Low redshift constraints on energy-momentum-powered gravity models

There has been recent interest in the cosmological consequences of energy-momentum-powered gravity models, in which the matter side of Einstein's equations is modified by the addition of a term proportional to some power, $n$, of the energy-momentum tensor, in addition to the canonical linear term. In this work we treat these models as phenomenological extensions of the standard $\Lambda$CDM, containing both matter and a cosmological constant. We also quantitatively constrain the additional model parameters using low redshift background cosmology data that are specifically from Type Ia supernovas and Hubble parameter measurements. We start by studying specific cases of these models with fixed values of $n,$ which lead to an analytic expression for the Friedmann equation; we discuss both their current constraints and how the models may be further constrained by future observations of Type Ia supernovas for WFIRST complemented by measurements of the redshift drift by the ELT. We then consider and constrain a more extended parameter space, allowing $n$ to be a free parameter and considering scenarios with and without a cosmological constant. These models do not solve the cosmological constant problem per se. Nonetheless these models can phenomenologically lead to a recent accelerating universe without a cosmological constant at the cost of having a preferred matter density of around $\Omega_M\sim0.4$ instead of the usual $\Omega_M\sim0.3$. Finally we also briefly constrain scenarios without a cosmological constant, where the single component has a constant equation of state which needs not be that of matter; we provide an illustrative comparison of this model with a more standard dynamical dark energy model with a constant equation of state.Comment: 13+2 pages, 12+1 figures; A&A (in press

Inverse type II seesaw mechanism and its signature at the LHC and ILC

The advent of the LHC, and the proposal of building future colliders as the ILC, both programmed to explore new physics at the TeV scale, justifies the recent interest in studying all kind of seesaw mechanisms whose signature lies on such energy scale. The natural candidate for this kind of seesaw mechanism is the inverse one. The conventional inverse seesaw mechanism is implemented in an arrangement involving six new heavy neutrinos in addition to the three standard ones. In this paper we develop the inverse seesaw mechanism based on Higgs triplet model and probe its signature at the LHC and ILC. We argue that the conjoint analysis of the LHC together with the ILC may confirm the mechanism and, perhaps, infer the hierarchy of the neutrino masses.Comment: 24 pages, 22 figure

Spatial variations of the fine-structure constant in symmetron models

We investigate the variation of the fine-structure constant, {\alpha}, in symmetron models using N-body simulations in which the full spatial distribution of {\alpha} at different redshifts has been calculated. In particular, we obtain simulated sky maps for this variation, and determine its power spectrum. We find that in high-density regions of space (such as deep inside dark matter halos) the value of {\alpha} approaches the value measured on Earth. In the low-density outskirts of halos the scalar field value can approach the symmetry breaking value and leads to significantly different values of {\alpha}. If the scalar-photon coupling strength {\beta}{\gamma} is of order unity we find that the variation of {\alpha} inside dark matter halos can be of the same magnitude as the recent claims by Webb et al. of a dipole variation. Importantly, our results also show that with low-redshift symmetry breaking these models exhibit some dependence of {\alpha} on lookback time (as opposed to a pure spatial dipole) which could in principle be detected by sufficiently accurate spectroscopic measurements, such as those of ALMA and the ELT-HIRES.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Delimitação de uma área de caatinga invadida por algarobeira [Prosopis juliflora (SW)] com uso de GPS.

Com objetivo de delimitar áreas de caatinga invadidas por algarobeira [Prosopis juliflora (SW.) DC.] nas localidades de Juremal e Serra Branca, município de Juazeiro?BA, foi demarcado, através de cartas topográficas na escala de 1:100000, os elementos naturais (riachos, lagos, serras, etc.) do referido município para base dos trabalhos de campo

Solution for a local straight cosmic string in the braneworld gravity

In this work we deal with the spacetime shaped by a straight cosmic string, emerging from local gauge theories, in the braneworld gravity context. We search for physical consequences of string features due to the modified gravitational scenario encoded in the projected gravitational equations. It is shown that cosmic strings in braneworld gravity may present significant differences when compared to the general relativity predictions since its linear density is modified and the deficit angle produced by the cosmic string is attenuated. Furthermore, the existence of cosmic strings in that scenario requires a strong restriction to the braneworld tension: $\lambda \geq 3 \times 10^{-17}$, in Planck units.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Static Domain Wall in the Braneworld gravity

In this paper we consider a static domain wall inside a 3-brane. Differently of the standard achievement obtained in General Relativity, the analysis performed here gives a consistency condition for the existence of static domain walls in a braneworld gravitational scenario. It is also shown the behavior of the domain wall gravitational field in the newtonian limit.Comment: 11 pages, no figures, accepted for publication in EPJ