Clustering GCG: a viable option for unified dark matter-dark energy?

We study the clustering Generalized Chaplygin Gas (GCG) as a possible candidate for dark matter-dark energy unification. The vanishing speed of sound ($c_{s}^2 = 0$) for the GCG fluid can be obtained by incorporating higher derivative operator in the original K-essence Lagrangian. The evolution of the density fluctuations in the GCG+Baryon fluid is studied in the linear regime. The observational constraints on the model are obtained using latest data from SNIa, $H(z)$, BAO and also for the $f\sigma_{8}$ measurements. The matter power spectra for the allowed parameter values are well behaved without any unphysical features.Comment: 11 pages, Latex style, 6 eps figure

Inflationary generalized Chaplygin gas and dark energy in the light of the Planck and BICEP2 experiments

In this work, we study an inflationary scenario in the presence of Generalized Chaplygin Gas (GCG). We show that in Einstein gravity, GCG is not a suitable candidate for inflation; but in a five dimensional brane world scenario, it can work as a viable inflationary model. We calculate the relevant quantities such as $n_{s}$, $r$ and $A_{s}$ related to the primordial scalar and tensor fluctuations, and using their recent bounds from Planck and BICEP2, we constrain the model parameters as well as the five-dimensional Planck mass. But as a slow-roll inflationary model with a power-law type scalar primordial power spectrum, GCG as an inflationary model can not resolve the tension between results from BICEP2 and Planck with a concordance $\Lambda$CDM Universe. We show that going beyond the concordance $\Lambda$CDM model and incorporating more general dark energy behaviour, this tension may be eased. We also obtain the constraints on the $n_{s}$ and $r$ and the GCG model parameters using Planck+WP+BICEP2 data considering the CPL dark energy behaviour.Comment: 12 pages, Latex style, 7 eps figures, 1 tabl

Bayesian Evidences for Dark Energy models in light of current obsevational data

We do a comprehensive study of the Bayesian evidences for a large number of dark energy models using a combination of latest cosmological data from SNIa, CMB, BAO, Strong lensing time delay, Growth measurements, measurements of Hubble parameter at different redshifts and measurements of angular diameter distance by Megamaser Cosmology Project . We consider a variety of scalar field models with different potentials as well as different parametrisations for the dark energy equation of state. Among 21 models that we consider in our study, we do not find strong evidences in favour of any evolving dark energy model compared to $\Lambda$CDM. For the evolving dark energy models, we show that purely non-phantom models have much better evidences compared to those models that allow both phantom and non-phantom behaviours. Canonical scalar field with exponential and tachyon field with square potential have highest evidences among all the models considered in this work. We also show that a combination of low redshift measurements decisively favours an accelerating $\Lambda$CDM model compared to a non-accelerating power law model.Comment: Revised version. Analysis done with updated data. Results modifie

Excitations of D-strings, Entropy and Duality

We examine the BPS and low energy non-BPS excitations of the D-string, in terms of open strings that travel on the D-string. We use this to study the energy thresholds for exciting a long D-string, for arbitrary winding number. We also compute the leading correction to the entropy from non-BPS states for a long D-string, and observe the relation of all these quantities with the corresponding quantities for the elementary string.Comment: harvmac, 14 pages, some references added, some small corrections (mainly in section 2

pp Wave Big Bangs: Matrix Strings and Shrinking Fuzzy Spheres

We find pp wave solutions in string theory with null-like linear dilatons. These provide toy models of big bang cosmologies. We formulate Matrix String Theory in these backgrounds. Near the big bang ``singularity'', the string theory becomes strongly coupled but the Yang-Mills description of the matrix string is weakly coupled. The presence of a second length scale allows us to focus on a specific class of non-abelian configurations, viz. fuzzy cylinders, for a suitable regime of parameters. We show that, for a class of pp waves, fuzzy cylinders which start out big at early times dynamically shrink into usual strings at sufficiently late times.Comment: 29 pages, ReVTeX and AMSLaTeX. 4 Figures. v2: Typo corrected and reference adde

Comparing decay rates for black holes and D-branes

We compute the leading order (in coupling) rate of emission of low energy quanta from a slightly nonextremal system of 1 and 5 D-branes. We also compute the classical cross-section, and hence the Hawking emission rate, for low energy scalar quanta for the black hole geometry that corresponds to these branes (at sufficiently strong coupling). These rates are found to agree with each other.Comment: harvmac, 17 pages; minor typos and a reference correcte

Emission from parallel p-brane Black Holes

The entropy of a near-extremal black hole made of parallel D-branes has been shown to agree, upto a numerical factor, with that of the gas of massless open string states on the brane worldvolume when the string coupling is chosen suitably. We investigate the process of emission or absorption of massless S-wave neutral scalars by these black holes. We show that with rather mild assumptions about the nature of the interactions between the scalar and open string states, the D-brane cross-section generally fails to reproduce the universal low energy black hole cross-section except for 1-branes and 3-branes.Comment: 10 pages, harvma

Computation of collision parameters of spheres by computer vision

Collision parameter evaluation of rigid spherical particles requires estimation of pre- and post-impact position, velocity and angular velocity vectors of colliding particles. A three dimensional experimental technique is devised where the instantaneous position and orientation of the particles are determined by analyzing frames obtained through high speed video imaging system. Since the image obtained is two dimensional, a mirror setting is designed to capture two orthogonal views of collision in order to estimate motion in depth. The translational velocity vector is determined from the position information extracted through application of available image analysis techniques over two time frames of digitized image. The angle and the axis of rotation between two time frames is determined by tracking a few randomly marked feature points on the spheres. In order to reduce the effect of error involved in the coordinate measurement in rotation estimation, a least square fitting of the set of three dimensional feature points is employed. The technique performed satifactorily in rotation vector estimation. The method developed here is applied to a set of experimental data for computation of collision parameters. Preliminary results indicate a need for improving the accuracy of position measurement