20 research outputs found
Interacting models may be key to solve the cosmic coincidence problem
It is argued that cosmological models that feature a flow of energy from dark
energy to dark matter may solve the coincidence problem of late acceleration
(i.e., "why the energy densities of both components are of the same order
precisely today?"). However, much refined and abundant observational data of
the redshift evolution of the Hubble factor are needed to ascertain whether
they can do the job.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures; accepted for publication in JCA
Reconstruction of the Dark Energy equation of state
One of the main challenges of modern cosmology is to investigate the nature
of dark energy in our Universe. The properties of such a component are normally
summarised as a perfect fluid with a (potentially) time-dependent
equation-of-state parameter . We investigate the evolution of this
parameter with redshift by performing a Bayesian analysis of current
cosmological observations. We model the temporal evolution as piecewise linear
in redshift between `nodes', whose -values and redshifts are allowed to
vary. The optimal number of nodes is chosen by the Bayesian evidence. In this
way, we can both determine the complexity supported by current data and locate
any features present in . We compare this node-based reconstruction with
some previously well-studied parameterisations: the Chevallier-Polarski-Linder
(CPL), the Jassal-Bagla-Padmanabhan (JBP) and the Felice-Nesseris-Tsujikawa
(FNT). By comparing the Bayesian evidence for all of these models we find an
indication towards possible time-dependence in the dark energy
equation-of-state. It is also worth noting that the CPL and JBP models are
strongly disfavoured, whilst the FNT is just significantly disfavoured, when
compared to a simple cosmological constant . We find that our node-based
reconstruction model is slightly disfavoured with respect to the CDM
model.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, minor correction
Comparison of Recent SnIa datasets
We rank the six latest Type Ia supernova (SnIa) datasets (Constitution (C),
Union (U), ESSENCE (Davis) (E), Gold06 (G), SNLS 1yr (S) and SDSS-II (D)) in
the context of the Chevalier-Polarski-Linder (CPL) parametrization
, according to their Figure of Merit (FoM), their
consistency with the cosmological constant (CDM), their consistency
with standard rulers (Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and Baryon Acoustic
Oscillations (BAO)) and their mutual consistency. We find a significant
improvement of the FoM (defined as the inverse area of the 95.4% parameter
contour) with the number of SnIa of these datasets ((C) highest FoM, (U), (G),
(D), (E), (S) lowest FoM). Standard rulers (CMB+BAO) have a better FoM by about
a factor of 3, compared to the highest FoM SnIa dataset (C). We also find that
the ranking sequence based on consistency with CDM is identical with
the corresponding ranking based on consistency with standard rulers ((S) most
consistent, (D), (C), (E), (U), (G) least consistent). The ranking sequence of
the datasets however changes when we consider the consistency with an expansion
history corresponding to evolving dark energy crossing the
phantom divide line (it is practically reversed to (G), (U), (E), (S),
(D), (C)). The SALT2 and MLCS2k2 fitters are also compared and some peculiar
features of the SDSS-II dataset when standardized with the MLCS2k2 fitter are
pointed out. Finally, we construct a statistic to estimate the internal
consistency of a collection of SnIa datasets. We find that even though there is
good consistency among most samples taken from the above datasets, this
consistency decreases significantly when the Gold06 (G) dataset is included in
the sample.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. Included recently released SDSS-II dataset.
Improved presentation. Main results unchanged. The mathematica files and
datasets used for the production of the figures may be downloaded from
http://leandros.physics.uoi.gr/datacomp
Radiation loads onto plasma-facing components of JET during transient events - Experimental results and implications for ITER
Impact of nitrogen seeding on carbon erosion in the JET divertor
Nitrogen has been introduced in H-mode plasmas in JET in order to study its radiation cooling capability and impact on the erosion of divertor plasma-facing components made of carbon-fiber composites (CFC). Experiments in the ionizing plasma regime with low nitrogen injection show a reduction of the total carbon erosion in the divertor measured with the aid of optical spectroscopy on C(+). Though chemical sputtering by nitrogen takes place, identified by the appearance of CN B-X band emission, the additional carbon source is overcompensated by a reduction of regular sputtering by deuterium bombardment. Moderate plasma cooling associated with reduction of the sputtering yield and dilution of the CFC surface by nitrogen can be attributed to the favorable reduction of the carbon source
Observations of multi-resonance effect in ELM control with magnetic perturbation fields on the JET tokamak
Relevance of collisionality in the transport model assumptions for divertor detachment multi-fluid modelling on JET
A revised formulation of the perpendicular diffusive transport model in 2D multi-fluid edge codes is proposed. Based on theoretical predictions and experimental observations a dependence on collisionality is introduced into the transport model of EDGE2D-EIRENE. The impact on time-dependent JET gas fuelled ramp-up scenario modelling of the full transient from attached divertor into the high-recycling regime, following a target flux roll over into divertor detachment, ultimately ending in a density limit is presented. A strong dependence on divertor geometry is observed which can mask features of the new transport model: a smoothly decaying target recycling flux roll over, an asymmetric drop of temperature and pressure along the field lines as well as macroscopic power dependent plasma oscillations near the density limit which had been previously observed also experimentally. The latter effect is strongest for scenarios with strike points on vertical targets and vanishes in case of asymmetric divertor configurations. (C) 2011 EURATOM. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved