Instability of the one-texture universe

The one-texture universe, introduced by Davis in 1987, is a homogeneous mapping of a scalar field with an S^3 vacuum into a closed universe. It has long been known to mathematicians that such solutions, although static, are unstable. We show by explicit construction that there are four degenerate lowest modes which are unstable, corresponding to collapse of the texture towards a single point, in the case where gravitational back reaction is neglected. We discuss the instability time scale in both static and expanding space-times; in the latter case it is of order of the present age of the universe, suggesting that, though unstable, the one-texture universe could survive to the present. The cosmic microwave background constrains the initial magnitude of this unstable perturbation to be less than ∼10^-3

Detecting and distinguishing topological defects in future data from the CMBPol satellite

The proposed CMBPol mission will be able to detect the imprint of topological defects on the CMB provided the contribution is sufficiently strong. We quantify the detection threshold for cosmic strings and for textures, and analyze the satellite's ability to distinguish between these different types of defects. We also assess the level of danger of misidentification of a defect signature as from the wrong defect type or as an effect of primordial gravitational waves. A 0.002 fractional contribution of cosmic strings to the CMB temperature spectrum at multipole ten, and similarly a 0.001 fractional contribution of textures, can be detected and correctly identified at the 3 level. We also confirm that a tensor contribution of r=0.0018 can be detected at over 3, in agreement with the CMBPol mission concept study. These results are supported by a model selection analysis

Axion Cosmology and the Energy Scale of Inflation

We survey observational constraints on the parameter space of inflation and axions and map out two allowed windows: the classic window and the inflationary anthropic window. The cosmology of the latter is particularly interesting; inflationary axion cosmology predicts the existence of isocurvature fluctuations in the CMB, with an amplitude that grows with both the energy scale of inflation and the fraction of dark matter in axions. Statistical arguments favor a substantial value for the latter, and so current bounds on isocurvature fluctuations imply tight constraints on inflation. For example, an axion Peccei-Quinn scale of 10^16 GeV excludes any inflation model with energy scale > 3.8*10^14 GeV (r > 2*10^(-9)) at 95% confidence, and so implies negligible gravitational waves from inflation, but suggests appreciable isocurvature fluctuations.Comment: 10 PRD pages, 4 figs, V3: updated to match published versio

Manipulating Self-Assembly in Silver(I) Complexes of 1,3-Di-\u3cem\u3eN\u3c/em\u3e-pyrazolylorganyls

Three di-N-pyrazolylorganyls with different conformational flexibilities in the three-atom organyl spacers have been prepared, and the self-assembly properties with AgBF4 have been studied both in solution and in the solid state. All ligands give low-coordinate silver(I) centers that are capable of participating in multiple noncovalent interactions, but only the rigid 1,8-dipyrazolylnaphthalene ligand promotes very short Ag−Ag contacts

Ligand-Promoted Solvent-Dependent Ionization and Conformational Equilibria of Re(CO)\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3eBr[CH\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e(\u3cem\u3eS\u3c/em\u3e-tim)\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e] (tim = 1-methylthioimidazolyl). Crystal Structures of Re(CO)\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3eBr[CH\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e(\u3cem\u3eS\u3c/em\u3e-tim)\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e] and {Re(CO)\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e(CH\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3eCN)[CH\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e(S-tim)\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e]}(PF\u3csub\u3e6\u3c/sub\u3e)

The compounds Re(CO)3Br[CH2(S-tim)2] (1) and {Re(CO)3(CH3CN)[CH2(S-tim)2]}(PF6) (2), where tim is 1-methylthioimidazolyl, were prepared in high yields and characterized both in the solid state and in solution. The solid-state structures show that the ligand acts in a chelating binding mode where the eight-member chelate ring adopts twist-boat conformations in both compounds. A comparison of both solid-state IR data for CO stretching frequencies and the solution-phase voltammetric measurements for the Re1+/2+ couples between 1, 2, and related N,N-chelates of the rhenium tricarbonyl moiety indicate that the CH2(S-tim)2 ligand is a stronger donor than even the ubiquitous dipyridyl ligands. A combination of NMR spectroscopic studies and voltammetric studies revealed that compound 1 undergoes spontaneous ionization to form {Re(CO)3(CH3CN)[CH2(S-tim)2]+}(Br-) in acetonitrile. Ionization does not occur in solvents such as CH2Cl2 or acetone that are less polar and Lewis basic (less coordinating). The equilibrium constant at 293 K for the ionization of 1 in CH3CN is 4.3 × 10-3. The eight-member chelate rings in each 1 and 2 were found to be conformationally flexible in all solvents, and boat-chair conformers could be identified. Variable-temperature NMR spectroscopic studies were used to elucidate the various kinetic and thermodynamic parameters associated with the energetically accessible twist-boat to twist-boat and twist-boat to boat-chair interconversions

Ground-based detections of thermal emission from CoRoT-1b and WASP-12b

We report a new detection of the H-band thermal emission of CoRoT-1b and two confirmation detections of the Ks-band thermal emission of WASP-12b at secondary eclipses. The H-band measurement of CoRoT-1b shows an eclipse depth of 0.145%\pm0.049% with a 3-{\sigma} percentile between 0.033% - 0.235%. This depth is consistent with the previous conclusions that the planet has an isother- mal region with inefficient heat transport from dayside to nightside, and has a dayside thermal inversion layer at high altitude. The two Ks band detections of WASP-12b show a joint eclipse depth of 0.299%\pm0.065%. This result agrees with the measurement of Croll & collaborators, providing independent confirmation of their measurement. The repeatability of the WASP-12b measurements also validates our data analysis method. Our measurements, in addition to a number of previous results made with other telescopes, demonstrate that ground-based observations are becoming widely available for characterization of atmospheres of hot Jupiters.Comment: 20 pages, including 8 figures and 1 table. Accepted for publication in Ap

Can topological defects mimic the BICEP2B-mode signal?

We show that the B-mode polarization signal detected at low multipoles by BICEP2 cannot be entirely due to topological defects. This would be incompatible with the high-multipole B-mode polarization data and also with existing temperature anisotropy data. Adding cosmic strings to a model with tensors, we find that B modes on their own provide a comparable limit on the defects to that already coming from Planck satellite temperature data. We note that strings at this limit give a modest improvement to the best fit of the B-mode data, at a somewhat lower tensor-to-scalar ratio of r ≃ 0.15

Running Inflation in the Standard Model

An interacting scalar field with largish coupling to curvature can support a distinctive inflationary universe scenario. Previously this has been discussed for the Standard Model Higgs field, treated classically or in a leading log approximation. Here we investigate the quantum theory using renormalization group methods. In this model the running of both the effective Planck mass and the couplings is important. The cosmological predictions are consistent with existing WMAP5 data, with 0.967 < n_s < 0.98 (for N_e = 60) and negligible gravity waves. We find a relationship between the spectral index and the Higgs mass that is sharply varying for m_h ~ 120-135 GeV (depending on the top mass); in the future, that relationship could be tested against data from PLANCK and LHC. We also comment briefly on how similar dynamics might arise in more general settings, and discuss our assumptions from the effective field theory point of view.Comment: 17 pages in Phys Lett B format, 5 figures; v3: updated to match published version, includes new Appendix B on EF

Cosmic string parameter constraints and model analysis using small scale Cosmic Microwave Background data

We present a significant update of the constraints on the Abelian Higgs cosmic string tension by cosmic microwave background (CMB) data, enabled both by the use of new high-resolution CMB data from suborbital experiments as well as the latest results of the WMAP satellite, and by improved predictions for the impact of Abelian Higgs cosmic strings on the CMB power spectra. The new cosmic string spectra (presented in a previous work) were improved especially for small angular scales, through the use of larger Abelian Higgs string simulations and careful extrapolation. If Abelian Higgs strings are present then we find improved bounds on their contribution to the CMB anisotropies, f10< 0.095, and on their tension, G\mu< 0.57 x 10^-6, both at 95% confidence level using WMAP7 data; and f10 < 0.048 and G\mu < 0.42 x 10^-6 using all the CMB data. We also find that using all the CMB data, a scale invariant initial perturbation spectrum, ns=1, is now disfavoured at 2.4\sigma\ even if strings are present. A Bayesian model selection analysis no longer indicates a preference for strings.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; Minor corrections, matches published versio