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Bennett, J. J., Buldgen, G., de Salas, P. F., Drewes, M., Gariazzo, S., Pastor, S., et al. (2021). Towards a precision calculation of the effective number of neutrinos N-eff in the Standard Model. Part II. Neutrino decoupling in the presence of flavour oscillations and finite-temperature QED. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 073–33pp.
Abstract: We present in this work a new calculation of the standard-model benchmark value for the effective number of neutrinos, N-eff(SM), that quantifies the cosmological neutrinoto-photon energy densities. The calculation takes into account neutrino flavour oscillations, finite-temperature effects in the quantum electrodynamics plasma to O(e(3)), where e is the elementary electric charge, and a full evaluation of the neutrino-neutrino collision integral. We provide furthermore a detailed assessment of the uncertainties in the benchmark N(eff)(SM )value, through testing the value's dependence on (i) optional approximate modelling of the weak collision integrals, (ii) measurement errors in the physical parameters of the weak sector, and (iii) numerical convergence, particularly in relation to momentum discretisation. Our new, recommended standard-model benchmark is N-eff(SM) 3.0440 +/- 0.0002, where the nominal uncertainty is attributed predominantly to errors incurred in the numerical solution procedure (vertical bar delta N-eff vertical bar similar to 10(-4)), augmented by measurement errors in the solar mixing angle sin(2) theta(12) (vertical bar delta N-eff vertical bar similar to 10(-4)).
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Eisenstein, D. J. et al, & Mena, O. (2011). SDSS-III: Massive Spectroscopic Surveys of the Distant Universe, the Milky Way, and Extra-Solar Planetary Systems. Astron. J., 142(3), 72–24pp.
Abstract: Building on the legacy of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-I and II), SDSS-III is a program of four spectroscopic surveys on three scientific themes: dark energy and cosmological parameters, the history and structure of the Milky Way, and the population of giant planets around other stars. In keeping with SDSS tradition, SDSS-III will provide regular public releases of all its data, beginning with SDSS Data Release 8 (DR8), which was made public in 2011 January and includes SDSS-I and SDSS-II images and spectra reprocessed with the latest pipelines and calibrations produced for the SDSS-III investigations. This paper presents an overview of the four surveys that comprise SDSS-III. The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey will measure redshifts of 1.5 million massive galaxies and Ly alpha forest spectra of 150,000 quasars, using the baryon acoustic oscillation feature of large-scale structure to obtain percent-level determinations of the distance scale and Hubble expansion rate at z < 0.7 and at z approximate to 2.5. SEGUE-2, an already completed SDSS-III survey that is the continuation of the SDSS-II Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE), measured medium-resolution (R = lambda/lambda Delta approximate to 1800) optical spectra of 118,000 stars in a variety of target categories, probing chemical evolution, stellar kinematics and substructure, and the mass profile of the dark matter halo from the solar neighborhood to distances of 100 kpc. APOGEE, the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment, will obtain high-resolution (R approximate to 30,000), high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N >= 100 per resolution element), H-band (1.51 μm < lambda < 1.70 μm) spectra of 105 evolved, late-type stars, measuring separate abundances for similar to 15 elements per star and creating the first high-precision spectroscopic survey of all Galactic stellar populations (bulge, bar, disks, halo) with a uniform set of stellar tracers and spectral diagnostics. The Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS) will monitor radial velocities of more than 8000 FGK stars with the sensitivity and cadence (10-40 ms(-1), similar to 24 visits per star) needed to detect giant planets with periods up to two years, providing an unprecedented data set for understanding the formation and dynamical evolution of giant planet systems. As of 2011 January, SDSS-III has obtained spectra of more than 240,000 galaxies, 29,000 z >= 2.2 quasars, and 140,000 stars, including 74,000 velocity measurements of 2580 stars for MARVELS.
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Schiavone, T., Montani, G., & Bombacigno, F. (2023). f(R) gravity in the Jordan frame as a paradigm for the Hubble tension. Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc., 522(1), L72–L77.
Abstract: We analyse the f(R) gravity in the so-called Jordan frame, as implemented to the isotropic Universe dynamics. The goal of the present study is to show that according to recent data analyses of the supernovae Ia Pantheon sample, it is possible to account for an effective redshift dependence of the Hubble constant. This is achieved via the dynamics of a non-minimally coupled scalar field, as it emerges in the f(R) gravity. We face the question both from an analytical and purely numerical point of view, following the same technical paradigm. We arrive to establish that the expected decay of the Hubble constant with the redshift z is ensured by a form of the scalar field potential, which remains essentially constant for z less than or similar to 0.3, independently if this request is made a priori, as in the analytical approach, or obtained a posteriori, when the numerical procedure is addressed. Thus, we demonstrate that an f(R) dark energy model is able to account for an apparent variation of the Hubble constant due to the rescaling of the Einstein constant by the f(R) scalar mode.
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Escudero, M., Hooper, D., Krnjaic, G., & Pierre, M. (2019). Cosmology with a very light Lmu – Ltau gauge boson. J. High Energy Phys., 03(3), 071–29pp.
Abstract: In this paper, we explore in detail the cosmological implications of an abelian L – L gauge extension of the Standard Model featuring a light and weakly coupled Z. Such a scenario is motivated by the longstanding approximate to 4 sigma discrepancy between the measured and predicted values of the muon's anomalous magnetic moment, (g – 2), as well as the tension between late and early time determinations of the Hubble constant. If sufficiently light, the Z population will decay to neutrinos, increasing the overall energy density of radiation and altering the expansion history of the early universe. We identify two distinct regions of parameter space in this model in which the Hubble tension can be significantly relaxed. The first of these is the previously identified region in which a approximate to 10 – 20 MeV Z reaches equilibrium in the early universe and then decays, heating the neutrino population and delaying the process of neutrino decoupling. For a coupling of g (-) similar or equal to (3 – 8) x 10(-4), such a particle can also explain the observed (g – 2) anomaly. In the second region, the Z is very light (mZ approximate to 1eV to MeV) and very weakly coupled (g (-) approximate to 10(-13) to 10(-9)). In this case, the Z population is produced through freeze-in, and decays to neutrinos after neutrino decoupling. Across large regions of parameter space, we predict a contribution to the energy density of radiation that can appreciably relax the reported Hubble tension, N-eff similar or equal to 0.2.
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Hernandez, P., Kekic, M., Lopez-Pavon, J., Racker, J., & Rius, N. (2015). Leptogenesis in GeV-scale seesaw models. J. High Energy Phys., 10(10), 067–34pp.
Abstract: We revisit the production of leptonic asymmetries in minimal extensions of the Standard Model that can explain neutrino masses, involving extra singlets with Majorana masses in the GeV scale. We study the quantum kinetic equations both analytically, via a perturbative expansion up to third order in the mixing angles, and numerically. The analytical solution allows us to identify the relevant CP invariants, and simplifies the exploration of the parameter space. We find that sizeable lepton asymmetries are compatible with non-degenerate neutrino masses and measurable active-sterile mixings.
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