows us to parameterize a large class of modified theories of gravity and dark energy models on cosmological scales, using just four functions of time. These four functions can be directly linked to the background expansion of the universe, first-order cosmological perturbations, and the weak-field limit of the theory. They also reduce to the standard PPN parameters on solar system scales. We illustrate how dark energy models and scalar-tensor and vector-tensor theories of gravity fit into this framework, which we refer to as ‘parameterized post-Newtonian cosmology’ (PPNC).

Conformal Cosmology and Supernova Data

OpenAIRE

Behnke, Danilo; Blaschke, David; Pervushin, Victor; Proskurin, Denis

2000-01-01

We define the cosmological parameters $H_{c,0}$, $\\Omega_{m,c}$ and $\\Omega_{\\Lambda, c}$ within the Conformal Cosmology as obtained by the homogeneous approximation to the conformal-invariant generalization of Einstein's General Relativity theory. We present the definitions of the age of the universe and of the luminosity distance in the context of this approach. A possible explanation of the recent data from distant supernovae Ia without a cosmological constant is presented.

Fisher matrix forecast on cosmological parameters from the dark energy survey 2-point angular correlation function

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sobreira, F.; Rosenfeld, R. [Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho (IFT/UNESP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil). Inst. Fisica Teorica; Simoni, F. de; Costa, L.A.N. da; Gaia, M.A.G.; Ramos, B.; Ogando, R.; Makler, M. [Laboratorio Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia (LIneA), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2011-07-01

Full text: We study the cosmological constraints expected for the upcoming project Dark Energy Survey (DES) with the full functional form of the 2-point angular correlation function. The angular correlation function model applied in this work includes the effects of linear redshift-space distortion, photometric redshift errors (assumed to be Gaussian) and non-linearities prevenient from gravitational infall. The Fisher information matrix is constructed with the full covariance matrix, which takes the correlation between nearby redshift shells in a proper manner. The survey was sliced into 20 redshift shells in the range 0:4 {<=} z {<=} 1:40 with a variable angular scale in order to search only the scale around the signal from the baryon acoustic oscillation, therefore well within the validity of the non-linear model employed. We found that under those assumptions and with a flat {Lambda}CDM WMAP7 fiducial model, the DES will be able to constrain the dark energy equation of state parameter w with a precision of {approx} 20% and the cold dark matter with {approx} 11% when marginalizing over the other 25 parameters (bias is treated as a free parameter for each shell). When applying WMAP7 priors on {Omega}{sub baryon}, {Omega} c{sub dm}, n{sub s}, and HST priors on the Hubble parameter, w is constrained with {approx} 9% precision. This shows that the full shape of the angular correlation function with DES data will be a powerful probe to constrain cosmological parameters. (author)

Cosmological Constraints from the Redshift Dependence of the Volume Effect Using the Galaxy 2-point Correlation Function across the Line of Sight

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiao-Dong; Park, Changbom; Sabiu, Cristiano G.; Park, Hyunbae; Cheng, Cheng; Kim, Juhan; Hong, Sungwook E.

2017-08-01

We develop a methodology to use the redshift dependence of the galaxy 2-point correlation function (2pCF) across the line of sight, ξ ({r}\\perp ), as a probe of cosmological parameters. The positions of galaxies in comoving Cartesian space varies under different cosmological parameter choices, inducing a redshift-dependent scaling in the galaxy distribution. This geometrical distortion can be observed as a redshift-dependent rescaling in the measured ξ ({r}\\perp ). We test this methodology using a sample of 1.75 billion mock galaxies at redshifts 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2, drawn from the Horizon Run 4 N-body simulation. The shape of ξ ({r}\\perp ) can exhibit a significant redshift evolution when the galaxy sample is analyzed under a cosmology differing from the true, simulated one. Other contributions, including the gravitational growth of structure, galaxy bias, and the redshift space distortions, do not produce large redshift evolution in the shape. We show that one can make use of this geometrical distortion to constrain the values of cosmological parameters governing the expansion history of the universe. This method could be applicable to future large-scale structure surveys, especially photometric surveys such as DES and LSST, to derive tight cosmological constraints. This work is a continuation of our previous works as a strategy to constrain cosmological parameters using redshift-invariant physical quantities.

Approximate Bayesian computation for forward modeling in cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akeret, Joël; Refregier, Alexandre; Amara, Adam; Seehars, Sebastian; Hasner, Caspar

2015-01-01

Bayesian inference is often used in cosmology and astrophysics to derive constraints on model parameters from observations. This approach relies on the ability to compute the likelihood of the data given a choice of model parameters. In many practical situations, the likelihood function may however be unavailable or intractable due to non-gaussian errors, non-linear measurements processes, or complex data formats such as catalogs and maps. In these cases, the simulation of mock data sets can often be made through forward modeling. We discuss how Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) can be used in these cases to derive an approximation to the posterior constraints using simulated data sets. This technique relies on the sampling of the parameter set, a distance metric to quantify the difference between the observation and the simulations and summary statistics to compress the information in the data. We first review the principles of ABC and discuss its implementation using a Population Monte-Carlo (PMC) algorithm and the Mahalanobis distance metric. We test the performance of the implementation using a Gaussian toy model. We then apply the ABC technique to the practical case of the calibration of image simulations for wide field cosmological surveys. We find that the ABC analysis is able to provide reliable parameter constraints for this problem and is therefore a promising technique for other applications in cosmology and astrophysics. Our implementation of the ABC PMC method is made available via a public code release

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

Cosmological Probes for Supersymmetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maxim Khlopov

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The multi-parameter character of supersymmetric dark-matter models implies the combination of their experimental studies with astrophysical and cosmological probes. The physics of the early Universe provides nontrivial effects of non-equilibrium particles and primordial cosmological structures. Primordial black holes (PBHs are a profound signature of such structures that may arise as a cosmological consequence of supersymmetric (SUSY models. SUSY-based mechanisms of baryosynthesis can lead to the possibility of antimatter domains in a baryon asymmetric Universe. In the context of cosmoparticle physics, which studies the fundamental relationship of the micro- and macro-worlds, the development of SUSY illustrates the main principles of this approach, as the physical basis of the modern cosmology provides cross-disciplinary tests in physical and astronomical studies.

Cosmology with MATLAB

CERN Document Server

Green, Dan

2016-01-01

This volume makes explicit use of the synergy between cosmology and high energy physics, for example, supersymmetry and dark matter, or nucleosynthesis and the baryon-to-photon ratio. In particular the exciting possible connection between the recently discovered Higgs scalar and the scalar field responsible for inflation is explored.The recent great advances in the accuracy of the basic cosmological parameters is exploited in that no free scale parameters such as h appear, rather the basic calculations are done numerically using all sources of energy density simultaneously. Scripts are provided that allow the reader to calculate exact results for the basic parameters. Throughout MATLAB tools such as symbolic math, numerical solutions, plots and 'movies' of the dynamical evolution of systems are used. The GUI package is also shown as an example of the real time manipulation of parameters which is available to the reader.All the MATLAB scripts are made available to the reader to explore examples of the uses of ...

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...

KiDS-450: the tomographic weak lensing power spectrum and constraints on cosmological parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Köhlinger, F.; Viola, M.; Joachimi, B.; Hoekstra, H.; van Uitert, E.; Hildebrandt, H.; Choi, A.; Erben, T.; Heymans, C.; Joudaki, S.; Klaes, D.; Kuijken, K.; Merten, J.; Miller, L.; Schneider, P.; Valentijn, E. A.

2017-11-01

We present measurements of the weak gravitational lensing shear power spectrum based on 450 ° ^2 of imaging data from the Kilo Degree Survey. We employ a quadratic estimator in two and three redshift bins and extract band powers of redshift autocorrelation and cross-correlation spectra in the multipole range 76 ≤ ℓ ≤ 1310. The cosmological interpretation of the measured shear power spectra is performed in a Bayesian framework assuming a ΛCDM model with spatially flat geometry, while accounting for small residual uncertainties in the shear calibration and redshift distributions as well as marginalizing over intrinsic alignments, baryon feedback and an excess-noise power model. Moreover, massive neutrinos are included in the modelling. The cosmological main result is expressed in terms of the parameter combination S_8 ≡ σ _8 √{Ω_m/0.3} yielding S8 = 0.651 ± 0.058 (three z-bins), confirming the recently reported tension in this parameter with constraints from Planck at 3.2σ (three z-bins). We cross-check the results of the three z-bin analysis with the weaker constraints from the two z-bin analysis and find them to be consistent. The high-level data products of this analysis, such as the band power measurements, covariance matrices, redshift distributions and likelihood evaluation chains are available at http://kids.strw.leidenuniv.nl.

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.

Cosmological inflation

CERN Document Server

Enqvist, K

2012-01-01

The very basics of cosmological inflation are discussed. We derive the equations of motion for the inflaton field, introduce the slow-roll parameters, and present the computation of the inflationary perturbations and their connection to the temperature fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background.

Graviton fluctuations erase the cosmological constant

Science.gov (United States)

Wetterich, C.

2017-10-01

Graviton fluctuations induce strong non-perturbative infrared renormalization effects for the cosmological constant. The functional renormalization flow drives a positive cosmological constant towards zero, solving the cosmological constant problem without the need to tune parameters. We propose a simple computation of the graviton contribution to the flow of the effective potential for scalar fields. Within variable gravity, with effective Planck mass proportional to the scalar field, we find that the potential increases asymptotically at most quadratically with the scalar field. The solutions of the derived cosmological equations lead to an asymptotically vanishing cosmological "constant" in the infinite future, providing for dynamical dark energy in the present cosmological epoch. Beyond a solution of the cosmological constant problem, our simplified computation also entails a sizeable positive graviton-induced anomalous dimension for the quartic Higgs coupling in the ultraviolet regime, substantiating the successful prediction of the Higgs boson mass within the asymptotic safety scenario for quantum gravity.

Kantowski--Sachs cosmological models as big-bang models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, E.

1985-01-01

In the presence of a nonzero cosmological constant Λ, we classify the anisotropic cosmological models of the Kantowski--Sachs type by means of the quantities epsilon 2 0 , q 0 , summation 0 corresponding, respectively, to the relative root-mean-square deviation from isotropy, the deceleration parameter, and the density parameter of the perfect fluid at a given time t = t 0 . We obtain for Λ>0 a set of big-bang models of zero measure as well as a set of cosmological models of nonzero measure evolving toward the de Sitter solution

astroABC : An Approximate Bayesian Computation Sequential Monte Carlo sampler for cosmological parameter estimation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jennings, E.; Madigan, M.

2017-04-01

Given the complexity of modern cosmological parameter inference where we arefaced with non-Gaussian data and noise, correlated systematics and multi-probecorrelated data sets, the Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) method is apromising alternative to traditional Markov Chain Monte Carlo approaches in thecase where the Likelihood is intractable or unknown. The ABC method is called"Likelihood free" as it avoids explicit evaluation of the Likelihood by using aforward model simulation of the data which can include systematics. Weintroduce astroABC, an open source ABC Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) sampler forparameter estimation. A key challenge in astrophysics is the efficient use oflarge multi-probe datasets to constrain high dimensional, possibly correlatedparameter spaces. With this in mind astroABC allows for massive parallelizationusing MPI, a framework that handles spawning of jobs across multiple nodes. Akey new feature of astroABC is the ability to create MPI groups with differentcommunicators, one for the sampler and several others for the forward modelsimulation, which speeds up sampling time considerably. For smaller jobs thePython multiprocessing option is also available. Other key features include: aSequential Monte Carlo sampler, a method for iteratively adapting tolerancelevels, local covariance estimate using scikit-learn's KDTree, modules forspecifying optimal covariance matrix for a component-wise or multivariatenormal perturbation kernel, output and restart files are backed up everyiteration, user defined metric and simulation methods, a module for specifyingheterogeneous parameter priors including non-standard prior PDFs, a module forspecifying a constant, linear, log or exponential tolerance level,well-documented examples and sample scripts. This code is hosted online athttps://github.com/EliseJ/astroABC

Cosmological measurements with general relativistic galaxy correlations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raccanelli, Alvise; Montanari, Francesco; Durrer, Ruth; Bertacca, Daniele; Doré, Olivier

2016-01-01

We investigate the cosmological dependence and the constraining power of large-scale galaxy correlations, including all redshift-distortions, wide-angle, lensing and gravitational potential effects on linear scales. We analyze the cosmological information present in the lensing convergence and in the gravitational potential terms describing the so-called ''relativistic effects'', and we find that, while smaller than the information contained in intrinsic galaxy clustering, it is not negligible. We investigate how neglecting them does bias cosmological measurements performed by future spectroscopic and photometric large-scale surveys such as SKA and Euclid. We perform a Fisher analysis using the CLASS code, modified to include scale-dependent galaxy bias and redshift-dependent magnification and evolution bias. Our results show that neglecting relativistic terms, especially lensing convergence, introduces an error in the forecasted precision in measuring cosmological parameters of the order of a few tens of percent, in particular when measuring the matter content of the Universe and primordial non-Gaussianity parameters. The analysis suggests a possible substantial systematic error in cosmological parameter constraints. Therefore, we argue that radial correlations and integrated relativistic terms need to be taken into account when forecasting the constraining power of future large-scale number counts of galaxy surveys.

Gravitational particle production in braneworld cosmology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bambi, C; Urban, F R

2007-11-09

Gravitational particle production in a time variable metric of an expanding universe is efficient only when the Hubble parameter H is not too small in comparison with the particle mass. In standard cosmology, the huge value of the Planck mass M{Pl} makes the mechanism phenomenologically irrelevant. On the other hand, in braneworld cosmology, the expansion rate of the early Universe can be much faster, and many weakly interacting particles can be abundantly created. Cosmological implications are discussed.

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

Modified General Relativity and Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Abdel-Rahman, A.-M. M.

1997-10-01

Aspects of the modified general relativity theory of Rastall, Al-Rawaf and Taha are discussed in both the radiation- and matter-dominated flat cosmological models. A nucleosynthesis constraint on the theory's free parameter is obtained and the implication for the age of the Universe is discussed. The consistency of the modified matter- dominated model with the neoclassical cosmological tests is demonstrated.

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.

Stable exponential cosmological solutions with zero variation of G and three different Hubble-like parameters in the Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet model with a Λ-term

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ernazarov, K.K. [RUDN University, Institute of Gravitation and Cosmology, Moscow (Russian Federation); Ivashchuk, V.D. [RUDN University, Institute of Gravitation and Cosmology, Moscow (Russian Federation); VNIIMS, Center for Gravitation and Fundamental Metrology, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2017-06-15

We consider a D-dimensional gravitational model with a Gauss-Bonnet term and the cosmological term Λ. We restrict the metrics to diagonal cosmological ones and find for certain Λ a class of solutions with exponential time dependence of three scale factors, governed by three non-coinciding Hubble-like parameters H > 0, h{sub 1} and h{sub 2}, corresponding to factor spaces of dimensions m > 2, k{sub 1} > 1 and k{sub 2} > 1, respectively, with k{sub 1} ≠ k{sub 2} and D = 1 + m + k{sub 1} + k{sub 2}. Any of these solutions describes an exponential expansion of 3d subspace with Hubble parameter H and zero variation of the effective gravitational constant G. We prove the stability of these solutions in a class of cosmological solutions with diagonal metrics. (orig.)

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.

Improved standard cosmology: Comparison with observation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wesson, P.S.

1982-01-01

A cosmological model describing inhomogeneous clusters of galaxies embedded in a homogeneous background is compared to observation. In this model, a cluster is described as a spherically symmetric distribution of matter with an inverse-square density law and an isothermal equation of state, while the background universe is essentially the Einstein/de Sitter one of standard cosmology, but with a small pressure. The model is found to be in overall good agreement with observation, and its adjustable parameters are assigned numerical values. The equation of state for a cluster and the finite cosmological pressure are properties of the model which can in principle be investigated by carrying out observations. Subject headings: cosmology: galaxies: clusters of: relativity

HICOSMO - cosmology with a complete sample of galaxy clusters - I. Data analysis, sample selection and luminosity-mass scaling relation

Science.gov (United States)

Schellenberger, G.; Reiprich, T. H.

2017-08-01

The X-ray regime, where the most massive visible component of galaxy clusters, the intracluster medium, is visible, offers directly measured quantities, like the luminosity, and derived quantities, like the total mass, to characterize these objects. The aim of this project is to analyse a complete sample of galaxy clusters in detail and constrain cosmological parameters, like the matter density, Ωm, or the amplitude of initial density fluctuations, σ8. The purely X-ray flux-limited sample (HIFLUGCS) consists of the 64 X-ray brightest galaxy clusters, which are excellent targets to study the systematic effects, that can bias results. We analysed in total 196 Chandra observations of the 64 HIFLUGCS clusters, with a total exposure time of 7.7 Ms. Here, we present our data analysis procedure (including an automated substructure detection and an energy band optimization for surface brightness profile analysis) that gives individually determined, robust total mass estimates. These masses are tested against dynamical and Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) derived masses of the same clusters, where good overall agreement is found with the dynamical masses. The Planck SZ masses seem to show a mass-dependent bias to our hydrostatic masses; possible biases in this mass-mass comparison are discussed including the Planck selection function. Furthermore, we show the results for the (0.1-2.4) keV luminosity versus mass scaling relation. The overall slope of the sample (1.34) is in agreement with expectations and values from literature. Splitting the sample into galaxy groups and clusters reveals, even after a selection bias correction, that galaxy groups exhibit a significantly steeper slope (1.88) compared to clusters (1.06).

Multiverse understanding of cosmological coincidences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bousso, Raphael; Hall, Lawrence J.; Nomura, Yasunori

2009-01-01

There is a deep cosmological mystery: although dependent on very different underlying physics, the time scales of structure formation, of galaxy cooling (both radiatively and against the CMB), and of vacuum domination do not differ by many orders of magnitude, but are all comparable to the present age of the universe. By scanning four landscape parameters simultaneously, we show that this quadruple coincidence is resolved. We assume only that the statistical distribution of parameter values in the multiverse grows towards certain catastrophic boundaries we identify, across which there are drastic regime changes. We find order-of-magnitude predictions for the cosmological constant, the primordial density contrast, the temperature at matter-radiation equality, the typical galaxy mass, and the age of the universe, in terms of the fine structure constant and the electron, proton and Planck masses. Our approach permits a systematic evaluation of measure proposals; with the causal patch measure, we find no runaway of the primordial density contrast and the cosmological constant to large values.

iCosmo: an interactive cosmology package

Science.gov (United States)

Refregier, A.; Amara, A.; Kitching, T. D.; Rassat, A.

2011-04-01

Aims: The interactive software package iCosmo, designed to perform cosmological calculations is described. Methods: iCosmo is a software package to perfom interactive cosmological calculations for the low-redshift universe. Computing distance measures, the matter power spectrum, and the growth factor is supported for any values of the cosmological parameters. It also computes derived observed quantities for several cosmological probes such as cosmic shear, baryon acoustic oscillations, and type Ia supernovae. The associated errors for these observable quantities can be derived for customised surveys, or for pre-set values corresponding to current or planned instruments. The code also allows for calculation of cosmological forecasts with Fisher matrices, which can be manipulated to combine different surveys and cosmological probes. The code is written in the IDL language and thus benefits from the convenient interactive features and scientific libraries available in this language. iCosmo can also be used as an engine to perform cosmological calculations in batch mode, and forms a convenient adaptive platform for the development of further cosmological modules. With its extensive documentation, it may also serve as a useful resource for teaching and for newcomers to the field of cosmology. Results: The iCosmo package is described with a number of examples and command sequences. The code is freely available with documentation at http://www.icosmo.org, along with an interactive web interface and is part of the Initiative for Cosmology, a common archive for cosmological resources.

Introduction to particle cosmology the standard model of cosmology and its open problems

CERN Document Server

Bambi, Cosimo

2016-01-01

This book introduces the basic concepts of particle cosmology and covers all the main aspects of the Big Bang Model (expansion of the Universe, Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, Cosmic Microwave Background, large scale structures) and the search for new physics (inflation, baryogenesis, dark matter, dark energy). It also includes the majority of recent discoveries, such as the precise determination of cosmological parameters using experiments like WMAP and Planck, the discovery of the Higgs boson at LHC, the non-discovery to date of supersymmetric particles, and the search for the imprint of gravitational waves on the CMB polarization by Planck and BICEP.   This textbook is based on the authors’ courses on Cosmology, and aims at introducing Particle Cosmology to senior undergraduate and graduate students. It has been especially written to be accessible even for those students who do not have a strong background in General Relativity and quantum field theory. The content of this book is organized in an easy-to-use ...

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

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)

Cosmological reconstruction and Om diagnostic analysis of Einstein-Aether theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pasqua, Antonio [Department of Physics, University of Trieste, Via Valerio 2, 34127 Trieste (Italy); Chattopadhyay, Surajit [Pailan College of Management and Technology, Bengal Pailan Park, Kolkata-700 104 (India); Momeni, Davood; Myrzakulov, Ratbay [Eurasian International Center for Theoretical Physics and Department of General and Theoretical Physics, Eurasian National University, Astana 010008 (Kazakhstan); Raza, Muhammad [Department of Mathematics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Sahiwal 57000 (Pakistan); Faizal, Mir, E-mail: toto.pasqua@gmail.com, E-mail: surajcha@iucaa.ernet.in, E-mail: d.momeni@yahoo.com, E-mail: mraza@zju.edu.cn, E-mail: rmyrzakulov@gmail.com, E-mail: mirfaizalmir@gmail.com [Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, University of British Columbia—Okanagan, Kelowna, British Columbia V1V 1V7 (Canada)

2017-04-01

In this paper, we analyze the cosmological models in Einstein-Aether gravity, which is a modified theory of gravity in which a time-like vector field breaks the Lorentz symmetry. We use this formalism to analyse different cosmological models with different behavior of the scale factor. In this analysis, we use a certain functional dependence of the Dark Energy (DE) on the Hubble parameter H . It will be demonstrated that the Aether vector field has a non-trivial effect on these cosmological models. We also perform the Om diagnostic in Einstein-Aether gravity and we fit the parameters of the cosmological models using recent observational data.

Possible role of Berry phase in inflationary cosmological perturbations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pal, Barun Kumar; Pal, Supratik; Basu, B

2012-01-01

Here we have derived a cosmological analogue of Berry phase by obtaining the corresponding wavefunction for the system of inflationary cosmological perturbations solving the Schrodinger equation. We have further shown that cosmological Berry phase can be related inflationary observable parameters. As a result one can, atleast in principle, establish a supplementary probe of inflationary cosmology through the measurement of the associated Berry phase. But we do not make any strong comment on this.

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.

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_{\

Chandra Cluster Cosmology Project. II. Samples and X-Ray Data Reduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vikhlinin, A.; Burenin, R. A.; Ebeling, H.

2009-01-01

We discuss the measurements of the galaxy cluster mass functions at z ≈ 0.05 and z ≈ 0.5 using high-quality Chandra observations of samples derived from the ROSAT PSPC All-Sky and 400 deg2 surveys. We provide a full reference for the data analysis procedures, present updated calibration of relati...... at a fixed mass threshold, e.g., by a factor of 5.0 ± 1.2 at M 500 = 2.5 × 1014 h –1 M sun between z = 0 and 0.5. This evolution reflects the growth of density perturbations, and can be used for the cosmological constraints complementing those from the distance-redshift relation....

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,

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.

The cosmological principle is not in the sky

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Chan-Gyung; Hyun, Hwasu; Noh, Hyerim; Hwang, Jai-chan

2017-08-01

The homogeneity of matter distribution at large scales, known as the cosmological principle, is a central assumption in the standard cosmological model. The case is testable though, thus no longer needs to be a principle. Here we perform a test for spatial homogeneity using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Luminous Red Galaxies (LRG) sample by counting galaxies within a specified volume with the radius scale varying up to 300 h-1 Mpc. We directly confront the large-scale structure data with the definition of spatial homogeneity by comparing the averages and dispersions of galaxy number counts with allowed ranges of the random distribution with homogeneity. The LRG sample shows significantly larger dispersions of number counts than the random catalogues up to 300 h-1 Mpc scale, and even the average is located far outside the range allowed in the random distribution; the deviations are statistically impossible to be realized in the random distribution. This implies that the cosmological principle does not hold even at such large scales. The same analysis of mock galaxies derived from the N-body simulation, however, suggests that the LRG sample is consistent with the current paradigm of cosmology, thus the simulation is also not homogeneous in that scale. We conclude that the cosmological principle is neither in the observed sky nor demanded to be there by the standard cosmological world model. This reveals the nature of the cosmological principle adopted in the modern cosmology paradigm, and opens a new field of research in theoretical cosmology.

Measuring the cosmological constant through the Lyman-alpha forest using the Alcock-Paczynski test

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Wen-Ching

An important topic in cosmology is the determination of the energy densities of the major components of the Universe---OB, O DM and OΛ. Among these, the cosmological constant OΛ, which associates with the vacuum energy of our universe, draws specific attentions for its importance in fundamental particle physics. The Lyalpha forest QSO spectra are observationally available from z ˜ 0 to z ˜ 4. Recently the concept of performing the Alcock-Paczynski test on the Lyalpha forest to determine the cosmological constant has been proposed. This motivates us to develop a methodology incorporating sophisticated cosmological hydrodynamics simulations including these effects to implement the AP test and to perform an accurate measurement on the cosmological constant O Λ. To manipulate the data from paired QSO spectra with different angular separations, we propose an explicit method based on the maximum likelihood estimation. We use this method to implement the AP test and demonstrate the whole procedure based on our numerical simulations. Using mock pair spectra, we estimate that more than 40 pairs are required to derive an accurate value of OΛ due to the impact of cosmic variance. The degeneracy of other cosmological parameters is an important topic for this project. We examine two other parameters, sigma8 and n, the initial power spectrum amplitude and index, whose value are not consistently derived through other means. We conclude that when the uncertainties of these two parameters are around 10%--20%, the resulting bias in O Λ is less than 10%. Using a small sample of currently available QSO pairs, we have derived OΛ = 0.65+0.39-1.16 . Our preliminary result encourges us to take further steps on this project.

On the Convergence in Effective Loop Quantum Cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corichi, Alejandro; Vukasinac, Tatjana; Zapata, Jose Antonio

2010-01-01

In Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC) there is a discreteness parameter λ, that has been heuristically associated to a fundamental granularity of quantum geometry. It is also possible to consider λ as a regulator in the same spirit as that used in lattice field theory, where it specifies a regular lattice in the real line. A particular quantization of the k = 0 FLRW loop cosmological model yields a completely solvable model, known as solvable loop quantum cosmology(sLQC). In this contribution, we consider effective classical theories motivated by sLQC and study their λ-dependence, with a special interest on the limit λ→0 and the role of the evolution parameter in the convergence of such limit.

Cosmology of a charged universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, A.

1979-01-01

The Proca generalization of electrodynamics admits the possibility that the universe could possess a net electric charge uniformly distributed throughout space, while possessing no electric field. A charged intergalactic (and intragalactic) medium of this kind could contain enough energy to be of cosmological importance. A general-relativistic model of cosmological expansion dominated by such a charged background has been calculated, and is consistent with present observational limits on the Hubble constant, the decleration parameter, and the age of the universe. However, if this cosmology applied at the present epoch, the very early expansion of the universe would have been much more rapid than in conventional ''big bang'' cosmologies, too rapid for cosmological nucleosynthesis or thermalization of the background radiation to have occurred. Hence, domination of the present expansion by background charge appears to be incompatible with the 3 K background and big-bang production of light elements. If the present background charge density were sufficiently small (but not strictly zero), expansion from the epoch of nucleosynthesis would proceed according to the conventional scenario, but the energy due to the background charge would have dominated at some earlier epoch. This last possibility leads to equality of pressure and energy density in the primordial universe, a condition of special significance in certain cosmological theories

Nonsingular bouncing cosmologies in light of BICEP2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, Yi-Fu; Quintin, Jerome; Saridakis, Emmanuel N.; Wilson-Ewing, Edward

2014-01-01

We confront various nonsingular bouncing cosmologies with the recently released BICEP2 data and investigate the observational constraints on their parameter space. In particular, within the context of the effective field approach, we analyze the constraints on the matter bounce curvaton scenario with a light scalar field, and the new matter bounce cosmology model in which the universe successively experiences a period of matter contraction and an ekpyrotic phase. Additionally, we consider three nonsingular bouncing cosmologies obtained in the framework of modified gravity theories, namely the Hořava-Lifshitz bounce model, the f(T) bounce model, and loop quantum cosmology

The Maxwell-Chern-Simons gravity, and its cosmological implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haghani, Zahra; Shahidi, Shahab [Damghan University, School of Physics, Damghan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Harko, Tiberiu [Babes-Bolyai University, Department of Physics, Cluj-Napoca (Romania); University College London, Department of Mathematics, London (United Kingdom)

2017-08-15

We consider the cosmological implications of a gravitational theory containing two vector fields coupled via a generalized Chern-Simons term. One of the vector fields is the usual Maxwell field, while the other is a constrained vector field with constant norm included in the action via a Lagrange multiplier. The theory admits a de Sitter type solution, with healthy cosmological perturbations. We also show that there are seven degrees of freedom that propagate on top of de Sitter space-time, consisting of two tensor polarizations, four degrees of freedom related to the two vector fields, and a scalar degree of freedom that makes one of the vector fields massive. We investigate the cosmological evolution of Bianchi type I space-time, by assuming that the matter content of the Universe can be described by the stiff and dust. The cosmological evolution of the Bianchi type I Universe strongly depends on the initial conditions of the physical quantities, as well as on the model parameters. The mean anisotropy parameter, and the deceleration parameter, are also studied, and we show that independently of the matter equation of state the cosmological evolution of the Bianchi type I Universe always ends in an isotropic de Sitter type phase. (orig.)

String cosmology basic ideas and general results

CERN Document Server

Veneziano, Gabriele

1995-01-01

After recalling a few basic concepts from cosmology and string theory, I will outline the main ideas/assumptions underlying (our own group's approach to) string cosmology and show how these lead to the definition of a two-parameter family of ``minimal" models. I will then briefly explain how to compute, in terms of those parameters, the spectrum of scalar, tensor and electromagnetic perturbations, and mention their most relevant physical consequences. More details on the latter part of this talk can be found in Maurizio Gasperini's contribution to these proceedings.

Classical Bianchi Type I Cosmology in K-Essence Theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pimentel, Luis O.; Socorro, J.; Espinoza-García, Abraham

2014-01-01

We use one of the simplest forms of the K-essence theory and we apply it to the classical anisotropic Bianchi type I cosmological model, with a barotropic perfect fluid (p=γρ) modeling the usual matter content and with cosmological constant Λ. Classical exact solutions for any γ≠1 and Λ=0 are found in closed form, whereas solutions for Λ≠0 are found for particular values in the barotropic parameter. We present the possible isotropization of the cosmological model Bianchi I using the ratio between the anisotropic parameters and the volume of the universe. We also include a qualitative analysis of the analog of the Friedmann equation.

Cosmological parameter constraints from galaxy-galaxy lensing and galaxy clustering with the SDSS DR7

Science.gov (United States)

Mandelbaum, Rachel; Slosar, Anže; Baldauf, Tobias; Seljak, Uroš; Hirata, Christopher M.; Nakajima, Reiko; Reyes, Reinabelle; Smith, Robert E.

2013-06-01

Recent studies have shown that the cross-correlation coefficient between galaxies and dark matter is very close to unity on scales outside a few virial radii of galaxy haloes, independent of the details of how galaxies populate dark matter haloes. This finding makes it possible to determine the dark matter clustering from measurements of galaxy-galaxy weak lensing and galaxy clustering. We present new cosmological parameter constraints based on large-scale measurements of spectroscopic galaxy samples from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data release 7. We generalize the approach of Baldauf et al. to remove small-scale information (below 2 and 4 h-1 Mpc for lensing and clustering measurements, respectively), where the cross-correlation coefficient differs from unity. We derive constraints for three galaxy samples covering 7131 deg2, containing 69 150, 62 150 and 35 088 galaxies with mean redshifts of 0.11, 0.28 and 0.40. We clearly detect scale-dependent galaxy bias for the more luminous galaxy samples, at a level consistent with theoretical expectations. When we vary both σ8 and Ωm (and marginalize over non-linear galaxy bias) in a flat Λ cold dark matter model, the best-constrained quantity is σ8(Ωm/0.25)0.57 = 0.80 ± 0.05 (1σ, stat. + sys.), where statistical and systematic errors (photometric redshift and shear calibration) have comparable contributions, and we have fixed ns = 0.96 and h = 0.7. These strong constraints on the matter clustering suggest that this method is competitive with cosmic shear in current data, while having very complementary and in some ways less serious systematics. We therefore expect that this method will play a prominent role in future weak lensing surveys. When we combine these data with Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7-year (WMAP7) cosmic microwave background (CMB) data, constraints on σ8, Ωm, H0, wde and ∑mν become 30-80 per cent tighter than with CMB data alone, since our data break several parameter

How accurately can 21cm tomography constrain cosmology?

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Yi; Tegmark, Max; McQuinn, Matthew; Zaldarriaga, Matias; Zahn, Oliver

2008-07-01

There is growing interest in using 3-dimensional neutral hydrogen mapping with the redshifted 21 cm line as a cosmological probe. However, its utility depends on many assumptions. To aid experimental planning and design, we quantify how the precision with which cosmological parameters can be measured depends on a broad range of assumptions, focusing on the 21 cm signal from 6noise, to uncertainties in the reionization history, and to the level of contamination from astrophysical foregrounds. We derive simple analytic estimates for how various assumptions affect an experiment’s sensitivity, and we find that the modeling of reionization is the most important, followed by the array layout. We present an accurate yet robust method for measuring cosmological parameters that exploits the fact that the ionization power spectra are rather smooth functions that can be accurately fit by 7 phenomenological parameters. We find that for future experiments, marginalizing over these nuisance parameters may provide constraints almost as tight on the cosmology as if 21 cm tomography measured the matter power spectrum directly. A future square kilometer array optimized for 21 cm tomography could improve the sensitivity to spatial curvature and neutrino masses by up to 2 orders of magnitude, to ΔΩk≈0.0002 and Δmν≈0.007eV, and give a 4σ detection of the spectral index running predicted by the simplest inflation models.

Statefinder diagnostic for cosmology with the abnormally weighting energy hypothesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Daojun; Liu Weizhong

2008-01-01

In this paper, we apply the statefinder diagnostic to the cosmology with the abnormally weighting energy hypothesis (AWE cosmology), in which dark energy in the observational (ordinary matter) frame results from the violation of the weak equivalence principle by pressureless matter. It is found that there exist closed loops in the statefinder plane, which is an interesting characteristic of the evolution trajectories of statefinder parameters and can be used to distinguish AWE cosmology from other cosmological models

Exploring Cosmology with Supernovae

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Xue

distribution of strong gravitational lensing is developed. For Type Ia supernova (SNe Ia), the rate is lower than core-collapse supernovae (CC SNe). The rate of SNe Ia declines beyond z 1:5. Based on these reasons, we investigate a potential candidate to measure cosmological distance: GRB......-SNe. They are a subclass of CC SNe. Light curves of GRB-SNe are obtained and their properties are studied. We ascertain that the properties of GRB-SNe make them another candidate for standardizable candles in measuring the cosmic distance. Cosmological parameters M and are constrained with the help of GRB-SNe. The first...

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.

Probabilistic Cosmological Mass Mapping from Weak Lensing Shear

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schneider, M. D.; Dawson, W. A. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551 (United States); Ng, K. Y. [University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616 (United States); Marshall, P. J. [Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94035 (United States); Meyers, J. E. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Bard, D. J., E-mail: schneider42@llnl.gov, E-mail: dstn@cmu.edu, E-mail: boutigny@in2p3.fr, E-mail: djbard@slac.stanford.edu, E-mail: jmeyers314@stanford.edu [National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720-8150 (United States)

2017-04-10

We infer gravitational lensing shear and convergence fields from galaxy ellipticity catalogs under a spatial process prior for the lensing potential. We demonstrate the performance of our algorithm with simulated Gaussian-distributed cosmological lensing shear maps and a reconstruction of the mass distribution of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 781 using galaxy ellipticities measured with the Deep Lens Survey. Given interim posterior samples of lensing shear or convergence fields on the sky, we describe an algorithm to infer cosmological parameters via lens field marginalization. In the most general formulation of our algorithm we make no assumptions about weak shear or Gaussian-distributed shape noise or shears. Because we require solutions and matrix determinants of a linear system of dimension that scales with the number of galaxies, we expect our algorithm to require parallel high-performance computing resources for application to ongoing wide field lensing surveys.

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

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Physical Properties and Purity of a Galaxy Cluster Sample Selected Via the Sunyaev-Zel'Dovich Effect

Science.gov (United States)

Menanteau, Felipe; Gonzalez, Jorge; Juin, Jean-Baptiste; Marriage, Tobias; Reese, Erik D.; Acquaviva, Viviana; Aguirre, Paula; Appel, John Willam; Baker, Andrew J.; Barrientos, L. Felipe;

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.

Planck 2013 Cosmology Results: a Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Alberto Rubino-Martín

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This talk presents an overview of the cosmological results derived from the first 15.5 months of observations of the ESA’s Planck mission. These cosmological results are mainly based on the Planck measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB temperature and lensing-potential power spectra, although we also briefly discuss other aspects of the Planck data, as the statistical characterization of the reconstructed CMB maps, or the constraints on cosmological parameters using the number counts of galaxy clusters detected by means of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect in the Planck maps. All these results are described in detail in a series of papers released by ESA and the Planck collaboration in March 2013.

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.

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.)

Inflationary cosmology from quantum conformal gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jizba, Petr; Kleinert, Hagen; Scardigli, Fabio

2015-01-01

We analyze the functional integral for quantum conformal gravity and show that, with the help of a Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation, the action can be broken into a local quadratic-curvature theory coupled to a scalar field. A one-loop effective-action calculation reveals that strong fluctuations of the metric field are capable of spontaneously generating a dimensionally transmuted parameter which, in the weak-field sector of the broken phase, induces a Starobinsky-type f(R)-model with a gravi-cosmological constant. A resulting non-trivial relation between Starobinsky's parameter and the gravi-cosmological constant is highlighted and implications for cosmic inflation are briefly discussed and compared with the recent PLANCK and BICEP2 data. (orig.)

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

Cosmological imprints of pre-inflationary particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fialkov, Anastasia; Itzhaki, Nissan; Kovetz, Ely D., E-mail: anastasia.fialkov@gmail.com, E-mail: nitzhaki@post.tau.ac.il, E-mail: elykovetz@gmail.com [Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, 69978 (Israel)

2010-02-01

We study some of the cosmological imprints of pre-inflationary particles. We show that each such particle provides a seed for a spherically symmetric cosmic defect. The profile of this cosmic defect is fixed and its magnitude is linear in a single parameter that is determined by the mass of the pre-inflationary particle. We study the CMB and peculiar velocity imprints of this cosmic defect and suggest that it could explain some of the large scale cosmological anomalies.

Cosmological imprints of pre-inflationary particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fialkov, Anastasia; Itzhaki, Nissan; Kovetz, Ely D.

2010-01-01

We study some of the cosmological imprints of pre-inflationary particles. We show that each such particle provides a seed for a spherically symmetric cosmic defect. The profile of this cosmic defect is fixed and its magnitude is linear in a single parameter that is determined by the mass of the pre-inflationary particle. We study the CMB and peculiar velocity imprints of this cosmic defect and suggest that it could explain some of the large scale cosmological anomalies

Magnetogenesis in matter—Ekpyrotic bouncing cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koley, Ratna; Samtani, Sidhartha, E-mail: ratna.physics@presiuniv.ac.in, E-mail: samtanisidhartha@gmail.com [Department of Physics, Presidency University, 86/1 College Street, Kolkata, 700073 (India)

2017-04-01

In the recent past there have been many attempts to associate the generation of primordial magnetic seed fields with the inflationary era, but with limited success. We thus take a different approach by using a model for nonsingular bouncing cosmology. A coupling of the electromagnetic Lagrangian F {sub μν} F {sup μν} with a non background scalar field has been considered for the breaking of conformal invariance. We have shown that non singular bouncing cosmology supports magnetogenesis evading the long standing back reaction and strong coupling problems which have plagued inflationary magnetogenesis. In this model, we have achieved a scale invariant power spectrum for the parameter range compatible with observed CMB anisotropies. The desired strength of the magnetic field has also been obtained that goes in accordance with present observations. It is also important to note that no BKL instability arises within this parameter range. The energy scales for different stages of evolution of the bouncing model are so chosen that they solve certain problems of standard Big Bang cosmology as well.

Classification of cosmology with arbitrary matter in the Horava-Lifshitz model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minamitsuji, Masato

2010-01-01

In this work, we discuss the cosmological evolutions in the nonrelativistic and possibly renormalizable gravitational theory, called the Horava-Lifshitz (HL) theory. We consider the original HL model (type I), and the modified version obtained by an analytic continuation of parameters (type II). We classify the possible cosmological evolutions with arbitrary matter. We will find a variety of cosmology.

Hiding neutrino mass in modified gravity cosmologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bellomo, Nicola; Bellini, Emilio; Hu, Bin; Jimenez, Raul; Verde, Licia [ICC, University of Barcelona (UB-IEEC), Marti i Franques 1, 08028, Barcelona (Spain); Pena-Garay, Carlos, E-mail: nicola.bellomo@icc.ub.edu, E-mail: emilio.bellini@physics.ox.ac.uk, E-mail: binhu@icc.ub.edu, E-mail: raul.jimenez@icc.ub.edu, E-mail: penya@ific.uv.es, E-mail: liciaverde@icc.ub.edu [Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular, CSIC-UVEG, P.O. 22085, Valencia, 46071 (Spain)

2017-02-01

Cosmological observables show a dependence with the neutrino mass, which is partially degenerate with parameters of extended models of gravity. We study and explore this degeneracy in Horndeski generalized scalar-tensor theories of gravity. Using forecasted cosmic microwave background and galaxy power spectrum datasets, we find that a single parameter in the linear regime of the effective theory dominates the correlation with the total neutrino mass. For any given mass, a particular value of this parameter approximately cancels the power suppression due to the neutrino mass at a given redshift. The extent of the cancellation of this degeneracy depends on the cosmological large-scale structure data used at different redshifts. We constrain the parameters and functions of the effective gravity theory and determine the influence of gravity on the determination of the neutrino mass from present and future surveys.

Is there evidence for additional neutrino species from cosmology?

CERN Document Server

Feeney, Stephen M.; Verde, Licia

2013-01-01

It has been suggested that recent cosmological and flavor-oscillation data favor the existence of additional neutrino species beyond the three predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics. We apply Bayesian model selection to determine whether there is indeed any evidence from current cosmological datasets for the standard cosmological model to be extended to include additional neutrino flavors. The datasets employed include cosmic microwave background temperature, polarization and lensing power spectra, and measurements of the baryon acoustic oscillation scale and the Hubble constant. We also consider other extensions to the standard neutrino model, such as massive neutrinos, and possible degeneracies with other cosmological parameters. The Bayesian evidence indicates that current cosmological data do not require any non-standard neutrino properties.

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

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.

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.

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.

Physical and Relativistic Numerical Cosmology.

Science.gov (United States)

Anninos, Peter

1998-01-01

In order to account for the observable Universe, any comprehensive theory or model of cosmology must draw from many disciplines of physics, including gauge theories of strong and weak interactions, the hydrodynamics and microphysics of baryonic matter, electromagnetic fields, and spacetime curvature, for example. Although it is difficult to incorporate all these physical elements into a single complete model of our Universe, advances in computing methods and technologies have contributed significantly towards our understanding of cosmological models, the Universe, and astrophysical processes within them. A sample of numerical calculations addressing specific issues in cosmology are reviewed in this article: from the Big Bang singularity dynamics to the fundamental interactions of gravitational waves; from the quark-hadron phase transition to the large scale structure of the Universe. The emphasis, although not exclusively, is on those calculations designed to test different models of cosmology against the observed Universe.

Physical and Relativistic Numerical Cosmology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Anninos

1998-01-01

Full Text Available In order to account for the observable Universe, any comprehensive theory or model of cosmology must draw from many disciplines of physics, including gauge theories of strong and weak interactions, the hydrodynamics and microphysics of baryonic matter, electromagnetic fields, and spacetime curvature, for example. Although it is difficult to incorporate all these physical elements into a single complete model of our Universe, advances in computing methods and technologies have contributed significantly towards our understanding of cosmological models, the Universe, and astrophysical processes within them. A sample of numerical calculations addressing specific issues in cosmology are reviewed in this article: from the Big Bang singularity dynamics to the fundamental interactions of gravitational waves; from the quark--hadron phase transition to the large scale structure of the Universe. The emphasis, although not exclusively, is on those calculations designed to test different models of cosmology against the observed Universe.

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

Cosmology and a general scalar-tensor theory of gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bishop, N.T.

1976-01-01

The cosmological models resulting from a general scalar-tensor theory of gravity are discussed. Those models for which the scalar field varies as a power of the cosmological expansion factor (i.e. phi varies as Rsup(n)) are considered in detail, leading to a set of such models compatible with observation. This set includes models in which the scalar coupling parameter ω is negative. The models described here are similar to those of Newtonian cosmology obtained from an impotence principle. (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.

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

CMB polarization systematics, cosmological birefringence, and the gravitational waves background

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pagano, Luca; Bernardis, Paolo de; Gubitosi, Giulia; Masi, Silvia; Melchiorri, Alessandro; Piacentini, Francesco; De Troia, Grazia; Natoli, Paolo; Polenta, Gianluca

2009-01-01

Cosmic microwave background experiments must achieve very accurate calibration of their polarization reference frame to avoid biasing the cosmological parameters. In particular, a wrong or inaccurate calibration might mimic the presence of a gravitational wave background, or a signal from cosmological birefringence, a phenomenon characteristic of several nonstandard, symmetry breaking theories of electrodynamics that allow for in vacuo rotation of the polarization direction of the photon. Noteworthly, several authors have claimed that the BOOMERanG 2003 (B2K) published polarized power spectra of the cosmic microwave background may hint at cosmological birefringence. Such analyses, however, do not take into account the reported calibration uncertainties of the BOOMERanG focal plane. We develop a formalism to include this effect and apply it to the BOOMERanG dataset, finding a cosmological rotation angle α=-4.3 deg. ±4.1 deg. We also investigate the expected performances of future space borne experiment, finding that an overall miscalibration larger then 1 deg. for Planck and 0.2 deg. for the Experimental Probe of Inflationary Cosmology, if not properly taken into account, will produce a bias on the constraints on the cosmological parameters and could misleadingly suggest the presence of a gravitational waves background.

Is cosmology consistent?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Xiaomin; Tegmark, Max; Zaldarriaga, Matias

2002-01-01

We perform a detailed analysis of the latest cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements (including BOOMERaNG, DASI, Maxima and CBI), both alone and jointly with other cosmological data sets involving, e.g., galaxy clustering and the Lyman Alpha Forest. We first address the question of whether the CMB data are internally consistent once calibration and beam uncertainties are taken into account, performing a series of statistical tests. With a few minor caveats, our answer is yes, and we compress all data into a single set of 24 bandpowers with associated covariance matrix and window functions. We then compute joint constraints on the 11 parameters of the 'standard' adiabatic inflationary cosmological model. Our best fit model passes a series of physical consistency checks and agrees with essentially all currently available cosmological data. In addition to sharp constraints on the cosmic matter budget in good agreement with those of the BOOMERaNG, DASI and Maxima teams, we obtain a heaviest neutrino mass range 0.04-4.2 eV and the sharpest constraints to date on gravity waves which (together with preference for a slight red-tilt) favor 'small-field' inflation models

Cosmological production of noncommutative black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mann, Robert B.; Nicolini, Piero

2011-01-01

We investigate the pair creation of noncommutative black holes in a background with a positive cosmological constant. As a first step we derive the noncommutative geometry inspired Schwarzschild-de Sitter solution. By varying the mass and the cosmological constant parameters, we find several spacetimes compatible with the new solution: positive-mass spacetimes admit one cosmological horizon and two, one, or no black hole horizons, while negative-mass spacetimes have just a cosmological horizon. These new black holes share the properties of the corresponding asymptotically flat solutions, including the nonsingular core and thermodynamic stability in the final phase of the evaporation. As a second step we determine the action which generates the matter sector of gravitational field equations and we construct instantons describing the pair production of black holes and the other admissible topologies. As a result we find that for current values of the cosmological constant the de Sitter background is quantum mechanically stable according to experience. However, positive-mass noncommutative black holes and solitons would have plentifully been produced during inflationary times for Planckian values of the cosmological constant. As a special result we find that, in these early epochs of the Universe, Planck size black holes production would have been largely disfavored. We also find a potential instability for production of negative-mass solitons.

Towards an observational appraisal of string cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mulryne, David J [Astronomy Unit, School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS (United Kingdom); Ward, John, E-mail: d.mulryne@qmul.ac.uk, E-mail: jwa@uvic.ca [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, V8P 1A1 (Canada)

2011-10-21

We review the current observational status of string cosmology when confronted with experimental datasets. We begin by defining common observational parameters and discuss how they are determined for a given model. Then we review the observable footprints of several string theoretic models, discussing the significance of various potential signals. Throughout we comment on present and future prospects of finding evidence for string theory in cosmology and on significant issues for the future.

Towards an observational appraisal of string cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mulryne, David J; Ward, John

2011-01-01

We review the current observational status of string cosmology when confronted with experimental datasets. We begin by defining common observational parameters and discuss how they are determined for a given model. Then we review the observable footprints of several string theoretic models, discussing the significance of various potential signals. Throughout we comment on present and future prospects of finding evidence for string theory in cosmology and on significant issues for the future.

STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF GRB AFTERGLOW PARAMETERS AS EVIDENCE OF COSMOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF THEIR HOST GALAXIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregory Beskin

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The results of a study of 43 peaked R-band light curves of optical counterparts of gamma-ray bursts with known redshifts are presented. The parameters of optical transients were calculated in the comoving frame, and then a search for pair correlations between them was conducted. A statistical analysis showed a strong correlation between the peak luminosity and the redshift both for pure afterglows and for events with residual gamma activity, which cannot be explained as an effect of observational selection.This suggests a cosmological evolution of the parameters of the local interstellar medium around the sources of the gamma-ray burst. In the models of forward and reverse shock waves, a relation between the density of the interstellar medium and the redshift was built for gamma-ray burst afterglows, leading to a power-law dependence of the star-formation rate at regions around GRBs on redshift with a slope of about 6.

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.

Cluster cosmological analysis with X ray instrumental observables: introduction and testing of AsPIX method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valotti, Andrea

2016-01-01

Cosmology is one of the fundamental pillars of astrophysics, as such it contains many unsolved puzzles. To investigate some of those puzzles, we analyze X-ray surveys of galaxy clusters. These surveys are possible thanks to the bremsstrahlung emission of the intra-cluster medium. The simultaneous fit of cluster counts as a function of mass and distance provides an independent measure of cosmological parameters such as Ω m , σ s , and the dark energy equation of state w0. A novel approach to cosmological analysis using galaxy cluster data, called top-down, was developed in N. Clerc et al. (2012). This top-down approach is based purely on instrumental observables that are considered in a two-dimensional X-ray color-magnitude diagram. The method self-consistently includes selection effects and scaling relationships. It also provides a means of bypassing the computation of individual cluster masses. My work presents an extension of the top-down method by introducing the apparent size of the cluster, creating a three-dimensional X-ray cluster diagram. The size of a cluster is sensitive to both the cluster mass and its angular diameter, so it must also be included in the assessment of selection effects. The performance of this new method is investigated using a Fisher analysis. In parallel, I have studied the effects of the intrinsic scatter in the cluster size scaling relation on the sample selection as well as on the obtained cosmological parameters. To validate the method, I estimate uncertainties of cosmological parameters with MCMC method Amoeba minimization routine and using two simulated XMM surveys that have an increasing level of complexity. The first simulated survey is a set of toy catalogues of 100 and 10000 deg 2 , whereas the second is a 1000 deg 2 catalogue that was generated using an Aardvark semi-analytical N-body simulation. This comparison corroborates the conclusions of the Fisher analysis. In conclusion, I find that a cluster diagram that accounts

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Likelihood for Small-Scale CMB Data

Science.gov (United States)

Dunkley, J.; Calabrese, E.; Sievers, J.; Addison, G. E.; Battaglia, N.; Battistelli, E. S.; Bond, J. R.; Das, S.; Devlin, M. J.; Dunner, R.;

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

An exploration of heterogeneity in supernova type Ia samples

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alam, Ujjaini [Physics and Applied Mathematics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata (India); Lasue, Jeremie, E-mail: ujjaini.alam@gmail.com, E-mail: jeremie.lasue@irap.omp.eu [IRAP, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CNES, Toulouse (France)

2017-06-01

We examine three SNe Type Ia datasets: Union2.1, JLA and Panstarrs to check their consistency using cosmology blind statistical analyses as well as cosmological parameter fitting. We find that the Panstarrs dataset is the most stable of the three to changes in the data, although it does not, at the moment, go to high enough redshifts to tightly constrain the equation of state of dark energy, w . The Union2.1, drawn from several different sources, appears to be somewhat susceptible to changes within the dataset. The JLA reconstructs well for a smaller number of cosmological parameters. At higher degrees of freedom, the dependence of its errors on redshift can lead to varying results between subsets. Panstarrs is inconsistent with the other two datasets at about 2σ confidence level, and JLA and Union2.1 are about 1σ away from each other. For the Ω{sub 0} {sub m} − w cosmological reconstruction, with no additional data, the 1σ range of values in w for selected subsets of each dataset is two times larger for JLA and Union2.1 as compared to Panstarrs. The range in Ω{sub 0} {sub m} for the same subsets remains approximately similar for all three datasets. We find that although there are differences in the fitting and correction techniques used in the different samples, the most important criterion is the selection of the SNe, a slightly different SNe selection can lead to noticeably different results both in the purely statistical analysis and in cosmological reconstruction. We note that a single, high quality low redshift sample could help decrease the uncertainties in the result. We also note that lack of homogeneity in the magnitude errors may bias the results and should either be modeled, or its effect neutralized by using other, complementary datasets. A supernova sample with high quality data at both high and low redshifts, constructed from a few surveys to avoid heterogeneity in the sample, and with homogeneous errors, would result in a more robust

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

Smoot Group Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

the Universe About Cosmology Planck Satellite Launched Cosmology Videos Professor George Smoot's group conducts research on the early universe (cosmology) using the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB science goals regarding cosmology. George Smoot named Director of Korean Cosmology Institute The GRB

Smoothing the redshift distributions of random samples for the baryon acoustic oscillations: applications to the SDSS-III BOSS DR12 and QPM mock samples

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shao-Jiang; Guo, Qi; Cai, Rong-Gen

2017-12-01

We investigate the impact of different redshift distributions of random samples on the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) measurements of D_V(z)r_d^fid/r_d from the two-point correlation functions of galaxies in the Data Release 12 of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). Big surveys, such as BOSS, usually assign redshifts to the random samples by randomly drawing values from the measured redshift distributions of the data, which would necessarily introduce fiducial signals of fluctuations into the random samples, weakening the signals of BAO, if the cosmic variance cannot be ignored. We propose a smooth function of redshift distribution that fits the data well to populate the random galaxy samples. The resulting cosmological parameters match the input parameters of the mock catalogue very well. The significance of BAO signals has been improved by 0.33σ for a low-redshift sample and by 0.03σ for a constant-stellar-mass sample, though the absolute values do not change significantly. Given the precision of the measurements of current cosmological parameters, it would be appreciated for the future improvements on the measurements of galaxy clustering.

Mathematical cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wainwright, J.

1990-01-01

The workshop on mathematical cosmology was devoted to four topics of current interest. This report contains a brief discussion of the historical background of each topic and a concise summary of the content of each talk. The topics were; the observational cosmology program, the cosmological perturbation program, isotropic singularities, and the evolution of Bianchi cosmologies. (author)

Modern Cosmology

CERN Document Server

Zhang Yuan Zhong

2002-01-01

This book is one of a series in the areas of high-energy physics, cosmology and gravitation published by the Institute of Physics. It includes courses given at a doctoral school on 'Relativistic Cosmology: Theory and Observation' held in Spring 2000 at the Centre for Scientific Culture 'Alessandro Volta', Italy, sponsored by SIGRAV-Societa Italiana di Relativita e Gravitazione (Italian Society of Relativity and Gravitation) and the University of Insubria. This book collects 15 review reports given by a number of outstanding scientists. They touch upon the main aspects of modern cosmology from observational matters to theoretical models, such as cosmological models, the early universe, dark matter and dark energy, modern observational cosmology, cosmic microwave background, gravitational lensing, and numerical simulations in cosmology. In particular, the introduction to the basics of cosmology includes the basic equations, covariant and tetrad descriptions, Friedmann models, observation and horizons, etc. The ...

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.

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.

Observable relations in an inhomogeneous self-similar cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wesson, P.S.

1979-01-01

An exact self-similar solution is taken in general relativity as a model for an inhomogeneous cosmology. The self-similarity property means (conceptually) that the model is scale-free and (mathematically) that its essential parameters are functions of only one dimensionless variable zeta (equivalentct/R, where R and t are distance and time coordinates and c is the velocity of light). It begins inhomogeneous (zeta=0 or t=0), and tends to a homogeneous Einstein--de Sitter type state as zeta (or t) →infinity. Such a model can be used (a) for evaluating the observational effects of a clumpy universe; (b) for studying astrophysical processes such as galaxy formation and the growth and decay of inhomogeneities in initially clumpy cosmologies; and (c) as a relativistic basis for cosmological models with extended clustering of the de Vaucouleurs and Peebles types. The model has two adjustable parameters, namely, the observer's coordinate zeta 0 and a constant α/sub s/ that fixes the effect of the inhomogeneity. Expressions are obtained for the redshift, Hubble parameter, deceleration parameter, magnitude-redshift relation, and (number density of objects) --redshift relation. Expected anisotropies in the 3 K microwave background are also examined. There is no conflict with observation if zeta 0 /α/sub s/> or approx. =10, and four tests of the model are suggested that can be used to further determine the acceptability of inhomogeneous cosmologies of this type. The ratio α/sub s//zeta 0 on presently available data is α/sub s//zeta 0 < or approx. =10% and this, loosely speaking, means that the universe at the present epoch is globally homogeneous to within about 10%

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.

Cosmology on a cosmic ring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niedermann, Florian; Schneider, Robert

2015-01-01

We derive the modified Friedmann equations for a generalization of the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (DGP) model in which the brane has one additional compact dimension. The main new feature is the emission of gravitational waves into the bulk. We study two classes of solutions: first, if the compact dimension is stabilized, the waves vanish and one exactly recovers DGP cosmology. However, a stabilization by means of physical matter is not possible for a tension-dominated brane, thus implying a late time modification of 4D cosmology different from DGP. Second, for a freely expanding compact direction, we find exact attractor solutions with zero 4D Hubble parameter despite the presence of a 4D cosmological constant. The model hence constitutes an explicit example of dynamical degravitation at the full nonlinear level. Without stabilization, however, there is no 4D regime and the model is ruled out observationally, as we demonstrate explicitly by comparing to supernova data

Cosmological aspects of spontaneous baryogenesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simone, Andrea De; Kobayashi, Takeshi [SISSA,Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste (Italy); INFN, Sezione di Trieste,Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste (Italy)

2016-08-24

We investigate cosmological aspects of spontaneous baryogenesis driven by a scalar field, and present general constraints that are independent of the particle physics model. The relevant constraints are obtained by studying the backreaction of the produced baryons on the scalar field, the cosmological expansion history after baryogenesis, and the baryon isocurvature perturbations. We show that cosmological considerations alone provide powerful constraints, especially for the minimal scenario with a quadratic scalar potential. Intriguingly, we find that for a given inflation scale, the other parameters including the reheat temperature, decoupling temperature of the baryon violating interactions, and the mass and decay constant of the scalar are restricted to lie within ranges of at most a few orders of magnitude. We also discuss possible extensions to the minimal setup, and propose two ideas for evading constraints on isocurvature perturbations: one is to suppress the baryon isocurvature with nonquadratic scalar potentials, another is to compensate the baryon isocurvature with cold dark matter isocurvature by making the scalar survive until the present.

Cosmological constraints with clustering-based redshifts

Science.gov (United States)

Kovetz, Ely D.; Raccanelli, Alvise; Rahman, Mubdi

2017-07-01

We demonstrate that observations lacking reliable redshift information, such as photometric and radio continuum surveys, can produce robust measurements of cosmological parameters when empowered by clustering-based redshift estimation. This method infers the redshift distribution based on the spatial clustering of sources, using cross-correlation with a reference data set with known redshifts. Applying this method to the existing Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) photometric galaxies, and projecting to future radio continuum surveys, we show that sources can be efficiently divided into several redshift bins, increasing their ability to constrain cosmological parameters. We forecast constraints on the dark-energy equation of state and on local non-Gaussianity parameters. We explore several pertinent issues, including the trade-off between including more sources and minimizing the overlap between bins, the shot-noise limitations on binning and the predicted performance of the method at high redshifts, and most importantly pay special attention to possible degeneracies with the galaxy bias. Remarkably, we find that once this technique is implemented, constraints on dynamical dark energy from the SDSS imaging catalogue can be competitive with, or better than, those from the spectroscopic BOSS survey and even future planned experiments. Further, constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity from future large-sky radio-continuum surveys can outperform those from the Planck cosmic microwave background experiment and rival those from future spectroscopic galaxy surveys. The application of this method thus holds tremendous promise for cosmology.

Exploring parameter constraints on quintessential dark energy: The exponential model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bozek, Brandon; Abrahamse, Augusta; Albrecht, Andreas; Barnard, Michael

2008-01-01

We present an analysis of a scalar field model of dark energy with an exponential potential using the Dark Energy Task Force (DETF) simulated data models. Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling techniques we examine the ability of each simulated data set to constrain the parameter space of the exponential potential for data sets based on a cosmological constant and a specific exponential scalar field model. We compare our results with the constraining power calculated by the DETF using their 'w 0 -w a ' parametrization of the dark energy. We find that respective increases in constraining power from one stage to the next produced by our analysis give results consistent with DETF results. To further investigate the potential impact of future experiments, we also generate simulated data for an exponential model background cosmology which cannot be distinguished from a cosmological constant at DETF 'Stage 2', and show that for this cosmology good DETF Stage 4 data would exclude a cosmological constant by better than 3σ

Observational constraints on phantom power-law cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaeonikhom, Chakkrit; Gumjudpai, Burin; Saridakis, Emmanuel N.

2011-01-01

We investigate phantom cosmology in which the scale factor is a power law, and we use cosmological observations from Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) and observational Hubble data, in order to impose complete constraints on the model parameters. We find that the power-law exponent is β∼-6.51 -0.25 +0.24 , while the Big Rip is realized at t s ∼104.5 -2.0 +1.9 Gyr, in 1σ confidence level. Providing late-time asymptotic expressions, we find that the dark-energy equation-of-state parameter at the Big Rip remains finite and equal to w DE ∼-1.153, with the dark-energy density and pressure diverging. Finally, we reconstruct the phantom potential.

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.

String Gas Cosmology

OpenAIRE

Brandenberger, Robert H.

2008-01-01

String gas cosmology is a string theory-based approach to early universe cosmology which is based on making use of robust features of string theory such as the existence of new states and new symmetries. A first goal of string gas cosmology is to understand how string theory can effect the earliest moments of cosmology before the effective field theory approach which underlies standard and inflationary cosmology becomes valid. String gas cosmology may also provide an alternative to the curren...

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

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.

Cosmological models in general relativity

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Cosmological models in general relativity. B B PAUL. Department of Physics, Nowgong College, Nagaon, Assam, India. MS received 4 October 2002; revised 6 March 2003; accepted 21 May 2003. Abstract. LRS Bianchi type-I space-time filled with perfect fluid is considered here with deceler- ation parameter as variable.

Hot topics in Modern Cosmology - SW9 - Slides of the presentations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berezhiani, Z.; Sigl, G.; Biondi, R.; Volkov, M.; Noller, J.; Starobinsky, A.; Toporensky, A.; Renaux, S.; Pilo, L.; Comelli, D.; Slagter, R.; Novello, M.; Padilla, A.; Antunes, V.; Kamenshchik, A.; Vernieri, D.; Kaloper, N.; Denkiewics, T.; Gohar, H.; Zahariade, G.; Frusciante, N.; Von Strauss, M.

2016-01-01

This 9. Spontaneous Workshop (SW9) brought together specialists on recent insights in Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology. The aim was to stimulate debate on common topics in views of providing us with innovating ideas. SW9 topics includes: 1) Cosmological parameters - Anomalies in CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background); 2) Dark matter and neutrinos; 3) Gravity - Dark energy; 4) Singular universes; and 5) Cosmological Large Scale Structures - Magnetic Fields; This document is made up of the slides of the presentations

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.

Modern Cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang Yuanzhong

2002-06-21

This book is one of a series in the areas of high-energy physics, cosmology and gravitation published by the Institute of Physics. It includes courses given at a doctoral school on 'Relativistic Cosmology: Theory and Observation' held in Spring 2000 at the Centre for Scientific Culture 'Alessandro Volta', Italy, sponsored by SIGRAV-Societa Italiana di Relativita e Gravitazione (Italian Society of Relativity and Gravitation) and the University of Insubria. This book collects 15 review reports given by a number of outstanding scientists. They touch upon the main aspects of modern cosmology from observational matters to theoretical models, such as cosmological models, the early universe, dark matter and dark energy, modern observational cosmology, cosmic microwave background, gravitational lensing, and numerical simulations in cosmology. In particular, the introduction to the basics of cosmology includes the basic equations, covariant and tetrad descriptions, Friedmann models, observation and horizons, etc. The chapters on the early universe involve inflationary theories, particle physics in the early universe, and the creation of matter in the universe. The chapters on dark matter (DM) deal with experimental evidence of DM, neutrino oscillations, DM candidates in supersymmetry models and supergravity, structure formation in the universe, dark-matter search with innovative techniques, and dark energy (cosmological constant), etc. The chapters about structure in the universe consist of the basis for structure formation, quantifying large-scale structure, cosmic background fluctuation, galaxy space distribution, and the clustering of galaxies. In the field of modern observational cosmology, galaxy surveys and cluster surveys are given. The chapter on gravitational lensing describes the lens basics and models, galactic microlensing and galaxy clusters as lenses. The last chapter, 'Numerical simulations in cosmology', deals with spatial and

The Influence of Host Galaxies in Type Ia Supernova Cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Uddin, Syed A. [Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, Jiangshu (China); Mould, Jeremy [Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC (Australia); Lidman, Chris; Zhang, Bonnie R. [Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO) (Australia); Ruhlmann-Kleider, Vanina, E-mail: saushuvo@gmail.com [CEA, Centre de Saclay, Irfu/SPP, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, Paris (France)

2017-10-10

We use a sample of 1338 spectroscopically confirmed and photometrically classified Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) sourced from Carnegie Supernova Project, Center for Astrophysics Supernova Survey, Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II, and SuperNova Legacy Survey SN samples to examine the relationships between SNe Ia and the galaxies that host them. Our results provide confirmation with improved statistical significance that SNe Ia, after standardization, are on average more luminous in massive hosts (significance >5 σ ), and decline more rapidly in massive hosts (significance >9 σ ) and in hosts with low specific star formation rates (significance >8 σ ). We study the variation of these relationships with redshift and detect no evolution. We split SNe Ia into pairs of subsets that are based on the properties of the hosts and fit cosmological models to each subset. Including both systematic and statistical uncertainties, we do not find any significant shift in the best-fit cosmological parameters between the subsets. Among different SN Ia subsets, we find that SNe Ia in hosts with high specific star formation rates have the least intrinsic scatter ( σ {sub int} = 0.08 ± 0.01) in luminosity after standardization.

Cosmological Analysis of Dynamical Chern-Simons Modified Gravity via Dark Energy Scenario

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Jawad

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to study the cosmological evolution of the universe in the framework of dynamical Chern-Simons modified gravity. We take pilgrim dark energy model with Hubble and event horizons in interacting scenario with cold dark matter. For this scenario, we discuss cosmological parameters such as Hubble and equation of state and cosmological plane like ωϑ-ωϑ′ and squared speed of sound. It is found that Hubble parameter approaches the ranges 75-0.5+0.5 (for u=2 and (74, 74.30 (for u=1,-1,-2 for Hubble horizon pilgrim dark energy. It implies the ranges 74.80-0.005+0.005 (for u=2 and (73.4, 74 (for u=-2 for event horizon pilgrim dark energy. The equation of state parameter provides consistent ranges with different observational schemes. Also, ωϑ-ωϑ′ planes lie in the range (ωϑ=-1.13-0.25+0.24,ωϑ′<1.32. The squared speed of sound shows stability for all present models in the present scenario. We would like to mention here that our results of various cosmological parameters show consistency with different observational data like Planck, WP, BAO, H0, SNLS, and WMAP.

Cosmological constant in the quantum multiverse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsen, Grant; Nomura, Yasunori; Roberts, Hannes L. L.

2011-01-01

Recently, a new framework for describing the multiverse has been proposed which is based on the principles of quantum mechanics. The framework allows for well-defined predictions, both regarding global properties of the universe and outcomes of particular experiments, according to a single probability formula. This provides complete unification of the eternally inflating multiverse and many worlds in quantum mechanics. In this paper, we elucidate how cosmological parameters can be calculated in this framework, and study the probability distribution for the value of the cosmological constant. We consider both positive and negative values, and find that the observed value is consistent with the calculated distribution at an order of magnitude level. In particular, in contrast to the case of earlier measure proposals, our framework prefers a positive cosmological constant over a negative one. These results depend only moderately on how we model galaxy formation and life evolution therein.

Top ten accelerating cosmological models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szydlowski, Marek; Kurek, Aleksandra; Krawiec, Adam

2006-01-01

Recent astronomical observations indicate that the Universe is presently almost flat and undergoing a period of accelerated expansion. Basing on Einstein's general relativity all these observations can be explained by the hypothesis of a dark energy component in addition to cold dark matter (CDM). Because the nature of this dark energy is unknown, it was proposed some alternative scenario to explain the current accelerating Universe. The key point of this scenario is to modify the standard FRW equation instead of mysterious dark energy component. The standard approach to constrain model parameters, based on the likelihood method, gives a best-fit model and confidence ranges for those parameters. We always arbitrary choose the set of parameters which define a model which we compare with observational data. Because in the generic case, the introducing of new parameters improves a fit to the data set, there appears the problem of elimination of model parameters which can play an insufficient role. The Bayesian information criteria of model selection (BIC) is dedicated to promotion a set of parameters which should be incorporated to the model. We divide class of all accelerating cosmological models into two groups according to the two types of explanation acceleration of the Universe. Then the Bayesian framework of model selection is used to determine the set of parameters which gives preferred fit to the SNIa data. We find a few of flat cosmological models which can be recommend by the Bayes factor. We show that models with dark energy as a new fluid are favoured over models featuring a modified FRW equation

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

Physically self-consistent basis for modern cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khlopov, M.Yu.

2000-01-01

Cosmoparticle physics appeared as a natural result of internal development of cosmology seeking physical grounds for inflation, baryosynthesis, and nonbaryonic dark matter and of particle physics going outside the Standard Model of particle interactions. Its aim is to study the foundations of particle physics and cosmology and their fundamental relationship in the combination of respective indirect cosmological, astrophysical, and physical effects. The ideas on new particles and fields predicted by particle theory and on their cosmological impact are discussed, as well as the methods of cosmoparticle physics to probe these ideas, are considered with special analysis of physical mechanisms for inflation, baryosynthesis, and nonbaryonic dark matter. These mechanisms are shown to reflect the main principle of modern cosmology, putting, instead of formal parameters of cosmological models, physical processes governing the evolution of the big-bang universe. Their realization on the basis of particle theory induces additional model-dependent predictions, accessible to various methods of nonaccelerator particle physics. Probes for such predictions, with the use of astrophysical data, are the aim of cosmoarcheology studying astrophysical effects of new physics. The possibility of finding quantitatively definite relationships between cosmological and laboratory effects on the basis of cosmoparticle approach, as well as of obtaining a unique solution to the problem of physical candidates for inflation, mechanisms of baryogenesis, and multicomponent dark matter, is exemplified in terms of gauge model with broken family symmetry, underlying horizontal unification and possessing quantitatively definite physical grounds for inflation, baryosynthesis, and effectively multicomponent dark-matter scenarios

OBSERVED SCALING RELATIONS FOR STRONG LENSING CLUSTERS: CONSEQUENCES FOR COSMOLOGY AND CLUSTER ASSEMBLY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Comerford, Julia M.; Moustakas, Leonidas A.; Natarajan, Priyamvada

2010-01-01

Scaling relations of observed galaxy cluster properties are useful tools for constraining cosmological parameters as well as cluster formation histories. One of the key cosmological parameters, σ 8 , is constrained using observed clusters of galaxies, although current estimates of σ 8 from the scaling relations of dynamically relaxed galaxy clusters are limited by the large scatter in the observed cluster mass-temperature (M-T) relation. With a sample of eight strong lensing clusters at 0.3 8 , but combining the cluster concentration-mass relation with the M-T relation enables the inclusion of unrelaxed clusters as well. Thus, the resultant gains in the accuracy of σ 8 measurements from clusters are twofold: the errors on σ 8 are reduced and the cluster sample size is increased. Therefore, the statistics on σ 8 determination from clusters are greatly improved by the inclusion of unrelaxed clusters. Exploring cluster scaling relations further, we find that the correlation between brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) luminosity and cluster mass offers insight into the assembly histories of clusters. We find preliminary evidence for a steeper BCG luminosity-cluster mass relation for strong lensing clusters than the general cluster population, hinting that strong lensing clusters may have had more active merging histories.

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

Planck 2013 results. XX. Cosmology from Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster counts

CERN Document Server

Ade, P.A.R.; Armitage-Caplan, C.; Arnaud, M.; Ashdown, M.; Atrio-Barandela, F.; Aumont, J.; Baccigalupi, C.; Banday, A.J.; Barreiro, R.B.; Barrena, R.; Bartlett, J.G.; Battaner, E.; Battye, R.; Benabed, K.; Benoit, A.; Benoit-Levy, A.; Bernard, J.P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bielewicz, P.; Bikmaev, I.; Blanchard, A.; Bobin, J.; Bock, J.J.; Bohringer, H.; Bonaldi, A.; Bond, J.R.; Borrill, J.; Bouchet, F.R.; Bourdin, H.; Bridges, M.; Brown, M.L.; Bucher, M.; Burenin, R.; Burigana, C.; Butler, R.C.; Cardoso, J.F.; Carvalho, P.; Catalano, A.; Challinor, A.; Chamballu, A.; Chary, R.R.; Chiang, L.Y.; Chiang, H.C.; Chon, G.; Christensen, P.R.; Church, S.; Clements, D.L.; Colombi, S.; Colombo, L.P.L.; Couchot, F.; Coulais, A.; Crill, B.P.; Curto, A.; Cuttaia, F.; Da Silva, A.; Dahle, H.; Danese, L.; Davies, R.D.; Davis, R.J.; de Bernardis, P.; de Rosa, A.; de Zotti, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Delouis, J.M.; Democles, J.; Desert, F.X.; Dickinson, C.; Diego, J.M.; Dolag, K.; Dole, H.; Donzelli, S.; Dore, O.; Douspis, M.; Dupac, X.; Efstathiou, G.; Ensslin, T.A.; Eriksen, H.K.; Finelli, F.; Flores-Cacho, I.; Forni, O.; Frailis, M.; Franceschi, E.; Fromenteau, S.; Galeotta, S.; Ganga, K.; Genova-Santos, R.T.; Giard, M.; Giardino, G.; Giraud-Heraud, Y.; Gonzalez-Nuevo, J.; Gorski, K.M.; Gratton, S.; Gregorio, A.; Gruppuso, A.; Hansen, F.K.; Hanson, D.; Harrison, D.; Henrot-Versille, S.; Hernandez-Monteagudo, C.; Herranz, D.; Hildebrandt, S.R.; Hivon, E.; Hobson, M.; Holmes, W.A.; Hornstrup, A.; Hovest, W.; Huffenberger, K.M.; Hurier, G.; Jaffe, T.R.; Jaffe, A.H.; Jones, W.C.; Juvela, M.; Keihanen, E.; Keskitalo, R.; Khamitov, I.; Kisner, T.S.; Kneissl, R.; Knoche, J.; Knox, L.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lagache, G.; Lahteenmaki, A.; Lamarre, J.M.; Lasenby, A.; Laureijs, R.J.; Lawrence, C.R.; Leahy, J.P.; Leonardi, R.; Leon-Tavares, J.; Lesgourgues, J.; Liddle, A.; Liguori, M.; Lilje, P.B.; Linden-Vornle, M.; Lopez-Caniego, M.; Lubin, P.M.; Macias-Perez, J.F.; Maffei, B.; Maino, D.; Mandolesi, N.; Marcos-Caballero, A.; Maris, M.; Marshall, D.J.; Martin, P.G.; Martinez-Gonzalez, E.; Masi, S.; Matarrese, S.; Matthai, F.; Mazzotta, P.; Meinhold, P.R.; Melchiorri, A.; Melin, J.B.; Mendes, L.; Mennella, A.; Migliaccio, M.; Mitra, S.; Miville-Deschenes, M.A.; Moneti, A.; Montier, L.; Morgante, G.; Mortlock, D.; Moss, A.; Munshi, D.; Naselsky, P.; Nati, F.; Natoli, P.; Netterfield, C.B.; Norgaard-Nielsen, H.U.; Noviello, F.; Novikov, D.; Novikov, I.; Osborne, S.; Oxborrow, C.A.; Paci, F.; Pagano, L.; Pajot, F.; Paoletti, D.; Partridge, B.; Pasian, F.; Patanchon, G.; Perdereau, O.; Perotto, L.; Perrotta, F.; Piacentini, F.; Piat, M.; Pierpaoli, E.; Pietrobon, D.; Plaszczynski, S.; Pointecouteau, E.; Polenta, G.; Ponthieu, N.; Popa, L.; Poutanen, T.; Pratt, G.W.; Prezeau, G.; Prunet, S.; Puget, J.L.; Rachen, J.P.; Rebolo, R.; Reinecke, M.; Remazeilles, M.; Renault, C.; Ricciardi, S.; Riller, T.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rocha, G.; Roman, M.; Rosset, C.; Roudier, G.; Rowan-Robinson, M.; Rubino-Martin, J.A.; Rusholme, B.; Sandri, M.; Santos, D.; Savini, G.; Scott, D.; Seiffert, M.D.; Shellard, E.P.S.; Spencer, L.D.; Starck, J.L.; Stolyarov, V.; Stompor, R.; Sudiwala, R.; Sunyaev, R.; Sureau, F.; Sutton, D.; Suur-Uski, A.S.; Sygnet, J.F.; Tauber, J.A.; Tavagnacco, D.; Terenzi, L.; Toffolatti, L.; Tomasi, M.; Tristram, M.; Tucci, M.; Tuovinen, J.; Turler, M.; Umana, G.; Valenziano, L.; Valiviita, J.; Van Tent, B.; Vielva, P.; Villa, F.; Vittorio, N.; Wade, L.A.; Wandelt, B.D.; Weller, J.; White, M.; White, S.D.M.; Yvon, D.; Zacchei, A.; Zonca, A.

2014-01-01

We present constraints on cosmological parameters using number counts as a function of redshift for a sub-sample of 189 galaxy clusters from the Planck SZ (PSZ) catalogue. The PSZ is selected through the signature of the Sunyaev--Zeldovich (SZ) effect, and the sub-sample used here has a signal-to-noise threshold of seven, with each object confirmed as a cluster and all but one with a redshift estimate. We discuss the completeness of the sample and our construction of a likelihood analysis. Using a relation between mass $M$ and SZ signal $Y$ calibrated to X-ray measurements, we derive constraints on the power spectrum amplitude $\\sigma_8$ and matter density parameter $\\Omega_{\\mathrm{m}}$ in a flat $\\Lambda$CDM model. We test the robustness of our estimates and find that possible biases in the $Y$--$M$ relation and the halo mass function are larger than the statistical uncertainties from the cluster sample. Assuming the X-ray determined mass to be biased low relative to the true mass by between zero and 30%, m...

Dimensional cosmological principles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chi, L.K.

1985-01-01

The dimensional cosmological principles proposed by Wesson require that the density, pressure, and mass of cosmological models be functions of the dimensionless variables which are themselves combinations of the gravitational constant, the speed of light, and the spacetime coordinates. The space coordinate is not the comoving coordinate. In this paper, the dimensional cosmological principle and the dimensional perfect cosmological principle are reformulated by using the comoving coordinate. The dimensional perfect cosmological principle is further modified to allow the possibility that mass creation may occur. Self-similar spacetimes are found to be models obeying the new dimensional cosmological principle

Role of the cosmological constant in the holographic description of the early universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myung, Yun Soo

2004-01-01

We investigate the role of the cosmological constant in the holographic description of a radiation-dominated universe C 2 /R 4 with a positive cosmological constant Λ. In order to understand the nature of cosmological term, we first study the Newtonian cosmology. Here we find two aspects of the cosmological term: entropy (Λ→S Λ ) and energy (Λ→E Λ ). Also we solve the Friedmann equation parametrically to obtain another role. In the presence of the cosmological constant, the solutions are described by the Weierstrass elliptic functions on torus and have modular properties. In this case one may expect to have a two-dimensional Cardy entropy formula but the cosmological constant plays a role of the modular parameter τ(C 2 ,Λ) of torus. Consequently, the entropy concept of the cosmological constant is very suitable for establishing the holographic entropy bounds in the early universe. This contrasts to the role of the cosmological constant as a dark energy in the present universe

Cosmological constraints on Brans-Dicke theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Avilez, A; Skordis, C

2014-07-04

We report strong cosmological constraints on the Brans-Dicke (BD) theory of gravity using cosmic microwave background data from Planck. We consider two types of models. First, the initial condition of the scalar field is fixed to give the same effective gravitational strength Geff today as the one measured on Earth, GN. In this case, the BD parameter ω is constrained to ω>692 at the 99% confidence level, an order of magnitude improvement over previous constraints. In the second type, the initial condition for the scalar is a free parameter leading to a somewhat stronger constraint of ω>890, while Geff is constrained to 0.981theory and are valid for any Horndeski theory, the most general second-order scalar-tensor theory, which approximates the BD theory on cosmological scales. In this sense, our constraints place strong limits on possible modifications of gravity that might explain cosmic acceleration.

INTELLIGENT DESIGN: ON THE EMULATION OF COSMOLOGICAL SIMULATIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, Michael D.; Holm, Oskar; Knox, Lloyd

2011-01-01

Simulation design is the choice of locations in parameter space at which simulations are to be run and is the first step in building an emulator capable of quickly providing estimates of simulation results for arbitrary locations in the parameter space. We introduce an alteration to the 'OALHS' design used by Heitmann et al. that reduces the number of simulation runs required to achieve a fixed accuracy in our case study by a factor of two. We also compare interpolation procedures for emulators and find that interpolation via Gaussian process models and via the much-easier-to-implement polynomial interpolation have comparable accuracy. A very simple emulation-building procedure consisting of a design sampled from the parameter prior distribution, combined with interpolation via polynomials also performs well. Although our primary motivation is efficient emulators of nonlinear cosmological N-body simulations, in an appendix we describe an emulator for the cosmic microwave background temperature power spectrum publicly available as a computer code.

Interacting HDE and NADE in Brans-Dicke chameleon cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sheykhi, Ahmad, E-mail: sheykhi@mail.uk.ac.i [Department of Physics, Shahid Bahonar University, P.O. Box 76175, Kerman (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Research Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics of Maragha (RIAAM), Maragha (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Jamil, Mubasher, E-mail: mjamil@camp.nust.edu.p [Center for Advanced Mathematics and Physics, National University of Sciences and Technology, H-12, Islamabad (Pakistan)

2011-01-03

Motivated by the recent work of one of us Setare and Jamil (2010) , we generalize this work to the case where the pressureless dark matter and the holographic dark energy do not conserve separately but interact with each other. We investigate the cosmological applications of interacting holographic dark energy in Brans-Dicke theory with chameleon scalar field which is non-minimally coupled to the matter field. We find out that in this model the phantom crossing can be constructed if the model parameters are chosen suitably. We also perform the study for the new agegraphic dark energy model and calculate some relevant cosmological parameters and their evolution.

Interacting HDE and NADE in Brans-Dicke chameleon cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheykhi, Ahmad; Jamil, Mubasher

2011-01-01

Motivated by the recent work of one of us Setare and Jamil (2010) , we generalize this work to the case where the pressureless dark matter and the holographic dark energy do not conserve separately but interact with each other. We investigate the cosmological applications of interacting holographic dark energy in Brans-Dicke theory with chameleon scalar field which is non-minimally coupled to the matter field. We find out that in this model the phantom crossing can be constructed if the model parameters are chosen suitably. We also perform the study for the new agegraphic dark energy model and calculate some relevant cosmological parameters and their evolution.

Remark on application of the Banach metric method to cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szydlowski, M.; Heller, M.

1982-01-01

If the cosmological equations can be reduced to the form of a dynamic system, the space of all their solutions is a Banach space. The influence of different parameters on the dynamics of the world models can be easily studied by means of the Banach metric. The method is tested for the Friedman cosmological models perturbed by the bulk viscosity. (author)

Dynamics and constraints of the Dissipative Liouville Cosmology

CERN Document Server

Basilakos, Spyros; Mitsou, Vasiliki A; Plionis, Manolis

2012-01-01

In this article we investigate the properties of the FLRW flat cosmological models in which the cosmic expansion of the Universe is affected by a dilaton dark energy (Liouville scenario). In particular, we perform a detailed study of these models in the light of the latest cosmological data, which serves to illustrate the phenomenological viability of the new dark energy paradigm as a serious alternative to the traditional scalar field approaches. By performing a joint likelihood analysis of the recent supernovae type Ia data (SNIa), the differential ages of passively evolving galaxies, and the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations (BAOs) traced by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we put tight constraints on the main cosmological parameters. Furthermore, we study the linear matter fluctuation field of the above Liouville cosmological models. In this framework, we compare the observed growth rate of clustering measured from the optical galaxies with those predicted by the current Liouville models. Performing vari...

Analytic self-gravitating Skyrmions, cosmological bounces and AdS wormholes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eloy Ayón-Beato

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We present a self-gravitating, analytic and globally regular Skyrmion solution of the Einstein–Skyrme system with winding number w=±1, in presence of a cosmological constant. The static spacetime metric is the direct product R×S3 and the Skyrmion is the self-gravitating generalization of the static hedgehog solution of Manton and Ruback with unit topological charge. This solution can be promoted to a dynamical one in which the spacetime is a cosmology of the Bianchi type-IX with time-dependent scale and squashing coefficients. Remarkably, the Skyrme equations are still identically satisfied for all values of these parameters. Thus, the complete set of field equations for the Einstein–Skyrme–Λ system in the topological sector reduces to a pair of coupled, autonomous, nonlinear differential equations for the scale factor and a squashing coefficient. These equations admit analytic bouncing cosmological solutions in which the universe contracts to a minimum non-vanishing size, and then expands. A non-trivial byproduct of this solution is that a minor modification of the construction gives rise to a family of stationary, regular configurations in General Relativity with negative cosmological constant supported by an SU(2 nonlinear sigma model. These solutions represent traversable AdS wormholes with NUT parameter in which the only “exotic matter” required for their construction is a negative cosmological constant.

LINKING TESTS OF GRAVITY ON ALL SCALES: FROM THE STRONG-FIELD REGIME TO COSMOLOGY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baker, Tessa [Astrophysics, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Psaltis, Dimitrios [Astronomy Department, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue., Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Skordis, Constantinos, E-mail: tessa.baker@astro.ox.ac.uk, E-mail: dpsaltis@email.arizona.edu, E-mail: skordis@ucy.ac.cy [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom)

2015-03-20

The current effort to test general relativity (GR) employs multiple disparate formalisms for different observables, obscuring the relations between laboratory, astrophysical, and cosmological constraints. To remedy this situation, we develop a parameter space for comparing tests of gravity on all scales in the universe. In particular, we present new methods for linking cosmological large-scale structure, the cosmic microwave background, and gravitational waves with classic PPN tests of gravity. Diagrams of this gravitational parameter space reveal a noticeable untested regime. The untested window, which separates small-scale systems from the troubled cosmological regime, could potentially hide the onset of corrections to GR.

Spectroscopic failures in photometric redshift calibration: cosmological biases and survey requirements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cunha, Carlos E. [KIPAC, Menlo Park; Huterer, Dragan [Michigan U.; Lin, Huan [Fermilab; Busha, Michael T. [Zurich U.; Wechsler, Risa H. [SLAC

2014-10-11

We use N-body-spectro-photometric simulations to investigate the impact of incompleteness and incorrect redshifts in spectroscopic surveys to photometric redshift training and calibration and the resulting effects on cosmological parameter estimation from weak lensing shear-shear correlations. The photometry of the simulations is modeled after the upcoming Dark Energy Survey and the spectroscopy is based on a low/intermediate resolution spectrograph with wavelength coverage of 5500{\\AA} < {\\lambda} < 9500{\\AA}. The principal systematic errors that such a spectroscopic follow-up encounters are incompleteness (inability to obtain spectroscopic redshifts for certain galaxies) and wrong redshifts. Encouragingly, we find that a neural network-based approach can effectively describe the spectroscopic incompleteness in terms of the galaxies' colors, so that the spectroscopic selection can be applied to the photometric sample. Hence, we find that spectroscopic incompleteness yields no appreciable biases to cosmology, although the statistical constraints degrade somewhat because the photometric survey has to be culled to match the spectroscopic selection. Unfortunately, wrong redshifts have a more severe impact: the cosmological biases are intolerable if more than a percent of the spectroscopic redshifts are incorrect. Moreover, we find that incorrect redshifts can also substantially degrade the accuracy of training set based photo-z estimators. The main problem is the difficulty of obtaining redshifts, either spectroscopically or photometrically, for objects at z > 1.3. We discuss several approaches for reducing the cosmological biases, in particular finding that photo-z error estimators can reduce biases appreciably.

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

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.

Optimization of sampling parameters for standardized exhaled breath sampling.

Science.gov (United States)

Doran, Sophie; Romano, Andrea; Hanna, George B

2017-09-05

The lack of standardization of breath sampling is a major contributing factor to the poor repeatability of results and hence represents a barrier to the adoption of breath tests in clinical practice. On-line and bag breath sampling have advantages but do not suit multicentre clinical studies whereas storage and robust transport are essential for the conduct of wide-scale studies. Several devices have been developed to control sampling parameters and to concentrate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) onto thermal desorption (TD) tubes and subsequently transport those tubes for laboratory analysis. We conducted three experiments to investigate (i) the fraction of breath sampled (whole vs. lower expiratory exhaled breath); (ii) breath sample volume (125, 250, 500 and 1000ml) and (iii) breath sample flow rate (400, 200, 100 and 50 ml/min). The target VOCs were acetone and potential volatile biomarkers for oesophago-gastric cancer belonging to the aldehyde, fatty acids and phenol chemical classes. We also examined the collection execution time and the impact of environmental contamination. The experiments showed that the use of exhaled breath-sampling devices requires the selection of optimum sampling parameters. The increase in sample volume has improved the levels of VOCs detected. However, the influence of the fraction of exhaled breath and the flow rate depends on the target VOCs measured. The concentration of potential volatile biomarkers for oesophago-gastric cancer was not significantly different between the whole and lower airway exhaled breath. While the recovery of phenols and acetone from TD tubes was lower when breath sampling was performed at a higher flow rate, other VOCs were not affected. A dedicated 'clean air supply' overcomes the contamination from ambient air, but the breath collection device itself can be a source of contaminants. In clinical studies using VOCs to diagnose gastro-oesophageal cancer, the optimum parameters are 500mls sample volume

Religion, theology and cosmology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John T. Fitzgerald

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Cosmology is one of the predominant research areas of the contemporary world. Advances in modern cosmology have prompted renewed interest in the intersections between religion, theology and cosmology. This article, which is intended as a brief introduction to the series of studies on theological cosmology in this journal, identifies three general areas of theological interest stemming from the modern scientific study of cosmology: contemporary theology and ethics; cosmology and world religions; and ancient cosmologies. These intersections raise important questions about the relationship of religion and cosmology, which has recently been addressed by William Scott Green and is the focus of the final portion of the article.

Fast optimization algorithms and the cosmological constant

Science.gov (United States)

Bao, Ning; Bousso, Raphael; Jordan, Stephen; Lackey, Brad

2017-11-01

Denef and Douglas have observed that in certain landscape models the problem of finding small values of the cosmological constant is a large instance of a problem that is hard for the complexity class NP (Nondeterministic Polynomial-time). The number of elementary operations (quantum gates) needed to solve this problem by brute force search exceeds the estimated computational capacity of the observable Universe. Here we describe a way out of this puzzling circumstance: despite being NP-hard, the problem of finding a small cosmological constant can be attacked by more sophisticated algorithms whose performance vastly exceeds brute force search. In fact, in some parameter regimes the average-case complexity is polynomial. We demonstrate this by explicitly finding a cosmological constant of order 10-120 in a randomly generated 1 09-dimensional Arkani-Hamed-Dimopoulos-Kachru landscape.

An introduction to cosmology

CERN Document Server

Narlikar, Jayant Vishnu

2002-01-01

The third edition of this successful textbook is fully updated and includes important recent developments in cosmology. It begins with an introduction to cosmology and general relativity, and goes on to cover the mathematical models of standard cosmology. The physical aspects of cosmology, including primordial nucleosynthesis, the astroparticle physics of inflation, and the current ideas on structure formation are discussed. Alternative models of cosmology are reviewed, including the model of Quasi-Steady State Cosmology, which has recently been proposed as an alternative to Big Bang Cosmology.

Instanton transition in thermal and moduli deformed de Sitter cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kounnas, Costas; Partouche, Herve

2008-01-01

We consider the de Sitter cosmology deformed by the presence of a thermal bath of radiation and/or time-dependent moduli fields. Depending on the parameters, either a first or second-order phase transition can occur. In the first case, an instanton allows a double analytic continuation. It induces a probability to enter the inflationary evolution by tunnel effect from another cosmological solution. The latter starts with a big bang and, in the case the transition does not occur, ends with a big crunch. A temperature duality exchanges the two cosmological branches. In the limit where the pure de Sitter universe is recovered, the tunnel effect reduces to a 'creation from nothing', due to the vanishing of the big bang branch. However, the latter may be viable in some range of the deformation parameter. In the second case, there is a smooth evolution from a big bang to the inflationary phase

Cosmological models - in which universe do we live

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartvigsen, Y.

1976-01-01

A general discussion of the present state of cosmological models is introduced with a brief presentation of the expanding universe theory, the red shift and Hubble's Law. Hubble's Constant lies between 30 and 105 km/sec/Mpc, and a value of 55 km/sec/Mpc is assumed in this article. The arguments for the big bang and steady state theories are presented and the reasons for the present acceptance of the former given. Friedmann models are briefly discussed and 'universe density', rho, and 'space curvature',k, and the 'cosmological constant', Λ, are presented. These are shown on the Stabell-Refsdal diagram and the density parameter, sigma 0 , and the retardation parameter, q 0 , are related to Hubble's Constant. These parameters are then discussed and their values restricted such that the part of the Stabell-Refsdal diagram which is of interest may be defined. (JIW)

Cosmology with cosmic microwave background anisotropy

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Measurements of CMB anisotropy and, more recently, polarization have played a very important role in allowing precise determination of various parameters of the `standard' cosmological model. The expectation of the paradigm of inflation and the generic prediction of the simplest realization of inflationary scenario in the ...

Seeding black holes in cosmological simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, P.; Kobayashi, C.

2014-08-01

We present a new model for the formation of black holes in cosmological simulations, motivated by the first star formation. Black holes form from high density peaks of primordial gas, and grow via both gas accretion and mergers. Massive black holes heat the surrounding material, suppressing star formation at the centres of galaxies, and driving galactic winds. We perform an investigation into the physical effects of the model parameters, and obtain a `best' set of these parameters by comparing the outcome of simulations to observations. With this best set, we successfully reproduce the cosmic star formation rate history, black hole mass-velocity dispersion relation, and the size-velocity dispersion relation of galaxies. The black hole seed mass is ˜103 M⊙, which is orders of magnitude smaller than that which has been used in previous cosmological simulations with active galactic nuclei, but suggests that the origin of the seed black holes is the death of Population III stars.

Cosmological tests of a scale covariant theory of gravitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Owen, J.R.

1979-01-01

The Friedmann models with #betta# = 0 are subjected to several optical and radio tests within the standard and scale covariant theories of gravitation. Within standard cosmology, both interferometric and scintillation data are interpreted in terms of selection effects and evolution. Within the context of scale covariant cosmology are derived: (1) the full solution to Einstein's gravitational equations in atomic units for a matter dominated universe, (2) the study of the magnitude vs. redshift relation for elliptical galaxies, (3) the derivation of the evolutionary parameter used in (2), (4) the isophotal angular diameter vs. redshift relation, (5) the metric angular diameter vs. redshift relation, (6) the N(m) vs. magnitude relation for QSO's and their m vs z relation, and finally (7) the integrated and differential expressions for the number count vs. radio flux test. The results, both in graphical and tabular form, are presented for four gauges (i.e. parametrized relations between atomic and gravitational units). No contradiction between the new theory and the data is found with any of the tests studied. For some gauges, which are suggested by a recent analysis of the time variation of the Moon's period which is discussed in the text in terms of the new theory, the effect of the deceleration parameter on cosmological predictions is enhanced over standard cosmology and it is possible to say that the data are more easily reconciled with an open universe. Within the same gauge, the main features of both the N(m) vs. m and m-z test are accounted for by the same simple evolutionary parametrization whereas different evolutionary rates were indicated by interpretation within standard cosmology. The same consistency, lacking in standard cosmology on this level of analysis, is achieved for the integrated and differential number count - radio flux tests within the same gauge

Mathematical cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Landsberg, P.T.; Evans, D.A.

1977-01-01

The subject is dealt with in chapters, entitled: cosmology -some fundamentals; Newtonian gravitation - some fundamentals; the cosmological differential equation - the particle model and the continuum model; some simple Friedmann models; the classification of the Friedmann models; the steady-state model; universe with pressure; optical effects of the expansion according to various theories of light; optical observations and cosmological models. (U.K.)

Cosmological constraints on spontaneous R-symmetry breaking models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamada, Yuta; Kobayashi, Tatsuo [Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Physics; Kamada, Kohei [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany); Ookouchi, Yutaka [Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Physics; Kyoto Univ. (Japan). The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research and Dept. of Physics

2012-11-15

We study general constraints on spontaneous R-symmetry breaking models coming from the cosmological effects of the pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons, R-axions. They are substantially produced in the early Universe and may cause several cosmological problems. We focus on relatively long-lived R-axions and find that in a wide range of parameter space, models are severely constrained. In particular, R-axions with mass less than 1 MeV are generally ruled out for relatively high reheating temperature, T{sub R}>10 GeV.

Stability of the Einstein static universe in open cosmological models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Canonico, Rosangela; Parisi, Luca

2010-01-01

The stability properties of the Einstein static solution of general relativity are altered when corrective terms arising from modification of the underlying gravitational theory appear in the cosmological equations. In this paper the existence and stability of static solutions are considered in the framework of two recently proposed quantum gravity models. The previously known analysis of the Einstein static solutions in the semiclassical regime of loop quantum cosmology with modifications to the gravitational sector is extended to open cosmological models where a static neutrally stable solution is found. A similar analysis is also performed in the framework of Horava-Lifshitz gravity under detailed balance and projectability conditions. In the case of open cosmological models the two solutions found can be either unstable or neutrally stable according to the admitted values of the parameters.

Cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering and the mass-to-number ratio of galaxy clusters: marginalizing over the physics of galaxy formation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reddick, Rachel M.; Wechsler, Risa H.; Lu, Yu [Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Physics Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Tinker, Jeremy L., E-mail: rmredd@stanford.edu, E-mail: rwechsler@stanford.edu [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10003 (United States)

2014-03-10

Many approaches to obtaining cosmological constraints rely on the connection between galaxies and dark matter. However, the distribution of galaxies is dependent on their formation and evolution as well as on the cosmological model, and galaxy formation is still not a well-constrained process. Thus, methods that probe cosmology using galaxies as tracers for dark matter must be able to accurately estimate the cosmological parameters. This can be done without knowing details of galaxy formation a priori as long as the galaxies are well represented by a halo occupation distribution (HOD). We apply this reasoning to the method of obtaining Ω {sub m} and σ{sub 8} from galaxy clustering combined with the mass-to-number ratio of galaxy clusters. To test the sensitivity of this method to variations due to galaxy formation, we consider several different models applied to the same cosmological dark matter simulation. The cosmological parameters are then estimated using the observables in each model, marginalizing over the parameters of the HOD. We find that for models where the galaxies can be well represented by a parameterized HOD, this method can successfully extract the desired cosmological parameters for a wide range of galaxy formation prescriptions.

Cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering and the mass-to-number ratio of galaxy clusters: marginalizing over the physics of galaxy formation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reddick, Rachel M.; Wechsler, Risa H.; Lu, Yu; Tinker, Jeremy L.

2014-01-01

Many approaches to obtaining cosmological constraints rely on the connection between galaxies and dark matter. However, the distribution of galaxies is dependent on their formation and evolution as well as on the cosmological model, and galaxy formation is still not a well-constrained process. Thus, methods that probe cosmology using galaxies as tracers for dark matter must be able to accurately estimate the cosmological parameters. This can be done without knowing details of galaxy formation a priori as long as the galaxies are well represented by a halo occupation distribution (HOD). We apply this reasoning to the method of obtaining Ω m and σ 8 from galaxy clustering combined with the mass-to-number ratio of galaxy clusters. To test the sensitivity of this method to variations due to galaxy formation, we consider several different models applied to the same cosmological dark matter simulation. The cosmological parameters are then estimated using the observables in each model, marginalizing over the parameters of the HOD. We find that for models where the galaxies can be well represented by a parameterized HOD, this method can successfully extract the desired cosmological parameters for a wide range of galaxy formation prescriptions.

Big-bang nucleosynthesis in the new cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fields, B.D.

2005-01-01

Big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) describes the production of the lightest elements in the first minutes of cosmic time. I will review the physics of cosmological element production, and the observations of the primordial element abundances. The comparison between theory and observation has heretofore provided our earliest probe of the universe, and given the best measure of the cosmic baryon content. However, BBN has now taken a new role in cosmology, in light of new precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Recent CMB anisotropy data yield a wealth of cosmological parameters; in particular, the baryon-to-photon ratio η = n B /n γ is measured to high precision. The confrontation between the BBN and CMB 'baryometers' poses a new and stringent test of the standard cosmology; the status of this test will be discussed. Moreover, it is now possible to recast the role of BBN by using the CMB to fix the baryon density and even some light element abundances. This strategy sharpens BBN into a more powerful probe of early universe physics, and of galactic nucleosynthesis processes. The impact of the CMB results on particle physics beyond the Standard Model, and on non-standard cosmology, will be illustrated. Prospects for improvement of these bounds via additional astronomical observations and nuclear experiments will be discussed, as will the lingering 'lithium problem.' (author)

Introduction to cosmology

CERN Document Server

Roos, Matts

2015-01-01

The Fourth Edition of Introduction to Cosmology provides a concise, authoritative study of cosmology at an introductory level. Starting from elementary principles and the early history of cosmology, the text carefully guides the student on to curved spacetimes, special and general relativity, gravitational lensing, the thermal history of the Universe, and cosmological models, including extended gravity models, black holes and Hawking's recent conjectures on the not-so-black holes.

Cosmological models with Gurzadyan-Xue dark energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vereshchagin, G V; Yegorian, G

2006-01-01

The formula for dark energy density derived by Gurzadyan and Xue is the only formula which provides (without a free parameter) a value for dark energy density in remarkable agreement with current cosmological datasets, unlike numerous phenomenological scenarios where the corresponding value is postulated. This formula suggests the possibility of variation of physical constants such as the speed of light and the gravitational constant. Considering several cosmological models based on that formula and deriving the cosmological equations for each case, we show that in all models source terms appear in the continuity equation. So, on one hand, GX models make up a rich set covering a lot of currently proposed models of dark energy; on the other hand, they reveal hidden symmetries, with a particular role of the separatrix Ω m = 2/3, and link with the issue of the content of physical constants

LIKELIHOOD-FREE COSMOLOGICAL INFERENCE WITH TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE: APPROXIMATE BAYESIAN COMPUTATION FOR A COMPLETE TREATMENT OF UNCERTAINTY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weyant, Anja; Wood-Vasey, W. Michael [Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Center (PITT PACC), Physics and Astronomy Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Schafer, Chad, E-mail: anw19@pitt.edu [Department of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States)

2013-02-20

Cosmological inference becomes increasingly difficult when complex data-generating processes cannot be modeled by simple probability distributions. With the ever-increasing size of data sets in cosmology, there is an increasing burden placed on adequate modeling; systematic errors in the model will dominate where previously these were swamped by statistical errors. For example, Gaussian distributions are an insufficient representation for errors in quantities like photometric redshifts. Likewise, it can be difficult to quantify analytically the distribution of errors that are introduced in complex fitting codes. Without a simple form for these distributions, it becomes difficult to accurately construct a likelihood function for the data as a function of parameters of interest. Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) provides a means of probing the posterior distribution when direct calculation of a sufficiently accurate likelihood is intractable. ABC allows one to bypass direct calculation of the likelihood but instead relies upon the ability to simulate the forward process that generated the data. These simulations can naturally incorporate priors placed on nuisance parameters, and hence these can be marginalized in a natural way. We present and discuss ABC methods in the context of supernova cosmology using data from the SDSS-II Supernova Survey. Assuming a flat cosmology and constant dark energy equation of state, we demonstrate that ABC can recover an accurate posterior distribution. Finally, we show that ABC can still produce an accurate posterior distribution when we contaminate the sample with Type IIP supernovae.

LIKELIHOOD-FREE COSMOLOGICAL INFERENCE WITH TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE: APPROXIMATE BAYESIAN COMPUTATION FOR A COMPLETE TREATMENT OF UNCERTAINTY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weyant, Anja; Wood-Vasey, W. Michael; Schafer, Chad

2013-01-01

Cosmological inference becomes increasingly difficult when complex data-generating processes cannot be modeled by simple probability distributions. With the ever-increasing size of data sets in cosmology, there is an increasing burden placed on adequate modeling; systematic errors in the model will dominate where previously these were swamped by statistical errors. For example, Gaussian distributions are an insufficient representation for errors in quantities like photometric redshifts. Likewise, it can be difficult to quantify analytically the distribution of errors that are introduced in complex fitting codes. Without a simple form for these distributions, it becomes difficult to accurately construct a likelihood function for the data as a function of parameters of interest. Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) provides a means of probing the posterior distribution when direct calculation of a sufficiently accurate likelihood is intractable. ABC allows one to bypass direct calculation of the likelihood but instead relies upon the ability to simulate the forward process that generated the data. These simulations can naturally incorporate priors placed on nuisance parameters, and hence these can be marginalized in a natural way. We present and discuss ABC methods in the context of supernova cosmology using data from the SDSS-II Supernova Survey. Assuming a flat cosmology and constant dark energy equation of state, we demonstrate that ABC can recover an accurate posterior distribution. Finally, we show that ABC can still produce an accurate posterior distribution when we contaminate the sample with Type IIP supernovae.

On the cosmological gravitational waves and cosmological distances

Science.gov (United States)

Belinski, V. A.; Vereshchagin, G. V.

2018-03-01

We show that solitonic cosmological gravitational waves propagated through the Friedmann universe and generated by the inhomogeneities of the gravitational field near the Big Bang can be responsible for increase of cosmological distances.

Where does cosmological perturbation theory break down?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armendariz-Picon, Cristian; Fontanini, Michele; Penco, Riccardo; Trodden, Mark

2009-01-01

It is often assumed that initial conditions for the evolution of a cosmological mode should be set at the time its physical wavelength reaches a cut-off of the order of the Planck length. Beyond that scale, trans-Planckian corrections to the dispersion relation are supposed to become dominant, leading to the breakdown of cosmological perturbation theory. In this paper, we apply the effective field theory approach to the coupled metric-inflaton system in order to calculate the corrections to the power spectrum of scalar and tensor perturbations induced by higher-dimension operators at short wavelengths. These corrections can be interpreted as modifications of the dispersion relation, and thus open a window to probe the validity of cosmological perturbation theory. Both for scalars and tensors, the modifications become important when the Hubble parameter is of the order of the Planck mass, or when the physical wave number of a cosmological perturbation mode approaches the square of the Planck mass divided by the Hubble constant. Thus, the cut-off length at which such a breakdown occurs is finite, but much smaller than the Planck length.

Noether symmetry approach in the cosmological alpha-attractors

Science.gov (United States)

Kaewkhao, Narakorn; Kanesom, Thanyagamon; Channuie, Phongpichit

2018-06-01

In cosmological framework, Noether symmetry technique has revealed a useful tool in order to examine exact solutions. In this work, we first introduce the Jordan-frame Lagrangian and apply the conformal transformation in order to obtain the Lagrangian equivalent to Einstein-frame form. We then analyze the dynamics of the field in the cosmological alpha-attractors using the Noether symmetry approach by focusing on the single field scenario in the Einstein-frame form. We show that with a Noether symmetry the corresponding dynamical system can be completely integrated and the potential exhibited by the symmetry can be exactly obtained. With the proper choice of parameters, the behavior of the scale factor displays an exponential (de Sitter) behavior at the present epoch. Moreover, we discover that the Hubble parameters strongly depends on the initial values of parameters exhibited by the Noether symmetry. Interestingly, it can retardedly evolve and becomes a constant in the present epoch in all cases.

Cosmology and particle physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, M.S.

1985-01-01

The author reviews the standard cosmology, focusing on primordial nucleosynthesis, and discusses how the standard cosmology has been used to place constraints on the properties of various particles. Baryogenesis is examined in which the B, C, CP violating interactions in GUTs provide a dynamical explanation for the predominance of matter over antimatter and the present baryon-to-baryon ratio. Monoposes, cosmology and astrophysics are reviewed. The author also discusses supersymmetry/supergravity and cosmology, superstrings and cosmology in extra dimensions, and axions, astrophics, and cosmology

Cosmology

CERN Document Server

Vittorio, Nicola

2018-01-01

Modern cosmology has changed significantly over the years, from the discovery to the precision measurement era. The data now available provide a wealth of information, mostly consistent with a model where dark matter and dark energy are in a rough proportion of 3:7. The time is right for a fresh new textbook which captures the state-of-the art in cosmology. Written by one of the world's leading cosmologists, this brand new, thoroughly class-tested textbook provides graduate and undergraduate students with coverage of the very latest developments and experimental results in the field. Prof. Nicola Vittorio shows what is meant by precision cosmology, from both theoretical and observational perspectives.

MASS CALIBRATION AND COSMOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SPT-SZ GALAXY CLUSTER SAMPLE USING VELOCITY DISPERSION σ v AND X-RAY Y X MEASUREMENTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bocquet, S.; Saro, A.; Mohr, J. J.; Bazin, G.; Chiu, I.; Desai, S.; Aird, K. A.; Ashby, M. L. N.; Bayliss, M.; Bautz, M.; Benson, B. A.; Bleem, L. E.; Carlstrom, J. E.; Chang, C. L.; Crawford, T. M.; Crites, A. T.; Brodwin, M.; Cho, H. M.; Clocchiatti, A.; De Haan, T.

2015-01-01

We present a velocity-dispersion-based mass calibration of the South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect survey (SPT-SZ) galaxy cluster sample. Using a homogeneously selected sample of 100 cluster candidates from 720 deg 2 of the survey along with 63 velocity dispersion (σ v ) and 16 X-ray Y X measurements of sample clusters, we simultaneously calibrate the mass-observable relation and constrain cosmological parameters. Our method accounts for cluster selection, cosmological sensitivity, and uncertainties in the mass calibrators. The calibrations using σ v and Y X are consistent at the 0.6σ level, with the σ v calibration preferring ∼16% higher masses. We use the full SPT CL data set (SZ clusters+σ v +Y X ) to measure σ 8 (Ω m /0.27) 0.3 = 0.809 ± 0.036 within a flat ΛCDM model. The SPT cluster abundance is lower than preferred by either the WMAP9 or Planck+WMAP9 polarization (WP) data, but assuming that the sum of the neutrino masses is ∑m ν = 0.06 eV, we find the data sets to be consistent at the 1.0σ level for WMAP9 and 1.5σ for Planck+WP. Allowing for larger ∑m ν further reconciles the results. When we combine the SPT CL and Planck+WP data sets with information from baryon acoustic oscillations and Type Ia supernovae, the preferred cluster masses are 1.9σ higher than the Y X calibration and 0.8σ higher than the σ v calibration. Given the scale of these shifts (∼44% and ∼23% in mass, respectively), we execute a goodness-of-fit test; it reveals no tension, indicating that the best-fit model provides an adequate description of the data. Using the multi-probe data set, we measure Ω m = 0.299 ± 0.009 and σ 8 = 0.829 ± 0.011. Within a νCDM model we find ∑m ν = 0.148 ± 0.081 eV. We present a consistency test of the cosmic growth rate using SPT clusters. Allowing both the growth index γ and the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w to vary, we find γ = 0.73 ± 0.28 and w = –1.007 ± 0.065, demonstrating that the

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.

Topics in inflationary cosmologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahajan, S.

1986-04-01

Several aspects of inflationary cosmologies are discussed. An introduction to the standard hot big bang cosmological model is reviewed, and some of the problems associated with it are presented. A short review of the proposals for solving the cosmological conundrums of the big bang model is presented. Old and the new inflationary scenarios are discussed and shown to be unacceptable. Some alternative scenarios especially those using supersymmetry are reviewed briefly. A study is given of inflationary models where the same set of fields that breaks supersymmetry is also responsible for inflation. In these models, the scale of supersymmetry breaking is related to the slope of the potential near the origin and can thus be kept low. It is found that a supersymmetry breaking scale of the order of the weak breaking scale. The cosmology obtained from the simplest of such models is discussed in detail and it is shown that there are no particular problems except a low reheating temperature and a violation of the thermal constraint. A possible solution to the thermal constraint problem is given by introducing a second field, and the role played by this second field in the scenario is discussed. An alternative mechanism for the generation of baryon number within the framework of supergravity inflationary models is studied using the gravitational couplings of the heavy fields with the hidden sector (the sector which breaks supersymmetry). This mechanism is applied to two specific models - one with and one without supersymmetry breaking. The baryon to entropy ratio is found to be dependent on parameters which are model dependent. Finally, the effect of direct coupling between the two sectors on results is related, 88 refs., 6 figs

The Philosophy of Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Chamcham, Khalil; Silk, Joseph; Barrow, John D.; Saunders, Simon

2017-04-01

Part I. Issues in the Philosophy of Cosmology: 1. Cosmology, cosmologia and the testing of cosmological theories George F. R. Ellis; 2. Black holes, cosmology and the passage of time: three problems at the limits of science Bernard Carr; 3. Moving boundaries? - comments on the relationship between philosophy and cosmology Claus Beisbart; 4. On the question why there exists something rather than nothing Roderich Tumulka; Part II. Structures in the Universe and the Structure of Modern Cosmology: 5. Some generalities about generality John D. Barrow; 6. Emergent structures of effective field theories Jean-Philippe Uzan; 7. Cosmological structure formation Joel R. Primack; 8. Formation of galaxies Joseph Silk; Part III. Foundations of Cosmology: Gravity and the Quantum: 9. The observer strikes back James Hartle and Thomas Hertog; 10. Testing inflation Chris Smeenk; 11. Why Boltzmann brains do not fluctuate into existence from the de Sitter vacuum Kimberly K. Boddy, Sean M. Carroll and Jason Pollack; 12. Holographic inflation revised Tom Banks; 13. Progress and gravity: overcoming divisions between general relativity and particle physics and between physics and HPS J. Brian Pitts; Part IV. Quantum Foundations and Quantum Gravity: 14. Is time's arrow perspectival? Carlo Rovelli; 15. Relational quantum cosmology Francesca Vidotto; 16. Cosmological ontology and epistemology Don N. Page; 17. Quantum origin of cosmological structure and dynamical reduction theories Daniel Sudarsky; 18. Towards a novel approach to semi-classical gravity Ward Struyve; Part V. Methodological and Philosophical Issues: 19. Limits of time in cosmology Svend E. Rugh and Henrik Zinkernagel; 20. Self-locating priors and cosmological measures Cian Dorr and Frank Arntzenius; 21. On probability and cosmology: inference beyond data? Martin Sahlén; 22. Testing the multiverse: Bayes, fine-tuning and typicality Luke A. Barnes; 23. A new perspective on Einstein's philosophy of cosmology Cormac O

Intrinsic and cosmological signatures in gamma-ray burst time profiles: Time dilation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, A.

2000-02-08

The time profiles of many gamma-ray bursts consist of distinct pulses, which offers the possibility of characterizing the temporal structure of these bursts using a relatively small set of pulse shape parameters. The authors have used a pulse decomposition procedure to analyze the Time-to-Spill (TTS) data for all bursts observed by BATSE up through trigger number 2000, in all energy channels for which TTS data is available. The authors obtain amplitude, rise and decay timescales, a pulse shape parameter, and the fluencies of individual pulses in all of the bursts. The authors investigate the correlations between brightness measures (amplitude and fluence) and timescale measures (pulse width and separation) which may result from cosmological time dilation of bursts, or from intrinsic properties of burst sources or from selection effects. The effects of selection biases are evaluated through simulations. The correlations between these parameters among pulses within individual bursts give a measure of the intrinsic effects while the correlations among bursts could result both from intrinsic and cosmological effects. The authors find that timescales tend to be shorter in bursts with higher peak fluxes, as expected from cosmological time dilation effects, but also find that there are non-cosmological effects contributing to this inverse correlation. The authors find that timescales tend to be longer in bursts with higher total fluences, contrary to what is expected from cosmological effects. The authors also find that peak fluxes and total fluences of bursts are uncorrelated, indicating that they cannot both be good distance indicators for bursts.

The variability of the gravitational constant and the mass-energy conservation in the Dirac cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rybak, M.; Krygier, B.; Krempec-Krygier, J.

1985-01-01

The Hubble-Sandage diagrams for the Dirac cosmology have been discussed in the case of the modified dependence of luminosity upon the gravitational parameter G and mass. It is shown that the observational data for galaxies and the brightest quasars can be explained by the Dirac cosmology with the reasonably chosen changes of the gravitational parameter and of mass with the time. 41 refs., 2 figs. (author)

Qualitative cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalatnikov, I.M.; Belinskij, V.A.

1984-01-01

Application of the qualitative theory of dynamic systems to analysis of homogeneous cosmological models is described. Together with the well-known cases, requiring ideal liquid, the properties of cosmological evolution of matter with dissipative processes due to viscosity are considered. New cosmological effects occur, when viscosity terms being one and the same order with the rest terms in the equations of gravitation or even exceeding them. In these cases the description of the dissipative process by means of only two viscosity coefficients (volume and shift) may become inapplicable because all the rest decomposition terms of dissipative addition to the energy-momentum in velocity gradient can be large application of equations with hydrodynamic viscosty should be considered as a model of dissipative effects in cosmology

Future CMB cosmological constraints in a dark coupled universe

CERN Document Server

Martinelli, Matteo; Melchiorri, Alessandro; Mena, Olga

2010-01-01

Cosmic Microwave Background satellite missions as the on-going Planck experiment are expected to provide the strongest constraints on a wide set of cosmological parameters. Those constraints, however, could be weakened when the assumption of a cosmological constant as the dark energy component is removed. Here we show that it will indeed be the case when there exists a coupling among the dark energy and the dark matter fluids. In particular, the expected errors on key parameters as the cold dark matter density and the angular diameter distance at decoupling are significantly larger when a dark coupling is introduced. We show that it will be the case also for future satellite missions as EPIC, unless CMB lensing extraction is performed.

Introduction to cosmology

CERN Document Server

Roos, Matts

2003-01-01

The Third Edition of the hugely successful Introduction to Cosmology provides a concise, authoritative study of cosmology at an introductory level. Starting from elementary principles and the history of cosmology, the text carefully guides the student on to curved spacetimes, general relativity, black holes, cosmological models, particles and symmetries, and phase transitions. Extensively revised, this latest edition includes broader and updated coverage of distance measures, gravitational lensing and waves, dark energy and quintessence, the thermal history of the Universe, inflation,

Cosmological perturbations in the projectable version of Hořava-Lifshitz gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cerioni, Alessandro; Brandenberger, Robert H.

2011-01-01

We consider linear perturbations about a homogeneous and isotropic cosmological background in the projectable version of Hořava-Lifshitz gravity. Starting from the action for cosmological perturbations, we identify the canonically normalized fluctuation variables. We find that - in contrast to what happens in the non-projectable version of the theory - the extra scalar cosmological perturbation mode is already dynamical at the level of linear perturbations and is either ghost-like or tachyonic depending on the value of a free parameter. This indicates a problem for the projectable version of Hořava-Lifshitz gravity

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....

Stable cosmology in chameleon bigravity

Science.gov (United States)

De Felice, Antonio; Mukohyama, Shinji; Oliosi, Michele; Watanabe, Yota

2018-02-01

The recently proposed chameleonic extension of bigravity theory, by including a scalar field dependence in the graviton potential, avoids several fine-tunings found to be necessary in usual massive bigravity. In particular it ensures that the Higuchi bound is satisfied at all scales, that no Vainshtein mechanism is needed to satisfy Solar System experiments, and that the strong coupling scale is always above the scale of cosmological interest all the way up to the early Universe. This paper extends the previous work by presenting a stable example of cosmology in the chameleon bigravity model. We find a set of initial conditions and parameters such that the derived stability conditions on general flat Friedmann background are satisfied at all times. The evolution goes through radiation-dominated, matter-dominated, and de Sitter eras. We argue that the parameter space allowing for such a stable evolution may be large enough to encompass an observationally viable evolution. We also argue that our model satisfies all known constraints due to gravitational wave observations so far and thus can be considered as a unique testing ground of gravitational wave phenomenologies in bimetric theories of gravity.

Higgs cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Rajantie, Arttu

2018-01-01

The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 and other results from the Large Hadron Collider have confirmed the standard model of particle physics as the correct theory of elementary particles and their interactions up to energies of several TeV. Remarkably, the theory may even remain valid all the way to the Planck scale of quantum gravity, and therefore it provides a solid theoretical basis for describing the early Universe. Furthermore, the Higgs field itself has unique properties that may have allowed it to play a central role in the evolution of the Universe, from inflation to cosmological phase transitions and the origin of both baryonic and dark matter, and possibly to determine its ultimate fate through the electroweak vacuum instability. These connections between particle physics and cosmology have given rise to a new and growing field of Higgs cosmology, which promises to shed new light on some of the most puzzling questions about the Universe as new data from particle physics experiments and cosmological observations become available. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue `Higgs cosmology'.

Constraints on Λ(t)-cosmology with power law interacting dark sectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poitras, Vincent

2012-01-01

Motivated by the cosmological constant and the coincidence problems, we consider a cosmological model where the cosmological constant Λ 0 is replaced by a cosmological term Λ(t) which is allowed to vary in time. More specifically, we are considering that this dark energy term interacts with dark matter through the phenomenological decay law ρ-dot Λ = −Qρ Λ n . We have constrained the model for the range n element of [0,10] using various observational data (SNeIa, GRB, CMB, BAO, OHD), emphasizing the case where n = 3/2. This case is the only one where the late-time value for the ratio of dark energy density and matter energy density ρ Λ /ρ m is constant, which could provide an interesting explanation to the coincidence problem. We obtain strong limits on the model parameters which however exclude the region where the coincidence or the cosmological constant problems are significantly ameliorated

On the impact of large angle CMB polarization data on cosmological parameters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lattanzi, Massimiliano; Mandolesi, Nazzareno; Natoli, Paolo [Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra, Università di Ferrara, Via Giuseppe Saragat 1, I-44122 Ferrara (Italy); Burigana, Carlo; Gruppuso, Alessandro; Trombetti, Tiziana [Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna (Italy); Gerbino, Martina [The Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden); Polenta, Gianluca [Agenzia Spaziale Italiana Science Data Center, Via del Politecnico snc, 00133, Roma (Italy); Salvati, Laura, E-mail: lattanzi@fe.infn.it, E-mail: burigana@iasfbo.inaf.it, E-mail: martina.gerbino@fysik.su.se, E-mail: gruppuso@iasfbo.inaf.it, E-mail: nazzareno.mandolesi@unife.it, E-mail: paolo.natoli@unife.it, E-mail: gianluca.polenta@asdc.asi.it, E-mail: laura.salvati@ias.u-psud.fr, E-mail: trombetti@iasfbo.inaf.it [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, I-00185 Roma (Italy)

2017-02-01

We study the impact of the large-angle CMB polarization datasets publicly released by the WMAP and Planck satellites on the estimation of cosmological parameters of the ΛCDM model. To complement large-angle polarization, we consider the high resolution (or 'high-ℓ') CMB datasets from either WMAP or Planck as well as CMB lensing as traced by Planck 's measured four point correlation function. In the case of WMAP, we compute the large-angle polarization likelihood starting over from low resolution frequency maps and their covariance matrices, and perform our own foreground mitigation technique, which includes as a possible alternative Planck 353 GHz data to trace polarized dust. We find that the latter choice induces a downward shift in the optical depth τ, roughly of order 2σ, robust to the choice of the complementary high resolution dataset. When the Planck 353 GHz is consistently used to minimize polarized dust emission, WMAP and Planck 70 GHz large-angle polarization data are in remarkable agreement: by combining them we find τ = 0.066 {sup +0.012}{sub −0.013}, again very stable against the particular choice for high-ℓ data. We find that the amplitude of primordial fluctuations A {sub s} , notoriously degenerate with τ, is the parameter second most affected by the assumptions on polarized dust removal, but the other parameters are also affected, typically between 0.5 and 1σ. In particular, cleaning dust with Planck 's 353 GHz data imposes a 1σ downward shift in the value of the Hubble constant H {sub 0}, significantly contributing to the tension reported between CMB based and direct measurements of the present expansion rate. On the other hand, we find that the appearance of the so-called low ℓ anomaly, a well-known tension between the high- and low-resolution CMB anisotropy amplitude, is not significantly affected by the details of large-angle polarization, or by the particular high-ℓ dataset employed.

Possible evolution of a bouncing universe in cosmological models with non-minimally coupled scalar fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pozdeeva, Ekaterina O.; Vernov, Sergey Yu.; Skugoreva, Maria A.; Toporensky, Alexey V.

2016-01-01

We explore dynamics of cosmological models with bounce solutions evolving on a spatially flat Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker background. We consider cosmological models that contain the Hilbert-Einstein curvature term, the induced gravity term with a negative coupled constant, and even polynomial potentials of the scalar field. Bounce solutions with non-monotonic Hubble parameters have been obtained and analyzed. The case when the scalar field has the conformal coupling and the Higgs-like potential with an opposite sign is studied in detail. In this model the evolution of the Hubble parameter of the bounce solution essentially depends on the sign of the cosmological constant.

Smoot Cosmology Group

Science.gov (United States)

. ______________________________________________________________________________________ Nobelist George Smoot to Direct Korean Cosmology Institute Nobel Laureate George Smoot has been appointed director of a new cosmology institute in South Korea that will work closely with the year-old Berkeley the Early Universe (IEU) at EWHA Womans University in Seoul, Korea will provide cosmology education

Precision Parameter Estimation and Machine Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Wandelt, Benjamin D.

2008-12-01

I discuss the strategy of ``Acceleration by Parallel Precomputation and Learning'' (AP-PLe) that can vastly accelerate parameter estimation in high-dimensional parameter spaces and costly likelihood functions, using trivially parallel computing to speed up sequential exploration of parameter space. This strategy combines the power of distributed computing with machine learning and Markov-Chain Monte Carlo techniques efficiently to explore a likelihood function, posterior distribution or χ2-surface. This strategy is particularly successful in cases where computing the likelihood is costly and the number of parameters is moderate or large. We apply this technique to two central problems in cosmology: the solution of the cosmological parameter estimation problem with sufficient accuracy for the Planck data using PICo; and the detailed calculation of cosmological helium and hydrogen recombination with RICO. Since the APPLe approach is designed to be able to use massively parallel resources to speed up problems that are inherently serial, we can bring the power of distributed computing to bear on parameter estimation problems. We have demonstrated this with the CosmologyatHome project.

Phantom cosmology without Big Rip singularity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Astashenok, Artyom V. [Baltic Federal University of I. Kant, Department of Theoretical Physics, 236041, 14, Nevsky st., Kaliningrad (Russian Federation); Nojiri, Shin' ichi, E-mail: nojiri@phys.nagoya-u.ac.jp [Department of Physics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602 (Japan); Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602 (Japan); Odintsov, Sergei D. [Department of Physics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602 (Japan); Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats - ICREA and Institut de Ciencies de l' Espai (IEEC-CSIC), Campus UAB, Facultat de Ciencies, Torre C5-Par-2a pl, E-08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) (Spain); Tomsk State Pedagogical University, Tomsk (Russian Federation); Yurov, Artyom V. [Baltic Federal University of I. Kant, Department of Theoretical Physics, 236041, 14, Nevsky st., Kaliningrad (Russian Federation)

2012-03-23

We construct phantom energy models with the equation of state parameter w which is less than -1, w<-1, but finite-time future singularity does not occur. Such models can be divided into two classes: (i) energy density increases with time ('phantom energy' without 'Big Rip' singularity) and (ii) energy density tends to constant value with time ('cosmological constant' with asymptotically de Sitter evolution). The disintegration of bound structure is confirmed in Little Rip cosmology. Surprisingly, we find that such disintegration (on example of Sun-Earth system) may occur even in asymptotically de Sitter phantom universe consistent with observational data. We also demonstrate that non-singular phantom models admit wormhole solutions as well as possibility of Big Trip via wormholes.

Phantom cosmology without Big Rip singularity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Astashenok, Artyom V.; Nojiri, Shin'ichi; Odintsov, Sergei D.; Yurov, Artyom V.

2012-01-01

We construct phantom energy models with the equation of state parameter w which is less than -1, w<-1, but finite-time future singularity does not occur. Such models can be divided into two classes: (i) energy density increases with time (“phantom energy” without “Big Rip” singularity) and (ii) energy density tends to constant value with time (“cosmological constant” with asymptotically de Sitter evolution). The disintegration of bound structure is confirmed in Little Rip cosmology. Surprisingly, we find that such disintegration (on example of Sun-Earth system) may occur even in asymptotically de Sitter phantom universe consistent with observational data. We also demonstrate that non-singular phantom models admit wormhole solutions as well as possibility of Big Trip via wormholes.

The cosmic microwave background data and their implications for cosmology

CERN Document Server

Tudose, V

2003-01-01

Recently the results from three projects (BOOMERANG, DASI and MAXIMA) dealing with the observation of the temperature and isotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) were published. It was a real breakthrough for cosmology since these data established a new level in understanding the universe. Here we present a review of the main results obtained by the projects mentioned above, emphasizing their significance to the nowadays status of cosmology. In this respect we report on the increasing evidence for an inflationary period in the very early stages after the Big Bang, we discuss at large the values of the cosmological parameters and we acknowledge the picture of the universe as it appears from the CMB data. (authors)

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

Extending cosmology: the metric approach

OpenAIRE

Mendoza, S.

2012-01-01

Comment: 2012, Extending Cosmology: The Metric Approach, Open Questions in Cosmology; Review article for an Intech "Open questions in cosmology" book chapter (19 pages, 3 figures). Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/open-questions-in-cosmology/extending-cosmology-the-metric-approach

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)

Prediction and typicality in multiverse cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azhar, Feraz

2014-01-01

In the absence of a fundamental theory that precisely predicts values for observable parameters, anthropic reasoning attempts to constrain probability distributions over those parameters in order to facilitate the extraction of testable predictions. The utility of this approach has been vigorously debated of late, particularly in light of theories that claim we live in a multiverse, where parameters may take differing values in regions lying outside our observable horizon. Within this cosmological framework, we investigate the efficacy of top-down anthropic reasoning based on the weak anthropic principle. We argue contrary to recent claims that it is not clear one can either dispense with notions of typicality altogether or presume typicality, in comparing resulting probability distributions with observations. We show in a concrete, top-down setting related to dark matter, that assumptions about typicality can dramatically affect predictions, thereby providing a guide to how errors in reasoning regarding typicality translate to errors in the assessment of predictive power. We conjecture that this dependence on typicality is an integral feature of anthropic reasoning in broader cosmological contexts, and argue in favour of the explicit inclusion of measures of typicality in schemes invoking anthropic reasoning, with a view to extracting predictions from multiverse scenarios. (paper)

Prediction and typicality in multiverse cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Azhar, Feraz

2014-02-01

In the absence of a fundamental theory that precisely predicts values for observable parameters, anthropic reasoning attempts to constrain probability distributions over those parameters in order to facilitate the extraction of testable predictions. The utility of this approach has been vigorously debated of late, particularly in light of theories that claim we live in a multiverse, where parameters may take differing values in regions lying outside our observable horizon. Within this cosmological framework, we investigate the efficacy of top-down anthropic reasoning based on the weak anthropic principle. We argue contrary to recent claims that it is not clear one can either dispense with notions of typicality altogether or presume typicality, in comparing resulting probability distributions with observations. We show in a concrete, top-down setting related to dark matter, that assumptions about typicality can dramatically affect predictions, thereby providing a guide to how errors in reasoning regarding typicality translate to errors in the assessment of predictive power. We conjecture that this dependence on typicality is an integral feature of anthropic reasoning in broader cosmological contexts, and argue in favour of the explicit inclusion of measures of typicality in schemes invoking anthropic reasoning, with a view to extracting predictions from multiverse scenarios.

Unimodular-mimetic cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nojiri, S; Odintsov, S D; Oikonomou, V K

2016-01-01

We combine the unimodular gravity and mimetic gravity theories into a unified theoretical framework, which is proposed to provide a suggestive proposal for a framework that may assist in the discussion and search for a solution to the cosmological constant problem and the dark matter issue. After providing the formulation of the unimodular mimetic gravity and investigating all the new features that the vacuum unimodular gravity implies, by using the underlying reconstruction method, we realize some well known cosmological evolutions, with some of these being exotic for the ordinary Einstein–Hilbert gravity. Specifically we provide the vacuum unimodular mimetic gravity description of the de Sitter cosmology and of the perfect fluid with constant equation of state cosmology. As we demonstrate, these cosmologies can be realized by vacuum mimetic unimodular gravity, without the existence of any matter fluid source. Moreover, we investigate how cosmologically viable cosmologies, which are compatible with the recent observational data, can be realized by the vacuum unimodular mimetic gravity. Since in some cases, a graceful exit from inflation problem might exist, we provide a qualitative description of the mechanism that can potentially generate the graceful exit from inflation in these theories, by searching for the unstable de Sitter solutions in the context of unimodular mimetic theories of gravity. (paper)

Cosmological constant problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weinberg, S.

1989-01-01

Cosmological constant problem is discussed. History of the problem is briefly considered. Five different approaches to solution of the problem are described: supersymmetry, supergravity, superstring; anthropic approach; mechamism of lagrangian alignment; modification of gravitation theory and quantum cosmology. It is noted that approach, based on quantum cosmology is the most promising one

Introduction to cosmology

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva. Audiovisual Unit

2001-01-01

Cosmology and particle physics have enjoyed a useful relationship over the entire histories of both subjects. Today, ideas and techniques in cosmology are frequently used to elucidate and constrain theories of elementary particles. These lectures give an elementary overview of the essential elements of cosmology, which is necessary to understand this relationship.

Introduction to cosmology

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

1999-01-01

Cosmology and particle physics have enjoyed a useful relationship over the entire histories of both subjects. Today, ideas and techniques in cosmology are frequently used to elucidate and constrain theories of elementary particles. These lectures give an elementary overview of the essential elements of cosmology, which is necessary to understand this relationship.

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.)

The Dirac-Milne cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Benoit-Lévy, Aurélien; Chardin, Gabriel

2014-05-01

We study an unconventional cosmology, in which we investigate the consequences that antigravity would pose to cosmology. We present the main characteristics of the Dirac-Milne Universe, a cosmological model where antimatter has a negative active gravitational mass. In this non-standard Universe, separate domains of matter and antimatter coexist at our epoch without annihilation, separated by a gravitationally induced depletion zone. We show that this cosmology does not require a priori the Dark Matter and Dark Energy components of the standard model of cosmology. Additionally, inflation becomes an unnecessary ingredient. Investigating this model, we show that the classical cosmological tests such as primordial nucleosynthesis, Type Ia supernovæ and Cosmic Microwave Background are surprisingly concordant.

Preparatory studies for the WFIRST supernova cosmology measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Perlmutter, Saul

In the context of the WFIRST-AFTA Science Definition Team we developed a first version of a supernova program, described in the WFIRST-AFTA SDT report. This program uses the imager to discover supernova candidates and an Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS) to obtain spectrophotometric light curves and higher signal to noise spectra of the supernovae near peak to better characterize the supernovae and thus minimize systematic errors. While this program was judged a robust one, and the estimates of the sensitivity to the cosmological parameters were felt to be reliable, due to limitation of time the analysis was clearly limited in depth on a number of issues. The goal of this proposal is to further develop this program and refine the estimates of the sensitivities to the cosmological parameters using more sophisticated systematic uncertainty models and covariance error matrices that fold in more realistic data concerning observed populations of SNe Ia as well as more realistic instrument models. We propose to develop analysis algorithms and approaches that are needed to build, optimize, and refine the WFIRST instrument and program requirements to accomplish the best supernova cosmology measurements possible. We plan to address the following: a) Use realistic Supernova populations, subclasses and population drift. One bothersome uncertainty with the supernova technique is the possibility of population drift with redshift. We are in a unique position to characterize and mitigate such effects using the spectrophotometric time series of real Type Ia supernovae from the Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory). Each supernova in this sample has global galaxy measurements as well as additional local environment information derived from the IFS spectroscopy. We plan to develop methods of coping with this issue, e.g., by selecting similar subsamples of supernovae and allowing additional model flexibility, in order to reduce systematic uncertainties. These studies will allow us to

Implications of a decay law for the cosmological constant in higher dimensional cosmology and cosmological wormholes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rami, El-Nabulsi Ahmad

2009-01-01

Higher dimensional cosmological implications of a decay law for the cosmological constant term are analyzed. Three independent cosmological models are explored mainly: 1) In the first model, the effective cosmological constant was chosen to decay with times like Δ effective = Ca -2 + D(b/a I ) 2 where a I is an arbitrary scale factor characterizing the isotropic epoch which proceeds the graceful exit period. Further, the extra-dimensional scale factor decays classically like b(t) approx. a x (t), x is a real negative number. 2) In the second model, we adopt in addition to Δ effective = Ca -2 + D(b/a I ) 2 the phenomenological law b(t) = a(t)exp( -Qt) as we expect that at the origin of time, there is no distinction between the visible and extra dimensions; Q is a real number. 3) In the third model, we study a Δ - decaying extra-dimensional cosmology with a static traversable wormhole in which the four-dimensional Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetime is subject to the conventional perfect fluid while the extra-dimensional part is endowed by an exotic fluid violating strong energy condition and where the cosmological constant in (3+n+1) is assumed to decays like Δ(a) = 3Ca -2 . The three models are discussed and explored in some details where many interesting points are revealed. (author)

BOOK REVIEW: Observational Cosmology Observational Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Howell, Dale Andrew

2013-04-01

Observational Cosmology by Stephen Serjeant fills a niche that was underserved in the textbook market: an up-to-date, thorough cosmology textbook focused on observations, aimed at advanced undergraduates. Not everything about the book is perfect - some subjects get short shrift, in some cases jargon dominates, and there are too few exercises. Still, on the whole, the book is a welcome addition. For decades, the classic textbooks of cosmology have focused on theory. But for every Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect there is a Butcher-Oemler effect; there are as many cosmological phenomena established by observations, and only explained later by theory, as there were predicted by theory and confirmed by observations. In fact, in the last decade, there has been an explosion of new cosmological findings driven by observations. Some are so new that you won't find them mentioned in books just a few years old. So it is not just refreshing to see a book that reflects the new realities of cosmology, it is vital, if students are to truly stay up on a field that has widened in scope considerably. Observational Cosmology is filled with full-color images, and graphs from the latest experiments. How exciting it is that we live in an era where satellites and large experiments have gathered so much data to reveal astounding details about the origin of the universe and its evolution. To have all the latest data gathered together and explained in one book will be a revelation to students. In fact, at times it was to me. I've picked up modern cosmological knowledge through a patchwork of reading papers, going to colloquia, and serving on grant and telescope allocation panels. To go back and see them explained from square one, and summarized succinctly, filled in quite a few gaps in my own knowledge and corrected a few misconceptions I'd acquired along the way. To make room for all these graphs and observational details, a few things had to be left out. For one, there are few derivations

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

HICOSMO - X-ray analysis of a complete sample of galaxy clusters

Science.gov (United States)

Schellenberger, G.; Reiprich, T.

2017-10-01

Galaxy clusters are known to be the largest virialized objects in the Universe. Based on the theory of structure formation one can use them as cosmological probes, since they originate from collapsed overdensities in the early Universe and witness its history. The X-ray regime provides the unique possibility to measure in detail the most massive visible component, the intra cluster medium. Using Chandra observations of a local sample of 64 bright clusters (HIFLUGCS) we provide total (hydrostatic) and gas mass estimates of each cluster individually. Making use of the completeness of the sample we quantify two interesting cosmological parameters by a Bayesian cosmological likelihood analysis. We find Ω_{M}=0.3±0.01 and σ_{8}=0.79±0.03 (statistical uncertainties) using our default analysis strategy combining both, a mass function analysis and the gas mass fraction results. The main sources of biases that we discuss and correct here are (1) the influence of galaxy groups (higher incompleteness in parent samples and a differing behavior of the L_{x} - M relation), (2) the hydrostatic mass bias (as determined by recent hydrodynamical simulations), (3) the extrapolation of the total mass (comparing various methods), (4) the theoretical halo mass function and (5) other cosmological (non-negligible neutrino mass), and instrumental (calibration) effects.

Shadow cast by rotating braneworld black holes with a cosmological constant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eiroa, Ernesto F.; Sendra, Carlos M. [Instituto de Astronomia y Fisica del Espacio (IAFE, CONICET-UBA), Buenos Aires (Argentina); Universidad de Buenos Aires, Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Buenos Aires (Argentina)

2018-02-15

In this article, we study the shadow produced by rotating black holes having a tidal charge in a Randall-Sundrum braneworld model, with a cosmological constant. We obtain the apparent shape and the corresponding observables for different values of the tidal charge and the rotation parameter, and we analyze the influence of the presence of the cosmological constant. We also discuss the observational prospects for this optical effect. (orig.)

Cosmological histories in bimetric gravity: a graphical approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mörtsell, E.

2017-01-01

The bimetric generalization of general relativity has been proven to be able to give an accelerated background expansion consistent with observations. Apart from the energy densities coupling to one or both of the metrics, the expansion will depend on the cosmological constant contribution to each of them, as well as the three parameters describing the interaction between the two metrics. Even for fixed values of these parameters can several possible solutions, so called branches, exist. Different branches can give similar background expansion histories for the observable metric, but may have different properties regarding, for example, the existence of ghosts and the rate of structure growth. In this paper, we outline a method to find viable solution branches for arbitrary parameter values. We show how possible expansion histories in bimetric gravity can be inferred qualitatively, by picturing the ratio of the scale factors of the two metrics as the spatial coordinate of a particle rolling along a frictionless track. A particularly interesting example discussed is a specific set of parameter values, where a cosmological dark matter background is mimicked without introducing ghost modes into the theory.

Cosmological horizons as new examples of the membrane paradigm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Tower

2015-01-01

In this paper we aim to provide new examples of the application and the generality of the membrane paradigm. The membrane paradigm is a formalism for studying the event horizon of black holes. After analyzing it with some technical details and realizing it in the Reissner–Nordström black hole, we apply the paradigm to cosmological horizons, first to the pure de Sitter horizon, and then to the trapping horizon of the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker Universe. In the latter case, the cosmological stretched horizon is oblique, thus the running of the renormalization parameter is nonzero in the timelike direction and gives a correction to the membrane pressure. In this paradigm, the cosmological equations come from continuity equations of the membrane fluid and the bulk fluid respectively. (paper)

Large scale geometry and evolution of a universe with radiation pressure and cosmological constant

CERN Document Server

Coquereaux, Robert; Coquereaux, Robert; Grossmann, Alex

2000-01-01

In view of new experimental results that strongly suggest a non-zero cosmological constant, it becomes interesting to revisit the Friedmann-Lemaitre model of evolution of a universe with cosmological constant and radiation pressure. In this paper, we discuss the explicit solutions for that model, and perform numerical explorations for reasonable values of cosmological parameters. We also analyse the behaviour of redshifts in such models and the description of ``very large scale geometrical features'' when analysed by distant observers.

Microwave background anisotropies and the primordial spectrum of cosmological density fluctuations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suto, Yasushi; Gouda, Naoteru; Sugiyama, Naoshi

1990-01-01

Microwave background anisotropies in various cosmological scenarios are studied. In particular, the extent to which nonscale-invariant spectra of the primordial density fluctuations are consistent with the observational upper limits is examined. The resultant constraints are summarized as contours on (n, Omega)-plane, where n is the power-law index of the primordial spectrum of density fuctuations and Omega is the cosmological density parameter. They are compared also with the constraints from the cosmic Mach number test, recently proposed by Ostriker and Suto (1990). The parameter regions which pass both tests are not consistent with the theoretical prejudice inspired by the inflationary model. 44 refs

Encyclopedia of cosmology historical, philosophical, and scientific foundations of modern cosmology

CERN Document Server

Hetherington, Norriss S

2014-01-01

The Encyclopedia of Cosmology, first published in 1993, recounts the history, philosophical assumptions, methodological ambiguities, and human struggles that have influenced the various responses to the basic questions of cosmology through the ages, as well as referencing important scientific theories.Just as the recognition of social conventions in other cultures can lead to a more productive perspective on our own behaviour, so too a study of the cosmologies of other times and places can enable us recognise elements of our own cosmology that might otherwise pass as inevitable developments.Ap

Higgs cosmology.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajantie, Arttu

2018-03-06

The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 and other results from the Large Hadron Collider have confirmed the standard model of particle physics as the correct theory of elementary particles and their interactions up to energies of several TeV. Remarkably, the theory may even remain valid all the way to the Planck scale of quantum gravity, and therefore it provides a solid theoretical basis for describing the early Universe. Furthermore, the Higgs field itself has unique properties that may have allowed it to play a central role in the evolution of the Universe, from inflation to cosmological phase transitions and the origin of both baryonic and dark matter, and possibly to determine its ultimate fate through the electroweak vacuum instability. These connections between particle physics and cosmology have given rise to a new and growing field of Higgs cosmology, which promises to shed new light on some of the most puzzling questions about the Universe as new data from particle physics experiments and cosmological observations become available.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Higgs cosmology'. © 2018 The Author(s).

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.

Neutrino cosmology

CERN Document Server

Lesgourgues, Julien; Miele, Gennaro; Pastor, Sergio

2013-01-01

The role that neutrinos have played in the evolution of the Universe is the focus of one of the most fascinating research areas that has stemmed from the interplay between cosmology, astrophysics and particle physics. In this self-contained book, the authors bring together all aspects of the role of neutrinos in cosmology, spanning from leptogenesis to primordial nucleosynthesis, their role in CMB and structure formation, to the problem of their direct detection. The book starts by guiding the reader through aspects of fundamental neutrino physics, such as the standard cosmological model and the statistical mechanics in the expanding Universe, before discussing the history of neutrinos in chronological order from the very early stages until today. This timely book will interest graduate students and researchers in astrophysics, cosmology and particle physics, who work with either a theoretical or experimental focus.

Fluid observers and tilting cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coley, A A; Hervik, S; Lim, W C

2006-01-01

We study perfect fluid cosmological models with a constant equation of state parameter γ in which there are two naturally defined timelike congruences, a geometrically defined geodesic congruence and a non-geodesic fluid congruence. We establish an appropriate set of boost formulae relating the physical variables, and consequently the observed quantities, in the two frames. We study expanding spatially homogeneous tilted perfect fluid models, with an emphasis on future evolution with extreme tilt. We show that for ultra-radiative equations of state (i.e. γ > 4/3), generically the tilt becomes extreme at late times and the fluid observers will reach infinite expansion within a finite proper time and experience a singularity similar to that of the big rip. In addition, we show that for sub-radiative equations of state (i.e. γ < 4/3), the tilt can become extreme at late times and give rise to an effective quintessential equation of state. To establish the connection with phantom cosmology and quintessence, we calculate the effective equation of state in the models under consideration and we determine the future asymptotic behaviour of the tilting models in the fluid frame variables using the boost formulae. We also discuss spatially inhomogeneous models and tilting spatially homogeneous models with a cosmological constant

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)

Loop quantum cosmology with complex Ashtekar variables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Achour, Jibril Ben; Grain, Julien; Noui, Karim

2015-01-01

We construct and study loop quantum cosmology (LQC) when the Barbero–Immirzi parameter takes the complex value γ=±i. We refer to this new approach to quantum cosmology as complex LQC. This formulation is obtained via an analytic continuation of the Hamiltonian constraint (with no inverse volume corrections) from real γ to γ=±i, in the simple case of a flat FLRW Universe coupled to a massless scalar field with no cosmological constant. For this, we first compute the non-local curvature operator (defined by the trace of the holonomy of the connection around a fundamental plaquette) evaluated in an arbitrary spin j representation, and find a new close formula for its expression. This allows us to define explicitly a one parameter family of regularizations of the Hamiltonian constraint in LQC, parametrized by the spin j. It is immediate to see that any spin j regularization leads to a bouncing scenario. Then, motivated in particular by previous results on black hole thermodynamics, we perform the analytic continuation of the Hamiltonian constraint to values of the Barbero–Immirzi parameter given by γ=±i and to spins j=(1/2)(−1+is) where s is real. Even if the area spectrum then becomes continuous, we show that the complex LQC defined in this way does also replace the initial big-bang singularity by a big-bounce. In addition to this, the maximal density and the minimal volume of the Universe are obviously independent of γ. Furthermore, the dynamics before and after the bounce is not symmetrical anymore, which makes a clear distinction between these two phases of the evolution of the Universe. (paper)

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.

A Comparison of Cosmological Parameters Determined from CMB Temperature Power Spectra from the South Pole Telescope and the Planck Satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Aylor, K.; Hou, Z.; Knox, L.; Story, K. T.; Benson, B. A.; Bleem, L. E.; Carlstrom, J. E.; Chang, C. L.; Cho, H.-M.; Chown, R.; Crawford, T. M.; Crites, A. T.; de Haan, T.; Dobbs, M. A.; Everett, W. B.; George, E. M.; Halverson, N. W.; Harrington, N. L.; Holder, G. P.; Holzapfel, W. L.; Hrubes, J. D.; Keisler, R.; Lee, A. T.; Leitch, E. M.; Luong-Van, D.; Marrone, D. P.; McMahon, J. J.; Meyer, S. S.; Millea, M.; Mocanu, L. M.; Mohr, J. J.; Natoli, T.; Omori, Y.; Padin, S.; Pryke, C.; Reichardt, C. L.; Ruhl, J. E.; Sayre, J. T.; Schaffer, K. K.; Shirokoff, E.; Staniszewski, Z.; Stark, A. A.; Vanderlinde, K.; Vieira, J. D.; Williamson, R.

2017-11-01

The Planck cosmic microwave background temperature data are best fit with a ΛCDM model that mildly contradicts constraints from other cosmological probes. The South Pole Telescope (SPT) 2540 {\\deg }2 SPT-SZ survey offers measurements on sub-degree angular scales (multipoles 650≤slant {\\ell }≤slant 2500) with sufficient precision to use as an independent check of the Planck data. Here we build on the recent joint analysis of the SPT-SZ and Planck data in Hou et al. by comparing ΛCDM parameter estimates using the temperature power spectrum from both data sets in the SPT-SZ survey region. We also restrict the multipole range used in parameter fitting to focus on modes measured well by both SPT and Planck, thereby greatly reducing sample variance as a driver of parameter differences and creating a stringent test for systematic errors. We find no evidence of systematic errors from these tests. When we expand the maximum multipole of SPT data used, we see low-significance shifts in the angular scale of the sound horizon and the physical baryon and cold dark matter densities, with a resulting trend to higher Hubble constant. When we compare SPT and Planck data on the SPT-SZ sky patch to Planck full-sky data but keep the multipole range restricted, we find differences in the parameters n s and {A}s{e}-2τ . We perform further checks, investigating instrumental effects and modeling assumptions, and we find no evidence that the effects investigated are responsible for any of the parameter shifts. Taken together, these tests reveal no evidence for systematic errors in SPT or Planck data in the overlapping sky coverage and multipole range and at most weak evidence for a breakdown of ΛCDM or systematic errors influencing either the Planck data outside the SPT-SZ survey area or the SPT data at {\\ell }> 2000.

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.

Supersymmetry and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Jonathan L.

2005-01-01

Cosmology now provides unambiguous, quantitative evidence for new particle physics. I discuss the implications of cosmology for supersymmetry and vice versa. Topics include: motivations for supersymmetry; supersymmetry breaking; dark energy; freeze out and WIMPs; neutralino dark matter; cosmologically preferred regions of minimal supergravity; direct and indirect detection of neutralinos; the DAMA and HEAT signals; inflation and reheating; gravitino dark matter; Big Bang nucleosynthesis; and the cosmic microwave background. I conclude with speculations about the prospects for a microscopic description of the dark universe, stressing the necessity of diverse experiments on both sides of the particle physics/cosmology interface

The inflationary cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, Misao

1983-01-01

We review the recent status of the inflationary cosmology. After exhibiting the essence of difficulties associated with the horizon, flatness and baryon number problems in the standard big-bang cosmology, we discuss that the inflationary universe scenario is one of the most plausible solutions to these fundamental cosmological problems. Since there are two qualitatively different versions of the inflationary universe scenario, we review each of them separately and discuss merits and demerits of each version. The Hawking radiation in de Sitter space is also reviewed since it may play an essential role in the inflationary cosmology. (author)

The Cosmological Dependence of Galaxy Cluster Morphologies

Science.gov (United States)

Crone, Mary Margaret

1995-01-01

Measuring the density of the universe has been a fundamental problem in cosmology ever since the "Big Bang" model was developed over sixty years ago. In this simple and successful model, the age and eventual fate of the universe are determined by its density, its rate of expansion, and the value of a universal "cosmological constant". Analytic models suggest that many properties of galaxy clusters are sensitive to cosmological parameters. In this thesis, I use N-body simulations to examine cluster density profiles, abundances, and degree of subclustering to test the feasibility of using them as cosmological tests. The dependence on both cosmology and initial density field is examined, using a grid of cosmologies and scale-free initial power spectra P(k)~ k n. Einstein-deSitter ( Omegao=1), open ( Omegao=0.2 and 0.1) and flat, low density (Omegao=0.2, lambdao=0.8) models are studied, with initial spectral indices n=-2, -1 and 0. Of particular interest are the results for cluster profiles and substructure. The average density profiles are well fit by a power law p(r)~ r ^{-alpha} for radii where the local density contrast is between 100 and 3000. There is a clear trend toward steeper slopes with both increasing n and decreasing Omegao, with profile slopes in the open models consistently higher than Omega=1 values for the range of n examined. The amount of substructure in each model is quantified and explained in terms of cluster merger histories and the behavior of substructure statistics. The statistic which best distinguishes models is a very simple measure of deviations from symmetry in the projected mass distribution --the "Center-of-Mass Shift" as a function of overdensity. Some statistics which are quite sensitive to substructure perform relatively poorly as cosmological indicators. Density profiles and the Center-of-Mass test are both well-suited for comparison with weak lensing data and galaxy distributions. Such data are currently being collected and should

PHOTOMETRIC SUPERNOVA COSMOLOGY WITH BEAMS AND SDSS-II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hlozek, Renee [Oxford Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH (United Kingdom); Kunz, Martin [Department de physique theorique, Universite de Geneve, 30, quai Ernest-Ansermet, CH-1211 Geneve 4 (Switzerland); Bassett, Bruce; Smith, Mat; Newling, James [African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, 68 Melrose Road, Muizenberg 7945 (South Africa); Varughese, Melvin [Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7700 (South Africa); Kessler, Rick; Frieman, Joshua [The Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, The University of Chicago, 933 East 56th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Bernstein, Joseph P.; Kuhlmann, Steve; Marriner, John [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States); Campbell, Heather; Lampeitl, Hubert; Nichol, Robert C. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Dennis Sciama Building Burnaby Road Portsmouth PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Dilday, Ben [Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117 (United States); Falck, Bridget; Riess, Adam G. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Sako, Masao [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 203 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Schneider, Donald P., E-mail: rhlozek@astro.princeton.edu [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)

2012-06-20

Supernova (SN) cosmology without spectroscopic confirmation is an exciting new frontier, which we address here with the Bayesian Estimation Applied to Multiple Species (BEAMS) algorithm and the full three years of data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II Supernova Survey (SDSS-II SN). BEAMS is a Bayesian framework for using data from multiple species in statistical inference when one has the probability that each data point belongs to a given species, corresponding in this context to different types of SNe with their probabilities derived from their multi-band light curves. We run the BEAMS algorithm on both Gaussian and more realistic SNANA simulations with of order 10{sup 4} SNe, testing the algorithm against various pitfalls one might expect in the new and somewhat uncharted territory of photometric SN cosmology. We compare the performance of BEAMS to that of both mock spectroscopic surveys and photometric samples that have been cut using typical selection criteria. The latter typically either are biased due to contamination or have significantly larger contours in the cosmological parameters due to small data sets. We then apply BEAMS to the 792 SDSS-II photometric SNe with host spectroscopic redshifts. In this case, BEAMS reduces the area of the {Omega}{sub m}, {Omega}{sub {Lambda}} contours by a factor of three relative to the case where only spectroscopically confirmed data are used (297 SNe). In the case of flatness, the constraints obtained on the matter density applying BEAMS to the photometric SDSS-II data are {Omega}{sup BEAMS}{sub m} = 0.194 {+-} 0.07. This illustrates the potential power of BEAMS for future large photometric SN surveys such as Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

PHOTOMETRIC SUPERNOVA COSMOLOGY WITH BEAMS AND SDSS-II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hlozek, Renée; Kunz, Martin; Bassett, Bruce; Smith, Mat; Newling, James; Varughese, Melvin; Kessler, Rick; Frieman, Joshua; Bernstein, Joseph P.; Kuhlmann, Steve; Marriner, John; Campbell, Heather; Lampeitl, Hubert; Nichol, Robert C.; Dilday, Ben; Falck, Bridget; Riess, Adam G.; Sako, Masao; Schneider, Donald P.

2012-01-01

Supernova (SN) cosmology without spectroscopic confirmation is an exciting new frontier, which we address here with the Bayesian Estimation Applied to Multiple Species (BEAMS) algorithm and the full three years of data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II Supernova Survey (SDSS-II SN). BEAMS is a Bayesian framework for using data from multiple species in statistical inference when one has the probability that each data point belongs to a given species, corresponding in this context to different types of SNe with their probabilities derived from their multi-band light curves. We run the BEAMS algorithm on both Gaussian and more realistic SNANA simulations with of order 10 4 SNe, testing the algorithm against various pitfalls one might expect in the new and somewhat uncharted territory of photometric SN cosmology. We compare the performance of BEAMS to that of both mock spectroscopic surveys and photometric samples that have been cut using typical selection criteria. The latter typically either are biased due to contamination or have significantly larger contours in the cosmological parameters due to small data sets. We then apply BEAMS to the 792 SDSS-II photometric SNe with host spectroscopic redshifts. In this case, BEAMS reduces the area of the Ω m , Ω Λ contours by a factor of three relative to the case where only spectroscopically confirmed data are used (297 SNe). In the case of flatness, the constraints obtained on the matter density applying BEAMS to the photometric SDSS-II data are Ω BEAMS m = 0.194 ± 0.07. This illustrates the potential power of BEAMS for future large photometric SN surveys such as Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

Simulation-based marginal likelihood for cluster strong lensing cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Killedar, M.; Borgani, S.; Fabjan, D.; Dolag, K.; Granato, G.; Meneghetti, M.; Planelles, S.; Ragone-Figueroa, C.

2018-01-01

Comparisons between observed and predicted strong lensing properties of galaxy clusters have been routinely used to claim either tension or consistency with Λ cold dark matter cosmology. However, standard approaches to such cosmological tests are unable to quantify the preference for one cosmology over another. We advocate approximating the relevant Bayes factor using a marginal likelihood that is based on the following summary statistic: the posterior probability distribution function for the parameters of the scaling relation between Einstein radii and cluster mass, α and β. We demonstrate, for the first time, a method of estimating the marginal likelihood using the X-ray selected z > 0.5 Massive Cluster Survey clusters as a case in point and employing both N-body and hydrodynamic simulations of clusters. We investigate the uncertainty in this estimate and consequential ability to compare competing cosmologies, which arises from incomplete descriptions of baryonic processes, discrepancies in cluster selection criteria, redshift distribution and dynamical state. The relation between triaxial cluster masses at various overdensities provides a promising alternative to the strong lensing test.

Efficient exploration of cosmology dependence in the EFT of LSS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cataneo, Matteo [Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, 2100 Copenhagen (Denmark); Foreman, Simon; Senatore, Leonardo, E-mail: matteoc@dark-cosmology.dk, E-mail: sfore@stanford.edu, E-mail: senatore@stanford.edu [Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics and Department of Physics, Stanford University, 382 Via Pueblo Mall, Stanford, CA 94306 (United States)

2017-04-01

The most effective use of data from current and upcoming large scale structure (LSS) and CMB observations requires the ability to predict the clustering of LSS with very high precision. The Effective Field Theory of Large Scale Structure (EFTofLSS) provides an instrument for performing analytical computations of LSS observables with the required precision in the mildly nonlinear regime. In this paper, we develop efficient implementations of these computations that allow for an exploration of their dependence on cosmological parameters. They are based on two ideas. First, once an observable has been computed with high precision for a reference cosmology, for a new cosmology the same can be easily obtained with comparable precision just by adding the difference in that observable, evaluated with much less precision. Second, most cosmologies of interest are sufficiently close to the Planck best-fit cosmology that observables can be obtained from a Taylor expansion around the reference cosmology. These ideas are implemented for the matter power spectrum at two loops and are released as public codes. When applied to cosmologies that are within 3σ of the Planck best-fit model, the first method evaluates the power spectrum in a few minutes on a laptop, with results that have 1% or better precision, while with the Taylor expansion the same quantity is instantly generated with similar precision. The ideas and codes we present may easily be extended for other applications or higher-precision results.

Forecast and analysis of the cosmological redshift drift

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lazkoz, Ruth; Leanizbarrutia, Iker [University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Department of Theoretical Physics, Bilbao (Spain); Salzano, Vincenzo [University of Szczecin, Institute of Physics, Sczcecin (Poland)

2018-01-15

The cosmological redshift drift could lead to the next step in high-precision cosmic geometric observations, becoming a direct and irrefutable test for cosmic acceleration. In order to test the viability and possible properties of this effect, also called Sandage-Loeb (SL) test, we generate a model-independent mock data set in order to compare its constraining power with that of the future mock data sets of Type Ia Supernovae (SNe) and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO). The performance of those data sets is analyzed by testing several cosmological models with the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method, both independently as well as combining all data sets. Final results show that, in general, SL data sets allow for remarkable constraints on the matter density parameter today Ω{sub m} on every tested model, showing also a great complementarity with SNe and BAO data regarding dark energy parameters. (orig.)

Forecast and analysis of the cosmological redshift drift.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazkoz, Ruth; Leanizbarrutia, Iker; Salzano, Vincenzo

2018-01-01

The cosmological redshift drift could lead to the next step in high-precision cosmic geometric observations, becoming a direct and irrefutable test for cosmic acceleration. In order to test the viability and possible properties of this effect, also called Sandage-Loeb (SL) test, we generate a model-independent mock data set in order to compare its constraining power with that of the future mock data sets of Type Ia Supernovae (SNe) and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO). The performance of those data sets is analyzed by testing several cosmological models with the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method, both independently as well as combining all data sets. Final results show that, in general, SL data sets allow for remarkable constraints on the matter density parameter today [Formula: see text] on every tested model, showing also a great complementarity with SNe and BAO data regarding dark energy parameters.

Post-inflationary brane cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazumdar, Anupam

2001-01-01

The brane cosmology has invoked new challenges to the usual Big Bang cosmology. In this paper we present a brief account on thermal history of the post-inflationary brane cosmology. We have realized that it is not obvious that the post-inflationary brane cosmology would always deviate from the standard Big Bang cosmology. However, if it deviates some stringent conditions on the brane tension are to be satisfied. In this regard we study various implications on gravitino production and its abundance. We discuss Affleck-Dine mechanism for baryogenesis and make some comments on moduli and dilaton problems in this context

Differentiating G-inflation from string gas cosmology using the effective field theory approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

He, Minxi; Liu, Junyu; Lu, Shiyun; Cai, Yi-Fu [CAS Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); Zhou, Siyi; Wang, Yi [Department of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong (China); Brandenberger, Robert, E-mail: hmxz0@mail.ustc.edu.cn, E-mail: jliu2@caltech.edu, E-mail: shiyun@mail.ustc.edu.cn, E-mail: zhousiyi1@gmail.com, E-mail: yifucai@ustc.edu.cn, E-mail: phyw@ust.hk, E-mail: rhb@physics.mcgill.ca [Department of Physics, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec H3A 2T8 (Canada)

2016-12-01

A characteristic signature of String Gas Cosmology is primordial power spectra for scalar and tensor modes which are almost scale-invariant but with a red tilt for scalar modes but a blue tilt for tensor modes. This feature, however, can also be realized in the so-called G-inflation model, in which Horndeski operators are introduced which leads to a blue tensor tilt by softly breaking the Null Energy Condition. In this article we search for potential observational differences between these two cosmologies by performing detailed perturbation analyses based on the Effective Field Theory approach. Our results show that, although both two models produce blue tilted tensor perturbations, they behave differently in three aspects. Firstly, String Gas Cosmology predicts a specific consistency relation between the index of the scalar modes n {sub s} and that of tensor ones n {sub t} , which is hard to be reproduced by G-inflation. Secondly, String Gas Cosmology typically predicts non-Gaussianities which are highly suppressed on observable scales, while G-inflation gives rise to observationally large non-Gaussianities because the kinetic terms in the action become important during inflation. However, after finely tuning the model parameters of G-inflation it is possible to obtain a blue tensor spectrum and negligible non-Gaussianities with a degeneracy between the two models. This degeneracy can be broken by a third observable, namely the scale dependence of the nonlinearity parameter, which vanishes for G-inflation but has a blue tilt in the case of String Gas Cosmology. Therefore, we conclude that String Gas Cosmology is in principle observationally distinguishable from the single field inflationary cosmology, even allowing for modifications such as G-inflation.

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.

Iterative importance sampling algorithms for parameter estimation

OpenAIRE

Morzfeld, Matthias; Day, Marcus S.; Grout, Ray W.; Pau, George Shu Heng; Finsterle, Stefan A.; Bell, John B.

2016-01-01

In parameter estimation problems one computes a posterior distribution over uncertain parameters defined jointly by a prior distribution, a model, and noisy data. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is often used for the numerical solution of such problems. An alternative to MCMC is importance sampling, which can exhibit near perfect scaling with the number of cores on high performance computing systems because samples are drawn independently. However, finding a suitable proposal distribution is ...

Einstein and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gekman, O.

1982-01-01

The brief essay of the development of the main ideas of relativistic cosmology is presented. The Einstein's cosmological work about the Universe - ''Cosmological considerations in connection with the general relativity theory'' - gave the basis to all further treatments in this field. In 1922 A. Friedman's work appeared, in which the first expanding Universe model was proposed as a solution of the Einstein field equations. The model was spherically closed, but its curvature radius was a function of time. About 1955 the searches for anisotropic homogeneous solutions to Einstein field equation began. It turned out that isotropic cosmological models are unstable in general. The predominant part of them transform to anisotropic at insignificant breaking of isotropy. The discovery of isotropic background cosmic radiation in 1965, along with the Hubble low of the Universe expansion, served as the direct confirmation of cosmology based on the Einstein theory

Particle physics and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, M.S.; Schramm, D.N.

1985-01-01

During the past year, the research of the members of our group has spanned virtually all the topics at the interface of cosmology and particle physics: inflationary Universe scenarios, astrophysical and cosmological constraints on particle properties, ultra-high energy cosmic ray physics, quantum field theory in curved space-time, cosmology with extra dimensions, superstring cosmology, neutrino astronomy with large, underground detectors, and the formation of structure in the Universe

Cosmology and time

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Balbi Amedeo

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Time has always played a crucial role in cosmology. I review some of the aspects of the present cosmological model which are more directly related to time, such as: the definition of a cosmic time; the existence of typical timescales and epochs in an expanding universe; the problem of the initial singularity and the origin of time; the cosmological arrow of time.

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

Quantum cosmology - science of Genesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padmanabhan, Thanu

1987-01-01

Quantum cosmology, the marriage between the theories of the microscopic and macroscopic Universe, is examined in an attempt to explain the birth of the Universe in the 'big bang'. A quantum cosmological model of the Universe does not exist, but a rough approximation, or 'poor man's' version of quantum cosmology has been developed. The idea is to combine the theory of quantum mechanics with the classical cosmological solutions to obtain a quantum mechanical version of cosmology. Such a model of quantum cosmology is described -here the quantum universe behaves like a hydrogen atom with the Planck length replacing the Bohr radius. Properties of quantum cosmologies and the significance of the Planck length are both discussed. (UK)

Generalized teleparallel cosmology and initial singularity crossing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Awad, Adel; Nashed, Gamal, E-mail: Adel.Awad@bue.edu.eg, E-mail: gglnashed@sci.asu.edu.eg [Center for Theoretical Physics, the British University in Egypt, Suez Desert Road, Sherouk City 11837 (Egypt)

2017-02-01

We present a class of cosmological solutions for a generalized teleparallel gravity with f ( T )= T +α̃ (− T ) {sup n} , where α̃ is some parameter and n is an integer or half-integer. Choosing α̃ ∼ G {sup n} {sup −1}, where G is the gravitational constant, and working with an equation of state p = w ρ, one obtains a cosmological solution with multiple branches. The dynamics of the solution describes standard cosmology at late times, but the higher-torsion correction changes the nature of the initial singularity from big bang to a sudden singularity. The milder behavior of the sudden singularity enables us to extend timelike or lightlike curves, through joining two disconnected branches of solution at the singularity, leaving the singularity traversable. We show that this extension is consistent with the field equations through checking the known junction conditions for generalized teleparallel gravity. This suggests that these solutions describe a contracting phase a prior to the expanding phase of the universe.

BMS in cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kehagias, A.; Riotto, A.

2016-01-01

Symmetries play an interesting role in cosmology. They are useful in characterizing the cosmological perturbations generated during inflation and lead to consistency relations involving the soft limit of the statistical correlators of large-scale structure dark matter and galaxies overdensities. On the other hand, in observational cosmology the carriers of the information about these large-scale statistical distributions are light rays traveling on null geodesics. Motivated by this simple consideration, we study the structure of null infinity and the associated BMS symmetry in a cosmological setting. For decelerating Friedmann-Robertson-Walker backgrounds, for which future null infinity exists, we find that the BMS transformations which leaves the asymptotic metric invariant to leading order. Contrary to the asymptotic flat case, the BMS transformations in cosmology generate Goldstone modes corresponding to scalar, vector and tensor degrees of freedom which may exist at null infinity and perturb the asymptotic data. Therefore, BMS transformations generate physically inequivalent vacua as they populate the universe at null infinity with these physical degrees of freedom. We also discuss the gravitational memory effect when cosmological expansion is taken into account. In this case, there are extra contribution to the gravitational memory due to the tail of the retarded Green functions which are supported not only on the light-cone, but also in its interior. The gravitational memory effect can be understood also from an asymptotic point of view as a transition among cosmological BMS-related vacua.

BMS in cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kehagias, A. [Physics Division, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Zografou Campus, Athens (Greece); Riotto, A. [Department of Theoretical Physics,24 quai E. Ansermet, CH-1211 Geneva 4 (Switzerland); Center for Astroparticle Physics (CAP),24 quai E. Ansermet, CH-1211 Geneva 4 (Switzerland)

2016-05-25

Symmetries play an interesting role in cosmology. They are useful in characterizing the cosmological perturbations generated during inflation and lead to consistency relations involving the soft limit of the statistical correlators of large-scale structure dark matter and galaxies overdensities. On the other hand, in observational cosmology the carriers of the information about these large-scale statistical distributions are light rays traveling on null geodesics. Motivated by this simple consideration, we study the structure of null infinity and the associated BMS symmetry in a cosmological setting. For decelerating Friedmann-Robertson-Walker backgrounds, for which future null infinity exists, we find that the BMS transformations which leaves the asymptotic metric invariant to leading order. Contrary to the asymptotic flat case, the BMS transformations in cosmology generate Goldstone modes corresponding to scalar, vector and tensor degrees of freedom which may exist at null infinity and perturb the asymptotic data. Therefore, BMS transformations generate physically inequivalent vacua as they populate the universe at null infinity with these physical degrees of freedom. We also discuss the gravitational memory effect when cosmological expansion is taken into account. In this case, there are extra contribution to the gravitational memory due to the tail of the retarded Green functions which are supported not only on the light-cone, but also in its interior. The gravitational memory effect can be understood also from an asymptotic point of view as a transition among cosmological BMS-related vacua.

Philosophical Roots of Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Ivanovic, M.

2008-10-01

We shall consider the philosophical roots of cosmology in the earlier Greek philosophy. Our goal is to answer the question: Are earlier Greek theories of pure philosophical-mythological character, as often philosophers cited it, or they have scientific character. On the bases of methodological criteria, we shall contend that the latter is the case. In order to answer the question about contemporary situation of the relation philosophy-cosmology, we shall consider the next question: Is contemporary cosmology completely independent of philosophical conjectures? The answer demands consideration of methodological character about scientific status of contemporary cosmology. We also consider some aspects of the relation contemporary philosophy-cosmology.

Observational cosmology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sanders, RH; Papantonopoulos, E

2005-01-01

I discuss the classical cosmological tests, i.e., angular size-redshift, flux-redshift, and galaxy number counts, in the light of the cosmology prescribed by the interpretation of the CMB anisotropies. The discussion is somewhat of a primer for physicists, with emphasis upon the possible systematic

Neutrino cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berstein, J.

1984-01-01

These lectures offer a self-contained review of the role of neutrinos in cosmology. The first part deals with the question 'What is a neutrino.' and describes in a historical context the theoretical ideas and experimental discoveries related to the different types of neutrinos and their properties. The basic differences between the Dirac neutrino and the Majorana neutrino are pointed out and the evidence for different neutrino 'flavours', neutrino mass, and neutrino oscillations is discussed. The second part summarizes current views on cosmology, particularly as they are affected by recent theoretical and experimental advances in high-energy particle physics. Finally, the close relationship between neutrino physics and cosmology is brought out in more detail, to show how cosmological constraints can limit the various theoretical possibilities for neutrinos and, more particularly, how increasing knowledge of neutrino properties can contribute to our understanding of the origin, history, and future of the Universe. The level is that of the beginning graduate student. (orig.)

Quantum cosmology with effects of a preferred reference frame

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghaffarnejad, Hossein

2010-01-01

Recently, we presented a gravity model by generalizing the Brans-Dicke theory which is suitable for studying the metric signature transition dynamics without using an imaginary time parameter. Adding a suitable scalar potential described in terms of the Brans-Dicke scalar field 'Φ-tilde, this alternative theory is used to study the Wheeler-DeWitt approach of quantum cosmology. We assumed that the universe is defined in a flat Robertson-Walker metric with Lorentzian signature. In that case, the Wheeler-DeWitt wavefunctional is obtained as two-dimensional quantum harmonic oscillator convergent polynomials for both of the choices of positive and negative values of the Brans-Dicke parameter. Here we choose a preferred reference frame with a time coordinate of 'γ' which relates to time of cosmological free falling observer 't' as 'dt= Φ-tilde(γ)dγ'.

Stability analysis in tachyonic potential chameleon cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farajollahi, H.; Salehi, A.; Tayebi, F.; Ravanpak, A., E-mail: hosseinf@guilan.ac.ir, E-mail: a.salehi@guilan.ac.ir, E-mail: ftayebi@guilan.ac.ir, E-mail: aravanpak@guilan.ac.ir [Department of Physics, University of Guilan, Rasht (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2011-05-01

We study general properties of attractors for tachyonic potential chameleon scalar-field model which possess cosmological scaling solutions. An analytic formulation is given to obtain fixed points with a discussion on their stability. The model predicts a dynamical equation of state parameter with phantom crossing behavior for an accelerating universe. We constrain the parameters of the model by best fitting with the recent data-sets from supernovae and simulated data points for redshift drift experiment generated by Monte Carlo simulations.

Stability analysis in tachyonic potential chameleon cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farajollahi, H.; Salehi, A.; Tayebi, F.; Ravanpak, A.

2011-01-01

We study general properties of attractors for tachyonic potential chameleon scalar-field model which possess cosmological scaling solutions. An analytic formulation is given to obtain fixed points with a discussion on their stability. The model predicts a dynamical equation of state parameter with phantom crossing behavior for an accelerating universe. We constrain the parameters of the model by best fitting with the recent data-sets from supernovae and simulated data points for redshift drift experiment generated by Monte Carlo simulations

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

Neutrino oscillation parameter sampling with MonteCUBES

Science.gov (United States)

Blennow, Mattias; Fernandez-Martinez, Enrique

2010-01-01

We present MonteCUBES ("Monte Carlo Utility Based Experiment Simulator"), a software package designed to sample the neutrino oscillation parameter space through Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms. MonteCUBES makes use of the GLoBES software so that the existing experiment definitions for GLoBES, describing long baseline and reactor experiments, can be used with MonteCUBES. MonteCUBES consists of two main parts: The first is a C library, written as a plug-in for GLoBES, implementing the Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm to sample the parameter space. The second part is a user-friendly graphical Matlab interface to easily read, analyze, plot and export the results of the parameter space sampling. Program summaryProgram title: MonteCUBES (Monte Carlo Utility Based Experiment Simulator) Catalogue identifier: AEFJ_v1_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEFJ_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: GNU General Public Licence No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 69 634 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 3 980 776 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: C Computer: MonteCUBES builds and installs on 32 bit and 64 bit Linux systems where GLoBES is installed Operating system: 32 bit and 64 bit Linux RAM: Typically a few MBs Classification: 11.1 External routines: GLoBES [1,2] and routines/libraries used by GLoBES Subprograms used:Cat Id ADZI_v1_0, Title GLoBES, Reference CPC 177 (2007) 439 Nature of problem: Since neutrino masses do not appear in the standard model of particle physics, many models of neutrino masses also induce other types of new physics, which could affect the outcome of neutrino oscillation experiments. In general, these new physics imply high-dimensional parameter spaces that are difficult to explore using classical methods such as multi-dimensional projections and minimizations, such as those

Cosmology and particle physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, M.S.

1986-01-01

Progress in cosmology has become linked to progress in elementary particle physics. In these six lectures, the author illustrates the two-way nature of the interplay between these fields by focusing on a few selected topics. In the next section the author reviews the standard cosmology, especially concentrating on primordial nucleosynthesis and discusses how the standard cosmology has been used to place constraints on the properties of various particles. Grand Unification makes two striking predictions: (i) B non-conservation; (ii) the existence of stable, superheavy magnetic monopoles. Both have had great cosmological impact. In the following section the author discusses baryogenesis, the very attractive scenario in which the B,C,CP violating interactions in GUTs provide a dynamical explanation for the predominance of matter over antimatter and the present baryon-to-photon ratio. Monopoles are a cosmological disaster and an astrophysicist's delight. In Section 4 discusses monopoles, cosmology, and astrophysics. In the fourth lecture the author discusses how a very early (t≤10/sup -34/ sec) phase transition associated with spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) has the potential to explain a handful of very fundamental cosmological facts, facts which can be accommodated by the standard cosmology, but which are not ''explained'' by it. The fifth lecture is devoted to a discussion of structure formation in the universe

Inflationary and deflationary branches in extended pre-big-bang cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lidsey, J.E.

1997-01-01

The pre-big-bang cosmological scenario is studied within the context of the Brans-Dicke theory of gravity. An epoch of superinflationary expansion may occur in the pre-big-bang phase of the Universe close-quote s history in a certain region of parameter space. Two models are considered that contain a cosmological constant in the gravitational and matter sectors of the theory, respectively. Classical pre- and post-big-bang solutions are found for both models. The existence of a curvature singularity forbids a classical transition between the two branches. On the other hand, a quantum cosmological approach based on the tunneling boundary condition results in a nonzero transition probability. The transition may be interpreted as a spatial reflection of the wave function in minisuperspace. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

Inflationary and deflationary branches in extended pre-big-bang cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lidsey, J.E. [Astronomy Unit, School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary Westfield, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS (United Kingdom)

1997-03-01

The pre-big-bang cosmological scenario is studied within the context of the Brans-Dicke theory of gravity. An epoch of superinflationary expansion may occur in the pre-big-bang phase of the Universe{close_quote}s history in a certain region of parameter space. Two models are considered that contain a cosmological constant in the gravitational and matter sectors of the theory, respectively. Classical pre- and post-big-bang solutions are found for both models. The existence of a curvature singularity forbids a classical transition between the two branches. On the other hand, a quantum cosmological approach based on the tunneling boundary condition results in a nonzero transition probability. The transition may be interpreted as a spatial reflection of the wave function in minisuperspace. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

The cosmological perturbation theory in loop cosmology with holonomy corrections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Jian-Pin; Ling, Yi

2010-01-01

In this paper we investigate the scalar mode of first-order metric perturbations over spatially flat FRW spacetime when the holonomy correction is taken into account in the semi-classical framework of loop quantum cosmology. By means of the Hamiltonian derivation, the cosmological perturbation equations is obtained in longitudinal gauge. It turns out that in the presence of metric perturbation the holonomy effects influence both background and perturbations, and contribute the non-trivial terms S h1 and S h2 in the cosmological perturbation equations

Linearized modified gravity theories with a cosmological term: advance of perihelion and deflection of light

Science.gov (United States)

Özer, Hatice; Delice, Özgür

2018-03-01

Two different ways of generalizing Einstein’s general theory of relativity with a cosmological constant to Brans–Dicke type scalar–tensor theories are investigated in the linearized field approximation. In the first case a cosmological constant term is coupled to a scalar field linearly whereas in the second case an arbitrary potential plays the role of a variable cosmological term. We see that the former configuration leads to a massless scalar field whereas the latter leads to a massive scalar field. General solutions of these linearized field equations for both cases are obtained corresponding to a static point mass. Geodesics of these solutions are also presented and solar system effects such as the advance of the perihelion, deflection of light rays and gravitational redshift were discussed. In general relativity a cosmological constant has no role in these phenomena. We see that for the Brans–Dicke theory, the cosmological constant also has no effect on these phenomena. This is because solar system observations require very large values of the Brans–Dicke parameter and the correction terms to these phenomena becomes identical to GR for these large values of this parameter. This result is also observed for the theory with arbitrary potential if the mass of the scalar field is very light. For a very heavy scalar field, however, there is no such limit on the value of this parameter and there are ranges of this parameter where these contributions may become relevant in these scales. Galactic and intergalactic dynamics is also discussed for these theories at the latter part of the paper with similar conclusions.

Low-redshift effects of local structure on the Hubble parameter in presence of a cosmological constant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romano, Antonio Enea [University of Crete, Department of Physics and CCTP, Heraklion (Greece); Kyoto University, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto (Japan); Universidad de Antioquia, Instituto de Fisica, Medellin (Colombia); Vallejo, Sergio Andres [Kyoto University, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto (Japan); Universidad de Antioquia, Instituto de Fisica, Medellin (Colombia)

2016-04-15

In order to estimate the effects of a local structure on the Hubble parameter we calculate the low-redshift expansion for H(z) and (δH)/(H) for an observer at the center of a spherically symmetric matter distribution in the presence of a cosmological constant. We then test the accuracy of the formulas comparing them with fully relativistic non-perturbative numerical calculations for different cases for the density profile. The low-redshift expansion we obtain gives results more precise than perturbation theory since it is based on the use of an exact solution of Einstein's field equations. For larger density contrasts the low-redshift formulas accuracy improves respect to the perturbation theory accuracy because the latter is based on the assumption of a small density contrast, while the former does not rely on such an assumption. The formulas can be used to take into account the effects on the Hubble expansion parameter due to the monopole component of the local structure. If the H(z) observations will show deviations from the ΛCDM prediction compatible with the formulas we have derived, this could be considered an independent evidence of the existence of a local inhomogeneity, and the formulas could be used to determine the characteristics of this local structure. (orig.)

Dynamics of cosmological perturbations and reheating in the anamorphic universe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graef, L.L.; Ferreira, Elisa G.M.; Brandenberger, Robert [Physics Department, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2T8 (Canada); Hipólito-Ricaldi, W.S., E-mail: leilagraef@on.br, E-mail: wiliam.ricaldi@ufes.br, E-mail: elisa.ferreira@mail.mcgill.ca, E-mail: rhb@physics.mcgill.ca [Departamento de Ciências Naturais, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Rodovia BR 101 Norte, km. 60, São Mateus, ES (Brazil)

2017-04-01

We discuss scalar-tensor realizations of the Anamorphic cosmological scenario recently proposed by Ijjas and Steinhardt [1]. Through an analysis of the dynamics of cosmological perturbations we obtain constraints on the parameters of the model. We also study gravitational Parker particle production in the contracting Anamorphic phase and we compute the fraction between the energy density of created particles at the end of the phase and the background energy density. We find that, as in the case of inflation, a new mechanism is required to reheat the universe.

A taste of cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verde, L.

2011-01-01

This is the summary of two lectures that aim to give an overview of cosmology. I will not try to be toa rigorous in derivations, nor to give a full historical overview. The idea is to provide a 'taste' of cosmology and some of the interesting topics it covers. The standard cosmological model is presented and I highlight the successes of cosmology over the past decade or so. Keys to the development of the standard cosmological model are observations of the cosmic microwave background and of large-scale structure, which are introduced. Inflation and dark energy and the outlook for the future are also discussed. Slides from the lectures are available from the school web site: physicschool.web.cern.ch/PhysicSchool/CLASHEP/CLASHEP2011/. (author)

A Taste of Cosmology

CERN Document Server

Verde, L.

2013-06-27

This is the summary of two lectures that aim to give an overview of cosmology. I will not try to be too rigorous in derivations, nor to give a full historical overview. The idea is to provide a "taste" of cosmology and some of the interesting topics it covers. The standard cosmological model is presented and I highlight the successes of cosmology over the past decade or so. Keys to the development of the standard cosmological model are observations of the cosmic microwave background and of large-scale structure, which are introduced. Inflation and dark energy and the outlook for the future are also discussed. Slides from the lectures are available from the school website: physicschool.web.cern.ch/PhysicSchool/CLASHEP/CLASHEP2011/.

THE ATACAMA COSMOLOGY TELESCOPE: DYNAMICAL MASSES AND SCALING RELATIONS FOR A SAMPLE OF MASSIVE SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT SELECTED GALAXY CLUSTERS ,

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sifón, Cristóbal; Barrientos, L. Felipe; González, Jorge; Infante, Leopoldo; Dünner, Rolando; Menanteau, Felipe; Hughes, John P.; Baker, Andrew J.; Hasselfield, Matthew; Marriage, Tobias A.; Crichton, Devin; Gralla, Megan B.; Addison, Graeme E.; Dunkley, Joanna; Battaglia, Nick; Bond, J. Richard; Hajian, Amir; Das, Sudeep; Devlin, Mark J.; Hilton, Matt

2013-01-01

We present the first dynamical mass estimates and scaling relations for a sample of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) selected galaxy clusters. The sample consists of 16 massive clusters detected with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) over a 455 deg 2 area of the southern sky. Deep multi-object spectroscopic observations were taken to secure intermediate-resolution (R ∼ 700-800) spectra and redshifts for ≈60 member galaxies on average per cluster. The dynamical masses M 200c of the clusters have been calculated using simulation-based scaling relations between velocity dispersion and mass. The sample has a median redshift z = 0.50 and a median mass M 200c ≅12×10 14 h 70 -1 M sun with a lower limit M 200c ≅6×10 14 h 70 -1 M sun , consistent with the expectations for the ACT southern sky survey. These masses are compared to the ACT SZE properties of the sample, specifically, the match-filtered central SZE amplitude y 0 -tilde, the central Compton parameter y 0 , and the integrated Compton signal Y 200c , which we use to derive SZE-mass scaling relations. All SZE estimators correlate with dynamical mass with low intrinsic scatter (∼< 20%), in agreement with numerical simulations. We explore the effects of various systematic effects on these scaling relations, including the correlation between observables and the influence of dynamically disturbed clusters. Using the three-dimensional information available, we divide the sample into relaxed and disturbed clusters and find that ∼50% of the clusters are disturbed. There are hints that disturbed systems might bias the scaling relations, but given the current sample sizes, these differences are not significant; further studies including more clusters are required to assess the impact of these clusters on the scaling relations

Friedman's cosmological views

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heller, M.

1985-01-01

Two Friedman's cosmological papers (1922, 1924) and his own interpretation of the obtained results are briefly reviewed. Discussion follows of Friedman's role in the early development of relativistic cosmology. 18 refs. (author)

Galileon cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chow, Nathan; Khoury, Justin

2009-01-01

We study the cosmology of a galileon scalar-tensor theory, obtained by covariantizing the decoupling Lagrangian of the Dvali-Gabadadze-Poratti (DGP) model. Despite being local in 3+1 dimensions, the resulting cosmological evolution is remarkably similar to that of the full 4+1-dimensional DGP framework, both for the expansion history and the evolution of density perturbations. As in the DGP model, the covariant galileon theory yields two branches of solutions, depending on the sign of the galileon velocity. Perturbations are stable on one branch and ghostlike on the other. An interesting effect uncovered in our analysis is a cosmological version of the Vainshtein screening mechanism: at early times, the galileon dynamics are dominated by self-interaction terms, resulting in its energy density being suppressed compared to matter or radiation; once the matter density has redshifted sufficiently, the galileon becomes an important component of the energy density and contributes to dark energy. We estimate conservatively that the resulting expansion history is consistent with the observed late-time cosmology, provided that the scale of modification satisfies r c > or approx. 15 Gpc.

The cosmological analysis of X-ray cluster surveys - I. A new method for interpreting number counts

Science.gov (United States)

Clerc, N.; Pierre, M.; Pacaud, F.; Sadibekova, T.

2012-07-01

We present a new method aimed at simplifying the cosmological analysis of X-ray cluster surveys. It is based on purely instrumental observable quantities considered in a two-dimensional X-ray colour-magnitude diagram (hardness ratio versus count rate). The basic principle is that even in rather shallow surveys, substantial information on cluster redshift and temperature is present in the raw X-ray data and can be statistically extracted; in parallel, such diagrams can be readily predicted from an ab initio cosmological modelling. We illustrate the methodology for the case of a 100-deg2XMM survey having a sensitivity of ˜10-14 erg s-1 cm-2 and fit at the same time, the survey selection function, the cluster evolutionary scaling relations and the cosmology; our sole assumption - driven by the limited size of the sample considered in the case study - is that the local cluster scaling relations are known. We devote special attention to the realistic modelling of the count-rate measurement uncertainties and evaluate the potential of the method via a Fisher analysis. In the absence of individual cluster redshifts, the count rate and hardness ratio (CR-HR) method appears to be much more efficient than the traditional approach based on cluster counts (i.e. dn/dz, requiring redshifts). In the case where redshifts are available, our method performs similar to the traditional mass function (dn/dM/dz) for the purely cosmological parameters, but constrains better parameters defining the cluster scaling relations and their evolution. A further practical advantage of the CR-HR method is its simplicity: this fully top-down approach totally bypasses the tedious steps consisting in deriving cluster masses from X-ray temperature measurements.

Particle physics and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schramm, D.N.; Turner, M.S.

1982-06-01

work is described in these areas: cosmological baryon production; cosmological production of free quarks and other exotic particle species; the quark-hadron transition in the early universe; astrophysical and cosmological constraints on particle properties; massive neutrinos; phase transitions in the early universe; and astrophysical implications of an axion-like particle

Cosmological constant from a deformation of the Wheeler–DeWitt equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garattini, Remo; Faizal, Mir

2016-01-01

In this paper, we consider the Wheeler–DeWitt equation modified by a deformation of the second quantized canonical commutation relations. Such modified commutation relations are induced by a Generalized Uncertainty Principle. Since the Wheeler–DeWitt equation can be related to a Sturm–Liouville problem where the associated eigenvalue can be interpreted as the cosmological constant, it is possible to explicitly relate such an eigenvalue to the deformation parameter of the corresponding Wheeler–DeWitt equation. The analysis is performed in a Mini-Superspace approach where the scale factor appears as the only degree of freedom. The deformation of the Wheeler–DeWitt equation gives rise to a Cosmological Constant even in absence of matter fields. As a Cosmological Constant cannot exist in absence of the matter fields in the undeformed Mini-Superspace approach, so the existence of a non-vanishing Cosmological Constant is a direct consequence of the deformation by the Generalized Uncertainty Principle. In fact, we are able to demonstrate that a non-vanishing Cosmological Constant exists even in the deformed flat space. We also discuss the consequences of this deformation on the big bang singularity.

Cosmological constant from a deformation of the Wheeler–DeWitt equation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Remo Garattini

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we consider the Wheeler–DeWitt equation modified by a deformation of the second quantized canonical commutation relations. Such modified commutation relations are induced by a Generalized Uncertainty Principle. Since the Wheeler–DeWitt equation can be related to a Sturm–Liouville problem where the associated eigenvalue can be interpreted as the cosmological constant, it is possible to explicitly relate such an eigenvalue to the deformation parameter of the corresponding Wheeler–DeWitt equation. The analysis is performed in a Mini-Superspace approach where the scale factor appears as the only degree of freedom. The deformation of the Wheeler–DeWitt equation gives rise to a Cosmological Constant even in absence of matter fields. As a Cosmological Constant cannot exist in absence of the matter fields in the undeformed Mini-Superspace approach, so the existence of a non-vanishing Cosmological Constant is a direct consequence of the deformation by the Generalized Uncertainty Principle. In fact, we are able to demonstrate that a non-vanishing Cosmological Constant exists even in the deformed flat space. We also discuss the consequences of this deformation on the big bang singularity.

Open problems in string cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toumbas, N.

2010-01-01

Some of the open problems in string cosmology are highlighted within the context of the recently constructed thermal and quantum superstring cosmological solutions. Emphasis is given on the high temperature cosmological regime, where it is argued that thermal string vacua in the presence of gravito-magnetic fluxes can be used to bypass the Hagedorn instabilities of string gas cosmology. This article is based on a talk given at the workshop on ''Cosmology and Strings'', Corfu, September 6-13, 2009. (Abstract Copyright [2010], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Dynamics of the cosmological and Newton’s constant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smolin, Lee

2016-01-01

A modification of general relativity is presented in which Newton’s constant, G, and the cosmological constant, Λ, become a conjugate pair of dynamical variables. These are functions of a global time, hence the theory is presented in the framework of shape dynamics, which trades many-fingered time for a local scale invariance and an overall reparametrization of the global time. As a result, due to the fact that these global dynamical variables are canonically conjugate, the field equations are consistent. The theory predicts a relationship with no free parameters between the rates of change of Newton’s constant and the cosmological constant, in terms of the spatial average of the matter Lagrangian density. (paper)

Crucial test of the Dirac cosmologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steigman, G.

1978-01-01

In a cosmology consistent with the Cosmological Principle (large scale, statistical isotropy and homogeneity of the universe), a Planck spectrum is not preserved as the universe evolves unless the number of photons in a comoving volume is conserved. It is shown that a large class of cosmological models based on Dirac's Large Numbers Hypothesis (LNH) violate this constraint. The observed isotropy and spectral distribution of the microwave background radiation thus provide a crucial test of such cosmologies. After reviewing the LNH, the general evolution of radiation spectra in cosmologies consistent with the cosmological principle is outlined. It is shown that the predicted deviations from a Planck spectrum for Dirac cosmologies (as well as for ''tired-light'' cosmologies) are enormous. The Planckian (or near-Planckian) spectral form for the microwave radiation provides a crucial test, failed by such cosmologies

A savour of Cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langer, M.

2007-01-01

This is a very concise introductory lecture to Cosmology. We start by reviewing the basics of homogeneous and isotropic cosmology. We then spend some time on the description of the Cosmic Microwave Background. Finally, a small section is devoted to the discussion of the cosmological constant and of some of the related problems

Neutrino mass from Cosmology

CERN Document Server

Lesgourgues, Julien

2012-01-01

Neutrinos can play an important role in the evolution of the Universe, modifying some of the cosmological observables. In this contribution we summarize the main aspects of cosmological relic neutrinos and we describe how the precision of present cosmological data can be used to learn about neutrino properties, in particular their mass, providing complementary information to beta decay and neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments. We show how the analysis of current cosmological observations, such as the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background or the distribution of large-scale structure, provides an upper bound on the sum of neutrino masses of order 1 eV or less, with very good perspectives from future cosmological measurements which are expected to be sensitive to neutrino masses well into the sub-eV range.

Measures, Probability and Holography in Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Daniel

This dissertation compiles four research projects on predicting values for cosmological parameters and models of the universe on the broadest scale. The first examines the Causal Entropic Principle (CEP) in inhomogeneous cosmologies. The CEP aims to predict the unexpectedly small value of the cosmological constant Lambda using a weighting by entropy increase on causal diamonds. The original work assumed a purely isotropic and homogeneous cosmology. But even the level of inhomogeneity observed in our universe forces reconsideration of certain arguments about entropy production. In particular, we must consider an ensemble of causal diamonds associated with each background cosmology and we can no longer immediately discard entropy production in the far future of the universe. Depending on our choices for a probability measure and our treatment of black hole evaporation, the prediction for Lambda may be left intact or dramatically altered. The second related project extends the CEP to universes with curvature. We have found that curvature values larger than rho k = 40rhom are disfavored by more than $99.99% and a peak value at rhoLambda = 7.9 x 10-123 and rhok =4.3rho m for open universes. For universes that allow only positive curvature or both positive and negative curvature, we find a correlation between curvature and dark energy that leads to an extended region of preferred values. Our universe is found to be disfavored to an extent depending the priors on curvature. We also provide a comparison to previous anthropic constraints on open universes and discuss future directions for this work. The third project examines how cosmologists should formulate basic questions of probability. We argue using simple models that all successful practical uses of probabilities originate in quantum fluctuations in the microscopic physical world around us, often propagated to macroscopic scales. Thus we claim there is no physically verified fully classical theory of probability. We

Galaxy Formation Efficiency and the Multiverse Explanation of the Cosmological Constant with EAGLE Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Luke A.; Elahi, Pascal J.; Salcido, Jaime; Bower, Richard G.; Lewis, Geraint F.; Theuns, Tom; Schaller, Matthieu; Crain, Robert A.; Schaye, Joop

2018-04-01

Models of the very early universe, including inflationary models, are argued to produce varying universe domains with different values of fundamental constants and cosmic parameters. Using the cosmological hydrodynamical simulation code from the EAGLE collaboration, we investigate the effect of the cosmological constant on the formation of galaxies and stars. We simulate universes with values of the cosmological constant ranging from Λ = 0 to Λ0 × 300, where Λ0 is the value of the cosmological constant in our Universe. Because the global star formation rate in our Universe peaks at t = 3.5 Gyr, before the onset of accelerating expansion, increases in Λ of even an order of magnitude have only a small effect on the star formation history and efficiency of the universe. We use our simulations to predict the observed value of the cosmological constant, given a measure of the multiverse. Whether the cosmological constant is successfully predicted depends crucially on the measure. The impact of the cosmological constant on the formation of structure in the universe does not seem to be a sharp enough function of Λ to explain its observed value alone.

Cosmological Models and Stability

Science.gov (United States)

Andersson, Lars

Principles in the form of heuristic guidelines or generally accepted dogma play an important role in the development of physical theories. In particular, philosophical considerations and principles figure prominently in the work of Albert Einstein. As mentioned in the talk by Jiří Bičák at this conference, Einstein formulated the equivalence principle, an essential step on the road to general relativity, during his time in Prague 1911-1912. In this talk, I would like to discuss some aspects of cosmological models. As cosmology is an area of physics where "principles" such as the "cosmological principle" or the "Copernican principle" play a prominent role in motivating the class of models which form part of the current standard model, I will start by comparing the role of the equivalence principle to that of the principles used in cosmology. I will then briefly describe the standard model of cosmology to give a perspective on some mathematical problems and conjectures on cosmological models, which are discussed in the later part of this paper.

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

Teichmueller motion of (2+1)-dimensional gravity with the cosmological constant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujiwara, Yoshihisa; Soda, Jiro.

1989-08-01

The (2+1)-dimensional Einstein gravity with a cosmological constant is studied in the ADM canonical formalism. Adopting the York's time slice, we completely solve the initial-value problem and the time evolution equations with an initial spacelike 2-surface being a closed Riemann surface of genus zero and one. The result in a torus case is that the Teichmueller parameters for the torus follow a geodesic in the Teichmueller space but its motion asymptotically stops due to the presence of the cosmological constant. (author)

Dark energy cosmology with generalized linear equation of state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babichev, E; Dokuchaev, V; Eroshenko, Yu

2005-01-01

Dark energy with the usually used equation of state p = wρ, where w const 0 ), where the constants α and ρ 0 are free parameters. This non-homogeneous linear equation of state provides the description of both hydrodynamically stable (α > 0) and unstable (α < 0) fluids. In particular, the considered cosmological model describes the hydrodynamically stable dark (and phantom) energy. The possible types of cosmological scenarios in this model are determined and classified in terms of attractors and unstable points by using phase trajectories analysis. For the dark energy case, some distinctive types of cosmological scenarios are possible: (i) the universe with the de Sitter attractor at late times, (ii) the bouncing universe, (iii) the universe with the big rip and with the anti-big rip. In the framework of a linear equation of state the universe filled with a phantom energy, w < -1, may have either the de Sitter attractor or the big rip

Gravitational lenses and cosmological evolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peacock, J.A.

1982-01-01

The effect of gravitational lensing on the apparent cosmological evolution of extragalactic radio sources is investigated. Models for a lens population consisting of galaxies and clusters of galaxies are constructed and used to calculate the distribution of amplification factors caused by lensing. Although many objects at high redshifts are predicted to have flux densities altered by 10 to 20 per cent relative to a homogeneous universe, flux conservation implies that de-amplification is as common as amplification. The effects on cosmological evolution as inferred from source counts and redshift data are thus relatively small; the slope of the counts is not large enough for intrinsically rare lensing events of high amplitude to corrupt observed samples. Lensing effects may be of greater importance for optically selected quasars, where lenses of mass as low as approximately 10 -4 solar mass can cause large amplifications. (author)

Quantum cosmological models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coule, D H

2005-01-01

We contrast the initial condition requirements of various contemporary cosmological models including inflationary and bouncing cosmologies. Canonical quantization of general relativity is used, as a first approximation to full quantum gravity, to determine whether suitable initial conditions are present. Various proposals such as Hartle-Hawking's 'no boundary' or tunnelling boundary conditions are assessed on grounds of naturalness and fine tuning. Alternatively, a quiescent initial state or an initial closed timelike curve 'time machine' is considered. Possible extensions to brane models are also addressed. Further ideas about universe creation from a meta-universe are outlined. Semiclassical and time asymmetry requirements of cosmology are briefly discussed and contrasted with the black-hole final-state proposal. We compare the recent loop quantum cosmology of Bojowald and co-workers with these earlier schemes. A number of possible difficulties and limitations are outlined. (topical review)

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.

A varying-α brane world cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Youm, Donam

2001-08-01

We study the brane world cosmology in the RS2 model where the electric charge varies with time in the manner described by the varying fine-structure constant theory of Bekenstein. We map such varying electric charge cosmology to the dual variable-speed-of-light cosmology by changing system of units. We comment on cosmological implications for such cosmological models. (author)

Projective relativity, cosmology and gravitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arcidiacono, G.

1986-01-01

This book describes the latest applications of projective geometry to cosmology and gravitation. The contents of the book are; the Poincare group and Special Relativity, the thermodynamics and electromagnetism, general relativity, gravitation and cosmology, group theory and models of universe, the special projective relativity, the Fantappie group and Big-Bang cosmology, a new cosmological projective mechanics, the plasma physics and cosmology, the projective magnetohydrodynamics field, projective relativity and waves propagation, the generalizations of the gravitational field, the general projective relativity, the projective gravitational field, the De Sitter Universe and quantum physics, the conformal relativity and Newton gravitation

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.

Revisiting cosmological bounds on sterile neutrinos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vincent, Aaron C. [Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology (IPPP), Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Martínez, Enrique Fernández [Departamento and Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT), UAM/CSIC, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, C/ Nicolás Cabrera 13-15, E-28049 Cantoblanco, Madrid (Spain); Hernández, Pilar; Mena, Olga [Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC), CSIC-Universitat de València, Apartado de Correos 22085, E-46071 Valencia (Spain); Lattanzi, Massimiliano, E-mail: aaron.vincent@durham.ac.uk, E-mail: enrique.fernandez-martinez@uam.es, E-mail: m.pilar.hernandez@uv.es, E-mail: omena@ific.uv.es, E-mail: lattanzi@fe.infn.it [Dipartimento di Fisica e Science della Terra, Università di Ferrara and INFN, sezione di Ferrara, Polo Scientifico e Tecnologico, Edificio C Via Saragat, 1, I-44122 Ferrara (Italy)

2015-04-01

We employ state-of-the art cosmological observables including supernova surveys and BAO information to provide constraints on the mass and mixing angle of a non-resonantly produced sterile neutrino species, showing that cosmology can effectively rule out sterile neutrinos which decay between BBN and the present day. The decoupling of an additional heavy neutrino species can modify the time dependence of the Universe's expansion between BBN and recombination and, in extreme cases, lead to an additional matter-dominated period; while this could naively lead to a younger Universe with a larger Hubble parameter, it could later be compensated by the extra radiation expected in the form of neutrinos from sterile decay. However, recombination-era observables including the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the shift parameter R{sub CMB} and the sound horizon r{sub s} from Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) severely constrain this scenario. We self-consistently include the full time-evolution of the coupled sterile neutrino and standard model sectors in an MCMC, showing that if decay occurs after BBN, the sterile neutrino is essentially bounded by the constraint sin{sup 2}θ ∼< 0.026 (m{sub s}/eV){sup −2}.

Cosmology with decaying particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, M.S.

1984-09-01

We consider a cosmological model in which an unstable massive relic particle species (denoted by X) has an initial mass density relative to baryons β -1 identically equal rho/sub X//rho/sub B/ >> 1, and then decays recently (redshift z less than or equal to 1000) into particles which are still relativistic today (denoted by R). We write down and solve the coupled equations for the cosmic scale factor a(t), the energy density in the various components (rho/sub X/, rho/sub R/, rho/sub B/), and the growth of linear density perturbations (delta rho/rho). The solutions form a one parameter (β) family of solutions; physically β -1 approx. = (Ω/sub R//Ω/sub NR/) x (1 + z/sub D/) = (ratio today of energy density of relativistic to nonrelativistic particles) x (1 + redshift of (decay)). We discuss the observational implications of such a cosmological model and compare our results to earlier results computed in the simultaneous decay approximation. In an appendix we briefly consider the case where one of the decay products of the X is massive and becomes nonrelativistic by the present epoch. 21 references

Cosmology with decaying particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turner, M.S.

1984-09-01

We consider a cosmological model in which an unstable massive relic particle species (denoted by X) has an initial mass density relative to baryons ..beta../sup -1/ identically equal rho/sub X//rho/sub B/ >> 1, and then decays recently (redshift z less than or equal to 1000) into particles which are still relativistic today (denoted by R). We write down and solve the coupled equations for the cosmic scale factor a(t), the energy density in the various components (rho/sub X/, rho/sub R/, rho/sub B/), and the growth of linear density perturbations (delta rho/rho). The solutions form a one parameter (..beta..) family of solutions; physically ..beta../sup -1/ approx. = (..cap omega../sub R//..cap omega../sub NR/) x (1 + z/sub D/) = (ratio today of energy density of relativistic to nonrelativistic particles) x (1 + redshift of (decay)). We discuss the observational implications of such a cosmological model and compare our results to earlier results computed in the simultaneous decay approximation. In an appendix we briefly consider the case where one of the decay products of the X is massive and becomes nonrelativistic by the present epoch. 21 references.

Cosmology, physics of particles and nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

A recent trend, already noted in the previous activity report, is the cross-fertilization between cosmology and high-energy physics, with some twenty research articles at this interface in the last 2 years. Results are presented along 3 main directions. 1) Cosmology and astro-particle physics. One may quote among others: the idea that dark matter may not be as weakly interacting as previously thought; a general study of the growth of small perturbations in the context of higher-dimensional theories; a possible explanation of the smallness of the cosmological constant through violation of Lorentz invariance in the gravity sector. In the field of observational cosmology, a 3-point correlation has been detected for the first time using gravitational lensing experiments. 2) Particle physics beyond the standard model. New developments in this field are triggered by progress on both experimental and theoretical sides. The first unambiguous observation of neutrino oscillations implies that neutrinos have non-zero masses. The constraints imposed by existing data on models based on the seesaw mechanism have been studied. The 'de-construction' of supersymmetric theories, inspired by recent advances in higher-dimensional theories, leads to a parameter-free prediction for the mass of the Higgs boson. 3) Strong interactions. Experiments at Hera have triggered new studies of hadronic interactions in the regime of high parton densities, which is also the high-energy limit for QCD: the phenomenon of 'parton saturation' is expected to occur. QCD calculations have been applied to various observables: jet physics, diffractive processes at Hera and in collider experiments, and multiplicity correlations in phase space. (A.C.)

Cosmology, physics of particles and nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-07-01

A recent trend, already noted in the previous activity report, is the cross-fertilization between cosmology and high-energy physics, with some twenty research articles at this interface in the last 2 years. Results are presented along 3 main directions. 1) Cosmology and astro-particle physics. One may quote among others: the idea that dark matter may not be as weakly interacting as previously thought; a general study of the growth of small perturbations in the context of higher-dimensional theories; a possible explanation of the smallness of the cosmological constant through violation of Lorentz invariance in the gravity sector. In the field of observational cosmology, a 3-point correlation has been detected for the first time using gravitational lensing experiments. 2) Particle physics beyond the standard model. New developments in this field are triggered by progress on both experimental and theoretical sides. The first unambiguous observation of neutrino oscillations implies that neutrinos have non-zero masses. The constraints imposed by existing data on models based on the seesaw mechanism have been studied. The 'de-construction' of supersymmetric theories, inspired by recent advances in higher-dimensional theories, leads to a parameter-free prediction for the mass of the Higgs boson. 3) Strong interactions. Experiments at Hera have triggered new studies of hadronic interactions in the regime of high parton densities, which is also the high-energy limit for QCD: the phenomenon of 'parton saturation' is expected to occur. QCD calculations have been applied to various observables: jet physics, diffractive processes at Hera and in collider experiments, and multiplicity correlations in phase space. (A.C.)

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.

Classical and quantum cosmology

CERN Document Server

Calcagni, Gianluca

2017-01-01

This comprehensive textbook is devoted to classical and quantum cosmology, with particular emphasis on modern approaches to quantum gravity and string theory and on their observational imprint. It covers major challenges in theoretical physics such as the big bang and the cosmological constant problem. An extensive review of standard cosmology, the cosmic microwave background, inflation and dark energy sets the scene for the phenomenological application of all the main quantum-gravity and string-theory models of cosmology. Born of the author's teaching experience and commitment to bridging the gap between cosmologists and theoreticians working beyond the established laws of particle physics and general relativity, this is a unique text where quantum-gravity approaches and string theory are treated on an equal footing. As well as introducing cosmology to undergraduate and graduate students with its pedagogical presentation and the help of 45 solved exercises, this book, which includes an ambitious bibliography...

Wormholes and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klebanov, I.; Susskind, L.

1988-10-01

We review Coleman's wormhole mechanism for the vanishing of the cosmological constant. We find a discouraging result that wormholes much bigger than the Planck size are generated. We also consider the implications of the wormhole theory for cosmology. 7 refs., 2 figs

Testing cosmology with galaxy clusters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rapetti Serra, David Angelo

2011-01-01

PASCOS 2011 will be held in Cambridge UK. The conference will be hosted by the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology (DAMTP) at the Mathematical Sciences site in the University of Cambridge. The aim of the conference is to explore and develop synergies between particle physics, string theory and cosmo......PASCOS 2011 will be held in Cambridge UK. The conference will be hosted by the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology (DAMTP) at the Mathematical Sciences site in the University of Cambridge. The aim of the conference is to explore and develop synergies between particle physics, string theory...... and cosmology. There will be an emphasis on timely interdisciplinary topics: • critical tests of inflationary cosmology • advances in fundamental cosmology • applications of string theory (AdS/CMT) • particle and string phenomenology • new experimental particle physics results • and cosmological probes...

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.

Everyone's guide to cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davies, P.

1991-01-01

The main concepts of cosmology are discussed, and some of the misconceptions are clarified. The features of big bang cosmology are examined, and it is noted that the existence of the cosmic background radiation provides welcome confirmation of the big bang theory. Calculations of relative abundances of the elements conform with observations, further strengthening the confidence in the basic ideas of big bang cosmology

Bouncing cosmologies from quantum gravity condensates

Science.gov (United States)

Oriti, Daniele; Sindoni, Lorenzo; Wilson-Ewing, Edward

2017-02-01

We show how the large-scale cosmological dynamics can be obtained from the hydrodynamics of isotropic group field theory condensate states in the Gross-Pitaevskii approximation. The correct Friedmann equations are recovered in the classical limit for some choices of the parameters in the action for the group field theory, and quantum gravity corrections arise in the high-curvature regime causing a bounce which generically resolves the big-bang and big-crunch singularities.

In-Sample Confidence Bands and Out-of-Sample Forecast Bands for Time-Varying Parameters in Observation Driven Models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blasques, F.; Koopman, S.J.; Lasak, K.A.; Lucas, A.

2016-01-01

We study the performances of alternative methods for calculating in-sample confidence and out-of-sample forecast bands for time-varying parameters. The in-sample bands reflect parameter uncertainty, while the out-of-sample bands reflect not only parameter uncertainty, but also innovation

Conformal symmetry and holographic cosmology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bzowski, A.W.

2013-01-01

This thesis presents a novel approach to cosmology using gauge/gravity duality. Analysis of the implications of conformal invariance in field theories leads to quantitative cosmological predictions which are in agreement with current data. Furthermore, holographic cosmology extends the theory of

The cosmological term and a modified Brans-Dicke cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endo, M.; Fukui, T.

1977-01-01

Adding the cosmological term Λ, which is assumed to be variable in this paper, to the Brans-Dicke Lagrangian, an attempt is made to understand the meaning of the term and to relate it to the mass of the universe. The Dirac large-number hypothesis is considered, applying the results obtained from the application of the present theory to a uniform cosmological model. (author)

MASS CALIBRATION AND COSMOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SPT-SZ GALAXY CLUSTER SAMPLE USING VELOCITY DISPERSION σ {sub v} AND X-RAY Y {sub X} MEASUREMENTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bocquet, S.; Saro, A.; Mohr, J. J.; Bazin, G.; Chiu, I.; Desai, S. [Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Scheinerstr. 1, D-81679 München (Germany); Aird, K. A. [University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Ashby, M. L. N.; Bayliss, M. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Bautz, M. [Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Benson, B. A. [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL 60510-0500 (United States); Bleem, L. E.; Carlstrom, J. E.; Chang, C. L.; Crawford, T. M.; Crites, A. T. [Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Brodwin, M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri, 5110 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110 (United States); Cho, H. M. [NIST Quantum Devices Group, 325 Broadway Mailcode 817.03, Boulder, CO 80305 (United States); Clocchiatti, A. [Departamento de Astronomia y Astrosifica, Pontificia Universidad Catolica (Chile); De Haan, T., E-mail: bocquet@usm.lmu.de [Department of Physics, McGill University, 3600 Rue University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T8 (Canada); and others

2015-02-01

We present a velocity-dispersion-based mass calibration of the South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect survey (SPT-SZ) galaxy cluster sample. Using a homogeneously selected sample of 100 cluster candidates from 720 deg{sup 2} of the survey along with 63 velocity dispersion (σ {sub v}) and 16 X-ray Y {sub X} measurements of sample clusters, we simultaneously calibrate the mass-observable relation and constrain cosmological parameters. Our method accounts for cluster selection, cosmological sensitivity, and uncertainties in the mass calibrators. The calibrations using σ {sub v} and Y {sub X} are consistent at the 0.6σ level, with the σ {sub v} calibration preferring ∼16% higher masses. We use the full SPT{sub CL} data set (SZ clusters+σ {sub v}+Y {sub X}) to measure σ{sub 8}(Ω{sub m}/0.27){sup 0.3} = 0.809 ± 0.036 within a flat ΛCDM model. The SPT cluster abundance is lower than preferred by either the WMAP9 or Planck+WMAP9 polarization (WP) data, but assuming that the sum of the neutrino masses is ∑m {sub ν} = 0.06 eV, we find the data sets to be consistent at the 1.0σ level for WMAP9 and 1.5σ for Planck+WP. Allowing for larger ∑m {sub ν} further reconciles the results. When we combine the SPT{sub CL} and Planck+WP data sets with information from baryon acoustic oscillations and Type Ia supernovae, the preferred cluster masses are 1.9σ higher than the Y {sub X} calibration and 0.8σ higher than the σ {sub v} calibration. Given the scale of these shifts (∼44% and ∼23% in mass, respectively), we execute a goodness-of-fit test; it reveals no tension, indicating that the best-fit model provides an adequate description of the data. Using the multi-probe data set, we measure Ω{sub m} = 0.299 ± 0.009 and σ{sub 8} = 0.829 ± 0.011. Within a νCDM model we find ∑m {sub ν} = 0.148 ± 0.081 eV. We present a consistency test of the cosmic growth rate using SPT clusters. Allowing both the growth index γ and the dark energy equation

Viscous coupled fluids in inflationary cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brevik, I., E-mail: iver.h.brevik@ntnu.no [Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway); Timoshkin, A. V., E-mail: timoshkinAV@tspu.edu.ru [Tomsk State Pedagogical University (Russian Federation)

2016-04-15

We consider the inflation produced by two coupled fluids in a flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker universe. Different cosmological models for describing inflation with the use of an inhomogeneous equation of state for the fluid are investigated. The gravitational equations for energy and matter are solved, and analytic representations for the Hubble parameter and the energy density are obtained. Corrections to the energy density for matter inducing the inflation and the coupling to energy are discussed. We analyze the description of inflation induced by nonconstant equation-of-state parameters from fluid viscosity. The correspondence between the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio recently observed by the Planck satellite is considered.

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.

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 ...

The need for accurate redshifts in supernova cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Calcino, Josh; Davis, Tamara, E-mail: j.calcino@uq.edu.au, E-mail: tamarad@physics.uq.edu.au [The School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland, Cooper Road, Brisbane (Australia)

2017-01-01

Recent papers have shown that a small systematic redshift shift (Δ z ∼ 10{sup −5}) in measurements of type Ia supernovae can cause a significant bias (∼1%) in the recovery of cosmological parameters. Such a redshift shift could be caused, for example, by a gravitational redshift due to the density of our local environment. The sensitivity of supernova data to redshift shifts means supernovae make excellent probes of inhomogeneities. We therefore invert the analysis, and try to diagnose the nature of our local gravitational environment by fitting for Δ z as an extra free parameter alongside the usual cosmological parameters. Using the Joint Light-curve SN Ia dataset we find the best fit includes a systematic redshift shift of Δ z = (2.6{sup +2.7}{sub −2.8}) × 10{sup −4}. This is a larger shift than would be expected due to gravitational redshifts in a standard Λ-Cold Dark Matter universe (though still consistent with zero), and would correspond to a monopole Doppler shift of about 100 km s{sup −1} moving away from the Milky-Way. However, since most supernova measurements are made to a redshift precision of no better than 10{sup −3}, it is possible that a systematic error smaller than the statistical error remains in the data and is responsible for the shift; or that it is an insignificant statistical fluctuation. We find that when Δ z is included as a free parameter while fitting to the JLA SN Ia data, the constraints on the matter density shifts to Ω {sub m} = 0.313{sup +0.042}{sub −0.040}, bringing it into better agreement with the CMB cosmological parameter constraints from Planck. A positive Δ z ∼ 2.6×10{sup −4} would also cause us to overestimate the supernova measurement of Hubble's constant by Δ H {sub 0} ∼ 1 kms{sup −1}Mpc{sup −1}. However this overestimation should diminish as one increases the low-redshift cutoff, and this is not seen in the most recent data.

Locally-rotationally-symmetric Bianchi type-V cosmology with heat flow

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

LRS) Bianchi type-V cosmological model with perfect fluid and heat flow. A general approach is introduced to solve Einstein's field equations using a law of variation for the mean Hubble parameter, which is related to average scale factor of the ...

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: cosmological analysis of the DR12 galaxy sample

Science.gov (United States)

Alam, Shadab; Ata, Metin; Bailey, Stephen; Beutler, Florian; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Blazek, Jonathan A.; Bolton, Adam S.; Brownstein, Joel R.; Burden, Angela; Chuang, Chia-Hsun; Comparat, Johan; Cuesta, Antonio J.; Dawson, Kyle S.; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Escoffier, Stephanie; Gil-Marín, Héctor; Grieb, Jan Niklas; Hand, Nick; Ho, Shirley; Kinemuchi, Karen; Kirkby, David; Kitaura, Francisco; Malanushenko, Elena; Malanushenko, Viktor; Maraston, Claudia; McBride, Cameron K.; Nichol, Robert C.; Olmstead, Matthew D.; Oravetz, Daniel; Padmanabhan, Nikhil; Palanque-Delabrouille, Nathalie; Pan, Kaike; Pellejero-Ibanez, Marcos; Percival, Will J.; Petitjean, Patrick; Prada, Francisco; Price-Whelan, Adrian M.; Reid, Beth A.; Rodríguez-Torres, Sergio A.; Roe, Natalie A.; Ross, Ashley J.; Ross, Nicholas P.; Rossi, Graziano; Rubiño-Martín, Jose Alberto; Saito, Shun; Salazar-Albornoz, Salvador; Samushia, Lado; Sánchez, Ariel G.; Satpathy, Siddharth; Schlegel, David J.; Schneider, Donald P.; Scóccola, Claudia G.; Seo, Hee-Jong; Sheldon, Erin S.; Simmons, Audrey; Slosar, Anže; Strauss, Michael A.; Swanson, Molly E. C.; Thomas, Daniel; Tinker, Jeremy L.; Tojeiro, Rita; Magaña, Mariana Vargas; Vazquez, Jose Alberto; Verde, Licia; Wake, David A.; Wang, Yuting; Weinberg, David H.; White, Martin; Wood-Vasey, W. Michael; Yèche, Christophe; Zehavi, Idit; Zhai, Zhongxu; Zhao, Gong-Bo

2017-09-01

We present cosmological results from the final galaxy clustering data set of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III. Our combined galaxy sample comprises 1.2 million massive galaxies over an effective area of 9329 deg2 and volume of 18.7 Gpc3, divided into three partially overlapping redshift slices centred at effective redshifts 0.38, 0.51 and 0.61. We measure the angular diameter distance DM and Hubble parameter H from the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) method, in combination with a cosmic microwave background prior on the sound horizon scale, after applying reconstruction to reduce non-linear effects on the BAO feature. Using the anisotropic clustering of the pre-reconstruction density field, we measure the product DMH from the Alcock-Paczynski (AP) effect and the growth of structure, quantified by fσ8(z), from redshift-space distortions (RSD). We combine individual measurements presented in seven companion papers into a set of consensus values and likelihoods, obtaining constraints that are tighter and more robust than those from any one method; in particular, the AP measurement from sub-BAO scales sharpens constraints from post-reconstruction BAOs by breaking degeneracy between DM and H. Combined with Planck 2016 cosmic microwave background measurements, our distance scale measurements simultaneously imply curvature ΩK = 0.0003 ± 0.0026 and a dark energy equation-of-state parameter w = -1.01 ± 0.06, in strong affirmation of the spatially flat cold dark matter (CDM) model with a cosmological constant (ΛCDM). Our RSD measurements of fσ8, at 6 per cent precision, are similarly consistent with this model. When combined with supernova Ia data, we find H0 = 67.3 ± 1.0 km s-1 Mpc-1 even for our most general dark energy model, in tension with some direct measurements. Adding extra relativistic species as a degree of freedom loosens the constraint only slightly, to H0 = 67.8 ± 1.2 km s-1 Mpc-1. Assuming flat �

Massive optimal data compression and density estimation for scalable, likelihood-free inference in cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Alsing, Justin; Wandelt, Benjamin; Feeney, Stephen

2018-03-01

Many statistical models in cosmology can be simulated forwards but have intractable likelihood functions. Likelihood-free inference methods allow us to perform Bayesian inference from these models using only forward simulations, free from any likelihood assumptions or approximations. Likelihood-free inference generically involves simulating mock data and comparing to the observed data; this comparison in data-space suffers from the curse of dimensionality and requires compression of the data to a small number of summary statistics to be tractable. In this paper we use massive asymptotically-optimal data compression to reduce the dimensionality of the data-space to just one number per parameter, providing a natural and optimal framework for summary statistic choice for likelihood-free inference. Secondly, we present the first cosmological application of Density Estimation Likelihood-Free Inference (DELFI), which learns a parameterized model for joint distribution of data and parameters, yielding both the parameter posterior and the model evidence. This approach is conceptually simple, requires less tuning than traditional Approximate Bayesian Computation approaches to likelihood-free inference and can give high-fidelity posteriors from orders of magnitude fewer forward simulations. As an additional bonus, it enables parameter inference and Bayesian model comparison simultaneously. We demonstrate Density Estimation Likelihood-Free Inference with massive data compression on an analysis of the joint light-curve analysis supernova data, as a simple validation case study. We show that high-fidelity posterior inference is possible for full-scale cosmological data analyses with as few as ˜104 simulations, with substantial scope for further improvement, demonstrating the scalability of likelihood-free inference to large and complex cosmological datasets.

Is the cosmological singularity compulsory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bekenstein, J.D.; Meisels, A.

1980-01-01

The cosmological singularity is inherent in all conventional general relativistic cosmological models. There can be no question that it is an unphysical feature; yet there does not seem to be any convervative way of eliminating it. Here we present singularity-free isotropic cosmological models which are indistinguishable from general relativistic ones at late times. They are based on the general theory of variable rest masses that we developed recently. Outside cosmology this theory simulates general relativity well. Thus it provides a framework incorporating those features which have made geneal relativity so sucessful while providing a way out of singularity dilemma. The cosmological models can be made to incorporate Dirac's large numbers hypothesis. G(now)/G(0)approx.10 -38

Cosmological information in Gaussianized weak lensing signals

Science.gov (United States)

Joachimi, B.; Taylor, A. N.; Kiessling, A.

2011-11-01

Gaussianizing the one-point distribution of the weak gravitational lensing convergence has recently been shown to increase the signal-to-noise ratio contained in two-point statistics. We investigate the information on cosmology that can be extracted from the transformed convergence fields. Employing Box-Cox transformations to determine optimal transformations to Gaussianity, we develop analytical models for the transformed power spectrum, including effects of noise and smoothing. We find that optimized Box-Cox transformations perform substantially better than an offset logarithmic transformation in Gaussianizing the convergence, but both yield very similar results for the signal-to-noise ratio. None of the transformations is capable of eliminating correlations of the power spectra between different angular frequencies, which we demonstrate to have a significant impact on the errors in cosmology. Analytic models of the Gaussianized power spectrum yield good fits to the simulations and produce unbiased parameter estimates in the majority of cases, where the exceptions can be traced back to the limitations in modelling the higher order correlations of the original convergence. In the ideal case, without galaxy shape noise, we find an increase in the cumulative signal-to-noise ratio by a factor of 2.6 for angular frequencies up to ℓ= 1500, and a decrease in the area of the confidence region in the Ωm-σ8 plane, measured in terms of q-values, by a factor of 4.4 for the best performing transformation. When adding a realistic level of shape noise, all transformations perform poorly with little decorrelation of angular frequencies, a maximum increase in signal-to-noise ratio of 34 per cent, and even slightly degraded errors on cosmological parameters. We argue that to find Gaussianizing transformations of practical use, it will be necessary to go beyond transformations of the one-point distribution of the convergence, extend the analysis deeper into the non

Cosmology solved? Maybe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, Michael S.

1999-01-01

For two decades the hot big-bang model as been referred to as the standard cosmology - and for good reason. For just as long cosmologists have known that there are fundamental questions that are not answered by the standard cosmology and point to a grander theory. The best candidate for that grander theory is inflation + cold dark matter. It holds that the Universe is flat, that slowly moving elementary particles left over from the earliest moments provide the cosmic infrastructure, and that the primeval density inhomogeneities that seed all the structure arose from quantum fluctuations. There is now prima facie evidence that supports two basic tenets of this paradigm. An avalanche of high-quality cosmological observations will soon make this case stronger or will break it. Key questions remain to be answered; foremost among them are: identification and detection of the cold dark matter particles and elucidation of the dark-energy component. These are exciting times in cosmology!

Cosmology solved? Maybe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turner, Michael S

1999-03-01

For two decades the hot big-bang model as been referred to as the standard cosmology - and for good reason. For just as long cosmologists have known that there are fundamental questions that are not answered by the standard cosmology and point to a grander theory. The best candidate for that grander theory is inflation + cold dark matter. It holds that the Universe is flat, that slowly moving elementary particles left over from the earliest moments provide the cosmic infrastructure, and that the primeval density inhomogeneities that seed all the structure arose from quantum fluctuations. There is now prima facie evidence that supports two basic tenets of this paradigm. An avalanche of high-quality cosmological observations will soon make this case stronger or will break it. Key questions remain to be answered; foremost among them are: identification and detection of the cold dark matter particles and elucidation of the dark-energy component. These are exciting times in cosmology{exclamation_point}.

Partial rip scenario - a cosmology with a growing cosmological term

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stefancic, H.

2004-01-01

A cosmology with the growing cosmological term is considered. If there is no exchange of energy between vacuum and matter components, the requirement of general covariance implies the time dependence of the gravitational constant G. Irrespectively of the exact functional form of the cosmological term growth, the universe ends in a de Sitter regime with a constant asymptotic Λ, but vanishing G. Although there is no divergence of the scale factor in finite time, such as in the 'Big Rip' scenario, gravitationally bound systems eventually become unbound. In the case of systems bound by non-gravitational forces, there is no unbounding effect, as the asymptotic Λ is insufficiently large to disturb these systems

Observable gravitational waves in pre-big bang cosmology: an update

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gasperini, M., E-mail: gasperini@ba.infn.it [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Bari, Via G. Amendola 173, 70126 Bari (Italy)

2016-12-01

In the light of the recent results concerning CMB observations and GW detection we address the question of whether it is possible, in a self-consistent inflationary framework, to simultaneously generate a spectrum of scalar metric perturbations in agreement with Planck data and a stochastic background of primordial gravitational radiation compatible with the design sensitivity of aLIGO/Virgo and/or eLISA. We suggest that this is possible in a string cosmology context, for a wide region of the parameter space of the so-called pre-big bang models. We also discuss the associated values of the tensor-to-scalar ratio relevant to the CMB polarization experiments. We conclude that future, cross-correlated results from CMB observations and GW detectors will be able to confirm or disprove pre-big bang models and—in any case—will impose new significant constraints on the basic string theory/cosmology parameters.

Observable gravitational waves in pre-big bang cosmology: an update

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gasperini, M.

2016-01-01

In the light of the recent results concerning CMB observations and GW detection we address the question of whether it is possible, in a self-consistent inflationary framework, to simultaneously generate a spectrum of scalar metric perturbations in agreement with Planck data and a stochastic background of primordial gravitational radiation compatible with the design sensitivity of aLIGO/Virgo and/or eLISA. We suggest that this is possible in a string cosmology context, for a wide region of the parameter space of the so-called pre-big bang models. We also discuss the associated values of the tensor-to-scalar ratio relevant to the CMB polarization experiments. We conclude that future, cross-correlated results from CMB observations and GW detectors will be able to confirm or disprove pre-big bang models and—in any case—will impose new significant constraints on the basic string theory/cosmology parameters.

COSMOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS FROM GALAXY CLUSTERING AND THE MASS-TO-NUMBER RATIO OF GALAXY CLUSTERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tinker, Jeremy L.; Blanton, Michael R.; Sheldon, Erin S.; Wechsler, Risa H.; Becker, Matthew R.; Rozo, Eduardo; Zu, Ying; Weinberg, David H.; Zehavi, Idit; Busha, Michael T.; Koester, Benjamin P.

2012-01-01

We place constraints on the average density (Ω m ) and clustering amplitude (σ 8 ) of matter using a combination of two measurements from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: the galaxy two-point correlation function, w p (r p ), and the mass-to-galaxy-number ratio within galaxy clusters, M/N, analogous to cluster M/L ratios. Our w p (r p ) measurements are obtained from DR7 while the sample of clusters is the maxBCG sample, with cluster masses derived from weak gravitational lensing. We construct nonlinear galaxy bias models using the Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD) to fit both w p (r p ) and M/N for different cosmological parameters. HOD models that match the same two-point clustering predict different numbers of galaxies in massive halos when Ω m or σ 8 is varied, thereby breaking the degeneracy between cosmology and bias. We demonstrate that this technique yields constraints that are consistent and competitive with current results from cluster abundance studies, without the use of abundance information. Using w p (r p ) and M/N alone, we find Ω 0.5 m σ 8 = 0.465 ± 0.026, with individual constraints of Ω m = 0.29 ± 0.03 and σ 8 = 0.85 ± 0.06. Combined with current cosmic microwave background data, these constraints are Ω m = 0.290 ± 0.016 and σ 8 = 0.826 ± 0.020. All errors are 1σ. The systematic uncertainties that the M/N technique are most sensitive to are the amplitude of the bias function of dark matter halos and the possibility of redshift evolution between the SDSS Main sample and the maxBCG cluster sample. Our derived constraints are insensitive to the current level of uncertainties in the halo mass function and in the mass-richness relation of clusters and its scatter, making the M/N technique complementary to cluster abundances as a method for constraining cosmology with future galaxy surveys.

COSMOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS FROM GALAXY CLUSTERING AND THE MASS-TO-NUMBER RATIO OF GALAXY CLUSTERS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tinker, Jeremy L.; Blanton, Michael R. [Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10013 (United States); Sheldon, Erin S. [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973 (United States); Wechsler, Risa H. [Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Physics Department, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Becker, Matthew R.; Rozo, Eduardo [Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Zu, Ying; Weinberg, David H. [Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Zehavi, Idit [Department of Astronomy and CERCA, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106 (United States); Busha, Michael T. [Institute for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich (Switzerland); Koester, Benjamin P. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 6037 (United States)

2012-01-20

We place constraints on the average density ({Omega}{sub m}) and clustering amplitude ({sigma}{sub 8}) of matter using a combination of two measurements from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: the galaxy two-point correlation function, w{sub p} (r{sub p} ), and the mass-to-galaxy-number ratio within galaxy clusters, M/N, analogous to cluster M/L ratios. Our w{sub p} (r{sub p} ) measurements are obtained from DR7 while the sample of clusters is the maxBCG sample, with cluster masses derived from weak gravitational lensing. We construct nonlinear galaxy bias models using the Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD) to fit both w{sub p} (r{sub p} ) and M/N for different cosmological parameters. HOD models that match the same two-point clustering predict different numbers of galaxies in massive halos when {Omega}{sub m} or {sigma}{sub 8} is varied, thereby breaking the degeneracy between cosmology and bias. We demonstrate that this technique yields constraints that are consistent and competitive with current results from cluster abundance studies, without the use of abundance information. Using w{sub p} (r{sub p} ) and M/N alone, we find {Omega}{sup 0.5}{sub m}{sigma}{sub 8} = 0.465 {+-} 0.026, with individual constraints of {Omega}{sub m} = 0.29 {+-} 0.03 and {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.85 {+-} 0.06. Combined with current cosmic microwave background data, these constraints are {Omega}{sub m} = 0.290 {+-} 0.016 and {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.826 {+-} 0.020. All errors are 1{sigma}. The systematic uncertainties that the M/N technique are most sensitive to are the amplitude of the bias function of dark matter halos and the possibility of redshift evolution between the SDSS Main sample and the maxBCG cluster sample. Our derived constraints are insensitive to the current level of uncertainties in the halo mass function and in the mass-richness relation of clusters and its scatter, making the M/N technique complementary to cluster abundances as a method for constraining cosmology with future galaxy

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.

Antimatter and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stecker, F.W.

1989-01-01

This paper discusses two aspects of antimatter and cosmology: 1. the fundamental cosmological question as to whether antimatter plays an equally important role as matter in the universe (overall baryon symmetry), and 2. cosmic-ray antimatter tests for the nature of the dark matter in the universe. (orig.)

Precision cosmological measurements: Independent evidence for dark energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bothun, Greg; Hsu, Stephen D.H.; Murray, Brian

2008-01-01

Using recent precision measurements of cosmological parameters, we re-examine whether these observations alone, independent of type Ia supernova surveys, are sufficient to imply the existence of dark energy. We find that best measurements of the age of the Universe t 0 , the Hubble parameter H 0 and the matter fraction Ω m strongly favor an equation of state defined by (w<-1/3). This result is consistent with the existence of a repulsive, acceleration-causing component of energy if the Universe is nearly flat

Cosmological Parameter Estimation Using the Genus Amplitude—Application to Mock Galaxy Catalogs

Science.gov (United States)

Appleby, Stephen; Park, Changbom; Hong, Sungwook E.; Kim, Juhan

2018-01-01

We study the topology of the matter density field in two-dimensional slices and consider how we can use the amplitude A of the genus for cosmological parameter estimation. Using the latest Horizon Run 4 simulation data, we calculate the genus of the smoothed density field constructed from light cone mock galaxy catalogs. Information can be extracted from the amplitude of the genus by considering both its redshift evolution and magnitude. The constancy of the genus amplitude with redshift can be used as a standard population, from which we derive constraints on the equation of state of dark energy {w}{de}—by measuring A at z∼ 0.1 and z∼ 1, we can place an order {{Δ }}{w}{de}∼ { O }(15 % ) constraint on {w}{de}. By comparing A to its Gaussian expectation value, we can potentially derive an additional stringent constraint on the matter density {{Δ }}{{{Ω }}}{mat}∼ 0.01. We discuss the primary sources of contamination associated with the two measurements—redshift space distortion (RSD) and shot noise. With accurate knowledge of galaxy bias, we can successfully remove the effect of RSD, and the combined effect of shot noise and nonlinear gravitational evolution is suppressed by smoothing over suitably large scales {R}{{G}}≥slant 15 {Mpc}/h. Without knowledge of the bias, we discuss how joint measurements of the two- and three-dimensional genus can be used to constrain the growth factor β =f/b. The method can be applied optimally to redshift slices of a galaxy distribution generated using the drop-off technique.

The Bright Universe Cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Surdin, M.

1980-01-01

It is shown that viewed from the 'outside', our universe is a black hole. Hence the 'inside' cosmology considered is termed as the Bright Universe Cosmology. The model proposed avoids the singularities of cosmologies of the Big Bang variety, it gives a good account of the redshifts, the cosmic background radiation, the number counts; it also gives a satisfactory explanation of the 'large numbers coincidence' and of the variation in time of fundamental constants. (Auth.)

Friedmann cosmology with a cosmological 'constant' in the scale covariant theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beesham, A.

1986-01-01

Homogeneous isotropic cosmologies in the presence of a cosmological 'constant' are studied in the scale covariant theory. A class of solutions is obtained for kappa = 0 for models filled with dust, radiation or stiff matter. For kappa not= 0, solutions are presented for the radiation models. (author)

Role of deceleration parameter and interacting dark energy in singularity avoidance

Science.gov (United States)

Abdussattar; Prajapati, S. R.

2011-02-01

A class of non-singular bouncing FRW models are obtained by constraining the deceleration parameter in the presence of an interacting dark energy represented by a time-varying cosmological constant. The models being geometrically closed, initially accelerate for a certain period of time and decelerate thereafter and are also free from the entropy and cosmological constant problems. Taking a constant of integration equal to zero one particular model is discussed in some detail and the variation of different cosmological parameters are shown graphically for specific values of the parameters of the model. For some specific choice of the parameters of the model the ever expanding models of Ozer & Taha and Abdel-Rahman and the decelerating models of Berman and also the Einstein de-Sitter model may be obtained as special cases of this particular model.

Cosmological observables in the quasi-spherical Szekeres model

Science.gov (United States)

Buckley, Robert G.

2014-10-01

The standard model of cosmology presents a homogeneous universe, and we interpret cosmological data through this framework. However, structure growth creates nonlinear inhomogeneities that may affect observations, and even larger structures may be hidden by our limited vantage point and small number of independent observations. As we determine the universe's parameters with increasing precision, the accuracy is contingent on our understanding of the effects of such structures. For instance, giant void models can explain some observations without dark energy. Because perturbation theory cannot adequately describe nonlinear inhomogeneities, exact solutions to the equations of general relativity are important for these questions. The most general known solution capable of describing inhomogeneous matter distributions is the Szekeres class of models. In this work, we study the quasi-spherical subclass of these models, using numerical simulations to calculate the inhomogeneities' effects on observations. We calculate the large-angle CMB in giant void models and compare with simpler, symmetric void models that have previously been found inadequate to matchobservations. We extend this by considering models with early-time inhomogeneities as well. Then, we study distance observations, including selection effects, in models which are homogeneous on scales around 100 Mpc---consistent with standard cosmology---but inhomogeneous on smaller scales. Finally, we consider photon polarizations, and show that they are not directly affected by inhomogeneities. Overall, we find that while Szekeres models have some advantages over simpler models, they are still seriously limited in their ability to alter our parameter estimation while remaining within the bounds of current observations.

Planck 2013 results. XVI. Cosmological parameters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Planck Collaboration,; Ade, P. A. R.; Aghanim, N.

2013-01-01

parameters to high precision. We find a low value of the Hubble constant, H0=67.3+/-1.2 km/s/Mpc and a high value of the matter density parameter, Omega_m=0.315+/-0.017 (+/-1 sigma errors) in excellent agreement with constraints from baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) surveys. Including curvature, we find...... over standard LCDM. The deviation of the scalar spectral index from unity is insensitive to the addition of tensor modes and to changes in the matter content of the Universe. We find a 95% upper limit of r...

Local cosmology of the solar system

OpenAIRE

Bel, Ll.

2010-01-01

A time-dependent model of space-time is used to describe the gravitational field of the sun. This model is a spherically symmetric approximate solution of Einstein's equations in vacuum. Near the sun it approximates one of the models derived from the Schwarzschild solution, while at large distances it becomes a milne's-like zero space-time curvature model. Two local cosmology free parameters provide simple descriptions for the secular increasing of the astronomical unit, as well as the "anoma...

Computational Cosmology: from the Early Universe to the Large Scale Structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Anninos

1998-09-01

Full Text Available In order to account for the observable Universe, any comprehensive theory or model of cosmology must draw from many disciplines of physics, including gauge theories of strong and weak interactions, the hydrodynamics and microphysics of baryonic matter, electromagnetic fields, and spacetime curvature, for example. Although it is difficult to incorporate all these physical elements into a single complete model of our Universe, advances in computing methods and technologies have contributed significantly towards our understanding of cosmological models, the Universe, and astrophysical processes within them. A sample of numerical calculations addressing specific issues in cosmology are reviewed in this article: from the Big Bang singularity dynamics to the fundamental interactions of gravitational waves; from the quark--hadron phase transition to the large scale structure of the Universe. The emphasis, although not exclusively, is on thosecalculations designed to test different models of cosmology against the observed Universe.

Computational Cosmology: From the Early Universe to the Large Scale Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Anninos, Peter

2001-01-01

In order to account for the observable Universe, any comprehensive theory or model of cosmology must draw from many disciplines of physics, including gauge theories of strong and weak interactions, the hydrodynamics and microphysics of baryonic matter, electromagnetic fields, and spacetime curvature, for example. Although it is difficult to incorporate all these physical elements into a single complete model of our Universe, advances in computing methods and technologies have contributed significantly towards our understanding of cosmological models, the Universe, and astrophysical processes within them. A sample of numerical calculations (and numerical methods applied to specific issues in cosmology are reviewed in this article: from the Big Bang singularity dynamics to the fundamental interactions of gravitational waves; from the quark-hadron phase transition to the large scale structure of the Universe. The emphasis, although not exclusively, is on those calculations designed to test different models of cosmology against the observed Universe.

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 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.

Cosmological evolution and Solar System consistency of massive scalar-tensor gravity

Science.gov (United States)

de Pirey Saint Alby, Thibaut Arnoulx; Yunes, Nicolás

2017-09-01

The scalar-tensor theory of Damour and Esposito-Farèse recently gained some renewed interest because of its ability to suppress modifications to general relativity in the weak field, while introducing large corrections in the strong field of compact objects through a process called scalarization. A large sector of this theory that allows for scalarization, however, has been shown to be in conflict with Solar System observations when accounting for the cosmological evolution of the scalar field. We here study an extension of this theory by endowing the scalar field with a mass to determine whether this allows the theory to pass Solar System constraints upon cosmological evolution for a larger sector of coupling parameter space. We show that the cosmological scalar field goes first through a quiescent phase, similar to the behavior of a massless field, but then it enters an oscillatory phase, with an amplitude (and frequency) that decays (and grows) exponentially. We further show that after the field enters the oscillatory phase, its effective energy density and pressure are approximately those of dust, as expected from previous cosmological studies. Due to these oscillations, we show that the scalar field cannot be treated as static today on astrophysical scales, and so we use time-dependent perturbation theory to compute the scalar-field-induced modifications to Solar System observables. We find that these modifications are suppressed when the mass of the scalar field and the coupling parameter of the theory are in a wide range, allowing the theory to pass Solar System constraints, while in principle possibly still allowing for scalarization.

Cosmic Explosions, Life in the Universe, and the Cosmological Constant

Science.gov (United States)

Piran, Tsvi; Jimenez, Raul; Cuesta, Antonio J.; Simpson, Fergus; Verde, Licia

2016-02-01

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are copious sources of gamma rays whose interaction with a planetary atmosphere can pose a threat to complex life. Using recent determinations of their rate and probability of causing massive extinction, we explore what types of universes are most likely to harbor advanced forms of life. We use cosmological N -body simulations to determine at what time and for what value of the cosmological constant (Λ ) the chances of life being unaffected by cosmic explosions are maximized. Life survival to GRBs favors Lambda-dominated universes. Within a cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant, the likelihood of life survival to GRBs is governed by the value of Λ and the age of the Universe. We find that we seem to live in a favorable point in this parameter space that minimizes the exposure to cosmic explosions, yet maximizes the number of main sequence (hydrogen-burning) stars around which advanced life forms can exist.

Cosmic Explosions, Life in the Universe, and the Cosmological Constant.

Science.gov (United States)

Piran, Tsvi; Jimenez, Raul; Cuesta, Antonio J; Simpson, Fergus; Verde, Licia

2016-02-26

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are copious sources of gamma rays whose interaction with a planetary atmosphere can pose a threat to complex life. Using recent determinations of their rate and probability of causing massive extinction, we explore what types of universes are most likely to harbor advanced forms of life. We use cosmological N-body simulations to determine at what time and for what value of the cosmological constant (Λ) the chances of life being unaffected by cosmic explosions are maximized. Life survival to GRBs favors Lambda-dominated universes. Within a cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant, the likelihood of life survival to GRBs is governed by the value of Λ and the age of the Universe. We find that we seem to live in a favorable point in this parameter space that minimizes the exposure to cosmic explosions, yet maximizes the number of main sequence (hydrogen-burning) stars around which advanced life forms can exist.

The new images of the microwave sky: a concordance cosmology?

CERN Document Server

Bernardis, P D; Bock, J J; Bond, J R; Borrill, J; Boscaleri, A; Coble, K; Contaldi, C R; Crill, B P; De Gasperis, G; De Troia, G; Farese, P; Ganga, K; Giacometti, M; Hivon, E; Hristov, V V; Iacoangeli, A; Jaffe, A H; Jones, W C; Lange, A E; Martinis, L; Mason, P; Mauskopf, P D; Melchiorri, A; Montroy, T; Natoli, P; Netterfield, C B; Pascale, E; Piacentini, F; Pogosyan, D; Polenta, G; Pongetti, F; Prunet, S; Romeo, G; Ruhl, J E; Scaramuzzi, F; Vittorio, N

2002-01-01

The existence and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the large scale distribution of Galaxies, the expansion of the Universe and the abundance of light elements can be all be explained with a single cosmological model. In this paper we focus on the CMB anisotropy maps produced by the BOOMERanG experiment and on their impact on cosmology. The images are consistent with the result of acoustic oscillations of the photons-matter plasma in the pre-recombination Universe (z > or approx. 1000). We show how the instrument and the observations have been optimized and how the basic parameters of the model are derived from the data. These observations of the CMB are gaussian and point to a low curvature Universe (omega approx 1), as expected in the inflation scenario. In order to fit these observations and other cosmological evidence, the composition of the Universe must have significant contributions from dark matter (omega sub m approx 0.3) and dark energy (omega subLAMBDA approx 0.7).

Current cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeldovich, Ya.

1984-01-01

The knowledge is summed up of contemporary cosmology on the universe and its development resulting from a great number of highly sensitive observations and the application of contemporary physical theories to the entire universe. The questions are assessed of mass density in the universe, the structure and origin of the universe, its baryon asymmetry and the quantum explanation of the origin of the universe. Physical problems are presented which should be resolved for the future development of cosmology. (Ha)

Particle cosmology

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2007-01-01

The understanding of the Universe at the largest and smallest scales traditionally has been the subject of cosmology and particle physics, respectively. Studying the evolution of the Universe connects today's large scales with the tiny scales in the very early Universe and provides the link between the physics of particles and of the cosmos. This series of five lectures aims at a modern and critical presentation of the basic ideas, methods, models and observations in today's particle cosmology.

Perspectives in cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vilenkin, Alexander

2010-01-01

The n ew standard cosmology , based on the theory of inflation, has very impressive observational support. I review some outstanding problems of the new cosmology and the global view of the universe - the multiverse - that it suggests. I focus in particular on prospects for further observational tests of inflation and of the multiverse.

Quark matter and cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schramm, D.N.; Fields, B.; Thomas, D.

1992-01-01

The possible implications of the quark-hadron transition for cosmology are explored. Possible surviving signatures are discussed. In particular, the possibility of generating a dark matter candidate such as strange nuggets or planetary mass black holes is noted. Much discussion is devoted to the possible role of the transition for cosmological nucleosynthesis. It is emphasized that even an optimized first order phase transition will not significantly alter the nucleosynthesis constraints on the cosmological baryon density nor on neutrino counting. However, it is noted that Be and B observations in old stars may eventually be able to be a signature of a cosmologically significant quark-hadron transition. It is pointed out that the critical point in this regard is whether the observed B/Be ratio can be produced by spallation processes or requires cosmological input. Spallation cannot produce a B/Be ratio below 7.6. A supporting signature would be Be and B ratios to oxygen that greatly exceed galactic values. At present, all data is still consistent with a spallagenic origin

Standard cosmological evolution in the f(R) model to Kaluza-Klein cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aghmohammadi, A; Abolhassani, M R; Saaidi, Kh; Vajdi, A

2009-01-01

In this paper, using f(R) theory of gravity we explicitly calculate cosmological evolution in the presence of a perfect fluid source in four- and five-dimensional space-time in which this cosmological evolution in self-creation is presented by Reddy et al (2009 Int. J. Theor. Phys. 48 10). An exact cosmological model is presented using a relation between Einstein's gravity field equation components due to a metric with the same component from f(R) theory of gravity. Some physics and kinematical properties of the model are also discussed.

An introduction to modern cosmology

CERN Document Server

Liddle, Andrew

2015-01-01

An Introduction to Modern Cosmology Third Edition is an accessible account of modern cosmological ideas. The Big Bang Cosmology is explored, looking at its observational successes in explaining the expansion of the Universe, the existence and properties of the cosmic microwave background, and the origin of light elements in the universe. Properties of the very early Universe are also covered, including the motivation for a rapid period of expansion known as cosmological inflation. The third edition brings this established undergraduate textbook up-to-date with the rapidly evolving observation

An introduction to cosmology