https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/685594/file/1130605.pdf

Review of Particle Physics

WMAP precision data enable accurate testing of cosmological models. We find that the emerging standard model of cosmology, a flat � -dominated universe seeded by a nearly scale-invariant adiabatic Gaussian fluctuations, fits the WMAP data. For the WMAP data only, the best-fit parameters are h ¼ 0:72 � 0:05, � bh 2 ¼ 0:024 � 0:001, � mh 2 ¼ 0:14 � 0:02, � ¼ 0:166 þ0:076 � 0:071 , ns ¼ 0:99 � 0:04, and � 8 ¼ 0:9 � 0:1. With parameters fixed only by WMAP data, we can fit finer scale cosmic microwave background (CMB) measure- ments and measurements of large-scale structure (galaxy surveys and the Lyforest). This simple model is also consistent with a host of other astronomical measurements: its inferred age of the universe is consistent with stellar ages, the baryon/photon ratio is consistent with measurements of the (D/H) ratio, and the inferred Hubble constant is consistent with local observations of the expansion rate. We then fit the model parameters to a combination of WMAP data with other finer scale CMB experiments (ACBAR and CBI), 2dFGRS measurements, and Lyforest data to find the model's best-fit cosmological parameters: h ¼ 0:71 þ0:04 � 0:03 , � bh 2 ¼ 0:0224 � 0:0009, � mh 2 ¼ 0:135 þ0:008 � 0:009 , � ¼ 0:17 � 0:06, ns(0.05 Mpc � 1 )=0 :93 � 0:03, and � 8 ¼ 0:84 � 0:04. WMAP's best determination of � ¼ 0:17 � 0:04 arises directly from the temperature- polarization (TE) data and not from this model fit, but they are consistent. These parameters imply that the age of the universe is 13:7 � 0:2 Gyr. With the Lyforest data, the model favors but does not require a slowly varying spectral index. The significance of this running index is sensitive to the uncertainties in the Ly� forest. By combining WMAP data with other astronomical data, we constrain the geometry of the universe, � tot ¼ 1:02 � 0:02, and the equation of state of the dark energy, w < � 0:78 (95% confidence limit assuming w �� 1). The combination of WMAP and 2dFGRS data constrains the energy density in stable neutrinos: � � h 2 < 0:0072 (95% confidence limit). For three degenerate neutrino species, this limit implies that their mass is less than 0.23 eV (95% confidence limit). The WMAP detection of early reionization rules out warm dark matter. Subject headings: cosmic microwave background — cosmological parameters — cosmology: observations — early universe On-line material: color figure

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First year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) observations: Determination of cosmological parameters

High resolution N-body simulations show that the density profiles of dark matter halos formed in the standard CDM cosmogony can be fit accurately by scaling a simple “universal” profile. Regardless of their mass, halos are nearly isothermal over a large range in radius, but significantly shallower than r -2 near the center and steeper than r -2 in the outer regions. The characteristic overdensity of a halo correlates strongly with halo mass in a manner consistent with the mass dependence of the epoch of halo formation. Matching the shape of the rotation curves of disk galaxies with this halo structure requires (i) disk mass-to-light ratios to increase systematically with luminosity, (ii) halo circular velocities to be systematically lower than the disk rotation speed, and (iii) that the masses of halos surrounding bright galaxies depend only weakly on galaxy luminosity. This offers an attractive explanation for the puzzling lack of correlation between luminosity and dynamics in observed samples of binary galaxies and of satellite companions of bright spiral galaxies, suggesting that the structure of dark matter halos surrounding bright spirals is similar to that of cold dark matter halos.

The Structure of cold dark matter halos

We discuss the cosmological simulation code GADGET-2, a new massively parallel TreeSPH code, capable of following a collisionless fluid with the N-body method, and an ideal gas by means of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). Our implementation of SPH manifestly conserves energy and entropy in regions free of dissipation, while allowing for fully adaptive smoothing lengths. Gravitational forces are computed with a hierarchical multipole expansion, which can optionally be applied in the form of a TreePM algorithm, where only short-range forces are computed with the ‘tree’ method while long-range forces are determined with Fourier techniques. Time integration is based on a quasi-symplectic scheme where long-range and short-range forces can be integrated with different time-steps. Individual and adaptive short-range time-steps may also be employed. The domain decomposition used in the parallelization algorithm is based on a space-filling curve, resulting in high flexibility and tree force errors that do not depend on the way the domains are cut. The code is efficient in terms of memory consumption and required communication bandwidth. It has been used to compute the first cosmological N-body simulation with more than 10 10 dark matter particles, reaching a homogeneous spatial dynamic range of 10 5 per dimension in a three-dimensional box. It has also been used to carry out very large cosmological SPH simulations that account for radiative cooling and star formation, reaching total particle numbers of more than 250 million. We present the algorithms used by the code and discuss their accuracy and performance using a number of test problems. GADGET-2 is publicly released to the research community. Ke yw ords: methods: numerical ‐ galaxies: interactions ‐ dark matter.

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The Cosmological simulation code GADGET-2

A simple cosmological model with only six parameters (matter density, Omega_m h^2, baryon density, Omega_b h^2, Hubble Constant, H_0, amplitude of fluctuations, sigma_8, optical depth, tau, and a slope for the scalar perturbation spectrum, n_s) fits not only the three year WMAP temperature and polarization data, but also small scale CMB data, light element abundances, large-scale structure observations, and the supernova luminosity/distance relationship. Using WMAP data only, the best fit values for cosmological parameters for the power-law flat LCDM model are (Omega_m h^2, Omega_b h^2, h, n_s, tau, sigma_8) = 0.1277+0.0080-0.0079, 0.02229+-0.00073, 0.732+0.031-0.032, 0.958+-0.016, 0.089+-0.030, 0.761+0.049-0.048). The three year data dramatically shrink the allowed volume in this six dimensional parameter space. Assuming that the primordial fluctuations are adiabatic with a power law spectrum, the WMAP data_alone_ require dark matter, and favor a spectral index that is significantly less than the Harrison-Zel'dovich-Peebles scale-invariant spectrum (n_s=1, r=0). Models that suppress large-scale power through a running spectral index or a large-scale cut-off in the power spectrum are a better fit to the WMAP and small scale CMB data than the power-law LCDM model: however, the improvement in the fit to the WMAP data is only Delta chi^2 = 3 for 1 extra degree of freedom. The combination of WMAP and other astronomical data yields significant constraints on the geometry of the universe, the equation of state of the dark energy, the gravitational wave energy density, and neutrino properties. Consistent with the predictions of simple inflationary theories, we detect no significant deviations from Gaussianity in the CMB maps.

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Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) three year results: implications for cosmology

For a Comprehensive Space-Based Dark Energy Mission

We investigate the clustering properties of high-redshift galaxies within three competing scenarios for assigning luminous galaxies to dark matter halos from N-body simulations: a one galaxy per massive halo model, a quiescent star formation model, and a collisional starburst model. We compare these models to observations of Lyman-Break galaxies at z~3$ With current data and the simple statistic used here, one cannot rule out any of these models, but we see potential for finding distinguishing features using statistics that are sensitive to the tails of the distribution, and statistics based on the number of multiple galaxies per halo, which we explore in an ongoing study.

Clustering of high-redshift galaxies: relating LBGs to dark matter halos

I discuss how measurements of the absorption of $\gamma$-rays from GeV to TeV energies via pair production on the extragalactic background light (EBL) can probe important issues in galaxy formation. We use semi-analytic models (SAMs) of galaxy formation, based on the flat LCDM hierarchical structure formation scenario with $\Omega_m=0.3$ and Hubble parameter $h=0.65$, to obtain predictions of the EBL from 0.1 to 1000$\mu$m. SAMs incorporate simplified physical treatments of the key processes of galaxy formation - including gravitational collapse and merging of dark matter halos, gas cooling and dissipation, star formation, supernova feedback and metal production -- and have been shown to reproduce key observations at low and high redshift. We investigate the consequences of variations in input assumptions such as the stellar initial mass function (IMF) and the efficiency of converting cold gas into stars. We also discuss recent attempts to determine the emitted spectrum of high energy gamma rays from blazars such as Mrk 501 from the observed X-rays using the synchrotron self-Compton model, and note that our favorite SAM EBL plus the observed spectrum of Mrk 501 do not imply unphysical upturns in the high energy emitted spectrum - thus undermining recent claims of a crisis with drastic possible consequences such as breaking of Lorentz invariance. We conclude that observational studies of the absorption of $\gamma$-rays will help to determine the EBL, and also help to explain its origin by constraining some of the most uncertain features of galaxy formation theory, including the IMF, the history of star formation, and the reprocessing of light by dust.

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Probing Galaxy Formation with High Energy Gamma-Rays

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Modern cosmology and some implications for religion

This article summarizes the possible roles of neutrinos in cosmology, from the first three minutes onward. The fact that primordial neutrinos are about as numerous as the photons of the cosmological background radiation means that neutrino (or ``hot'') dark matter can have a significant impact upon how matter is distributed in the universe. Over the past two decades, the liklihood of this has risen and fallen as more and more data has become available from laboratory experiments and the latest telescopes. Hot dark matter models were studied in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and there was considerable interest in cold plus hot dark matter models for a few years in the mid-1990s. We now know from Super-Kamiokande and Sudbury Neutrino Observatory data that neutrinos have mass, and that the total neutrino contribution to the cosmological density must be at least as large as $\Omega_\nu \sim 0.001$, a little less than that of the visible stars in the universe. But the upper limit on the hot dark matter cosmological density is $\Omega_\nu < 0.1$; correspondingly, the sum of the masses of all three active neutrino species is not more than about 5 eV.

Joel R. Primack

Papers

For a Comprehensive Space-Based Dark Energy Mission

Clustering of high-redshift galaxies: relating LBGs to dark matter halos

Probing Galaxy Formation with High Energy Gamma-Rays

Modern cosmology and some implications for religion

Whatever Happened to Hot Dark Matter