1,171 research outputs found
Optimal strategies : theoretical approaches to the parametrization of the dark energy equation of state
The absence of compelling theoretical model requires the parameterizing the
dark energy to probe its properties. The parametrization of the equation of
state of the dark energy is a common method. We explore the theoretical
optimization of the parametrization based on the Fisher information matrix. As
a suitable parametrization, it should be stable at high redshift and should
produce the determinant of the Fisher matrix as large as possible. For the
illustration, we propose one parametrization which can satisfy both criteria.
By using the proper parametrization, we can improve the constraints on the dark
energy even for the same data. We also show the weakness of the so-called
principal component analysis method.Comment: 7pages, 11 figures, 2 tables, To match the version accepted by AS
The halo 3-point correlation function: a methodological analysis
Upcoming galaxy surveys will provide us with an unprecedented view of the Large -Scale Structure of the Universe and the realistic chance to extract valuable astrophysical and cosmological information from higher-order clustering statistics. This perspective poses new challenges, requiring both accurate and efficient estimators and a renewed assessment of possible systematic errors in the theoretical models and likelihood assumptions. This work investigates these issues in relation to the analysis of the 3-point correlation function (3PCF) in configuration space. We measure the 3PCF of 300 halo catalogs from the MINERVA simulations covering a total volume of 1000h-3Gpc3. Each 3PCF measurement includes all possible triangular configurations with sides between 20 and 130h-1 Mpc. In the first place, we test different estimates of the covariance matrix, a crucial aspect of the analysis. We compare the covariance computed numerically from the limited but accurate benchmark simulations set to the one obtained from 10000 approximate halo catalogs generated with the PINOCCHIO code. We demonstrate that the two numerically-estimated covariance matrices largely match, confirming the validity of approximate methods based on Lagrangian Perturbation Theory for generating mocks suitable for covariance estimation. We also compare the numerical covariance with a theoretical prediction in the Gaussian approximation. We find a good match between the two for separations above 40h-1 Mpc. We test the 3PCF tree-level model in Perturbation Theory. The model is adopted in a likelihood analysis aimed at the determination of bias parameters. We find that, for our sample of halos at redshift z = 1, the tree-level model performs well for separations r > 40h-1 Mpc. Results obtained with this scale cut are robust against different choices of covariance matrix. We compare to the analogous analysis of the halo bispectrum already presented in a previous publication, finding a remarkable agreement between the two statistics. We notice that such comparison relies, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, on a robust and consistent covariance estimate and on the inclusion of essentially all measurable configurations in Fourier as in configuration space. We then test different assumptions to build the model defining a robust combination of hypotheses that lead to unbiased parameter estimates. Our results confirm the importance of 3PCF, supplying a solid recipe for its inclusion in likelihood analyses. Moreover, it opens the path for further improvements, especially in modelling, to extract information from non-linear regimes
Classificação comercial indicativa das cultivares de trigo da Embrapa - região homogênea de adaptação 4, safra 2016.
Passive galaxies as tracers of cluster environments at z~2
Even 10 billion years ago, the cores of the first galaxy clusters are often
found to host a characteristic population of massive galaxies with already
suppressed star formation. Here we search for distant cluster candidates at z~2
using massive passive galaxies as tracers. With a sample of ~40
spectroscopically confirmed passive galaxies at 1.3<z<2.1, we tune photometric
redshifts of several thousands passive sources in the full 2 sq.deg. COSMOS
field. This allows us to map their density in redshift slices, probing the
large scale structure in the COSMOS field as traced by passive sources. We
report here on the three strongest passive galaxy overdensities that we
identify in the redshift range 1.5<z<2.5. While the actual nature of these
concentrations is still to be confirmed, we discuss their identification
procedure, and the arguments supporting them as candidate galaxy clusters
(likely mid-10^13 M_sun range). Although this search approach is likely biased
towards more evolved structures, it has the potential to select still rare,
cluster-like environments close to their epoch of first appearance, enabling
new investigations of the evolution of galaxies in the context of structure
growth.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures; A&A Letters, in pres
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on narcolepsy type 1 management
Study Objectives: Narcolepsy type 1 (NT1) is a chronic rare hypersomnia of central origin requiring a combination of behavioral and pharmacological treatments. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, in Italy the population was forced into a lockdown. With this study, we aimed to describe the lockdown impact on NT1 symptom management, according to different patients' working schedule. Methods: In the period between 10 April and 15 May 2020, we performed routine follow-up visits by telephone (as recommended during the COVID-19 emergency) to 50 patients >18 years old (40% males) under stable long-term treatment. We divided patients into three groups: unchanged working schedule, forced working/studying at home, and those who lost their job (“lost occupation”). Current sleep–wake habit and symptom severity were compared with prelockdown assessment (six months before) in the three patient groups. Results: At assessment, 20, 22, and eight patients belonged to the unchanged, working/studying at home, and lost occupation groups, respectively. While in the lost occupation group, there were no significant differences compared with prepandemic assessment, the patients with unchanged schedules reported more nocturnal awakenings, and NT1 patients working/studying at home showed an extension of nocturnal sleep time, more frequent daytime napping, improvement of daytime sleepiness, and a significant increase in their body mass index. Sleep-related paralysis/hallucinations, automatic behaviors, cataplexy, and disturbed nocturnal sleep did not differ. Conclusions: Narcolepsy type 1 patients working/studying at home intensified behavioral interventions (increased nocturnal sleep time and daytime napping) and ameliorated daytime sleepiness despite presenting with a slight, but significant, increase of weight
Restrictions on the lifetime of sterile neutrinos from primordial nucleosynthesis
We analyze the influence of decaying sterile neutrinos with the masses in the
range 1-140 MeV on the primordial Helium-4 abundance, explicitly solving the
Boltzmann equations for all particle species, taking into account neutrino
flavour oscillations, and paying special attention to systematic uncertainties.
We show that the Helium abundance depends only on the sterile neutrino lifetime
and not on the way the active-sterile mixing is distributed between flavours,
and derive an upper bound on the lifetime. We also demonstrate that the recent
results of Izotov & Thuan [arXiv:1001.4440], who find 2sigma higher than
predicted by the standard primordial nucleosynthesis value of Helium-4
abundance, are consistent with the presence in the plasma of sterile neutrinos
with the lifetime 0.01-2 seconds. The decay of these particles perturbs the
spectra of (decoupled) neutrinos and heats photons, changing the ratio of
neutrino to photon energy density, that can be interpreted as extra neutrino
species at the recombination epoch.Comment: 17 pp. + Appendices. Analysis of deuterium bounds and more accurate
account of CMB bounds on Helium-4 is added. Final version to appear in JCA
Relação entre parâmetros físico-químicos e reológicos de genótipos de trigo da Embrapa no estado de Minas Gerais.
Fenologia de cultivares de trigo para fins de refinamento do zoneamento agrícola da cultura na região homogênea de adaptação de cultivares 4.
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