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Di Valentino, E., Giusarma, E., Lattanzi, M., Mena, O., Melchiorri, A., & Silk, J. (2016). Cosmological axion and neutrino mass constraints from Planck 2015 temperature and polarization data. Phys. Lett. B, 752, 182–185.
Abstract: Axions currently provide the most compelling solution to the strong CP problem. These particles may be copiously produced in the early universe, including via thermal processes. Therefore, relic axions constitute a hot dark matter component and their masses are strongly degenerate with those of the three active neutrinos, as they leave identical signatures in the different cosmological observables. In addition, thermal axions, while still relativistic states, also contribute to the relativistic degrees of freedom, parameterized via N-eff. We present the cosmological bounds on the relic axion and neutrino masses, exploiting the full Planck mission data, which include polarization measurements. In the mixed hot dark matter scenario explored here, we find the tightest and more robust constraint to date on the sum of the three active neutrino masses, Sigma m nu < 0.136eV at 95% CL, as it is obtained in the very well-known linear perturbation regime. The Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster number count data further tightens this bound, providing a 95% CL upper limit of Sigma m nu < 0.126 eV in this very same mixed hot dark matter model, a value which is very close to the expectations in the inverted hierarchical neutrino mass scenario. Using this same combination of data sets we find the most stringent bound to date on the thermal axion mass, m(a) < 0.529 eV at 95% CL.
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Di Valentino, E., Giusarma, E., Mena, O., Melchiorri, A., & Silk, J. (2016). Cosmological limits on neutrino unknowns versus low redshift priors. Phys. Rev. D, 93(8), 083527–11pp.
Abstract: Recent cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropy measurements from the Planck mission have significantly improved previous constraints on the neutrino masses as well as the bounds on extended models with massless or massive sterile neutrino states. However, due to parameter degeneracies, additional low redshift priors are mandatory in order to sharpen the CMB neutrino bounds. We explore here the role of different priors on low redshift quantities, such as the Hubble constant, the cluster mass bias, and the reionization optical depth tau. Concerning current priors on the Hubble constant and the cluster mass bias, the bounds on the neutrino parameters may differ appreciably depending on the choices adopted in the analyses. With regard to future improvements in the priors on the reionization optical depth, a value of tau = 0.05 +/- 0.01, motivated by astrophysical estimates of the reionization redshift, would lead to Sigma m(nu) < 0.0926 eV at 90% C.L., when combining the full Planck measurements, baryon acoustic oscillation, and Planck clusters data, thereby opening the window to unravel the neutrino mass hierarchy with existing cosmological probes.
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Di Valentino, E., Melchiorri, A., & Mena, O. (2013). Dark radiation sterile neutrino candidates after Planck data. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 11(11), 018–13pp.
Abstract: Recent Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) results from the Planck satellite, combined with previous CMB data and Hubble constant measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope, provide a constraint on the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom 3.62(-0.48)(+0.50) at 95% CL. New Planck data provide a unique opportunity to place limits on models containing relativistic species at the decoupling epoch. We present here the bounds on sterile neutrino models combining Planck data with galaxy clustering information. Assuming N-eff active plus sterile massive neutrino species, in the case of a Planck+WP+HighL+HST analysis we find m(nu,sterile)(eff) < 0.36 eV and 3.14 < N-eff < 4.15 at 95% CL, while using Planck+WP+HighL data in combination with the full shape of the galaxy power spectrum from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey BOSS Data Relase 9 measurements, we find that 3.30 < N-eff < 4.43 and m(nu,sterile)(eff) < 0.33 eV both at 95% CL with the three active neutrinos having the minimum mass allowed in the normal hierarchy scheme, i.e. Sigma m(nu) similar to 0.06 eV. These values compromise the viability of the (3 + 2) massive sterile neutrino models for the parameter region indicated by global fits of neutrino oscillation data. Within the (3 + 1) massive sterile neutrino scenario, we find m(nu,sterile)(eff) < 0.34 eV at 95% CL. While the existence of one extra sterile massive neutrino state is compatible with current oscillation data, the values for the sterile neutrino mass preferred by oscillation analyses are significantly higher than the current cosmological bound. We review as well the bounds on extended dark sectors with additional light species based on the latest Planck CMB observations.
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Di Valentino, E., Giusarma, E., Lattanzi, M., Melchiorri, A., & Mena, O. (2014). Axion cold dark matter: Status after Planck and BICEP2. Phys. Rev. D, 90(4), 043534–11pp.
Abstract: We investigate the axion dark matter scenario (ADM), in which axions account for all of the dark matter in the Universe, in light of the most recent cosmological data. In particular, we use the Planck temperature data, complemented by WMAP E-polarization measurements, as well as the recent BICEP2 observations of B-modes. Baryon acoustic oscillation data, including those from the baryon oscillation spectroscopic survey, are also considered in the numerical analyses. We find that, in the minimal ADM scenario and for Delta(QCD) = 200 MeV, the full data set implies that the axion mass m(a) = 82.2 +/- 1.1 μeV [corresponding to the Peccei-Quinn symmetry being broken at a scale f(a) = (7.54 +/- 0.10) x 10(10) GeV], or m(a) = 76.6 +/- 2.6 μeV [f(a) = (8.08 +/- 0.27) x 10(10) GeV] when we allow for a nonstandard effective number of relativistic species N-eff. We also find a 2 sigma preference for N-eff > 3.046. The limit on the sum of neutrino masses is Sigma m(v) < 0.25 eV at 95% C.L. for N-eff = 3.046, or Sigma m(v) < 0.47 eV when N-eff is a free parameter. Considering extended scenarios where either the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w, the tensor spectral index n(t), or the running of the scalar index dn(s)/d ln k is allowed to vary does not change significantly the axion mass-energy density constraints. However, in the case of the full data set exploited here, there is a preference for a nonzero tensor index or scalar running, driven by the different tensor amplitudes implied by the Planck and BICEP2 observations. We also study the effect on our estimates of theoretical uncertainties, in particular the imprecise knowledge of the QCD scale Delta(QCD), in the calculation of the temperature-dependent axion mass. We find that in the simplest ADM scenario the Planck + WP data set implies that the axion mass m(a) = 63.7 +/- 1.2 μeV for Delta(QCD) = 400 MeV. We also comment on the possibility that axions do not make up for all the dark matter, or that the contribution of string-produced axions has been grossly underestimated; in that case, the values that we find for the mass can conservatively be considered as lower limits. Dark matter axions with mass in the 60-80 μeV (corresponding to an axion-photon coupling G(a gamma gamma) similar to 10(-14) GeV-1) range can, in principle, be detected by looking for axion-to-photon conversion occurring inside a tunable microwave cavity permeated by a high-intensity magnetic field, and operating at a frequency nu similar or equal to 15-20 GHz. This is out of the reach of current experiments like the axion dark matter experiment (limited to a maximum frequency of a few GHzs), but is, on the other hand, within the reach of the upcoming axion dark matter experiment-high frequency experiment that will explore the 4-40 GHz frequency range and then be sensitive to axion masses up to similar to 160 μeV.
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De Bernardis, F., Martinelli, M., Melchiorri, A., Mena, O., & Cooray, A. (2011). Future weak lensing constraints in a dark coupled universe. Phys. Rev. D, 84(2), 023504–10pp.
Abstract: Probing the dark matter clustering and its evolution with weak lensing surveys constitutes a unique tool to constrain interacting dark energy models. We focus here on weak lensing forecasts from future Euclid and LSST-like surveys combined with the expected results from the ongoing Planck cosmic microwave background satellite experiment. We find that these future data could constrain the dimensionless coupling between dark matter and dark energy to be smaller than a few x 10(-2), improving the CMB-only constraint by at least 2 orders of magnitude. We also show that coupled cosmologies can substantially alter the constraints on cosmological parameters obtained from CMB experiments under the assumption of noninteracting cosmologies unless weak lensing data is considered.
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