Beyond the Standard Model of Physics with Astronomical Observations

There has been significant recent progress in observational cosmology. This, in turn, has provided an unprecedented picture of the early universe and its evolution. In this review I will present a (biased) view of how one can use these observational results to constraint fundamental physics and in particular physics beyond the standard model.Comment: Invited Talk at BW201

On the role of GRBs on life extinction in the Universe

As a copious source of gamma-rays, a nearby Galactic Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) can be a threat to life. Using recent determinations of the rate of GRBs, their luminosity function and properties of their host galaxies, we estimate the probability that a life-threatening (lethal) GRB would take place. Amongst the different kinds of GRBs, long ones are most dangerous. There is a very good chance (but no certainty) that at least one lethal GRB took place during the past 5 Gyr close enough to Earth as to significantly damage life. There is a 50% chance that such a lethal GRB took place during the last 500 Myr causing one of the major mass extinction events. Assuming that a similar level of radiation would be lethal to life on other exoplanets hosting life, we explore the potential effects of GRBs to life elsewhere in the Galaxy and the Universe. We find that the probability of a lethal GRB is much larger in the inner Milky Way (95% within a radius of 4 kpc from the galactic center), making it inhospitable to life. Only at the outskirts of the Milky Way, at more than 10 kpc from the galactic center, this probability drops below 50%. When considering the Universe as a whole, the safest environments for life (similar to the one on Earth) are the lowest density regions in the outskirts of large galaxies and life can exist in only ~ 10% of galaxies. Remarkably, a cosmological constant is essential for such systems to exist. Furthermore, because of both the higher GRB rate and galaxies being smaller, life as it exists on Earth could not take place at $z > 0.5$. Early life forms must have been much more resilient to radiation.Comment: Version accepted to the Physical Review Letter

The parameter space of Cubic Galileon models for cosmic acceleration

We use recent measurements of the expansion history of the universe to place constraints on the parameter space of cubic Galileon models, in particular we concentrate on those models which contain the simplest Galileon term plus a linear potential. This gives strong constraints on the Lagrangian of these models. Most dynamical terms in the Galileon Lagrangian are constraint to be small and the acceleration is effectively provided by a constant term in the scalar potential, thus reducing, effectively, to a LCDM model for current acceleration. The effective equation of state is indistinguishable from that of a cosmological constant w = -1 and the data constraint it to have no temporal variations of more than at the few % level. The energy density of the Galileon can contribute only to about 10% of the acceleration energy density, being the other 90% a cosmological constant term. This demonstrates how useful direct measurements of the expansion history of the universe are at constraining the dynamical nature of dark energy.Comment: References added. Minor changes. Published version. 11 pages, 4 figure

Cosmology from Quantum Information

We describe inflation in terms of a time dependent quantum density matrix with time playing the role of a stochastic variable. Using a quasi-de Sitter model we compute the corresponding quantum Fisher information function as the second derivative of the relative entanglement entropy for the density matrix at two different times. Employing standard quantum estimation theory we evaluate the minimal variance of quantum scalar fluctuations that reproduces the power spectrum and the corresponding tilt in the slow roll limit. The Jeffreys prior associated with such Fisher information can be used to define the probabilities on the set of initial conditions defined by the slow roll parameter $\epsilon$ and the initial Shannon information.Comment: extended discussion in general and in particular for fluctuation curvature power spectrum and citations adde

On star formation in primordial protoglobular clouds

Using a new physical model for star formation (Padoan 1995) we have tested the possibility that globular clusters (GCs) are formed from primordial mass fluctuations, whose mass scale ($10^8$ - $10^9$ M$_{\odot}$) is selected out of a CDM spectrum by the mechanism of non-equilibrium formation of $H_2$. We show that such clouds are able to convert about 0.003 of their total mass into a bound system (GC) and about 0.02 into halo stars. The metal enriched gas is dispersed away from the GC by supernova explosions and forms the galactic disk. These mass ratios between GCs, halo and disk depend on the predicted IMF which is a consequence of the universal statistics of fluid turbulence. They also depend on the ratio of baryonic over non-baryonic mass ,$X_b$, and are comparable with the values observed in typical spiral galaxies for $X_b \approx 0.1-0.2$. The computed mass and radius for a GC ( $5\times 10^5$ M$_{\odot}$ and 30 pc) are in good agreement with the average values in the Galaxy. The model predicts an exponential cut off in the stellar IMF below 0.1 M$_{\odot}$ in GCs and 0.6 M$_{\odot}$ in the halo. The quite massive star formation in primordial clouds leads to a large number of supernovae and to a high blue luminosity during the first two Gyr of the life of every galaxy

Gas infall into atomic cooling haloes: on the formation of protogalactic disks and supermassive black holes at z > 10

We have performed cosmo-hydro simulations using the RAMSES code to study atomic cooling (ACHs) haloes at z=10 with masses 5E7Msun<~M<~2E9Msun. We assume primordial gas and H2-cooling and prior star-formation have been suppressed. We analysed 19 haloes (gas and DM) at a resolution of ~10 (proper) pc, selected from a total volume of ~2E3 (comoving) Mpc3. This is the largest statistical hydro-sim. study of ACHs at z>10 to date. We examine the morphology, angular momentum (AM), thermodynamic, and turbulence of these haloes, in order to assess the prevalence of disks and supermassive black holes (SMBHs). We find no correlation between either the magnitude or the direction of the AM of the gas and its parent DM halo. Only 3 haloes form rotationally supported cores. Two of the most massive haloes form massive, compact overdense blobs. These blobs have an accretion rate ~0.5 Msun/yr (at a distance of 100 pc), and are possible sites of SMBH formation. Our results suggest that the degree of rotational support and the fate of the gas in a halo is determined by its large-scale environment and merger history. In particular, the two haloes forming blobs are located at knots of the cosmic web, cooled early on, and experienced many mergers. The gas in these haloes is lumpy and highly turbulent, with Mach N. >~ 5. In contrast, the haloes forming rotationally supported cores are relatively more isolated, located midway along filaments, cooled more recently, and underwent fewer mergers. Thus, the gas in these haloes is less lumpy and less turbulent (Mach <~ 4), and could retain most of its AM. The remaining 14 haloes have intermediate properties. If verified in a larger sample of haloes and with additional physics, our results will have implications for observations of the highest-redshift galaxies and quasars with JWST