The CMB Bispectrum

Abstract: We use a separable mode expansion estimator with WMAP data to estimate the bispectrum for all the primary families of non-Gaussian models. We review the late-time mode expansion estimator methodology which can be applied to any non-separable primordial and CMB bispectrum model, and we demonstrate how the method can be used to reconstruct the CMB bispectrum from an observational map. We extend the previous validation of the general estimator using local map simulations. We apply the estimator to the coadded WMAP 5-year data, reconstructing the WMAP bispectrum using l<500 multipoles and n=31 orthonormal 3D eigenmodes. We constrain all popular nearly scale-invariant models, ensuring that the theoretical bispectrum is well-described by a convergent mode expansion. Constraints from the local model =54.4± 29.4 and the equilateral model =143.5± 151.2 (= 25.1± 26.4) are consistent with previously published results. (Here, we use a nonlinearity parameter normalised to the local case, to allow more direct comparison between different models.) Notable new constraints from our method include those for the constant model = 35.1 ± 27.4, the flattened model = 35.4± 29.2, and warm inflation = 10.3± 27.2. We investigate feature models surveying a wide parameter range in both the scale and phase, and we find no significant evidence of non-Gaussianity in the models surveyed. We propose a measure for the total integrated bispectrum and find that the measured value is consistent with the null hypothesis that CMB anisotropies obey Gaussian statistics. We argue that this general bispectrum survey with the WMAP data represents the best evidence for Gaussianity to date and we discuss future prospects, notably from the Planck satellite.

cmb bispectrum
estimator
non-gaussianity
wmap bispectrum


K-essence model from the mechanical approach point of view: coupled scalar field and the late cosmic acceleration

Abstract: In this paper, we consider the Universe at the late stage of its evolution and deep inside the cell of uniformity. At these scales, we can consider the Universe to be filled with dust-like matter in the form of discretely distributed galaxies, a K-essence scalar field, playing the role of dark energy, and radiation as matter sources. We investigate such a Universe in the mechanical approach. This means that the peculiar velocities of the inhomogeneities (in the form of galaxies) as well as the fluctuations of the other perfect fluids are non-relativistic. Such fluids are designated as coupled because they are concentrated around the inhomogeneities. In the present paper, we investigate the conditions under which the K-essence scalar field with the most general form for its action can become coupled. We investigate at the background level three particular examples of the K-essence models: (i) the pure kinetic K-essence field, (ii) a K-essence with a constant speed of sound and (iii) the K-essence model with the Lagrangian bX+cX^2-V(ϕ). We demonstrate that if the K-essence is coupled, all these K-essence models take the form of multicomponent perfect fluids where one of the component is the cosmological constant. Therefore, they can provide the late-time cosmic acceleration and be simultaneously compatible with the mechanical approach.

scalar field
cosmic acceleration
k-essence model


Probing dark photons in the early universe with big bang nucleosynthesis

Abstract: We perform calculations of dark photon production and decay in the early universe for ranges of dark photon masses and vacuum coupling with standard model photons. Simultaneously and self-consistently with dark photon production and decay, our calculations include a complete treatment of weak decoupling and big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) physics. These calculations incorporate all relevant weak, electromagnetic, and strong nuclear reactions, including charge-changing (isospin-changing) lepton capture and decay processes. They reveal a rich interplay of dark photon production, decay, and associated out-of-equilibrium transport of entropy into the decoupling neutrino seas. Most importantly, the self-consistent nature of our simulations allows us to capture the magnitude and phasing of entropy injection and dilution. Entropy injection-induced alteration of the time-temperature-scale factor relation during weak decoupling and BBN leads to changes in the light element abundance yields and the total radiation content (as parametrized by N_ eff). These changes suggest ways to extend previous dark photon BBN constraints. However, our calculations also identify ranges of dark photon mass and couplings not yet constrained, but perhaps accessible and probable, in future Stage-4 cosmic microwave background experiments and future high precision primordial deuterium abundance measurements.

dark photon
early universe
big bang nucleosynthesis


Quantum-to-classical transition and imprints of continuous spontaneous localization in classical bouncing universes

Abstract: The perturbations in the early universe are generated as a result of the interplay between quantum field theory and gravitation. Since these primordial perturbations lead to the anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background and eventually to the inhomogeneities in the Large Scale Structure (LSS), they provide a unique opportunity to probe issues which are fundamental to our understanding of quantum physics and gravitation. One such fundamental issue that remains to be satisfactorily addressed is the transition of the primordial perturbations from their quantum origins to the LSS which can be characterized completely in terms of classical quantities. Classical bouncing universes provide an alternative to the more conventional inflationary paradigm as they can help overcome the horizon problem in a fashion very similar to inflation. While the problem of the quantum-to-classical transition of the primordial perturbations has been investigated extensively in the context of inflation, we find that there has been a rather limited effort towards studying the issue in classical bouncing universes. In this work, we analyze certain aspects of this problem with the example of tensor perturbations produced in classical matter and near-matter bouncing universes. We investigate the issue mainly from two perspectives. Firstly, we approach the problem by examining the extent of squeezing of a quantum state associated with the tensor perturbations with the help of the Wigner function. Secondly, we analyze the issue from the perspective of the quantum measurement problem. In particular, we study the effects of wave function collapse, using a phenomenological model known as continuous spontaneous localization, on the tensor power spectra. We conclude with a discussion of results.

spontaneous localization
universe
quantum-to-classical transition


Pulsar Glitches: The Crust may be Enough

Abstract: Pulsar glitches-the sudden spin-up in the rotational frequency of a neutron star-suggest the existence of an angular-momentum reservoir confined to the inner crust of the neutron star. Large and regular glitches observed in the Vela pulsar have originally constrained the fraction of the stellar moment of inertia that must reside in the solid crust to about 1.4 entrainment-which until very recently has been ignored-suggests that in order to account for the Vela glitches, the fraction of the moment of inertia residing in the crust must increase to about 7 required angular momentum reservoir may exceed that which is available in the crust. We explore the possibility that uncertainties in the equation of state provide enough flexibility for the construction of models that predict a large crustal thickness and consequently a large crustal moment of inertia. Given that analytic results suggest that the crustal moment of inertia is sensitive to the transition pressure at the crust-core interface, we tune the parameters of the model to maximize the transition pressure, while still providing an excellent description of nuclear observables. In this manner we are able to obtain fractional moments of inertia as large as 7 masses below 1.6 solar masses. In particular, we find that if the neutron-skin thickness of 208Pb falls within the (0.20-0.26) fm range, large enough transition pressures can be generated to explain the large Vela glitches without invoking an additional angular-momentum reservoir beyond that confined to the solid crust. Our results suggest that the crust may be enough.

neutron star
pulsar glitches
relativistic mean-field model


Inhomogeneity effects in Cosmology

Abstract: This article looks at how inhomogeneous spacetime models may be significant for cosmology. First it looks at how the averaging process may affect large scale dynamics, with backreaction effects leading to effective contributions to the averaged energy-momentum tensor. Secondly it considers how local inhomogeneities may affect cosmological observations in cosmology, possibly significantly affecting the concordance model parameters. Thirdly it presents the possibility that the universe is spatially inhomogeneous on Hubble scales, with a violation of the Copernican principle leading to an apparent acceleration of the universe. This could perhaps even remove the need for the postulate of dark energy.

cosmology
cosmological observation
inhomogeneity


Primordial non-Gaussianity and power asymmetry with quantum gravitational effects in loop quantum cosmology

Abstract: Loop quantum cosmology (LQC) provides a resolution of the classical big bang singularity in the deep Planck era. The evolution, prior to the usual slow-roll inflation, naturally generates excited states at the onset of the slow-roll inflation. It is expected that these quantum gravitational effects could leave its fingerprints on the primordial perturbation spectrum and non-Gaussianity, and lead to some observational evidences in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). While the impact of the quantum effects on the primordial perturbation spectrum has been already studied and constrained by current data, in this paper we continue studying such effects on the non-Gaussianity of the primordial curvature perturbations. In this paper, we present detailed and analytical calculations of the non-Gaussianity and show explicitly that the corrections due to quantum effects are in the same magnitude of the slow-roll parameters in the observable scales and thus are well within current observational constraints. Despite this, we show that the non-Gaussianity in the squeezed limit can be enhanced at superhorizon scales and further, these effects may yield a large statistical anisotropy on the power spectrum through the Erickcek-Kamionkowski-Carroll mechanism.

non-gaussianity
gravitational effect
loop quantum cosmology


Non-gaussianity in the strong regime of warm inflation

Abstract: The bispectrum of scalar mode density perturbations is analysed for the strong regime of warm inflationary models. This analysis generalises previous results by allowing damping terms in the inflaton equation of motion that are dependent on temperature. A significant amount of non-gaussianity emerges with constant (or local) non-linearity parameter f_NL∼ 20, in addition to the terms with non-constant f_NL which are characteristic of warm inflation.

strong regime
warm inflation
non-gaussianity


Dark energy and Equivalence Principle constraints from astrophysical tests of the stability of the fine-structure constant

Abstract: Astrophysical tests of the stability of fundamental couplings, such as the fine-structure constant α, are becoming an increasingly powerful probe of new physics. Here we discuss how these measurements, combined with local atomic clock tests and Type Ia supernova and Hubble parameter data, constrain the simplest class of dynamical dark energy models where the same degree of freedom is assumed to provide both the dark energy and (through a dimensionless coupling, ζ, to the electromagnetic sector) the α variation. Specifically, current data tightly constrains a combination of ζ and the present dark energy equation of state w_0. Moreover, in these models the new degree of freedom inevitably couples to nucleons (through the α dependence of their masses) and leads to violations of the Weak Equivalence Principle. We obtain indirect bounds on the Eötvös parameter η that are typically stronger than the current direct ones. We discuss the model-dependence of our results and briefly comment on how the forthcoming generation of high-resolution ultra-stable spectrographs will enable significantly tighter constraints.

astrophysical test
fundamental coupling
dark energy


Cosmologies in Horndeski's second-order vector-tensor theory

Abstract: Horndeski derived a most general vector-tensor theory in which the vector field respects the gauge symmetry and the resulting dynamical equations are of second order. The action contains only one free parameter, λ, that determines the strength of the non-minimal coupling between the gauge field and gravity. We investigate the cosmological consequences of this action and discuss observational constraints. For λ<0 we identify singularities where the deceleration parameter diverges within a finite proper time. This effectively rules out any sensible cosmological application of the theory for a negative non-minimal coupling. We also find a range of parameter that gives a viable cosmology and study the phenomenology for this case. Observational constraints on the value of the coupling are rather weak since the interaction is higher-order in space-time curvature.

horndeski
vector-tensor theory
cosmology


Tensor non-Gaussianity in chiral scalar-tensor theories of gravity

Abstract: Violation of parity symmetry in the gravitational sector, which manifests into unequal left and right circular polarization states of primordial gravitational waves, represents a way to test high-energy modifications to general relativity. In this paper we study inflation within recently proposed chiral scalar-tensor theories of gravity, that extend Chern-Simons gravity by including parity-violating operators containing first and second derivatives of the non-minimally coupled scalar (inflaton) field. Given the degeneracy between different parity-violating theories at the level of the power spectrum statistics, we make a detailed analysis of the parity violation on primordial tensor non-Gaussianity. We show, with an explicit computation, that no new contributions arise in the graviton bispectra if the couplings in the new operators are constant in a pure de Sitter phase. On the other hand, if the coupling functions are time-dependent during inflation, the tensor bispectra acquire non-vanishing contributions from the parity-breaking operators even in the exact de Sitter limit, with maximal signal in the squeezed and equilateral configurations. We also comment on the consistency relation of the three-point function of tensor modes in this class of models and discuss prospects of detecting parity-breaking signatures through Cosmic Microwave Background B-mode bispectra.

chiral scalar-tensor theory
gravity
tensor non-gaussianity


Gravitational lens without asymptotic flatness: Its application to the Weyl gravity

Abstract: We discuss, without assuming asymptotic flatness, a gravitational lens for an observer and source that are within a finite distance from a lens object. The proposed lens equation is consistent with the deflection angle of light that is defined for nonasymptotic observer and source by Takizawa et al. [Phys. Rev. D 101, 104032 (2020)] based on the Gauss-Bonnet theorem with using the optical metric. This lens equation, though it is shown to be equivalent to the Bozza lens equation[Phys. Rev. D 78, 103005 (2008)], is linear in the deflection angle. Therefore, the proposed equation is more convenient for the purpose of doing an iterative analysis. As an explicit example of an asymptotically nonflat spacetime, we consider a static and spherically symmetric solution in Weyl conformal gravity, especially a case that γ parameter in the Weyl gravity model is of the order of the inverse of the present Hubble radius. For this case, we examine iterative solutions for the finite-distance lens equation up to the third order. The effect of the Weyl gravity on the lensed image position begins at the third order and it is linear in the impact parameter of light. The deviation of the lensed image position from the general relativistic one is ∼ 10^-2 microarcsecond for the lens and source with a separation angle of ∼ 1 arcminute, where we consider a cluster of galaxies with 10^14 M_⊙ at ∼ 1 Gpc for instance. The deviation becomes ∼ 10^-1 microarcseconds, even if the separation angle is ∼ 10 arcminutes. Therefore, effects of the Weyl gravity model are negligible in current and near-future observations of gravitational lensing. On the other hand, the general relativistic corrections at the third order ∼ 0.1 milliarcseconds can be relevant with VLBI observations.

flatness
weyl gravity
gravitational lens


Moment of inertia, quadrupole moment, Love number of neutron star and their relations with strange matter equations of state

Abstract: We investigate the impact of strange matter equations of state involving Λ hyperons, Bose-Einstein condensate of K^- mesons and first order hadron-quark phase transition on moment of inertia, quadrupole moment and tidal deformability parameter of slowly rotating neutron stars. All these equations of state are compatible with the 2 M_solar constraint. The main findings of this investigation are the universality of the I-Q and I-Love number relations, which are preserved by the EoSs including Λ hyperons and antikaon condensates, but broken in presence of a first order hadron-quark phase transition. Furthermore, it is also noted that the quadrupole moment approaches the Kerr value of a black hole for maximum mass neutron stars.


The Earliest Stages of Star and Planet Formation: Core Collapse, and the Formation of Disks and Outflows

Abstract: (Abridged) In this review we focus on the observations and theory of the formation of early disks and outflows, and their connections with the first phases of planet formation. Large rotationally supported circumstellar disks, although common around more evolved young stellar objects, are rarely detected during the earliest, "Class 0" phase; however, a few excellent candidates have been discovered recently around both low and high mass protostars. In this early phase, prominent outflows are ubiquitously observed; they are expected to be associated with at least small magnetized disks. Disk formation - once thought to be a simple consequence of the conservation of angular momentum during hydrodynamic core collapse - is far more subtle in magnetized gas. In this case, the rotation can be strongly magnetically braked. Indeed, both analytic arguments and numerical simulations have shown that disk formation is suppressed in the strict ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) limit for the observed level of core magnetization. We review what is known about this "magnetic braking catastrophe", possible ways to resolve it, and the current status of early disk observations. Outflows are also intimately linked to disk formation; they are a natural product of magnetic fields and rotation and are important signposts of star formation. We review new developments on early outflow generation since PPV. The properties of early disks and outflows are a key component of planet formation in its early stages and we review these major connections.


Limits of the circles-in-the-sky searches in the determination of cosmic topology of nearly flat universes

Abstract: [Abridged] An observable signature of a detectable nontrivial spatial topology of the Universe is the circles-in-the-sky in the CMB sky. In the most general search, pairs of circles with deviation from antipodality 0^∘≤θ≤ 169^∘ and radii 10^∘≤λ≤ 90^∘ were investigated, but no matching circles were found. Assuming this negative result, we examine the question as to whether there are nearly flat universes with compact topology that would give rise to circles whose observable parameters λ and θ fall o outside the ranges covered by this search. We derive the expressions for the deviation from antipodality and for the radius of the circles associated to a pair elements (γ,γ^-1) of the holonomy group Γ which define the spatial section of any positively curved universe with a nontrivial topology. We show that there is a critical position that maximizes the deviation from antipodality, and prove that no matter how nearly flat the Universe is, it can always have a nontrivial spatial topology that gives rise to circles whose deviation from antipodality θ is larger than 169^∘, and whose radii of the circles λ are smaller than 10^∘ for some observers. This makes apparent that slightly positively curved universes with cosmological parameters within Planck bounds can be endowed with a nontrivial spatial topology with values of the parameters λ and θ outside the ranges covered by the searches for circles carried out so far. Thus, these circles searches so far undertaken are not sufficient to exclude the possibility of a universe with a detectable nontrivial cosmic topology. We present concrete examples of such nearly flat universes, and discuss the implications of our results in view of unavoidable practical limits of the circles-in-the-sky method.

circles-in-the-sky search
cosmic topology
flat universe


Constraints on the Primordial Black Hole Abundance from the First Advanced LIGO Observation Run Using the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background

Abstract: Advanced LIGO's discovery of gravitational-wave events is stimulating extensive studies on the origin of binary black holes. Assuming that the gravitational-wave events can be explained by binary primordial black hole mergers, we utilize the upper limits on the stochastic gravitational-wave background given by Advanced LIGO as a new observational window to independently constrain the abundance of primordial black holes in dark matter. We show that Advanced LIGO's first observation run gives the best constraint on the primordial black hole abundance in the mass range 1 M_⊙≲ M_PBH≲ 100 M_⊙, pushing the previous microlensing and dwarf galaxy dynamics constraints tighter by 1 order of magnitude. Moreover, we discuss the possibility to detect the stochastic gravitational-wave background from primordial black holes, in particular from subsolar mass primordial black holes, by Advanced LIGO in the near future.


Silhouette of M87*: A new window to peek into the world of hidden dimensions

Abstract: The recent observation of the shadow of the supermassive black hole M87*, located at the centre of the M87 galaxy, by the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration has opened up a new window to probe the strong gravity regime. In this letter, we explicitly demonstrate the consequences of this observation on brane world black holes, characterized by existence of a negative tidal charge. Our results based on three observables associated with the shadow, namely, angular diameter, deviation from circularity and axis ratio reveal that the existence of a negative tidal charge is more favoured, possibly marking a deviation from general relativity.


The Fermi blazar sequence

Abstract: We revisit the blazar sequence exploiting the complete, flux limited sample of blazars with known redshift detected by the Fermi satellite after 4 years of operations (the 3LAC sample). We divide the sources into gamma-ray luminosity bins, collect all the archival data for all blazars, and construct their spectral energy distribution (SED). We describe the average SED of blazars in the same luminosity bin through a very simple, completely phenomenological function consisting of two broken power laws connecting with a power law of fixed slope describing the radio emission. We do that separately for BL Lacs and for flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and also for all blazars together. The main results are: i) FSRQs display approximately the same SED as the luminosity increases, except for the fact that the relative importance of the high energy peak increases; ii) as a consequence, X-ray spectra of FSRQs become harder for larger luminosities; iii) BL Lacs form indeed a sequence: they become redder (i.e. the peak frequencies becomes smaller) for increasing luminosities, with a steeper gamma-ray slope and a larger dominance of the high energy peak; iv) for all blazars (BL Lacs+FSRQs) these properties becomes more prominent, as the highest luminosity bin is populated mostly by FSRQs and the lowest luminosity bin mostly by BL Lacs. This agrees with the original blazar sequence, although BL Lacs never have an average gamma-ray slope as hard as found in the original sequence. v) At high luminosities, a large fraction of FSRQs shows signs of thermal emission from the accretion disc, contributing in the optical-UV.

blazar sequence
sequence
sed
fsrqs
average bll


Luminosity of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and bounds on magnetic luminosity of radio-loud active galactic nuclei

Abstract: We investigate the production of magnetic flux from rotating black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and compare it with the upper limit of ultrahigh energy cosmic ray (UHECR) luminosities, calculated from observed integral flux of GeV-TeV gamma rays for nine UHECR AGN sources. We find that, for the expected range of black hole rotations (0.44<a<0.80), the corresponding bounds of theoretical magnetic luminosities from AGNs coincides with the calculated UHECR luminosity. We argue that such result possibly can contribute to constrain AGN magnetic and dynamic properties as phenomenological tools to explain the requisite conditions to proper accelerate the highest energy cosmic rays.

cosmic ray
magnetic luminosity
active galactic nucleus


Astrophysical Tests of Modified Gravity: Constraints from Distance Indicators in the Nearby Universe

Abstract: We use distance measurements in the nearby universe to carry out new tests of gravity, surpassing other astrophysical tests by over two orders of magnitude for chameleon theories. The three nearby distance indicators – cepheids, tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) stars, and water masers – operate in gravitational fields of widely different strengths. This enables tests of scalar-tensor gravity theories because they are screened from enhanced forces to different extents. Inferred distances from cepheids and TRGB stars are altered (in opposite directions) over a range of chameleon gravity theory parameters well below the sensitivity of cosmological probes. Using published data we have compared cepheid and TRGB distances in a sample of unscreened dwarf galaxies within 10 Mpc. As a control sample we use a comparable set of screened galaxies. We find no evidence for the order unity force enhancements expected in these theories. Using a two-parameter description of the models (the coupling strength and background field value) we obtain constraints on chameleon and symmetron screening scenarios. In particular we show that f(R) models with background field values fR0 above 5e-7 are ruled out at the 95 confidence level. We also compare TRGB and maser distances to the galaxy NGC 4258 as a second test for larger field values. While there are several approximations and caveats in our study, our analysis demonstrates the power of gravity tests in the local universe. We discuss the prospects for additional, improved tests with future observations.

gravity
distance indicator
nearby universe
dwarf galaxy


Fluid phonons, protoinflationary dynamics and large-scale gravitational fluctuations

Abstract: We explore what can be said on the effective temperature and sound speed of a statistical ensemble of fluid phonons present at the onset of a conventional inflationary phase. The phonons are the actual normal modes of the gravitating and irrotational fluid that dominates the protoinflationary dynamics. The bounds on the tensor to scalar ratio result in a class of novel constraints involving the slow roll parameter, the sound speed of the phonons and the temperature of the plasma prior to the onset of inflation. If the current size of the Hubble radius coincides with the inflationary event horizon redshifted down to the present epoch, the sound speed of the phonons can be assessed from independent measurements of the tensor to scalar ratio and of the tensor spectral index.

protoinflationary dynamic
epoch
fluid phonon


Velocity reconstruction with the cosmic microwave background and galaxy surveys

Abstract: The kinetic Sunyaev Zel'dovich (kSZ) and moving lens effects, secondary contributions to the cosmic microwave background (CMB), carry significant cosmological information due to their dependence on the large-scale peculiar velocity field. Previous work identified a promising means of extracting this cosmological information using a set of quadratic estimators for the radial and transverse components of the velocity field. These estimators are based on the statistically anisotropic components of the cross-correlation between the CMB and a tracer of large scale structure, such as a galaxy redshift survey. In this work, we assess the challenges to the program of velocity reconstruction posed by various foregrounds and systematics in the CMB and galaxy surveys, as well as biases in the quadratic estimators. To do so, we further develop the quadratic estimator formalism and implement a numerical code for computing properly correlated spectra for all the components of the CMB (primary/secondary blackbody components and foregrounds) and a photometric redshift survey, with associated redshift errors, to allow for accurate forecasting. We create a simulation framework for generating realizations of properly correlated CMB maps and redshift binned galaxy number counts, assuming the underlying fields are Gaussian, and use this to validate a velocity reconstruction pipeline and assess map-based systematics such as masking. We highlight the most significant challenges for velocity reconstruction, which include biases associated with: modelling errors, characterization of redshift errors, and coarse graining of cosmological fields on our past light cone. Despite these challenges, the outlook for velocity reconstruction is quite optimistic, and we use our reconstruction pipeline to confirm that these techniques will be feasible with near-term CMB experiments and photometric galaxy redshift surveys.

cosmic microwave background
galaxy survey
velocity reconstruction


VETTAM: A scheme for radiation hydrodynamics with adaptive mesh refinement using the variable Eddington tensor method

Abstract: We present Variable Eddington Tensor-closed Transport on Adaptive Meshes (), a new algorithm to solve the equations of radiation hydrodynamics (RHD) with support for adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) in a frequency-integrated, two-moment formulation. The method is based on a non-local Variable Eddington Tensor (VET) closure computed with a hybrid characteristics scheme for ray tracing. We use a Godunov method for the hyperbolic transport of radiation with an implicit backwards-Euler temporal update to avoid the explicit timestep constraint imposed by the light-crossing time, and a fixed-point Picard iteration scheme to handle the nonlinear gas-radiation exchange term, with the two implicit update stages jointly iterated to convergence. We also develop a modified wave-speed correction method for AMR, which we find to be crucial for obtaining accurate results in the diffusion regime. We demonstrate the robustness of our scheme with a suite of pure radiation and RHD tests, and show that it successfully captures the streaming, static diffusion, and dynamic diffusion regimes and the spatial transitions between them, casts sharp shadows, and yields accurate results for rates of momentum and energy exchange between radiation and gas. A comparison between different closures for the radiation moment equations, with the Eddington approximation (0th-moment closure) and the M_1 approximation (1st-moment closure), demonstrates the advantages of the VET method (2nd-moment closure) over the simpler closure schemes. has been coupled to the AMR (magneto-)hydrodynamics code and we summarize by reporting performance features and bottlenecks of our implementation.

scheme
radiation hydrodynamic
adaptive mesh refinement


On the moment of inertia of PSR J0737-3039 A from LIGO/Virgo and NICER

Abstract: We perform a Bayesian analysis of neutrons star moment of inertia by utilizing the available gravitational-wave data from LIGO/Virgo (GW170817 and GW190425) and mass-radius measurements from the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (PSR J0030+0415 and PSR J0740+6620), incorporating the possible phase transition in the pulsar inner core. We find that the moment of inertia of pulsar A in the double pulsar binary J0737-3039 is ∼1.30×10^45 g cm^2, which only slightly depends on the employed hadronic equation of states. We also demonstrate how a moment of inertia measurement would improve our knowledge of the equation of state and the mass-radius relation for neutron stars and discuss whether a quark deconfinement phase transition is supported by the available data and forthcoming data that could be consistent with this hypothesis. We find that if pulsar A is a quark star, that its moment of inertia is a large value of ∼1.55×10^45 g cm^2 suggesting the possibility of distinguishing it from (hybrid-)neutron stars with measurements of PSR J0737-3039A moment of inertia. We finally demonstrate the moment-of-inertia-compactness universal relations and provide analytical fits for both (hybrid-)neutron star and quark star results based on our analysis.


Resonant Signatures of Heavy Scalar Fields in the Cosmic Microwave Background

Abstract: We investigate the possibility that a heavy scalar field, whose mass exceeds the Hubble scale during inflation, could leave non-negligible signatures in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropy power spectrum through the parametric resonance between its background oscillations and the inflaton fluctuations. By assuming the heavy scalar field couples with the inflaton derivatively, we show that the resonance can be efficient without spoiling the slow-roll inflation. The primordial power spectrum modulated by the resonance has a sharp peak at a specific scale and could be an origin of the anomalies observed in the angular power spectrum of the CMB. In some values of parameters, the modulated spectrum can fit the observed data better than the simple power-law power spectrum, though the resultant improvement of the fit is not large enough and hence other observations such as non-Gaussianity are necessary to confirm that the CMB anomalies are originated from the resonant effect of the heavy scalar field. The resonant signatures can provide an opportunity to observe heavy degrees of freedom during inflation and improve our understanding of physics behind inflation.

cosmic microwave background
inflaton fluctuation
heavy field


Vacuum birefringence and the X-ray polarization from black-hole accretion disks

Abstract: In the next decade, x-ray polarimetry will open a new window on the high-energy Universe, as several missions that include an x-ray polarimeter are currently under development. Observations of the polarization of x-rays coming from the accretion disks of stellar-mass and supermassive black holes are among the new polarimeters' major objectives. In this paper, we show that these observations can be affected by the quantum electrodynamic (QED) effect of vacuum birefringence: after an x-ray photon is emitted from the accretion disk, its polarization changes as the photon travels through the accretion disk's magnetosphere, as a result of the vacuum becoming birefringent in presence of a magnetic field. We show that this effect can be important for black holes in the energy band of the upcoming polarimeters, and has to be taken into account in a complete model of the x-ray polarization that we expect to detect from black-hole accretion disks, both for stellar mass and for supermassive black holes. We find that, for a chaotic magnetic field in the disk, QED can significantly decrease the linear polarization fraction of edge-on photons, depending on the spin of the hole and on the strength of the magnetic field. This effect can provide, for the first time, a direct way to probe the magnetic field strength close to the innermost stable orbit of black-hole accretion disks and to study the role of magnetic fields in astrophysical accretion in general.

x-ray polarization
black-hole accretion disk
vacuum birefringence


Comptonization efficiencies of the variability classes of GRS 1915+105

Abstract: The Galactic microquasar GRS 1915+105 exhibits at least seventeen types of variability classes. Intra and inter class transitions are reported to be observed within seconds to hours. Since the observation was not continuous, these classes appeared to be exhibited in a random order. Our goal is to predict a sequence of these classes. In this paper, we compute the ratio of the photon counts obtained from the power-law component and the blackbody component of each class and call this ratio as the `Comptonizing efficiency' (CE) of that class. We sequence the classes in the ascending order of CE and find that this sequence matches with a few class transitions observed by RXTE satellite and IXAE instruments on board IRS-P3. A change in CE corresponds to a change in the optical depth of the Compton cloud. Our result implies that the optical depth of the Compton cloud gradually rises as the variability class becomes harder.

variability class
grs
sequence
compton cloud
comptonizing efficiency


Conformal equivalence in classical gravity: the example of "veiled" General Relativity

Abstract: In the theory of General Relativity, gravity is described by a metric which couples minimally to the fields representing matter. We consider here its "veiled" versions where the metric is conformally related to the original one and hence is no longer minimally coupled to the matter variables. We show on simple examples that observational predictions are nonetheless exactly the same as in General Relativity, with the interpretation of this "Weyl" rescaling "à la Dicke", that is, as a spacetime dependence of the inertial mass of the matter constituents.

gravity
scalar-tensor theory
non-minimal coupling
classical level


The 2HWC HAWC Observatory Gamma Ray Catalog

Abstract: We present the first catalog of TeV gamma-ray sources realized with the recently completed High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC). It is the most sensitive wide field-of-view TeV telescope currently in operation, with a 1-year survey sensitivity of 5-10 instantaneous field of view >1.5 sr and >90 surveys and monitors the sky for gamma ray energies between hundreds GeV and tens of TeV. HAWC is located in Mexico at a latitude of 19 degree North and was completed in March 2015. Here, we present the 2HWC catalog, which is the result of the first source search realized with the complete HAWC detector. Realized with 507 days of data and represents the most sensitive TeV survey to date for such a large fraction of the sky. A total of 39 sources were detected, with an expected contamination of 0.5 due to background fluctuation. Out of these sources, 16 are more than one degree away from any previously reported TeV source. The source list, including the position measurement, spectrum measurement, and uncertainties, is reported. Seven of the detected sources may be associated with pulsar wind nebulae, two with supernova remnants, two with blazars, and the remaining 23 have no firm identification yet.

observatory
gamma-ray source
pulsar
hawc catalog
galactic source


The Very Knotty Lenser: exploring the role of regularization in source and potential reconstructions using Gaussian Process Regression

Abstract: Reconstructing lens potentials and lensed sources can easily become an underconstrained problem, even when the degrees of freedom are low, due to degeneracies, particularly when potential perturbations superimposed on a smooth lens are included. Regularization has traditionally been used to constrain the solutions where the data failed to do so, e.g. in unlensed parts of the source. In this exploratory work, we go beyond the usual choices of regularization and adopt observationally motivated priors for the source brightness. We also perform a similar comparison when reconstructing lens potential perturbations, which are assumed to be stationary, i.e. permeate the entire field of view. We find that physically motivated priors lead to lower residuals, avoid overfitting, and are decisively preferred within a Bayesian quantitative framework in all the examples considered. For the perturbations, choosing the wrong regularization can have a detrimental effect that even high-quality data cannot correct for, while using a purely smooth lens model can absorb them to a very high degree and lead to biased solutions. Finally, our new implementation of the semi-linear inversion technique provides the first quantitative framework for measuring degeneracies between the source and the potential perturbations.

regularization
lens
degeneracy
potential perturbation
choice


Neutrino flavor pendulum in both mass hierarchies

Abstract: We construct a simple example for self-induced flavor conversion in dense neutrino gases showing new solutions that violate the symmetries of initial conditions. Our system consists of two opposite momentum modes 1 and 2, each initially occupied with equal densities of nu_e and anti-nu_e. Restricting solutions to symmetry under 1 <-> 2 allows for the usual bimodal instability ("flavor pendulum") in the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy (IH) and stability (no self-induced flavor conversion) in the normal hierarchy (NH). Lifting this symmetry restriction allows for a second pendulum-like solution that occurs in NH where the modes 1 and 2 swing in opposite directions in flavor space. Any small deviation from 1-2 symmetry in the initial condition triggers the new instability in NH. This effect corresponds to the recently identified multi-azimuth angle (MAA) instability of supernova neutrino fluxes. Both cases show explicitly that solutions of the equations of collective flavor oscillations need not inherit the symmetries of initial conditions, although this has been universally assumed.

flavor conversion
neutrino
axial symmetry


Generation of large-scale magnetic fields, non-Gaussianity, and primordial gravitational waves in inflationary cosmology

Abstract: The generation of large-scale magnetic fields in inflationary cosmology is explored, in particular, in a kind of moduli inflation motivated by racetrack inflation in the context of the Type IIB string theory. In this model, the conformal invariance of the hypercharge electromagnetic fields is broken thanks to the coupling of both the scalar and pseudoscalar fields to the hypercharge electromagnetic fields. The following three cosmological observable quantities are first evaluated: The current magnetic field strength on the Hubble horizon scale, which is much smaller than the upper limit from the back reaction problem, local non-Gaussianity of the curvature perturbations due to the existence of the massive gauge fields, and the tensor-to-scalar ratio. It is explicitly demonstrated that the resultant values of local non-Gaussianity and the tensor-to-scalar ratio are consistent with the Planck data.

large-scale magnetic field
inflationary cosmology
conformal invariance


Machine and Deep Learning Applied to Galaxy Morphology – A Comparative Study

Abstract: Morphological classification is a key piece of information to define samples of galaxies aiming to study the large-scale structure of the universe. In essence, the challenge is to build up a robust methodology to perform a reliable morphological estimate from galaxy images. Here, we investigate how to substantially improve the galaxy classification within large datasets by mimicking human classification. We combine accurate visual classifications from the Galaxy Zoo project with machine and deep learning methodologies. We propose two distinct approaches for galaxy morphology: one based on non-parametric morphology and traditional machine learning algorithms; and another based on Deep Learning. To measure the input features for the traditional machine learning methodology, we have developed a system called CyMorph, with a novel non-parametric approach to study galaxy morphology. The main datasets employed comes from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS-DR7). We also discuss the class imbalance problem considering three classes. Performance of each model is mainly measured by Overall Accuracy (OA). A spectroscopic validation with astrophysical parameters is also provided for Decision Tree models to assess the quality of our morphological classification. In all of our samples, both Deep and Traditional Machine Learning approaches have over 94.5 OA to classify galaxies in two classes (elliptical and spiral). We compare our classification with state-of-the-art morphological classification from literature. Considering only two classes separation, we achieve 99 accuracy in average when using our deep learning models, and 82 three classes. We provide a catalog with 670,560 galaxies containing our best results, including morphological metrics and classification.


Equation of state and neutrino transfer in supernovae and neutron stars

Abstract: We overview the progress of the tables of the equation of state for astrophysical simulations and the numerical methods of neutrino transfer. Hot and dense matter play essential roles in core-collapse supernovae and neutron stars. Equation of state determines the structure of compact objects and their dynamics through its behavior of thermodynamic quantities. In addition, neutrinos are trapped in supernova cores and neutron star mergers and frequently interact with matter to crucially affect dynamics in determining the explosion mechanism and the final form of compact objects. Therefore, it is essential to implement detailed processes of nuclear and neutrino physics in numerical simulations by having reliable data set of the equation of state and reaction rates. We show examples of developments of the equation of state and the neutrino transfer and discuss research directions toward understanding the explosive phenomena by the first principle calculation.

neutrino transfer
supernovae
neutron star


Science with a lunar low-frequency array: from the dark ages of the Universe to nearby exoplanets

Abstract: Low-frequency radio astronomy is limited by severe ionospheric distortions below 50 MHz and complete reflection of radio waves below 10-30 MHz. Shielding of man-made interference from long-range radio broadcasts, strong natural radio emission from the Earth's aurora, and the need for setting up a large distributed antenna array make the lunar far side a supreme location for a low-frequency radio array. A number of new scientific drivers for such an array, such as the study of the dark ages and epoch of reionization, exoplanets, and ultra-high energy cosmic rays, have emerged and need to be studied in greater detail. Here we review the scientific potential and requirements of these and other new scientific drivers and discuss the constraints for various lunar surface arrays. In particular we describe observability constraints imposed by the interstellar and interplanetary medium, calculate the achievable resolution, sensitivity, and confusion limit of a dipole array using general scaling laws, and apply them to various scientific questions. Whichever science is deemed most important, pathfinder arrays are needed to test the feasibility of these experiments in the not too distant future. Lunar low-frequency arrays are thus a timely option to consider, offering the potential for significant new insights into a wide range of today's crucial scientific topics. This would open up one of the last unexplored frequency domains in the electromagnetic spectrum.

lunar low-frequency array
dark age
science


Relativistic second-order initial conditions for simulations of large-scale structure

Abstract: Relativistic corrections to the evolution of structure can be used to test general relativity on cosmological scales. They are also a well-known systematic contamination in the search for a primordial non-Gaussian signal. We present a numerical framework to generate RELativistic second-order Initial Conditions () based on a generic (not necessarily separable) second-order kernel for the density perturbations. In order to keep the time complexity manageable we introduce a scale cut that separates long and short scales, and neglect the "short-short" coupling that will eventually be swamped by uncontrollable higher-order effects. To test our approach, we use the second-order Einstein-Boltzmann code to provide the numerical second-order kernel in a ΛCDM model, and we demonstrate that the realisations generated by reproduce the bispectra well whenever at least one of the scales is a "long" mode. We then present a generic algorithm that takes a perturbed density field as an inputand provides particle initial data that matches this input to arbitrary order in perturbations for a given particle-mesh scheme. We implement this algorithm in the relativistic N-body code to demonstrate how our framework can be used to set precise initial conditions for cosmological simulations of large-scale structure.

initial condition
simulation
large-scale structure


Empirical evidences for a planetary modulation of total solar irradiance and the TSI signature of the 1.09-year Earth-Jupiter conjunction cycle

Abstract: The time series of total solar irradiance (TSI) satellite observations since 1978 provided by ACRIM and PMOD TSI composites are studied. We find empirical evidence for planetary-induced forcing and modulation of solar activity. Power spectra and direct data pattern analysis reveal a clear signature of the 1.09-year Earth-Jupiter conjunction cycle, in particular during solar cycle 23 maximum. This appears to suggest that the Jupiter side of the Sun is slightly brighter during solar maxima. The effect is observed when the Earth crosses the Sun-Jupiter conjunction line every 1.09 years. Multiple spectral peaks are observed in the TSI records that are coherent with known planetary harmonics such as the spring, orbital and synodic periods among Mercury, Venus, Earth and Jupiter: the Mercury-Venus spring-tidal cycle (0.20 year); the Mercury orbital cycle (0.24 year); the Venus-Jupiter spring-tidal cycle (0.32 year); the Venus-Mercury synodic cycle (0.40 year); the Venus-Jupiter synodic cycle (0.65 year); and the Venus-Earth spring tidal cycle (0.80 year). Strong evidence is also found for a 0.5-year TSI cycle that could be driven by the Earth's crossing the solar equatorial plane twice a year and may indicate a latitudinal solar-luminosity asymmetry. Because both spring and synodic planetary cycles appear to be present and the amplitudes of their TSI signatures appear enhanced during sunspot cycle maxima, we conjecture that on annual and sub-annual scales both gravitational and electro-magnetic planet-sun interactions and internal non-linear feedbacks may be modulating solar activity. Gravitational tidal forces should mostly stress spring cycles while electro-magnetic forces could be linked to the solar wobbling dynamics, and would mostly stress the synodic cycles.

planetary modulation
total solar irradiance
earth-jupiter conjunction cycle


Hydrostatic equilibrium and stellar structure in f(R)-gravity

Abstract: We investigate the hydrostatic equilibrium of stellar structure by taking into account the modi- fied Laé-Emden equation coming out from f(R)-gravity. Such an equation is obtained in metric approach by considering the Newtonian limit of f(R)-gravity, which gives rise to a modified Poisson equation, and then introducing a relation between pressure and density with polytropic index n. The modified equation results an integro-differential equation, which, in the limit f(R) →R, becomes the standard Laé-Emden equation. We find the radial profiles of gravitational potential by solving for some values of n. The comparison of solutions with those coming from General Relativity shows that they are compatible and physically relevant.

stellar structure
f(r)-gravity
hydrostatic equilibrium


Boulware-Deser ghost in extended quasidilaton massive gravity

Abstract: In the extended quasidilaton massive gravity we perform a nonlinear transformation of the shift vector and then calculate the second derivatives of the Hamiltonian density with respect to the lapse function and the (nonlinearly transformed) shift vector. It is then shown that the 4× 4 Hessian matrix is invertible, meaning that the equations of motion for the lapse function and the shift vector simply determine themselves. Therefore, there is no primary constraint that removes the Boulware-Deser ghost.

ghost
extended quasidilaton
massive gravity


CMB power spectra induced by primordial cross-bispectra between metric perturbations and vector fields

Abstract: We study temperature and polarization anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation sourced from primordial cross-bispectra between metric perturbations and vector fields, which are generated from the inflation model where an inflaton and a vector field are coupled. In case the vector field survives after the reheating, both the primordial scalar and tensor fluctuations can be enhanced by the anisotropic stress composed of the vector fields during radiation dominated era. We show that through this enhancement the primordial cross-bispectra generate not only CMB bispectra but also CMB power spectra. In general, we can expect such cross-bispectra produce the non-trivial mode-coupling signals between the scalar and tensor fluctuations. However, we explicitly show that such mode-coupling signals do not appear in CMB power spectra. Through the numerical analysis of the CMB scalar-mode power spectra, we find that although signals from these cross-bispectra are smaller than primary non-electromagnetic ones, these have some characteristic features such as negative auto-correlations of the temperature and polarization modes, respectively. On the other hand, signals from tensor modes are almost comparable to primary non-electromagnetic ones and hence the shape of observed B-mode spectrum may deviate from the prediction in the non-electromagnetic case. The above imprints may help us to judge the existence of the coupling between the scalar and vector fields in the early Universe.

primordial cross-bispectra
metric perturbation
cmb power spectra


The mass distribution of Galactic double neutron stars

Abstract: The conventional wisdom, dating back to 2012, is that the mass distribution of Galactic double neutron stars is well-fit by a Gaussian distribution with a mean of 1.33 M_⊙ and a width of 0.09 M_⊙. With the recent discovery of new Galactic double neutron stars and GW170817, the first neutron star merger event to be observed with gravitational waves, it is timely to revisit this model. In order to constrain the mass distribution of double neutron stars, we perform Bayesian inference using a sample of 17 Galactic double neutron stars effectively doubling the sample used in previous studies. We expand the space of models so that the recycled neutron star need not be drawn from the same distribution as the non-recycled companion. Moreover, we consider different functional forms including uniform, single-Gaussian, and two-Gaussian distributions. While there is insufficient data to draw firm conclusions, we find positive support (a Bayes factor of 9) for the hypothesis that recycled and non-recycled neutron stars have distinct mass distributions. The most probable model—preferred with a Bayes factor of 29 over the conventional model—is one in which the recycled neutron star mass is distributed according to a two-Gaussian distribution and the non-recycled neutron star mass is distributed uniformly. We show that precise component mass measurements of ≈ 20 double neutron stars are required in order to determine with high confidence (a Bayes factor of 150) if recycled and non-recycled neutron stars come from a common distribution. Approximately 60 are needed in order to establish the detailed shape of the distributions.

mass distribution
galactic
double neutron star


On the IceCube spectral anomaly

Abstract: Recently it was noted that different IceCube datasets are not consistent with the same power law spectrum of the cosmic neutrinos: this is the IceCube spectral anomaly, that suggests that they observe a multicomponent spectrum. In this work, the main possibilities to enhance the description in terms of a single extragalactic neutrino component are examined. The hypothesis of a sizable contribution of Galactic high-energy neutrino events distributed as E^-2.7 [ApJ 826, 185 (2016)] is critically analyzed and its natural generalization is considered. The stability of the expectations is studied by introducing free parameters, motivated by theoretical considerations and observational facts. The upgraded model here examined has 1) a Galactic component with different normalization and shape E^- 2.4; 2) an extragalactic neutrino spectrum based on new data; 3) a non-zero prompt component of atmospheric neutrinos. The two key predictions of the model concern the `high-energy starting events' collected from the Southern sky. The Galactic component produces a softer spectrum and a testable angular anisotropy. A second, radically different class of models, where the second component is instead isotropic, plausibly extragalactic and with a relatively soft spectrum, is disfavored instead by existing observations of muon neutrinos from the Northern sky and below few 100 TeV.


CMB from CFT

Abstract: During inflation, spacetime is approximately described by de Sitter space which is conformally invariant with the symmetry group SO(1,4). This symmetry can significantly constrain the quantum perturbations which arise in the inflationary epoch. We consider a general situation of single field inflation and show that the three point function involving two scalar modes and one tensor mode is uniquely determined, up to small corrections, by the conformal symmetries. Special conformal transformations play an important role in our analysis. Our result applies only to models where the inflaton sector also approximately preserves the full conformal group and shows that this three point function is a good way to test if special conformal invariance was preserved during inflation.

sitter space
correlator
consistency relation
conformal consistency relation
single-field model


A Precision Search for WIMPs with Charged Cosmic Rays

Abstract: AMS-02 has reached the sensitivity to probe canonical thermal WIMPs by their annihilation into antiprotons. Due to the high precision of the data, uncertainties in the astrophysical background have become the most limiting factor for indirect dark matter detection. In this work we systematically quantify and – where possible – reduce uncertainties in the antiproton background. We constrain the propagation of charged cosmic rays through the combination of antiproton, B/C and positron data. Cross section uncertainties are determined from a wide collection of accelerator data and are – for the first time ever – fully taken into account. This allows us to robustly constrain even subdominant dark matter signals through their spectral properties. For a standard NFW dark matter profile we are able to exclude thermal WIMPs with masses up to 570 GeV which annihilate into bottom quarks. While we confirm a reported excess compatible with dark matter of mass around 80 GeV, its local (global) significance only reaches 2.2 sigma (1.1 sigma) in our analysis.

wimp
antiproton
dark matter
possible excess


Relativistic shock breakouts - a variety of gamma-ray flares: from low luminosity gamma-ray bursts to type Ia supernovae

Abstract: A large variety of explosions result in mildly or ultra relativistic shock breakouts. Here we calculate the luminosity and spectrum that these breakouts produce. In order to do so we improve an analytic description of relativistic radiation mediated shocks and follow the system from the breakout itself, through the planar phase and into the spherical phase. We limit our calculation to cases where the post breakout acceleration of the gas ends during the planar phase. (i.e., the final gas Lorentz factor < 30). We find that spherical relativistic breakouts produce a flash of gamma-rays with energy, temperature, and duration that always satisfy a specific relation between them as well as providing the breakout radius and Lorentz factor. The breakout flare is typically followed, on longer time scales, by X-rays that carry a comparable energy. We apply our model to a variety of explosions, including Ia and .Ia supernovae (SNe), AIC, energetic SNe and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We find that all these events produce detectable gamma-ray signals, some of which may have already been seen. Some particular examples are: (i) Relativistic shock breakouts provide a natural explanation to the energy, temperature and time scales, as well as many other observed features, of all low luminosity GRBs. (ii) Nearby broad-line Ib/c (like SN 2002ap) may produce a detectable gamma-ray signal. (iii) Galactic Ia SNe produce detectable gamma-ray flares, if their progenitors are single degenerate. We conclude that relativistic shock breakout is a generic process for the production of gamma-ray flares, which opens a new window for the study and detection of a variety of stellar explosions.


First measurement of the bulk flow of nearby galaxies using the cosmic microwave background

Abstract: Peculiar velocities in the nearby Universe can be measured via the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect. Using a statistical method based on an optimised cross-correlation with nearby galaxies, we extract the kSZ signal generated by plasma halo of galaxies from the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropies observed by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). Marginalising over the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich contribution from clusters of galaxies, possible unresolved point source contamination, and Galactic foregrounds (dust, synchrotron and free-free emission), we report a kSZ bulk flow signal present at the 90 data. When only galaxies within 50 Mpc/h are included in the kSZ template we find a bulk flow in the CMB frame of |V|=533 +/- 263 km/s, in the direction l=324 +/- 27, b=-7 +/- 17, consistent with bulk flow measurements on a similar scale using classical distance indicators. We show how this comparison constrains the (ionised) baryonic budget in the local universe. On very large ( 500 Mpc/h) scales, we find a 95 some analyses of bulk flow of clusters from the kSZ. We estimate that the significance of the bulk flow signal may increase to 3-5 sigma using data from the PLANCK probe.

bulk flow
nearby galaxy
cosmic microwave background


Reconstruction of signals with unknown spectra in information field theory with parameter uncertainty

Abstract: The optimal reconstruction of cosmic metric perturbations and other signals requires knowledge of their power spectra and other parameters. If these are not known a priori, they have to be measured simultaneously from the same data used for the signal reconstruction. We formulate the general problem of signal inference in the presence of unknown parameters within the framework of information field theory. We develop a generic parameter uncertainty renormalized estimation (PURE) technique and address the problem of reconstructing Gaussian signals with unknown power-spectrum with five different approaches: (i) separate maximum-a-posteriori power spectrum measurement and subsequent reconstruction, (ii) maximum-a-posteriori power reconstruction with marginalized power-spectrum, (iii) maximizing the joint posterior of signal and spectrum, (iv) guessing the spectrum from the variance in the Wiener filter map, and (v) renormalization flow analysis of the field theoretical problem providing the PURE filter. In all cases, the reconstruction can be described or approximated as Wiener filter operations with assumed signal spectra derived from the data according to the same recipe, but with differing coefficients. All of these filters, except the renormalized one, exhibit a perception threshold in case of a Jeffreys prior for the unknown spectrum. Data modes, with variance below this threshold do not affect the signal reconstruction at all. Filter (iv) seems to be similar to the so called Karhune-Loeve and Feldman-Kaiser-Peacock estimators for galaxy power spectra used in cosmology, which therefore should also exhibit a marginal perception threshold if correctly implemented. We present statistical performance tests and show that the PURE filter is superior to the others.

information field theory
parameter uncertainty
reconstruction


Probing primordial features with next-generation photometric and radio surveys

Abstract: We investigate the possibility of using future photometric and radio surveys to constrain the power spectrum of primordial fluctuations that is predicted by inflationary models with a violation of the slow-roll phase. We forecast constraints with a Fisher analysis on the amplitude of the parametrized features on ultra-large scales, in order to assess whether these could be distinguishable over the cosmic variance. We find that the next generation of photometric and radio surveys has the potential to test these models at a sensitivity better than current CMB experiments and that the synergy between galaxy and CMB observations is able to constrain models with many extra parameters. In particular, an SKA continuum survey with a huge sky coverage and a flux threshold of a few μJy could confirm the presence of a new phase in the early Universe at more than 3σ.

primordial feature
photometric
radio survey


Exoplanet phase curves: observations and theory

Abstract: Phase curves are the best technique to probe the three dimensional structure of exoplanets' atmospheres. In this chapter we first review current exoplanets phase curve observations and the particular challenges they face. We then describe the different physical mechanisms shaping the atmospheric phase curves of highly irradiated tidally locked exoplanets. Finally, we discuss the potential for future missions to further advance our understanding of these new worlds.


Gravity in mimetic scalar-tensor theories after GW170817

Abstract: We derive the most general mimetic scalar-tensor theory assuming a healthy "seed" action and accounting for the constraints on the speed of gravitational-wave propagation arising from the GW170817 event. By analysing linear perturbations around a flat FLRW background in this model, we obtain a suitable form of the Poisson equation, which allows us to calculate the effective gravitational constant felt by "ordinary" matter. By restricting to a minimally coupled model, such an effective gravitational constant is equivalent to that obtained within General Relativity, with cold dark matter plus a perfect fluid dark energy component, with vanishing sound speed. Assuming, further, a ΛCDM background, the effective gravitational constant cannot be distinguished from that of the standard ΛCDM model, at linear order. For the full non-minimally coupled mimetic gravity model we obtain a non-vanishing gravitational slip and an effective gravitational constant which always differs from that of standard ΛCDM.

mimetic scalar-tensor theory
dark matter
mimetic gravity
gravity


The special growth history of central galaxies in groups and clusters

Abstract: Central galaxies (CGs) in galaxy groups and clusters are believed to form and assemble a good portion of their stellar mass at early times, but they also accrete significant mass at late times via galactic cannibalism, that is merging with companion group or cluster galaxies that experience dynamical friction against the common host dark-matter halo. The effect of these mergers on the structure and kinematics of the CG depends not only on the properties of the accreted satellites, but also on the orbital parameters of the encounters. Here we present the results of numerical simulations aimed at estimating the distribution of merging orbital parameters of satellites cannibalized by the CGs in groups and clusters. As a consequence of dynamical friction, the satellites' orbits evolve losing energy and angular momentum, with no clear trend towards orbit circularization. The distributions of the orbital parameters of the central-satellite encounters are markedly different from the distributions found for halo-halo mergers in cosmological simulations. The orbits of satellites accreted by the CGs are on average less bound and less eccentric than those of cosmological halo-halo encounters. We provide fits to the distributions of the central-satellite merging orbital parameters that can be used to study the merger-driven evolution of the scaling relations of CGs.


Higher moments of primordial non-Gaussianity and N-body simulations

Abstract: We perform cosmological N-body simulations with non-Gaussian initial conditions generated from two independent fields. The dominant contribution to the perturbations comes from a purely Gaussian field, but we allow the second field to have local non-Gaussianity that need not be weak. This scenario allows us to adjust the relative importance of non-Gaussian contributions beyond the skewness, producing a scaling of the higher moments different from (and stronger than) the scaling in the usual single field local ansatz. We compare semi-analytic prescriptions for the non-Gaussian mass function, large scale halo bias, and stochastic bias against the simulation results. We discuss applications of this work to large scale structure measurements that can test a wider range of models for the primordial fluctuations than is usually explored.

moment
non-gaussianity
n-body simulation


Analytical model for CMB temperature angular power spectrum from cosmic (super-)strings

Abstract: We present a new analytical method to calculate the small angle CMB temperature angular power spectrum due to cosmic (super-)string segments. In particular, using our method, we clarify the dependence on the intercommuting probability P. We find that the power spectrum is dominated by Poisson-distributed string segments. The power spectrum for a general value of P has a plateau on large angular scales and shows a power-law decrease on small angular scales. The resulting spectrum in the case of conventional cosmic strings is in very good agreement with the numerical result obtained by Fraisse et al.. Then we estimate the upper bound on the dimensionless tension of the string for various values of P by assuming that the fraction of the CMB power spectrum due to cosmic (super-)strings is less than ten percents at various angular scales up to ℓ=2000. We find that the amplitude of the spectrum increases as the intercommuting probability. As a consequence, strings with smaller intercommuting probabilities are found to be more tightly constrained.

angular power spectrum
super-)string
cosmic string


Cosmology with Rayleigh Scattering of the Cosmic Microwave Background

Abstract: The cosmic microwave background (CMB) has been a treasure trove for cosmology. Over the next decade, current and planned CMB experiments are expected to exhaust nearly all primary CMB information. To further constrain cosmological models, there is a great benefit to measuring signals beyond the primary modes. Rayleigh scattering of the CMB is one source of additional cosmological information. It is caused by the additional scattering of CMB photons by neutral species formed during recombination and exhibits a strong and unique frequency scaling (∝ν^4). We will show that with sufficient sensitivity across frequency channels, the Rayleigh scattering signal should not only be detectable but can significantly improve constraining power for cosmological parameters, with limited or no additional modifications to planned experiments. We will provide heuristic explanations for why certain cosmological parameters benefit from measurement of the Rayleigh scattering signal, and confirm these intuitions using the Fisher formalism. In particular, observation of Rayleigh scattering allows significant improvements on measurements of N_ eff and ∑ m_ν.

rayleigh scattering
cosmic microwave background
cosmology


The properties of merging black holes and neutron stars across cosmic time

Abstract: The next generation ground-based gravitational wave interferometers will possibly observe mergers of binary black holes (BBHs) and binary neutron stars (BNSs) to redshift z≳10 and z≳2, respectively. Here, we characterize the properties of merging BBHs, BNSs and neutron star-black hole binaries across cosmic time, by means of population-synthesis simulations combined with the Illustris cosmological simulation. We find that the mass of merging compact objects does not depend (or depends very mildly) on the merger redshift. Even the mass distribution of black holes depends only mildly on redshift, because BBHs originating from metal-poor progenitors (Z≤4×10^-3) dominate the entire population of merging BBHs across cosmic time. For a common-envelope efficiency α≥3, the main difference between the mass distribution of BBHs merging in the last Gyr and that of BBHs merging more than 11 Gyr ago is that there is an excess of heavy merging black holes (20-35 M_⊙) in the last Gyr. This excess is explained by the longer delay time of massive BBHs.


Extreme Sensitivity of the YORP Effect to Small-Scale Topography

Abstract: Radiation recoil (YORP) torques are shown to be extremely sensitive to small-scale surface topography. Starting from simulated objects representative of the near-Earth object population, random realizations of three types of small-scale topography are added: Gaussian surface fluctuations, craters, and boulders. For each, the resulting expected relative errors in the spin and obliquity components of the YORP torque are computed. Gaussian power produces errors of order 100 harmonic order l < 10. A single crater with diameter roughly half the object's mean radius, placed at random locations, results in errors of several tens of percent. Boulders create torque errors roughly 3 times larger than do craters of the same diameter. A single boulder comparable to Yoshinodai on 25143 Itokawa, moved by as little as twice its own diameter, can alter the magnitude of the torque by factors of several, and change the sign of its spin component at all obliquities. A YORP torque prediction derived from groundbased data can be expected to be in error by of order 100 surface changes caused by slow spin-up or spin-down may have significant stochastic effects on the spin evolution of small bodies. For rotation periods between roughly 2 and 10 hours, these unpredictable changes may reverse the sign of the YORP torque. Objects in this spin regime may random-walk up and down in spin rate before the rubble-pile limit is exceeded and fissioning or loss of surface objects occurs. Similar behavior may be expected at rotation rates approaching the limiting values for tensile-strength dominated objects.

yorp effect
small-scale topography
single crater
location


Magnetic field buoyancy in accretion disks of young stars

Abstract: Buoyancy of the fossil magnetic field in the accretion disks of young stars is investigated. It is assumed that the Parker instability leads to the formation of slender flux tubes of toroidal magnetic field in the regions of effective magnetic field generation. Stationary solution of the induction equation is written in the form in which buoyancy is treated as the additional mechanism of the magnetic flux escape. We calculate the fossil magnetic field intensity in the accretion disks of young T Tauri stars for the cases when radius of the magnetic flux tubes a_mft = 0.1H, 0.5 H or 1H, where H is the accretion disk height scale. Calculations show that the buoyancy limits toroidal magnetic field growth, so that its strength is comparable with the vertical magnetic field strength for the case a_mft=0.1H.

accretion disk
young star
magnetic field buoyancy


Big Bounce and inhomogeneities

Abstract: The dynamics of an inhomogeneous universe is studied with the methods of Loop Quantum Cosmology as an example of the quantization of vacuum cosmological spacetimes containing gravitational waves (Gowdy spacetimes). The analysis performed at the effective level shows that: (i) The initial Big Bang singularity is replaced (as in the case of homogeneous cosmological models) by a Big Bounce, joining deterministically two large universes, (ii) the universe size at the bounce is at least of the same order of magnitude as that of the background homogeneous universe, (iii) for each gravitational wave mode, the difference in amplitude at very early and very late times has a vanishing statistical average when the bounce dynamics is strongly dominated by the inhomogeneities, whereas this average is positive when the dynamics is in a near-vacuum regime, so that statistically the inhomogeneities are amplified.


Neutrino transport in black hole-neutron star binaries: neutrino emission and dynamical mass ejection

Abstract: We study the merger of black hole-neutron star binaries by fully general-relativistic neutrino-radiation-hydrodynamics simulations throughout the coalescence, particularly focusing on the role of neutrino irradiation in dynamical mass ejection. Neutrino transport is incorporated by an approximate transfer scheme based on the truncated moment formalism. While we fix the mass ratio of the black hole to the neutron star to be 4 and the dimensionless spin parameter of the black hole to be 0.75, the equations of state for finite-temperature neutron-star matter are varied. The hot accretion disk formed after tidal disruption of the neutron star emits a copious amount of neutrinos with the peak total luminosity 1–3x10^53 erg s^(-1) via thermal pair production and subsequent electron/positron captures on free nucleons. Nevertheless, the neutrino irradiation does not modify significantly the electron fraction of the dynamical ejecta from the neutrinoless beta-equilibrium value at zero temperature of initial neutron stars. The mass of the wind component driven by neutrinos from the remnant disk is negligible compared to the very neutron-rich dynamical component, throughout our simulations performed until a few tens milliseconds after the onset of merger, for the models considered in this study. These facts suggest that the ejecta from black hole-neutron star binaries are very neutron rich and are expected to accommodate strong r-process nucleosynthesis, unless magnetic or viscous processes contribute substantially to the mass ejection from the disk. We also find that the peak neutrino luminosity does not necessarily increase as the disk mass increases, because tidal disruption of a compact neutron star can result in a remnant disk with a small mass but high temperature.

hole-neutron star binary
dynamical mass ejection
neutrino transport


A set of orbital elements to fully represent the zonal harmonics around an oblate celestial body

Abstract: This work introduces a new set of orbital elements to fully represent the zonal harmonics problem around an oblate celestial body. This new set of orbital elements allows to obtain a complete linear system for the unperturbed problem and, in addition, a complete polynomial system when considering the perturbation produced by the zonal harmonics from the gravitational force of an oblate celestial body. These orbital elements present no singularities and are able to represent any kind of orbit, including elliptic, parabolic and hyperbolic orbits. In addition, an application to this formulation of the Poincaré-Lindstedt perturbation method is included to obtain an approximate first order solution of the problem for the case of the J2 perturbation.

orbital element
zonal harmonic
celestial body


The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the link between angular momentum and optical morphology

Abstract: We investigate the relationship between stellar and gas specific angular momentum j, stellar mass M_* and optical morphology for a sample of 488 galaxies extracted from the SAMI Galaxy Survey. We find that j, measured within one effective radius, monotonically increases with M_* and that, for M_*>10^9.5 M_⊙, the scatter in this relation strongly correlates with optical morphology (i.e., visual classification and Sérsic index). These findings confirm that massive galaxies of all types lie on a plane relating mass, angular momentum and stellar light distribution, and suggest that the large-scale morphology of a galaxy is regulated by its mass and dynamical state. We show that the significant scatter in the M_*-j relation is accounted for by the fact that, at fixed stellar mass, the contribution of ordered motions to the dynamical support of galaxies varies by at least a factor of three. Indeed, the stellar spin parameter (quantified via λ_R) correlates strongly with Sérsic and concentration indices. This correlation is particularly strong once slow-rotators are removed from the sample, showing that late-type galaxies and early-type fast rotators form a continuous class of objects in terms of their kinematic properties.

sami galaxy survey
angular momentum
optical morphology


Concerns regarding the use of black hole shadows as standard rulers

Abstract: Recently, Tsupko et al. have put forward the very interesting proposal to use the shadows of high-redshift supermassive black holes (SMBHs) as standard rulers. This would in principle allow us to probe the expansion history within a redshift range which would otherwise be challenging to access. In this note, we critically examine this proposal, and identify a number of important issues which had been previously overlooked. These include difficulties in obtaining reliable SMBH mass estimates and reaching the required angular resolution, and an insufficient knowledge of the accretion dynamics of high-redshift SMBHs. While these issues currently appear to prevent high-redshift SMBH shadows from being used as robust standard rulers, we hope that our flagging them early will help in making this probe theoretically mature by the time it will be experimentally feasible.


Angular momentum fluctuations in the convective helium shell of massive stars

Abstract: We find significant fluctuations of angular momentum within the convective helium shell of a pre-collapse massive star - a core-collapse supernova progenitor - which may facilitate the formation of accretion disks and jets that can explode the star. The convective flow in our model of an evolved M_ZAMS=15Msun star, computed with the sub-sonic hydrodynamic solver MAESTRO, contains entire shells with net angular momentum in different directions. This phenomenon may have important implications for the late evolutionary stages of massive stars, and for the dynamics of core-collapse.

convective helium shell
massive star
angular momentum


The Halo Void (Dust) Model of Large Scale Structure

Abstract: Within the Halo Model of large scale structure, all matter is contained in dark matter halos. This simple yet powerful framework has been broadly applied to multiple data sets and enriched our comprehension of how matter is distributed in the Universe. In this work we extend this assumption by allowing for matter to rest not only inside halos but also within cosmic voids and in between halos and voids (which we call 'dust'). This assumption leads to additional contributions (1Void, 2Void, Halo-Void, etc.) to the predictions of correlation functions, spectra and profiles for both halos and voids. Whereas the Halo Model can only make predictions for halo quantities, the Halo Void Model extends those for void statistics and halo-void cross-correlations. We provide recipes for all new ingredients of the Halo Void (Dust) Model, such as the void abundance, linear bias and density profile and test their validity in a N-body simulation. Including voids and dust into the calculations improves the transition between the 1Halo and the 2Halo terms by up to ∼ 6%. It also eliminates the need to include low-mass structures on the normalization of large-scale terms, suggesting that halos and voids are complementary cosmic structures to effectively describe matter distribution on large scales of the Universe.


Triangular solution to general relativistic three-body problem for general masses

Abstract: Continuing work initiated in an earlier publication [Ichita, Yamada and Asada, Phys. Rev. D 83, 084026 (2011)], we reexamine the post-Newtonian effects on Lagrange's equilateral triangular solution for the three-body problem. For three finite masses, it is found that a triangular configuration satisfies the post-Newtonian equation of motion in general relativity, if and only if it has the relativistic corrections to each side length. This post-Newtonian configuration for three finite masses is not always equilateral and it recovers previous results for the restricted three-body problem when one mass goes to zero. For the same masses and angular velocity, the post-Newtonian triangular configuration is always smaller than the Newtonian one.

three-body problem
general masse
triangular solution


Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity. Phenomenology of non-linear gravity-matter coupling

Abstract: Viable corrections to the matter sector of Poisson's equation may result in qualitatively different astrophysical phenomenology, for example the gravitational collapse and the properties of compact objects can change drastically. We discuss a class of modified non-relativistic theories and focus on a relativistic completion, Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity. This recently proposed theory is equivalent to General Relativity in vacuum, but its non-trivial coupling to matter prevents singularities in early cosmology and in the non-relativistic collapse of non-interacting particles. We extend our previous analysis, discussing further developments. We present a full numerical study of spherically symmetric non-relativistic gravitational collapse of dust. For any positive coupling, the final state of the collapse is a regular pressureless star rather than a singularity. We also argue that there is no Chandrasekhar limit for the mass of non-relativistic white dwarf in this theory. Finally, we extend our previous results in the fully relativistic theory by constructing static and slowly rotating compact stars governed by nuclear-physics inspired equations of state. In the relativistic theory, there exists an upper bound on the mass of compact objects, suggesting that black holes can still be formed in the relativistic collapse.

born-infeld gravity
gravitational collapse
general relativity
cosmology


Leptogenesis and Primordial Magnetic Fields

Abstract: The anomalous conversion of leptons into baryons during leptogenesis is shown to produce a right-handed helical magnetic field; in contrast, the magnetic field produced during electroweak baryogenesis is known to be left-handed. If the cosmological medium is turbulent, the magnetic field evolves to have a present day coherence scale and field strength that are of astrophysical interest. Observations of the amplitude, coherence scale, and helicity of the intergalactic magnetic field promise to provide a powerful probe of physics beyond the Standard Model and the very early universe.

magnetic field
early universe
leptogenesis


SkyFACT: High-dimensional modeling of gamma-ray emission with adaptive templates and penalized likelihoods

Abstract: We present SkyFACT (Sky Factorization with Adaptive Constrained Templates), a new approach for studying, modeling and decomposing diffuse gamma-ray emission. Like most previous analyses, the approach relies on predictions from cosmic-ray propagation codes like GALPROP and DRAGON. However, in contrast to previous approaches, we account for the fact that models are not perfect and allow for a very large number (≳10^5) of nuisance parameters to parameterize these imperfections. We combine methods of image reconstruction and adaptive spatio-spectral template regression in one coherent hybrid approach. To this end, we use penalized Poisson likelihood regression, with regularization functions that are motivated by the maximum entropy method. We introduce methods to efficiently handle the high dimensionality of the convex optimization problem as well as the associated semi-sparse covariance matrix, using the L-BFGS-B algorithm and Cholesky factorization. We test the method both on synthetic data as well as on gamma-ray emission from the inner Galaxy, |ℓ|<90^∘ and |b|<20^∘, as observed by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. We finally define a simple reference model that removes most of the residual emission from the inner Galaxy, based on conventional diffuse emission components as well as components for the Fermi bubbles, the Fermi Galactic center excess, and extended sources along the Galactic disk. Variants of this reference model can serve as basis for future studies of diffuse emission in and outside the Galactic disk.


Attractor Behaviour in Multifield Inflation

Abstract: We study multifield inflation in scenarios where the fields are coupled non-minimally to gravity via ξ_I(ϕ^I)^n g^μνR_μν, where ξ_I are coupling constants, ϕ^I the fields driving inflation, g_μν the space-time metric, R_μν the Ricci tensor, and n>0. We consider the so-called α-attractor models in two formulations of gravity: in the usual metric case where R_μν=R_μν(g_μν), and in the Palatini formulation where R_μν is an independent variable. As the main result, we show that, regardless of the underlying theory of gravity, the field-space curvature in the Einstein frame has no influence on the inflationary dynamics at the limit of large ξ_I, and one effectively retains the single-field case. However, the gravity formulation does play an important role: in the metric case the result means that multifield models approach the single-field α-attractor limit, whereas in the Palatini case the attractor behaviour is lost also in the case of multifield inflation. We discuss what this means for distinguishing between different models of inflation.

multifield inflation
gravity
attractor behaviour


Warm dark matter in the galaxies:theoretical and observational progresses. Highlights and conclusions of the chalonge meudon workshop 2011

Abstract: Warm Dark Matter (WDM) research is progressing fast, the subject is new and WDM essentially works, naturally reproducing the astronomical observations over all scales: small (galactic) and large (cosmological) scales (LambdaWDM). Evidence that Cold Dark Matter (LambdaCDM) and its proposed tailored cures do not work at small scales is staggering. Fedor Bezrukov, Pier-Stefano Corasaniti, Hector J. de Vega, Stefano Ettori, Frederic Hessmann, Ayuki Kamada, Marco Lombardi, Alexander Merle, Christian Moni Bidin, Angelo Nucciotti on behalf of the MARE collaboration, Sinziana Paduroiu, Henri Plana, Norma Sanchez, Patrick Valageas, Shun Zhou present here their highlights of the Workshop. LambdaWDM simulations with keV particles remarkably reproduce the observations, small and large structures and velocity functions. Cored DM halos and WDM are clearly determined from theory and astronomical observations, they naturally produce the observed structures at all scales. keV sterile neutrinos are the leading candidates, they naturally appear extensions of the standard model of particle physics. Astrophysical constraints including Lyman alpha bounds put its mass in the range 1< m <13 keV. Predictions for EUCLID and PLANCK have been presented. MARE and an adapted KATRIN experiment could detect a keV sterile neutrino. It will be a fantastic discovery to detect dark matter in a beta decay. A formidable WDM work to perform is ahead of us, these highlights point out some relevant research directions to put the effort. Photos of the Workshop are included (Abridged).

astronomical observation
warm dark matter
galactic scale


Gauge invariant variables for cosmological perturbation theory using geometrical clocks

Abstract: Using the extended ADM-phase space formulation in the canonical framework we analyze the relationship between various gauge choices made in cosmological perturbation theory and the choice of geometrical clocks in the relational formalism. We show that various gauge invariant variables obtained in the conventional analysis of cosmological perturbation theory correspond to Dirac observables tied to a specific choice of geometrical clocks. As examples, we show that the Bardeen potentials and the Mukhanov-Sasaki variable emerge naturally in our analysis as observables when gauge fixing conditions are determined via clocks in the Hamiltonian framework. Similarly other gauge invariant variables for various gauges can be systematically obtained. We demonstrate this by analyzing five common gauge choices: longitudinal, spatially flat, uniform field, synchronous and comoving gauge. For all these, we apply the observable map in the context of the relational formalism and obtain the corresponding Dirac observables associated with these choices of clocks. At the linear order, our analysis generalizes the existing results in canonical cosmological perturbation theory twofold. On the one hand we can include also gauges that can only be analyzed in the context of the extended ADM-phase space and furthermore, we obtain a set of natural gauge invariant variables, namely the Dirac observables, for each considered choice of gauge conditions. Our analysis provides insights on which clocks should be used to extract the relevant natural physical observables both at the classical and quantum level. We also discuss how to generalize our analysis in a straightforward way to higher orders in the perturbation theory to understand gauge conditions and the construction of gauge invariant quantities beyond linear order.

cosmological perturbation theory
geometrical clock
gauge


Estimating distances from parallaxes. V: Geometric and photogeometric distances to 1.47 billion stars in Gaia Early Data Release 3

Abstract: Stellar distances constitute a foundational pillar of astrophysics. The publication of 1.47 billion stellar parallaxes from Gaia is a major contribution to this. Yet despite Gaia's precision, the majority of these stars are so distant or faint that their fractional parallax uncertainties are large, thereby precluding a simple inversion of parallax to provide a distance. Here we take a probabilistic approach to estimating stellar distances that uses a prior constructed from a three-dimensional model of our Galaxy. This model includes interstellar extinction and Gaia's variable magnitude limit. We infer two types of distance. The first, geometric, uses the parallax together with a direction-dependent prior on distance. The second, photogeometric, additionally uses the colour and apparent magnitude of a star, by exploiting the fact that stars of a given colour have a restricted range of probable absolute magnitudes (plus extinction). Tests on simulated data and external validations show that the photogeometric estimates generally have higher accuracy and precision for stars with poor parallaxes. We provide a catalogue of 1.47 billion geometric and 1.35 billion photogeometric distances together with asymmetric uncertainty measures. Our estimates are quantiles of a posterior probability distribution, so they transform invariably and can therefore also be used directly in the distance modulus (5log10(r)-5). The catalogue may be downloaded or queried using ADQL at various sites (see http://www.mpia.de/homes/calj/gedr3_distances.html) where it can also be cross-matched with the Gaia catalogue.


Razor-thin dust layers in protoplanetary disks: Limits on the vertical shear instability

Abstract: Context: Recent observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) have shown that the large dust aggregates observed at millimeter wavelengths settle to the midplane into a remarkably thin layer. Aims: We intend to find out if the geometric thinness of these layers is evidence against the vertical shear instability (VSI) operating in these disks. Methods: We performed hydrodynamic simulations of a protoplanetary disk with a locally isothermal equation of state, and let the VSI fully develop. We sprinkled dust particles and followed their motion as they got stirred up by the VSI. We determined for which grain size the layer becomes geometrically thin enough to be consistent with ALMA observations. We then verified if, with these grain sizes, it is still possible to generate a moderately optically thick layer at millimeter wavelengths, as observations appear to indicate. Results: We found that even very large dust aggregates with Stokes numbers close to unity get stirred up to relatively large heights above the midplane by the VSI, which is in conflict with the observed geometric thinness. For grains so large that the Stokes number exceeds unity, the layer can be made to remain thin, but we show that it is hard to make dust layers optically thick at ALMA wavelengths (e.g., tau(1.3mm)>=1) with such large dust aggregates. Conclusions: We conclude that protoplanetary disks with geometrically thin midplane dust layers cannot be VSI unstable, at least not down to the disk midplane. Explanations for the inhibition of the VSI include a reduced dust-to-gas ratio of the small dust grains that are responsible for the radiative cooling of the disk. A reduction of small grains by a factor of between 10 and 100 is sufficient to quench the VSI. Such a reduction is plausible in dust growth models, and still consistent with observations at optical and infrared wavelengths.

dust layer
protoplanetary disk
vertical shear instability


Exploring a string-like landscape

Abstract: We explore inflationary trajectories within randomly-generated two-dimensional potentials, considered as a toy model of the string landscape. Both the background and perturbation equations are solved numerically, the latter using the two-field formalism of Peterson and Tegmark which fully incorporates the effect of isocurvature perturbations. Sufficient inflation is a rare event, occurring for only roughly one in 10^5 potentials. For models generating sufficient inflation, we find that the majority of runs satisfy current constraints from WMAP. The scalar spectral index is less than 1 in all runs. The tensor-to-scalar ratio is below the current limit, while typically large enough to be detected by next-generation CMB experiments and perhaps also by Planck. In many cases the inflationary consistency equation is broken by the effect of isocurvature modes.

landscape
toy model
current constraint
random potential