Nonparametric Reconstruction of the Dark Energy Equation of State

Abstract: A basic aim of ongoing and upcoming cosmological surveys is to unravel the mystery of dark energy. In the absence of a compelling theory to test, a natural approach is to better characterize the properties of dark energy in search of clues that can lead to a more fundamental understanding. One way to view this characterization is the improved determination of the redshift-dependence of the dark energy equation of state parameter, w(z). To do this requires a robust and bias-free method for reconstructing w(z) from data that does not rely on restrictive expansion schemes or assumed functional forms for w(z). We present a new nonparametric reconstruction method that solves for w(z) as a statistical inverse problem, based on a Gaussian Process representation. This method reliably captures nontrivial behavior of w(z) and provides controlled error bounds. We demonstrate the power of the method on different sets of simulated supernova data; the approach can be easily extended to include diverse cosmological probes.

reconstruction
dark energy equation
cosmology
state parameter


Evolution of the universe in entropic cosmologies via different formulations

Abstract: We study two types of entropic-force models in a homogeneous, isotropic, spatially flat, matter-dominated universe. The first type is a `Λ(t) type' similar to Λ(t)CDM (varying-lambda cold dark matter) models in which both the Friedmann equation and the acceleration equation include an extra driving term. The second type is a `BV type' similar to bulk viscous models in which the acceleration equation includes an extra driving term whereas the Friedmann equation does not. In order to examine the two types systematically, we consider an extended entropic-force model that includes a Hubble parameter (H) term and a constant term in entropic-force terms. The H term is derived from a volume entropy whereas the constant term is derived from an entropy proportional to the square of an area entropy. Based on the extended entropic-force model, we examine four models obtained from combining the H and constant terms with the Λ(t) and BV types. The four models agree well with the observed supernova data and describe the background evolution of the late universe properly. However, the evolution of first-order density perturbations is different in each of the four models, especially for low redshift, assuming that an effective sound speed is negligible. The Λ(t) type is found to be consistent with the observed growth rate of clustering, in contrast with the BV type examined in this study. A unified formulation is proposed as well, in order to examine density perturbations of the two types systematically.

universe
entropic-force model
bulk viscous model


Unconventional Cosmology

Abstract: I review two cosmological paradigms which are alternative to the current inflationary scenario. The first alternative is the "matter bounce", a non-singular bouncing cosmology with a matter-dominated phase of contraction. The second is an "emergent" scenario, which can be implemented in the context of "string gas cosmology". I will compare these scenarios with the inflationary one and demonstrate that all three lead to an approximately scale-invariant spectrum of cosmological perturbations.

cosmology
alternative
inflationary cosmology see


Public data release of the FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations of galaxy formation

Abstract: We describe a public data release of the FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations of galaxy formation, available at http://flathub.flatironinstitute.org/fire, from the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. FIRE-2 simulations achieve parsec-scale resolution to explicitly model the multi-phase interstellar medium while implementing direct models for stellar evolution and feedback, including stellar winds, core-collapse and Ia supernovae, radiation pressure, photoionization, and photoelectric heating. We release complete snapshots from 3 suites of simulations. The first comprises 20 simulations that zoom in on 14 Milky Way-mass galaxies, 5 SMC/LMC-mass galaxies, and 4 lower-mass galaxies including 1 ultra-faint; we release 39 snapshots across z = 0 - 10. The second comprises 4 massive galaxies, with 19 snapshots across z = 1 - 10. Finally, a high-redshift suite comprises 22 simulations, with 11 snapshots across z = 5 - 10. Each simulation also includes dozens of resolved lower-mass (satellite) galaxies in its zoom-in region. Snapshots include all stored properties for all dark matter, gas, and star particles, including 11 elemental abundances for stars and gas, and formation times (ages) of star particles. We also release accompanying (sub)halo catalogs, which include galaxy properties and member star particles. For the simulations to z = 0, including all Milky Way-mass galaxies, we release the formation coordinates and an "ex-situ" flag for all star particles, pointers to track particles across snapshots, catalogs of stellar streams, and multipole basis expansions for the halo mass distributions. We describe publicly available python packages for reading and analyzing these simulations.

cosmological zoom-in simulation
galaxy formation
star


Molecular gas in debris disks around young A-type stars

Abstract: According to the current paradigm of circumstellar disk evolution, gas-rich primordial disks evolve into gas-poor debris disks compose of second-generation dust. To explore the transition between these phases, we searched for ^12CO, ^13CO, and C^18O emission in seven dust-rich debris disks around young A-type stars, using ALMA in Band 6. We discovered molecular gas in three debris disks. In all these disks, the ^12CO line was optically thick, highlighting the importance of less abundant molecules in reliable mass estimates. Supplementing our target list by literature data, we compiled a volume-limited sample of dust-rich debris disks around young A-type stars within 150 pc. We obtained a CO detection rate of 11/16 above a ^12CO J=2-1 line luminosity threshold of ∼ 1.4 × 10 ^4 Jykms^-1pc^2 in the sample. This high incidence implies that the presence of CO gas in bright debris disks around young A-type stars is likely more the rule than the exception. Interestingly, dust-rich debris disks around young FG-type stars exhibit, with the same detectability threshold as for A-type stars, significantly lower gas incidence. While the transition from protoplanetary to debris phase is associated with a drop of dust content, our results exhibit a large spread in the CO mass in our debris sample, with peak values comparable to those in protoplanetary Herbig Ae disks. In the particularly CO-rich debris systems the gas may have primordial origin, characteristic of a hybrid disk.

debris disk
young a-type star
molecular gas


Constraints on dissipative unified dark matter

Abstract: Modern cosmology suggests that the Universe contains two dark components – dark matter and dark energy – both unkown in laboratory physics and both lacking direct evidence. Alternatively, a unified dark sector, described by a single fluid, has been proposed. Dissipation is a common phenomenon in nature and it thus seems natural to consider models dominated by a viscous dark fluid. We focus on the study of bulk viscosity, as isotropy and homogeneity at large scales implies the suppression of shear viscosity, heat flow and diffusion. The generic ansatz ξ∝ρ^ν for the coefficient of bulk viscosity (ρ denotes the mass/energy density), which for ν = - 1/2 mimics the ΛCDM background evolution, offers excellent fits to supernova and H(z) data. We show that viscous dark fluids suffer from large contributions to the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect (generalising a previous study by Li Barrow) and a suppression of structure growth at small-scales (as seen from a generalized Meszaros equation). Based on recent observations, we conclude that viscous dark fluid models (with ξ∝ρ^ν and neglecting baryons) are strongly challenged.

dark matter
dark energy
gravitational potential


Is the Hubble tension a hint of AdS phase around recombination?

Abstract: Anti-de Sitter (AdS) vacua, being theoretically important, might have an unexpected impact on the observable universe. We find that in early dark energy (EDE) scenarios the existence of AdS vacua around recombination can effectively lift the CMB-inferred H_0 value. As an example, we study a phenomenological EDE model with an AdS phase starting at the redshift z∼2000 and ending shortly after recombination (hereafter the universe will settle down in a Λ>0 phase until now), and obtain a best-fit H_0=72.74 km/s/Mpc without degrading the CMB fit compared with the standard ΛCDM model.

recombination
low-redshift
dynamical dark energy


Probing circular polarization in stochastic gravitational wave background with pulsar timing arrays

Abstract: We study the detectability of circular polarization in a stochastic gravitational wave background from various sources such as supermassive black hole binaries, cosmic strings, and inflation in the early universe with pulsar timing arrays. We calculate generalized overlap reduction functions for the circularly polarized stochastic gravitational wave background. We find that the circular polarization can not be detected for an isotropic background. However, there is a chance to observe the circular polarization for an anisotropic gravitational wave background. We also show how to separate polarized gravitational waves from unpolarized gravitational waves.

circular polarization
gravitational wave background
pulsar timing array


Cusp-to-core transition in low-mass dwarf galaxies induced by dynamical heating of cold dark matter by primordial black holes

Abstract: We performed a series of high-resolution N-body simulations to examine whether dark matter candidates in the form of primordial black holes (PBHs) can solve the cusp-core problem in low-mass dwarf galaxies. If some fraction of the dark matter in low-mass dwarf galaxies consists of PBHs and the rest is cold dark matter, dynamical heating of the cold dark matter by the PBHs induces a cusp-to-core transition in the total dark matter profile. The mechanism works for PBHs in the 25-100 M_ mass window, consistent with the LIGO detections, but requires a lower limit on the PBH mass fraction of 1% of the total dwarf galaxy dark matter content. The cusp-to-core transition time-scale is between 1 and 8 Gyr. This time-scale is also a constant multiple of the relaxation time between cold dark matter particles and PBHs, which depends on the mass, the mass fraction and the scale radius of the initial density profile of PBHs. We conclude that dark matter cores occur naturally in halos comprised of cold dark matter and PBHs, without the need to invoke baryonic processes.

low-mass dwarf galaxy
cold dark matter
primordial black hole


On the Effective Field Theory for Quasi-Single Field Inflation

Abstract: We study the effective field theory (EFT) description of the virtual particle effects in quasi-single field inflation, which unifies the previous results on large mass and large mixing cases. By using a horizon crossing approximation and matching with known limits, approximate expressions for the power spectrum and the spectral index are obtained. The error of the approximate solution is within 10 less-than-0.1 corrections on the n_s-r diagram are plotted for a few inflation models. Especially, the quasi-single field correction drives m^2ϕ^2 inflation to the best fit region on the n_s-r diagram, with an amount of equilateral non-Gaussianity which can be tested in future experiments.

effective field theory
quasi-single field inflation
cosmological collider physics


Halo-independent analysis of direct detection data for light WIMPs

Abstract: We present a halo-independent analysis of direct detection data on "light WIMPs," i.e. weakly interacting massive particles with mass close to or below 10 GeV/c^2. We include new results from silicon CDMS detectors (bounds and excess events), the latest CoGeNT acceptances, and recent measurements of low sodium quenching factors in NaI crystals. We focus on light WIMPs with spin-independent isospin-conserving and isospin-violating interactions with nucleons. For these dark matter candidates we find that a low quenching factor would make the DAMA modulation incompatible with a reasonable escape velocity for the dark matter halo, and that the tension among experimental data tightens in both the isospin-conserving and isospin-violating scenarios. We also find that a new although milder tension appears between the CoGeNT and DAMA annual modulations on one side and the silicon excess events on the other, in that it seems difficult to interpret them as the modulated and unmodulated aspects of the same WIMP dark matter signal.

detection data
light wimp
halo-independent analysis


The Flat Sky Approximation to Galaxy Number Counts

Abstract: We derive and test an approximation for the angular power spectrum of galaxy number counts in the flat sky limit. The standard density and redshift space distortion (RSD) terms in the resulting approximation are distinct to the Limber approximation, providing an accurate result for multipoles as low as ℓ≃10, where the corresponding Limber approximation is completely inaccurate. At equal redshift the accuracy of the density and RSD (standard) terms is around 0.2 redshifts, if we consider the total power spectrum, the precision is better than 5 3.6×10^-4(1+z)^2.14)where the standard terms are well-approximated, or for large enough redshift differencesδ>δ_1 (≃0.33(r(z)H(z))/(z+1))where the lensing terms dominate. The flat sky expressions for the pure lensing and the lensing-density cross-correlation terms are equivalent to the Limber approximation. For arbitrary redshift differences, the Limber approximation achieves an accuracy of 0.5ℓ≃40for pure lensing andℓ≃80for density-lensing). Besides being very accurate, the flat sky approximation is computationally much simpler and can therefore be very useful for data analysis and forecasts with MCMC methods. This will be particularly crucial for upcoming galaxy surveys that will measure the power spectrum of galaxy number counts.

galaxy number count
limber approximation
flat sky approximation


Constraining the cosmic radiation density due to lepton number with Big Bang Nucleosynthesis

Abstract: The cosmic energy density in the form of radiation before and during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) is typically parameterized in terms of the effective number of neutrinos N_eff. This quantity, in case of no extra degrees of freedom, depends upon the chemical potential and the temperature characterizing the three active neutrino distributions, as well as by their possible non-thermal features. In the present analysis we determine the upper bounds that BBN places on N_eff from primordial neutrino–antineutrino asymmetries, with a careful treatment of the dynamics of neutrino oscillations. We consider quite a wide range for the total lepton number in the neutrino sector, eta_nu= eta_nu_e+eta_nu_mu+eta_nu_tau and the initial electron neutrino asymmetry eta_nu_e^in, solving the corresponding kinetic equations which rule the dynamics of neutrino (antineutrino) distributions in phase space due to collisions, pair processes and flavor oscillations. New bounds on both the total lepton number in the neutrino sector and the nu_e -barnu_e asymmetry at the onset of BBN are obtained fully exploiting the time evolution of neutrino distributions, as well as the most recent determinations of primordial 2H/H density ratio and 4He mass fraction. Note that taking the baryon fraction as measured by WMAP, the 2H/H abundance plays a relevant role in constraining the allowed regions in the eta_nu -eta_nu_e^in plane. These bounds fix the maximum contribution of neutrinos with primordial asymmetries to N_eff as a function of the mixing parameter theta_13, and point out the upper bound N_eff < 3.4. Comparing these results with the forthcoming measurement of N_eff by the Planck satellite will likely provide insight on the nature of the radiation content of the universe.

lepton number
big bang nucleosynthesis
neutrino


A tale of two modes: Neutrino free-streaming in the early universe

Abstract: We present updated constraints on the free-streaming nature of cosmological neutrinos from cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectra, baryonic acoustic oscillation data, and local measurements of the Hubble constant. Specifically, we consider a Fermi-like four-fermion interaction between massless neutrinos, characterized by an effective coupling constant G_ eff, and resulting in a neutrino opacity τ̇_ν∝ G_ eff^2 T_ν^5. Using a conservative prior on the parameter log_10(G_ eff MeV^2), we find a bimodal posterior distribution. The first of these modes is consistent with the standard ΛCDM cosmology and corresponds to neutrinos decoupling at redshift z_ν, dec > 1.3×10^5. The other mode of the posterior, dubbed the "interacting neutrino mode", corresponds to neutrino decoupling occurring within a narrow redshift window centered around z_ν, dec∼8300. This mode is characterized by a high value of the effective neutrino coupling constant, together with a lower value of the scalar spectral index and amplitude of fluctuations, and a higher value of the Hubble parameter. Using both a maximum likelihood analysis and the ratio of the two mode's Bayesian evidence, we find the interacting neutrino mode to be statistically disfavored compared to the standard ΛCDM cosmology. Interestingly, the addition of CMB polarization and direct Hubble constant measurements significantly raises the statistical significance of this secondary mode, indicating that new physics in the neutrino sector could help explain the difference between local measurements of H_0, and those inferred from CMB data. A robust consequence of our results is that neutrinos must be free streaming long before the epoch of matter-radiation equality.

neutrino
early universe
cosmic microwave background
hidden dark sector


Extended analysis of CMB constraints on non-Gaussianity in isocurvature perturbations

Abstract: We study CMB constraints on non-Gaussianity from isocurvature perturbations of general types. Specifically, we study CDM/neutrino isocurvature perturbations which are uncorrelated or totally correlated with adiabatic ones. Using the data from the WMAP 7-year observation at V and W bands, we obtained optimal constraints on the nonlinearity parameters of adiabatic and isocurvature perturbations. Our result shows that primordial perturbations are consistent with Gaussian ones at around 2 sigma level for above mentioned isocurvature modes.

cmb constraint
non-gaussianity
isocurvature perturbation


The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation for different velocity definitions and implications for galaxy angular momentum

Abstract: We study the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation (BTFR) at z=0 using 153 galaxies from the SPARC sample. We consider different definitions of the characteristic velocity from HI and H-alpha rotation curves, as well as HI line-widths from single-dish observations. We reach the following results: (1) The tightest BTFR is given by the mean velocity along the flat part of the rotation curve. The orthogonal intrinsic scatter is extremely small (6 3.85+/-0.09, but systematic uncertainties may drive the slope from 3.5 to 4.0. Other velocity definitions lead to BTFRs with systematically higher scatters and shallower slopes. (2) We provide statistical relations to infer the flat rotation velocity from HI line-widths or less extended rotation curves (like H-alpha and CO data). These can be useful to study the BTFR from large HI surveys or the BTFR at high redshifts. (3) The BTFR is more fundamental than the relation between angular momentum and galaxy mass (the Fall relation). The Fall relation has about 7 times more scatter than the BTFR, which is merely driven by the scatter in the mass-size relation of galaxies. The BTFR is already the "fundamental plane" of galaxy discs: no value is added with a radial variable as a third parameter.

baryonic tully-fisher relation
velocity definition
galaxy


Baryonic effects in the Effective Field Theory of Large-Scale Structure and an analytic recipe for lensing in CMB-S4

Abstract: Upcoming Large-Scale Structure surveys will likely become the next leading sources of cosmological information, making it crucial to have a precise understanding of the influence of baryons on cosmological observables. The Effective Field Theory of Large-Scale Structure (EFTofLSS) provides a consistent way to predict the clustering of dark matter and baryons on large scales, where their leading corrections in perturbation theory are given by a simple and calculable functional form even after the onset of baryonic processes. In this paper, we extend the two-fluid-like system up to two-loop order in perturbation theory. Along the way, we show that a new linear counterterm proportional to the relative velocity of the fluids could generically be present, but we show that its effects are expected to be small in our universe. Regardless, we show how to consistently perform perturbation theory in the presence of this new term. We find that the EFTofLSS at two-loop order can accurately account for the details of baryonic processes on large scales. We compare our results to a hydrodynamical N-body simulation at many redshifts and find that the counterterms associated with the leading corrections to dark matter and baryons start to differ between redshifts z ≈ 3 and z ≈ 2, signaling the onset of star-formation physics. We then use these fits to compute the lensing power spectrum, show that the understanding of baryonic processes will be important for analyzing CMB-S4 data, and show that the two-loop EFTofLSS accurately captures these effects for ℓ≲ 2000. Our results are also potentially of interest for current and future weak lensing surveys.

effective field theory
large-scale structure
baryonic effect


CMB anisotropies generated by a stochastic background of primordial magnetic fields with non-zero helicity

Abstract: We consider the impact of a stochastic background of primordial magnetic fields with non-vanishing helicity on CMB anisotropies in temperature and polarization. We compute the exact expressions for the scalar, vector and tensor part of the energy-momentum tensor including the helical contribution, by assuming a power-law dependence for the spectra and a comoving cutoff which mimics the damping due to viscosity. We also compute the parity-odd correlator between the helical and non-helical contribution which generate the TB and EB cross-correlation in the CMB pattern. We finally show the impact of including the helical term on the power spectra of CMB anisotropies up to multipoles with ell O(10^3).

primordial magnetic field
magnetic field
cmb anisotropy


Scintillation efficiency and ionization yield of liquid xenon for mono-energetic nuclear recoils down to 4 keV

Abstract: Liquid Xenon (LXe) is an excellent material for experiments designed to detect dark matter in the form of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). A low energy detection threshold is essential for a sensitive WIMP search. The understanding of the relative scintillation efficiency (Leff) and ionization yield of low energy nuclear recoils in LXe is limited for energies below 10 keV. In this paper, we present new measurements that extend the energy down to 4 keV, finding that Leff decreases with decreasing energy. We also measure the quenching of scintillation efficiency due to the electric field in LXe, finding no significant field dependence.

xenon
nuclear recoil
scintillation efficiency


Systematic bias on parameterized tests of general relativity due to neglect of orbital eccentricity

Abstract: Gravitational-wave observations provide a unique opportunity to test general relativity (GR) in the strong-field and highly dynamical regime of the theory. Parametrized tests of GR are one well-known approach for quantifying violations of GR. This approach constrains deviations in the coefficients of the post-Newtonian phasing formula, which describes the gravitational-wave phase evolution of a compact binary as it inspirals. Current bounds from this test using LIGO/Virgo observations assume that binaries are circularized by the time they enter the detector frequency band. Here, we investigate the impact of residual binary eccentricity on the parametrized tests. We study the systematic biases in the parameter bounds when a phasing based on the circular orbit assumption is employed for a system that has some small residual eccentricity. We find that a systematic bias (for example, on the leading Newtonian deformation parameter) becomes comparable to the statistical errors for even moderate eccentricities of ∼ 0.04 at 10 Hz in LIGO/Virgo band for binary black holes, and ∼ 0.008 for binary neutron stars. This happens at even lower values of orbital eccentricity in the frequency band of third-generation (3G) detectors like Cosmic Explorer (∼ 0.005 at 10 Hz for binary black holes and ∼ 0.002 for binary neutron stars). These results demonstrate that incorporating physical effects like eccentricity in waveform models is important for accurately extracting science results from future detectors.

parameterized test
general relativity
orbital eccentricity


Near-horizon circular orbits and extremal limit for dirty rotating black holes

Abstract: We consider generic rotating axially symmetric "dirty" (surrounded by matter) black holes. Near-horizon circular equatorial orbits are examined in two different cases of near-extremal (small surface gravity κ) and exactly extremal black holes. This has a number of qualitative distinctions. In the first case, it is shown that such orbits can lie as close to the horizon as one wishes on suitably chosen slices of space-time when κ→ 0. This generalizes observation of T. Jacobson Class. Quantum Grav. 28 187001 (2011) made for the Kerr metric. If a black hole is extremal (κ =0), circular on-horizon orbits are impossible for massive particles but, in general, are possible in its vicinity. The corresponding black hole parameters determine also the rate with which a fine-tuned particle on the noncircular near-horizon orbit asymptotically approaches the horizon. Properties of orbits under discussion are also related to the Ba energy collisions near black holes. Impossibility of the on-horizon orbits in question is manifestation of kinematic censorship that forbids infinite energies in collisions.


Cosmology with Mimetic Matter

Abstract: We consider minimal extensions of the recently proposed Mimetic Dark Matter and show that by introducing a potential for the mimetic non-dynamical scalar field we can mimic nearly any gravitational properties of the normal matter. In particular, the mimetic matter can provide us with inflaton, quintessence and even can lead to a bouncing nonsingular universe. We also investigate the behaviour of cosmological perturbations due to a mimetic matter. We demonstrate that simple mimetic inflation can produce red-tilted scalar perturbations which are largely enhanced over gravity waves.

mimetic matter
quintessence
gravity
matter model


Dark Energy and Modified Gravity in the Effective Field Theory of Large-Scale Structure

Abstract: We develop an approach to compute observables beyond the linear regime of dark matter perturbations for general dark energy and modified gravity models. We do so by combining the Effective Field Theory of Dark Energy and Effective Field Theory of Large-Scale Structure approaches. In particular, we parametrize the linear and nonlinear effects of dark energy on dark matter clustering in terms of the Lagrangian terms introduced in a companion paper, focusing on Horndeski theories and assuming the quasi-static approximation. The Euler equation for dark matter is sourced, via the Newtonian potential, by new nonlinear vertices due to modified gravity and, as in the pure dark matter case, by the effects of short-scale physics in the form of the divergence of an effective stress tensor. The effective fluid introduces a counterterm in the solution to the matter continuity and Euler equations, which allows a controlled expansion of clustering statistics on mildly nonlinear scales. We use this setup to compute the one-loop dark-matter power spectrum.

modified gravity
effective field theory
dark energy


Reconstruction of a Nonminimal Coupling Theory with Scale-invariant Power Spectrum

Abstract: A nonminimal coupling single scalar field theory, when transformed from Jordan frame to Einstein frame, can act like a minimal coupling one. Making use of this property, we investigate how a nonminimal coupling theory with scale-invariant power spectrum could be reconstructed from its minimal coupling counterpart, which can be applied in the early universe. Thanks to the coupling to gravity, the equation of state of our universe for a scale-invariant power spectrum can be relaxed, and the relation between the parameters in the action can be obtained. This approach also provides a means to address the Big-Bang puzzles and anisotropy problem in the nonminimal coupling model within Jordan frame. Due to the equivalence between the two frames, one may be able to find models that are free of the horizon, flatness, singularity as well as anisotropy problems.

nonminimal coupling theory
scale-invariant power spectrum
gravity


Curvature-slope correlation of nuclear symmetry energy and its imprints on the crust-core transition, radius and tidal deformability of canonical neutron stars

Abstract: Background: The nuclear symmetry energy E_sym(ρ) encodes information about the energy necessary to make nuclear systems more neutron-rich. While its slope parameter L at the saturation density ρ_0 of nuclear matter has been relatively well constrained by recent astrophysical observations and terrestrial nuclear experiments, its curvature K_sym characterizing the E_sym(ρ) around 2ρ_0 remains largely unconstrained. Over 520 calculations for E_sym(ρ) using various nuclear theories and interactions in the literature have predicted several significantly different K_sym-L correlations. Purpose: If a unique K_sym-L correlation of E_sym(ρ) can be firmly established, it will enable us to progressively better constrain the high-density behavior of E_sym(ρ) using the available constraints on its slope parameter L. We investigate if and by how much the different K_sym-L correlations may affect neutron star observables. Method: A meta-model of nuclear Equation of States (EOSs) with three representative K_sym-L correlation functions is used to generate multiple EOSs for neutron stars. We then examine effects of the K_sym-L correlation on the crust-core transition density and pressure as well as the radius and tidal deformation of canonical neutron stars. Results:The K_sym-L correlation affects significantly both the crust-core transition density and pressure. It also has strong imprints on the radius and tidal deformability of canonical neutron stars especially at small L values. The available data from LIGO/VIRGO and NICER set some useful limits for the slope L but can not distinguish the three representative K_sym-L correlations considered.

symmetry energy
neutron star
crust-core transition density


The Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND): Science and Design

Abstract: The Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND) is a planned large-scale observatory of ultra-high-energy (UHE) cosmic particles, with energies exceeding 10^8 GeV. Its goal is to solve the long-standing mystery of the origin of UHE cosmic rays. To do this, GRAND will detect an unprecedented number of UHE cosmic rays and search for the undiscovered UHE neutrinos and gamma rays associated to them with unmatched sensitivity. GRAND will use large arrays of antennas to detect the radio emission coming from extensive air showers initiated by UHE particles in the atmosphere. Its design is modular: 20 separate, independent sub-arrays, each of 10 000 radio antennas deployed over 10 000 km^2. A staged construction plan will validate key detection techniques while achieving important science goals early. Here we present the science goals, detection strategy, preliminary design, performance goals, and construction plans for GRAND.

giant radio array
neutrino detection
grand


Superconformal generalizations of the Starobinsky model

Abstract: We find a way to represent the Starobinsky model in terms of a simple conformally invariant theory with spontaneous symmetry breaking. We also present a superconformal theory, which, upon spontaneous breaking of the superconformal symmetry, provides a consistent supergravity generalization of the Starobinsky model.

starobinsky model
superconformal generalization
supergravity model
su(2,1)/su(2


Gaia DR2 in 6D: Searching for the fastest stars in the Galaxy

Abstract: We search for the fastest stars in the subset of stars with radial velocity measurements of the second data release (DR2) of the European Space Agency mission Gaia. Starting from the observed positions, parallaxes, proper motions, and radial velocities, we construct the distance and total velocity distribution of more than 7 million stars in our Milky Way, deriving the full 6D phase space information in Galactocentric coordinates. These information are shared in a catalogue, publicly available at http://home.strw.leidenuniv.nl/ marchetti/research.html. To search for unbound stars, we then focus on stars with a probability greater than 50 % of being unbound from the Milky Way. This cut results in a clean sample of 125 sources with reliable astrometric parameters and radial velocities. Of these, 20 stars have probabilities greater than 80 % of being unbound from the Galaxy. On this latter sub-sample, we perform orbit integration to characterize the stars' orbital parameter distributions. As expected given the relatively small sample size of bright stars, we find no hypervelocity star candidates, stars that are moving on orbits consistent with coming from the Galactic Centre. Instead, we find 7 hyper-runaway star candidates, coming from the Galactic disk. Surprisingly, the remaining 13 unbound stars cannot be traced back to the Galaxy, including two of the fastest stars (around 700 km/s). If conformed, these may constitute the tip of the iceberg of a large extragalactic population or the extreme velocity tail of stellar streams.

star
radial velocity
proper motion
orbit integration
gaia dr2


Exploring the String Axiverse with Precision Black Hole Physics

Abstract: It has recently been suggested that the presence of a plenitude of light axions, an Axiverse, is evidence for the extra dimensions of string theory. We discuss the observational consequences of these axions on astrophysical black holes through the Penrose superradiance process. When an axion Compton wavelength is comparable to the size of a black hole, the axion binds to the black hole "nucleus" forming a gravitational atom in the sky. The occupation number of superradiant atomic levels, fed by the energy and angular momentum of the black hole, grows exponentially. The black hole spins down and an axion Bose-Einstein condensate cloud forms around it. When the attractive axion self-interactions become stronger than the gravitational binding energy, the axion cloud collapses, a phenomenon known in condensed matter physics as "Bosenova". The existence of axions is first diagnosed by gaps in the mass vs spin plot of astrophysical black holes. For young black holes the allowed values of spin are quantized, giving rise to "Regge trajectories" inside the gap region. The axion cloud can also be observed directly either through precision mapping of the near horizon geometry or through gravitational waves coming from the Bosenova explosion, as well as axion transitions and annihilations in the gravitational atom. Our estimates suggest that these signals are detectable in upcoming experiments, such as Advanced LIGO, AGIS, and LISA. Current black hole spin measurements imply an upper bound on the QCD axion decay constant of 2 x 10^17 GeV, while Advanced LIGO can detect signals from a QCD axion cloud with a decay constant as low as the GUT scale. We finally discuss the possibility of observing the gamma-rays associated with the Bosenova explosion and, perhaps, the radio waves from axion-to-photon conversion for the QCD axion.

string axiverse
black hole
boson
superradiant instability
hole superradiance


Circular polarizations of gravitational waves from core-collapse supernovae: a clear indication of rapid rotation

Abstract: We propose to employ the circular polarization of gravitational waves emitted by core-collapse supernovae as an unequivocal indication of rapid rotation deep in their cores. It has been demonstrated by three dimensional simulations that non-axisymmetric accretion flows may develop spontaneously via hydrodynamical instabilities in the post-bounce cores. It is not surprising then that the gravitational waves emitted by such fluid motions are circularly polarized. We show in this letter that a network of the second generation detectors of gravitational waves worldwide may be able to detect such polarizations up to the opposite side of Galaxy as long as the rotation period is shorter than a few seconds prior to collapse.

gravitational wave
core-collapse supernovae
circular polarization


The Statefinder hierarchy: An extended null diagnostic for concordance cosmology

Abstract: We show how higher derivatives of the expansion factor can be developed into a null diagnostic for concordance cosmology (LCDM). It is well known that the Statefinder – the third derivative of the expansion factor written in dimensionless form, a^(3)/aH^3, equals unity for LCDM. We generalize this result to higher derivatives of the expansion factor and demonstrate that the hierarchy, a^(n)/aH^n, can be converted to a form that stays pegged at unity in concordance cosmology. This remarkable property of the Statefinder hierarchy enables it to be used as an extended null diagnostic for the cosmological constant. The Statefinder hierarchy combined with the growth rate of matter perturbations defines a composite null diagnostic which can distinguish evolving dark energy from LCDM.

statefinder hierarchy
extended null
concordance cosmology


Adaptive Optics for Astronomy

Abstract: Adaptive Optics is a prime example of how progress in observational astronomy can be driven by technological developments. At many observatories it is now considered to be part of a standard instrumentation suite, enabling ground-based telescopes to reach the diffraction limit and thus providing spatial resolution superior to that achievable from space with current or planned satellites. In this review we consider adaptive optics from the astrophysical perspective. We show that adaptive optics has led to important advances in our understanding of a multitude of astrophysical processes, and describe how the requirements from science applications are now driving the development of the next generation of novel adaptive optics techniques.

astronomy
diffraction limit
adaptive optics


A Complete Census of Luminous Stellar Variability on Day to Decade Timescales

Abstract: Stellar photometric variability offers a novel probe of the interior structure and evolutionary state of stars. Here we present a census of stellar variability on day to decade timescales across the color-magnitude diagram for 73,000 stars brighter than M_I=-5 in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). Our Cycle 24 HST program acquired V and I-band images over 34 epochs spanning one year with pseudo-random cadences enabling sensitivity to periods from days to months. We supplement these data with archival V and I-band HST data obtained in 1995 and 2005 providing sensitivity to variability on decade timescales. At least 50 stars brighter than M_I=-7 show strong evidence for variability within our Cycle 24 data; among stars with V-I>2 the variability fraction rises to 100 Large amplitude variability (>0.3 mag) on decade timescales is restricted to red supergiants and very luminous blue stars. Both populations display fairly smooth variability on month-year timescales. The Cepheid instability strip is clearly visible in our data, although the variability fraction within this region never exceeds 10 magnitude diagram broadly agrees with theoretical sources of variability, including the instability strip, red supergiant pulsational instabilities, long-period fundamental mode pulsations, and radiation-dominated envelopes in massive stars. Our data can be used to place stringent constraints on the precise onset of these various instabilities and their lifetimes and growth rates.

stellar variability
decade timescale
star


Quasinormal modes and Hawking radiation of black holes in cubic gravity

Abstract: We consider quasinormal modes and Hawking radiation of four-dimensional asymptotically flat black holes in the most general up to-cubic-order-in-curvature dimension-independent Einsteinian theory of gravity that shares its graviton spectrum with the Einstein theory on constant curvature backgrounds. We show that damping rate and real oscillation frequencies of quasinormal modes for scalar, electromagnetic and Dirac fields are suppressed once the coupling with the cubic term is on. The intensity of Hawking radiation is suppressed as well, leading to, roughly, one order longer lifetime at a sufficiently large coupling constant.


Analytical study of higher-order ring images of accretion disk around black hole

Abstract: Gravitational lensing of a light source by a black hole leads to appearance of higher-order images produced by photons that loop around the black hole before reaching the observer. Higher-order images were widely investigated numerically and analytically, in particular using so-called strong deflection limit of gravitational deflection. After recent observations of the black hole image, attention has been drawn to higher-order rings, which are lensed images of the accreting matter of the black hole environment and can appear near the boundary of the black hole shadow. In this article, we use strong deflection limit technique to investigate higher-order ring images of luminous accretion disc around a Schwarzschild black hole. We consider thin disk given by the inner and outer radii and an observer located far from the black hole on the axis of symmetry. For this configuration, it becomes possible to find the angular radii, thicknesses, and solid angles of higher-order rings in the form of compact analytical expressions. We show that the size of the rings is mainly determined by the position of the inner boundary of the accretion disk, which makes it possible to use them to distinguish between different accretion models. Possible generalizations of our model to non-symmetric images can help to make the estimation of black hole angular momentum. We also present the analytical estimation of fluxes from higher-order images. Our method makes it easy to investigate n=2 and n=3 higher-order rings, the possible observation of which in future projects is currently being discussed.

higher-order ring image
accretion disk
black hole


Starburst galaxies strike back: a multi-messenger analysis with Fermi-LAT and IceCube data

Abstract: Starburst galaxies, which are known as "reservoirs" of high-energy cosmic-rays, can represent an important high-energy neutrino "factory" contributing to the diffuse neutrino flux observed by IceCube. In this paper, we revisit the constraints affecting the neutrino and gamma-ray hadronuclear emissions from this class of astrophysical objects. In particular, we go beyond the standard prototype-based approach leading to a simple power-law neutrino flux, and investigate a more realistic model based on a data-driven blending of spectral indexes, thereby capturing the observed changes in the properties of individual emitters. We then perform a multi-messenger analysis considering the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGB) measured by Fermi-LAT and different IceCube data samples: the 7.5-year High-Energy Starting Events (HESE) and the 6-year high-energy cascade data. Along with starburst galaxies, we take into account the contributions from blazars and radio galaxies as well as the secondary gamma-rays from electromagnetic cascades. Remarkably, we find that, differently from the highly-constrained prototype scenario, the spectral index blending allows starburst galaxies to account for up to 40% of the HESE events at 95.4% CL, while satisfying the limit on the non-blazar EGB component. Moreover, values of 𝒪(100 PeV) for the maximal energy of accelerated cosmic-rays by supernovae remnants inside the starburst are disfavoured in our scenario. In broad terms, our analysis points out that a better modeling of astrophysical sources could alleviate the tension between neutrino and gamma-ray data interpretation.

multi-messenger analysis
fermi-lat
starburst galaxy


The mass gap, the spin gap, and the origin of merging binary black holes

Abstract: Two of the dominant channels to produce the black-hole binary mergers observed by LIGO and Virgo are believed to be the isolated evolution of stellar binaries in the field and dynamical formation in star clusters. Their relative efficiency can be characterized by a "mixing fraction." Pair instabilities prevent stellar collapse from generating black holes more massive than about 45 M_⊙. This "mass gap" only applies to the field formation scenario, and it can be filled by repeated mergers in clusters. A similar reasoning applies to the binary's effective spin. If black holes are born slowly rotating, the high-spin portion of the parameter space (the "spin gap") can only be populated by black hole binaries that were assembled dynamically. Using a semianalytical cluster model, we show that future gravitational-wave events in either the mass gap, the spin gap, or both can be leveraged to infer the mixing fraction between the field and cluster formation channels.


Bulge growth through disk instabilities in high-redshift galaxies

Abstract: The role of disk instabilities, such as bars and spiral arms, and the associated resonances, in growing bulges in the inner regions of disk galaxies have long been studied in the low-redshift nearby Universe. There it has long been probed observationally, in particular through peanut-shaped bulges. This secular growth of bulges in modern disk galaxies is driven by weak, non-axisymmetric instabilities: it mostly produces pseudo-bulges at slow rates and with long star-formation timescales. Disk instabilities at high redshift (z>1) in moderate-mass to massive galaxies (10^10 to a few 10^11 Msun of stars) are very different from those found in modern spiral galaxies. High-redshift disks are globally unstable and fragment into giant clumps containing 10^8-10^9 Msun of gas and stars each, which results in highly irregular galaxy morphologies. The clumps and other features associated to the violent instability drive disk evolution and bulge growth through various mechanisms, on short timescales. The giant clumps can migrate inward and coalesce into the bulge in a few 10^8 yr. The instability in the very turbulent media drives intense gas inflows toward the bulge and nuclear region. Thick disks and supermassive black holes can grow concurrently as a result of the violent instability. This chapter reviews the properties of high-redshift disk instabilities, the evolution of giant clumps and other features associated to the instability, and the resulting growth of bulges and associated sub-galactic components.


On the relationship between mean observations, spatial averages and the Dyer-Roeder approximation in Einstein-Straus models

Abstract: The redshift and redshift-distance relation in different Einstein-Straus models are considered. Specifically, the mean of these observables along 1000 light rays in different specific models are compared with predictions based on the Dyer-Roeder approximation and relations based on spatial averaging. It is shown that in certain limits, including those studied earlier in the literature, the Dyer-Roeder approximation and relations based on spatial averages agree with each other to a good precision regarding the redshift and redshift-distance relation and make good predictions of the mean of the exact relations. In limits where the two methods disagree, the Dyer-Roeder approximation clearly yields the better approximation of the true mean. This is explained by demonstrating the effect of boundary terms and integrated Sachs-Wolfe contributions but it is pointed out that the result seems to be valid for other Swiss-cheese models as well. Lastly, an expression for the redshift drift in Einstein-Straus models is presented and used for studying the behavior of this quantity in particular Einstein-Straus models.

spatial average
dyer-roeder approximation
einstein-straus model


Constraining spatial variations of the fine structure constant using clusters of galaxies and Planck data

Abstract: We propose an improved methodology to constrain spatial variations of the fine structure constant using clusters of galaxies. We use the Planck 2013 data to measure the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect at the location of 618 X-ray selected clusters. We then use a Monte Carlo Markov Chain algorithm to obtain the temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background at the location of each galaxy cluster. When fitting three different phenomenological parameterizations allowing for monopole and dipole amplitudes in the value of the fine structure constant we improve the results of earlier analysis involving clusters and the CMB power spectrum, and we also found that the best-fit direction of a hypothetical dipole is compatible with the direction of other known anomalies. Although the constraining power of our current datasets do not allow us to test the indications of a fine-structure constant dipole obtained though high-resolution optical/UV spectroscopy, our results do highlight that clusters of galaxies will be a very powerful tool to probe fundamental physics at low redshift.


The final spin from binary black holes in quasi-circular orbits

Abstract: We revisit the problem of predicting the spin magnitude and direction of the black hole resulting from the merger of two black holes with arbitrary masses and spins inspiralling in quasi-circular orbits. We do this by analyzing a catalog of 619 recent numerical-relativity simulations collected from the literature and spanning a large variety of initial conditions. By combining information from the post-Newtonian approximation, the extreme mass-ratio limit and perturbative calculations, we improve our previously proposed phenomenological formulae for the final remnant spin. In contrast with alternative suggestions in the literature, and in analogy with our previous expressions, the new formula is a simple algebraic function of the initial system parameters and is not restricted to binaries with spins aligned/anti-aligned with the orbital angular momentum, but can be employed for fully generic binaries. The accuracy of the new expression is significantly improved, especially for almost extremal progenitor spins and for small mass ratios, yielding a root-mean-square error σ≈0.002 for aligned/anti-aligned binaries and σ≈0.006 for generic binaries. Our new formula is suitable for cosmological applications and can be employed robustly in the analysis of the gravitational waveforms from advanced interferometric detectors.

final spin
black hole
quasi-circular orbit


Magnetic fields of neutron stars in X-ray binaries

Abstract: A substantial fraction of the known neutron stars resides in X-ray binaries – systems in which one compact object accretes matter from a companion star. Neutron stars in X-ray binaries have magnetic fields among the highest found in the Universe, spanning at least the range from ∼10^8 to several 10^13 G. The magnetospheres around these neutron stars have a strong influence on the accretion process, which powers most of their emission. The magnetic field intensity and geometry, are among the main factors responsible for the large variety of spectral and timing properties observed in the X-ray energy range, making these objects unique laboratories to study the matter behavior and the radiation processes in magnetic fields unaccessible on Earth. In this paper we review the main observational aspects related to the presence of magnetic fields in neutron star X-ray binaries and some methods that are used to estimate their strength.

neutron star
x-ray binary
magnetic field


Determining the Hubble Constant without the Sound Horizon: Measurements from Galaxy Surveys

Abstract: Two sources of geometric information are encoded in the galaxy power spectrum: the sound horizon at recombination and the horizon at matter-radiation equality. Analyzing the BOSS DR12 galaxy power spectra using perturbation theory with Ω_m priors from Pantheon supernovae but no priors on Ω_b, we obtain constraints on H_0 from the second scale, finding H_0 = 65.1^+3.0_-5.4 km s^-1Mpc^-1; this differs from the best-fit of SH0ES at 95% confidence. Similar results are obtained if Ω_m is constrained from uncalibrated BAO: H_0 = 65.6^+3.4_-5.5 km s^-1Mpc^-1. Adding the analogous lensing results from Baxter & Sherwin 2020, the posterior shifts to 70.6^+3.7_-5.0 km s^-1Mpc^-1. Using mock data, Fisher analyses, and scale-cuts, we demonstrate that our constraints do not receive significant information from the sound horizon scale. Since many models resolve the H_0 controversy by adding new physics to alter the sound horizon, our measurements are a consistency test for standard cosmology before recombination. A simple forecast indicates that such constraints could reach σ_H_0≃ 1.6 km s^-1Mpc^-1 in the era of Euclid.

hubble constant
sound horizon
galaxy power spectrum
equality


Comment on "Kerr Black Holes as Particle Accelerators to Arbitrarily High Energy"

Abstract: It has been suggested that rotating black holes could serve as particle colliders with arbitrarily high center-of-mass energy. Astrophysical limitations on the maximal spin, back-reaction effects and sensitivity to the initial conditions impose severe limits on the likelihood of such collisions.

black hole
high energy
maximal spin
gravitational radiation


Primordial non-Gaussianity from the DBI Galileons

Abstract: We study primordial fluctuations generated during inflation in a class of models motivated by the DBI Galileons, which are extensions of the DBI action that yield second order field equations. This class of models generalises the DBI Galileons in a similar way with K-inflation. We calculate the primordial non-Gaussianity from the bispectrum of the curvature perturbations at leading order in the slow-varying approximations. We show that the estimator for the equilateral-type non-Gaussianity, f_ NL ^equil, can be applied to measure the amplitude of the primordial bispectrum even in the presence of the Galileon-like term although it gives a slightly different momentum dependence from K-inflation models. For the DBI Galileons, we find -0.32 /c_s^2 < f_ NL ^equil < -0.16/c_s^2 and large primordial non-Gaussianities can be obtained when c_s is much smaller than 1 as in the usual DBI inflation. In G-inflation models, where a de Sitter solution is obtained without any potentials, the non-linear parameter is given by f_ NL^equil = 4.62 r^-2/3 where r is the tensor to scalar ratio, giving a stringent constraint on the model.

non-gaussianity
dbi galileons
primordial fluctuation
galileon theory


Turbulence Regulates the Rate of Planetesimal Formation via Gravitational Collapse

Abstract: We study how the interaction between the streaming instability and intrinsic gas-phase turbulence affects planetesimal formation via gravitational collapse in protoplanetary disks. Turbulence impedes the formation of particle clumps by acting as an effective turbulent diffusivity, but it can also promote planetesimal formation by concentrating solids, for example in zonal flows. We quantify the effect of turbulent diffusivity using numerical simulations of the streaming instability in small local domains, forced with velocity perturbations that establish approximately Kolmogorov-like turbulence. We find that planetesimal formation is suppressed by turbulence once velocity fluctuations exceed ⟨δ v^2 ⟩≃ 10^-3.5 - 10^-3 c_s^2. Turbulence whose strength is just below the threshold reduces the rate at which solids are bound into clumps. Our results suggest that the well-established turbulent thickening of the mid-plane solid layer is the primary mechanism by which turbulence influences planetesimal formation and that planetesimal formation requires a mid-plane solid-to-gas ratio ϵ≳ 0.5. We also quantify the initial planetesimal mass function using a new clump-tracking method to determine each planetesimal mass shortly after collapse. For models in which planetesimals form, we show that the mass function is well-described by a broken power law, whose parameters are robust to the inclusion and strength of imposed turbulence. Turbulence in protoplanetary disks is likely to substantially exceed the threshold for planetesimal formation at radii where temperatures T ≳ 10^3 K lead to thermal ionization. Planetesimal formation may therefore be unviable in the inner disk out to 2-3 times the dust sublimation radius.

planetesimal formation
gravitational collapse
turbulence


Detailed Shape and Evolutionary Behavior of the X-ray Luminosity Function of Active Galactic Nuclei

Abstract: We construct the rest-frame 2–10 keV intrinsic X-ray luminosity function of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) from a combination of X-ray surveys from the all-sky Swift BAT survey to the Chandra Deep Field-South. We use 3200 AGNs in our analysis, which covers six orders of magnitude in flux. The inclusion of the XMM and Chandra COSMOS data has allowed us to investigate the detailed behavior of the XLF and evolution. In deriving our XLF, we take into account realistic AGN spectrum templates, absorption corrections, and probability density distributions in photometric redshift. We present an analytical expression for the overall behavior of the XLF in terms of the luminosity-dependent density evolution, smoothed two power-law expressions in 11 redshift shells, three-segment power-law expression of the number density evolution in four luminosity classes, and binned XLF. We observe a sudden flattening of the low luminosity end slope of the XLF slope at z> 0.6. Detailed structures of the AGN downsizing have been also revealed, where the number density curves have two clear breaks at all luminosity classes above log LX>43. The two break structure is suggestive of two-phase AGN evolution, consisting of major merger triggering and secular processes.

x-ray luminosity function
active galactic nuclei
redshift


Dark Matter Limits From Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies with The HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory

Abstract: The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) gamma-ray observatory is a wide field of view observatory sensitive to 500 GeV - 100 TeV gamma rays and cosmic rays. It can also perform diverse indirect searches for dark matter (DM) annihilation and decay. Among the most promising targets for the indirect detection of dark matter are dwarf spheroidal galaxies. These objects are expected to have few astrophysical sources of gamma rays but high dark matter content, making them ideal candidates for an indirect dark matter detection with gamma rays. Here we present individual limits on the annihilation cross section and decay lifetime for 15 dwarf spheroidal galaxies within the HAWC field-of-view, as well as their combined limit. These are the first limits on the annihilation cross section and decay lifetime using data collected with HAWC.

dwarf spheroidal galaxy
astrophysical source
dark matter


Measuring neutron-star properties via gravitational waves from binary mergers

Abstract: We demonstrate by a large set of merger simulations for symmetric binary neutron stars (NSs) that there is a tight correlation between the frequency peak of the postmerger gravitational-wave (GW) emission and the physical properties of the nuclear equation of state (EoS), e.g. expressed by the radius of the maximum-mass Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkhoff configuration. Therefore, a single measurement of the peak frequency of the postmerger GW signal will constrain the NS EoS significantly. For plausible optimistic merger-rate estimates a corresponding detection with Advanced LIGO is likely to happen within an operation time of roughly a year.

gravitational wave
neutron star
merger remnant


Does information entropy play a role in the expansion and acceleration of the Universe?

Abstract: We propose an interpretation of the expansion and acceleration of the Universe from an information theoretic viewpoint. We obtain the time evolution of the configuration entropy of the mass distribution in a static Universe and show that the process of gravitational instability leads to a rapid dissipation of configuration entropy during the growth of the density fluctuations making such a Universe entropically unfavourable. We find that in an expanding Universe, the configuration entropy rate is governed by the expansion rate of the Universe and the growth rate of density fluctuations. The configuration entropy rate becomes smaller but still remains negative in a matter dominated Universe and eventually becomes zero at some future time in a Λ dominated Universe. The configuration entropy may have a connection to the dark energy and possibly plays a driving role in the current accelerating expansion of the Universe leading the Universe to its maximum entropy configuration.

universe
configuration entropy
dissipation
non-linear state


Quasi-periodic oscillations from the accretion disk around distorted black holes

Abstract: We study the quasi-periodic oscillations from the accretion disk around the distorted Schwarzschild black hole in the framework of the resonant models. We confine ourselves to the case of a quadrupole distortion which can be caused for example by the accreting matter flow in the vicinity of the compact object. For the purpose we examine the linear stability of the circular geodesic orbits in the equatorial plane and derive analytical expressions for the radial and vertical epicyclic frequencies. We investigate their properties in comparison with the isolated Schwarzschild black hole. Due to the influence of the external matter the vertical epicyclic frequency is not always positive anymore, and the stability of the circular orbits is determined by the interplay between both of the frequencies. As a result, the stable circular orbits do not extend to infinity, but are confined to a finite annular region between an inner and an outer marginally stable orbit. In addition, the degeneracy between the vertical epicyclic and the orbital frequency, which is characteristic for the Schwarzschild solution, is broken, and there are regions in the parametric space where the radial epicyclic frequency is larger than the vertical one. All these properties allow for much more diverse types of non-linear resonances to be excited than for the isolated Schwarzschild black hole, which can provide an explanation for the observed 3:2 ratio between the twin-peak frequencies of the quasi-periodic oscillations from the accretion disk.

accretion disk
black hole
quasi-periodic oscillation


Origin of nonlinearity and plausible turbulence by hydromagnetic transient growth in accretion disks: Faster growth rate than magnetorotational instability

Abstract: We investigate the evolution of hydromagnetic perturbations in a small section of accretion disks. It is known that molecular viscosity is negligible in accretion disks. Hence, it has been argued that a mechanism, known as Magnetorotational Instability (MRI), is responsible for transporting matter in the presence of weak magnetic field. However, there are some shortcomings, which question effectiveness of MRI. Now the question arises, whether other hydromagnetic effects, e.g. transient growth (TG), can play important role to bring nonlinearity in the system, even at weak magnetic fields. Otherwise, whether MRI or TG, which is primarily responsible to reveal nonlinearity to make the flow turbulent? Our results prove explicitly that the flows with high Reynolds number (Re), which is the case of realistic astrophysical accretion disks, exhibit nonlinearity by TG of perturbation modes faster than that by modes producing MRI. For a fixed wave vector, MRI dominates over transient effects, only at low Re, lower than its value expected to be in astrophysical accretion disks, and low magnetic fields. This seriously questions (overall) persuasiveness of MRI in astrophysical accretion disks.

plausible turbulence
accretion disk
magnetorotational instability


Galaxy Bias and Primordial Non-Gaussianity

Abstract: We present a systematic study of galaxy biasing in the presence of primordial non-Gaussianity. For a large class of non-Gaussian initial conditions, we define a general bias expansion and prove that it is closed under renormalization, thereby showing that the basis of operators in the expansion is complete. We then study the effects of primordial non-Gaussianity on the statistics of galaxies. We show that the equivalence principle enforces a relation between the scale-dependent bias in the galaxy power spectrum and that in the dipolar part of the bispectrum. This provides a powerful consistency check to confirm the primordial origin of any observed scale-dependent bias. Finally, we also discuss the imprints of anisotropic non-Gaussianity as motivated by recent studies of higher-spin fields during inflation.

primordial non-gaussianity
imprint
galaxy bias


Uncertainty quantification for radio interferometric imaging: I. proximal MCMC methods

Abstract: Uncertainty quantification is a critical missing component in radio interferometric imaging that will only become increasingly important as the big-data era of radio interferometry emerges. Since radio interferometric imaging requires solving a high-dimensional, ill-posed inverse problem, uncertainty quantification is difficult but also critical to the accurate scientific interpretation of radio observations. Statistical sampling approaches to perform Bayesian inference, like Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling, can in principle recover the full posterior distribution of the image, from which uncertainties can then be quantified. However, traditional high-dimensional sampling methods are generally limited to smooth (e.g. Gaussian) priors and cannot be used with sparsity-promoting priors. Sparse priors, motivated by the theory of compressive sensing, have been shown to be highly effective for radio interferometric imaging. In this article proximal MCMC methods are developed for radio interferometric imaging, leveraging proximal calculus to support non-differential priors, such as sparse priors, in a Bayesian framework. Furthermore, three strategies to quantify uncertainties using the recovered posterior distribution are developed: (i) local (pixel-wise) credible intervals to provide error bars for each individual pixel; (ii) highest posterior density credible regions; and (iii) hypothesis testing of image structure. These forms of uncertainty quantification provide rich information for analysing radio interferometric observations in a statistically robust manner.

interferometric imaging
proximal mcmc method
uncertainty quantification


Magnetic catalysis in nuclear matter

Abstract: A strong magnetic field enhances the chiral condensate at low temperatures. This so-called magnetic catalysis thus seeks to increase the vacuum mass of nucleons. We employ two relativistic field-theoretical models for nuclear matter, the Walecka model and an extended linear sigma model, to discuss the resulting effect on the transition between vacuum and nuclear matter at zero temperature. In both models we find that the creation of nuclear matter in a sufficiently strong magnetic field becomes energetically more costly due to the heaviness of magnetized nucleons, even though it is also found that nuclear matter is more strongly bound in a magnetic field. Our results are potentially important for dense nuclear matter in compact stars, especially since previous studies in the astrophysical context have always ignored the contribution of the magnetized Dirac sea and thus the effect of magnetic catalysis.

nuclear matter
strong magnetic field
magnetized nucleon
magnetic catalysis


Finding strong lenses in CFHTLS using convolutional neural networks

Abstract: We train and apply convolutional neural networks, a machine learning technique developed to learn from and classify image data, to Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) imaging for the identification of potential strong lensing systems. An ensemble of four convolutional neural networks was trained on images of simulated galaxy-galaxy lenses. The training sets consisted of a total of 62,406 simulated lenses and 64,673 non-lens negative examples generated with two different methodologies. The networks were able to learn the features of simulated lenses with accuracy of up to 99.8 simulations. An ensemble of trained networks was applied to all of the 171 square degrees of the CFHTLS wide field image data, identifying 18,861 candidates including 63 known and 139 other potential lens candidates. A second search of 1.4 million early type galaxies selected from the survey catalog as potential deflectors, identified 2,465 candidates including 117 previously known lens candidates, 29 confirmed lenses/high-quality lens candidates, 266 novel probable or potential lenses and 2097 candidates we classify as false positives. For the catalog-based search we estimate a completeness of 21-28 with respect to detectable lenses and a purity of 15 rate of 1 in 671 images tested. We predict a human astronomer reviewing candidates produced by the system would identify 20 probable lenses and 100 possible lenses per hour in a sample selected by the robot. Convolutional neural networks are therefore a promising tool for use in the search for lenses in current and forthcoming surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

lense
cfhtls
convolutional neural network


Effect of large-scale coherent structures on turbulent convection

Abstract: We study an effect of large-scale coherent structures on global properties of turbulent convection in laboratory experiments in air flow in a rectangular chamber with aspect ratios A ≈ 2 and A≈ 4 (with the Rayleigh numbers varying in the range from 5 × 10^6 to 10^8). The large-scale coherent structures comprise the one-cell and two-cell flow patterns. We found that a main contribution to the turbulence kinetic energy production in turbulent convection with large-scale coherent structures is due to the non-uniform large-scale motions. Turbulence in large Rayleigh number convection with coherent structures is produced by shear, rather than by buoyancy. We determined the scalings of global parameters (e.g., the production and dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy, the turbulent velocity and integral turbulent scale, the large-scale shear, etc.) of turbulent convection versus the temperature difference between the bottom and the top walls of the chamber. These scalings are in an agreement with our theoretical predictions. We demonstrated that the degree of inhomogeneity of the turbulent convection with large-scale coherent structures is small.

large-scale coherent structure
turbulent convection
buoyancy


Dark Matter Annihilation Rates with Velocity-Dependent Annihilation Cross Sections

Abstract: The detection of byproducts from particle annihilations in galactic halos would provide important information about the nature of the dark matter. Observational evidence for a local excess of high-energy positrons has motivated recent models with an additional interaction between dark matter particles that can result in a Sommerfeld enhancement to the cross section for annihilation. In such models, the cross section becomes velocity-dependent and may enhance the dark matter annihilation rate in the solar neighborhood relative to the rate in the early universe sufficiently to source observed fluxes of high-energy positrons. We demonstrate that, for particle interaction cross sections that increase with decreasing velocity, the kinematical structures of dark matter halos with interior density profiles shallower than isothermal, such as Navarro-Frenk-White or Einasto halos, may induce a further enhancement owing to the position-dependent velocity distribution. We provide specific examples for the increase in the annihilation rate with a cross section enhanced by the Sommerfeld effect. In dark matter halos like that of the Milky Way and Local Group dwarf galaxies, the effective cross section at the halo center can be significantly larger than its local value. The additional enhancement owing to halo kinematics depends upon the parameters of any model, but is a prediction of certain models aimed at explaining measured positron fluxes and can exceed an order of magnitude.

velocity-dependence
annihilation cross section
dark matter particle
matter velocity distribution


The Dust Attenuation Law in Galaxies

Abstract: Understanding the properties and physical mechanisms that shape dust attenuation curves in galaxies is one of the fundamental questions of extragalactic astrophysics, with a great practical significance for deriving the physical properties of galaxies, such as the star formation rate and stellar mass. Attenuation curves result from a combination of dust grain properties, dust content, and the spatial arrangement of dust and different populations of stars. In this review we assess the current state of the field, paying particular attention to the importance of extinction curves as the building blocks of attenuation laws. We introduce a quantitative framework to characterize and compare extinction and attenuation curves, present a theoretical foundation for interpreting empirical results, overview an array of observational methods, and review the observational state of the field at both low and high redshift. Our main conclusions are: Attenuation curves exhibit a large range of slopes, from curves with shallow (Milky Way-like) slopes to those exceeding the slope of the SMC extinction curve. The slopes of the curves correlate strongly with the effective optical opacities, in the sense that galaxies with low dust column density (lower visual attenuation) tend to have steeper slopes, whereas the galaxies with high dust column density have shallower (grey) slopes. Galaxies appear to exhibit a diverse range of 2175A UV bump strengths, but on average have suppressed bumps compared to the average Milky Way extinction curve. Theoretical studies indicate that variations in bump strength may result from similar geometric and radiative transfer effects that drive the correlation between the slope and the dust column.

attenuation
galaxy
dust grain property
extinction curve


Strangulation as the primary mechanism for shutting down star formation in galaxies

Abstract: Local galaxies are broadly divided into two main classes, star-forming (gas-rich) and quiescent (passive and gas-poor). The primary mechanism responsible for quenching star formation in galaxies and transforming them into quiescent and passive systems is still unclear. Sudden removal of gas through outflows or stripping is one of the mechanisms often proposed. An alternative mechanism is so-called "strangulation", in which the supply of cold gas to the galaxy is halted. Here we report that the difference between quiescent and star forming galaxies in terms of stellar metallicity (i.e. the fraction of metals heavier than helium in stellar atmospheres) can be used to discriminate efficiently between the two mechanisms. The analysis of the stellar metallicity in local galaxies, from 26,000 spectra, clearly reveals that strangulation is the primary mechanism responsible for quenching star formation, with a typical timescale of 4 billion years, at least for local galaxies with a stellar mass less than 10^11 solar masses. This result is further supported independently by the stellar age difference between quiescent and star-forming galaxies, which indicates that quiescent galaxies of less than 10^11 solar masses are on average observed four billion years after quenching due to strangulation.


Does the Hubble constant tension call for new physics?

Abstract: The Λ Cold Dark Matter model (ΛCDM) represents the current standard model in cosmology. Within this, there is a tension between the value of the Hubble constant, H_0, inferred from local distance indicators and the angular scale of fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). We investigate whether the tension is significant enough to warrant new physics in the form of modifying or adding energy components to the standard cosmological model. We find that late time dark energy explanations are slightly disfavoured whereas a pre-CMB decoupling extra dark energy component has a marginally positive Bayesian evidence. A constant equation of state of the additional early energy density is constrained to 0.086^+0.04_-0.03. Although this value deviates significantly from 1/3, valid for dark radiation, the latter is not disfavoured based on the Bayesian evidence. If the tension persists, future estimates of H_0 at the 1% level will be able to decisively determine which of the proposed explanations is favoured.

hubble constant
new physic
dark energy
low red-shift data
tension—as


The Generalized Uncertainty Principle and the Friedmann equations

Abstract: The Generalized Uncertainty Principle (or GUP) affects the dynamics in Plank scale. So the known equations of physics are expected to get modified at that very high energy regime. Very recently authors in (Ali et al. 2009) proposed a new Generalized Uncertainty Principle (or GUP) with a linear term in Plank length. In this article, the proposed GUP is expressed in a more general form and the effect is studied for the modification of the Friedmann equations of the FRW universe. In the midway the known entropy-area relation get some new correction terms, the leading order term being proportional to square root of area.

generalized uncertainty principle
friedmann equation
gup


The interplay of magnetically-dominated turbulence and magnetic reconnection in producing nonthermal particles

Abstract: Magnetized turbulence and magnetic reconnection are often invoked to explain the nonthermal emission observed from a wide variety of astrophysical sources. By means of fully-kinetic 2D and 3D PIC simulations, we investigate the interplay between turbulence and reconnection in generating nonthermal particles in magnetically-dominated pair plasmas. A generic by-product of the turbulence evolution is the generation of a nonthermal particle spectrum with a power-law energy range. The power-law slope p is harder for larger magnetizations and stronger turbulence fluctuations, and it can be as hard as p < 2. The Larmor radius of particles at the high-energy cutoff is comparable to the size l of the largest eddies. Plasmoid-mediated reconnection, which self-consistently occurs in the turbulent plasma, controls the physics of particle injection. Then, particles are further accelerated by stochastic scattering off turbulent fluctuations. The work done by parallel electric fields - naturally expected in reconnection layers - is responsible for most of the initial energy increase, and is proportional to the magnetization σ of the system, while the subsequent energy gain, which dominates the overall energization of high-energy particles, is powered by the perpendicular electric fields of turbulent fluctuations. The two-stage acceleration process leaves an imprint in the particle pitch-angle distribution: low-energy particles are aligned with the field, while the highest energy particles move preferentially orthogonal to it. The energy diffusion coefficient of stochastic acceleration scales as D_γ∼ 0.1σ(c/l)γ^2, where γ is the particle Lorentz factor. This results in fast acceleration timescales t_acc∼ (3/σ) l/c. Our findings have important implications for understanding the generation of nonthermal particles in high-energy astrophysical sources.

turbulence
magnetic reconnection
nonthermal particle


The internal rotation of globular clusters revealed by Gaia DR2

Abstract: Line-of-sight kinematic studies indicate that many Galactic globular clusters have a significant degree of internal rotation. However, three-dimensional kinematics from a combination of proper motions and line-of-sight velocities are needed to unveil the role of angular momentum in the formation and evolution of these old stellar systems. Here we present the first quantitative study of internal rotation on the plane-of-the-sky for a large sample of globular clusters using proper motions from Gaia DR2. We detect signatures of rotation in the tangential component of proper motions for 11 out of 51 clusters at a >3-sigma confidence level, confirming the detection reported in Gaia collaboration et al. (2018) for 8 clusters, and additionally identify 11 GCs with a 2-sigma rotation detection. For the clusters with a detected global rotation, we construct the two-dimensional rotation maps and proper motion rotation curves, and we assess the relevance of rotation with respect to random motions (V/σ∼0.08-0.51). We find evidence of a correlation between the degree of internal rotation and relaxation time, highlighting the importance of long-term dynamical evolution in shaping the clusters current properties. This is a strong indication that angular momentum must have played a fundamental role in the earliest phases of cluster formation. Finally, exploiting the spatial information of the rotation maps and a comparison with line-of-sight data, we provide an estimate of the inclination of the rotation axis for a subset of 8 clusters. Our work demonstrates the potential of Gaia data for internal kinematic studies of globular clusters and provides the first step to reconstruct their intrinsic three-dimensional structure.


A brief history of the multiverse

Abstract: The theory of the inflationary multiverse changes the way we think about our place in the world. According to its most popular version, our world may consist of infinitely many exponentially large parts, exhibiting different sets of low-energy laws of physics. Since these parts are extremely large, the interior of each of them behaves as if it were a separate universe, practically unaffected by the rest of the world. This picture, combined with the theory of eternal inflation and anthropic considerations, may help to solve many difficult problems of modern physics, including the cosmological constant problem. In this article I will briefly describe this theory and provide links to the some hard to find papers written during the first few years of the development of the inflationary multiverse scenario.


Hierarchical mergers of stellar-mass black holes and their gravitational-wave signatures

Abstract: We review theoretical findings, astrophysical modeling, and current gravitational-wave evidence of hierarchical stellar-mass black-hole mergers. While most of the compact binary mergers detected by LIGO and Virgo are expected to consist of first-generation black holes formed from the collapse of stars, others might instead be of second (or higher) generation, containing the remnants of previous black-hole mergers. Such a subpopulation of hierarchically assembled black holes presents distinctive gravitational-wave signatures, namely higher masses, possibly within the pair-instability mass gap, and dimensionless spins clustered at the characteristic value of ∼0.7. In order to produce hierarchical mergers, astrophysical environments need to overcome the relativistic recoils imparted to black-hole merger remnants, a condition which prefers hosts with escape speeds ≳ 100 km/s. Promising locations for efficient production of hierarchical mergers include nuclear star clusters and accretion disks surrounding active galactic nuclei, though environments that are less efficient at retaining merger products such as globular clusters may still contribute significantly to the detectable population of repeated mergers. While GW190521 is the single most promising hierarchical-merger candidate to date, constraints coming from large population analyses are becoming increasingly more powerful.

black hole
gravitational-wave signature
hierarchical merger


Primordial black hole constraints for extended mass functions

Abstract: We revisit the cosmological and astrophysical constraints on the fraction of the dark matter in primordial black holes (PBHs) with an extended mass function. We consider a variety of mass functions, all of which are described by three parameters: a characteristic mass and width and a dark matter fraction. Various observations then impose constraints on the dark matter fraction as a function of the first two parameters. We show how these constraints relate to those for a monochromatic mass function, demonstrating that they usually become more stringent in the extended case than the monochromatic one. Considering only the well-established bounds, and neglecting the ones that depend on additional astrophysical assumptions, we find that there are three mass windows, around 4× 10^-17M_⊙, 2× 10^-14M_⊙ and 25-100M_⊙, where PBHs can constitute all dark matter. However, if one includes all the bounds, PBHs can only constitute of order 10% of the dark matter.

black hole
astrophysical constraint
dark matter
early universe
pbh masse


A formal introduction to Horndeski and Galileon theories and their generalizations

Abstract: We review different constructions of Galileon theories in both flat and curved space, and for both single scalar field models as well as multi-field models. Our main emphasis is on the formal mathematical properties of these theories and their construction.


The case for cases B and C: intrinsic hydrogen line ratios of the broad-line region of active galactic nuclei, reddenings, and accretion disc sizes

Abstract: Low-redshift active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with extremely blue optical spectral indices are shown to have a mean, velocity-averaged, broad-line Hα/Hβ ratio of 2.72 ± 0.04, consistent with a Baker-Menzel Case B value. Comparison of a wide range of properties of the very bluest AGNs with those of a luminosity-matched subset of the Dong et al. blue AGN sample indicates that the only difference is the internal reddening. Ultraviolet fluxes are brighter for the bluest AGNs by an amount consistent with the flat AGN reddening curve of Gaskell et al.(2004). The lack of a significant difference in the GALEX (FUV–NUV) colour index strongly rules out a steep SMC-like reddening curve and also argues against an intrinsically harder spectrum for the bluest AGNs. For very blue AGNs the Lyα/Hβ ratio is also consistent with being the Case B value. The Case B ratios provide strong support for the self-shielded broad-line model of Gaskell, Klimek Nazarova. It is proposed that the greatly enhanced Lyα/Hβ ratio at very high velocities is a consequence of continuum fluorescence in the Lyman lines (Case C). Reddenings of AGNs mean that the far-UV luminosity is often underestimated by up to an order of magnitude. This is a major factor causing the discrepancies between measured accretion disc sizes and the predictions of simple accretion disc theory. Dust covering fractions for most AGNs are lower than has been estimated. The total mass in lower mass supermassive black holes must be greater than hitherto estimated.

reddening
accretion disc size
active galactic nucleus


Viscous Little Rip Cosmology

Abstract: Dark energy of phantom or quintessence nature with an equation of state parameter w almost equal to -1 often leads the universe evolution to a finite-time future singularity. An elegant solution to this problem has been recently proposed <cit.> under the form of the so-called Little Rip cosmology which appears to be a realistic alternative to the ΛCDM model. A viscous Little Rip cosmology is here proposed. Whereas generically bulk viscosity tends to promote the Big Rip, we find that there are a number of situations where this is not the case and where the formalism nicely adjusts itself to the Little Rip scenario. We prove, in particular, that a viscous fluid (or, equivalently, one with an inhomogeneous (imperfect) equation of state) is perfectly able to produce a Little Rip cosmology as a purely viscosity effect. The possibility of its induction as a combined result of viscosity and a general (power-like) equation of state is also investigated in detail. To finish, a physical, inertial force interpretation of the dissolution of bound structures in the Little Rip cosmology is presented.

little rip
future singularity
cosmic time
hubble parameter


High-Resolution Three-Dimensional Simulations of Core-Collapse Supernovae in Multiple Progenitors

Abstract: Three-dimensional simulations of core-collapse supernovae are granting new insight into the as-yet uncertain mechanism that drives successful explosions. While there is still debate about whether explosions are obtained more easily in 3D than in 2D, it is undeniable that there exist qualitative and quantitative differences between the results of 3D and 2D simulations. We present an extensive set of high-resolution one-, two-, and three-dimensional core-collapse supernova simulations with multispecies neutrino leakage carried out in two different progenitors. Our simulations confirm the results of Couch (2013) indicating that 2D explodes more readily than 3D. We argue that this is due to the inadequacies of 2D to accurately capture important aspects of the three-dimensional dynamics. We find that without artificially enhancing the neutrino heating rate we do not obtain explosions in 3D. We examine the development of neutrino-driven convection and the standing accretion shock instability and find that, in separate regimes, either instability can dominate. We find evidence for growth of the standing accretion shock instability for both 15-M_⊙ and 27-M_⊙ progenitors, however, it is weaker in 3D exploding models. The growth rate of both instabilities is artificially enhanced along the symmetry axis in 2D as compared with our axis-free 3D Cartesian simulations. Our work highlights the growing consensus that core-collapse supernovae must be studied in 3D if we hope to solve the mystery of how the explosions are powered.

three-dimensional simulation
core-collapse supernovae
accretion shock instability


Absolute calibration of a wideband antenna and spectrometer for sky noise spectral index measurements

Abstract: A new method of absolute calibration of sky noise temperature using a three-position switched spectrometer, measurements of antenna and low noise amplifier impedance with a vector network analyzer, and ancillary measurements of the amplifier noise waves is described. The details of the method and its application to accurate wideband measurements of the spectral index of the sky noise are described and compared with other methods.


The Phenomenology of Right Handed Neutrinos

Abstract: Neutrinos are the only particles in the Standard Model of particle physics that have only been observed with left handed chirality to date. If right handed neutrinos exist, they could be responsible for several phenomena that have no explanation within the Standard Model, including neutrino oscillations, the baryon asymmetry of the universe, dark matter and dark radiation. After a pedagogical introduction, we review recent progress in the phenomenology of right handed neutrinos. We in particular discuss the mass ranges suggested by hints for neutrino oscillation anomalies and dark radiation (eV), sterile neutrino dark matter scenarios (keV) and experimentally testable theories of baryogenesis (GeV to TeV). We summarize constraints from theoretical considerations, laboratory experiments, astrophysics and cosmology for each of these.


Interacting Dark Energy – constraints and degeneracies

Abstract: In standard cosmologies, dark energy interacts only gravitationally with dark matter. There could be a non-gravitational interaction in the dark sector, leading to changes in the effective DE equation of state, in the redshift dependence of the DM density and in structure formation. We use CMB, BAO and SNIa data to constrain a model where the energy transfer in the dark sector is proportional to the DE density. There are two subclasses, defined by the vanishing of momentum transfer either in the DM or the DE frame. We conduct a Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo analysis to obtain best-fit parameters. The background evolution allows large interaction strengths, and the constraints from CMB anisotropies are weak. The growth of DM density perturbations is much more sensitive to the interaction, and can deviate strongly from the standard case. However, the deviations are degenerate with galaxy bias and thus more difficult to constrain. Interestingly, the ISW signature is suppressed since the non-standard background evolution can compensate for high growth rates. We also discuss the partial degeneracy between interacting DE and modified gravity, and how this can be broken.

dark energy
degeneracy
dark matter
non-gravitational interaction
coupled model


The spin alignment of galaxies with the large-scale tidal field in hydrodynamic simulations

Abstract: The correlation between the spins of dark matter halos and the large-scale structure (LSS) has been studied in great detail over a large redshift range, while investigations of galaxies are still incomplete. Motivated by this point, we use the state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulation, Illustris-1, to investigate mainly the spin–LSS correlation of galaxies at redshift of z=0. We mainly find that the spins of low-mass, blue, oblate galaxies are preferentially aligned with the slowest collapsing direction (e_3) of the large-scale tidal field, while massive, red, prolate galaxy spins tend to be perpendicular to e_3. The transition from a parallel to a perpendicular trend occurs at ∼10^9.4 M_⊙/h in the stellar mass, ∼0.62 in the g-r color, and ∼0.4 in triaxiality. The transition stellar mass decreases with increasing redshifts. The alignment was found to be primarily correlated with the galaxy stellar mass. Our results are consistent with previous studies both in N-body simulations and observations. Our study also fills the vacancy in the study of the galaxy spin–LSS correlation at z=0 using hydrodynamical simulations and also provides important insight to understand the formation and evolution of galaxy angular momentum.

galaxy
large-scale tidal field
hydrodynamic simulation
matter halo
stellar mass


The atmospheric circulation and climate of terrestrial planets orbiting Sun-like and M-dwarf stars over a broad range of planetary parameters

Abstract: The recent detections of temperate terrestrial planets orbiting nearby stars and the promise of characterizing their atmospheres motivates a need to understand how the diversity of possible planetary parameters affects the climate of terrestrial planets. In this work, we investigate the atmospheric circulation and climate of terrestrial exoplanets orbiting both Sun-like and M-dwarf stars over a wide swath of possible planetary parameters, including the planetary rotation period, surface pressure, incident stellar flux, surface gravity, planetary radius, and cloud particle size. We do so using a general circulation model (GCM) that includes non-grey radiative transfer and the effects of clouds. The results from this suite of simulations generally show qualitatively similar dependencies of circulation and climate on planetary parameters as idealized GCMs, with quantitative differences due to the inclusion of additional model physics. Notably, we find that the effective cloud particle size is a key unknown parameter that can greatly affect the climate of terrestrial exoplanets. We confirm a transition between low and high dayside cloud coverage of synchronously rotating terrestrial planets with increasing rotation period. We determine that this cloud transition is due to eddy-driven convergence near the substellar point and should not be parameterization-dependent. Finally, we compute full-phase light curves from our simulations of planets orbiting M-dwarf stars, finding that changing incident stellar flux and rotation period affect observable properties of terrestrial exoplanets. Our GCM results can guide expectations for planetary climate over the broad range of possible terrestrial exoplanets that will be observed with future space telescopes.

atmospheric circulation
terrestrial planet
m-dwarf


The ARCADE 2 Instrument

Abstract: The second generation Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission (ARCADE 2) instrument is a balloon-borne experiment to measure the radiometric temperature of the cosmic microwave background and Galactic and extra-Galactic emission at six frequencies from 3 to 90 GHz. ARCADE 2 utilizes a double-nulled design where emission from the sky is compared to that from an external cryogenic full-aperture blackbody calibrator by cryogenic switching radiometers containing internal blackbody reference loads. In order to further minimize sources of systematic error, ARCADE 2 features a cold fully open aperture with all radiometrically active components maintained at near 2.7 K without windows or other warm objects, achieved through a novel thermal design. We discuss the design and performance of the ARCADE 2 instrument in its 2005 and 2006 flights.

arcade
instrument
cosmology
astrophysics
radio source