Table of contents

The modified gravity with f(R) = R¹⁺ ( > 0) allows a scaling solution where the energy density of gravity sector follows the energy density of the dominant fluid. We present initial conditions of background and perturbation variables during the scaling evolution regime in the modified gravity. As a possible dark energy model we consider a gravity with a form f(R) = R¹⁺+qR⁻ⁿ (−1 < n ⩽ 0) where the second term drives the late-time acceleration. We show that our f(R) gravity parameters are very sensitive to the baryon perturbation growth and baryon density power spectrum, and present observational constraints on the model parameters. We consider full perturbations of f(R) gravity. Our analysis suggests that only the parameter space extremely close to the ΛCDM model is allowed with ≲5 × 10⁻⁶ and n≳−10⁻⁴.

When one combines multiverse predictions by Bousso, Hall, and Nomura for the observed age and size of the universe in terms of the proton and electron charge and masses with anthropic predictions of Carter, Carr, and Rees for these masses in terms of the charge, one gets that the age of the universe should be roughly the inverse 64th power, and the cosmological constant should be around the 128th power, of the proton charge. Combining these with a further renormalization group argument gives a single approximate equation for the proton charge, with no continuous adjustable or observed parameters, and with a solution that is within 8% of the observed value. Using this solution gives large logarithms for the age and size of the universe and for the cosmological constant that agree with the observed values within 17%.

We calculate non-Gaussianities in the bispectrum and trispectrum arising from the cubic term in the local expansion of the scalar curvature perturbation. We compute to three-loop order and for general momenta. A procedure for evaluating the leading behavior of the resulting loop-integrals is developed and discussed. Finally, we survey unique non-linear signals which could arise from the cubic term in the squeezed limit. In particular, it is shown that loop corrections can cause f_NL^sq. to change sign as the momentum scale is varied. There also exists a momentum limit where τ_NL < 0 can be realized.

The standard Friedmann model of cosmology is based on the Copernican Principle, i.e. the assumption of a homogeneous background on which structure forms via perturbations. Homogeneity underpins both general relativistic and modified gravity models and is central to the way in which we interpret observations of the CMB and the galaxy distribution. It is therefore important to probe homogeneity via observations. We describe a test based on the fossil record of distant galaxies: if we can reconstruct key intrinsic properties of galaxies as functions of proper time along their worldlines, we can compare such properties at the same proper time for our galaxy and others. We achieve this by computing the lookback time using radial Baryon Acoustic Oscillations, and the time along galaxy world line using stellar physics, allowing us to probe homogeneity, in principle anywhere inside the past light cone. Agreement in the results would be an important consistency test — although it would not in itself prove homogeneity. Any significant deviation in the results however would signal a breakdown of homogeneity.

We study cosmological models that contain sterile neutrinos with eV-range masses as suggested by reactor and short-baseline oscillation data. We confront these models with both precision cosmological data (probing the CMB decoupling epoch) and light-element abundances (probing the BBN epoch). In the minimal ΛCDM model, such sterile neutrinos are strongly disfavoured by current data because they contribute too much hot dark matter. However, if the cosmological framework is extended to include also additional relativistic degrees of freedom beyond the three standard neutrinos and the putative sterile neutrinos, then the hot dark matter constraint on the sterile states is considerably relaxed. A further improvement is achieved by allowing a dark energy equation of state parameter w < −1. While BBN strongly disfavours extra radiation beyond the assumed eV-mass sterile neutrino, this constraint can be circumvented by a small ν_e degeneracy. Any model containing eV-mass sterile neutrinos implies also strong modifications of other cosmological parameters. Notably, the inferred cold dark matter density can shift up by 20–75% relative to the standard ΛCDM value.

Dissipation coefficients are calculated in the adiabatic, near thermal equilibrium regime for a large class of renormalizable interaction configurations involving a two-stage mechanism, where a background scalar field is coupled to heavy intermediate scalar or fermion fields which in turn are coupled to light scalar or fermion radiation fields. These interactions are typical of warm inflation microscopic model building. Two perturbative regimes are shown where well defined approximations for the spectral functions apply. One regime is at high temperature, when the masses of both intermediate and radiation fields are less than the temperature scale and where the poles of the spectral functions dominate. The other regime is at low temperature, when the intermediate field masses are much bigger than the temperature and where the low energy and low three-momentum regime dominate the spectral functions. The dissipation coefficients in these two regimes are derived. However, due to resummation issues for the high temperature case, only phenomenological approximate estimates are provided for the dissipation in this regime. In the low temperature case, higher loop contributions are suppressed and so no resummation is necessary. In addition to inflationary cosmology, the application of our results to cosmological phase transitions is also discussed.

We present a new flexible, fast and accurate way to implement massive neutrinos, warm dark matter and any other non-cold dark matter relics in Boltzmann codes. For whatever analytical or numerical form of the phase-space distribution function, the optimal sampling in momentum space compatible with a given level of accuracy is automatically found by comparing quadrature methods. The perturbation integration is made even faster by switching to an approximate viscous fluid description inside the Hubble radius, which differs from previous approximations discussed in the literature. When adding one massive neutrino to the minimal cosmological model, CLASS becomes just 1.5 times slower, instead of about 5 times in other codes (for fixed accuracy requirements). We illustrate the flexibility of our approach by considering a few examples of standard or non-standard neutrinos, as well as warm dark matter models.

An anisotropic power spectrum will have a clear signature in the 21 cm radiation from high-redshift hydrogen. We calculate the expected power spectrum of the intensity fluctuations in neutral hydrogen from before the epoch of reionization, and predict the accuracy to which future experiments could constrain a quadrupole anisotropy in the power spectrum. We find that the Square Kilometer Array will have marginal detection abilities for this signal at z ∼ 17 if the process of reionization has not yet started; reionization could enhance the detectability substantially. Pushing to higher redshifts and higher sensitivity will allow highly precise (percent level) measurements of anisotropy.

In a class of recently proposed models, the early universe is strongly coupled and described holographically by a three-dimensional, weakly coupled, super-renormalizable quantum field theory. This scenario leads to a power spectrum of scalar perturbations that differs from the usual empirical ΛCDM form and the predictions of generic models of single field, slow roll inflation. This spectrum is characterized by two parameters: an amplitude, and a parameter g related to the coupling constant of the dual theory. We estimate these parameters, using WMAP and other astrophysical data. We compute Bayesian evidence for both the holographic model and standard ΛCDM and find that their difference is not significant, although ΛCDM provides a somewhat better fit to the data. However, it appears that Planck will permit a definitive test of this holographic scenario.

Self-annihilating dark matter gravitationally captured by the Sun could yield observable neutrino signals at current and next generation neutrino detectors. By exploiting such signals, neutrino detectors can probe the spin-dependent scattering of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with nucleons in the Sun. We describe a method how to convert constraints on neutrino fluxes to a limit on the WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section. In this method all neutrino flavors can be treated in a very similar way. We study the sensitivity of neutrino telescopes for Solar WIMP signals using vertex contained events and find that this detection channel is of particular importance in the search for low mass WIMPs. We obtain highly competitive sensitivities with all neutrino flavor channels for a Megaton sized detector through the application of basic spectral selection criteria. Best results are obtained with the electron neutrino channel. We discuss associated uncertainties and provide a procedure how to treat them for analyses in a consistent way.

We consider cosmological parameters estimation in the presence of a non-zero isocurvature contribution in the primordial perturbations. A previous analysis showed that even a tiny amount of isocurvature perturbation, if not accounted for, could affect standard rulers calibration from Cosmic Microwave Background observations such as those provided by the Planck mission, affect Baryon Acoustic Oscillations interpretation, and introduce biases in the recovered dark energy properties that are larger than forecasted statistical errors from future surveys. Extending on this work, here we adopt a general fiducial cosmology which includes a varying dark energy equation of state parameter and curvature. Beside Baryon Acoustic Oscillations measurements, we include the information from the shape of the galaxy power spectrum and consider a joint analysis of a Planck-like Cosmic Microwave Background probe and a future, space-based, Large Scale Structure probe not too dissimilar from recently proposed surveys. We find that this allows one to break the degeneracies that affect the Cosmic Microwave Background and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations combination. As a result, most of the cosmological parameter systematic biases arising from an incorrect assumption on the isocurvature fraction parameter f_iso, become negligible with respect to the statistical errors. We find that the Cosmic Microwave Background and Large Scale Structure combination gives a statistical error σ(f_iso) ∼ 0.008, even when curvature and a varying dark energy equation of state are included, which is smaller that the error obtained from Cosmic Microwave Background alone when flatness and cosmological constant are assumed. These results confirm the synergy and complementarity between Cosmic Microwave Background and Large Scale Structure, and the great potential of future and planned galaxy surveys.

We investigate the prior dependence of constraints on cosmic tensor perturbations. Commonly imposed is the strong prior of the single-field inflationary consistency equation, relating the tensor spectral index n_T to the tensor-to-scalar ratio r. Dropping it leads to significantly different constraints on n_T, with both positive and negative values allowed with comparable likelihood, and substantially increases the upper limit on r on scales k = 0.01 Mpc^-1 to 0.05 Mpc^-1, by a factor of ten or more. Even if the consistency equation is adopted, a uniform prior on r on one scale does not correspond to a uniform one on another; constraints therefore depend on the pivot scale chosen. We assess the size of this effect and determine the optimal scale for constraining the tensor amplitude, both with and without the consistency relation.

We present a simple (microscopic) model in which bulk viscosity plays a role in explaining the present acceleration of the universe. The effect of bulk viscosity on the Friedmann equations is to turn the pressure into an "effective" pressure containing the bulk viscosity. For a sufficiently large bulk viscosity, the effective pressure becomes negative and could mimic a dark energy equation of state. Our microscopic model includes self-interacting spin-zero particles (for which the bulk viscosity is known) that are added to the usual energy content of the universe. We study both background equations and linear perturbations in this model. We show that a dark energy behavior is obtained for reasonable values of the two parameters of the model (i.e. the mass and coupling of the spin-zero particles) and that linear perturbations are well-behaved. There is no apparent fine tuning involved. We also discuss the conditions under which hydrodynamics holds, in particular that the spin-zero particles must be in local equilibrium today for viscous effects to be important.

Decaying dark matter cosmological models have been proposed to remedy the overproduction problem at small scales in the standard cold dark matter paradigm. We consider a decaying dark matter model in which one CDM mother particle decays into two daughter particles, with arbitrary masses. A complete set of Boltzmann equations of dark matter particles is derived which is necessary to calculate the evolutions of their energy densities and their density perturbations. By comparing the expansion history of the universe in this model and the free-streaming scale of daughter particles with astronomical observational data, we give constraints on the lifetime of the mother particle, Γ⁻¹, and the mass ratio between the daughter and the mother particles m_D/m_M. From the distance to the last scattering surface of the cosmic microwave background, we obtain Γ⁻¹ > 30 Gyr in the massless limit of daughter particles and, on the other hand, we obtain m_D > 0.97m_M in the limit Γ⁻¹ → 0. The free-streaming constraint tightens the bound on the mass ratio as (Γ⁻¹/10⁻²Gyr)≲((1−m_D1/m_M)/10⁻²)^−3/2 for Γ⁻¹ < H⁻¹(z = 3).

Using cosmological perturbation theory we show that the most relevant deformation of gravity is consistent at the linear level. In particular, we prove the absence of unitarity violating negative norm states in the weak coupling regime from sub- to super-Hubble scales. This demonstrates that the recently proposed classical self-protection mechanism of deformed gravity extends to the entire kinematical domain.

We show that in the single component situation all perturbation variables in the comoving gauge are conformally invariant to all perturbation orders. Generally we identify a special time slicing, the uniform-conformal transformation slicing, where all perturbations are again conformally invariant to all perturbation orders. We apply this result to the δN formalism, and show its conformal invariance.

Bayesian statistical methods offer a simple and consistent framework for incorporating uncertainties into a multi-parameter inference problem. In this work we apply these methods to a selection of current direct dark matter searches. We consider the simplest scenario of spin-independent elastic WIMP scattering, and infer the WIMP mass and cross-section from the experimental data with the essential systematic uncertainties folded into the analysis. We find that when uncertainties in the scintillation efficiency of XENON100 have been accounted for, the resulting exclusion limit is not sufficiently constraining to rule out the CoGeNT preferred parameter region, contrary to previous claims. In the same vein, we also investigate the impact of astrophysical uncertainties on the preferred WIMP parameters. We find that within the class of smooth and isotropic WIMP velocity distributions, it is difficult to reconcile the DAMA and the CoGeNT preferred regions by tweaking the astrophysics parameters alone. If we demand compatibility between these experiments, then the inference process naturally concludes that a high value for the sodium quenching factor for DAMA is preferred.

The recently introduced cosmic sum rules combine the data from PAMELA and Fermi-LAT cosmic ray experiments in a way that permits to neatly investigate whether the experimentally observed lepton excesses violate charge symmetry. One can in a simple way determine universal properties of the unknown component of the cosmic rays. Here we attribute a potential charge asymmetry to the dark sector. In particular we provide models of asymmetric dark matter able to produce charge asymmetric cosmic rays. We consider spin zero, spin one and spin one-half decaying dark matter candidates. We show that lepton flavor violation and asymmetric dark matter are both required to have a charge asymmetry in the cosmic ray lepton excesses. Therefore, an experimental evidence of charge asymmetry in the cosmic ray lepton excesses implies that dark matter is asymmetric.

The Galileon model is a ghost free scalar effective field theory containing higher derivative terms that are protected by the Galileon symmetry. The presence of a Vainshtein screening mechanism allows the scalar field to couple to matter without mediating unacceptably large fifth forces in the solar system. We describe how laboratory measurements of the Casimir effect and possible deviations from Newtonian gravity can be used to search for Galileon scalar fields. Current experimental measurements are used to bound a previously unconstrained combination of Galileon parameters.

We propose to use the threshold-free process of neutrino capture on β-decaying nuclei (NCB) with all available candidate nuclei in the Milky Way as target material in order to detect the presence of the Cosmic Neutrino Background (CνB). By integrating over the lifetime of the galaxy one might be able to see the effect of NCB processes as a slightly eschewed abundance ratio of selected β-decaying nuclei. First, the candidates must be chosen so that both the mother and daughter nuclei have a lifetime comparable to that of the Milky Way or the signal could be easily washed out by additional decays. Secondly, relic neutrinos have so low energy that their de Broglie wavelengths are macroscopic and they may therefore scatter coherently on the electronic cloud of the candidate atoms. One must therefore compare the cross sections for the two processes (induced β-decay by neutrino capture, and coherent scattering of the neutrinos on atomic nuclei) before drawing any conclusions. Finally, the density of target nuclei in the galaxy must be calculated. We assume supernovae as the only production source and approximate the neutrino density as a homogenous background. Here we perform the full calculation for¹⁸⁷Re and ¹³⁸La and find that one needs abundance measurements with 24 digit precision in order to detect the effect of relic neutrinos. Or alternatively an enhancement of ρ_νby a factor of ∼ 10¹⁵ to produce an effect within the current abundance measurement precision.

Using the pseudo-Newtonian (PN) potential reflecting properties of the Schwarz-schild-de Sitter spacetime, we estimate the influence of the repulsive cosmological constant Λ ∼ 1.3 × 10⁻⁵⁶cm⁻² implied by recent cosmological tests onto the motion of both Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC and LMC) in the gravitational field of the Milky Way. Considering detailed modelling of the gravitational field of the Galaxy disc, bulge and cold dark matter halo, the trajectories of SMC and LMC constructed for the PN potential with the cosmological constant are confronted to those given for Λ = 0. In the realistic model of the extended cold dark matter halo its edge and related total mass are taken at typical values reflecting recent diversity in the total Galaxy mass estimates. In all cases, strong influence of the cosmological constant, on 10% level or higher, has been found for motion of both SMC and LMC. Inside the halo, the Newtonian part of the PN potential is exact enough, while outside the halo the PN potential can give relevant relativistic corrections. The role of the cosmological constant is most conspicuous when binding mass is estimated for the satellite galaxies. We have found a strong influence of cosmic repulsion on the total binding mass for both galaxies. For SMC there is the binding mass M_SMC^{Λ = 0} = 7.07 × 10¹¹M_⨀ and M_SMC^{Λ > 0} = 8.61 × 10¹¹M_⨀, while even much higher increase is found for LMC, where M_LMC^{Λ = 0} = 1.50 × 10¹²M_⨀ and M_LMC^{Λ > 0} = 2.21 × 10¹²M_⨀, putting serious doubts on the possibility that the LMC is bounded by the Milky Way. However, the estimates of binding masses are strongly influenced by initial velocity of SMC and LMC; we took the values inferred for the IAU MW rotation velocity ∼ 220 km/s. Our results indicate very important role of the cosmic repulsion in the motion of interacting galaxies, clearly demonstrated in the case of the satellite SMC and LMC galaxies moving in the field of Milky Way. In some cases, the effect of the cosmic repulsion can be even comparable to the effects of the dynamical friction and the Andromeda Galaxy.

In the context of the Loop Quantum Cosmology we have analysed the holonomy correction to the classical evolution of the simplified Bianchi I model in the presence of vector fields. For the Universe dominated by a massive vector field or by a combination of a scalar field and a vector field a smooth transition between Kasner-like and Kasner-unlike solutions for a Bianchi I model has been demonstrated. In this case a lack of initial curvature singularity and a finite maximal energy density appear already at the level of General Relativity, which simulates a classical Big Bounce.

Modern cosmology suggests that the Universe contains two dark components — dark matter and dark energy — both unkown in laboratory physics and both lacking direct evidence. Alternatively, a unified dark sector, described by a single fluid, has been proposed. Dissipation is a common phenomenon in nature and it thus seems natural to consider models dominated by a viscous dark fluid. We focus on the study of bulk viscosity, as isotropy and homogeneity at large scales implies the suppression of shear viscosity, heat flow and diffusion. The generic ansatz ξ∝ρ^ν for the coefficient of bulk viscosity (ρ denotes the mass/energy density), which for ν = −1/2 mimics the ΛCDM background evolution, offers excellent fits to supernova and H(z) data. We show that viscous dark fluids suffer from large contributions to the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect (generalising a previous study by Li & Barrow) and a suppression of structure growth at small-scales (as seen from a generalized Meszaros equation). Based on recent observations, we conclude that viscous dark fluid models (with ξ∝ρ^ν and neglecting baryons) are strongly challenged.

We investigate late time acceleration of the universe in higher dimensional cosmology. The content in the universe is assumed to exert pressure which is different in the normal and extra dimensions. Cosmologically viable solutions are found to exist for simple forms of the equation of state. The parameters of the model are fixed by comparing the predictions with supernovae data. While observations stipulate that the matter exerts almost vanishing pressure in the normal dimensions, we assume that, in the extra dimensions, the equation of state is of the form P∝ρ^1−γ. For appropriate choice of parameters, a late time acceleration in the universe occurs with q₀ and z_trbeing approximately -0.46 and 0.76 respectively.

We examine the effective theory of single-field inflation in the limit where the scalar perturbations propagate with a small speed of sound. In this case the non-linearly realized time-translation symmetry of the Lagrangian implies large interactions, giving rise to primordial non-Gaussianities. When the non-Gaussianities are measurable, these interactions will become strongly coupled unless new physics appears close to the Hubble scale. Due to its proximity to the Hubble scale, the new physics is not necessarily decoupled from inflationary observables and can potentially affect the predictions of the model. To understand the types of corrections that may arise, we construct weakly-coupled completions of the theory and study their observational signatures.

We derive the requirements that a generic axion-like field has to satisfy in order to play the role of the inflaton field in the warm inflation scenario. Compared to the parameter space in ordinary Natural Inflation models, we find that the parameter space in our model is enlarged. In particular, we avoid the problem of having an axion decay constant f that relates to the Planck scale, which is instead present in the ordinary Natural Inflation models; in fact, our model can easily accommodate values of the axion decay constant that lie well below the Planck scale.

In this article we propose a novel test for statistical anisotropy of the CMB ΔT( = (θ,ϕ)). The test is based on the fact, that the Galactic foregrounds have a remarkably strong symmetry with respect to their antipodal points S1: = ↔−, = (θ,ϕ) and with respect to the Galactic plane, while the cosmological signal should not be symmetric or asymmetric under these transitions.

We have applied the test for the octupole component of the WMAP ILC 7 map, by looking at a_3,1 and a_3,3, and their ratio to a_3,2 both for real and imaginary values. We find abnormal symmetry of the octupole component at the level of 0.58%, compared to Monte Carlo simulations. By using the analysis of the phases of the octupole we found remarkably strong cross-correlations between the phases of the kinematic dipole and the ILC 7 octupole, in full agreement with previous results. We further test the multipole range 2 < l < 100, by investigating the ratio between the l+m = even and l+m = odd parts of power spectra. We compare the results to simulations of a Gaussian random sky, and find significant departure from the statistically isotropic and homogeneous case, for a very broad range of multipoles. We found that for the most prominent peaks of our estimator, the phases of the corresponding harmonics are coherent with phases of the octupole. We believe, our test would be very useful for detections of various types of residuals of the foreground and systematic effects at a very broad range of multipoles 2 ⩽ l ⩽ 1500−3000 for the forthcoming PLANCK CMB map, before any conclusions about primordial non-Gaussianity and statistical anisotropy of the CMB.

This paper presents the algorithm for determining the Lemaître-Tolman model that best fits given datasets for maximum stellar ages, and SNIa luminosities, both as functions of redshift. It then applies it to current cosmological data. Special attention must be given to the handling of the origin, and the region of the maximum diameter distances. As with a previous combination of datasets (galaxy number counts and luminosity distances versus redshift), there are relationships that must hold at the region of the maximum diameter distance, which are unlikely to be obeyed exactly by real data. We show how to make corrections that enable a self-consistent solution to be found. We address the questions of the best way to approximate discrete data with smooth functions, and how to estimate the uncertainties of the output — the 3 free functions that determine a specific Lemaître-Tolman metric. While current data does not permit any confidence in our results, we show that the method works well, and reasonable Lemaître-Tolman models do fit with or without a cosmological constant.

Among the combinations L_e-L_μ, L_e-L_τ and L_μ-L_τ any one can be gauged in anomaly free way with the standard model gauge group. The masses of these gauge bosons can be so light that it can induce long-range forces on the Earth due to the electrons in the Sun. This type of forces can be constrained significantly from neutrino oscillation. As the sign of the potential is opposite for neutrinos and antineutrinos, a magnetized iron calorimeter detector (ICAL) would be able to produce strong constraint on it. We have made conservative studies of these long-range forces with atmospheric neutrinos at ICAL considering only the muons of charge current interactions. We find stringent bounds on the couplings α_eμ,eτ ⪅ 1.65 × 10⁻⁵³ at 3σ CL with an exposure of 1 Mton·yr if there is no such force. For nonzero input values of the couplings we find that the potential V_eμ opposes and V_eτ helps to discriminate the mass hierarchy. However, both potentials help significantly to discriminate the octant of θ₂₃. The explanation of the anomaly in recent MINOS data (the difference of Δm₃₂² for neutrinos and antineutrinos), using long-range force originated from the mixing of the gauge boson Z' of L_μ-L_τ with the standard model gauge boson Z, can be tested at ICAL at more than 5σ CL. We have also discussed how to disentangle this from the solution with CPT violation using the seasonal change of the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

We consider the possibility that the vacuum energy density of the MSSM (Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model) flat direction condensate involving the Higgses H₁ and H₂ is responsible for inflation. We also discuss how the finely tuned Higgs potential at high vacuum expectation values can realize cosmologically flat direction along which it can generate the observed density perturbations, and after the end of inflation — the coherent oscillations of the Higgses reheat the universe with all the observed degrees of freedom, without causing any problem for the electroweak phase transition.

In this paper, following the previous study, we evaluate the spectrum of gravitational wave background generated by domain walls which are produced if some discrete symmetry is spontaneously broken in the early universe. We apply two methods to calculate the gravitational wave spectrum: One is to calculate the gravitational wave spectrum directly from numerical simulations, and another is to calculate it indirectly by estimating the unequal time anisotropic stress power spectrum of the scalar field. Both analysises indicate that the slope of the spectrum changes at two characteristic frequencies corresponding to the Hubble radius at the decay of domain walls and the width of domain walls, and that the spectrum between these two characteristic frequencies becomes flat or slightly red tilted. The second method enables us to evaluate the GW spectrum for the frequencies which cannot be resolved in the finite box lattice simulations, but relies on the assumptions for the unequal time correlations of the source.

Recently the PAMELA experiment has released its updated anti-proton flux and anti-proton to proton flux ratio data up to energies of ≈ 200GeV. With no clear excess of cosmic ray anti-protons at high energies, one can extend constraints on the production of anti-protons from dark matter. In this letter, we consider both the cases of dark matter annihilating and decaying into standard model particles that produce significant numbers of anti-protons. We provide two sets of constraints on the annihilation cross-sections/decay lifetimes. In the one set of constraints we ignore any source of anti-protons other than dark matter, which give the highest allowed cross-sections/inverse lifetimes. In the other set we include also anti-protons produced in collisions of cosmic rays with interstellar medium nuclei, getting tighter but more realistic constraints on the annihilation cross-sections/decay lifetimes.

Higgs inflation uses the gauge variant Higgs field as the inflaton. During inflation the Higgs field is displaced from its minimum, which results in associated Goldstone bosons that are apparently massive. Working in a minimally coupled U(1) toy model, we use the closed-time-path formalism to show that these Goldstone bosons do contribute to the one-loop effective action. Therefore the computation in unitary gauge gives incorrect results. Our expression for the effective action is gauge invariant upon using the background equations of motion.

We outline a gauge-invariant framework to calculate cosmological perturbations in dark energy models consisting of a scalar field interacting with dark matter via energy and momentum exchanges. Focusing on three well-known models of quintessence and three common types of dark sector interactions, we calculate the matter and dark energy power spectra as well as the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect in these models. We show how the presence of dark sector interactions can produce a large-scale enhancement in the matter power spectrum and a boost in the low multipoles of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies. Nevertheless, we find these enhancements to be much more subtle than those found by previous authors who model dark energy using simple ansatz for the equation of state. We also address issues of instabilities and emphasise the importance of momentum exchanges in the dark sector.

Dark matter particles gravitationally trapped inside the Sun may annihilate into Standard Model particles, producing a flux of neutrinos. The prospects of detecting these neutrinos in future multi-kt neutrino detectors designed for other physics searches are explored here. We study the capabilities of a 34/100 kt liquid argon detector and a 100 kt magnetized iron calorimeter detector. These detectors are expected to determine the energy and the direction of the incoming neutrino with unprecedented precision allowing for tests of the dark matter nature at very low dark matter masses, in the range of 10–25 GeV. By suppressing the atmospheric background with angular cuts, these techniques would be sensitive to dark matter-nucleon spin-dependent cross sections at the fb level, reaching down to a few ab for the most favorable annihilation channels and detector technology.

Using real and synthetic Type Ia SNe (SNeIa) and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) data representing current observations forecasts, this paper investigates the tension between those probes in the dark energy equation of state (EoS) reconstruction considering the well known CPL model and Wang's low correlation reformulation. In particular, here we present simulations of BAO data from both the the radial and transverse directions. We also explore the influence of priors on Ω_m and Ω_b on the tension issue, by considering 1σ deviations in either one or both of them. Our results indicate that for some priors there is no tension between a single dataset (either SNeIa or BAO) and their combination (SNeIa+BAO). Our criterion to discern the existence of tension (σ-distance) is also useful to establish which is the dataset with most constraining power; in this respect SNeIa and BAO data switch roles when current and future data are considered, as forecasts predict and spectacular quality improvement on BAO data. We also find that the results on the tension are blind to the way the CPL model is addressed: there is a perfect match between the original formulation and that by the correlation optimized proposed in Wang (2008), but the errors on the parameters are much narrower in all cases of our exhaustive exploration, thus serving the purpose of stressing the convenience of this reparametrization.

We study the six-field dynamics of D3-brane inflation for a general scalar potential on the conifold, finding simple, universal behavior. We numerically evolve the equations of motion for an ensemble of more than 7·10⁷ realizations, drawing the coefficients in the scalar potential from statistical distributions whose detailed properties have demonstrably small effects on our results. When prolonged inflation occurs, it has a characteristic form: the D3-brane initially moves rapidly in the angular directions, spirals down to an inflection point in the potential, and settles into single-field inflation. The probability of N_e e-folds of inflation is a power law, P(N_e)∝N_e⁻³, and we derive the same exponent from a simple analytical model. The success of inflation is relatively insensitive to the initial position: we find attractor behavior in the angular directions, and the D3-brane can begin far above the inflection point without overshooting. Initial radial or angular velocities, on the other hand, can have a significant effect on the duration of inflation. In favorable regions of the spaces of initial velocities and of Lagrangian parameters, models yielding 60 e-folds of expansion arise approximately once in 10³ trials. Realizations that are effectively single-field and give rise to a primordial spectrum of fluctuations consistent with WMAP, for which at least 120 e-folds are required, arise approximately once in 10⁵ trials. The emergence of robust predictions from a six-field potential with hundreds of terms invites an analytic approach to multifield inflation.

Using a sample of approximately 14,000 z > 2.1 quasars observed in the first year of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), we measure the three-dimensional correlation function of absorption in the Lyman-α forest. The angle-averaged correlation function of transmitted flux (F = e^−τ) is securely detected out to comoving separations of 60 h⁻¹Mpc, the first detection of flux correlations across widely separated sightlines. A quadrupole distortion of the redshift-space correlation function by peculiar velocities, the signature of the gravitational instability origin of structure in the Lyman-α forest, is also detected at high significance. We obtain a good fit to the data assuming linear theory redshift-space distortion and linear bias of the transmitted flux, relative to the matter fluctuations of a standard ΛCDM cosmological model (inflationary cold dark matter with a cosmological constant). At 95% confidence, we find a linear bias parameter 0.16 < b < 0.24 and redshift-distortion parameter 0.44 < β < 1.20, at central redshift z = 2.25, with a well constrained combinationb(1+β) = 0.336±0.012. The errors on β are asymmetric, with β = 0 excluded at over 5σ confidence level. The value of β is somewhat low compared to theoretical predictions, and our tests on synthetic data suggest that it is depressed (relative to expectations for the Lyman-α forest alone) by the presence of high column density systems and metal line absorption. These results set the stage for cosmological parameter determinations from three-dimensional structure in the Lyman-α forest, including anticipated constraints on dark energy from baryon acoustic oscillations.