Inflation driven by a holographic energy density

In this letter we study a model of inflation in which the inflationary regimen comes from a type of holographic energy density. In particular, we consider the Granda-Oliveros proposal for the holographic energy density, which contains two free dimensionless parameters, $\alpha$ and $\beta$. This holographic energy density is associated to the so-called Granda-Oliveros infrared cutoff (G-O cutoff). Additionally, since in the inflationary regimen the energy scales are very high, it is necessary to modify the G-O cutoff taking into account a correction due to the ultraviolet cutoff. In this way, we obtain an algebraic equation which implicitly includes the Hubble parameter (as a function of e-folding number, $N$) and from this, we calculate the Hubble slow-roll parameters and the values of the inflationary observables: the scalar spectral index of the curvature perturbations and its running, the tensor spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio. Finally, since the values for these inflationary observables are known (Planck 2018 observations), we present constraints on the parameters $\alpha$ and $\beta$ to make this a viable model.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, references added, minor changes, accepted for publication in EP

Late-time cosmology in a model of modified gravity with an exponential function of the curvature

In this work, we analyse the late-time evolution of the universe for a particular $f(R)$ gravity model built from an exponential function of the scalar curvature. Following the literature, we write the field equations in terms of a suited statefinder function ($y_H(z)$) and considering well motivated physical initial conditions, the resulting equations are solved numerically. Also, the cosmological parameters $w_{\rm{DE}}$, $w_{\rm{eff}}$, $\Omega_{\rm{DE}}$ and $H(z)$ and the statefinder quantities $q$, $j$, $s$ and $Om(z)$ are explicitly expressed in terms of $y_H(z)$ and its derivatives. Furthermore, setting an appropriate set of values for the model parameters, the cosmological parameters as well as the statefinder quantities are plotted, and their present values (at $z=0$), are shown to be compatible with Planck 2018 observations and the $\Lambda$CDM-model values. Considering updated measurements from the dynamics of the expansion of the universe, $H(z)$, we perform an statistical analysis to constrain the free parameters of the model, finding a particular set of values that fit the data well and predict acceptable values for the cosmological and statefinder parameters at present time. Therefore, the $f(R)$ gravity model is found to be consistent with the considered observational data, and a viable alternative to explain the late-time acceleration of the universe.Comment: 23 pages (in the current format), 16 figure

Cosmological constraints on a light non-thermal sterile neutrino

Although the MiniBooNE experiment has severely restricted the possible existence of light sterile neutrinos, a few anomalies persist in oscillation data, and the possibility of extra light species contributing as a subdominant hot (or warm) component is still interesting. In many models, this species would be in thermal equilibrium in the early universe and share the same temperature as active neutrinos, but this is not necessarily the case. In this work, we fit up-to-date cosmological data with an extended LambdaCDM model, including light relics with a mass typically in the range 0.1 -10 eV. We provide, first, some nearly model-independent constraints on their current density and velocity dispersion, and second, some constraints on their mass, assuming that they consist either in early decoupled thermal relics, or in non-resonantly produced sterile neutrinos. Our results can be used for constraining most particle-physics-motivated models with three active neutrinos and one extra light species. For instance, we find that at the 3 sigma confidence level, a sterile neutrino with mass m_s = 2 eV can be accommodated with the data provided that it is thermally distributed with (T_s/T_nu) < 0.8, or non-resonantly produced with (Delta N_eff) < 0.5. The bounds become dramatically tighter when the mass increases. For m_s < 0.9 eV and at the same confidence level, the data is still compatible with a standard thermalized neutrino.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure

Planning multi-terminal direct current grids based graphs theory

Transmission expansion planning in AC power systems is well known and employs a variety of optimization techniques and methodologies that have been used in recent years. By contrast, the planning of HVDC systems is a new matter for the interconnection of large power systems, and the interconnection of renewable sources in power systems. Although the HVDC systems has evolved, the first implementations were made considering only the needs of transmission of large quantities of power to be connected to the bulk AC power system. However, for the future development of HVDC systems, meshed or not, each AC system must be flexible to allow the expansion of these for future conditions. Hence, a first step for planning HVDC grids is the planning and development of multi-terminal direct current (MTDC) systems which will be later transformed in a meshed system. This paper presented a methodology that use graph theory for planning MTDC grids and for the selection of connection buses of the MTDC to an existing HVAC transmission system. The proposed methodology was applied to the Colombian case, where the obtained results permit to migrate the system from a single HVDC line to a MTDC grid

Covariant Impulse Approximation for the study of the internal structure of composite particles

We present a brief review on the Impulse Approximation method to study processes of scattering off composite particles. We first construct the model in a non-relativistic fashion that enables us to extend the model to a covariant Impulse Approximation, which is needed for the study of high momentum transfer processes.Comment: 8 Page

Evaluation of the Leggett-Garg inequality by means of the neutrino oscillations observed in reactor and accelerator experiments

We revisit the study of the violation of the Leggett-Garg inequality in neutrino oscillation data as a mean to test some of the fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics. In particular, we consider the results by the Daya Bay and RENO reactor experiments, and the MINOS and NOvA accelerator experiments. We find that DB and MINOS exhibit a strong manifestation of Leggett-Garg violation, while for RENO and NOvA data the indication is weaker. Considering the particular baselines and energy ranges explored by each experiment, our results demonstrate that the Leggett-Garg violation is more evident for smaller baseline-to-energy ratio in all the data sets considered, a relevant aspect to be considered when searching for evidences of quantum mechanical decoherence on neutrino oscillations.Comment: 20 pages, 13 (16) figures. Comments are welcom