6,002 research outputs found
Stabilizing the Dilaton in Superstring Cosmology
We address the important issue of stabilizing the dilaton in the context of
superstring cosmology. Scalar potentials which arise out of gaugino condensates
in string models are generally exponential in nature. In a cosmological setting
this allows for the existence of quasi scaling solutions, in which the energy
density of the scalar field can, for a period, become a fixed fraction of the
background density, due to the friction of the background expansion. Eventually
the field can be trapped in the minimum of its potential as it leaves the
scaling regime. We investigate this possibility in various gaugino condensation
models and show that stable solutions for the dilaton are far more common than
one would have naively thought.Comment: 13 pages, LaTex, uses psfig.sty with 3 figure
Moduli Evolution in Heterotic Scenarios
We discuss several aspects of the cosmological evolution of moduli fields in
heterotic string/M-theory scenarios. In particular we study the equations of
motion of both the dilaton and overall modulus of these theories in the
presence of an expanding Universe and under different assumptions. First we
analyse the impact of their couplings to matter fields, which turns out to be
negligible in the string and M-theory scenarios. Then we examine in detail the
possibility of scaling in M-theory, i.e. how the moduli would evolve naturally
to their minima instead of rolling past them in the presence of a dominating
background. In this case we find interesting and positive results, and we
compare them to the analogous situation in the heterotic string.Comment: 12 pages, 4 postscript figure
Geometrical estimators as a test of Gaussianity in the CMB
We investigate the power of geometrical estimators on detecting
non-Gaussianity in the cosmic microwave background. In particular the number,
eccentricity and Gaussian curvature of excursion sets above (and below) a
threshold are studied. We compare their different performance when applied to
non-Gaussian simulated maps of small patches of the sky, which take into
account the angular resolution and instrumental noise of the Planck satellite.
These non-Gaussian simulations are obtained as perturbations of a Gaussian
field in two different ways which introduce a small level of skewness or
kurtosis in the distribution. A comparison with a classical estimator, the
genus, is also shown. We find that the Gaussian curvature is the best of our
estimators in all the considered cases. Therefore we propose the use of this
quantity as a particularly useful test to look for non-Gaussianity in the CMB.Comment: 9 pages, 6 postscript figures, submitted to MNRA
A Bayesian approach to filter design: detection of compact sources
We consider filters for the detection and extraction of compact sources on a
background. We make a one-dimensional treatment (though a generalization to two
or more dimensions is possible) assuming that the sources have a Gaussian
profile whereas the background is modeled by an homogeneous and isotropic
Gaussian random field, characterized by a scale-free power spectrum. Local peak
detection is used after filtering. Then, a Bayesian Generalized Neyman-Pearson
test is used to define the region of acceptance that includes not only the
amplification but also the curvature of the sources and the a priori
probability distribution function of the sources. We search for an optimal
filter between a family of Matched-type filters (MTF) modifying the filtering
scale such that it gives the maximum number of real detections once fixed the
number density of spurious sources. We have performed numerical simulations to
test theoretical ideas.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. SPIE Proceedings "Electronic Imaging II", San
Jose, CA. January 200
Observation of the Meissner effect with ultracold atoms in bosonic ladders
We report on the observation of the Meissner effect in bosonic flux ladders
of ultracold atoms. Using artificial gauge fields induced by laser-assisted
tunneling, we realize arrays of decoupled ladder systems that are exposed to a
uniform magnetic field. By suddenly decoupling the ladders and projecting into
isolated double wells, we are able to measure the currents on each side of the
ladder. For large coupling strengths along the rungs of the ladder, we find a
saturated maximum chiral current corresponding to a full screening of the
artificial magnetic field. For lower coupling strengths, the chiral current
decreases in good agreement with expectations of a vortex lattice phase. Our
work marks the first realization of a low-dimensional Meissner effect and,
furthermore, it opens the path to exploring interacting particles in low
dimensions exposed to a uniform magnetic field
On the regularity of the covariance matrix of a discretized scalar field on the sphere
We present a comprehensive study of the regularity of the covariance matrix
of a discretized field on the sphere. In a particular situation, the rank of
the matrix depends on the number of pixels, the number of spherical harmonics,
the symmetries of the pixelization scheme and the presence of a mask. Taking
into account the above mentioned components, we provide analytical expressions
that constrain the rank of the matrix. They are obtained by expanding the
determinant of the covariance matrix as a sum of determinants of matrices made
up of spherical harmonics. We investigate these constraints for five different
pixelizations that have been used in the context of Cosmic Microwave Background
(CMB) data analysis: Cube, Icosahedron, Igloo, GLESP and HEALPix, finding that,
at least in the considered cases, the HEALPix pixelization tends to provide a
covariance matrix with a rank closer to the maximum expected theoretical value
than the other pixelizations. The effect of the propagation of numerical errors
in the regularity of the covariance matrix is also studied for different
computational precisions, as well as the effect of adding a certain level of
noise in order to regularize the matrix. In addition, we investigate the
application of the previous results to a particular example that requires the
inversion of the covariance matrix: the estimation of the CMB temperature power
spectrum through the Quadratic Maximum Likelihood algorithm. Finally, some
general considerations in order to achieve a regular covariance matrix are also
presented.Comment: 36 pages, 12 figures; minor changes in the text, matches published
versio
Wavelets Applied to CMB Maps: a Multiresolution Analysis for Denoising
Analysis and denoising of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) maps are
performed using wavelet multiresolution techniques. The method is tested on
maps with resolution resembling the
experimental one expected for future high resolution space observations.
Semianalytic formulae of the variance of wavelet coefficients are given for the
Haar and Mexican Hat wavelet bases. Results are presented for the standard Cold
Dark Matter (CDM) model. Denoising of simulated maps is carried out by removal
of wavelet coefficients dominated by instrumental noise. CMB maps with a
signal-to-noise, , are denoised with an error improvement factor
between 3 and 5. Moreover we have also tested how well the CMB temperature
power spectrum is recovered after denoising. We are able to reconstruct the
's up to with errors always below in cases with
.Comment: latex file 9 pages + 5 postscript figures + 1 gif figure (figure 6),
to be published in MNRA
Isotropic Wavelets: a Powerful Tool to Extract Point Sources from CMB Maps
It is the aim of this paper to introduce the use of isotropic wavelets to
detect and determine the flux of point sources appearing in CMB maps. The most
suited wavelet to detect point sources filtered with a Gaussian beam is the
Mexican Hat. An analytical expression of the wavelet coefficient obtained in
the presence of a point source is provided and used in the detection and flux
estimation methods presented. For illustration the method is applied to two
simulations (assuming Planck Mission characteristics) dominated by CMB (100
GHz) and dust (857 GHz) as these will be the two signals dominating at low and
high frequency respectively in the Planck channels. We are able to detect
bright sources above 1.58 Jy at 857 GHz (82% of all sources) and above 0.36 Jy
at 100 GHz (100% of all) with errors in the flux estimation below 25%. The main
advantage of this method is that nothing has to be assumed about the underlying
field, i.e. about the nature and properties of the signal plus noise present in
the maps. This is not the case in the detection method presented by Tegmark and
Oliveira-Costa 1998. Both methods are compared producing similar results.Comment: 6 pages. Accepted for publication in MNRA
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