84 research outputs found
WMAP constraints on inflationary models with global defects
We use the cosmic microwave background angular power spectra to place upper
limits on the degree to which global defects may have aided cosmic structure
formation. We explore this under the inflationary paradigm, but with the
addition of textures resulting from the breaking of a global O(4) symmetry
during the early stages of the Universe. As a measure of their contribution, we
use the fraction of the temperature power spectrum that is attributed to the
defects at a multipole of 10. However, we find a parameter degeneracy enabling
a fit to the first-year WMAP data to be made even with a significant defect
fraction. This degeneracy involves the baryon fraction and the Hubble constant,
plus the normalization and tilt of the primordial power spectrum. Hence,
constraints on these cosmological parameters are weakened. Combining the WMAP
data with a constraint on the physical baryon fraction from big bang
nucleosynthesis calculations and high-redshift deuterium abundance, limits the
extent of the degeneracy and gives an upper bound on the defect fraction of
0.13 (95% confidence).Comment: 10pp LaTeX/RevTeX, 6 eps figs; matches accepted versio
Inflationary Perturbations: the Cosmological Schwinger Effect
This pedagogical review aims at presenting the fundamental aspects of the
theory of inflationary cosmological perturbations of quantum-mechanical origin.
The analogy with the well-known Schwinger effect is discussed in detail and a
systematic comparison of the two physical phenomena is carried out. In
particular, it is demonstrated that the two underlying formalisms differ only
up to an irrelevant canonical transformation. Hence, the basic physical
mechanisms at play are similar in both cases and can be reduced to the
quantization of a parametric oscillator leading to particle creation due to the
interaction with a classical source: pair production in vacuum is therefore
equivalent to the appearance of a growing mode for the cosmological
fluctuations. The only difference lies in the nature of the source: an electric
field in the case of the Schwinger effect and the gravitational field in the
case of inflationary perturbations. Although, in the laboratory, it is
notoriously difficult to produce an electric field such that pairs extracted
from the vacuum can be detected, the gravitational field in the early universe
can be strong enough to lead to observable effects that ultimately reveal
themselves as temperature fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background.
Finally, the question of how quantum cosmological perturbations can be
considered as classical is discussed at the end of the article.Comment: 49 pages, 6 figures, to appear in a LNP volume "Inflationary
Cosmology
Scalar perturbation spectra from warm inflation
We present a numerical integration of the cosmological scalar perturbation
equations in warm inflation. The initial conditions are provided by a
discussion of the thermal fluctuations of an inflaton field and thermal
radiation using a combination of thermal field theory and thermodynamics. The
perturbation equations include the effects of a damping coefficient
and a thermodynamic potential . We give an analytic expression for the
spectral index of scalar fluctuations in terms of a new slow-roll parameter
constructed from . A series of toy models, inspired by spontaneous
symmetry breaking and a known form of the damping coefficient, lead to a
spectrum with on large scales and on small scales.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, RevTeX 4, revised with extra figure
Hole concentration and phonon renormalization in Ca-doped YBa_2Cu_3O_y (6.76 < y < 7.00)
In order to access the overdoped regime of the YBa_2Cu_3O_y phase diagram, 2%
Ca is substituted for Y in YBa_2Cu_3O_y (y = 7.00,6.93,6.88,6.76). Raman
scattering studies have been carried out on these four single crystals.
Measurements of the superconductivity-induced renormalization in frequency
(Delta \omega) and linewidth (\Delta 2\gamma) of the 340 cm^{-1} B_{1g} phonon
demonstrate that the magnitude of the renormalization is directly related to
the hole concentration (p), and not simply the oxygen content. The changes in
\Delta \omega with p imply that the superconducting gap (\Delta_{max})
decreases monotonically with increasing hole concentration in the overdoped
regime, and \Delta \omega falls to zero in the underdoped regime. The linewidth
renormalization \Delta 2\gamma is negative in the underdoped regime, crossing
over at optimal doping to a positive value in the overdoped state.Comment: 18 pages; 5 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. B Oct. 24, 2002 (BX8292
Suppressing CMB Quadrupole with a Bounce from Contracting Phase to Inflation
Recent released WMAP data show a low value of quadrupole in the CMB
temperature fluctuations, which confirms the early observations by COBE. In
this paper, a scenario, in which a contracting phase is followed by an
inflationary phase, is constructed. We calculate the perturbation spectrum and
show that this scenario can provide a reasonable explanation for lower CMB
anisotropies on large angular scales.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Out-of-equilibrium evolution of quantum fields in the hybrid model with quantum back reaction
The hybrid model with a scalar "inflaton" field coupled to a "Higgs" field
with a broken symmetry potential is one of the promising models for inflation
and (p)reheating after inflation. We consider the nonequilibrium evolution of
the quantum fields of this model with quantum back reaction in the Hartree
approximation, in particular the transition of the Higgs field from the
metastable "false vacuum" to the broken symmetry phase. We have performed the
renormalization of the equations of motion, of the gap equations and of the
energy density, using dimensional regularization. We study the influence of the
back reaction on the evolution of the classical fields and of the quantum
fluctuations. We observe that back reaction plays an important role over a wide
range of parameters. Some implications of our investigation for the preheating
stage after cosmic inflation are presented.Comment: 35 pages, 16 eps figures, revtex4; v2: typos corrected and references
added, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Inflation, cold dark matter, and the central density problem
A problem with high central densities in dark halos has arisen in the context
of LCDM cosmologies with scale-invariant initial power spectra. Although n=1 is
often justified by appealing to the inflation scenario, inflationary models
with mild deviations from scale-invariance are not uncommon and models with
significant running of the spectral index are plausible. Even mild deviations
from scale-invariance can be important because halo collapse times and
densities depend on the relative amount of small-scale power. We choose several
popular models of inflation and work out the ramifications for galaxy central
densities. For each model, we calculate its COBE-normalized power spectrum and
deduce the implied halo densities using a semi-analytic method calibrated
against N-body simulations. We compare our predictions to a sample of dark
matter-dominated galaxies using a non-parametric measure of the density. While
standard n=1, LCDM halos are overdense by a factor of 6, several of our example
inflation+CDM models predict halo densities well within the range preferred by
observations. We also show how the presence of massive (0.5 eV) neutrinos may
help to alleviate the central density problem even with n=1. We conclude that
galaxy central densities may not be as problematic for the CDM paradigm as is
sometimes assumed: rather than telling us something about the nature of the
dark matter, galaxy rotation curves may be telling us something about inflation
and/or neutrinos. An important test of this idea will be an eventual consensus
on the value of sigma_8, the rms overdensity on the scale 8 h^-1 Mpc. Our
successful models have values of sigma_8 approximately 0.75, which is within
the range of recent determinations. Finally, models with n>1 (or sigma_8 > 1)
are highly disfavored.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Minor changes made to reflect referee's
Comments, error in Eq. (18) corrected, references updated and corrected,
conclusions unchanged. Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D,
scheduled for 15 August 200
Enhancement of Non-Gaussianity after Inflation
We study the evolution of cosmological perturbations on large scales, up to
second order, for a perfect fluid with generic equation of state. Taking
advantage of super-horizon conservation laws, it is possible to follow the
evolution of the non-Gaussianity of perturbations through the different stages
after inflation. We find that a large non-linearity is generated by the
gravitational dynamics from the original inflationary quantum fluctuations.
This leads to a significant enhancement of the tiny intrinsic non-Gaussianity
produced during inflation in single-field slow-roll models.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX file. Revised to match the final version accepted for
publication on JHE
Inflationary potentials yielding constant scalar perturbation spectral indices
We explore the types of slow-roll inflationary potentials that result in
scalar perturbations with a constant spectral index, i.e., perturbations that
may be described by a single power-law spectrum over all observable scales. We
devote particular attention to the type of potentials that result in the
Harrison--Zel'dovich spectrum.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. New general derivation method, structure change
Density perturbations in generalized Einstein scenarios and constraints on nonminimal couplings from the Cosmic Microwave Background
We study cosmological perturbations in generalized Einstein scenarios and
show the equivalence of inflationary observables both in the Jordan frame and
the Einstein frame. In particular the consistency relation relating the
tensor-to-scalar ratio with the spectral index of tensor perturbations
coincides with the one in Einstein gravity, which leads to the same likelihood
results in terms of inflationary observables. We apply this formalism to
nonminimally coupled chaotic inflationary scenarios with potential
and place constraints on the strength of nonminimal couplings using a
compilation of latest observational data. In the case of the quadratic
potential (), the nonminimal coupling is constrained to be for negative from the observational contour
bound. Although the quartic potential () is under a strong observational
pressure for , this property is relaxed by taking into account negative
nonminimal couplings. We find that inflationary observables are within the
contour bound as long as . We also show that
the cases are disfavoured even in the presence of nonminimal
couplings.Comment: 16 pages, 4 eps figure
- …