Primordial Non-Gaussianities of inflationary step-like models

We use Minkowski Functionals to explore the presence of non-Gaussian signatures in simulated cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps. Precisely, we analyse the non-Gaussianities produced from the angular power spectra emerging from a class of inflationary models with a primordial step-like potential. This class of models are able to perform the best-fit of the low-$\ell$ `features', revealed first in the CMB angular power spectrum by the WMAP experiment and then confirmed by the Planck collaboration maps. Indeed, such models generate oscillatory features in the primordial power spectrum of scalar perturbations, that are then imprinted in the large scales of the CMB field. Interestingly, we discover Gaussian deviations in the CMB maps simulated from the power spectra produced by these models, as compared with Gaussian $\Lambda$CDM maps. Moreover, we also show that the kind and level of the non-Gaussianities produced in these simulated CMB maps are compatible with that found in the four foreground-cleaned Planck maps. Our results indicate that inflationary models with a step-like potential are not only able to improve the best-fit respect to the $\Lambda$CDM model accounting well for the `features' observed in the CMB angular power spectrum, but also suggesting a possible origin for certain non-Gaussian signatures observed in the Planck data.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Supernova 1996L: evidence of a strong wind episode before the explosion

Observations of the type II SN 1996L reveal the presence of a slowly expanding (V~700$ km/s) shell at ~ 10^(16) cm from the exploding star. Narrow emission features are visible in the early spectra superposed on the normal SN spectrum. Within about two months these features develop narrow symmetric P-Cygni profiles. About 100 days after the explosion the light curve suddenly flattens, the spectral lines broaden and the Halpha flux becomes larger than what is expected from a purely radioactive model. These events are interpreted as signatures of the onset of the interaction between the fast moving ejecta and a slowly moving outer shell of matter ejected before the SN explosion. At about 300 days the narrow lines disappear and the flux drops until the SN fades away, suggesting that the interaction phase is over and that the shell has been swept away. Simple calculations show that the superwind episode started 9 yr before the SN explosion and lasted 6 yr, with an average dM/dt=10^(-3) M_solar/yr. Even at very late epochs (up to day 335) the typical forbidden lines of [OI], CaII], [FeII] remain undetected or very weak. Spectra after day 270 show relatively strong emission lines of HeI. These lines are narrower than other emission lines coming from the SN ejecta, but broader than those from the CSM. These high excitation lines are probably the result of non-thermal excitation and ionization caused by the deposition of the gamma-rays emitted in the decay of radioactive material mixed in the He layer.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, Latex, To appear in M.N.R.A.

A Common Explosion Mechanism for Type Ia Supernovae

Type Ia supernovae, the thermonuclear explosions of white dwarf stars composed of carbon and oxygen, were instrumental as distance indicators in establishing the acceleration of the universe's expansion. However, the physics of the explosion are debated. Here we report a systematic spectral analysis of a large sample of well observed type Ia supernovae. Mapping the velocity distribution of the main products of nuclear burning, we constrain theoretical scenarios. We find that all supernovae have low-velocity cores of stable iron-group elements. Outside this core, nickel-56 dominates the supernova ejecta. The outer extent of the iron-group material depends on the amount of nickel-56 and coincides with the inner extent of silicon, the principal product of incomplete burning. The outer extent of the bulk of silicon is similar in all SNe, having an expansion velocity of ~11000 km/s and corresponding to a mass of slightly over one solar mass. This indicates that all the supernovae considered here burned similar masses, and suggests that their progenitors had the same mass. Synthetic light curve parameters and three-dimensional explosion simulations support this interpretation. A single explosion scenario, possibly a delayed detonation, may thus explain most type Ia supernovae.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Nonequilibrium stationary states of 3D self-gravitating systems

Three dimensional self-gravitating systems do not evolve to thermodynamic equilibrium, but become trapped in nonequilibrium quasistationary states. In this Letter we present a theory which allows us to a priori predict the particle distribution in a final quasistationary state to which a self-gravitating system will evolve from an initial condition which is isotropic in particle velocities and satisfies a virial constraint 2K=-U, where K is the total kinetic energy and U is the potential energy of the system

Exploring the spectroscopic diversity of Type Ia Supernovae

The velocities and equivalent widths (EWs) of a set of absorption features are measured for a sample of 28 well-observed Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) covering a wide range of properties. The values of these quantities at maximum are obtained through interpolation/extrapolation and plotted against the decline rate, and so are various line ratios. The SNe are divided according to their velocity evolution into three classes defined in a previous work of Benetti et al.: low velocity gradient (LVG), high velocity gradient (HVG) and FAINT. It is found that all the LVG SNe have approximately uniform velocities at B maximum, while the FAINT SNe have values that decrease with increasing Delta m_15(B), and the HVG SNe have a large spread. The EWs of the Fe-dominated features are approximately constant in all SNe, while those of Intermediate mass element (IME) lines have larger values for intermediate decliners and smaller values for brighter and FAINT SNe. The HVG SNe have stronger Si II 6355-A lines, with no correlation with Delta m_15(B). It is also shown that the Si II 5972 A EW and three EW ratios, including one analogous to the R(Si II) ratio introduced by Nugent et al., are good spectroscopic indicators of luminosity. The data suggest that all LVG SNe have approximately constant kinetic energy, since burning to IME extends to similar velocities. The FAINT SNe may have somewhat lower energies. The large velocities and EWs of the IME lines of HVG SNe appear correlated with each other, but are not correlated with the presence of high-velocity features in the Ca II infrared triplet in the earliest spectra for the SNe for which such data exist.Comment: 24 pages, 22 figures, updated (typo and style corrections). MNRAS, in pres