742 research outputs found
Isocurvature forecast in the anthropic axion window
We explore the cosmological sensitivity to the amplitude of isocurvature
fluctuations that would be caused by axions in the "anthropic window" where the
axion decay constant f_a >> 10^12 GeV and the initial misalignment angle
Theta_i << 1. In a minimal Lambda-CDM cosmology extended with subdominant
scale-invariant isocurvature fluctuations, existing data constrain the
isocurvature fraction to alpha < 0.09 at 95% C.L. If no signal shows up, Planck
can improve this constraint to 0.042 while an ultimate CMB probe limited only
by cosmic variance in both temperature and E-polarisation can reach 0.017,
about a factor of five better than the current limit. In the parameter space of
f_a and H_I (Hubble parameter during inflation) we identify a small region
where axion detection remains within the reach of realistic cosmological
probes.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures; v2: matches published versio
Majorana Neutrino, the Size of Extra Dimensions, and Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay
The problem of Majorana neutrino mass generated in
Arkani-Hamed--Dimopoulos-Dvali model with n extra spatial dimensions is
discussed. Taking into account constraints on neutrino masses coming from
cosmological observations, it is possible to obtain lower limits on the size of
extra dimensions as large as 10^{-6} mm. In the case of n=4 it is easy to lower
the fundamental scale of gravity from the Planck energy to electroweak scale
\~TeV without imposing any additional constraints. A link between the half-life
of neutrinoless double beta decay and the size of extra dimensions is
discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, using RevTEX. Units conversion correcte
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
Constraining dark energy models using the lookback time to galaxy clusters and the age of the universe
An impressive amount of different astrophysical data converges towards the
picture of a spatially flat universe undergoing a today phase of accelerated
expansion. The nature of the dark energy dominating the energy content of the
universe is still unknown and a lot of different scenarios are viable
candidates to explain cosmic acceleration. Most of the methods employed to test
these cosmological models are essentially based on distance measurements to a
particular class of objects. A different method, based on the lookback time to
galaxy clusters and the age of the universe, is used here. In particular, we
constrain the characterizing parameters of three classes of dark energy
cosmological models to see whether they are in agreement with this kind of
data, based on time measurements rather than distance observations.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication on Physical Review
Neutrino masses and the number of neutrino species from WMAP and 2dFGRS
We have performed a thorough analysis of the constraints which can be put on
neutrino parameters from cosmological observations, most notably those from the
WMAP satellite and the 2dF galaxy survey. For this data we find an upper limit
on the sum of active neutrino mass eigenstates of \sum m_nu < 1.0 eV (95%
conf.), but this limit is dependent on priors. We find that the WMAP and 2dF
data alone cannot rule out the evidence from neutrinoless double beta decay
reported by the Heidelberg-Moscow experiment. In terms of the relativistic
energy density in neutrinos or other weakly interacting species we find, in
units of the equivalent number of neutrino species, N_nu, that N_nu =
4.0+3.0-2.1 (95% conf.). When BBN constraints are added, the bound on N_\nu is
2.6+0.4-0.3 (95% conf.), suggesting that N_nu could possibly be lower than the
standard model value of 3. This can for instance be the case in models with
very low reheating temperature and incomplete neutrino thermalization.
Conversely, if N_nu is fixed to 3 then the data from WMAP and 2dFGRS predicts
that 0.2458 < Y_P < 0.2471, which is significantly higher than the
observationally measured value. The limit on relativistic energy density
changes when a small chemical potential is present during BBN. In this
case the upper bound on N_nu from WMAP, 2dFGRS and BBN is N_nu < 6.5. Finally,
we find that a non-zero \sum m_nu can be compensated by an increase in N_nu.
One result of this is that the LSND result is not yet ruled out by cosmological
observations.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Possible Constraints on the Time Variation of the Fine Structure Constant from Cosmic Microwave Background Data
The formation of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) provides a
very powerful probe of the early universe at the epoch of recombination.
Specifically, it is possible to constrain the variation of fundamental physical
constants in the early universe. We have calculated the effect of a varying
electromagnetic coupling constant (\alpha) on the CMBR and find that new
satellite experiments should provide a tight constraint on the value of \alpha
at recombination which is complementary to existing constraints. An estimate of
the obtainable precision is |\dot{\alpha}/\alpha| \leq 7 x 10^{-13} y^{-1} in a
realistic experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 3 postscript figures, matches version to appear in Phys.
Rev.
Measuring neutrino masses with a future galaxy survey
We perform a detailed forecast on how well a Euclid-like photometric galaxy
and cosmic shear survey will be able to constrain the absolute neutrino mass
scale. Adopting conservative assumptions about the survey specifications and
assuming complete ignorance of the galaxy bias, we estimate that the minimum
mass sum of sum m_nu ~ 0.06 eV in the normal hierarchy can be detected at 1.5
sigma to 2.5 sigma significance, depending on the model complexity, using a
combination of galaxy and cosmic shear power spectrum measurements in
conjunction with CMB temperature and polarisation observations from Planck.
With better knowledge of the galaxy bias, the significance of the detection
could potentially reach 5.4 sigma. Interestingly, neither Planck+shear nor
Planck+galaxy alone can achieve this level of sensitivity; it is the combined
effect of galaxy and cosmic shear power spectrum measurements that breaks the
persistent degeneracies between the neutrino mass, the physical matter density,
and the Hubble parameter. Notwithstanding this remarkable sensitivity to sum
m_nu, Euclid-like shear and galaxy data will not be sensitive to the exact mass
spectrum of the neutrino sector; no significant bias (< 1 sigma) in the
parameter estimation is induced by fitting inaccurate models of the neutrino
mass splittings to the mock data, nor does the goodness-of-fit of these models
suffer any significant degradation relative to the true one (Delta chi_eff ^2<
1).Comment: v1: 29 pages, 10 figures. v2: 33 pages, 12 figures; added sections on
shape evolution and constraints in more complex models, accepted for
publication in JCA
Cosmological limit on the neutrino mass
We have performed a careful analysis of constraints on the neutrino mass from
current cosmological data. Combining data from the cosmic microwave background
and the 2dF galaxy survey yields an upper limit on the sum of the three
neutrino mass eigenstates of \sum m_nu < 3 eV (95% conf.), without including
additional priors. Including data from SNIa observations, Big Bang
nucleosynthesis, and HST Hubble key project data on H_0 tightens the limit to
\sum m_nu < 2.5 eV (95% conf.). We also perform a Fisher matrix analysis which
illustrates the cosmological parameter degeneracies affecting the determination
of \sum m_nu.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, uses Revtex
New CMBR data and the cosmic neutrino background
New precision Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) anisotropy data
are beginning to constrain physics beyond the standard model, for example in
the form of additional light particle species. These constraints are
complementary to what can be obtained from big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN)
considerations because they apply to much later times. We derive a constraint
on the equivalent number of neutrino species, N_\nu, from the presently
available data. Specifically we analyse two different CMBR data sets to test
the robustness of our results. Analyzing only CMBR data yields an upper bound
of N_\nu < 17 (95% confidence). Adding large scale structure (LSS) data from
the PSC-z survey tightens the upper bound slightly. However, the addition of
LSS data gives a non-trivial {\it lower} bound of N_\nu > 1.5/2.5 (95%
confidence) for the two data sets. This is the first independent indication of
the presence of the cosmological neutrino background which is predicted by the
standard model, and seen in big bang nucleosynthesis. The value is
disfavoured at 3\sigma and 4\sigma for the two data sets respectively.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
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