235 research outputs found
Can we avoid dark energy?
The idea that we live near the centre of a large, nonlinear void has
attracted attention recently as an alternative to dark energy or modified
gravity. We show that an appropriate void profile can fit both the latest
cosmic microwave background and supernova data. However, this requires either a
fine-tuned primordial spectrum or a Hubble rate so low as to rule these models
out. We also show that measurements of the radial baryon acoustic scale can
provide very strong constraints. Our results present a serious challenge to
void models of acceleration.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; minor changes; version published in Phys. Rev.
Let
Precision cosmology defeats void models for acceleration
The suggestion that we occupy a privileged position near the centre of a
large, nonlinear, and nearly spherical void has recently attracted much
attention as an alternative to dark energy. Putting aside the philosophical
problems with this scenario, we perform the most complete and up-to-date
comparison with cosmological data. We use supernovae and the full cosmic
microwave background spectrum as the basis of our analysis. We also include
constraints from radial baryonic acoustic oscillations, the local Hubble rate,
age, big bang nucleosynthesis, the Compton y-distortion, and for the first time
include the local amplitude of matter fluctuations, \sigma_8. These all paint a
consistent picture in which voids are in severe tension with the data. In
particular, void models predict a very low local Hubble rate, suffer from an
"old age problem", and predict much less local structure than is observed.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures; v2 adds models in closed backgrounds;
conclusions strengthened; version accepted to Phys. Rev.
Can decaying modes save void models for acceleration?
The unexpected dimness of Type Ia supernovae (SNe), apparently due to
accelerated expansion driven by some form of dark energy or modified gravity,
has led to attempts to explain the observations using only general relativity
with baryonic and cold dark matter, but by dropping the standard assumption of
homogeneity on Hubble scales. In particular, the SN data can be explained if we
live near the centre of a Hubble-scale void. However, such void models have
been shown to be inconsistent with various observations, assuming the void
consists of a pure growing mode. Here it is shown that models with significant
decaying mode contribution today can be ruled out on the basis of the expected
cosmic microwave background spectral distortion. This essentially closes one of
the very few remaining loopholes in attempts to rule out void models, and
strengthens the evidence for Hubble-scale homogeneity.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; discussion expanded, appendix added; version
accepted to Phys. Rev.
Can the Copernican principle be tested by cosmic neutrino background?
The Copernican principle, stating that we do not occupy any special place in
our universe, is usually taken for granted in modern cosmology. However recent
observational data of supernova indicate that we may live in the under-dense
center of our universe, which makes the Copernican principle challenged. It
thus becomes urgent and important to test the Copernican principle via
cosmological observations. Taking into account that unlike the cosmic photons,
the cosmic neutrinos of different energies come from the different places to us
along the different worldlines, we here propose cosmic neutrino background as a
test of the Copernican principle. It is shown that from the theoretical
perspective cosmic neutrino background can allow one to determine whether the
Copernican principle is valid or not, but to implement such an observation the
larger neutrino detectors are called for.Comment: JHEP style, 10 pages, 4 figures, version to appear in JCA
Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi dust spacetimes: Symmetry properties and some extensions to the dissipative case
We consider extensions of Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) spacetimes to the
dissipative case. For doing that we previously carry out a systematic study on
LTB. This study is based on two different aspects of LTB. On the one hand, a
symmetry property of LTB will be presented. On the other hand, the description
of LTB in terms of some fundamental scalar functions (structure scalars)
appearing in the orthogonal splitting of Riemann tensor will be provided. We
shall consider as "natural" generalizations of LTB (hereafter referred to as
GLTB) either those metrics admitting some similar kind of symmetry as LTB, or
those sharing structure scalars with similar dependence on the metric.Comment: 13 pages RevTex. To appear in Phys. Rev. D. Some references corrected
and update
CMB observations in LTB universes: Part I: Matching peak positions in the CMB spectrum
Acoustic peaks in the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background in
spherically symmetric inhomogeneous cosmological models are studied. At the
photon-baryon decoupling epoch, the universe may be assumed to be dominated by
non-relativistic matter, and thus we may treat radiation as a test field in the
universe filled with dust which is described by the Lema\^itre-Tolman-Bondi
(LTB) solution. First, we give an LTB model whose distance-redshift relation
agrees with that of the concordance CDM model in the whole redshift
domain and which is well approximated by the Einstein-de Sitter universe at and
before decoupling. We determine the decoupling epoch in this LTB universe by
Gamow's criterion and then calculate the positions of acoustic peaks. Thus
obtained results are not consistent with the WMAP data. However, we find that
one can fit the peak positions by appropriately modifying the LTB model,
namely, by allowing the deviation of the distance-redshift relation from that
of the concordance CDM model at where no observational data are
available at present. Thus there is still a possibility of explaining the
apparent accelerated expansion of the universe by inhomogeneity without
resorting to dark energy if we abandon the Copernican principle. Even if we do
not take this extreme attitude, it also suggests that local, isotropic
inhomogeneities around us may seriously affect the determination of the density
contents of the universe unless the possible existence of such inhomogeneities
is properly taken into account.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure
The growth of structure in the Szekeres inhomogeneous cosmological models and the matter-dominated era
This study belongs to a series devoted to using Szekeres inhomogeneous models
to develop a theoretical framework where observations can be investigated with
a wider range of possible interpretations. We look here into the growth of
large-scale structure in the models. The Szekeres models are exact solutions to
Einstein's equations that were originally derived with no symmetries. We use a
formulation of the models that is due to Goode and Wainwright, who considered
the models as exact perturbations of an FLRW background. Using the Raychaudhuri
equation, we write for the two classes of the models, exact growth equations in
terms of the under/overdensity and measurable cosmological parameters. The new
equations in the overdensity split into two informative parts. The first part,
while exact, is identical to the growth equation in the usual linearly
perturbed FLRW models, while the second part constitutes exact non-linear
perturbations. We integrate numerically the full exact growth rate equations
for the flat and curved cases. We find that for the matter-dominated era, the
Szekeres growth rate is up to a factor of three to five stronger than the usual
linearly perturbed FLRW cases, reflecting the effect of exact Szekeres
non-linear perturbations. The growth is also stronger than that of the
non-linear spherical collapse model, and the difference between the two
increases with time. This highlights the distinction when we use general
inhomogeneous models where shear and a tidal gravitational field are present
and contribute to the gravitational clustering. Additionally, it is worth
observing that the enhancement of the growth found in the Szekeres models
during the matter-dominated era could suggest a substitute to the argument that
dark matter is needed when using FLRW models to explain the enhanced growth and
resulting large-scale structures that we observe today (abridged)Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, matches PRD accepted versio
ZOBOV: a parameter-free void-finding algorithm
ZOBOV (ZOnes Bordering On Voidness) is an algorithm that finds density
depressions in a set of points, without any free parameters, or assumptions
about shape. It uses the Voronoi tessellation to estimate densities, which it
uses to find both voids and subvoids. It also measures probabilities that each
void or subvoid arises from Poisson fluctuations. This paper describes the
ZOBOV algorithm, and the results from its application to the dark-matter
particles in a region of the Millennium Simulation. Additionally, the paper
points out an interesting high-density peak in the probability distribution of
dark-matter particle densities.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, MNRAS, accepted. Added explanatory figures, and
better edge-detection methods. ZOBOV code available at
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~neyrinck/vobo
Luminosity distance and redshift in the Szekeres inhomogeneous cosmological models
The Szekeres inhomogeneous models can be used to model the true lumpy
universe that we observe. This family of exact solutions to Einstein's
equations was originally derived with a general metric that has no symmetries.
In this work, we develop and use a framework to integrate the angular diameter
and luminosity distances in the general Szekeres models. We use the affine null
geodesic equations in order to derive a set of first-order ordinary
differential equations that can be integrated numerically to calculate the
partial derivatives of the null vector components. These equations allow the
integration in all generality of the distances in the Szekeres models and some
examples are given. The redshift is determined from simultaneous integration of
the null geodesic equations. This work does not assume spherical or axial
symmetry, and the results will be useful for comparisons of the general
Szekeres inhomogeneous models to current and future cosmological data.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure, matches JCAP accepted versio
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