735 research outputs found
Constraints on the sound speed of dark energy
We have studied constraints on the equation of state, , and speed of
sound, c_s, of the dark energy from a joint analysis of data from the cosmic
microwave background, large scale structure and type-Ia supernovae. We find
that current observations have no significant sensitivity to c_s. However,
there is a slight difference between models in which there are no dark energy
perturbations and models in which dark energy behaves as a fluid. Assuming that
there are no dark energy perturbations shifts the allowed region for to
slightly higher values. At present models with and without dark energy
perturbations provide roughly equally good fits to observations, but the
difference is potentially important for future parameter estimations. Finally,
we have also performed error forecasts for future measurements of c_s.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, Revte
Observational bounds on the cosmic radiation density
We consider the inference of the cosmic radiation density, traditionally
parameterised as the effective number of neutrino species N_eff, from precision
cosmological data. Paying particular attention to systematic effects, notably
scale-dependent biasing in the galaxy power spectrum, we find no evidence for a
significant deviation of N_eff from the standard value of N_eff^0=3.046 in any
combination of cosmological data sets, in contrast to some recent conclusions
of other authors. The combination of all available data in the linear regime
prefers, in the context of a ``vanilla+N_eff'' cosmological model,
1.1<N_eff<4.8 (95% C.L.) with a best-fit value of 2.6. Adding data at smaller
scales, notably the Lyman-alpha forest, we find 2.2<N_eff<5.8 (95% C.L.) with
3.8 as the best fit. Inclusion of the Lyman-alpha data shifts the preferred
N_eff upwards because the sigma_8 value derived from the SDSS Lyman-alpha data
is inconsistent with that inferred from CMB. In an extended cosmological model
that includes a nonzero mass for N_eff neutrino flavours, a running scalar
spectral index and a w parameter for the dark energy, we find 0.8<N_eff<6.1
(95% C.L.) with 3.0 as the best fit.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, uses iopart.cls; v2: 1 new figure, references
added, matches published versio
New constraints on neutrino physics from Boomerang data
We have performed a likelihood analysis of the recent data on the Cosmic
Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) anisotropy taken by the Boomerang
experiment. We find that this data places a strong upper bound on the radiation
density present at recombination. Expressed in terms of the equivalent number
of neutrino species the bound is N_nu < 13, and the standard model
prediction, N_nu = 3.04, is completely consistent the the data. This bound is
complementary to the one found from Big Bang nucleosynthesis considerations in
that it applies to any type of radiation, i.e. it is not flavour sensitive. It
also applies to the universe at a much later epoch, and as such places severe
limits on scenarios with decaying neutrinos. The bound also yields a firm upper
limit on the lepton asymmetry in the universe.Comment: 4 pages, 2 postscript figures, matches version to appear in PR
The Matrix Reloaded - on the Dark Energy Seesaw
We propose a novel mechanism for dark energy, based on an extended seesaw for scalar fields, which does not require any new physics at energies below the TeV scale. A very light quintessence mass is usually considered to be technically unnatural, unless it is protected by some symmetry broken at the new very light scale. We propose that one can use an extended seesaw mechanism to construct technically natural models for very light fields, protected by SUSY softly broken above a TeV
Neutrino masses and cosmic radiation density: Combined analysis
We determine the range of neutrino masses and cosmic radiation content
allowed by the most recent CMB and large-scale structure data. In contrast to
other recent works, we vary these parameters simultaneously and provide
likelihood contours in the two-dimensional parameter space of N_eff}, the usual
effective number of neutrino species measuring the radiation density, and \sum
m_nu. The allowed range of \sum m_nu and N_eff has shrunk significantly
compared to previous studies. The previous degeneracy between these parameters
has disappeared, largely thanks to the baryon acoustic oscillation data. The
likelihood contours differ significantly if \sum m_nu resides in a single
species instead of the standard case of being equally distributed among all
flavors. For \sum m_nu=0 we find 2.7 < N_eff < 4.6 at 95% CL while \sum m_nu <
0.62 eV at 95% CL for the standard radiation content.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Cosmological constraints on neutrino plus axion hot dark matter
We use observations of the cosmological large-scale structure to derive
limits on two-component hot dark matter consisting of mass-degenerate neutrinos
and hadronic axions, both components having velocity dispersions corresponding
to their respective decoupling temperatures. We restrict the data samples to
the safely linear regime, in particular excluding the Lyman-alpha forest. Using
standard Bayesian inference techniques we derive credible regions in the
two-parameter space of m_a and sum(m_nu). Marginalising over sum(m_nu) provides
m_a < 1.2 eV (95% C.L.). In the absence of axions the same data and methods
give sum(m_nu) < 0.65 eV (95% C.L.). We also derive limits on m_a for a range
of axion-pion couplings up to one order of magnitude larger or smaller than the
hadronic value.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, uses iopart.cl
Chaos, Determinacy and Fractals in Active-Sterile Neutrino Oscillations in the Early Universe
The possibility of light sterile neutrinos allows for the resonant production
of lepton number in the early universe through matter-affected neutrino mixing.
For a given a mixing of the active and sterile neutrino states it has been
found that the lepton number generation process is chaotic and strongly
oscillatory. We undertake a new study of this process' sensitivity to initial
conditions through the quantum rate equations. We confirm the chaoticity of the
process in this solution, and moreover find that the resultant lepton number
and the sign of the asymmetry produces a fractal in the parameter space of
mass, mixing angle and initial baryon number. This has implications for future
searches for sterile neutrinos, where arbitrary high sensitivity could not be
determinate in forecasting the lepton number of the universe.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
The Cosmic Neutrino Background and the Age of the Universe
We discuss the cosmological degeneracy between the age of the Universe, the
Hubble parameter and the effective number of relativistic particles N_eff. We
show that independent determinations of the Hubble parameter H(z) as those
recently provided by Simon,Verde, Jimenez (2006), combined with other
cosmological data sets can provide the most stringent constraint on N_eff,
yielding N_eff=3.7 (-1.2) (+1.1) at 95% confidence level. A neutrino background
is detected with high significance: N_eff >1.8 at better than 99% confidence
level. Constraints on the age of the universe in the framework of an extra
background of relativistic particles are improved by a factor 3.Comment: JCAP, in pres
Neutrino Physics: Open Theoretical Questions
We know that neutrino mass and mixing provide a window to physics beyond the
Standard Model. Now this window is open, at least partly. And the questions
are: what do we see, which kind of new physics, and how far "beyond"? I
summarize the present knowledge of neutrino mass and mixing, and then formulate
the main open questions. Following the bottom-up approach, properties of the
neutrino mass matrix are considered. Then different possible ways to uncover
the underlying physics are discussed. Some results along the line of: see-saw,
GUT and SUSY GUT are reviewed.Comment: 17 pages, latex, 12 figures. Talk given at the XXI International
Symposium on Lepton and Photon Interactions at High Energies, ``Lepton Photon
2003", August 11-16, 2003 - Fermilab, Batavia, IL US
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