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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.
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Boubekeur, L., Giusarma, E., Mena, O., & Ramirez, H. (2014). Current status of modified gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 90(10), 103512–10pp.
Abstract: We revisit the cosmological viability of the Hu-Sawicki modified gravity scenario. The impact of such a modification on the different cosmological observables, including gravitational waves, is carefully described. The most recent cosmological data, as well as constraints on the relationship between the clustering parameter sigma(8) and the current matter mass-energy density Omega(m) from cluster number counts and weak lensing tomography, are considered in our numerical calculations. The strongest bound we find is vertical bar f(R0)vertical bar < 3.7 x 10(-6) at 95% C.L. Forthcoming cluster surveys covering 10 000 deg(2) in the sky, with galaxy surface densities of O(10) arcmin(-2) could improve the precision in the sigma(8)-Omega(m) relationship, tightening the above constraint.
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Archidiacono, M., Lopez-Honorez, L., & Mena, O. (2014). Current constraints on early and stressed dark energy models and future 21 cm perspectives. Phys. Rev. D, 90(12), 123016–10pp.
Abstract: Despite the great progress of current cosmological measurements, the nature of the dominant component of the Universe, coined dark energy, is still an open question. Early dark energy is a possible candidate which may also alleviate some fine-tuning issues of the standard paradigm. Using the latest available cosmological data, we find that the 95% C.L. upper bound on the early dark energy density parameter is Tau(eDE) < 0.009. On the other hand, the dark energy component may be a stressed and inhomogeneous fluid. If this is the case, the effective sound speed and the viscosity parameters are unconstrained by current data. Future omniscopelike 21 cm surveys, combined with present cosmic microwave background data, could be able to distinguish between standard quintessence scenarios from other possible models with 2 sigma significance, assuming a non-negligible early dark energy contribution. The precision achieved on the Omega(eDE) parameter from these 21 cm probes could be below O(10%).
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Giusarma, E., Di Valentino, E., Lattanzi, M., Melchiorri, A., & Mena, O. (2014). Relic neutrinos, thermal axions, and cosmology in early 2014. Phys. Rev. D, 90(4), 043507–17pp.
Abstract: We present up-to-date cosmological bounds on the sum of active neutrino masses as well as on extended cosmological scenarios with additional thermal relics, as thermal axions or sterile neutrino species. Our analyses consider all the current available cosmological data in the beginning of year 2014, including the very recent and most precise baryon acoustic oscillation measurements from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. In the minimal three-active-neutrino scenario, we find Sigma m(nu) < 0.22 eV at 95% C.L. from the combination of cosmic microwave background (CMB), baryon acoustic oscillation, and Hubble Space Telescope measurements of the Hubble constant. A nonzero value for the sum of the three active neutrino masses of similar to 0.3 eV is significantly favored at more than three standard deviations when adding the constraints on s 8 and Om from the Planck cluster catalog on galaxy number counts. This preference for nonzero thermal relic masses disappears almost completely in both the thermal axion and massive sterile neutrino schemes. Extra light species contribute to the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom, parametrized via N-eff. We found that when the recent detection of B mode polarization from the BICEP2 experiment is considered, an analysis of the combined CMB data in the framework of LCDM + r models gives N-eff = 3.90 +/- 0.42, suggesting the presence of an extra relativistic relic at more than 95% C.L. from CMB-only data.
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Dawson, K. S. et al, de Putter, R., & Mena, O. (2013). The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey of SDSS-III. Astron. J., 145(1), 10–41pp.
Abstract: The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) is designed to measure the scale of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter over a larger volume than the combined efforts of all previous spectroscopic surveys of large-scale structure. BOSS uses 1.5 million luminous galaxies as faint as i = 19.9 over 10,000 deg(2) to measure BAO to redshifts z < 0.7. Observations of neutral hydrogen in the Ly alpha forest in more than 150,000 quasar spectra (g < 22) will constrain BAO over the redshift range 2.15 < z < 3.5. Early results from BOSS include the first detection of the large-scale three-dimensional clustering of the Ly alpha forest and a strong detection from the Data Release 9 data set of the BAO in the clustering of massive galaxies at an effective redshift z = 0.57. We project that BOSS will yield measurements of the angular diameter distance d(A) to an accuracy of 1.0% at redshifts z = 0.3 and z = 0.57 and measurements of H(z) to 1.8% and 1.7% at the same redshifts. Forecasts for Ly alpha forest constraints predict a measurement of an overall dilation factor that scales the highly degenerate D-A(z) and H-1(z) parameters to an accuracy of 1.9% at z similar to 2.5 when the survey is complete. Here, we provide an overview of the selection of spectroscopic targets, planning of observations, and analysis of data and data quality of BOSS.
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