Scaling properties of cosmic (super)string networks

I use a combination of state-of-the-art numerical simulations and analytic modelling to discuss the scaling properties of cosmic defect networks, including superstrings. Particular attention is given to the role of extra degrees of freedom in the evolution of these networks. Compared to the 'plain vanilla' case of Goto-Nambu strings, three such extensions play important but distinct roles in the network dynamics: the presence of charges/currents on the string worldsheet, the existence of junctions, and the possibility of a hierarchy of string tensions. I also comment on insights gained from studying simpler defect networks, including Goto-Nambu strings themselves, domain walls and semilocal strings.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the Workshop on Quantized Flux in Tightly Knotted and Linked Systems (Isaac Newton Institute, Cambridge, UK, 3-7 December 2012

Scaling properties of cosmological axion strings

There has been recent interest in the evolution and cosmological consequences of global axionic string networks, and in particular in the issue of whether or not these networks reach the scale-invariant scaling solution that is known to exist for the simpler Goto-Nambu and Abelian-Higgs string networks. This is relevant for determining the amount and spectrum of axions they produce. We use the canonical velocity-dependent one-scale model for cosmic defect network evolution to study the evolution of these global networks, confirming the presence of deviations to scale-invariant evolution and in agreement with the most recent numerical simulations. We also quantify the cosmological impact of these corrections and discuss how the model can be used to extrapolate the results of numerical simulations, which have a limited dynamic range, to the full cosmological evolution of the networks, enabling robust predictions of their consequences. Our analysis suggests that around the QCD scale, when the global string network is expected to disappear and produce most of the axions, the number of global strings per Hubble patch should be around $\xi\sim4.2$, but also highlights the need for additional high-resolution numerical simulations.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

Evolution of Hybrid Defect Networks

We apply a recently developed analytic model for the evolution of monopole networks to the case of monopoles attached to one string, usually known as hybrid networks. We discuss scaling solutions for both local and global hybrid networks, and also find an interesting application for the case of vortons. Our quantitative results agree with previous estimates in indicating that the hybrid networks will usually annihilate soon after the string-forming phase transition. However, we also show that in some specific circumstances these networks can survive considerably more than a Hubble time.Comment: Phys. Rev. D (in press

General purpose graphics-processing-unit implementation of cosmological domain wall network evolution

Topological defects unavoidably form at symmetry breaking phase transitions in the early Universe. To probe the parameter space of theoretical models and set tighter experimental constraints (exploiting the recent advances in astrophysical observations), one requires more and more demanding simulations, and therefore more hardware resources and computation time. Improving the speed and efficiency of existing codes is essential. Here we present a General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit implementation of the canonical Press-Ryden-Spergel algorithm for the evolution of cosmological domain wall networks. This is ported to the Open Computing Language standard, and as a consequence significant speed-ups are achieved both in 2D and 3D simulations.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Abelian-Higgs cosmic string evolution with multiple GPUs

Topological defects form at cosmological phase transitions by the Kibble mechanism. Cosmic strings and superstrings can lead to particularly interesting astrophysical and cosmological consequences, but this study is is currently limited by the availability of accurate numerical simulations, which in turn is bottlenecked by hardware resources and computation time. Aiming to eliminate this bottleneck, in recent work we introduced and validated a GPU-accelerated evolution code for local Abelian-Higgs strings networks. While this leads to significant gains in speed, it is still limited by the physical memory available on a graphical accelerator. Here we report on a further step towards our main goal, by implementing and validating a multiple GPU extension of the earlier code, and further demonstrate its good scalability, both in terms of strong and weak scaling. A $8192^3$ production run, using $4096$ GPUs, runs in $33.2$ minutes of wall clock time on the Piz Daint supercomputer.Comment: v2: additional benchmarks and discussion; version in press at Astronomy and Computin

Further consistency tests of the stability of fundamental couplings

In a recent publication [Ferreira {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. D89 (2014) 083011] we tested the consistency of current astrophysical tests of the stability of the fine-structure constant $\alpha$ and the proton-to-electron mass ratio $\mu=m_p/m_e$ (mostly obtained in the optical/ultraviolet) with combined measurements of $\alpha$, $\mu$ and the proton gyromagnetic ratio $g_p$ (mostly in the radio band). Given the significant observational progress made in the past year, we now revisit and update this analysis. We find that apparent inconsistencies, at about the two-sigma level, persist and are in some cases enhanced, especially for matter era measurements (corresponding to redshifts $z>1$). Although hidden systematics may be the more plausible explanation, we briefly highlight the importance of clarifying this issue, which is within the reach of state-of-the art observational facilities such as ALMA and ESPRESSO.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Fundamental Cosmology from Precision Spectroscopy: II. Synergies with supernovae

In previous work [Amendola {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. D86 (2012) 063515], Principal Component Analysis based methods to constrain the dark energy equation of state using Type Ia supernovae and other low redshift probes were extended to spectroscopic tests of the stability fundamental couplings, which can probe higher redshifts. Here we use them to quantify the gains in sensitivity obtained by combining spectroscopic measurements expected from ESPRESSO at the VLT and the high-resolution ultra-stable spectrograph for the E-ELT (known as ELT-HIRES) with future supernova surveys. In addition to simulated low and intermediate redshift supernova surveys, we assess the dark energy impact of high-redshift supernovas detected by JWST and characterized by the E-ELT or TMT. Our results show that a detailed characterization of the dark energy properties beyond the acceleration phase (i.e., deep in the matter era) is viable, and may reach as deep as redshift 4.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Current and future constraints on Bekenstein-type models for varying couplings

Astrophysical tests of the stability of dimensionless fundamental couplings, such as the fine-structure constant $\alpha$ and the proton-to-electron mass ratio $\mu$, are an optimal probe of new physics. There is a growing interest in these tests, following indications of possible spacetime variations at the few parts per million level. Here we make use of the latest astrophysical measurements, combined with background cosmological observations, to obtain improved constraints on Bekenstein-type models for the evolution of both couplings. These are arguably the simplest models allowing for $\alpha$ and $\mu$ variations, and are characterized by a single free dimensionless parameter, $\zeta$, describing the coupling of the underlying dynamical degree of freedom to the electromagnetic sector. In the former case we find that this parameter is constrained to be $|\zeta_\alpha|<4.8\times10^{-6}$ (improving previous constraints by a factor of 6), while in the latter (which we quantitatively compare to astrophysical measurements for the first time) we find $\zeta_\mu=(2.7\pm3.1)\times10^{-7}$; both of these are at the $99.7\%$ confidence level. For $\zeta_\alpha$ this constraint is about 20 times stronger than the one obtained from local Weak Equivalence Principle tests, while for $\zeta_\mu$ it is about 2 orders of magnitude weaker. We also discuss the improvements on these constraints to be expected from the forthcoming ESPRESSO and ELT-HIRES spectrographs, conservatively finding a factor around 5 for the former and around 50 for the latter.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Effects of biases in domain wall network evolution. II. Quantitative analysis

Domain walls form at phase transitions which break discrete symmetries. In a cosmological context they often overclose the universe (contrary to observational evidence), although one may prevent this by introducing biases or forcing anisotropic evolution of the walls. In a previous work [Correia {\it et al.}, Phys.Rev.D90, 023521 (2014)] we numerically studied the evolution of various types of biased domain wall networks in the early universe, confirming that anisotropic networks ultimately reach scaling while those with a biased potential or biased initial conditions decay. We also found that the analytic decay law obtained by Hindmarsh was in good agreement with simulations of biased potentials, but not of biased initial conditions, and suggested that the difference was related to the Gaussian approximation underlying the analytic law. Here we extend our previous work in several ways. For the cases of biased potential and biased initial conditions we study in detail the field distributions in the simulations, confirming that the validity (or not) of the Gaussian approximation is the key difference between the two cases. For anisotropic walls we carry out a more extensive set of numerical simulations and compare them to the canonical velocity-dependent one-scale model for domain walls, finding that the model accurately predicts the linear scaling regime after isotropization. Overall, our analysis provides a quantitative description of the cosmological evolution of these networks.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Varying constants and dark energy with the E-ELT

The observational possibilities enabled by an ultra-stable CODEX-like spectrograph at the E-ELT will open new doors in the characterisation of the nature of Dark Energy. Indeed, it will provide measurements of a so far unexplored redshift-range ($2<z<5$) and will carry out simultaneously cosmological tests such as the Sandage-Loeb test and precision tests of the standard model. Here we will illustrate how, with these abilities, such spectrographs - alone or in synergy with other facilities - will manage to constrain cosmological scenarios and test classes of models that would otherwise be difficult to distinguish from the standard $\Lambda{\rm CDM}$ paradigm.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the Sesto Conference on Varying Fundamental Constants and Dynamical Dark Energy (Sesto, Italy, July 8-13, 2013