We explore constraints on extensions to the standard models of cosmology and particle physics which modify the early-Universe expansion rate S = H'/H (parametrized by the effective number of neutrinos N_nu). The constraints on N_nu and the baryon density parameter (eta_B = n_B/n_gamma = 10^(-10)*eta_10) from BBN at 20 minutes are compared with those from the CMB at 400 kyr and LSS at 14 Gyr. BBN provides the strongest constraint on N_nu (1.6 < N_nu < 3.3 at 95% confidence), but a weaker constraint on eta_B. The CMB/LSS best constrain the baryon density (5.9 < eta_10 < 6.4 at 95% confidence), independent of N_nu, but provide a relatively weak N_nu constraint, consistent with N_nu = 3. Using the best fit values and the allowed ranges of the CMB/LSS-derived parameters to calculate the BBN-predicted primordial abundances yields excellent agreement with the observationally inferred abundance of deuterium and good agreement with 4He, confirming the consistency between the BBN and CMB/LSS results. However, the BBN-predicted abundance of 7Li is high, by a factor of 3 or more. We comment on the value of N_nu and a possible anomaly in the matter power spectrum inferred from observations of the Ly-alpha forest. The good agreement between our BBN and CMB/LSS results permit us to constrain any post-BBN entropy production as well as to limit the production of any non-thermalized relativistic particles and, allow us to combine them finding 95% ranges, 1.8 < N_nu < 3.2 and 5.9 < eta_10 < 6.4.
We consider the effect of a small-scale matter-antimatter domain structure on big bang nucleosynthesis and place upper limits on the amount of antimatter in the early universe. For small domains, which annihilate before nucleosynthesis, this limit comes from underproduction of He-4. For larger domains, the limit comes from He-3 overproduction. Most of the He-3 from antiproton-helium annihilation is annihilated also. The main source of He-3 is photodisintegration of He-4 by the electromagnetic cascades initiated by the annihilation.
The growth factor of linear fluctuations is probably one of the least known quantity in observational cosmology. Here we discuss the constraints that baryon oscillations in galaxy power spectra from future surveys can put on a conveniently parametrized growth factor. We find that spectroscopic surveys of $5000 deg^2$ extending to $z \approx 3$ could estimate the growth index $γ$ within 0.06; a similar photometric survey would give $Δγ\approx 0.15$. This test provides an important consistency check for standard cosmological model and could constrain modified gravity models. We discuss the error…
Primordial nucleosynthesis calculations are shown to be able to provide constraints on electroweak baryogenesis which produce a highly inhomogeneous distribution of the baryon-to-photon ratio. Such baryogenesis scenarios overproduce 4He and/or 7Li and can be ruled out whenever a fraction f<3*10e-6(100 GeV/T)^3 of nucleated bubbles of broken-symmetry phase contributes > 10% of the baryon number within the horizon volume.
The relic cosmic background neutrinos accompanying the cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons may hide a universal lepton asymmetry orders of magnitude larger than the universal baryon asymmetry. At present, the only direct way to probe such an asymmetry is through its effect on the abundances of the light elements produced during primordial nucleosynthesis. The relic light element abundances also depend on the baryon asymmetry, parameterized by the baryon density parameter (eta_B = n_B/n_gamma = 10^(-10)*eta_10), and on the early-universe expansion rate, parameterized by the expansion rate…
We present an analysis of anisotropic baryon acoustic oscillations and elucidate how a mis-estimation of the cosmology, which leads to incorrect values of the angular diameter distance, d_A, and Hubble parameter, H, manifest themselves in changes to the monopole and quadrupole power spectrum of biased tracers of the density field. Previous work has focused on the monopole power spectrum, and shown that the isotropic "dilation" combination d_A^2/H is robustly constrained by an overall shift in the scale of the baryon feature. We extend this by demonstrating that the quadrupole power spectrum is…
We combine complementary datasets to constrain dark energy. Using standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and the observed abundances of primordial nuclides to put constraints on $Ω_Q$ at temperatures near $T \sim 1MeV$, we find the strong constraint $Ω_Q({MeV}) < 0.045$ at $2σ$ c.l.. Under the assumption of flatness, using results from Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy measurements, high redshift supernovae (SN-Ia) observations and data from local cluster abundances we put a new constraint on the equation of state parameter $w_Q < -0.85$ at 68% c.l..
The thermal evolution of the intergalactic medium (IGM) depends on the reionization history of the universe. Numerical simulations indicate that the low density IGM, which is responsible for the low column density Ly-alpha forest, follows a well defined temperature-density relation. This results in a cut-off in the distribution of line widths as a function of column density. We use hydrodynamic simulations to calibrate the relation between the cut-off and the temperature-density relation and apply this relation to Keck spectra spanning a redshift range z=2-4.5. We find that the temperature pea…
Self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) was introduced by Spergel & Steinhardt to address possible discrepancies between collisionless dark matter simulations and observations on scales of less than 1 Mpc. We examine the case in which dark matter particles not only have strong self-interactions but also have strong interactions with baryons. The presence of such interactions will have direct implications for nuclear and particle astrophysics. Among these are a change in the predicted abundances from big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) and the flux of gamma-rays produced by the decay of neutral pions wh…
We calculate the ``seeing'' effect on distant sources due to a gravitational wave background. We derive the limit in strain and energy density of the gravitational wave based on the limit of detectability of this effect with the present day telescope resolution. We also compare our detection limit to those obtained from existing methods.
We derive the baryon mass function for a complete sample of low-redshift clusters and argue that it is an excellent proxy for the total mass function if the ratio f_b=M_b/M_tot in all clusters is close to its universal value, Omega_b/Omega_M. Under this assumption, the baryon mass function can be used to constrain the amplitude and slope of the density fluctuations power spectrum on cluster scales. This method does not use observational determinations of the total mass and thus bypasses major uncertainties in the traditional analyses based on the X-ray temperature function. However, it is sens…
It has been suggested by Bartlett and Hall that our universe may have the critical density in baryons by virtue of specific interactions with a `shadow' world. We show that this possibility is severely constrained by primordial nucleosynthesis, stellar evolution and the thermalization of the cosmic microwave background. In particular, recent observations of small angular-scale anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background conclusively rule out all such baryon-dominated cosmologies.
We show that the extension of the standard model by three right-handed neutrinos with masses smaller than the electroweak scale (the $ν$MSM) can explain simultaneously dark matter and baryon asymmetry of the universe and be consistent with the experiments on neutrino oscillations. Several constraints on the parameters of the $ν$MSM are derived.
We study the properties of X-ray galaxy clusters in four cold dark matter models with different baryon fraction $Ω_{BM}$ ranging from 5 to 20 per cent. By using an original three-dimensional hydrodynamic code based on the piecewise parabolic method, we run simulations on a box with size $64 h^{-1}$ Mpc and we identify the clusters by selecting the peaks in the X-ray luminosity field. We analyse these mock catalogues by computing the mass function, the luminosity function, the temperature distribution and the luminosity-temperature relation. By comparing the predictions of the different models …
We present a mechanism to generate the baryon asymmetry of the Universe which preserves the net baryon number created in the Big Bang. If dark matter particles carry baryon number $B_X$, and $σ^{\rm annih}_{\bar{X}} < σ^{\rm annih}_{X} $, the $\bar{X}$'s freeze out at a higher temperature and have a larger relic density than $X$'s. If $m_X \lsi 4.5 B_X $GeV and the annihilation cross sections differ by $\gsi 10%$, this type of scenario naturally explains the observed $Ω_{DM} \approx 5 Ω_b$.
Estimates of $H_0$ from Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) and X-ray surface brightness of galaxy clusters depends on the underlying cosmology. In the current $Λ$CDM flat cosmology, a possible technique to broke the degenerescency on the mass density parameter ($Ω_{m}$) is to apply a joint analysis involving the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). By adopting this technique to the ($H_0, Ω_m$) parameter space, we obtain new constraints on the Hubble constant $H_0$ from BAO signature as given by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) catalog. Our analysis based on the SZE/X-ray data for a sample of 2…
The amplitudes of peaks in the angular power spectrum of anisotropies in the microwave background radiation depend on the mass content of the universe. The second peak should be prominent when cold dark matter is dominant, but is depressed when baryons dominate. Recent microwave background data are consistent with a purely baryonic universe with Omega(matter) = Omega(baryon) ~ 0.03 and Omega(Lambda) ~ 1.
The first year data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe are used to place stringent constraints on the topology of the Universe. We search for pairs of circles on the sky with similar temperature patterns along each circle. We restrict the search to back-to-back circle pairs, and to nearly back-to-back circle pairs, as this covers the majority of the topologies that one might hope to detect in a nearly flat universe. We do not find any matched circles with radius greater than 25 degrees. For a wide class of models, the non-detection rules out the possibility that we live in a univers…
We calculate the baryon asymmetry of the Universe which would arise during a first order electroweak phase transition due to minimal standard model processes. It agrees in sign and magnitude with the observed baryonic excess, for resonable KM parameters and m$_t$ in the expected range, and plausible values of bubble velocity and other high temperature effects. A detailed version of this work (77pp) is being simultaneously submitted to the net. A shortened version of this recently appeared in Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 70}, 2833, 1993.
We analyse the constraints that can be placed on a cosmological constant or quintessence-like component by combining observations of Type Ia supernovae with measurements of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. We use the recent supernovae sample of Perlmutter et al and observations of the CMB anisotropies to constraint the equation of state (w_Q = p/rho) in quintessence-like models via a likelihood analysis. The 2 sigma upper limits are w_Q < -0.6 if the Universe is assumed to be spatially flat, and w_Q < -0.4 for universes of arbitrary spatial curvature. The upper limit derived fo…
An impressive amount of different astrophysical data converges towards the picture of a spatially flat universe undergoing a today phase of accelerated expansion. The nature of the dark energy dominating the energy content of the universe is still unknown and a lot of different scenarios are viable candidates to explain cosmic acceleration. Most of the methods employed to test these cosmological models are essentially based on distance measurements to a particular class of objects. A different method, based on the lookback time to galaxy clusters and the age of the universe, is used here. In p…
We discuss the evolution of U(1) symmetric scalar field at the inflation epoch with a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone tilt revealing after the end of exponential expansion of the Universe. The U(1) symmetry is supposed to be associated with baryon charge. It is shown that quantum fluctuations lead in natural way to baryon dominated Universe with antibaryon excess regions. The range of parameters is calculated at which the fraction of Universe occupied by antimatter and the size of antimatter regions satisfy the observational constraints, survive to the modern time and lead to effects, accessible to exp…
The relic abundance of baryons - the only form of stable matter whose existence we are certain of - is a crucial parameter for many cosmological processes, as well as material evidence that there is new physics beyond the Standard Model. We discuss recent determinations of the cosmological baryon density from analysis of the abundances of light elements synthesised at the end of ``the first three minutes'', and from the observed temperature anisotropies imprinted on small angular-scales in the cosmic microwave background when the universe was about 100,000 yr old.
It is pointed out that the observed extremely high energy cosmic rays (EHECR) above $10^{11}$ GeV and the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe (BAU), both may have a common origin in baryon number violating decays of supermassive ``X'' particles released from cosmic topological defects (TDs) such as cosmic strings and monopoles. The X particles produced by TDs in the recent epochs produce the EHECR, while the BAU is created by X particles released from TDs mainly in the very early Universe. In this scenario the EHECR is predicted to contain baryons as well as antibaryons with a small asym…
Our universe is observed to be accelerating due to the dominant dark energy with negative pressure. The dark energy equation of state (w) holds a key to understanding the ultimate fate of the universe. The cosmic voids behave like bubbles in the universe so that their shapes must be quite sensitive to the background cosmology. Assuming a flat universe and using the priors on the matter density parameter (Omega_m) and the dimensionless Hubble parameter (h), we demonstrate analytically that the ellipticity evolution of cosmic voids may be a sensitive probe of the dark energy equation of state. W…
We consider a minimal grand unified model where the dark matter arises from non-thermal decays of a messenger particle in the TeV range. The messenger particle compensates for the baryon asymmetry in the standard model and gives similar number densities to both the baryon and the dark matter. The non-thermal dark matter, if massive in the GeV range, could have a free-streaming scale in the order of 0.1 Mpc and potentially resolve the discrepancies between observations and the LCDM model on the small scale structure of the Universe. Moreover, a GeV scale dark matter naturally leads to the obser…
We investigate the influence of primordial perturbations of the energy density and space--time metric on the generation of the lepton and baryon asymmetries. In the weak and strong washout regimes baryon isocurvature perturbations with amplitudes of the same order as those of the CMB perturbations are generated on scales of order of the respective Hubble scale. They are, however, completely washed out by baryon and photon diffusion at the later stages of the universe's evolution.
If the Universe consists of domains of matter and antimatter, annihilations at domain interfaces leave a distinctive imprint on the Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR) sky. The signature is anisotropies in the form of long, thin ribbons of width $θ_W\sim 0.1^\circ$, separated by angle $θ_L\simeq 1^\circ(L/100h^{-1}{Mpc})$ where L is the characteristic domain size, and y-distortion parameter $y \approx 10^{-6}$. Such a pattern could potentially be detected by the high-resolution CBR anisotropy experiments planned for the next decade, and such experiments may finally settle the question of whether…
Measurements of the distances to SNe Ia have produced strong evidence that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating, implying the existence of a nearly uniform component of dark energy with negative pressure. We show that constraints to this mysterious component based upon large-scale structure nicely complement the SN Ia data, and that together they require Omega_X = (0.6,0.7) and w_X < -0.6 (95% cl), for the favored flat Universe. Other cosmological data support this conclusion. The simplest explanation, a cosmological constant, is consistent with this, while some of the other possibili…
In this Letter we present a detailed study of the lensing configuration in the cluster Abell 2218. Four multiple-images systems with measured spectroscopic redshifts have been identified in this cluster. These multiple images are very useful to constrain accurately the mass distribution in the cluster core, but they are also sensitive to the value of the geometrical cosmological parameters of the Universe. Using a simplified maximum likelihood analysis we find 0 < Omega_M < 0.30 assuming a flat Universe, and 0 < Omega_M < 0.33 and w < -0.85 for a flat Universe with dark energy. Interestingly, …
One of the most efficient mechanisms for producing the baryon asymmetry of the Universe is the decay of scalar condensates in a SUSY GUT as was first suggested by Affleck and Dine. We show that given a large enough asymmetry, the baryon number will be preserved down to low temperatures even if B - L = 0, because the baryon number carrying scalars form bose condensates that give the W a mass. We derive the conditions on the condensate needed to suppress electroweak sphaleron interactions which would otherwise drive the baryon asymmetry to zero when B - L = 0.
Big-bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy measurements give independent, accurate measurements of the baryon density and can test the framework of the standard cosmology. Early CMB data are consistent with the longstanding conclusion from BBN that baryons constitute a small fraction of matter in the Universe, but may indicate a slightly higher value for the baryon density. We clarify precisely what the two methods determine, and point out that differing values for the baryon density can indicate either an inconsistency or physics beyond the standard models…
We present aspects of a model which attempts to unify the creation of cold dark matter, a CP-violating baryon asymmetry, and also a small, residual vacuum energy density, in the early universe. The model contains a primary scalar (inflaton) field and a primary pseudoscalar field, which are initially related by a cosmological, chiral symmetry. The nonzero vacuum expectation value of the pseudoscalar field spontaneously breaks CP invariance.
We show that the current accelerated expansion of the Universe can be explained without resorting to dark energy. Models of generalized modified gravity, with inverse powers of the curvature can have late time accelerating attractors without conflicting with solar system experiments. We have solved the Friedman equations for the full dynamical range of the evolution of the Universe. This allows us to perform a detailed analysis of Supernovae data in the context of such models that results in an excellent fit. Hence, inverse curvature gravity models represent an example of phenomenologically vi…
The equation of state of the hypothetical dark energy component, which constitutes about two thirds of the critical density of the universe, may be very different from that of a cosmological constant. Employing a phenomenological model, we investigate semi-analytically the constraints imposed on the scalar quintessence by supernovae observations, and by the acoustic scale extracted from recent CMB data. We show that a universe with a quintessence-dominated phase in the dark age is consistent with the current observational constraints.
The measurement of the scale of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the galaxy power spectrum as a function of redshift is a promising method to constrain the equation-of-state parameter of the dark energy w. To measure the scale of the BAO precisely, a substantial volume of space must be surveyed. We test whether light-cone effects are important and whether the scaling relations used to compensate for an incorrect reference cosmology are in this case sufficiently accurate. We investigate the degeneracies in the cosmological parameters and the benefits of using the two-dimensional anisot…
The temperature anisotropies and polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation provide a window back to the physics of the early universe. They encode the nature of the initial fluctuations and so can reveal much about the physical mechanism that led to their generation. In this contribution we review what we have learnt so far about early-universe physics from CMB observations, and what we hope to learn with a new generation of high-sensitivity, polarization-capable instruments.
The role of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarisation data in constraining the presence of primordial isocurvature modes is examined. While the MAP satellite mission will be unable to simultaneously constrain isocurvature modes and cosmological parameters, the PLANCK mission will be able to set strong limits on the presence of isocurvature modes if it makes a precise measurement of the CMB polarisation sky. We find that if we allow for the possible presence of isocurvature modes, the recently obtained BOOMERANG measurement of the curvature of the universe fails. However, a comparably sens…
We consider for the first time the ability of present-day cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies data to determine the primordial helium mass fraction, Y_p. We find that CMB data alone gives the confidence interval 0.160 < Y_p < 0.501 (at 68% c.l.). We analyse the impact on the baryon abundance as measured by CMB and discuss the implications for big bang nucleosynthesis. We identify and discuss correlations between the helium mass fraction and both the redshift of reionization and the spectral index. We forecast the precision of future CMB observations, and find that Planck alone will …
The existence of macroscopic regions with antibaryon excess in the matter - dominated Universe is a possible consequence of the evolution of baryon charged, pseudo - Nambu - Goldstone field with lepton number violating couplings. Such regions can survive the annihilation with surrounding matter only in the case if their sizes exceeds the critical surviving size. The evolution of survived antimatter - regions with high original antibaryon density inside results in the formation of globular clusters, which is made out from antimatter stars. The origin of antimatter regions in the chosen scenario…
A prediction of standard Big Bang cosmology is that the observed UHECR (ultra-high-energy cosmic rays) spectrum will exhibit a cutoff at the GKZ limit, resulting from interaction with the photons that constitute the cosmic microwave background. We show that for the Quasi-Static Universe (QSU) model, in which photon energy is an invariant in the cosmological reference frame, the photon number density in the universe today is a factor of 10^9 less than in the standard model. As a consequence, the mean free path of UHECRs will exceed the horizon distance of the universe, rendering it essentially …
We fit the BOOMERANG, MAXIMA and COBE/DMR measurements of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy in spatially flat cosmological models where departures from standard recombination of the primeval plasma are parametrized through a change in the fine structure constant $α$ compared to its present value. In addition to $α$ we vary the baryon and dark matter densities, the spectral index of scalar fluctuations, and the Hubble constant. Within the class of models considered, the lack of a prominent second acoustic peak in the measured spectrum can be accomodated either by a relatively large bar…
In recent years, upper limits on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies combined with predictions made by theories of galaxy formation, have been extremely powerful in ruling out purely baryonic dark matter (BDM) universes. However, it has recently been argued that the absence of a prominent second peak in the anisotropy spectrum measured by the BOOMERanG-98 and MAXIMA-1 experiments seems to favour a $Λ$BDM model when combined with standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) constraints. In this {\it Letter}, we further investigate this result showing that, using the CMB data {\it alon…
The presence of dark energy in the Universe is inferred directly from the accelerated expansion of the Universe, and indirectly, from measurements of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy. Dark energy contributes about 2/3 of the critical density, is very smoothly distributed, and has large negative pressure. Its nature is very much unknown. Most of its discernible consequences follow from its effect on evolution of the expansion rate of the Universe, which in turn affects the growth of density perturbations and the age of the Universe, and can be probed by the classical kinematic cosmo…
The process of baryogenesis through the evaporation of black holes formed at the end of inflation phase is considered. The increase of black hole mass due to accretion from the surrounding radiation after the reheating is taken into account. It is shown that the influence of the accretion on the baryogenesis is important only in the case when the initial values of black hole mass are larger than $\sim 10^{4}{g}$. The behavior of calculated baryon asymmetry, as a function of model parameters, is studied.
The prejudice against baryon isocurvature models is primarily because of their inconsistency with early universe light element nucleosynthesis results. We propose that incipient low metallicity (Pop II) star forming regions can be expected to have environments conducive to Deuterium production by spallation, up to levels observed in the universe.
We have used recent X-ray and optical data in order to impose some constraints on the cosmology and cluster scaling relations. Generically two kind of hypotheses define our model. First we consider that the cluster population is well described by the standard Press-Schechter (PS) formalism, and second, these clusters are supposed to follow scaling relations with mass: Temperature-Mass (T-M) and X-ray Luminosity-Mass (L_x - M). As a difference with many other authors we do not assume specific scaling relations to model cluster properties such as the usual $T-M$ virial relation or one observatio…
(Abridged) The nonlinear evolution of a system consisting of baryons and dark matter is generally characterized by strong shocks and discontinuities. The baryons slow down significantly at postshock areas of gravitational strong shocks, which can occur in high overdense as well as low overdense regions. Consequently, the baryon fraction would be nonuniform on large scales. We studied these phenomena with simulation samples produced by the WENO hybrid cosmological hydrodynamic/N-body code. We find that the baryon fraction in high mass density regions is lower on average than the cosmic baryon f…
We show that the high local baryonic fraction, M(bar) ~ 1/3 M(tot), found in groups and clusters of galaxies does not reconcile the observed cosmological baryon density with the standard Big-Bang prediction. Taking into account recent measurements on the hot-gas content and temperature functions of clusters and groups, we get Omega(gas) = 0.0023 h_{50}^{-1.5} ~ 4% Omega(BBN). Including the contributions of galaxies and of (local) Ly-alpha clouds we estimate Omega(bar) ~ 0.004-0.006 < 10% Omega(BBN) as the amount of detected baryons. Most of the synthesised atoms are still to be discovered. We …
We have computed finite temperature corrections to the electron-hadron scattering cross sections. These are based upon the renormalized electron mass and the modified density of states due to the presence of a background thermal bath. It is found that the electron-hadron thermal transport scattering cross section can be much larger than the zero temperature one. In the case of electron-neutron transport scattering, we find σ_{ne}(T) / σ_{ne} (T=0) \simeq 5 at T \simeq 0.1 MeV.
Many of the faint submm sources uncovered by deep SCUBA surveys still remain unidentified at most, if not all other wavelengths. The most successful method so far of obtaining accurate positions and hence allowing more secure identifications has been to use centimetre wavelength imaging with the VLA. This has led to a tempting approach for obtaining redshift estimates for this population (Carilli & Yun 1999,2000), which relies on the tight FIR-radio relationship and takes advantage of the steep spectral slope in the submm. In this paper we use the submm data from the SCUBA Local Universe Galax…
The light element abundances probe the baryon density of the universe within a few minutes of the Big Bang. Of these relics from the earliest universe, deuterium is the baryometer of choice. By comparing its primordial abundance inferred from observations with that predicted by Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), the early universe baryon density is derived. This is then compared to independent estimates of the baryon density several hundred thousand years after the Big Bang and at present, more than 10 billion years later. The excellent agreement among these values represents an impressive confir…
Although several models of $f(R)$ theories of gravity within the Palatini approach have been studied already, the interest was concentrated on those that have an effect on the late-time evolution of the universe, by the inclusion for example of terms inversely proportional to the scalar curvature in the gravitational action. However, additional positive powers of the curvature also provide interesting early-time phenomenology, like inflation, and the presence of such terms in the action is equally, if not more, probable. In the present paper models with both additional positive and negative po…
