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Results for “Cosmological evolution”

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NASA NTRS2017

Cosmic Infrared Background Fluctuations and Zodiacal Light

We performed a specific observational test to measure the effect that the zodiacal light can have on measurements of the spatial fluctuations of the near-IR (near-infrared)background. Previous estimates of possible fluctuations caused by zodiacal light have often been extrapolated from observations of the thermal emission at longer wavelengths and low angular resolution or from IRAC (Infrared Array Camera) observations of high-latitude fields where zodiacal light is faint and not strongly varying with time. The new observations analyzed here target the COSMOS (Cosmic Evolution Survey) field at low ecliptic latitude where the zodiacal light intensity varies by factors of approximately 2 over the range of solar elongations at which the field can be observed. We find that the white-noise component of the spatial power spectrum of the background is correlated with the modeled zodiacal light intensity. Roughly half of the measured white noise is correlated with the zodiacal light, but a more detailed interpretation of the white noise is hampered by systematic uncertainties that are evident in the zodiacal light model. At large angular scales (greater than or approximately equal to 100 arcseconds) where excess power above the white noise is observed, we find no correlation of the power with the modeled intensity of the zodiacal light. This test clearly indicates that the large-scale power in the infrared background is not being caused by the zodiacal light.

cosmology: observations aEuro" diffuse radiation a↗

NASA NTRS2013

A Measurement of the Millimeter Emission and the Sunyaev-zel'dovich Effect Associated with Low-frequency Radio Sources

We present a statistical analysis of the millimeter-wavelength properties of 1.4 GHz-selected sources and a detection of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect associated with the halos that host them. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) has conducted a survey at 148 GHz, 218 GHz and 277 GHz along the celestial equator. Using samples of radio sources selected at 1.4 GHz from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters (FIRST) Survey and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Very Large Array Sky Survey (NVSS), we measure the stacked 148, 218 and 277 GHz flux densities for sources with 1.4 GHz flux densities ranging from 5 to 200 mJy. At these flux densities, the radio source population is dominated by active galactic nuclei (AGN), with both steep and at spectrum populations, which have combined radio-to-millimeter spectral indices ranging from 0.5 to 0.95, reecting the prevalence of steep spectrum sources at high flux densities and the presence of at spectrum sources at lower flux densities. The thermal Sunyaev-Zelapos;dovich (SZ) eect associated with the halos that host the AGN is detected at the 5 level through its spectral signature. When we compare the SZ eect with weak lensing measurements of radio galaxies, we find that the relation between the two is consistent with that measured by Planck for local bright galaxies. We present a detection of the SZ eect in some of the lowest mass halos (average M(sub 200) approx. equals 10(exp 13) solar M h(sup-1) (sub 70) ) studied to date. This detection is particularly important in the context of galaxy evolution models, as it confirms that galaxies with radio AGN also typically support hot gaseous halos. With Herschel* observations, we show that the SZ detection is not significantly contaminated by dusty galaxies or by dust associated with the AGN or galaxies hosting the AGN. We show that 5 mJy < S(sub 1:4) < 200 mJy radio sources contribute l(l +1)C(sub l)/(2 pi ) = 0:37+/- 0:03 micro K(exp 2) to the angular power spectrum at l = 3000 at 148 GHz, after accounting for the SZ effect associated with their host halos.

galaxies↗

NASA NTRS2013

The Supercritical Pile Gamma-Ray Burst Model: The GRB Afterglow Steep Decline and Plateau Phase

We present a process that accounts for the steep decline and plateau phase of the Swift X-Ray Telescope (XRT) light curves, vexing features of gamma-ray burst (GRB) phenomenology. This process is an integral part of the "supercritical pile" GRB model, proposed a few years ago to account for the conversion of the GRB kinetic energy into radiation with a spectral peak at E(sub pk) is approx. m(sub e)C(exp 2). We compute the evolution of the relativistic blast wave (RBW) Lorentz factor Gamma to show that the radiation-reaction force due to the GRB emission can produce an abrupt, small (approx. 25%) decrease in Gamma at a radius that is smaller (depending on conditions) than the deceleration radius R(sub D). Because of this reduction, the kinematic criticality criterion of the "supercritical pile" is no longer fulfilled. Transfer of the proton energy into electrons ceases and the GRB enters abruptly the afterglow phase at a luminosity smaller by approx. m(sub p)/m(sub e) than that of the prompt emission. If the radius at which this slow-down occurs is significantly smaller than R(sub D), the RBW internal energy continues to drive the RBW expansion at a constant (new) Gamma and its X-ray luminosity remains constant until R(sub D) is reached, at which point it resumes its more conventional decay, thereby completing the "unexpected" XRT light curve phase. If this transition occurs at R is approx. equal to R(sub D), the steep decline is followed by a flux decrease instead of a "plateau," consistent with the conventional afterglow declines. Besides providing an account of these peculiarities, the model suggests that the afterglow phase may in fact begin before the RBW reaches R is approx. equal to R(sub D), thus providing novel insights into GRB phenomenology.

parameters↗

NASA NTRS1999

Dark Matter in the Universe and in the Galaxy

During the past four years, Prof. Kamionkowski and collaborators have made progress in research on the nature and distribution of dark-matter in the Universe and in the Galaxy, and on related topics in astrophysics and cosmology. We have made progress on research on the cosmic microwave background, large-scale structure, issues related to particle dark matter, and the gamma-ray-burst enigma. A significant fraction of the research supported by this ATP has been on the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Prof. Kamionkowski and collaborators showed how the polarization of the CMB could be used to detect long-wavelength gravitational waves, such as those produced by inflation. With Kosowsky, Prof. Kamionkowski calculated the amplitude of a stochastic gravitational-wave background that could be detected for a satellite experiment of a given sensitivity and angular resolution. They showed that polarization should improve the sensitivity oa MAP to these gravity waves, and that the Planck Surveyor should do even better. Prof. Kamionkowski, Caldwell, and a student calculated and illustrated the CMB temperature/polarization pattern produced by a single plane-wave gravitational wave. They calculated the amplitude of such a wave that would be detectable with MAP and Planck, and compared that with the sensitivity of traditional gravitational-wave detectors like LIGO and LISA. With Lue and Wang, the PI showed how parity violation from new high-energy physics could conceivably give rise to an observable signature in the CMB polarization. With Loeb, Prof. Kamionkowski showed how measurement of the polarization of CMB photons scattered by hot gas in a cluster could be used to determine the quadrupole moment of the CMB incident on that cluster. Prof. Kamionkowski and Jaffe calculated the amplitude of secondary anisotropies produced by scattering of CMB photons from reionized regions. Research has also been carried out on probing the large-scale distribution of mass in the Universe today, and on structure-formation theories. They investigated the possibility of determining the large-scale distribution of mass in the Universe via measurement of ellipticity-ellipticity correlations in the FIRST radio survey induced by weak gravitational lensing due to mass inhomogeneities along the line of sight. Dr. Summers, Prof. Kamionkowski, and a student investigated the distribution of protogalactic masses and angular momenta in an effort to understand how the luminosity function and angular-momentum distribution of disk galaxies arises from an initial power spectrum of density perturbations. Several projects related to the distribution and possible detection of dark matter in our Galactic halo were studied. The PI was involved in several projects involving the calculation of nuclear-reaction rates needed for stellar evolution and for predictions of solar-neutrino fluxes.

Kamionkowski, Marc↗

NASA NTRS1995

Nonlinear structure formation in flat cosmological models

This paper describes the formation of nonlinear structure in flat (zero curvature) Friedmann cosmological models. We consider models with two components: the usual nonrelativistic component that evolves under gravity and eventually forms the large-scale structure of the universe, and a uniform dark matter component that does not clump under gravity, and whose energy density varies with the scale factor a(t) like a(t)(sup -n), where n is a free parameter. Each model is characterized by two parameters: the exponent n and the present density parameter Omega(sub 0) of the nonrelativistic component. The linear perturbation equations are derived and solved for these models, for the three different cases n = 3, n is greater than 3, and n is less than 3. The case n = 3 is relevant to model with massive neutrinos. The presence of the uniform component strongly reduces the growth of the perturbation compared with the Einstein-de Sitter model. We show that the Meszaros effect (suppression of growth at high redshift) holds not only for n = 4, radiation-dominated models, but for all models with n is greater than 3. This essentially rules out any such model. For the case n is less than 3, we numerically integrate the perturbation equations from the big bang to the present, for 620 different models with various values of Omega(sub 0) and n. Using these solutions, we show that the function f(Omega(sub 0), n) = (a/delta(sub +))d(delta)(sub +)/da, which enters in the relationship between the present density contrast delta(sub 0) and peculiar velocity field u(sub 0) is essentially independent of n. We derive approximate solutions for the second-order perturbation equations. These second-order solutions are tested against the exact solutions and the Zel'dovich approximation for spherically symmetric perturbations in the marginally nonlinear regime (the absolute value of delta is less than or approximately 1). The second-order and Zel'dovich solutions have comparable accuracy, significantly higher than the accuracy of the linear solutions. We then investigate the dependence of the delta(sub 0) - u(sub 0) relationship upon the value of n in the nonlinear regime using the second-order solutions for marginally nonlinear, general perturbations, and the exact solutions for strongly nonlinear, spherically symmetric perturbations. In both cases, we find that the delta(sub 0) - u(sub 0) relationship remains independent of n. We speculate that this result extends to strongly nonlinear, general perturbations as well. This eliminates any hope to determine the presence of the uniform component or the value of n using dynamical methods. Finally, we compute the nonlinear evolution of the skewness of the distribution of values of delta, assuming Gaussian initial conditions. We find that the skewness is not only independent of n, but also of Omega(sub 0). Thus the skewness cannot be used to discriminate among various models with Gaussian initial conditions. However, it can be used for testing the Gaussianity of the initial conditions themselves. We conclude that the uniform component leaves no observable signature in the present large-scale structure of the universe. To determine its presence and nature, we must investigate the relationship between the past and present universe, using redshift-dependent tests.

Martel, Hugo↗