699 research outputs found
Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropies from Scaling Seeds: Fit to Observational Data
We compute cosmic microwave background angular power spectra for scaling seed
models of structure formation. A generic parameterization of the energy
momentum tensor of the seeds is employed. We concentrate on two regions of
parameter space inspired by global topological defects: O(4) texture models and
the large-N limit of O(N) models. We use fitting to compare these
models to recent flat-band power measurements of the cosmic microwave
background. Only scalar perturbations are considered.Comment: LaTeX file 4 pages, 4 postscript figs. revised version, to appear in
PR
Cosmological perturbations and the transition from contraction to expansion
We investigate both analytically and numerically the evolution of scalar
perturbations generated in models which exhibit a smooth transition from a
contracting to an expanding Friedmann universe. We find that the resulting
spectral index in the late radiation dominated universe depends on which of the
or \ variables passes regularly through the transition. The
results can be parameterized through the exponent defining the rate of
contraction of the universe. For we find that there are no stable
cases where both variables are regular during the transition. In particular,
for , we find that the resulting spectral index is close to scale
invariant if is regular, whereas it has a steep blue behavior if
is regular. We also show that as long as , perturbations arising
from the Bardeen potential remain small during contraction in the sense that
there exists a gauge in which all the metric and matter perturbation variables
are small.Comment: 30 pages, 16 figures. Version to appear in Phys. Rev. D. Slight
modifications, but no change in the conclusio
CMB temperature anisotropy at large scales induced by a causal primordial magnetic field
We present an analytical derivation of the Sachs Wolfe effect sourced by a
primordial magnetic field. In order to consistently specify the initial
conditions, we assume that the magnetic field is generated by a causal process,
namely a first order phase transition in the early universe. As for the
topological defects case, we apply the general relativistic junction conditions
to match the perturbation variables before and after the phase transition which
generates the magnetic field, in such a way that the total energy momentum
tensor is conserved across the transition and Einstein's equations are
satisfied. We further solve the evolution equations for the metric and fluid
perturbations at large scales analytically including neutrinos, and derive the
magnetic Sachs Wolfe effect. We find that the relevant contribution to the
magnetic Sachs Wolfe effect comes from the metric perturbations at
next-to-leading order in the large scale limit. The leading order term is in
fact strongly suppressed due to the presence of free-streaming neutrinos. We
derive the neutrino compensation effect dynamically and confirm that the
magnetic Sachs Wolfe spectrum from a causal magnetic field behaves as
l(l+1)C_l^B \propto l^2 as found in the latest numerical analyses.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figures, minor changes, matches published versio
Are there static texture?
We consider harmonic maps from Minkowski space into the three sphere. We are
especially interested in solutions which are asymptotically constant, i.e.
converge to the same value in all directions of spatial infinity. Physical
3-space can then be compactified and can be identified topologically (but not
metrically!) with a three sphere. Therefore, at fixed time, the winding of the
map is defined. We investigate whether static solutions with non-trivial
winding number exist. The answer which we can proof here is only partial: We
show that within a certain family of maps no static solutions with non-zero
winding number exist. We discuss the existing static solutions in our family of
maps. An extension to other maps or a proof that our family of maps is
sufficiently general remains an open problem.Comment: 12 page Latex file, 1 postscript figure, submitted to PR
Detection of gravitational waves from the QCD phase transition with pulsar timing arrays
If the cosmological QCD phase transition is strongly first order and lasts
sufficiently long, it generates a background of gravitational waves which may
be detected via pulsar timing experiments. We estimate the amplitude and the
spectral shape of such a background and we discuss its detectability prospects.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figs. Version accepted by PR
Evolution of magnetic fields through cosmological perturbation theory
The origin of galactic and extra-galactic magnetic fields is an unsolved
problem in modern cosmology. A possible scenario comes from the idea of these
fields emerged from a small field, a seed, which was produced in the early
universe (phase transitions, inflation, ...) and it evolves in time.
Cosmological perturbation theory offers a natural way to study the evolution of
primordial magnetic fields. The dynamics for this field in the cosmological
context is described by a cosmic dynamo like equation, through the dynamo term.
In this paper we get the perturbed Maxwell's equations and compute the energy
momentum tensor to second order in perturbation theory in terms of gauge
invariant quantities. Two possible scenarios are discussed, first we consider a
FLRW background without magnetic field and we study the perturbation theory
introducing the magnetic field as a perturbation. The second scenario, we
consider a magnetized FLRW and build up the perturbation theory from this
background. We compare the cosmological dynamo like equation in both scenarios
The Cosmic Microwave Background and Helical Magnetic Fields: the tensor mode
We study the effect of a possible helicity component of a primordial magnetic
field on the tensor part of the cosmic microwave background temperature
anisotropies and polarization. We give analytical approximations for the tensor
contributions induced by helicity, discussing their amplitude and spectral
index in dependence of the power spectrum of the primordial magnetic field. We
find that an helical magnetic field creates a parity odd component of gravity
waves inducing parity odd polarization signals. However, only if the magnetic
field is close to scale invariant and if its helical part is close to maximal,
the effect is sufficiently large to be observable. We also discuss the
implications of causality on the magnetic field spectrum.Comment: We have corrected a normalisation error which was pointed out to us
by Antony Lewis. It enhances our limits on the magnetic fields by
(2\pi)^{3/4} ~
Gravitational wave production: A strong constraint on primordial magnetic fields
We compute the gravity waves induced by anisotropic stresses of stochastic primordial magnetic fields. The nucleosynthesis bound on gravity waves is then used to derive a limit on the magnetic field amplitude as function of the spectral index. The obtained limits are extraordinarily strong: If the primordial magnetic field is produced by a causal process, leading to a spectral index on super horizon scales, galactic magnetic fields produced at the electroweak phase transition or earlier have to be weaker than B_\la \le 10^{-27}Gauss! If they are induced during an inflationary phase (reheating temperature GeV) with a spectral index , the magnetic field has to be weaker than B_\la \le 10^{-39}Gauss! Only very red magnetic field spectra, are not strongly constrained. We also find that a considerable amount of the magnetic field energy is converted into gravity waves. The gravity wave limit derived in this work rules out most of the proposed processes for primordial seeds for the large scale coherent magnetic fields observed in galaxies and clusters
Generation of helical magnetic fields from inflation
The generation of helical magnetic fields during single field inflation due
to an axial coupling of the electromagnetic field to the inflaton is discussed.
We find that such a coupling always leads to a blue spectrum of magnetic fields
during slow roll inflation. Though the helical magnetic fields further evolve
during the inverse cascade in the radiation era after inflation, we conclude
that the magnetic fields generated by such an axial coupling can not lead to
observed field strength on cosmologically relevant scales.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; Contribution to the proceedings of the
International Conference on Gravitation and Cosmology (ICGC), Goa, India,
December, 201
Gravitational wave generation from bubble collisions in first-order phase transitions: an analytic approach
Gravitational wave production from bubble collisions was calculated in the
early nineties using numerical simulations. In this paper, we present an
alternative analytic estimate, relying on a different treatment of
stochasticity. In our approach, we provide a model for the bubble velocity
power spectrum, suitable for both detonations and deflagrations. From this, we
derive the anisotropic stress and analytically solve the gravitational wave
equation. We provide analytical formulae for the peak frequency and the shape
of the spectrum which we compare with numerical estimates. In contrast to the
previous analysis, we do not work in the envelope approximation. This paper
focuses on a particular source of gravitational waves from phase transitions.
In a companion article, we will add together the different sources of
gravitational wave signals from phase transitions: bubble collisions,
turbulence and magnetic fields and discuss the prospects for probing the
electroweak phase transition at LISA.Comment: 48 pages, 14 figures. v2 (PRD version): calculation refined; plots
redone starting from Fig. 4. Factor 2 in GW energy spectrum corrected. Main
conclusions unchanged. v3: Note added at the end of paper to comment on the
new results of 0901.166
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