Abstract: Context. Baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) are imprinted in the density field by acoustic waves travelling in the plasma of the early universe. Their fixed scale can be used as a standard ruler to study the geometry of the universe. Aims. The BAO have been previously detected using correlation functions and power spectra of the galaxy distribution. We present a new method to detect the real-space structures associated with BAO. These baryon acoustic structures are spherical shells of relatively small density contrast, surrounding high density central regions. Methods. We design a specific wavelet adapted to search for shells, and exploit the physics of the process by making use of two different mass tracers, introducing a specific statistic to detect the BAO features. We show the effect of the BAO signal in this new statistic when applied to the Lambda – cold dark matter (Lambda CDM) model, using an analytical approximation to the transfer function. We confirm the reliability and stability of our method by using cosmological N-body simulations from the MareNostrum Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai (MICE). Results. We apply our method to the detection of BAO in a galaxy sample drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We use the “main” catalogue to trace the shells, and the luminous red galaxies (LRG) as tracers of the high density central regions. Using this new method, we detect, with a high significance, that the LRG in our sample are preferentially located close to the centres of shell-like structures in the density field, with characteristics similar to those expected from BAO. We show that stacking selected shells, we can find their characteristic density profile. Conclusions. We delineate a new feature of the cosmic web, the BAO shells. As these are real spatial structures, the BAO phenomenon can be studied in detail by examining those shells.

Abstract: We investigate a model in which Dark Matter is stabilized by means of a Z(2) parity that results from the same non-abelian discrete flavor symmetry which accounts for the observed patter of neutrino mixing. In our A(4) example the standard model is extended by three extra Higgs doublets and the Z(2) parity emerges as a remnant of the spontaneous breaking of A(4) after electroweak symmetry breaking. We perform an analysis of the parameter space of the model consistent with electroweak precision tests, collider searches and perturbativity. We determine the regions compatible with the observed relic dark matter density and we present prospects for detection in direct as well as indirect Dark Matter search experiments.

Abstract: We review the recent literature on modified theories of gravity in the Palatini approach. After discussing the motivations that lead to consider alternatives to Einstein's theory and to treat the metric and the connection as independent objects, we review several topics that have been recently studied within this framework. In particular, we provide an in-depth analysis of the cosmic speed-up problem, laboratory and solar system tests, the structure of stellar objects, the Cauchy problem, and bouncing cosmologies. We also discuss the importance of going beyond the f(R) models to capture other phenomenological aspects related with dark matter/energy and quantum gravity.

Abstract: In the present work a two-component dark matter model is studied adopting the degenerate scenario in the R-parity conserving NMSSM. The gravitino LSP and the neutralino NLSP are extremely degenerate in mass, avoiding the BBN bounds and obtaining a high reheating temperature for thermal leptogenesis. In this model both gravitino (absolutely stable) and neutralino (quasi-stable) contribute to dark matter, and direct detection searches for neutralino are discussed. Points that survive all the constraints correspond to a singlino-like neutralino.

Abstract: We determine the (MS) over bar charm quark mass from a charmonium QCD sum rules analysis. On the theoretical side we use input from perturbation theory at O (alpha(3)(s)). Improvements with respect to previous O (alpha(3)(s)) analyses include (1) an account of all available e(+)e(-) hadronic cross section data and (2) a thorough analysis of perturbative uncertainties. Using a data clustering method to combine hadronic cross section data sets from di ff erent measurements we demonstrate that using all available experimental data up to c. m. energies of 10 : 538 GeV allows for determinations of experimental moments and their correlations with small errors and that there is no need to rely on theoretical input above the charmonium resonances. We also show that good convergence properties of the perturbative series for the theoretical sum rule moments need to be considered with some care when extracting the charm mass and demonstrate how to set up a suitable set of scale variations to obtain a proper estimate of the perturbative uncertainty. As the fi nal outcome of our analysis we obtain (m(c)) over bar((m(c)) over bar) = 1 : 282 +/- (0.009)(stat) +/- (0.009)(syst) +/- (0.019)(pert) +/- (0.010)(alpha s) +/- (0.002)(< GG >) GeV. The perturbative error is an order of magnitude larger than the one obtained in previous O (alpha(3)(s)) sum rule analyses.