Power of Observational Hubble Parameter Data: a Figure of Merit Exploration

We use simulated Hubble parameter data in the redshift range 0 \leq z \leq 2 to explore the role and power of observational H(z) data in constraining cosmological parameters of the {\Lambda}CDM model. The error model of the simulated data is empirically constructed from available measurements and scales linearly as z increases. By comparing the median figures of merit calculated from simulated datasets with that of current type Ia supernova data, we find that as many as 64 further independent measurements of H(z) are needed to match the parameter constraining power of SNIa. If the error of H(z) could be lowered to 3%, the same number of future measurements would be needed, but then the redshift coverage would only be required to reach z = 1. We also show that accurate measurements of the Hubble constant H_0 can be used as priors to increase the H(z) data's figure of merit.Comment: 8 pages, 1 table, 8 figures. v2: version accepted by Ap

Constraints on the Dark Side of the Universe and Observational Hubble Parameter Data

This paper is a review on the observational Hubble parameter data that have gained increasing attention in recent years for their illuminating power on the dark side of the universe --- the dark matter, dark energy, and the dark age. Currently, there are two major methods of independent observational H(z) measurement, which we summarize as the "differential age method" and the "radial BAO size method". Starting with fundamental cosmological notions such as the spacetime coordinates in an expanding universe, we present the basic principles behind the two methods. We further review the two methods in greater detail, including the source of errors. We show how the observational H(z) data presents itself as a useful tool in the study of cosmological models and parameter constraint, and we also discuss several issues associated with their applications. Finally, we point the reader to a future prospect of upcoming observation programs that will lead to some major improvements in the quality of observational H(z) data.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, and 1 table, uses REVTeX 4.1. Review article, accepted by Advances in Astronom

Constraining smoothness parameter and the DD relation of Dyer-Roeder equation with supernovae

Our real universe is locally inhomogeneous. Dyer and Roeder introduced the smoothness parameter $\alpha$ to describe the influence of local inhomogeneity on angular diameter distance, and they obtained the angular diameter distance-redshift approximate relation (Dyer-Roeder equation) for locally inhomogeneous universe. Furthermore, the Distance-Duality (DD) relation, $D_L(z)(1+z)^{-2}/D_A(z)=1$, should be valid for all cosmological models that are described by Riemannian geometry, where $D_L$ and $D_A$ are, respectively, the luminosity and angular distance distances. Therefore, it is necessary to test whether if the Dyer-Roeder approximate equation can satisfy the Distance-Duality relation. In this paper, we use Union2.1 SNe Ia data to constrain the smoothness parameter $\alpha$ and test whether the Dyer-Roeder equation satisfies the DD relation. By using $\chi^2$ minimization, we get $\alpha=0.92_{-0.32}^{+0.08}$ at $1\sigma$ and $0.92_{-0.65}^{+0.08}$ at $2\sigma$, and our results show that the Dyer-Roeder equation is in good consistency with the DD relation at $1\sigma$.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in JCA

Degeneracy and Discreteness in Cosmological Model Fitting

We explore the degeneracy and discreteness problems in the standard cosmological model (\Lambda CDM). We use the Observational Hubble Data (OHD) and the type Ia supernova (SNe Ia) data to study this issue. In order to describe the discreteness in fitting of data, we define a factor G to test the influence from each single data point and analyze the goodness of G. Our results indicate that a higher absolute value of G shows a better capability of distinguishing models, which means the parameters are restricted into smaller confidence intervals with a larger figure of merit evaluation. Consequently, we claim that the factor G is an effective way in model differentiation when using different models to fit the observational data.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted by RA

Statefinder diagnostic for the modified polytropic Cardassian universe

We apply the Statefinder diagnostic to the Modified Polytropic Cardassian Universe in this work. We find that the Statefinder diagnostic is quite effective to distinguish Cardassian models from a series of other cosmological models. The $s-r$ plane is used to classify the Modified Polytropic Cardassian models into six cases. The evolutionary trajectories in the $s-r$ plane for the cases with different $n$ and $\beta$ reveal different evolutionary properties of the universe. In addition, we combine the observational $H(z)$ data, the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data and the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) data to make a joint analysis. We find that \textbf{Case 2} can be excluded at the 68.3% confidence level and any case is consistent with the observations at the 95.4% confidence level.Comment: Comments: Final version for publication in Physical Review D [minor revision to match the appear version] Journal-ref: Physical Review D 75, 083515 (2007

Gravitational Lensing by Dark Matter Halos with Non-universal Density Profiles

The statistics of gravitational lensing can provide us with a very powerful probe of the mass distribution of matter in the universe. By comparing predicted strong lensing probabilities with observations, we can test the mass distribution of dark matter halos, in particular, the inner density slope. In this letter, unlike previous work that directly models the density profiles of dark matter halos semi-analytically, we generalize the density profiles of dark matter halos from high-resolution N-body simulations by means of generalized Navarro-Frenk-White (GNFW) models of three populations with slopes, $\alpha$, of about -1.5, -1.3 and -1.1 for galaxies, groups and clusters, respectively. This approach is an alternative and independent way to examine the slopes of mass density profiles of halos. We present calculations of lensing probabilities using these GNFW profiles for three populations in various spatially flat cosmological models with a cosmological constant $\Lambda$. It is shown that the compound model of density profiles does not match well with the observed lensing probabilities derived from the Jodrell-Bank VLA Astrometric Survey data in combination with the Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey data. Together with the previous work on lensing probability, our results suggest that a singular isothermal sphere mass model of less than about 10^{13}h^{-1}M_{\sun} can predict strong lensing probabilities that are consistent with observations of small splitting angles.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, Accepted by ApJL for publication (February 10 issue 2004