234 research outputs found
Can We See the Shape of the Universe?
This is a written version of a talk given at the Fifth Friedmann Seminar on
recent work in Observational Cosmic Topology done in partial collaboration with
Armando Bernui. We address three relevant questions related to the search for
the size and shape of our Universe: (i) How do the actual observation of
multiple images of certain cosmic objects, e.g. galaxy clusters, constrain the
possible models for the shape of our Universe?, (ii) What kind of predictions
can be done once a pair of cosmic objects have been identified to be
topological images related by a translation?, and (iii) Is it possible to
determine if two regions of space are topologically identified, even when
distortions on the distributions of cosmic sources due to observational
limitations are not negligible? We give examples answering the first two
questions using the suggestion of Roukema and Edge that the clusters RXJ
1347.5-1145 and CL 09104+4109 might be topological images of the Coma cluster.
For the third question, we suggest a method based on the analysis of PSH's
noise correlations which seems to give a positive answer.Comment: 6 pages, latex2e, contribution to the 5th Alexander Friedmann Seminar
on Gravitation and Cosmology, to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys. A (2002).
Macros: ws-ijmpa.cl
On hyperbolic knots in S^3 with exceptional surgeries at maximal distance
Baker showed that 10 of the 12 classes of Berge knots are obtained by surgery
on the minimally twisted 5-chain link. In this article we enumerate all
hyperbolic knots in S^3 obtained by surgery on the minimally twisted 5 chain
link that realize the maximal known distances between slopes corresponding to
exceptional (lens, lens), (lens, toroidal), (lens, Seifert fibred spaces)
pairs. In light of Baker's work, the classification in this paper conjecturally
accounts for 'most' hyperbolic knots in S^3 realizing the maximal distance
between these exceptional pairs. All examples obtained in our classification
are realized by filling the magic manifold. The classification highlights
additional examples not mentioned in Martelli and Petronio's survey of the
exceptional fillings on the magic manifold. Of particular interest, is an
example of a knot with two lens space surgeries that is not obtained by filling
the Berge manifold.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures. This revised version has some improvements in
the exposition. The main theorems remain as in the last versio
Topology of the Universe: background and recent observational approaches
Is the Universe (a spatial section thereof) finite or infinite? Knowing the
global geometry of a Friedmann-Lema\^{\i}tre (FL) universe requires knowing
both its curvature and its topology. A flat or hyperbolic (``open'') FL
universe is {\em not} necessarily infinite in volume.
Multiply connected flat and hyperbolic models are, in general, as consistent
with present observations on scales of 1-20{\hGpc} as are the corresponding
simply connected flat and hyperbolic models. The methods of detecting multiply
connected models (MCM's) are presently in their pioneering phase of development
and the optimal observationally realistic strategy is probably yet to be
calculated. Constraints against MCM's on ~1-4 h^{-1} Gpc scales have been
claimed, but relate more to inconsistent assumptions on perturbation statistics
rather than just to topology. Candidate 3-manifolds based on hypothesised
multiply imaged objects are being offered for observational refutation.
The theoretical and observational sides of this rapidly developing subject
have yet to make any serious contact, but the prospects of a significant
detection in the coming decade may well propel the two together.Comment: 5 pages, proceedings of the Workshop ``Cosmology: Observations
Confront Theories,'' 11-17 Jan 1999, IIT Kharagpur, West Bengal, to appear in
Pramana - Journal of Physic
A measure on the set of compact Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker models
Compact, flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) models have recently
regained interest as a good fit to the observed cosmic microwave background
temperature fluctuations. However, it is generally thought that a globally,
exactly-flat FLRW model is theoretically improbable. Here, in order to obtain a
probability space on the set F of compact, comoving, 3-spatial sections of FLRW
models, a physically motivated hypothesis is proposed, using the density
parameter Omega as a derived rather than fundamental parameter. We assume that
the processes that select the 3-manifold also select a global mass-energy and a
Hubble parameter. The inferred range in Omega consists of a single real value
for any 3-manifold. Thus, the obvious measure over F is the discrete measure.
Hence, if the global mass-energy and Hubble parameter are a function of
3-manifold choice among compact FLRW models, then probability spaces
parametrised by Omega do not, in general, give a zero probability of a flat
model. Alternatively, parametrisation by the injectivity radius r_inj ("size")
suggests the Lebesgue measure. In this case, the probability space over the
injectivity radius implies that flat models occur almost surely (a.s.), in the
sense of probability theory, and non-flat models a.s. do not occur.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures; v2: minor language improvements; v3:
generalisation: m, H functions of
Determining the shape of the Universe using discrete sources
Suppose we have identified three clusters of galaxies as being topological
copies of the same object. How does this information constrain the possible
models for the shape of our Universe? It is shown here that, if the Universe
has flat spatial sections, these multiple images can be accommodated within any
of the six classes of compact orientable 3-dimensional flat space forms.
Moreover, the discovery of two more triples of multiple images in the
neighbourhood of the first one, would allow the determination of the topology
of the Universe, and in most cases the determination of its size.Comment: 11 pages, no figure
Characteristic Energy of the Coulomb Interactions and the Pileup of States
Tunneling data on crystals confirm
Coulomb interaction effects through the dependence of the
density of states. Importantly, the data and analysis at high energy, E, show a
pileup of states: most of the states removed from near the Fermi level are
found between ~40 and 130 meV, from which we infer the possibility of universal
behavior. The agreement of our tunneling data with recent photoemission results
further confirms our analysis.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
The Cosmological Constant and Quintessence from a Correlation Function Comoving Fine Feature in the 2dF Quasar Redshift Survey
Detections of local maxima in the density perturbation spectrum at characteristic comoving scales L~100-200h^{-1}Mpc have previously been claimed. Here, this cosmic standard ruler is sought in the ``10K'' release of the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey (2QZ-10K), by estimating the comoving, spatial correlation functions \xi(r) of the three-dimensional distribution of the N=2378 quasars in the most completely observed and ``covered'' sky regions, over the three redshift ranges 0.6 < z < 1.1, 1.1 < z < 1.6 and 1.6 < z < 2.2. Because of the selection method of the survey and sparsity of the data, the analysis was done conservatively to avoid non-cosmological artefacts. (i) Avoiding a priori estimates of the length scales of features, local maxima in \xi(r) are found in all three redshift ranges. The requirement that a local maximum be present in all three redshift ranges at a fixed comoving length scale implies strong, purely geometric constraints on the local cosmological parameters. The length scale of the local maximum common to the three redshift ranges is 2L= (244\pm17)h^{-1}Mpc. (ii) For a standard FLRW model, the matter density \Omm and cosmological constant \Omega_\Lambda are constrained to \Omm= 0.25\pm0.10, \Omega_\Lambda=0.65\pm0.25 (68% confidence), \Omm= 0.25\pm0.15, \Omega_\Lambda=0.60\pm0.35 (95%), respectively, from the 2QZ-10K alone. Independently of the SNe Ia data, the zero cosmological constant model (\Omega_\Lambda=0) is rejected at the 99.7% confidence level. (iii) For an effective quintessence (w_Q) model and zero curvature, w_Q<-0.5 (68%), w_Q<-0.35 (95%) are found, again from the 2QZ-10K alone
A Counterexample to Claimed COBE Constraints on Compact Toroidal Universe Models
It has been suggested that if the Universe satisfies a flat, multiply
connected, perturbed Friedmann-Lema^itre model, then cosmic microwave
background data from the COBE satellite implies that the minimum size of the
injectivity diameter (shortest closed spatial geodesic) must be larger than
about two fifths of the horizon diameter. To show that this claim is
misleading, a simple universe model of injectivity diameter a
quarter of this size, i.e. a tenth of the horizon diameter, is shown to be
consistent with COBE four year observational maps of the cosmic microwave
background. This is done using the identified circles principle.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for Classical & Quantum Gravit
Pseudo-Dipole Signal Removal from WMAP Data
It is discovered in our previous work that different observational
systematics, e.g., errors of antenna pointing directions, asynchronous between
the attitude and science data, can generate pseudo-dipole signal in full-sky
maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy published by The
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) team. Now the antenna sidelobe
response to the Doppler signal is found to be able to produce similar effect as
well. In this work, independent to the sources, we uniformly model the
pseudo-dipole signal and remove it from published WMAP7 CMB maps by model
fitting. The result demonstrates that most of the released WMAP CMB quadrupole
is artificial.Comment: V3: using WMAP7 dat
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