A dynamic assessment of instrument interaction and timing alternatives in the EU low-carbon policy mix design

The European Union low-carbon strategy includes a range of complementary policies. Potential interactions between instruments and different timing of their implementation can influence the cost and likelihood of achieving the targets. We test the interactions between the three main pillars of the European Union strategy through a dynamic Computable General Equilibrium model (GDynEP) with a time horizon of 2050. Main results are: i) going for the unilateral European Union carbon mitigation target without any complementary technological policy will produce large economic losses; ii) by investing in clean energy technologies (energy efficiency and renewable energy) with a carbon tax revenue recycling mechanism, these losses will decrease substantially; iii) when complementary clean energy technology policies are implemented, the optimal timing of binding targets changes; iv) the higher the public support to clean energy technologies, the larger the economic gains in early adoption of challenging abatement targets. © 2018 Elsevier LtdWe acknowledge financial support received by the EU D.G. Research (research project “CECILIA2050 — Choosing efficient combinations of policy instruments for low-carbon development and innovation to achieve Europ

Comparing the Cana Brava and Niquelândia complexes: large mafic-ultramafic intrusions in the lower crust and contamination processes

Mafic-ultramafic complexes offer a unique opportunity to study how intrusions of mantlederived melts growth into the deep crust and interact with the country rocks. The Cana Brava and Niquelândia complexes are two mafic-ultramafic bodies which outcrop within the Brasilia Belt (Goias, central Brazil) and that intruded the metavolcanicmetasedimentary sequences of Palmeiropolis and Indaianopolis during a Neoproterozoic continental rifting. The two complexes are parts, together with the Barro Alto complex, of a ~350 km NNE-trend belt of layered bodies which were exhumed during the Gondwana formation. New field, geochemical and isotopic data give new constraints on the model of growth of these complexes and the interactions between parent melts and the lower crust. Field evidences suggest that the complexes grow via multiple-melt intrusions under hyper- to subsolidus shear conditions. During the complex growth, the upper metavolcanic-metasedimentary sequence was delaminated and xenoliths were incorporated and deformed within the crystal mush. The increase of the 87Sr/86Sr(790) along the complex stratigraphy, coupled with a decrease of the εNd(790), provides evidences of strong crustal contamination by the embedded xenoliths. The enrichment in most incompatible elements (e.g. K, Ba and LREE) and hydrous phases (biotite and amphibole) in rocks containing more xenoliths supports also the crustal contamination. The almost linear trend of isotopic contamination suggests that this process involved all the magma colum, similarly to AFC. However, the increase abundance of incompatible elements and H2O contents toward xenoliths-rich bands provide for a local effect of contamination

Images of the Early Universe from the BOOMERanG experiment

The CMB is the fundamental tool to study the properties of the early universe and of the universe at large scales. In the framework of the Hot Big Bang model, when we look to the CMB we look back in time to the end of the plasma era, at a redshift ~ 1000, when the universe was ~ 50000 times younger, ~ 1000 times hotter and ~ 10^9 times denser than today. The image of the CMB can be used to study the physical processes there, to infer what happened before, and also to study the background geometry of our Universe

CMB Analysis of Boomerang & Maxima & the Cosmic Parameters {Omega_tot,Omega_b h^2,Omega_cdm h^2,Omega_Lambda,n_s}

We show how estimates of parameters characterizing inflation-based theories of structure formation localized over the past year when large scale structure (LSS) information from galaxy and cluster surveys was combined with the rapidly developing cosmic microwave background (CMB) data, especially from the recent Boomerang and Maxima balloon experiments. All current CMB data plus a relatively weak prior probability on the Hubble constant, age and LSS points to little mean curvature (Omega_{tot} = 1.08\pm 0.06) and nearly scale invariant initial fluctuations (n_s =1.03\pm 0.08), both predictions of (non-baroque) inflation theory. We emphasize the role that degeneracy among parameters in the L_{pk} = 212\pm 7 position of the (first acoustic) peak plays in defining the $\Omega_{tot}$ range upon marginalization over other variables. Though the CDM density is in the expected range (\Omega_{cdm}h^2=0.17\pm 0.02), the baryon density Omega_bh^2=0.030\pm 0.005 is somewhat above the independent 0.019\pm 0.002 nucleosynthesis estimate. CMB+LSS gives independent evidence for dark energy (Omega_\Lambda=0.66\pm 0.06) at the same level as from supernova (SN1) observations, with a phenomenological quintessence equation of state limited by SN1+CMB+LSS to w_Q<-0.7 cf. the w_Q=-1 cosmological constant case.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figs., in Proc. IAU Symposium 201 (PASP), CITA-2000-6

The Quintessential CMB, Past & Future

The past, present and future of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy research is discussed, with emphasis on the Boomerang and Maxima balloon experiments. These data are combined with large scale structure (LSS) information and high redshift supernova (SN1) observations to explore the inflation-based cosmic structure formation paradigm. Here we primarily focus on a simplified inflation parameter set, {omega_b,omega_{cdm},Omega_{tot}, Omega_Q,w_Q, n_s,tau_C, sigma_8}. After marginalizing over the other cosmic and experimental variables, we find the current CMB+LSS+SN1 data gives Omega_{tot}=1.04\pm 0.05, consistent with (non-baroque) inflation theory. Restricting to Omega_{tot}=1, we find a nearly scale invariant spectrum, n_s =1.03 \pm 0.07. The CDM density, omega_{cdm}=0.17\pm 0.02, is in the expected range, but the baryon density, omega_b=0.030\pm 0.004, is slightly larger than the current nucleosynthesis estimate. Substantial dark energy is inferred, Omega_Q\approx 0.68\pm 0.05, and CMB+LSS Omega_Q values are compatible with the independent SN1 estimates. The dark energy equation of state, parameterized by a quintessence-field pressure-to-density ratio w_Q, is not well determined by CMB+LSS (w_Q<-0.3 at 95%CL), but when combined with SN1 the resulting w_Q<-0.7 limit is quite consistent with the w_Q=-1 cosmological constant case. Though forecasts of statistical errors on parameters for current and future experiments are rosy, rooting out systematic errors will define the true progress.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figs., in Proc. CAPP-2000 (AIP), CITA-2000-6

First Estimations of Cosmological Parameters From BOOMERANG

The anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation contains information about the contents and history of the universe. We report new limits on cosmological parameters derived from the angular power spectrum measured in the first Antarctic flight of the BOOMERANG experiment. Within the framework of inflation-motivated adiabatic cold dark matter models, and using only weakly restrictive prior probabilites on the age of the universe and the Hubble expansion parameter $h$, we find that the curvature is consistent with flat and that the primordial fluctuation spectrum is consistent with scale invariant, in agreement with the basic inflation paradigm. We find that the data prefer a baryon density $\Omega_b h^2$ above, though similar to, the estimates from light element abundances and big bang nucleosynthesis. When combined with large scale structure observations, the BOOMERANG data provide clear detections of both dark matter and dark energy contributions to the total energy density $\Omega_{\rm {tot}}$, independent of data from high redshift supernovae.Comment: As submitted to PRD, revised longer version with an additional figur

Noise estimation in CMB time-streams and fast map-making. Application to the BOOMERanG98 data

We describe here an iterative method for jointly estimating the noise power spectrum from a CMB experiment's time-ordered data, together with the maximum-likelihood map. We test the robustness of this method on simulated Boomerang datasets with realistic noise.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, to appear in proc. of the MPA/ESO/MPA conference "Mining the Sky", Garching, July 31 - August 4 200

First results from the BOOMERanG experiment

We report the first results from the BOOMERanG experiment, which mapped at 90, 150, 240 and 410 GHz a wide (3%) region of the microwave sky with minimal local contamination. From the data of the best 150 GHz detector we find evidence for a well defined peak in the power spectrum of temperature fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background, localized at $\ell = 197 \pm 6$, with an amplitude of $(68 \pm 8) \mu K_{CMB}$. The location, width and amplitude of the peak is suggestive of acoustic oscillations in the primeval plasma. In the framework of inflationary adiabatic cosmological models the measured spectrum allows a Bayesian estimate of the curvature of the Universe and of other cosmological parameters. With reasonable priors we find $\Omega = (1.07 \pm 0.06)$ and $n_s = (1.00 \pm 0.08)$ (68%C.L.) in excellent agreement with the expectations from the simplest inflationary theories. We also discuss the limits on the density of baryons, of cold dark matter and on the cosmological constant.Comment: Proc. of the CAPP2000 conference, Verbier, 17-28 July 200

Detection of anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background at horizon and sub-horizon scales with the BOOMERanG experiment

BOOMERanG has recently resolved structures on the last scattering surface at redshift $\sim$ 1100 with high signal to noise ratio. We review the technical advances which made this possible, and we focus on the current results for maps and power spectra, with special attention to the determination of the total mass-energy density in the Universe and of other cosmological parameters

The Cosmic Background Radiation circa nu2K

We describe the implications of cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations and galaxy and cluster surveys of large scale structure (LSS) for theories of cosmic structure formation, especially emphasizing the recent Boomerang and Maxima CMB balloon experiments. The inflation-based cosmic structure formation paradigm we have been operating with for two decades has never been in better shape. Here we primarily focus on a simplified inflation parameter set, {omega_b,omega_{cdm},Omega_{tot}, Omega_\Lambda,n_s,\tau_C, \sigma_8}. Combining all of the current CMB+LSS data points to the remarkable conclusion that the local Hubble patch we can access has little mean curvature (Omega_{tot}=1.08\pm 0.06) and the initial fluctuations were nearly scale invariant (n_s=1.03\pm 0.08), both predictions of (non-baroque) inflation theory. The baryon density is found to be slightly larger than that preferred by independent Big Bang Nucleosynthesis estimates (omega_b=0.030\pm 0.005 cf. 0.019\pm 0.002). The CDM density is in the expected range (omega_{cdm}=0.17 \pm 0.02). Even stranger is the CMB+LSS evidence that the density of the universe is dominated by unclustered energy akin to the cosmological constant (Omega_\Lambda=0.66\pm 0.06), at the same level as that inferred from high redshift supernova observations. We also sketch the CMB+LSS implications for massive neutrinos.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figs., in Proc. Neutrino 2000 (Elsevier), CITA-2000-6