| Home | [1–10] << 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 >> [21–30] |
|
Barranco, L., Boubekeur, L., & Mena, O. (2014). Model-independent fit to Planck and BICEP2 data. Phys. Rev. D, 90(6), 063007–7pp.
Abstract: Inflation is the leading theory to describe elegantly the initial conditions that led to structure formation in our Universe. In this paper, we present a novel phenomenological fit to the Planck, WMAP polarization (WP) and the BICEP2 data sets using an alternative parametrization. Instead of starting from inflationary potentials and computing the inflationary observables, we use a phenomenological parametrization due to Mukhanov, describing inflation by an effective equation of state, in terms of the number of e-folds and two phenomenological parameters alpha and beta. Within such a parametrization, which captures the different inflationary models in a model-independent way, the values of the scalar spectral index n(s), its running and the tensor-to-scalar ratio r are predicted, given a set of parameters (alpha, beta). We perform a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis of these parameters, and we show that the combined analysis of Planck and WP data favors the Starobinsky and Higgs inflation scenarios. Assuming that the BICEP2 signal is not entirely due to foregrounds, the addition of this last data set prefers instead the phi(2) chaotic models. The constraint we get from Planck and WP data alone on the derived tensor-to-scalar ratio is r < 0.18 at 95% C.L., value which is consistent with the one quoted from the BICEP2 Collaboration analysis, r = 0.16(-0.05)(+0-06), after foreground subtraction. This is not necessarily at odds with the 2 sigma tension found between Planck and BICEP2 measurements when analyzing data in terms of the usual n(s) and r parameters, given that the parametrization used here, for the preferred value n(s) similar or equal to 0.96, allows only for a restricted parameter space in the usual (n(s), r) plane.
|
|
Di Valentino, E., Gariazzo, S., & Mena, O. (2022). Model marginalized constraints on neutrino properties from cosmology. Phys. Rev. D, 106(4), 043540–9pp.
Abstract: We present robust, model-marginalized limits on both the total neutrino mass (E m1,) and abundances (Neff) to minimize the role of parametrizations, priors and models when extracting neutrino properties from cosmology. The cosmological observations we consider are cosmic microwave background temperature fluctuation and polarization measurements, supernovae Ia luminosity distances, baryon acoustic oscillation observations and determinations of the growth rate parameter from the Data Release 16 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV. The degenerate neutrino mass spectrum (which implies the prior sigma m(1), > 0) is weakly or moderately preferred over the normal and inverted hierarchy possibilities, which imply the priors sigma m(1), > 0.06 and sigma m(1), > 0.1 eV respectively. Concerning the underlying cosmological model, the ACDM minimal scenario is almost always strongly preferred over the possible extensions explored here. The most constraining 95% CL bound on the total neutrino mass in the ACDM + sigma m(1), picture is sigma m(1), < 0.087 eV. The parameter N-eff is restricted to 3.08 +/- 0.17 (68% CL) in the ACDM + Neff model. These limits barely change when considering the ACDM + sigma m(1), + Neff scenario. Given the robustness and the strong constraining power of the cosmological measurements employed here, the model -marginalized posteriors obtained considering a large spectra of nonminimal cosmologies are very close to the previous bounds, obtained within the ACDM framework in the degenerate neutrino mass spectrum. Future cosmological measurements may improve the current Bayesian evidence favoring the degenerate neutrino mass spectra, challenging therefore the consistency between cosmological neutrino mass bounds and oscillation neutrino measurements, and potentially suggesting a more complicated cosmological model and/or neutrino sector.
|
|
Di Valentino, E., Gariazzo, S., Giunti, C., Mena, O., Pan, S., & Yang, W. Q. (2022). Minimal dark energy: Key to sterile neutrino and Hubble constant tensions? Phys. Rev. D, 105(10), 103511–15pp.
Abstract: Minimal dark energy models, described by the same number of free parameters of the standard cosmological model with cold dark matter plus a cosmological constant to parametrize the dark energy component, constitute very appealing scenarios which may solve long-standing, pending tensions. On the one hand, they alleviate significantly the tension between cosmological observations and the presence of one sterile neutrino motivated by the short-baseline anomalies: we obtain a 95% CL cosmological bound on the mass of a fully thermalized fourth sterile neutrino (N-eff = 4) equal to m(s) < 0.65(1.3) eV within the Phenomenologically Emergent Dark Energy (PEDE) and Vacuum Metamorphosis (VM) scenarios under consideration. Interestingly, these limits are in agreement with the observations at short-baseline experiments, and the PEDE scenario is favored with respect to the Lambda CDM case when the full data combination is considered. On the other hand, the Hubble tension is satisfactorily solved in almost all the minimal dark energy schemes explored here. These phenomenological scenarios may therefore shed light on differences arising from near and far Universe probes, and also on discrepancies between cosmological and laboratory sterile neutrino searches.
|
|
Villanueva-Domingo, P., Mena, O., & Miralda-Escude, J. (2020). Maximum amplitude of the high-redshift 21-cm absorption feature. Phys. Rev. D, 101(8), 083502–8pp.
Abstract: We examine the maximum possible strength of the global 21-cm absorption dip on the cosmic background radiation at high-redshift caused by the atomic intergalactic medium, when the Lyman-alpha coupling is maximum, assuming no exotic cooling mechanisms from interactions with dark matter. This maximum absorption is limited by three inevitable factors that need to be accounted for: (a) heating by energy transferred from the cosmic background radiation to the hydrogen atoms via 21-cm transitions, dubbed as 21-cm heating; (b) Ly alpha heating by scatterings of Ly alpha photons from the first stars; (c) the impact of the expected density fluctuations in the intergalactic gas in standard cold dark matter theory, which reduces the mean 21-cm absorption signal. Inclusion of this third novel effect reduces the maximum global 21-cm absorption by similar to 10%. Overall, the three effects studied here reduce the 21-cm global absorption by similar to 20% at z similar or equal to 17.
|
|
DUNE Collaboration(Abud, A. A. et al), Antonova, M., Barenboim, G., Cervera-Villanueva, A., De Romeri, V., Fernandez Menendez, P., et al. (2022). Low exposure long-baseline neutrino oscillation sensitivity of the DUNE experiment. Phys. Rev. D, 105(7), 072006–32pp.
Abstract: The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will produce world-leading neutrino oscillation measurements over the lifetime of the experiment. In this work, we explore DUNE's sensitivity to observe charge-parity violation (CPV) in the neutrino sector, and to resolve the mass ordering, for exposures of up to 100 kiloton-megawatt-calendar years (kt-MW-CY), where calendar years include an assumption of 57% accelerator uptime based on past accelerator performance at Fermilab. The analysis includes detailed uncertainties on the flux prediction, the neutrino interaction model, and detector effects. We demonstrate that DUNE will be able to unambiguously resolve the neutrino mass ordering at a 4 sigma (5 sigma) level with a 66 (100) kt-MW-CY far detector exposure, and has the ability to make strong statements at significantly shorter exposures depending on the true value of other oscillation parameters, with a median sensitivity of 3 sigma for almost all true delta(CP) values after only 24 kt-MW-CY. We also show that DUNE has the potential to make a robust measurement of CPV at a 3 sigma level with a 100 kt-MW-CY exposure for the maximally CP-violating values delta(CP) = +/-pi/2. Additionally, the dependence of DUNE's sensitivity on the exposure taken in neutrino-enhanced and antineutrino-enhanced running is discussed. An equal fraction of exposure taken in each beam mode is found to be close to optimal when considered over the entire space of interest.
|