Showing papers on "Cosmology published in 2013"

Planck 2013 results. XVI. Cosmological parameters

Abstract: We present the first results based on Planck measurements of the CMB temperature and lensing-potential power spectra. The Planck spectra at high multipoles are extremely well described by the standard spatially-flat six-parameter LCDM cosmology. In this model Planck data determine the cosmological parameters to high precision. We find a low value of the Hubble constant, H0=67.3+/-1.2 km/s/Mpc and a high value of the matter density parameter, Omega_m=0.315+/-0.017 (+/-1 sigma errors) in excellent agreement with constraints from baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) surveys. Including curvature, we find that the Universe is consistent with spatial flatness to percent-level precision using Planck CMB data alone. We present results from an analysis of extensions to the standard cosmology, using astrophysical data sets in addition to Planck and high-resolution CMB data. None of these models are favoured significantly over standard LCDM. The deviation of the scalar spectral index from unity is insensitive to the addition of tensor modes and to changes in the matter content of the Universe. We find a 95% upper limit of r<0.11 on the tensor-to-scalar ratio. There is no evidence for additional neutrino-like relativistic particles. Using BAO and CMB data, we find N_eff=3.30+/-0.27 for the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom, and an upper limit of 0.23 eV for the summed neutrino mass. Our results are in excellent agreement with big bang nucleosynthesis and the standard value of N_eff=3.046. We find no evidence for dynamical dark energy. Despite the success of the standard LCDM model, this cosmology does not provide a good fit to the CMB power spectrum at low multipoles, as noted previously by the WMAP team. While not of decisive significance, this is an anomaly in an otherwise self-consistent analysis of the Planck temperature data.

Nine-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Final Maps and Results

Abstract: We present the final nine-year maps and basic results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) mission. The full nine-year analysis of the time-ordered data provides updated characterizations and calibrations of the experiment. We also provide new nine-year full sky temperature maps that were processed to reduce the asymmetry of the effective beams. Temperature and polarization sky maps are examined to separate cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy from foreground emission, and both types of signals are analyzed in detail.We provide new point source catalogs as well as new diffuse and point source foreground masks. An updated template-removal process is used for cosmological analysis; new foreground fits are performed, and new foreground reduced are presented.We nowimplement an optimal C(exp -1)1 weighting to compute the temperature angular power spectrum. The WMAP mission has resulted in a highly constrained Lambda-CDM cosmological model with precise and accurate parameters in agreement with a host of other cosmological measurements. When WMAP data are combined with finer scale CMB, baryon acoustic oscillation, and Hubble constant measurements, we find that big bang nucleosynthesis is well supported and there is no compelling evidence for a non-standard number of neutrino species (N(sub eff) = 3.84 +/- 0.40). The model fit also implies that the age of the universe is (sub 0) = 13.772 +/- 0.059 Gyr, and the fit Hubble constant is H(sub 0) = 69.32 +/- 0.80 km/s/ Mpc. Inflation is also supported: the fluctuations are adiabatic, with Gaussian random phases; the detection of a deviation of the scalar spectral index from unity, reported earlier by the WMAP team, now has high statistical significance (n(sub s) = 0.9608+/-0.0080); and the universe is close to flat/Euclidean (Omega = −0.0027+0.0039/−0.0038). Overall, the WMAP mission has resulted in a reduction of the cosmological parameter volume by a factor of 68,000 for the standard six-parameter Lambda-CDM model, based on CMB data alone. For a model including tensors, the allowed seven-parameter volume has been reduced by a factor 117,000. Other cosmological observations are in accord with the CMB predictions, and the combined data reduces the cosmological parameter volume even further.With no significant anomalies and an adequate goodness of fit, the inflationary flat Lambda-CDM model and its precise and accurate parameters rooted in WMAP data stands as the standard model of cosmology.

Cosmology and Fundamental Physics with the Euclid Satellite

Abstract: Euclid is a European Space Agency medium-class mission selected for launch in 2020 within the cosmic vision 2015–2025 program. The main goal of Euclid is to understand the origin of the accelerated expansion of the universe. Euclid will explore the expansion history of the universe and the evolution of cosmic structures by measuring shapes and red-shifts of galaxies as well as the distribution of clusters of galaxies over a large fraction of the sky. Although the main driver for Euclid is the nature of dark energy, Euclid science covers a vast range of topics, from cosmology to galaxy evolution to planetary research. In this review we focus on cosmology and fundamental physics, with a strong emphasis on science beyond the current standard models. We discuss five broad topics: dark energy and modified gravity, dark matter, initial conditions, basic assumptions and questions of methodology in the data analysis. This review has been planned and carried out within Euclid’s Theory Working Group and is meant to provide a guide to the scientific themes that will underlie the activity of the group during the preparation of the Euclid mission.

CFHTLenS tomographic weak lensing cosmological parameter constraints: Mitigating the impact of intrinsic galaxy alignments

Abstract: We present a finely-binned tomographic weak lensing analysis of the Canada-FranceHawaii Telescope Lensing Survey, CFHTLenS, mitigating contamination to the signal from the presence of intrinsic galaxy alignments via the simultaneous fit of a cosmological model and an intrinsic alignment model. CFHTLenS spans 154 square degrees in five optical bands, with accurate shear and photometric redshifts for a galaxy sample with a median redshift of zm = 0:70. We estimate the 21 sets of cosmic shear correlation functions associated with six redshift bins, each spanning the angular range of 1:5 < < 35 arcmin. We combine this CFHTLenS data with auxiliary cosmological probes: the cosmic microwave background with data from WMAP7, baryon acoustic oscillations with data from BOSS, and a prior on the Hubble constant from the HST distance ladder. This leads to constraints on the normalisation of the matter power spectrum 8 = 0:799 0:015 and the matter density parameter m = 0:271 0:010 for a flat CDM cosmology. For a flat wCDM cosmology we constrain the dark energy equation of state parameter w = 1:02 0:09. We also provide constraints for curved CDM and wCDM cosmologies. We find the intrinsic alignment contamination to be galaxy-type dependent with a significant intrinsic alignment signal found for early-type galaxies, in contrast to the late-type galaxy sample for which the intrinsic alignment signal is found to be consistent with zero.

Cosmological Magnetic Fields: Their Generation, Evolution and Observation

Abstract: We review the possible mechanisms for the generation of cosmological magnetic fields, discuss their evolution in an expanding Universe filled with the cosmic plasma and provide a critical review of the literature on the subject. We put special emphasis on the prospects for observational tests of the proposed cosmological magnetogenesis scenarios using radio and gamma-ray astronomy and ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. We argue that primordial magnetic fields are observationally testable. They lead to magnetic fields in the intergalactic medium with magnetic field strength and correlation length in a well defined range. We also state the unsolved questions in this fascinating open problem of cosmology and propose future observations to address them.

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

Abstract: We present constraints on cosmological and astrophysical parameters from high-resolution microwave background maps at 148 GHz and 218 GHz made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) in three seasons of observations from 2008 to 2010. A model of primary cosmological and secondary foreground parameters is fit to the map power spectra and lensing deflection power spectrum, including contributions from both the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect and the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect, Poisson and correlated anisotropy from unresolved infrared sources, radio sources, and the correlation between the tSZ effect and infrared sources. The power l2Cl/2π of the thermal SZ power spectrum at 148 GHz is measured to be 3.4±1.4 μK2 at l = 3000, while the corresponding amplitude of the kinematic SZ power spectrum has a 95% confidence level upper limit of 8.6 μK2. Combining ACT power spectra with the WMAP 7-year temperature and polarization power spectra, we find excellent consistency with the LCDM model. We constrain the number of effective relativistic degrees of freedom in the early universe to be Neff = 2.79±0.56, in agreement with the canonical value of Neff = 3.046 for three massless neutrinos. We constrain the sum of the neutrino masses to be Σmν < 0.39 eV at 95% confidence when combining ACT and WMAP 7-year data with BAO and Hubble constant measurements. We constrain the amount of primordial helium to be Yp = 0.225±0.034, and measure no variation in the fine structure constant α since recombination, with α/α0 = 1.004±0.005. We also find no evidence for any running of the scalar spectral index, dns/dln k = −0.004±0.012.

Gravitational-Wave Tests of General Relativity with Ground-Based Detectors and Pulsar-Timing Arrays

Abstract: This review is focused on tests of Einstein’s theory of general relativity with gravitational waves that are detectable by ground-based interferometers and pulsar-timing experiments. Einstein’s theory has been greatly constrained in the quasi-linear, quasi-stationary regime, where gravity is weak and velocities are small. Gravitational waves will allow us to probe a complimentary, yet previously unexplored regime: the non-linear and dynamical strong-field regime. Such a regime is, for example, applicable to compact binaries coalescing, where characteristic velocities can reach fifty percent the speed of light and gravitational fields are large and dynamical. This review begins with the theoretical basis and the predicted gravitational-wave observables of modified gravity theories. The review continues with a brief description of the detectors, including both gravitational-wave interferometers and pulsar-timing arrays, leading to a discussion of the data analysis formalism that is applicable for such tests. The review ends with a discussion of gravitational-wave tests for compact binary systems.

Hubble parameter measurement constraints on the cosmological deceleration-acceleration transition redshift

Abstract: We compile a list of 28 independent measurements of the Hubble parameter between redshifts 0.07 ≤ z ≤ 2.3 and use this to place constraints on model parameters of constant and time-evolving dark energy cosmologies. These H(z) measurements by themselves require a currently accelerating cosmological expansion at about, or better than, 3σ confidence. The mean and standard deviation of the six best-fit model deceleration-acceleration transition redshifts (for the three cosmological models and two Hubble constant priors we consider) are z da = 0.74 ± 0.05, in good agreement with the recent Busca et al. determination of z da = 0.82 ± 0.08 based on 11 H(z) measurements between redshifts 0.2 ≤ z ≤ 2.3, almost entirely from baryon-acoustic-oscillation-like data.

Two accurate time-delay distances from strong lensing: implications for cosmology

Abstract: Strong gravitational lenses with measured time delays between the multiple images and models of the lens mass distribution allow a one-step determination of the time-delay distance, and thus a measure of cosmological parameters. We present a blind analysis of the gravitational lens RXJ1131-1231 incorporating (1) the newly measured time delays from COSMOGRAIL, the COSmological MOnitoring of GRAvItational Lenses, (2) archival Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the lens system, (3) a new velocity-dispersion measurement of the lens galaxy of 323 +/- 20 km s(-1) based on Keck spectroscopy, and (4) a characterization of the line-of-sight structures via observations of the lens' environment and ray tracing through the Millennium Simulation. Our blind analysis is designed to prevent experimenter bias. The joint analysis of the data sets allows a time-delay distance measurement to 6% precision that takes into account all known systematic uncertainties. In combination with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe seven-year (WMAP7) data set in flat wCDM cosmology, our unblinded cosmological constraints for RXJ1131-1231 are H-0 = 80.0(-5.7)(+5.8) km s(-1) Mpc(-1), Omega(de) = 0.79 +/- 0.03, and w = -1.25(-0.21)(+0.17). We find the results to be statistically consistent with those from the analysis of the gravitational lens B1608+ 656, permitting us to combine the inferences from these two lenses. The joint constraints from the two lenses and WMAP7 are H-0 = 75.2(-4.2)(+4.4) km s(-1) Mpc(-1), Omega(de) = 0.76(-0.03)(+0.02), and w = -1.14(-0.20)(+0.17) in flat wCDM, and H-0 = 73.1(-3.6)(+2.4) km s(-1) Mpc(-1), Omega(Lambda) = 0.75(-0.02)(+0.01), and Omega(k) = 0.003(-0.006)(+0.005) in open Lambda CDM. Time-delay lenses constrain especially tightly the Hubble constant H0 (5.7% and 4.0% respectively in wCDM and open Lambda CDM) and curvature of the universe. The overall information content is similar to that of Baryon Acoustic Oscillation experiments. Thus, they complement well other cosmological probes, and provide an independent check of unknown systematics. Our measurement of the Hubble constant is completely independent of those based on the local distance ladder method, providing an important consistency check of the standard cosmological model and of general relativity.

Planck 2013 results. I. Overview of products and scientific results

Abstract: The ESA's Planck satellite, dedicated to studying the early Universe and its subsequent evolution, was launched 14 May 2009 and has been scanning the microwave and submillimetre sky continuously since 12 August 2009. This paper gives an overview of the mission and its performance, the processing, analysis, and characteristics of the data, the scientific results, and the science data products and papers in the release. The science products include maps of the CMB and diffuse extragalactic foregrounds, a catalogue of compact Galactic and extragalactic sources, and a list of sources detected through the SZ effect. The likelihood code used to assess cosmological models against the Planck data and a lensing likelihood are described. Scientific results include robust support for the standard six-parameter LCDM model of cosmology and improved measurements of its parameters, including a highly significant deviation from scale invariance of the primordial power spectrum. The Planck values for these parameters and others derived from them are significantly different from those previously determined. Several large-scale anomalies in the temperature distribution of the CMB, first detected by WMAP, are confirmed with higher confidence. Planck sets new limits on the number and mass of neutrinos, and has measured gravitational lensing of CMB anisotropies at greater than 25 sigma. Planck finds no evidence for non-Gaussianity in the CMB. Planck's results agree well with results from the measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations. Planck finds a lower Hubble constant than found in some more local measures. Some tension is also present between the amplitude of matter fluctuations derived from CMB data and that derived from SZ data. The Planck and WMAP power spectra are offset from each other by an average level of about 2% around the first acoustic peak.

Formation of the first stars.

Abstract: Understanding the formation of the first stars is one of the frontier topics in modern astrophysics and cosmology. Their emergence signalled the end of the cosmic dark ages, a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, leading to a fundamental transformation of the early Universe through the production of ionizing photons and the initial enrichment with heavy chemical elements. We here review the state of our knowledge, separating the well understood elements of our emerging picture from those where more work is required. Primordial star formation is unique in that its initial conditions can be directly inferred from the Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model of cosmological structure formation. Combined with gas cooling that is mediated via molecular hydrogen, one can robustly identify the regions of primordial star formation, the so-called minihalos, having total masses of ~106 M⊙ and collapsing at redshifts z 20–30. Within this framework, a number of studies have defined a preliminary standard model, with the main result that the first stars were predominantly massive. This model has recently been modified to include a ubiquitous mode of fragmentation in the protostellar disks, such that the typical outcome of primordial star formation may be the formation of a binary or small multiple stellar system. We will also discuss extensions to this standard picture due to the presence of dynamically significant magnetic fields, of heating from self-annihalating WIMP dark matter, or cosmic rays. We conclude by discussing possible strategies to empirically test our theoretical models. Foremost among them are predictions for the upcoming James Webb space telescope (JWST), to be launched ~2018, and for 'stellar archaeology', which probes the abundance pattern in the oldest, most-metal poor stars in our cosmic neighborhood, thereby constraining the nucleosynthesis inside the first supernovae.

Axions: Theory and Cosmological Role

Abstract: We review recent developments in axion cosmology. Topics include axion cold dark matter, axions from topological defects, axion isocurvature perturbation and its non-Gaussianity, and axino/saxion cosmology in a supersymmetric axion model.

Dark energy or modified gravity? An effective field theory approach

Abstract: We take an Effective Field Theory (EFT) approach to unifying existing proposals for the origin of cosmic acceleration and its connection to cosmological observations. Building on earlier work where EFT methods were used with observations to constrain the background evolution, we extend this program to the level of the EFT of the cosmological perturbations — following the example from the EFT of Inflation. Within this framework, we construct the general theory around an assumed background which will typically be chosen to mimic ΛCDM, and identify the parameters of interest for constraining dark energy and modified gravity models with observations. We discuss the similarities to the EFT of Inflation, but we also identify a number of subtleties including the relationship between the scalar perturbations and the Goldstone boson of the spontaneously broken time translations. We present formulae that relate the parameters of the fundamental Lagrangian to the speed of sound, anisotropic shear stress, effective Newtonian constant, and Caldwell's parameter, emphasizing the connection to observations. It is anticipated that this framework will be of use in constraining individual models, as well as for placing model-independent constraints on dark energy and modified gravity model building.

eLISA: Astrophysics and cosmology in the millihertz regime

Abstract: This document introduces the exciting and fundamentally new science and astronomy that the European New Gravitational Wave Observatory (NGO) mission (derived from the previous LISA proposal) will deliver. The mission (which we will refer to by its informal name "eLISA") will survey for the first time the low-frequency gravitational wave band (about 0.1 mHz to 1 Hz), with sufficient sensitivity to detect interesting individual astrophysical sources out to z = 15. The eLISA mission will discover and study a variety of cosmic events and systems with high sensitivity: coalescences of massive black holes binaries, brought together by galaxy mergers; mergers of earlier, less-massive black holes during the epoch of hierarchical galaxy and black-hole growth; stellar-mass black holes and compact stars in orbits just skimming the horizons of massive black holes in galactic nuclei of the present era; extremely compact white dwarf binaries in our Galaxy, a rich source of information about binary evolution and about future Type Ia supernovae; and possibly most interesting of all, the uncertain and unpredicted sources, for example relics of inflation and of the symmetry-breaking epoch directly after the Big Bang. eLISA's measurements will allow detailed studies of these signals with high signal-to-noise ratio, addressing most of the key scientific questions raised by ESA's Cosmic Vision programme in the areas of astrophysics and cosmology. They will also provide stringent tests of general relativity in the strong-field dynamical regime, which cannot be probed in any other way. This document not only describes the science but also gives an overview on the mission design and orbits.

The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III DR9 Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: testing deviations from Λ and general relativity using anisotropic clustering of galaxies

Abstract: We use the joint measurement of geometry and growth from anisotropic galaxy clustering in the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release 9 (DR9) CMASS sample reported by Reid et al to constrain dark energy (DE) properties and possible deviations from the general relativity (GR) Assuming GR and taking a prior on the linear matter power spectrum at high redshift from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), anisotropic clustering of the CMASS DR9 galaxies alone constrains Ωm = 0308 ± 0022 and 100Ωk = 59 ± 48 for w = −1, or w = −091 ± 012 for Ωk = 0 When combined with the full CMB likelihood, the addition of the anisotropic clustering measurements to the spherically averaged baryon acoustic oscillation location increases the constraining power on DE by a factor of 4 in a flat cold dark matter (CDM) cosmology with constant DE equation of state w (giving w = −087 ± 005) This impressive gain depends on our measurement of both the growth of structure and the Alcock–Paczynski effect, and is not realized when marginalizing over the amplitude of redshift-space distortions Combining with both the CMB and Type Ia supernovae, we find Ωm = 0281 ± 0014 and 1000Ωk = −92 ± 50 for w = −1, or w0 = −113 ± 012 and wa = 065 ± 036 assuming Ωk = 0 Finally, when a ΛCDM background expansion is assumed, the combination of our estimate of the growth rate with previous growth measurements provides tight constraints on the parameters describing possible deviations from GR giving γ = 064 ± 005 For one-parameter extensions of the flat ΛCDM model, we find a ∼2σ preference either for w > −1 or slower growth than in GR However, the data are fully consistent with the concordance model, and evidence for these additional parameters is weaker than 2σ

Dark matter halo profiles of massive clusters: theory versus observations

Abstract: Dark-matter-dominated cluster-scale halos act as an important cosmological probe and provide a key testing ground for structure formation theory. Focusing on their mass profiles, we have carried out (gravity-only) simulations of the concordance ΛCDM cosmology, covering a mass range of 2 × 1012 to 2 × 1015 h –1 M ☉ and a redshift range of z = 0-2, while satisfying the associated requirements of resolution and statistical control. When fitting to the Navarro-Frenk-White profile, our concentration-mass (c-M) relation differs in normalization and shape in comparison to previous studies that have limited statistics in the upper end of the mass range. We show that the flattening of the c-M relation with redshift is naturally expressed if c is viewed as a function of the peak height parameter, ν. Unlike the c-M relation, the slope of the c-ν relation is effectively constant over the redshift range z = 0-2, while the amplitude varies by ~30% for massive clusters. This relation is, however, not universal: using a simulation suite covering the allowed wCDM parameter space, we show that the c-ν relation varies by about ±20% as cosmological parameters are varied. At fixed mass, the c(M) distribution is well fit by a Gaussian with σ c /c 1/3, independent of the radius at which the concentration is defined, the halo dynamical state, and the underlying cosmology. We compare the ΛCDM predictions with observations of halo concentrations from strong lensing, weak lensing, galaxy kinematics, and X-ray data, finding good agreement for massive clusters (M vir > 4 × 1014 h –1 M ☉), but with some disagreements at lower masses. Because of uncertainty in observational systematics and modeling of baryonic physics, the significance of these discrepancies remains unclear.

Accelerated expansion from ghost-free bigravity: a statistical analysis with improved generality

Abstract: We study the background cosmology of the ghost-free, bimetric theory of gravity. We perform an extensive statistical analysis of the model using both frequentist and Bayesian frameworks and employ the constraints on the expansion history of the Universe from the observations of supernovae, the cosmic microwave background and the large scale structure to estimate the model’s parameters and test the goodness of the fits. We explore the parameter space of the model with nested sampling to find the best-fit chi-square, obtain the Bayesian evidence, and compute the marginalized posteriors and mean likelihoods. We mainly focus on a class of sub-models with no explicit cosmological constant (or vacuum energy) term to assess the ability of the theory to dynamically cause a late-time accelerated expansion. The model behaves as standard gravity without a cosmological constant at early times, with an emergent extra contribution to the energy density that converges to a cosmological constant in the far future. The model can in most cases yield very good fits and is in perfect agreement with the data. This is because many points in the parameter space of the model exist that give rise to time-evolution equations that are effectively very similar to those of the ΛCDM. This similarity makes the model compatible with observations as in the ΛCDM case, at least at the background level. Even though our results indicate a slightly better fit for the ΛCDM concordance model in terms of the p-value and evidence, none of the models is statistically preferred to the other. However, the parameters of the bigravity model are in general degenerate. A similar but perturbative analysis of the model as well as more data will be required to break the degeneracies and constrain the parameters, in case the model will still be viable compared to the ΛCDM.

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. We use a comparable set of screened galaxies as a control sample. 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 both the chameleon and symmetron screening scenarios. In particular we show that f(R) models with background field values f {sub R0} above 5 × 10{sup –7} are ruled out at the 95% confidence level. We also compare TRGB and maser distancesmore » 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.« less

Cosmic variance and the measurement of the local Hubble parameter

Abstract: There is an approximately 9% discrepancy, corresponding to $2.4\ensuremath{\sigma}$, between two independent constraints on the expansion rate of the Universe: one indirectly arising from the cosmic microwave background and baryon acoustic oscillations and one more directly obtained from local measurements of the relation between redshifts and distances to sources. We argue that by taking into account the local gravitational potential at the position of the observer this tension---strengthened by the recent Planck results---is partially relieved and the concordance of the Standard Model of cosmology increased. We estimate that measurements of the local Hubble constant are subject to a cosmic variance of about 2.4% (limiting the local sample to redshifts $zg0.010$) or 1.3% (limiting it to $zg0.023$), a more significant correction than that taken into account already. Nonetheless, we show that one would need a very rare fluctuation to fully explain the offset in the Hubble rates. If this tension is further strengthened, a cosmology beyond the Standard Model may prove necessary.

DBI Galileons in the Einstein frame: Local gravity and cosmology

Abstract: It is shown that a disformally coupled theory in which the gravitational sector has the Einstein-Hilbert form is equivalent to a quartic Dirac-Born-Infeld Galileon Lagrangian, possessing nonlinear higher derivative interactions, and hence allowing for the Vainshtein effect. This Einstein frame description considerably simplifies the dynamical equations and highlights the role of the different terms. The study of highly dense, nonrelativistic environments within this description unravels the existence of a disformal screening mechanism, while the study of static vacuum configurations reveals the existence of a Vainshtein radius, at which the asymptotic solution breaks down. Disformal couplings to matter also allow the construction of dark energy models, which behave differently than conformally coupled ones and introduce new effects on the growth of large scale structure over cosmological scales, on which the scalar force is not screened. We consider a simple disformally coupled dark matter model in detail, in which standard model particles follow geodesics of the gravitational metric and only dark matter is affected by the disformal scalar field. This particular model is not compatible with observations in the linearly perturbed regime. Nonetheless, disformally coupled theories offer enough freedom to construct realistic cosmological scenarios, which can be distinguished from the standard model through characteristic signatures.

Mass-sheet degeneracy, power-law models and external convergence: Impact on the determination of the Hubble constant from gravitational lensing

Abstract: The light travel time di erences in strong gravitational lensing systems allows an independent determination of the Hubble constant. This method has been successfully applied to several lens systems. The formally most precise measurements are, however, in tension with the recent determination of H0 from the Planck satellite for a spatially flat six-parameters CDM cosmology. We reconsider the uncertainties of the method, concerning the mass profile of the lens galaxies, and show that the formal precision relies on the assumption that the mass profile is a perfect power law. Simple analytical arguments and numerical experiments reveal that masssheet like transformations yield significant freedom in choosing the mass profile, even when exquisite Einstein rings are observed. Furthermore, the characterization of the environment of the lens does not break that degeneracy which is not physically linked to extrinsic convergence. We present an illustrative example where the multiple imaging properties of a composite (baryons + dark matter) lens can be extremely well reproduced by a power-law model having the same velocity dispersion, but with predictions for the Hubble constant that deviate by 20%. Hence we conclude that the impact of degeneracies between parametrized models have been underestimated in current H0 measurements from lensing, and need to be carefully reconsidered.

Axion cosmology with long-lived domain walls

Abstract: We investigate the cosmological constraints on axion models where the domain wall number is greater than one. In these models, multiple domain walls attached to strings are formed, and they survive for a long time. Their annihilation occurs due to the effects of explicit symmetry breaking term which might be raised by Planck-scale physics. We perform three-dimensional lattice simulations and compute the spectra of axions and gravitational waves produced by long-lived domain walls. Using the numerical results, we estimated relic density of axions and gravitational waves. We find that the existence of long-lived domain walls leads to the overproduction of cold dark matter axions, while the density of gravitational waves is too small to observe at the present time. Combining the results with other observational constraints, we find that the whole parameter region of models are excluded unless an unacceptable fine-tuning exists.

The matter bounce scenario in loop quantum cosmology

Abstract: In the matter bounce scenario, a dust-dominated contracting space-time generates scale-invariant perturbations that, assuming a nonsingular bouncing cosmology, propagate to the expanding branch and set appropriate initial conditions for the radiation-dominated era. Since this scenario depends on the presence of a bounce, it seems appropriate to consider it in the context of loop quantum cosmology where a bouncing universe naturally arises. For a pressureless collapsing universe in loop quantum cosmology, the predicted power spectrum of the scalar perturbations after the bounce is scale-invariant and the tensor to scalar ratio is negligibly small. A slight red tilt can be given to the scale-invariance of the scalar perturbations by a scalar field whose equation of state is P = −ρ, where is a small positive number. Then, the power spectrum for tensor perturbations is also almost scale-invariant with the same red tilt as the scalar perturbations, and the tensor to scalar ratio is expected to be r ≈ 9 × 10−4. Finally, for the predicted amplitude of the scalar perturbations to agree with observations, the critical density in loop quantum cosmology must be of the order ρc ~ 10−9ρPl.

Generalized halo independent comparison of direct dark matter detection data

Abstract: We extend the halo-independent method to compare direct dark matter detection data, so far used only for spin-independent WIMP-nucleon interactions, to any type of interaction. As an example we apply the method to magnetic moment interactions.

A new life for sterile neutrinos: resolving inconsistencies using hot dark matter

Abstract: Within the standard ΛCDM model of cosmology, the recent Planck measurements have shown discrepancies with other observations, e.g., measurements of the current expansion rate H0, the galaxy shear power spectrum and counts of galaxy clusters. We show that if ΛCDM is extended by a hot dark matter component, which could be interpreted as a sterile neutrino, the data sets can be combined consistently. A combination of Planck data, WMAP-9 polarisation data, measurements of the BAO scale, the HST measurement of H0, Planck galaxy cluster counts and galaxy shear data from the CFHTLens survey yields ΔNeff = 0.61±0.30 and mseff = (0.41±0.13)eV at 1σ. The former is driven mainly by the large H0 of the HST measurement, while the latter is driven by cluster data. CFHTLens galaxy shear data prefer ΔNeff> 0 and a non-zero mass. Taken together, we find hints for the presence of a hot dark matter component at 3σ. A sterile neutrino motivated by the reactor and gallium anomalies appears rejected at even higher significance and an accelerator anomaly sterile neutrino is found in tension at 2σ.

The Dawn of Chemistry

Abstract: Within the precise cosmological framework provided by the Λ-cold dark matter model and standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis, the chemical evolution of the pregalactic gas can now be followed with accuracy limited only by the uncertainties on the reaction rates. Starting during the recombination era, the formation of the first molecules and molecular ions containing hydrogen, deuterium, helium, and lithium was severely hindered by the low density of the expanding Universe, the intensity of the cosmic radiation field, and the absence of solid catalyzers. Molecular hydrogen and deuterated hydrogen, the most abundant species formed in the gas phase prior to structure formation, played a fundamental role in the cooling of the gas clouds that gave birth to the first stellar generation, contributing to determine the scale of fragmentation. Primordial molecules also interacted with the photons of the cosmic background via resonant scattering, absorption, and emission. In this review, we examine the current status of...

Effective field theory of cosmological perturbations

Abstract: The effective field theory of cosmological perturbations stems from considering a cosmological background solution as a state displaying spontaneous breaking of time translations and (adiabatic) perturbations as the related Nambu-Goldstone modes. With this insight, one can systematically develop a theory for the cosmological perturbations during inflation and, with minor modifications, also describe in full generality the gravitational interactions of dark energy, which are relevant for late-time cosmology. The formalism displays a unique set of Lagrangian operators containing an increasing number of cosmological perturbations and derivatives. We give an introductory description of the unitary gauge formalism for theories with broken gauge symmetry---that allows to write down the most general Lagrangian---and of the Stueckelberg "trick"---that allows to recover gauge invariance and to make the scalar field explicit. We show how to apply this formalism to gravity and cosmology and we reproduce the detailed analysis of the action in the ADM variables. We also review some basic applications to inflation and dark energy.