Dark Matter & Dark Energy from a single scalar field: CMB spectrum and matter transfer function

The dual axion model (DAM), yielding bot DM and DE form a PQ-like scalar field solving the strong CP problem, is known to allow a fair fit of CMB data. Recently, however, it was shown that its transfer function exhibits significant anomalies, causing difficulties to fit deep galaxy sample data. Here we show how DAM can be modified to agree with the latter data set. The modification follows the pattern suggested to reconcile any PQ-like approach with gravity. Modified DAM allows precise predictions which can be testable against future CMB and/or deep sample data.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in JCA

Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization and reionization: constraining models with a double reionization

Neutral hydrogen around high-z QSO and an optical depth tau ~ 0.17 can be reconciled if reionization is more complex than a single transition at z ~ 6-8. Tracing its details could shed a new light on the first sources of radiation. Here we discuss how far such details can be inspected through planned experiments on CMB large-scale anisotropy and polarization, by simulating an actual data analysis. By considering a set of double reionization histories of Cen (2003) type, a relevant class of models not yet considered by previous works, we confirm that large angle experiments rival high resolution ones in reconstructing the reionization history. We also confirm that reionization histories, studied with the prior of a single and sharp reionization, yield a biased tau, showing that this bias is generic. We further find a monotonic trend in the bias for the models that we consider, and propose an explanation of the trend, as well as the overall bias. We also show that in long-lived experiments such a trend can be used to discriminate between single and double reionization patterns.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures. Substantial rewriting, replaced with accepted version. To be published in A&

Static Configurations of Dark Energy and Dark Matter

We study static configurations of dark matter coupled to a scalar field responsible for the dark energy of the Universe. The dark matter is modelled as a Fermi gas within the Thomas-Fermi approximation. The mass of the dark matter particles is a function of the scalar field. We analyze the profile of the dark matter halos in galaxies. In this case our framework is equivalent to the model of the isothermal sphere. In the presence of a scalar field, the velocity of a massive object orbiting the galaxy is not of the order of the typical velocity of the dark matter particles, as in the conventional picture. Instead, it is reduced by a factor that quantifies the dependence of the dark matter mass on the scalar field. This has implications for dark matter searches. We derive new solutions of the Einstein equations which describe compact objects composed of dark matter. Depending on the scale of the dark matter mass, the size of these objects can vary between microscopic scales and cosmological distances. We determine the mass to radius relation and discuss the similarities with conventional neutron stars and exotic astrophysical objects.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, minor additions to the tex