328 research outputs found
Probing non-standard gravity with the growth index: a background independent analysis
Measurements of the growth index provide a clue as to whether
Einstein's field equations encompass gravity also on large cosmic scales, those
where the expansion of the universe accelerates. We show that the information
encoded in this function can be satisfactorily parameterized using a small set
of coefficients in such a way that the true scaling of the growth
index is recovered to better than in most dark energy and dark gravity
models. We find that the likelihood of current data is maximal for
and , a measurement compatible
with the CDM predictions. Moreover data favor models predicting
slightly less growth of structures than the Planck LambdaCDM scenario. The main
aim of the paper is to provide a prescription for routinely calculating, in an
analytic way, the amplitude of the growth indices in relevant
cosmological scenarios, and to show that these parameters naturally define a
space where predictions of alternative theories of gravity can be compared
against growth data in a manner which is independent from the expansion history
of the cosmological background. As the standard -plane provides a tool
to identify different expansion histories and their relation to various
cosmological models, the -plane can thus be used to locate different
growth rate histories and their relation to alternatives model of
gravity. As a result, we find that the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati gravity model is
rejected with a confidence level. By simulating future data sets, such
as those that a Euclid-like mission will provide, we also show how to tell
apart LambdaCDM predictions from those of more extreme possibilities, such as
smooth dark energy models, clustering quintessence or parameterized
post-Friedmann cosmological models.Comment: 29 pages, 21 figure
Improving the modelling of redshift-space distortions - II. A pairwise velocity model covering large and small scales
We develop a model for the redshift-space correlation function, valid for
both dark matter particles and halos on scales Mpc. In its simplest
formulation, the model requires the knowledge of the first three moments of the
line-of-sight pairwise velocity distribution plus two well-defined
dimensionless parameters. The model is obtained by extending the
Gaussian-Gaussianity prescription for the velocity distribution, developed in a
previous paper, to a more general concept allowing for local skewness, which is
required to match simulations. We compare the model with the well known
Gaussian streaming model and the more recent Edgeworth streaming model. Using
N-body simulations as a reference, we show that our model gives a precise
description of the redshift-space clustering over a wider range of scales. We
do not discuss the theoretical prescription for the evaluation of the velocity
moments, leaving this topic to further investigation.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, published in MNRA
Accurate fitting functions for peculiar velocity spectra in standard and massive-neutrino cosmologies
We estimate the velocity field in a large set of -body simulations
including massive neutrino particles, and measure the auto-power spectrum of
the velocity divergence field as well as the cross-power spectrum between the
cold dark matter density and the velocity divergence. We perform these
measurements at four different redshifts and within four different cosmological
scenarios, covering a wide range in neutrino masses. We find that the nonlinear
correction to the velocity power spectra largely depend on the degree of
nonlinear evolution with no specific dependence on the value of neutrino mass.
We provide a fitting formula, based on the value of the r.m.s. of the matter
fluctuations in spheres of Mpc, describing the nonlinear corrections
with 3\% accuracy on scales below Mpc.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted by A&A, typos corrected in equation 1
Measuring the growth of matter fluctuations with third-order galaxy correlations
Measurements of the linear growth factor at different redshifts are
key to distinguish among cosmological models. One can estimate the derivative
from redshift space measurements of the 3D anisotropic galaxy
two-point correlation , but the degeneracy of its transverse (or
projected) component with galaxy bias , i.e. , introduces large errors in the growth measurement. Here we present a
comparison between two methods which break this degeneracy by combining second-
and third-order statistics. One uses the shape of the reduced three-point
correlation and the other a combination of third-order one- and two-point
cumulants. These methods use the fact that, for Gaussian initial conditions and
scales larger than Mpc, the reduced third-order matter
correlations are independent of redshift (and therefore of the growth factor)
while the third-order galaxy correlations depend on . We use matter and halo
catalogs from the MICE-GC simulation to test how well we can recover and
therefore with these methods in 3D real space. We also present a new
approach, which enables us to measure directly from the redshift evolution
of second- and third-order galaxy correlations without the need of modelling
matter correlations. For haloes with masses lower than
M, we find deviations between the different estimates of
, which are comparable to current observational errors. At higher masses we
find larger differences that can probably be attributed to the breakdown of the
bias model and non-Poissonian shot noise.Comment: 24 pages, 20 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
COVMOS: a new Monte Carlo approach for galaxy clustering analysis
We validate the COVMOS method introduced in Baratta et al. (2019) allowing
for the fast simulation of catalogues of different cosmological field tracers
(e.g. dark matter particles, halos, galaxies, etc.). The power spectrum and
one-point probability distribution function of the underlying tracer density
field are set as inputs of the method and are arbitrarily chosen by the user.
In order to evaluate the validity domain of COVMOS at the level of the produced
two-point statistics covariance matrix, we choose to target these two input
statistical quantities from realistic -body simulation outputs. In
particular, we perform this cloning procedure in a CDM and in a
massive neutrino cosmologies, for five redshifts in the range .
First, we validate the output real-space two-point statistics (both in
configuration and Fourier space) estimated over COVMOS realisations per
redshift and per cosmology, with a volume of and
particles each. Such a validation is performed against the corresponding
-body measurements, estimated from 50 simulations. We find the method to be
valid up to Mpc for the power spectrum and down to
Mpc for the correlation function. Then, we extend the method by proposing a
new modelling of the peculiar velocity distribution, aiming at reproducing the
redshift-space distortions both in the linear and mildly non-linear regimes.
After validating this prescription, we finally compare and validate the
produced redshift-space two-point statistics covariance matrices in the same
range of scales. We release on a public repository the Python code associated
with this method, allowing the production of tens of thousands of realisations
in record time. COVMOS is intended for any user involved in large galaxy-survey
science requiring a large number of mock realisations
REPS: REscaled Power Spectra for initial conditions with massive neutrinos
REPS (REscaled Power Spectra) provides accurate, one-percent level, numerical simulations of the initial conditions for massive neutrino cosmologies, rescaling the late-time linear power spectra to the simulation initial redshif
Energetics of a black hole: constraints on the jet velocity and the nature of the X-ray emitting region in Cyg X-1
We investigate the energetics of the jet and X-ray corona of Cyg X-1. We show
that the current estimates of the jet power obtained from Halpha and [O III]
measurements of the optical nebula surrounding the X-ray source allow one to
constrain the bulk velocity of the jet. It is definitely relativistic (v >0.1c)
and most probably in the range (0.3-0.8)c. The exact value of the velocity
depends on the accretion efficiency. These constraints are obtained
independently of, and are consistent with, previous estimates of the jet bulk
velocity based on radio measurements. We then show that the X-ray emission does
not originate in the jet. Indeed, the energy budget does not allow the corona
to be ejected to infinity at relativistic speed. Rather, either a small
fraction of the corona escapes to infinity, or the ejection velocity of the
corona is vanishingly low. Although the corona could constitute the jet
launching region, it cannot be identified with the jet itself. We discuss the
consequences for various X-ray emission models.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, to appear in MNRA
Macrophage scavenger receptor 1 mediates lipid-induced inflammation in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Background & Aims: Obesity-associated inflammation is a key player in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the role of macrophage scavenger receptor 1 (MSR1, CD204) remains incompletely understood. Methods: A total of 170 NAFLD liver biopsies were processed for transcriptomic analysis and correlated with clinicopathological features. Msr1(-/-) and wild-type mice were subjected to a 16-week high-fat and high-cholesterol diet. Mice and ex vivo human liver slices were treated with a monoclonal antibody against MSR1. Genetic susceptibility was assessed using genome-wide association study data from 1,483 patients with NAFLD and 430,101 participants of the UK Biobank. Results: MSR1 expression was associated with the occurrence of hepatic lipid-laden foamy macrophages and correlated with the degree of steatosis and steatohepatitis in patients with NAFLD. Mice lacking Msr1 were protected against diet-induced metabolic disorder, showing fewer hepatic foamy macrophages, less hepatic inflammation, improved dyslipidaemia and glucose tolerance, and altered hepatic lipid metabolism. Upon induction by saturated fatty acids, MSR1 induced a pro-inflammatory response via the JNK signalling pathway. In vitro blockade of the receptor prevented the accumulation of lipids in primary macrophages which inhibited the switch towards a proinflammatory phenotype and the release of cytokines such as TNF-alpha Targeting MSR1 using monoclonal antibody therapy in an obesity-associated NAFLD mouse model and human liver slices resulted in the prevention of foamy macrophage formation and inflammation. Moreover, we identified that rs41505344, a polymorphism in the upstream transcriptional region of MSR1, was associated with altered serum triglycerides and aspartate aminotransferase levels in a cohort of over 400,000 patients. Conclusions: Taken together, our data suggest that MSR1 plays a critical role in lipid-induced inflammation and could thus be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of NAFLD. Lay summary: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic disease primarily caused by excessive consumption of fat and sugar combined with a lack of exercise or a sedentary lifestyle. Herein, we show that the macrophage scavenger receptor MSR1, an innate immune receptor, mediates lipid uptake and accumulation in Kupffer cells, resulting in liver inflammation and thereby promoting the progression of NAFLD in humans and mice. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of European Association for the Study of the Liver.Peer reviewe
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