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At least 667 records · Page 37
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

TDCOSMO. X. Automated modeling of nine strongly lensed quasars and comparison between lens-modeling software

When strong gravitational lenses are to be used as an astrophysical or cosmological probe, models of their mass distributions are often needed. We present a new, time-efficient automation code for the uniform modeling of strongly lensed quasars with GLEE, a lens-modeling software for multiband data. By using the observed positions of the lensed quasars and the spatially extended surface brightness distribution of the host galaxy of the lensed quasar, we obtain a model of the mass distribution of the lens galaxy. We applied this uniform modeling pipeline to a sample of nine strongly lensed quasars for which images were obtained with the Wide Field Camera 3 of the Hubble Space Telescope. The models show well-reconstructed light components and a good alignment between mass and light centroids in most cases. We find that the automated modeling code significantly reduces the input time during the modeling process for the user. The time for preparing the required input files is reduced by a factor of 3 from ~3 h to about one hour. The active input time during the modeling process for the user is reduced by a factor of 10 from ~ 10 h to about one hour per lens system. This automated uniform modeling pipeline can efficiently produce uniform models of extensive lens-system samples that can be used for further cosmological analysis. A blind test that compared our results with those of an independent automated modeling pipeline based on the modeling software Lenstronomy revealed important lessons. Quantities such as Einstein radius, astrometry, mass flattening, and position angle are generally robustly determined. Other quantities, such as the radial slope of the mass density profile and predicted time delays, depend crucially on the quality of the data and on the accuracy with which the point spread function is reconstructed. Better data and/or a more detailed analysis are necessary to elevate our automated models to cosmography grade. Nevertheless, our pipeline enables the quick selection of lenses for follow-up and further modeling, which significantly speeds up the construction of cosmography-grade models. This important step forward will help us to take advantage of the increase in the number of lenses that is expected in the coming decade, which is an increase of several orders of magnitude.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Scale genesis and gravitational wave in a classically scale invariant extension of the standard model

We assume that the origin of the electroweak (EW) scale is a gauge-invariant scalar-bilinear condensation in a strongly interacting non-abelian gauge sector, which is connected to the standard model via a Higgs portal coupling. The dynamical scale genesis appears as a phase transition at finite temperature, and it can produce a gravitational wave (GW) background in the early Universe. We find that the critical temperature of the scale phase transition lies above that of the EW phase transition and below few O(100) GeV and it is strongly first-order. We calculate the spectrum of the GW background and find the scale phase transition is strong enough that the GW background can be observed by DECIGO.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Dark matter voids in the SDSS galaxy survey

What do we know about voids in the dark matter distribution given the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and assuming the ΛCDM model? Recent application of the Bayesian inference algorithm BORG to the SDSS Data Release 7 main galaxy sample has generated detailed Eulerian and Lagrangian representations of the large-scale structure as well as the possibility to accurately quantify corresponding uncertainties. Building upon these results, we present constrained catalogs of voids in the Sloan volume, aiming at a physical representation of dark matter underdensities and at the alleviation of the problems due to sparsity and biasing on galaxy void catalogs. To do so, we generate data-constrained reconstructions of the presently observed large-scale structure using a fully non-linear gravitational model. We then find and analyze void candidates using the VIDE toolkit. Our methodology therefore predicts the properties of voids based on fusing prior information from simulations and data constraints. For usual void statistics (number function, ellipticity distribution and radial density profile), all the results obtained are in agreement with dark matter simulations. Our dark matter void candidates probe a deeper void hierarchy than voids directly based on the observed galaxies alone. The use of our catalogs therefore opens the way to high-precision void cosmology at the level of the dark matter field. We will make the void catalogs used in this work available at http://www.cosmicvoids.net.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Effective theory of dark energy at redshift survey scales

We explore the phenomenological consequences of general late-time modifications of gravity in the quasi-static approximation, in the case where cold dark matter is non-minimally coupled to the gravitational sector. Assuming spectroscopic and photometric surveys with configuration parameters similar to those of the Euclid mission, we derive constraints on our effective description from three observables: the galaxy power spectrum in redshift space, tomographic weak-lensing shear power spectrum and the correlation spectrum between the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect and the galaxy distribution. In particular, with ΛCDM as fiducial model and a specific choice for the time dependence of our effective functions, we perform a Fisher matrix analysis and find that the unmarginalized 68% CL errors on the parameters describing the modifications of gravity are of order σ∼10{sup −2}–10{sup −3}. We also consider two other fiducial models. A nonminimal coupling of CDM enhances the effects of modified gravity and reduces the above statistical errors accordingly. In all cases, we find that the parameters are highly degenerate, which prevents the inversion of the Fisher matrices. Some of these degeneracies can be broken by combining all three observational probes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Revised cosmological parameters after BICEP 2 and BOSS

Estimation of parameters of the 'standard' model of cosmology have dramatically improved over past few decades due to increasingly exquisite measurements made by Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments. Recent data from Planck matches well with the minimal ΛCDM model. A likelihood analysis using Planck, WMAP and a selection of high resolution experiments (highL), tensor to scalar ratio r{sub 0.002} is found to be <0.11 when dn{sub s}/dln k = 0. Planck also imposes an upper bound on neutrino mass ∑ m{sub ν}<0.23 eV using Planck + WMAP + highL + BAO likelihood. However, recently results from BICEP 2 claims the detection of r= 0.2{sup +0.07}{sub −0.05} from polarization spectra. Further, results from SDSS-III BOSS large scale galaxy survey constrains the total neutrino mass to ∑ m{sub ν}=0.36 ± 0.10 eV . It is important to study the consequences of these new measurements on other cosmological parameters. In this paper we assess the revised constraints on cosmological parameters in light of these two measurements that are in some tension with the constraints from Planck. The sensitivity of Planck to weak lensing effect on the CMB angular power spectrum suggests that the normalized amplitude of physical lensing power A{sub L} > 1 at 2σ hints at a potentially important internal inconsistency. Therefore, we also include a study of the constraints on A{sub L}. Using the prior on ∑ m{sub ν} as measured by SDSS-III BOSS and BICEP 2 likelihood, we find that the model with running spectral index (dn{sub s}/dln k ≠ 0) leads to a value of A{sub L}>1 at 3.1 σ. But, the model with dn{sub s}/dln k =0 makes A{sub L} consistent with 1, at 2.1σ and also shows that N{sub eff} is consistent with its theoretical value of 3.046 at around 2σ. Therefore, the analysis in this paper shows that the model with dn{sub s}/dln k =0 gives consistency with other cosmological parameters (N{sub eff} and A{sub L} ) when the current limits on ∑ m{sub ν} and r{sub 0.05} are considered. However, on reducing the value of r{sub 0.05}, the model with non-zero dn{sub s}/dln k gives consistent result of A{sub L} =1.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

ON THE INTERMEDIATE-REDSHIFT CENTRAL STELLAR MASS-HALO MASS RELATION, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE EVOLUTION OF THE MOST MASSIVE GALAXIES SINCE z ∼ 1

The stellar mass-halo mass relation is a key constraint in all semi-analytic, numerical, and semi-empirical models of galaxy formation and evolution. However, its exact shape and redshift dependence remain under debate. Several recent works support a relation in the local universe steeper than previously thought. Based on comparisons with a variety of data on massive central galaxies, we show that this steepening holds up to z ∼ 1 for stellar masses M {sub star} ≳ 2 × 10{sup 11} M {sub ☉}. Specifically, we find significant evidence for a high-mass end slope of β ≳ 0.35-0.70 instead of the usual β ≲ 0.20-0.30 reported by a number of previous results. When including the independent constraints from the recent Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey clustering measurements, the data, independent of any systematic errors in stellar masses, tend to favor a model with a very small scatter (≲ 0.15 dex) in stellar mass at fixed halo mass, in the redshift range z < 0.8 and for M {sub star} > 3 × 10{sup 11} M {sub ☉}, suggesting a close connection between massive galaxies and host halos even at relatively recent epochs. We discuss the implications of our results with respect to the evolution of the most massive galaxies since z ∼ 1.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

CLASH-VLT: testing the nature of gravity with galaxy cluster mass profiles

We use high-precision kinematic and lensing measurements of the total mass profile of the dynamically relaxed galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 at z=0.44 to estimate the value of the ratio η=Ψ/Φ between the two scalar potentials in the linear perturbed Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker metric. An accurate measurement of this ratio, called anisotropic stress, could show possible, interesting deviations from the predictions of the theory of General Relativity, according to which Ψ should be equal to Φ. Complementary kinematic and lensing mass profiles were derived from exhaustive analyses using the data from the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) and the spectroscopic follow-up with the Very Large Telescope (CLASH-VLT). Whereas the kinematic mass profile tracks only the time-time part of the perturbed metric (i.e. only Φ), the lensing mass profile reflects the contribution of both time-time and space-space components (i.e. the sum Φ+Ψ). We thus express η as a function of the mass profiles and perform our analysis over the radial range 0.5 Mpc≤ r≤ r{sub 200}=1.96 Mpc. Using a spherical Navarro-Frenk-White mass profile, which well fits the data, we obtain η(r{sub 200})=1.01 {sub −0.28}{sup +0.31} at the 68% C.L. We discuss the effect of assuming different functional forms for mass profiles and of the orbit anisotropy in the kinematic reconstruction. Interpreting this result within the well-studied f(R) modified gravity model, the constraint on η translates into an upper bound to the interaction length (inverse of the scalaron mass) smaller than 2 Mpc. This tight constraint on the f(R) interaction range is however substantially relaxed when systematic uncertainties in the analysis are considered. Our analysis highlights the potential of this method to detect deviations from general relativity, while calling for the need of further high-quality data on the total mass distribution of clusters and improved control on systematic effects.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

No evidence for bulk velocity from type Ia supernovae

We revisit the effect of peculiar velocities on low-redshift type Ia supernovae. Velocities introduce an additional guaranteed source of correlations between supernova magnitudes that should be considered in all analyses of nearby supernova samples but has largely been neglected in the past. Applying a likelihood analysis to the latest compilation of nearby supernovae, we find no evidence for the presence of these correlations, although, given the significant noise, the data is also consistent with the correlations predicted for the standard ΛCDM model. We then consider the dipolar component of the velocity correlations—the frequently studied ''bulk velocity''—and explicitly demonstrate that including the velocity correlations in the data covariance matrix is crucial for drawing correct and unambiguous conclusions about the bulk flow. In particular, current supernova data is consistent with no excess bulk flow on top of what is expected in ΛCDM and effectively captured by the covariance. We further clarify the nature of the apparent bulk flow that is inferred when the velocity covariance is ignored. We show that a significant fraction of this quantity is expected to be noise bias due to uncertainties in supernova magnitudes and not any physical peculiar motion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Renormalizing a viscous fluid model for large scale structure formation

Using the Stochastic Adhesion Model (SAM) as a simple toy model for cosmic structure formation, we study renormalization and the removal of the cutoff dependence from loop integrals in perturbative calculations. SAM shares the same symmetry with the full system of continuity+Euler equations and includes a viscosity term and a stochastic noise term, similar to the effective theories recently put forward to model CDM clustering. We show in this context that if the viscosity and noise terms are treated as perturbative corrections to the standard eulerian perturbation theory, they are necessarily non-local in time. To ensure Galilean Invariance higher order vertices related to the viscosity and the noise must then be added and we explicitly show at one-loop that these terms act as counter terms for vertex diagrams. The Ward Identities ensure that the non-local-in-time theory can be renormalized consistently. Another possibility is to include the viscosity in the linear propagator, resulting in exponential damping at high wavenumber. The resulting local-in-time theory is then renormalizable to one loop, requiring less free parameters for its renormalization.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Speeding up N-body simulations of modified gravity: Vainshtein screening models

We introduce and demonstrate the power of a method to speed up current iterative techniques for N-body modified gravity simulations. Our method is based on the observation that the accuracy of the final result is not compromised if the calculation of the fifth force becomes less accurate, but substantially faster, in high-density regions where it is relatively weak due to screening. We focus on the nDGP model which employs Vainshtein screening, and test our method by running AMR simulations in which the fifth force on the finer levels of the mesh (high density) is not obtained iteratively, but instead interpolated from coarser levels. The calculation of the standard gravity component of the force still employs the full AMR structure. We show that the impact this has on the matter power spectrum is below 1% for k < 5h/Mpc at 0z = , and even smaller at higher redshift. The impact on halo properties is also small (∼< 3% for abundance, profiles, mass; and ∼< 0.05% for positions and velocities). The method can boost the performance of modified gravity simulations by more than a factor of 10. This allows them to run on timescales similar to GR simulations and to push them to resolution levels that were previously hard to achieve.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Transition redshift: new constraints from parametric and nonparametric methods

In this paper, we use the cosmokinematics approach to study the accelerated expansion of the Universe. This is a model independent approach and depends only on the assumption that the Universe is homogeneous and isotropic and is described by the FRW metric. We parametrize the deceleration parameter, q(z), to constrain the transition redshift (z{sub t}) at which the expansion of the Universe goes from a decelerating to an accelerating phase. We use three different parametrizations of q(z) namely, q{sub I}(z)=q{sub 1}+q{sub 2}z, q{sub II} (z) = q{sub 3} + q{sub 4} ln (1 + z) and q{sub III} (z)=½+q{sub 5}/(1+z){sup 2}. A joint analysis of the age of galaxies, strong lensing and supernovae Ia data indicates that the transition redshift is less than unity i.e. z{sub t} < 1. We also use a nonparametric approach (LOESS+SIMEX) to constrain z{sub t}. This too gives z{sub t} < 1 which is consistent with the value obtained by the parametric approach.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

The quantum realm of the ''Little Sibling'' of the Big Rip singularity

We analyse the quantum behaviour of the ''Little Sibling'' of the Big Rip singularity (LSBR) [1]. The quantisation is carried within the geometrodynamical approach given by the Wheeler-DeWitt (WDW) equation. The classical model is based on a Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker Universe filled by a perfect fluid that can be mapped to a scalar field with phantom character. We analyse the WDW equation in two setups. In the first step, we consider the scale factor as the single degree of freedom, which from a classical perspective parametrises both the geometry and the matter content given by the perfect fluid. We then solve the WDW equation within a WKB approximation, for two factor ordering choices. On the second approach, we consider the WDW equation with two degrees of freedom: the scale factor and a scalar field. We solve the WDW equation, with the Laplace-Beltrami factor-ordering, using a Born-Oppenheimer approximation. In both approaches, we impose the DeWitt (DW) condition as a potential criterion for singularity avoidance. We conclude that in all the cases analysed the DW condition can be verified, which might be an indication that the LSBR can be avoided or smoothed in the quantum approach.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

On time-dependent backgrounds in 1 + 1 dimensional string theory

In perturbative string theory, one is generally interested in asymptotic observables, such as the S-matrix in flat spacetime, and boundary correlation functions in anti-de Sitter spacetime. However, there are backgrounds in which such observables do not exist. We study examples of such backgrounds in 1 + 1 dimensional string theory. In these examples, the Liouville wall accelerates and can become spacelike in the past and/or future. When that happens, the corresponding null infinity, at which the standard scattering states are defined, is shielded by the Liouville wall. We compute scattering and particle production amplitudes in these backgrounds in the region in parameter space where the wall remains timelike, and discuss the continuation of this picture to the spacelike regime. We also discuss the physics from the point of view of the dynamics of free fermions in backgrounds with a time-dependent Fermi surface.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: magnification modelling and impact on cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering and galaxy–galaxy lensing

We study the effect of magnification in the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 analysis of galaxy clustering and galaxy–galaxy lensing, using two different lens samples: a sample of luminous red galaxies, redMaGiC, and a sample with a redshift-dependent magnitude limit, MagLim. We account for the effect of magnification on both the flux and size selection of galaxies, accounting for systematic effects using the Balrog image simulations. We estimate the impact of magnification on the galaxy clustering and galaxy–galaxy lensing cosmology analysis, finding it to be a significant systematic for the MagLim sample. We show cosmological constraints from the galaxy clustering autocorrelation and galaxy–galaxy lensing signal with different magnifications priors, finding broad consistency in cosmological parameters in ΛCDM and wCDM. However, when magnification bias amplitude is allowed to be free, we find the two-point correlation functions prefer a different amplitude to the fiducial input derived from the image simulations. We validate the magnification analysis by comparing the cross-clustering between lens bins with the prediction from the baseline analysis, which uses only the autocorrelation of the lens bins, indicating that systematics other than magnification may be the cause of the discrepancy. We show that adding the cross-clustering between lens redshift bins to the fit significantly improves the constraints on lens magnification parameters and allows uninformative priors to be used on magnification coefficients, without any loss of constraining power or prior volume concerns.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Cosmological QCD phase transition in steady non-equilibrium dissipative Hořava–Lifshitz early universe

We study the phase transition from quark–gluon plasma to hadrons in the early universe in the context of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. According to the standard model of cosmology, a phase transition associated with chiral symmetry breaking after the electro-weak transition has occurred when the universe was about 1–10 μs old. We focus attention on such a phase transition in the presence of a viscous relativistic cosmological background fluid in the framework of non-detailed balance Hořava–Lifshitz cosmology within an effective model of QCD. We consider a flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker universe filled with a non-causal and a causal bulk viscous cosmological fluid respectively and investigate the effects of the running coupling constants of Hořava–Lifshitz gravity, λ, on the evolution of the physical quantities relevant to a description of the early universe, namely, the temperature T, scale factor a, deceleration parameter q and dimensionless ratio of the bulk viscosity coefficient to entropy density (ξ)/s . We assume that the bulk viscosity cosmological background fluid obeys the evolution equation of the steady truncated (Eckart) and full version of the Israel–Stewart fluid, respectively. -- Highlights: •In this paper we have studied quark–hadron phase transition in the early universe in the context of the Hořava–Lifshitz model. •We use a flat FRW universe with the bulk viscosity cosmological background fluid obeying the evolution equation of the steady truncated (Eckart) and full version of the Israel–Stewart fluid, respectively.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1989

Cosmological velocity correlations - Observations and model predictions

By applying the present simple statistics for two-point cosmological peculiar velocity-correlation measurements to the actual data sets of the Local Supercluster spiral galaxy of Aaronson et al. (1982) and the elliptical galaxy sample of Burstein et al. (1987), as well as to the velocity field predicted by the distribution of IRAS galaxies, a coherence length of 1100-1600 km/sec is obtained. Coherence length is defined as that separation at which the correlations drop to half their zero-lag value. These results are compared with predictions from two models of large-scale structure formation: that of cold dark matter and that of baryon isocurvature proposed by Peebles (1980). N-body simulations of these models are performed to check the linear theory predictions and measure sampling fluctuations.

Gorski, Krzysztof M.↗