Table of contents

We reconstructed the energy and the position of the shower maximum of air showers with energies E ≳ 100 PeV applying a method using radio measurements performed with Tunka-Rex. An event-to-event comparison to air-Cherenkov measurements of the same air showers with the Tunka-133 photomultiplier array confirms that the radio reconstruction works reliably. The Tunka-Rex reconstruction methods and absolute scales have been tuned on CoREAS simulations and yield energy and X_max values consistent with the Tunka-133 measurements. The results of two independent measurement seasons agree within statistical uncertainties, which gives additional confidence in the radio reconstruction. The energy precision of Tunka-Rex is comparable to the Tunka-133 precision of 15%, and exhibits a 20% uncertainty on the absolute scale dominated by the amplitude calibration of the antennas. For X_max, this is the first direct experimental correlation of radio measurements with a different, established method. At the moment, the X_max resolution of Tunka-Rex is approximately 40 g/cm². This resolution can probably be improved by deploying additional antennas and by further development of the reconstruction methods, since the present analysis does not yet reveal any principle limitations.

We study mono-W signals of dark matter (DM) production at the LHC, in the context of gauge invariant renormalizable models. We analyze two simplified models, one involving an s-channel Z' mediator and the other a t-channel colored scalar mediator, and consider examples in which the DM-quark couplings are either isospin conserving or isospin violating after electroweak symmetry breaking. While previous work on mono-W signals have focused on isospin violating EFTs, obtaining very strong limits, we find that isospin violating effects are small once such physics is embedded into a gauge invariant simplified model. We thus find that the 8 TeV mono-W results are much less constraining than those arising from mono-jet searches. Considering both the leptonic (mono-lepton) and hadronic (mono fat jet) decays of the W, we determine the 14 TeV LHC reach of the mono-W searches with 3000 fb⁻¹ of data. While a mono-W signal would provide an important complement to a mono-jet discovery channel, existing constraints on these models imply it will be a challenging signal to observe at the 14 TeV LHC.

We perform for the first time high-resolution zoom-in re-simulations of individual halos in the context of the Multi-coupled Dark Energy (McDE) scenario, which is characterised by the existence of two distinct Dark Matter particle species with opposite couplings to a Dark Energy scalar field. We compare the structural properties of the simulated halos to the standard ΛCDM results. The zoomed-in initial conditions are set up using a specifically designed code called ZInCo that we publicly release along with the present paper. Our numerical results allow to investigate in detail and with unprecedented resolution the halo segregation process that characterises McDE cosmologies from its very early stages. In particular, we find that in contrast to what could be inferred from previous numerical analysis at lower resolution, the segregation process is already in place at redshifts as high as z ∼ 7. Most remarkably, we find that the subsequent evolution of the segregation leads to the formation of cored total matter density profiles with a core size that progressively increases in time. The shape of the cored profiles can be accurately predicted as the superposition of two NFW profiles with an increasing offset, thereby confirming the interpretation of the simulations results in terms of the segregation of the two dark matter components of the halo as a consequence of their different coupling to the Dark Energy field.

We consider generic models of quintessence and we investigate the influence of massive neutrino matter with field-dependent masses on the matter power spectrum. In case of minimally coupled neutrino matter, we examine the effect in tracker models with inverse power-law and double exponential potentials. We present detailed investigations for the scaling field with a steep exponential potential, non-minimally coupled to massive neutrino matter, and we derive constraints on field-dependent neutrino masses from the observational data.

Redshift-space distortions are generally considered in the plane parallel limit, where the angular separation between the two sources can be neglected. Given that galaxy catalogues now cover large fractions of the sky, it becomes necessary to consider them in a formalism which takes into account the wide angle separations. In this article we derive an operational formula for the matter correlators in the Newtonian limit to be used in actual data sets. In order to describe the geometrical nature of the wide angle RSD effect on Fourier space, we extend the formalism developed in configuration space to Fourier space without relying on a plane-parallel approximation, but under the extra assumption of no bias evolution. We then recover the plane-parallel limit not only in configuration space where the geometry is simpler, but also in Fourier space, and we exhibit the first corrections that should be included in large surveys as a perturbative expansion over the plane-parallel results. We finally compare our results to existing literature, and show explicitly how they are related.

Within the braneworld paradigm the tachyonic scalar field has been used to generate models that attempt to solve some of the open problems that physics faces nowadays, both in cosmology and high energy physics as well. When these field configurations are produced by the interplay of higher dimensional warped gravity with some matter content, braneworld models must prove to be stable under the whole set of small fluctuations of the gravitational and matter fields background, among other consistency tests. Here we present a complete proof of the stability under scalar perturbations of tachyonic thick braneworlds with an embedded maximally symmetric 4D space-time, revealing its physical consistency. This family of models contains a recently reported tachyonic de Sitter thick braneworld which possesses a series of appealing properties. These features encompass complete regularity, asymptotic flatness (instead of being asymptotically dS or AdS) even when it contains a negative bulk cosmological constant, a relevant 3-brane with dS metric which naturally arises from the full set of field equations of the 5D background (it is not imposed), qualitatively describing the inflationary epochs of our Universe, and a graviton spectrum with a single zero mode bound state that accounts for the 4D graviton localised on the brane and is separated from the continuum of Kaluza-Klein massive graviton excitations by a mass gap. The presence of this mass gap in the graviton spectrum makes the extra-dimensional corrections to Newton's law decay exponentially. Gauge vector fields with a single massless bound state in its mass spectrum are also localised on this braneworld model a fact that allows us to recover the Coulomb's law of our 4D world. All these properties of the above referred tachyonic braneworld together with the positive stability analysis provided in this work, constitute a firm step towards the construction of realistic cosmological models within the braneworld paradigm.

We propose a dipole modulation model for the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) polarization field. We show that the model leads to correlations between l and l+1 multipoles, exactly as in the case of temperature. We obtain results for the case of TE, EE and BB correlations. An anisotropic or inhomogeneous model of primordial power spectrum which leads to such correlations in temperature field also predicts similar correlations in CMBR polarization. We analyze the CMBR temperature and polarization data in order to extract the signal of these correlation between l and l+1 multipoles. Our results for the case of temperature using the latest PLANCK data agree with those obtained by an earlier analysis. A detailed study of the correlation in the polarization data is not possible at present. Hence we restrict ourselves to a preliminary investigation in this case.

We consider cosmological models in which dark matter feels a fifth force mediated by the dark energy scalar field, also known as coupled dark energy. Our interest resides in estimating forecasts for future surveys like Euclid when we take into account non-linear effects, relying on new fitting functions that reproduce the non-linear matter power spectrum obtained from N-body simulations.

We obtain fitting functions for models in which the dark matter-dark energy coupling is constant. Their validity is demonstrated for all available simulations in the redshift range 0z=–1.6 and wave modes below 0k=1 h/Mpc. These fitting formulas can be used to test the predictions of the model in the non-linear regime without the need for additional computing-intensive N-body simulations. We then use these fitting functions to perform forecasts on the constraining power that future galaxy-redshift surveys like Euclid will have on the coupling parameter, using the Fisher matrix method for galaxy clustering (GC) and weak lensing (WL). We find that by using information in the non-linear power spectrum, and combining the GC and WL probes, we can constrain the dark matter-dark energy coupling constant squared, β², with precision smaller than 4% and all other cosmological parameters better than 1%, which is a considerable improvement of more than an order of magnitude compared to corresponding linear power spectrum forecasts with the same survey specifications.

We study the inflation scenarios, in the framework of superstring theory, where the inflaton is an axion producing the adiabatic curvature perturbations while there exists another light axion producing the isocurvature perturbations. We discuss how the non-trivial couplings among string axions can generically arise, and calculate the consequent cross-correlations between the adiabatic and isocurvature modes through concrete examples. Based on the Planck analysis on the generally correlated isocurvature perturbations, we show that there is a preference for the existence of the correlated isocurvature modes for the axion monodromy inflation while the natural inflation disfavors such isocurvature modes.

Many recent studies have highlighted certain failures of the standard Eulerian-space cosmological perturbation theory (SPT). Its problems include (1) not capturing large-scale bulk flows [leading to an ( 1) error in the 1-loop SPT prediction for the baryon acoustic peak in the correlation function], (2) assuming that the Universe behaves as a pressureless, inviscid fluid, and (3) treating fluctuations on scales that are non-perturbative as if they were. Recent studies have highlighted the successes of perturbation theory in Lagrangian space or theories that solve equations for the effective dynamics of smoothed fields. Both approaches mitigate some or all of the aforementioned issues with SPT. We discuss these physical developments by specializing to the simplified 1D case of gravitationally interacting sheets, which allows us to substantially reduces the analytic overhead and still (as we show) maintain many of the same behaviors as in 3D. In 1D, linear-order Lagrangian perturbation theory ("the Zeldovich approximation") is exact up to shell crossing, and we prove that n^th-order Eulerian perturbation theory converges to the Zeldovich approximation as narrow ∞. In no 1D cosmology that we consider (including a CDM-like case and power-law models) do these theories describe accurately the matter power spectrum on any mildly nonlinear scale. We find that theories based on effective equations are much more successful at describing the dynamics. Finally, we discuss many topics that have recently appeared in the perturbation theory literature such as beat coupling, the shift and smearing of the baryon acoustic oscillation feature, and the advantages of Fourier versus configuration space. Our simplified 1D case serves as an intuitive review of these perturbation theory results.

Recent N-body simulations have shown that Einasto radial profiles provide the most accurate description of dark matter halos. Predictions based on the traditional NFW functional form may fail to describe the structural properties of cosmic objects at the percent level required by precision cosmology. We computed the systematic errors expected for weak lensing analyses of clusters of galaxies if one wrongly models the lens density profile. Even though the NFW fits of observed tangential shear profiles can be excellent, viral masses and concentrations of very massive halos (≳ 10¹⁵M_⊙/h) can be over- and underestimated by 0∼ 1 per cent, respectively. Misfitting effects also steepen the observed mass-concentration relation, as observed in multi-wavelength observations of galaxy groups and clusters. Based on shear analyses, Einasto and NFW halos can be set apart either with deep observations of exceptionally massive structures (≳ 2×10¹⁵M_⊙/h) or by stacking the shear profiles of thousands of group-sized lenses (≳ 10¹⁴M_⊙/h).

We consider a model in which a pseudo-scalar field σ rolls for some e-folds during inflation, sourcing one helicity of a gauge field. These fields are only gravitationally coupled to the inflaton, and therefore produce scalar and tensor primordial perturbations only through gravitational interactions. These sourced signals are localized on modes that exit the horizon while the roll of σ is significant. We focus our study on cases in which the model can simultaneously produce (i) a large gravitational wave signal, resulting in observable B-modes of the CMB polarizations, and (ii) sufficiently small scalar perturbations, so to be in agreement with the current limits from temperature anisotropies. Different choices of parameters can instead lead to a localized and visible departure from gaussianity in the scalar sector, either at CMB or LSS scales.

We present a simple generalisation of the ΛCDM model which on the one hand reaches very good agreement with the present day experimental data and provides an internal inflationary mechanism on the other hand. It is based on Palatini modified gravity with quadratic Starobinsky term and generalized Chaplygin gas as a matter source providing, besides a current accelerated expansion, the epoch of endogenous inflation driven by type III freeze singularity. It follows from our statistical analysis that astronomical data favors negative value of the parameter coupling quadratic term into Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian and as a consequence the bounce instead of initial Big-Bang singularity is preferred.

We explore the electron neutrino signals from light dark matter (DM) annihilation in the Sun for the large liquid scintillator detector JUNO. In terms of the spectrum features of three typical DM annihilation channels χχ → ν, τ⁺τ⁻, b, we take two sets of selection conditions to calculate the expected signals and atmospheric neutrino backgrounds based on the Monte Carlo simulation data. Then the JUNO sensitivities to the spin independent DM-nucleon and spin dependent DM-proton cross sections are presented. It is found that the JUNO projected sensitivities are much better than the current spin dependent direct detection experimental limits for the ν and τ⁺τ⁻ channels. In the spin independent case, the JUNO will give the better sensitivity to the DM-nucleon cross section than the LUX and CDMSlite limits for the ν channel with the DM mass lighter than 6.5 GeV . If the ν or τ⁺τ⁻ channel is dominant, the future JUNO results are very helpful for us to understand the tension between the DAMA annual modulation signal and other direct detection exclusions.

We study photon-ALP conversion by resonance effects in the magnetized plasma of galaxy clusters and compare the predicted distortion of the cosmic microwave background spectrum in the direction of such objects to measurements of the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. Using galaxy cluster models based on current knowledge, we obtain upper limits on the photon-ALP coupling constant g of ≲ (10⁻¹¹ GeV⁻¹). The constraints apply to the mass range of 2 · 10⁻¹⁴ eV ≲ m_ALP ≲ 3 · 10⁻¹² eV in which resonant photon-ALP conversions can occur. These limits are slightly stronger than current limits, and furthermore provide an independent constraint. We find that a next generation PRISM-like experiment would allow limits down to g ≈  (10⁻¹⁴ GeV⁻¹), two orders of magnitude stronger than the currently strongest limits in this mass range.

This paper presents the results of different searches for correlations between very high-energy neutrino candidates detected by IceCube and the highest-energy cosmic rays measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array. We first consider samples of cascade neutrino events and of high-energy neutrino-induced muon tracks, which provided evidence for a neutrino flux of astrophysical origin, and study their cross-correlation with the ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) samples as a function of angular separation. We also study their possible directional correlations using a likelihood method stacking the neutrino arrival directions and adopting different assumptions on the size of the UHECR magnetic deflections. Finally, we perform another likelihood analysis stacking the UHECR directions and using a sample of through-going muon tracks optimized for neutrino point-source searches with sub-degree angular resolution. No indications of correlations at discovery level are obtained for any of the searches performed. The smallest of the p-values comes from the search for correlation between UHECRs with IceCube high-energy cascades, a result that should continue to be monitored.

We suggest a new type of hill-top inflation originating from the initial conditions in the form of the microcanonical density matrix for the cosmological model with a large number of quantum fields conformally coupled to gravity. Initial conditions for inflation are set up by cosmological instantons describing underbarrier oscillations in the vicinity of the inflaton potential maximum. These periodic oscillations of the inflaton field and cosmological scale factor are obtained within the approximation of two coupled oscillators subject to the slow roll regime in the Euclidean time. This regime is characterized by rapid oscillations of the scale factor on the background of a slowly varying inflaton, which guarantees smallness of slow roll parameters and η of the following inflation stage. A hill-like shape of the inflaton potential is shown to be generated by logarithmic loop corrections to the tree-level asymptotically shift-invariant potential in the non-minimal Higgs inflation model and R²-gravity. The solution to the problem of hierarchy between the Planckian scale and the inflation scale is discussed within the concept of conformal higher spin fields, which also suggests the mechanism bringing the model below the gravitational cutoff and, thus, protecting it from large graviton loop corrections.

In some axion dark matter models a dominant fraction of axions resides in dense small-scale substructures, axion miniclusters. A fraction of these substructures is disrupted and forms tidal streams where the axion density may still be an order of magnitude larger than the average. We discuss implications of these streams for the direct axion searches. We estimate the fraction of disrupted miniclusters and the parameters of the resulting streams, and find that stream-crossing events would occur at a rate of about 1/(20 yr) for 2–3 days, during which the signal in axion detectors would be amplified by a factor ∼ 10. These estimates suggest that the effect of the tidal disruption of axion miniclusters may be important for direct axion searches and deserves a more thorough study.

As part of the T-REX project, a number of R&D and prototyping activities have been carried out during the last years to explore the applicability of gaseous Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) with Micromesh Gas Structures (Micromegas) in rare event searches like double beta decay, axion research and low-mass WIMP searches. While in the companion paper we focus on double beta decay, in this paper we focus on the results regarding the search for dark matter candidates, both axions and WIMPs. Small (few cm wide) ultra-low background Micromegas detectors are used to image the axion-induced x-ray signal expected in axion helioscopes like the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) experiment. Background levels as low as 0.8 × 10⁻⁶ counts keV⁻¹ cm⁻² s⁻¹ have already been achieved in CAST while values down to ∼10⁻⁷ counts keV⁻¹ cm⁻² s⁻¹ have been obtained in a test bench placed underground in the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc (LSC). Prospects to consolidate and further reduce these values down to ∼10⁻⁸ counts keV⁻¹ cm⁻² s⁻¹ will be described. Such detectors, placed at the focal point of x-ray telescopes in the future International Axion Observatory (IAXO), would allow for 10⁵ better signal-to-noise ratio than CAST, and search for solar axions with g_aγ down to few 10¹² GeV⁻¹, well into unexplored axion parameter space. In addition, a scaled-up version of these TPCs, properly shielded and placed underground, can be competitive in the search for low-mass WIMPs. The TREX-DM prototype, with ∼ 0.300 kg of Ar at 10 bar, or alternatively ∼ 0.160 kg of Ne at 10 bar, and energy threshold well below 1 keV, has been built to test this concept. We will describe the main technical solutions developed, as well as the results from the commissioning phase on surface. The anticipated sensitivity of this technique might reach ∼10⁻⁴⁴ cm² for low mass (<10 GeV) WIMPs, well beyond current experimental limits in this mass range.

As part of the T-REX project, a number of R&D and prototyping activities have been carried out during the last years to explore the applicability of gaseous Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) with Micromesh Gas Structures (Micromegas) in rare event searches like double beta decay, axion research and low-mass WIMP searches. In both this and its companion paper, we compile the main results of the project and give an outlook of application prospects for this detection technique. While in the companion paper we focus on axions and WIMPs, in this paper we focus on the results regarding the measurement of the double beta decay (DBD) of ¹³⁶Xe in a high pressure Xe (HPXe) TPC. Micromegas of the microbulk type have been extensively studied in high pressure Xe and Xe mixtures. Particularly relevant are the results obtained in Xe + trimethylamine (TMA) mixtures, showing very promising results in terms of gain, stability of operation, and energy resolution at high pressures up to 10 bar. The addition of TMA at levels of ∼ 1% reduces electron diffusion by up to a factor of 10 with respect to pure Xe, improving the quality of the topological pattern, with a positive impact on the discrimination capability. Operation with a medium size prototype of 30 cm diameter and 38 cm of drift (holding about 1 kg of Xe at 10 bar in the fiducial volume, enough to contain high energy electron tracks in the detector volume) has allowed to test the detection concept in realistic experimental conditions. Microbulk Micromegas are able to image the DBD ionization signature with high quality while, at the same time, measuring its energy deposition with a resolution of at least a ∼ 3% FWHM @ Q_ββ. This value was experimentally demonstrated for high-energy extended tracks at 10 bar, and is probably improvable down to the ∼ 1% FWHM levels as extrapolated from low energy events. In addition, first results on the topological signature information (one straggling track ending in two blobs) show promising background discrimination capabilities out of reach of other experimental implementations. Moreover, microbulk Micromegas have very low levels of intrinsic radioactivity, and offer cost-effective scaling-up options. All these results demonstrate that Micromegas-read HPXe TPC remains a very competitive technique for the next generation DBD experiments.

ALICE is one of four large experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, specially designed to study particle production in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Located 52 meters underground with 28 meters of overburden rock, it has also been used to detect muons produced by cosmic ray interactions in the upper atmosphere. In this paper, we present the multiplicity distribution of these atmospheric muons and its comparison with Monte Carlo simulations. This analysis exploits the large size and excellent tracking capability of the ALICE Time Projection Chamber. A special emphasis is given to the study of high multiplicity events containing more than 100 reconstructed muons and corresponding to a muon areal density ρ_μ > 5.9 m⁻². Similar events have been studied in previous underground experiments such as ALEPH and DELPHI at LEP. While these experiments were able to reproduce the measured muon multiplicity distribution with Monte Carlo simulations at low and intermediate multiplicities, their simulations failed to describe the frequency of the highest multiplicity events. In this work we show that the high multiplicity events observed in ALICE stem from primary cosmic rays with energies above 10¹⁶ eV and that the frequency of these events can be successfully described by assuming a heavy mass composition of primary cosmic rays in this energy range. The development of the resulting air showers was simulated using the latest version of QGSJET to model hadronic interactions. This observation places significant constraints on alternative, more exotic, production mechanisms for these events.

We perform a set of cosmological simulations of structure formation in a mixed dark matter (MDM) model. Our model is motivated by the recently identified 3.5 keV X-ray line, which can be explained by the decay of non-resonantly produced sterile neutrinos accounting for 20–60% of the dark matter in the Universe. These non-resonantly produced sterile neutrinos have a sizable free-streaming length and hence behave effectively as warm dark matter (WDM). Assuming the rest of dark matter is composed of some cold dark matter (CDM) particles, we follow the coevolution of a mixed WDM plus CDM cosmology. Specifically, we consider the models with the warm component fraction of r_warm=0.25 and 0.50. Our MDM models predict that the comoving Jeans length at the matter-radiation equality is close to that of the thermally produced warm dark matter model with particle mass m_WDM=2.4 keV, but the suppression in the fluctuation power spectrum is weaker. We perform large N-body simulations to study the structure of non-linear dark halos in the MDM models. The abundance of substructure is significantly reduced in the MDM models, and hence the so-called small-scale crisis is mitigated. The cumulative maximum circular velocity function (CVF) of at least one halo in the MDM models is in good agreement with the CVFs of the observed satellites in the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy. We argue that the MDM models open an interesting possibility to reconcile the reported 3.5 keV line and the internal structure of galaxies.

We study the relativistic dynamics of a pressure-less and irrotational fluid of dark matter (CDM) with a cosmological constant (Λ), up to second order in cosmological perturbation theory. In our analysis we also account for vector and tensor perturbations and include primordial non-Gaussianity. We consider three gauges: the synchronous-comoving gauge, the Poisson gauge and the total matter gauge, where the first is the unique relativistic Lagrangian frame of reference, and the latters are convenient gauge choices for Eulerian frames. Our starting point is the metric and fluid variables in the Poisson gauge up to second order. We then perform the gauge transformations to the synchronous-comoving gauge and subsequently to the total matter gauge. Our expressions for the metrics, densities, velocities, and the gauge generators are novel and coincide with known results in the limit of a vanishing cosmological constant.

Dark matter in spiral galaxies like the Milky Way may take the form of a dark plasma. Hidden sector dark matter charged under an unbroken U(1)' gauge interaction provides a simple and well defined particle physics model realising this possibility. The assumed U(1)' neutrality of the Universe then implies (at least) two oppositely charged dark matter components with self-interactions mediated via a massless "dark photon" (the U(1)' gauge boson). In addition to nuclear recoils such dark matter can give rise to keV electron recoils in direct detection experiments. In this context, the detailed physical properties of the dark matter plasma interacting with the Earth is required. This is a complex system, which is here modelled as a fluid governed by the magnetohydrodynamic equations. These equations are numerically solved for some illustrative examples, and implications for direct detection experiments discussed. In particular, the analysis presented here leaves open the intriguing possibility that the DAMA annual modulation signal is due primarily to electron recoils (or even a combination of electron recoils and nuclear recoils). The importance of diurnal modulation (in addition to annual modulation) as a means of probing this kind of dark matter is also emphasised.

Self-induced flavor conversion of supernova (SN) neutrinos is a generic feature of neutrino-neutrino dispersion. The corresponding run-away modes in flavor space can spontaneously break the original symmetries of the neutrino flux and in particular can spontaneously produce small-scale features as shown in recent schematic studies. However, the unavoidable ``multi-angle matter effect'' shifts these small-scale instabilities into regions of matter and neutrino density which are not encountered on the way out from a SN. The traditional modes which are uniform on the largest scales are most prone for instabilities and thus provide the most sensitive test for the appearance of self-induced flavor conversion. As a by-product we clarify the relation between the time evolution of an expanding neutrino gas and the radial evolution of a stationary SN neutrino flux. Our results depend on several simplifying assumptions, notably stationarity of the solution, the absence of a ``backward'' neutrino flux caused by residual scattering, and global spherical symmetry of emission.

How sensitive are the predictions of inflation to pre-inflationary conditions when the number of efolds of inflation is not too large? In an attempt to address this question, we consider a simple model where the inflationary era is preceded by an era dominated by a radiation fluid, which is coupled to the inflaton only gravitationally and which extends back to the Planck era. We show that there is a natural generalized Bunch-Davies vacuum state for perturbations to the coupled inflaton-gravity-fluid system at early times. With this choice of initial state the model predicts interesting deviations from the standard power spectrum of single field slow-roll inflation at large scales. However, the deviations are too small to be observable in near future CMB observations.

Employing the covariant formalism, we derive the evolution equations for two scalar fields with non-canonical field space metric up to third order in perturbation theory. These equations can be used to derive predictions for local bi- and trispectra of multi-field cosmological models. Our main application is to ekpyrotic models in which the primordial curvature perturbations are generated via the non-minimal entropic mechanism. In these models, nearly scale-invariant entropy perturbations are generated first due to a non-minimal kinetic coupling between two scalar fields, and subsequently these perturbations are converted into curvature perturbations. Remarkably, the entropy perturbations have vanishing bi- and trispectra during the ekpyrotic phase. However, as we show, the conversion process to curvature perturbations induces local non-Gaussianity parameters f_NL and g_NL at levels that should be detectable by near-future observations. In fact, in order to obtain a large enough amplitude and small enough bispectrum of the curvature perturbations, as seen in current measurements, the conversion process must be very efficient. Interestingly, for such efficient conversions the trispectrum parameter g_NL remains negative and typically of a magnitude (10²)–(10³), resulting in a distinguishing feature of non-minimally coupled ekpyrotic models.

We investigate the evolution of the chiral magnetic instability in a protoneutron star and compute the resulting magnetic power and helicity spectra. The instability may act during the early cooling phase of the hot protoneutron star after supernova core collapse, where it can contribute to the buildup of magnetic fields of strength up to the order of 10¹⁴ G. The maximal field strengths generated by this instability, however, depend considerably on the temperature of the protoneutron star, on density fluctuations and turbulence spectrum of the medium. At the end of the hot cooling phase the magnetic field tends to be concentrated around the submillimeter to cm scale, where it is subject to slow resistive damping.

We compute the angular power spectra of the E-type and B-type lensing potentials for gravitational waves from inflation and for tensor perturbations induced by scalar perturbations. We derive the tensor-lensed CMB power spectra for both cases. We also apply our formalism to determine the linear lensing potential for a Bianchi I spacetime with small anisotropy.

We study a previously largely unexplored branch of homogeneous and isotropic background solutions in ghost-free massive bigravity with consistent double matter coupling. For a certain family of parameters we find `self-inflated' FLRW cosmologies, i.e. solutions with an accelerated early-time period during the radiation-dominated era. In addition, these solutions also display an accelerated late-time period closely mimicking GR with a cosmological constant. Interestingly, within this family, the particular case of β₁=β₃=0 gives bouncing cosmologies, where there is an infinite contracting past, a non-zero minimum value of the scale factor at the bounce, and an infinite expanding future.

In this paper, we study several issues in the linear equation-of-motion (EoM) and in-in approaches of computing the two-point correlation functions in multi-field inflation. We prove the equivalence between this EoM approach and the first-principle in-in formalism. We check this equivalence using several explicit examples, including cases with scale-invariant corrections and scale-dependent features. Motivated by the explicit proof, we show that the usual procedures in these approaches can be extended and applied to some interesting model categories beyond what has been studied in the literature so far. These include the density perturbations with strong couplings and correlated multi-field initial states.

Early-matter-like dark energy is defined as a dark energy component whose equation of state approaches that of cold dark matter (CDM) at early times. Such a component is an ingredient of unified dark matter (UDM) models, which unify the cold dark matter and the cosmological constant of the ΛCDM concordance model into a single dark fluid. Power series expansions in conformal time of the perturbations of the various components for a model with early-matter-like dark energy are provided. They allow the calculation of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy from the primordial initial values of the perturbations. For a phenomenological UDM model, which agrees with the observations of the local Universe, the CMB anisotropy is computed and compared with the CMB data. It is found that a match to the CMB observations is possible if the so-called effective velocity of sound c_eff of the early-matter-like dark energy component is very close to zero. The modifications on the CMB temperature and polarization power spectra caused by varying the effective velocity of sound are studied.

We describe K-mouflage models of modified gravity using the effective field theory of dark energy. We show how the Lagrangian density K defining the K-mouflage models appears in the effective field theory framework, at both the exact fully nonlinear level and at the quadratic order of the effective action. We find that K-mouflage scenarios only generate the operator (δg⁰⁰_(u))ⁿ at each order n. We also reverse engineer K-mouflage models by reconstructing the whole effective field theory, and the full cosmological behaviour, from two functions of the Jordan-frame scale factor in a tomographic manner. This parameterisation is directly related to the implementation of the K-mouflage screening mechanism: screening occurs when K' is large in a dense environment such as the deep matter and radiation eras. In this way, K-mouflage can be easily implemented as a calculable subclass of models described by the effective field theory of dark energy which could be probed by future surveys.

The general structure of the spherically symmetric solutions in the Weyl conformal gravity is described. The corresponding Bach equations are derived for the special type of metrics, which can be considered as the representative of the general class. The complete set of the pure vacuum solutions is found. It consists of two classes. The first one contains the solutions with constant two-dimensional curvature scalar of our specific metrics, and the representatives are the famous Robertson-Walker metrics. One of them we called the ``gravitational bubbles'', which is compact and with zero Weyl tensor. Thus, we obtained the pure vacuum curved space-times (without any material sources, including the cosmological constant) what is absolutely impossible in General Relativity. Such a phenomenon makes it easier to create the universe from ``nothing''. The second class consists of the solutions with varying curvature scalar. We found its representative as the one-parameter family. It appears that it can be conformally covered by the thee-parameter Mannheim-Kazanas solution. We also investigated the general structure of the energy-momentum tensor in the spherical conformal gravity and constructed the vectorial equation that reveals clearly some features of non-vacuum solutions. Two of them are explicitly written, namely, the metrics à la Vaidya, and the electrovacuum space-time metrics.

A very general cosmological consideration suggests that, along with galactic dark matter halos, much smaller dark matter structures may exist. These structures are usually called `clumps', and their mass extends to 10⁻⁶ M_⊙ or even lower. The clumps should give the main contribution into the signal of dark matter annihilation, provided that they have survived until the present time. Recent observations favor a cored profile for low-mass astrophysical halos. We consider cored clumps and show that they are significantly less firm than the standard NFW ones. In contrast to the standard scenario, the cored clumps should have been completely destroyed inside ∼ 20 kpc from the Milky Way center. The dwarf spheroidals should not contain any dark matter clumps. On the other hand, even under the most pessimistic assumption about the clump structure, the clumps should have survived in the Milky Way at a distance exceeding 50 kpc from the center, as well as in low-density cosmic structures. There they significantly boost the dark matter annihilation. We show that at least 70% of the clumps endured the primordial structure formation should still exist untouched in the present-day Universe.

A recent paper argued that it is not possible to infer the energy scale of inflation from the amplitude of tensor fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background, because the usual connection is substantially altered if there are a large number of universally coupled fields present during inflation, with mass less than the inflationary Hubble scale. We give a simple argument demonstrating that this is incorrect.

We discuss the dominant terms of the relativistic galaxy number counts to second order in cosmological perturbation theory on sub-Hubble scales and on intermediate to large redshifts. In particular, we determine their contribution to the bispectrum. In addition to the terms already known from Newtonian second order perturbation theory, we find that there are a series of additional `lensing-like' terms which contribute to the bispectrum. We derive analytical expressions for the full leading order bispectrum and we evaluate it numerically for different configurations, indicating how they can be measured with upcoming surveys. In particular, the new `lensing-like' terms are not negligible for wide redshift bins and even dominate the bispectrum at well separated redshifts. This offers us the possibility to measure them in future surveys.

We select f(R) gravity models that undergo scale factor duality transformations. As a starting point, we consider the tree-level effective gravitational action of bosonic String Theory coupled with the dilaton field. This theory inherits the Busher's duality of its parent String Theory. Using conformal transformations of the metric tensor, it is possible to map the tree-level dilaton-graviton string effective action into f(R) gravity, relating the dilaton field to the Ricci scalar curvature. Furthermore, the duality can be framed under the standard of Noether symmetries and exact cosmological solutions are derived. Using suitable changes of variables, the string-based f(R) Lagrangians are shown in cases where the duality transformation becomes a parity inversion.

Creation of Cold Dark Matter (CCDM), in the context of Einstein Field Equations, leads to a negative creation pressure, which can be used to explain the accelerated expansion of the Universe. Recently, it has been shown that the dynamics of expansion of such models can not be distinguished from the concordance ΛCDM model, even at higher orders in the evolution of density perturbations, leading at the so called ``dark degeneracy''. However, depending on the form of the CDM creation rate, the inclusion of spatial curvature leads to a different behavior of CCDM when compared to ΛCDM, even at background level. With a simple form for the creation rate, namely, Γ∝1/H , we show that this model can be distinguished from ΛCDM, provided the Universe has some amount of spatial curvature. Observationally, however, the current limits on spatial flatness from CMB indicate that neither of the models are significantly favored against the other by current data, at least in the background level.

The halo dark matter (DM) can be captured by the Sun if its final velocity after the collision with a nucleus in the Sun is less than the escape velocity. We consider a selfinteracting dark matter (SIDM) model where U(1) gauge symmetry is introduced to account for the DM self-interaction. Such a model naturally leads to isospin violating DM-nucleon interaction, although isospin symmetric interaction is still allowed as a special case. We present the IceCube-PINGU 2σ sensitivity to the parameter range of the above model with 5 years of search for neutrino signature from DM annihilation in the Sun. This indirect detection complements the direct detection by probing those SIDM parameter ranges which are either the region for very small m_χ or the region opened up due to isospin violations.

Supersymmetric models with radiatively-driven electroweak naturalness require light higgsinos of mass ∼ 100–300 GeV . Naturalness in the QCD sector is invoked via the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) axion leading to mixed axion-higgsino dark matter. The SUSY DFSZ axion model provides a solution to the SUSY μ problem and the Little Hierarchy μ≪ m_3/2 may emerge as a consequence of a mismatch between PQ and hidden sector mass scales. The traditional gravitino problem is now augmented by the axino and saxion problems, since these latter particles can also contribute to overproduction of WIMPs or dark radiation, or violation of BBN constraints. We compute regions of the T_R vs. m_3/2 plane allowed by BBN, dark matter and dark radiation constraints for various PQ scale choices f_a. These regions are compared to the values needed for thermal leptogenesis, non-thermal leptogenesis, oscillating sneutrino leptogenesis and Affleck-Dine leptogenesis. The latter three are allowed in wide regions of parameter space for PQ scale f_a∼ 10¹⁰–10¹² GeV which is also favored by naturalness: f_a ∼ √μM_P/λ_μ ∼ 10¹⁰–10¹² GeV . These f_a values correspond to axion masses somewhat above the projected ADMX search regions.

We implement the effective field theory for gravitating spinning objects in the post-Newtonian scheme at the next-to-next-to-leading order level to derive the gravitational spin-orbit interaction potential at the third and a half post-Newtonian order for rapidly rotating compact objects. From the next-to-next-to-leading order interaction potential, which we obtain here in a Lagrangian form for the first time, we derive straightforwardly the corresponding Hamiltonian. The spin-orbit sector constitutes the most elaborate spin dependent sector at each order, and accordingly we encounter a proliferation of the relevant Feynman diagrams, and a significant increase of the computational complexity. We present in detail the evaluation of the interaction potential, going over all contributing Feynman diagrams. The computation is carried out in terms of the ``nonrelativistic gravitational'' fields, which are advantageous also in spin dependent sectors, together with the various gauge choices included in the effective field theory for gravitating spinning objects, which also optimize the calculation. In addition, we automatize the effective field theory computations, and carry out the automated computations in parallel. Such automated effective field theory computations would be most useful to obtain higher order post-Newtonian corrections. We compare our Hamiltonian to the ADM Hamiltonian, and arrive at a complete agreement between the ADM and effective field theory results. Finally, we provide Hamiltonians in the center of mass frame, and complete gauge invariant relations among the binding energy, angular momentum, and orbital frequency of an inspiralling binary with generic compact spinning components to third and a half post-Newtonian order. The derivation presented here is essential to obtain further higher order post-Newtonian corrections, and to reach the accuracy level required for the successful detection of gravitational radiation.

We introduce a designer approach for extended Brans-Dicke gravity that allows us to obtain the evolution of the scalar field by fixing the Hubble parameter to that of a w CDM model. We obtain analytical approximations for ϕ as a function of the scale factor and use these to build expressions for the effective Newton's constant at the background and at the linear level and the slip between the perturbed Newtonian potentials. By doing so, we are able to explore their dependence on the fundamental parameters of the theory.

An expression for the average redshift drift in a statistically homogeneous and isotropic dust universe is given. The expression takes the same form as the expression for the redshift drift in FLRW models. It is used for a proof-of-principle study of the effects of backreaction on redshift drift measurements by combining the expression with two-region models. The study shows that backreaction can lead to positive redshift drift at low redshifts, exemplifying that a positive redshift drift at low redshifts does not require dark energy. Moreover, the study illustrates that models without a dark energy component can have an average redshift drift observationally indistinguishable from that of the standard model according to the currently expected precision of ELT measurements.

In an appendix, spherically symmetric solutions to Einstein's equations with inhomogeneous dark energy and matter are used to study deviations from the average redshift drift and effects of local voids.

The next-to-next-to-leading order spin-squared interaction potential for generic compact binaries is derived for the first time via the effective field theory for gravitating spinning objects in the post-Newtonian scheme. The spin-squared sector is an intricate one, as it requires the consideration of the point particle action beyond minimal coupling, and mainly involves the spin-squared worldline couplings, which are quite complex, compared to the worldline couplings from the minimal coupling part of the action. This sector also involves the linear in spin couplings, as we go up in the nonlinearity of the interaction, and in the loop order. Hence, there is an excessive increase in the number of Feynman diagrams, of which more are higher loop ones. We provide all the Feynman diagrams and their values. The beneficial ``nonrelativistic gravitational'' fields are employed in the computation. This spin-squared correction, which enters at the fourth post-Newtonian order for rapidly rotating compact objects, completes the conservative sector up to the fourth post-Newtonian accuracy. The robustness of the effective field theory for gravitating spinning objects is shown here once again, as demonstrated in a recent series of papers by the authors, which obtained all spin dependent sectors, required up to the fourth post-Newtonian accuracy. The effective field theory of spinning objects allows to directly obtain the equations of motion, and the Hamiltonians, and these will be derived for the potential obtained here in a forthcoming paper.

Fluctuations in the cosmic neutrino background are known to produce a phase shift in the acoustic peaks of the cosmic microwave background. It is through the sensitivity to this effect that the recent CMB data has provided a robust detection of free-streaming neutrinos. In this paper, we revisit the phase shift of the CMB anisotropy spectrum as a probe of new physics. The phase shift is particularly interesting because its physical origin is strongly constrained by the analytic properties of the Green's function of the gravitational potential. For adiabatic fluctuations, a phase shift requires modes that propagate faster than the speed of fluctuations in the photon-baryon plasma. This possibility is realized by free-streaming relativistic particles, such as neutrinos or other forms of dark radiation. Alternatively, a phase shift can arise from isocurvature fluctuations. We present simple models to illustrate each of these effects. We then provide observational constraints from the Planck temperature and polarization data on additional forms of radiation. We also forecast the capabilities of future CMB Stage IV experiments. Whenever possible, we give analytic interpretations of our results.

Dark matter with strong self-interactions provides a compelling solution to several small-scale structure puzzles. Under the assumption that the coupling between dark matter and the Standard Model particles is suppressed, such strongly interacting massive particles (SIMPs) allow for a successful thermal freeze-out through N-to-N' processes, where N dark matter particles annihilate to N' of them. In the most common scenarios, where dark matter stability is guaranteed by a ₂ symmetry, the seemingly leading annihilating channel, i.e. 3-to-2 process, is forbidden, so the 4-to-2 one dominate the production of the dark matter relic density. Moreover, cosmological observations require that the dark matter sector is colder than the thermal bath of Standard Model particles, a condition that can be dynamically generated via a small portal between dark matter and Standard Model particles, à la freeze-in. This scenario is exemplified in the context of the Singlet Scalar dark matter model.

Dark matter consisting of very light and very weakly interacting particles such as axions, axion-like particles and hidden photons could be detected using reflective surfaces. On such reflectors some of the dark matter particles are converted into photons and, given a suitable geometry, concentrated on the detector. This technique offers sensitivity to the direction of the velocity of the dark matter particles. In this note we investigate how far spherical mirrors can concentrate the generated photons and what this implies for the resolution in directional detection as well as the sensitivity of discovery experiments not aiming for directional resolution. Finally we discuss an improved setup using a combination of a reflecting plane with focussing optics.

Axions constitute a well-motivated dark matter candidate, and if PQ symmetry breaking occurred after inflation, it should be possible to make a clean prediction for the relation between the axion mass and the axion dark matter density. We show that axion (or other global) string networks in 3D have a network density that depends logarithmically on the string separation-to-core ratio. This logarithm would be about 10 times larger in axion cosmology than what we can achieve in numerical simulations. We simulate axion production in the early Universe, finding that, for the separation-to-core ratios we can achieve, the changing density of the network has little impact on the axion production efficiency.

We consider a linear effective vielbein matter coupling without introducing the Boulware-Deser ghost in ghost-free massive gravity. This is achieved in the partially constrained vielbein formulation. We first introduce the formalism and prove the absence of ghost at all scales. As next we investigate the cosmological application of this coupling in this new formulation. We show that even if the background evolution accords with the metric formulation, the perturbations display important different features in the partially constrained vielbein formulation. We study the cosmological perturbations of the two branches of solutions separately. The tensor perturbations coincide with those in the metric formulation. Concerning the vector and scalar perturbations, the requirement of absence of ghost and gradient instabilities yields slightly different allowed parameter space.

In this paper we show that magnetic fields generated at the electroweak phase transition are most likely too weak to explain the void magnetic fields apparently observed today unless they have considerable helicity. We show that, in the simplest estimates, the helicity naturally produced in conjunction with the baryon asymmetry is too small to explain observations, which require a helicity fraction at least of order 10⁻¹⁴–10⁻¹⁰ depending on the void fields constraint used. Therefore new mechanisms to generate primordial helicity are required if magnetic fields generated during the electroweak phase transition should explain the extragalactic fields.

Working in the Large Volume Scenario (LVS) of IIB Calabi-Yau flux compactifications, we construct inflationary models from recently computed higher derivative (α')³-corrections. Inflation is driven by a Kähler modulus whose potential arises from the aforementioned corrections, while we use the inclusion of string loop effects just to ensure the existence of a graceful exit when necessary. The effective inflaton potential takes a Starobinsky-type form V=V₀(1−e^−νϕ)², where we obtain one set-up with ν=−1/√3 and one with ν=2/√3 corresponding to inflation occurring for increasing or decreasing ϕ respectively. The inflationary observables are thus in perfect agreement with PLANCK, while the two scenarios remain observationally distinguishable via slightly varying predictions for the tensor-to-scalar ratio r. Both set-ups yield r≃ (2... 7) × 10⁻³. They hence realise inflation with moderately large fields (Δϕ∼ 6 M_Pl) without saturating the Lyth bound. Control over higher corrections relies in part on tuning underlying microscopic parameters, and in part on intrinsic suppressions. The intrinsic part of control arises as a leftover from an approximate effective shift symmetry at parametrically large volume.