Search results for "Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics"
showing 10 items of 608 documents
Cosmological radio emission induced by WIMP Dark Matter
2011
We present a detailed analysis of the radio synchrotron emission induced by WIMP dark matter annihilations and decays in extragalactic halos. We compute intensity, angular correlation, and source counts and discuss the impact on the expected signals of dark matter clustering, as well as of other astrophysical uncertainties as magnetic fields and spatial diffusion. Bounds on dark matter microscopic properties are then derived, and, depending on the specific set of assumptions, they are competitive with constraints from other indirect dark matter searches. At GHz frequencies, dark matter sources can become a significant fraction of the total number of sources with brightness below the microJa…
Soundness of Dark Energy properties
2020
Type Ia Supernovae (SNeIa) used as standardizable candles have been instrumental in the discovery of cosmic acceleration, usually attributed to some form of dark energy (DE). Recent studies have raised the issue of whether intrinsic SNeIa luminosities might evolve with redshift. While the evidence for cosmic acceleration is robust to this possible systematic, the question remains of how much the latter can affect the inferred properties of the DE component responsible for cosmic acceleration. This is the question we address in this work. We use SNeIa distance moduli measurements from the Pantheon and JLA samples. We consider models where the DE equation of state is a free parameter, either …
The Evolution of the Rest-frame V-band Luminosity Function from z=4: A Constant Faint-end Slope over the Last 12 Gyr of Cosmic History
2012
We present the rest-frame V-band luminosity function (LF) of galaxies at 0.4<z<4.0, measured from a near-infrared selected sample constructed from the NMBS, the FIRES, the FIREWORKS, and the ultra-deep NICMOS and WFC3 observations in the HDFN, HUDF, and GOODS-CDFS, all having high-quality optical to mid-infrared data. This unique sample combines data from surveys with a large range of depths and areas in a self-consistent way, allowing us to (1) minimize the uncertainties due to cosmic variance; and (2) simultaneously constrain the bright and faint ends with unprecedented accuracy over the targeted redshift range, probing the LF down to 0.1 L* at z~3.9. We find that (1) the faint end is fai…
EDGES result versus CMB and low-redshift constraints on ionization histories
2018
We examine the results from the Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of Reionization Signature (EDGES), which has recently claimed the detection of a strong absorption in the 21 cm hyperfine transition line of neutral hydrogen, at redshifts demarcating the early stages of star formation. More concretely, we study the compatibility of the shape of the EDGES absorption profile, centered at a redshift of $z \sim 17.2$, with measurements of the reionization optical depth, the Gunn-Peterson optical depth, and Lyman-$\alpha$ emission from star-forming galaxies, for a variety of possible reionization models within the standard $\Lambda$CDM framework (that is, a Universe with a cosmological consta…
The Cosmological Evolution of Light Dark Photon Dark Matter
2020
Light dark photons are subject to various plasma effects, such as Debye screening and resonant oscillations, which can lead to a more complex cosmological evolution than is experienced by conventional cold dark matter candidates. Maintaining a consistent history of dark photon dark matter requires ensuring that the super-thermal abundance present in the early Universe $\textit{(i)}$ does not deviate significantly after the formation of the CMB, and $\textit{(ii)}$ does not excessively leak into the Standard Model plasma after BBN. We point out that the role of non-resonant absorption, which has previously been neglected in cosmological studies of this dark matter candidate, produces strong …
Neutrino halos in clusters of galaxies and their weak lensing signature
2011
We study whether non-linear gravitational effects of relic neutrinos on the development of clustering and large-scale structure may be observable by weak gravitational lensing. We compute the density profile of relic massive neutrinos in a spherical model of a cluster of galaxies, for several neutrino mass schemes and cluster masses. Relic neutrinos add a small perturbation to the mass profile, making it more extended in the outer parts. In principle, this non-linear neutrino perturbation is detectable in an all-sky weak lensing survey such as EUCLID by averaging the shear profile of a large fraction of the visible massive clusters in the universe, or from its signature in the general weak …
A fresh look into the interacting dark matter scenario
2018
The elastic scattering between dark matter particles and radiation represents an attractive possibility to solve a number of discrepancies between observations and standard cold dark matter predictions, as the induced collisional damping would imply a suppression of small-scale structures. We consider this scenario and confront it with measurements of the ionization history of the Universe at several redshifts and with recent estimates of the counts of Milky Way satellite galaxies. We derive a conservative upper bound on the dark matter-photon elastic scattering cross section of $\sigma_{\gamma \rm{DM}} < 8 \times 10^{-10} \, \sigma_T \, \left(m_{\rm DM}/{\rm GeV}\right)$ at $95\%$~CL, abou…
A fake Interacting Dark Energy detection?
2020
Models involving an interaction between the Dark Matter and the Dark Energy sectors have been proposed to alleviate the long standing Hubble constant tension. In this paper we analyze whether the constraints and potential hints obtained for these interacting models remain unchanged when using simulated Planck data. Interestingly, our simulations indicate that a dangerous fake detection for a non-zero interaction among the Dark Matter and the Dark Energy fluids could arise when dealing with current CMB Planck measurements alone. The very same hypothesis is tested against future CMB observations, finding that only cosmic variance limited polarization experiments, such as PICO or PRISM, could …
Running of featureful primordial power spectra
2017
Current measurements of the temperature and polarization anisotropy power spectra of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) seem to indicate that the naive expectation for the slow-roll hierarchy within the most simple inflationary paradigm may not be respected in nature. We show that a primordial power spectra with localized features could in principle give rise to the observed slow-roll anarchy when fitted to a featureless power spectrum. Future CMB missions have the key to disentangle among the two possible paradigms and firmly establish the slow-roll mechanism as the responsible one for the inflationary period in the early universe. From a model comparison perspective, and assuming that …
Thermal conduction by dark matter with velocity and momentum-dependent cross-sections
2014
We use the formalism of Gould and Raffelt to compute the dimensionless thermal conduction coefficients for scattering of dark matter particles with standard model nucleons via cross-sections that depend on the relative velocity or momentum exchanged between particles. Motivated by models invoked to reconcile various recent results in direct detection, we explicitly compute the conduction coefficients $\alpha$ and $\kappa$ for cross-sections that go as $v_{\rm rel}^2$, $v_{\rm rel}^4$, $v_{\rm rel}^{-2}$, $q^2$, $q^4$ and $q^{-2}$, where $v_{\rm rel}$ is the relative DM-nucleus velocity and $q$ is the momentum transferred in the collision. We find that a $v_{\rm rel}^{-2}$ dependence can sig…