Constraints on interacting dark energy models through cosmic chronometers and Gaussian process

Energy flows between dark energy and dark matter may alleviate the Hubble tension and mitigate the coincidence problem. In this paper, after reconstructing the redshift evolution of the Hubble function by adopting Gaussian process techniques, we estimate the best-fit parameters for some flat Friedmann cosmological models based on a Modified Chaplygin Gas interacting with dark matter. In fact, the expansion history of the Universe will be investigated because passively evolving early galaxies constitute cosmic chronometers. An estimate for the present-day values of the deceleration parameter, adiabatic speed of sound within the dark energy fluid, effective dark energy, and dark matter equation of state parameters is provided. By this, we mean that the interaction term between the two dark fluids, which breaks the Bianchi symmetries, will be interpreted as an effective contribution to the dark matter pressure similarly to the framework of the \lq\lq Generalized Dark Matter". Fixing a certain value for the dark matter abundance at the present day as initial condition will allow us to investigate whether the estimate of the Hubble constant is sensitive to the dark matter - dark energy coupling. We will also show that the cosmic chronometers data favor a hot dark matter, and that our findings are in agreement with the Le Ch\^atelier-Braun principle according to which dark energy should decay into dark matter (and not vice versa).Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Is the cosmological dark sector better modeled by a generalized Chaplygin gas or by a scalar field?

Both scalar fields and (generalized) Chaplygin gases have been widely used separately to characterize the dark sector of the Universe. Here we investigate the cosmological background dynamics for a mixture of both these components and quantify the fractional abundances that are admitted by observational data from supernovae of type Ia and from the evolution of the Hubble rate. Moreover, we study how the growth rate of (baryonic) matter perturbations is affected by the dark-sector perturbations.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, substantially revised, section on matter perturbations added, accepted for publication in EPJ

Class of dilute granular Couette flows with uniform heat flux

In a recent paper [F. Vega Reyes et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 028001 (2010)] we presented a preliminary description of a special class of steady Couette flows in dilute granular gases. In all flows of this class the viscous heating is exactly balanced by inelastic cooling. This yields a uniform heat flux and a linear relationship between the local temperature and flow velocity. The class (referred to as the LTu class) includes the Fourier flow of ordinary gases and the simple shear flow of granular gases as special cases. In the present paper we provide further support for this class of Couette flows by following four different routes, two of them being theoretical (Grad's moment method of the Boltzmann equation and exact solution of a kinetic model) and the other two being computational (molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations of the Boltzmann equation). Comparison between theory and simulations shows a very good agreement for the non-Newtonian rheological properties, even for quite strong inelasticity, and a good agreement for the heat flux coefficients in the case of Grad's method, the agreement being only qualitative in the case of the kinetic model.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures; v2: change of title plus some other minor change

Three Lectures: Nemd, Spam, and Shockwaves

We discuss three related subjects well suited to graduate research. The first, Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics or "NEMD", makes possible the simulation of atomistic systems driven by external fields, subject to dynamic constraints, and thermostated so as to yield stationary nonequilibrium states. The second subject, Smooth Particle Applied Mechanics or "SPAM", provides a particle method, resembling molecular dynamics, but designed to solve continuum problems. The numerical work is simplified because the SPAM particles obey ordinary, rather than partial, differential equations. The interpolation method used with SPAM is a powerful interpretive tool converting point particle variables to twice-differentiable field variables. This interpolation method is vital to the study and understanding of the third research topic we discuss, strong shockwaves in dense fluids. Such shockwaves exhibit stationary far-from-equilibrium states obtained with purely reversible Hamiltonian mechanics. The SPAM interpolation method, applied to this molecular dynamics problem, clearly demonstrates both the tensor character of kinetic temperature and the time-delayed response of stress and heat flux to the strain rate and temperature gradients. The dynamic Lyapunov instability of the shockwave problem can be analyzed in a variety of ways, both with and without symmetry in time. These three subjects suggest many topics suitable for graduate research in nonlinear nonequilibrium problems.Comment: 40 pages, with 21 figures, as presented at the Granada Seminar on the Foundations of Nonequilibrium Statistical Physics, 13-17 September, as three lecture

Dark Energy: The Shadowy Reflection of Dark Matter?

In this article, we review a series of recent theoretical results regarding a conventional approach to the dark energy (DE) concept. This approach is distinguished among others for its simplicity and its physical relevance. By compromising General Relativity (GR) and Thermodynamics at cosmological scale, we end up with a model without DE. Instead, the Universe we are proposing is filled with a perfect fluid of self-interacting dark matter (DM), the volume elements of which perform hydrodynamic flows. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time in a cosmological framework that the energy of the cosmic fluid internal motions is also taken into account as a source of the universal gravitational field. As we demonstrate, this form of energy may compensate for the DE needed to compromise spatial flatness, while, depending on the particular type of thermodynamic processes occurring in the interior of the DM fluid (isothermal or polytropic), the Universe depicts itself as either decelerating or accelerating (respectively). In both cases, there is no disagreement between observations and the theoretical prediction of the distant supernovae (SNe) Type Ia distribution. In fact, the cosmological model with matter content in the form of a thermodynamically-involved DM fluid not only interprets the observational data associated with the recent history of Universe expansion, but also confronts successfully with every major cosmological issue (such as the age and the coincidence problems). In this way, depending on the type of thermodynamic processes in it, such a model may serve either for a conventional DE cosmology or for a viable alternative one.Comment: Review article, 38 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Entrop

Generalized Rosenfeld scalings for tracer diffusivities in not-so-simple fluids: Mixtures and soft particles

Rosenfeld [Phys. Rev. A 15, 2545 (1977)] noticed that casting transport coefficients of simple monatomic, equilibrium fluids in specific dimensionless forms makes them approximately single-valued functions of excess entropy. This has predictive value because, while the transport coefficients of dense fluids are difficult to estimate from first principles, excess entropy can often be accurately predicted from liquid-state theory. Here, we use molecular simulations to investigate whether Rosenfeld's observation is a special case of a more general scaling law relating mobility of particles in mixtures to excess entropy. Specifically, we study tracer diffusivities, static structure, and thermodynamic properties of a variety of one- and two-component model fluid systems with either additive or non-additive interactions of the hard-sphere or Gaussian-core form. The results of the simulations demonstrate that the effects of mixture concentration and composition, particle-size asymmetry and additivity, and strength of the interparticle interactions in these fluids are consistent with an empirical scaling law relating the excess entropy to a new dimensionless (generalized Rosenfeld) form of tracer diffusivity, which we introduce here. The dimensionless form of the tracer diffusivity follows from knowledge of the intermolecular potential and the transport / thermodynamic behavior of fluids in the dilute limit. The generalized Rosenfeld scaling requires less information, and provides more accurate predictions, than either Enskog theory or scalings based on the pair-correlation contribution to the excess entropy. As we show, however, it also suffers from some limitations, especially for systems that exhibit significant decoupling of individual component tracer diffusivities.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figure