Gravitational microlensing and dark matter in the galactic halo

We present the basics of microlensing and give an overview of the results obtained so far. We also describe a scenario in which dark clusters of MACHOs (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects) and cold molecular clouds (mainly of $H_2$) naturally form in the halo at galactocentric distances larger than 10-20 kpc. Moreover, we discuss various experimental tests of this picture in particular a $\gamma$-ray emission from the clouds due to the scattering of high-energy cosmic-ray protons. Our estimate for the $\gamma$-ray flux turns out to be in remarkably good agreement with the recent discovery by Dixon et al. of a possible $\gamma$-ray emission from the halo using EGRET data.Comment: 14 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the 3K Cosmology Conference (Rome, october 1998), added references and minor change

Josephson junctions and dark energy

In a recent paper Beck and Mackey [astro-ph/0603397] argue that the argument we gave in our paper [Phys. Lett. B 606, 77 (2005)] to disprove their claim that dark energy can be discovered in the Lab through noise measurements of Josephson junctions is incorrect. In particular, they emphasize that the measured noise spectrum in Josephson junctions is a consequence of the fluctuation dissipation theorem, while our argument was based on equilibrium statistical mechanics. In this note we show that the fluctuation dissipation relation does not depend upon any shift of vacuum (zero-point) energies, and therefore, as already concluded in our previous paper, dark energy has nothing to do with the proposed measurements.Comment: 4 page

Dark matter and gamma rays from the galactic halo

The nature of the dark matter in the halo of our Galaxy is still largely unknown. The microlensing events found so far towards the Large Magellanic Cloud suggest that at most about 20% of the halo dark matter is in the form of MACHOs (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects). The dark matter could also, at least partially, consist of cold molecular clouds (mainly $H_2$). Another possibility is that WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) make up the dark matter and that, due to annihilition processes, they show up through gamma-ray emission.Comment: 6 pages talk given at XXXI International Symposium on Multiparticle Dynamics, Sep. 1-7, 2001, Datong China URL http://ismd31.ccnu.edu.cn

On the 1/c Expansion of f(R) Gravity

We derive for applications to isolated systems - on the scale of the Solar System - the first relativistic terms in the $1/c$ expansion of the space time metric $g_{\mu\nu}$ for metric $f(R)$ gravity theories, where $f$ is assumed to be analytic at $R=0$. For our purpose it suffices to take into account up to quadratic terms in the expansion of $f(R)$, thus we can approximate $f(R) = R + aR^2$ with a positive dimensional parameter $a$. In the non-relativistic limit, we get an additional Yukawa correction with coupling strength $G/3$ and Compton wave length $\sqrt{6a}$ to the Newtonian potential, which is a known result in the literature. As an application, we derive to the same order the correction to the geodetic precession of a gyroscope in a gravitational field and the precession of binary pulsars. The result of the Gravity Probe B experiment yields the limit $a \lesssim 5 \times 10^{11} \, \mathrm{m}^2$, whereas for the pulsar B in the PSR J0737-3039 system we get a bound which is about $10^4$ times larger. On the other hand the E\"ot-Wash experiment provides the best laboratory bound $a \lesssim 10^{-10} \, \mathrm{m}^2$. Although the former bounds from geodesic precession are much larger than the laboratory ones, they are still meaningful in the case some type of chameleon effect is present and thus the effective values could be different at different length scales.Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication in Physical Review

Spin effects in the phasing of gravitational waves from binaries on eccentric orbits

We compute here the spin-orbit and spin-spin couplings needed for an accurate computation of the phasing of gravitational waves emitted by comparable-mass binaries on eccentric orbits at the second post-Newtonian (PN) order. We use a quasi-Keplerian parametrization of the orbit free of divergencies in the zero eccentricity limit. We find that spin-spin couplings induce a residual eccentricity for coalescing binaries at 2PN, of the order of $10^{-4}$-$10^{-3}$ for supermassive black hole binaries in the LISA band. Spin-orbit precession also induces a non-trivial pattern in the evolution of the eccentricity, which could help to reduce the errors on the determination of the eccentricity and spins in a gravitational wave measurement.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure; Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.