Examining the cosmic acceleration with the latest Union2 supernova data

In this Letter, by reconstructing the $Om$ diagnostic and the deceleration parameter $q$ from the latest Union2 Type Ia supernova sample with and without the systematic error along with the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB), we study the cosmic expanding history, using the Chevallier-Polarski-Linder (CPL) parametrization. We obtain that Union2+BAO favor an expansion with a decreasing of the acceleration at $z<0.3$. However, once the CMB data is added in the analysis, the cosmic acceleration is found to be still increasing, indicating a tension between low redshift data and high redshift one. In order to reduce this tension significantly, two different methods are considered and thus two different subsamples of Union2 are selected. We then find that two different subsamples+BAO+CMB give completely different results on the cosmic expanding history when the systematic error is ignored, with one suggesting a decreasing cosmic acceleration, the other just the opposite, although both of them alone with BAO support that the cosmic acceleration is slowing down. However, once the systematic error is considered, two different subsamples of Union2 along with BAO and CMB all favor an increasing of the present cosmic acceleration. Therefore a clear-cut answer on whether the cosmic acceleration is slowing down calls for more consistent data and more reliable methods to analyze them.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures; PLB in pres

Determining H0H_0 using a model-independent method

By using type Ia supernovae (SNIa) to provide the luminosity distance (LD) directly, which depends on the value of the Hubble constant $H_0= 100 h\; {\rm km\; s^{-1}\; Mpc^{-1}}$, and the angular diameter distance from galaxy clusters or baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) to give the derived LD according to the distance duality relation, we propose a model-independent method to determine $h$ from the fact that different observations should give the same LD at a given redshift. Combining the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II (SDSS-II) SNIa from the MLCS2k2 light curve fit and galaxy cluster data, we find that at the $1\sigma$ confidence level (CL), $h=0.5867\pm0.0303$ for the sample of the elliptical $\beta$ model for galaxy clusters, and $h=0.6199\pm0.0293$ for that of the spherical $\beta$ model. The former is smaller than the values from other observations, whereas the latter is consistent with the Planck result at the $2\sigma$ CL and agrees very well with the value reconstructed directly from the $H(z)$ data. With the SDSS-II SNIa and BAO measurements, a tighter constraint, $h=0.6683\pm0.0221$, is obtained. For comparison, we also consider the Union 2.1 SNIa from the SALT2 light curve fitting. The results from the Union 2.1 SNIa are slightly larger than those from the SDSS-II SNIa, and the Union 2.1 SNIa + BAOs give the tightest value. We find that the values from SNIa + BAOs are quite consistent with those from the Planck and the BAOs, as well as the local measurement from Cepheids and very-low-redshift SNIa.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Testing cosmic opacity from SNe Ia and Hubble parameter through three cosmological-model-independent methods

We use the newly published 28 observational Hubble parameter data ($H(z)$) and current largest SNe Ia samples (Union2.1) to test whether the universe is transparent. Three cosmological-model-independent methods (nearby SNe Ia method, interpolation method and smoothing method) are proposed through comparing opacity-free distance modulus from Hubble parameter data and opacity-dependent distance modulus from SNe Ia . Two parameterizations, $\tau(z)=2\epsilon z$ and $\tau(z)=(1+z)^{2\epsilon}-1$ are adopted for the optical depth associated to the cosmic absorption. We find that the results are not sensitive to the methods and parameterizations. Our results support a transparent universe.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, PLB(in press

Test of the FLRW metric and curvature with strong lens time delays

We present a new model-independent strategy for testing the Friedmann-Lema\^{\i}tre-Robertson-Walker metric and constraining cosmic curvature, based on future time delay measurements of strongly lensed quasar-elliptical galaxy systems from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and supernova observations from the Dark Energy Survey. The test only relies on geometric optics. It is independent of the energy contents of the universe and the validity of the Einstein equation on cosmological scales. The study comprises two levels: testing the FLRW metric through the Distance Sum Rule and determining/constraining cosmic curvature. We propose an effective and efficient (redshift) evolution model for performing the former test, which allows us to concretely specify the violation criterion for the FLRW Distance Sum Rule. If the FLRW metric is consistent with the observations, then, on the second level, the cosmic curvature parameter will be constrained to $\sim0.057$ or $\sim0.041$ ($1\sigma$), depending on the availability of high-redshift supernovae, much more stringent than current model-independent techniques. We also show that the bias in the time delay method might be well controlled, leading to robust results. The proposed method is a new independent tool for both testing the fundamental assumptions of homogeneity and isotropy in cosmology and for determining cosmic curvature. It is complementary to cosmic microwave background plus baryon acoustic oscillation analyses, which normally assume a cosmological model with dark energy domination in the late-time universe.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Ap

Is there evidence for dark energy evolution?

Recently, Sahni, Shafielo o & Starobinsky (2014) combined two independent measurements of $H(z)$ from BAO data with the value of the Hubble constant $H_0 = H(z=0)$, in order to test the cosmological constant hypothesis by means of an improved version of the $Om$ diagnostic. Their result indicated a considerable tension between observations and predictions of the $\Lambda$CDM model. However, such strong conclusion was based only on three measurements of $H(z)$. This motivated us to repeat similar work on a larger sample. By using a comprehensive data set of 29 $H(z)$, we find that discrepancy indeed exists. Even though the value of $\Omega_{m,0} h^2$ inferred from $Omh^2$ diagnostic depends on the way one chooses to make a summary statistics (weighted mean or the median), the persisting discrepancy supports the claims of Sahni, Shafielo o & Starobinsky (2014) that $\Lambda$CDM model may not be the best description of our Universe.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in the ApJ

Strongly lensed repeating Fast Radio Bursts as precision probes of the universe

Fast Radio bursts (FRBs), bright transients with millisecond durations at $\sim$ GHz and typical redshifts probably $>0.8$, are likely to be gravitationally lensed by intervening galaxies. Since the time delay between images of strongly lensed FRB can be measured to extremely high precision because of the large ratio $\sim10^9$ between the typical galaxy-lensing delay time $\sim\mathcal{O}$(10 days) and the width of bursts $\sim\mathcal{O}$(ms), we propose strongly lensed FRBs as precision probes of the universe. We show that, within the flat $\Lambda$CDM model, the Hubble constant $H_0$ can be constrained with a $\sim0.91\%$ uncertainty from 10 such systems probably observed with the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) in $<$ 30 years. More importantly, the cosmic curvature can be model-independently constrained to a precision of $\sim0.076$. This constraint can directly test the validity of the cosmological principle and break the intractable degeneracy between the cosmic curvature and dark energy.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure