Search results for "Cosmic microwave background"
showing 10 items of 134 documents
Cosmological Vector Perturbations and CMB Anomalies
2010
Recently, it has been proved that large scale vector modes could explain most of the CMB anomalies in the first temperature multipoles. Some divergenceless (vortical) velocity fields–which are superimpositions of vector modes–can explain both the alignment of the second and third multipoles and the planar character of the octopole. In this paper we comment: (a) some papers trying to account for the mentioned anomalies, (b) our explanation based on vector modes, and (c) some current ideas about the possible origin of these modes.
Looking for the imprints of nonlinear structures on the cosmic microwave background
1997
Abstract Many authors have estimated the anisotropies produced by one isolated cosmological non-linear inhomogeneity. This paper is an updated review about these estimates. The main methods used in order to deal with this problem are described. The limitations of these methods are analyzed. Results appear to be particularly interesting in the open non-linear case, in which a general treatment of the anisotropies produced by inhomogeneity distributions is very troublesome. The effects produced by very big structures such as the Great Attractor and the Bootes Void are studied in detail. Some generalities about the origin, detection and features of the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies …
On the microwave background anisotropy produced by big voids in open universes
1996
The Tolman-Bondi solution of the Einstein equations is used in order to model the time evolution of the void observed in Bo\"otes. The present density contrast of the central region ($\sim -0.75$) and its radius ($\sim 30h^{-1} \ Mpc$) are fixed, while the density parameter of the Universe, the amplitude of the density contrast inside the void wall, the width of this wall and the distance from the void centre to the Local Group are appropriately varied. The microwave background anisotropy produced by Bo\"otes-like voids is estimated for a significant set of locations. All the voids are placed far from the last scattering surface. It is shown that the anisotropy generated by these voids stro…
Large-scale inhomogeneities may improve the cosmic concordance of supernovae
2010
We reanalyze the supernovae data from the Union Compilation including the weak lensing effects caused by inhomogeneities. We compute the lensing probability distribution function for each background solution described by the parameters Omega_M, Omega_L and w in the presence of inhomogeneities, approximately modeled with a single-mass population of halos. We then perform a likelihood analysis in the space of FLRW-parameters and compare our results with the standard approach. We find that the inclusion of lensing can move the best-fit model significantly towards the cosmic concordance of the flat LCDM model, improving the agreement with the constraints coming from the cosmic microwave backgro…
The galaxy power spectrum take on spatial curvature and cosmic concordance
2020
The concordance of the $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model in light of current observations has been the subject of an intense debate in recent months. The 2018 Planck Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropy power spectrum measurements appear at face value to favour a spatially closed Universe with curvature parameter $\Omega_K<0$. This preference disappears if Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) measurements are combined with Planck data to break the geometrical degeneracy, although the reliability of this combination has been questioned due to the strong tension present between the two datasets when assuming a curved Universe. Here, we approach this issue from yet another point…
Neutrino Mass Ordering from Oscillations and Beyond: 2018 Status and Future Prospects
2018
The ordering of the neutrino masses is a crucial input for a deep understanding of flavor physics, and its determination may provide the key to establish the relationship among the lepton masses and mixings and their analogous properties in the quark sector. The extraction of the neutrino mass ordering is a data-driven field expected to evolve very rapidly in the next decade. In this review, we both analyze the present status and describe the physics of subsequent prospects. Firstly, the different current available tools to measure the neutrino mass ordering are described. Namely, reactor, long-baseline (accelerator and atmospheric) neutrino beams, laboratory searches for beta and neutrinol…
Inflation, quantum fields, and CMB anisotropies
2009
Revert field Inflationary cosmology has proved to be the most successful at predicting the properties of the anisotropies observed in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). In this essay we show that quantum field renormalization significantly influences the generation of primordial perturbations and hence the expected measurable imprint of cosmological inflation on the CMB. However, the new predictions remain in agreement with observation, and in fact favor the simplest forms of inflation. In the near future, observations of the influence of gravitational waves from the early universe on the CMB will test our new predictions.
Cosmic microwave background constraints on secret interactions among sterile neutrinos
2017
Secret contact interactions among eV sterile neutrinos, mediated by a massive gauge boson $X$ (with $M_X \ll M_W$), and characterized by a gauge coupling $g_X$, have been proposed as a mean to reconcile cosmological observations and short-baseline laboratory anomalies. We constrain this scenario using the latest Planck data on Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies, and measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). We consistently include the effect of secret interactions on cosmological perturbations, namely the increased density and pressure fluctuations in the neutrino fluid, and still find a severe tension between the secret interaction framework and cosmology. In fact, taking i…
Revisiting cosmological bounds on sterile neutrinos
2014
We employ state-of-the art cosmological observables including supernova surveys and BAO information to provide constraints on the mass and mixing angle of a non-resonantly produced sterile neutrino species, showing that cosmology can effectively rule out sterile neutrinos which decay between BBN and the present day. The decoupling of an additional heavy neutrino species can modify the time dependence of the Universe's expansion between BBN and recombination and, in extreme cases, lead to an additional matter-dominated period; while this could naively lead to a younger Universe with a larger Hubble parameter, it could later be compensated by the extra radiation expected in the form of neutri…
Cosmological origin of anomalous radio background
2012
The ARCADE 2 collaboration has reported a significant excess in the isotropic radio background, whose homogeneity cannot be reconciled with clustered sources. This suggests a cosmological origin prior to structure formation. We investigate several potential mechanisms and show that injection of relativistic electrons through late decays of a metastable particle can give rise to the observed excess radio spectrum through synchrotron emission. However, constraints from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy, on injection of charged particles and on the primordial magnetic field, present a challenge. The simplest scenario is with a greater than or similar to 9 GeV particle decaying i…