We examine the linear density contrast at collapse time, $δ_c$ for large-scale structure in dynamical dark energy cosmologies, including models with early dark energy. Contrary to previous results, we find that as long as dark energy is homogeneous on small scales, $δ_c$ is insensitive to dark energy properties for parameter values fitting current data, including the case of early dark energy. This is significant since using the correct $δ_c$ is crucial for accurate Press-Schechter prediction of the halo mass function. Previous results have found an apparent failing of the extended Press-Schechter approach (Sheth-Tormen) for early dark energy. Our calculations demonstrate that with the correct $δ_c$ the accuracy of this approach is restored. We discuss the significance of this result for the halo mass function and examine what dark energy physics would be needed to cause significant change in $δ_c$, and the observational signatures this would leave.
High-resolution, numerical simulations of 17 cluster-sized dark-matter haloes in eight different cosmologies with and without dynamical dark energy confirm the picture that core halo densities are imprinted early during their formation by the mean cosmological density. Quite independent of cosmology, halo concentrations have a log-normal distribution with a scatter of ~0.2 about the mean. We propose a simple scaling relation for halo concentrations in dark-energy cosmologies.
We study the efficiency of numerically simulated galaxy clusters for producing strong gravitational lensing events in different dark-energy cosmologies with constant and time-variable equation of state and we compare it with ``standard'' $Λ$CDM and OCDM models. Our main results are that: (1) the expected abundance of gravitational arcs with large length-to-width ratio depends on the equation of state of dark energy at the epoch of formation of the halo; (2) as found in previous studies, the strong lensing cross section of galaxy clusters is very sensitive to dynamical processes like mergers, w…
We study the concentration parameters, their mass dependence and redshift evolution, of dark-matter halos in different dark-energy cosmologies with constant and time-variable equation of state, and compare them with "standard'' Lambda-CDM and OCDM models. We find that previously proposed algorithms for predicting halo concentrations can be well adapted to dark-energy models. When centred on the analytically expected values, halo concentrations show a log-normal distribution with a uniform standard deviation of ~0.2. The dependence of averaged halo concentrations on mass and redshift permits a …
We study the formation of tidal tails in pairs of merging disk galaxies with structural properties motivated by current theories of cold dark matter (CDM) cosmologies. In a recent study, Dubinski, Mihos & Hernquist (1996) showed that the formation of prominent tidal tails can be strongly suppressed by massive and extended dark haloes. For the large halo-to-disk mass ratio expected in CDM cosmologies their sequence of models failed to produce strong tails like those observed in many well-known pairs of interacting galaxies. In order to test whether this effect can constrain the viability of CDM…
The statistical properties of dark matter halos, the building blocks of cosmological observables associated with structure in the universe, offer many opportunities to test models for cosmic acceleration, especially those that seek to modify gravitational forces. We study the abundance, bias and profiles of halos in cosmological simulations for one such model: the modified action f(R) theory. In the large field regime that is accessible to current observations, enhanced gravitational forces raise the abundance of rare massive halos and decrease their bias but leave their (lensing) mass profile…
We study the effects of a dark energy component with equation of state p=w rho with constant w >= -1 on the formation of Cold Dark Matter (CDM) haloes. We find two main effects: first, haloes form earlier as w increases, and second, the amplitude of the dark-matter power spectrum gets reduced in order to remain compatible with the large scale Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies. These effects counteract. Using recipes derived from numerical simulations, we show that haloes are expected to be up to ~ 50% more concentrated in CDM models with quintessence compared to Lambda-CDM models,…
We performed cosmological simulations based upon both a cold dark matter (CDM) and a warm dark matter (WDM) model. The focus of our investigations lies with selected spatial and kinematic properties of substructure halos (subhalos) orbiting within host halos, that form in both dark-matter cosmologies. We aim at using the dynamics of the subhalos as a probe of the respective cosmology.
We explore the dependence of the central logarithmic slope of dark matter halo density profiles $α$ on the spectral index $n$ of the linear matter power spectrum $P(k)$ using cosmological $N$-body simulations of scale-free models (i.e. $P(k) \propto k^n$). For each of our simulations we identify samples of well resolved haloes in dynamical equilibrium and we analyse their mass profiles. By parameterising the mass profile using a ``generalised'' Navarro, Frenk & White profile in which the central logarithmic slope $α$ is allowed to vary while preserving the $r^{-3}$ asymptotic form at large rad…
We use semi-analytical modelling of galaxy formation to study the redshift evolution of the galaxy merger fractions and merger ratesin Lambda CDM and quintessence (QCDM) cosmologies, their dependence on physical parameters as the environment, the merger timescale, the way major mergers are defined, and the minimum mass of objects taken into account. We find that for a given final halo mass the redshift dependence of the merger fraction F_mg and the resulting merger rate can be fitted well by a power law for redshifts z <= 1. The normalization F_{mg}(0) and the slope m depend on the final halo …
We study non-linear structure formation in high-resolution simulations of Early Dark Energy (EDE) cosmologies and compare their evolution with the standard LCDM model. Extensions of the spherical top-hat collapse model predict that the virial overdensity and linear threshold density for collapse should be modified in EDE model, yielding significant modifications in the expected halo mass function. Here we present numerical simulations that directly test these expectations. Interestingly, we find that the Sheth & Tormen formalism for estimating the abundance of dark matter halos continues to wo…
We argue that a few per cent of "Early Dark Energy" can be detected by the statistics of nonlinear structures. The presence of Dark Energy during linear structure formation is natural in models where the present tiny Dark-Energy density is related to the age of the Universe rather than a new fundamental small parameter. Generalisation of the spherical collapse model shows that the linear collapse parameter delta_c is lowered. The corresponding relative enhancement of weak gravitational lensing on arc-minute scales lowers the value of sigma_8 inferred from a given lensing amplitude as compared …
We propose a novel parameterization of the dark energy density. It is particularly well suited to describe a non-negligible contribution of dark energy at early times and contains only three parameters, which are all physically meaningful: the fractional dark energy density today, the equation of state today and the fractional dark energy density at early times. As we parameterize Omega_d(a) directly instead of the equation of state, we can give analytic expressions for the Hubble parameter, the conformal horizon today and at last scattering, the sound horizon at last scattering, the acoustic …
We use the semi-analytical approach to analyze gravitational lensing of quasars by dark halos in various cold dark matter (CDM) cosmologies, in order to determine the sensitivity of the prediction probabilities of images separations to the input assumptions regarding halos and cosmologies. The mass function of dark halos is assumed to be given by the Press-Schechter function. The mass density profile of dark halos is alternatively taken to be the singular isothermal sphere (SIS), the Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) profile, or the generalized NFW profile. The cosmologies include: the Einstein-de Sit…
High-resolution N-body simulations of hierarchical cosmologies have shown that the density and velocity dispersion profiles of dark-matter haloes display well-definite universal forms whose origin remains unknown. In the present paper, we calculate the internal structure of haloes expected to arise in any such cosmologies by simply taking into account that halo growth proceeds through an alternate sequence of discrete major mergers and long periods of gentle accretion. Major mergers cause the violent relaxation of the system subject to the boundary conditions imposed by accreting layers beginn…
We use hydrodynamic cosmological simulations to study damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) and Lyman limit (LL) absorption at redshifts z=2-4 in five variants of the cold dark matter scenario. Our standard simulations resolve the formation of dense concentrations of neutral gas in halos with circular velocity v_c roughly 140 km/s for Omega_m=1 and 90 km/s for Omega_m=0.4, at z=2; an additional LCDM simulation resolves halos down to v_c approximately 50 km/s at z=3. We find a clear relation between HI column density and projected distance to the center of the nearest galaxy, with DLA absorption usually con…
We combine data from a number of N-body simulations to predict the abundance of dark halos in Cold Dark Matter universes over more than 4 orders of magnitude in mass. A comparison of different simulations suggests that the dominant uncertainty in our results is systematic and is smaller than 10--30% at all masses, depending on the halo definition used. In particular, our ``Hubble Volume'' simulations of \tcdm and \lcdm cosmologies allow the abundance of massive clusters to be predicted with uncertainties well below those expected in all currently planned observational surveys. We show that for…
We consider the problem of the initial conditions and behaviour of the perturbations in scalar field cosmology with general potential. We use the general definition of adiabatic and isocurvature conditions to set the appropriate initial values for the perturbation in the scalar field and in the ordinary matter and radiation components. In both the cases of initial adiabaticity and isocurvature, we solve the Einstein and fluid equation at early times and on superhorizon scales to find the initial behaviour of the relevant quantities. In particular, in the isocurvature case, we consider models i…
We investigate the effects of changes in the cosmological parameters between the WMAP 1st, 3rd, and 5th year results on the structure of dark matter haloes. We use a set of simulations that cover 5 decades in halo mass ranging from the scales of dwarf galaxies (V_c ~30 km/s) to clusters of galaxies (V_c ~ 1000 km/s). We find that the concentration mass relation is a power law in all three cosmologies. However the slope is shallower and the zero point is lower moving from WMAP1 to WMAP5 to WMAP3. For haloes of mass log(M_200/Msun) = 10, 12, and 14 the differences in the concentration parameter …
We compute the expected gravitational wave signal from coalescing massive black hole (MBH) binaries at the center of galaxies in a hierarchical structure formation scenario in which seed holes of intermediate mass form far up in the dark halo merger tree. The merger history of DM halos and MBHs is followed from z=20 to the present in a LCDM cosmology. MBHs get incorporated through halo mergers into larger and larger structures, sink to the center owing to dynamical friction against the DM background, accrete cold material in the merger remnant, and form MBH binary systems. Stellar dynamical in…
We study the clustering properties of galaxy clusters expected to be observed by various forthcoming surveys both in the X-ray and sub-mm regimes by the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. Several different background cosmological models are assumed, including the concordance $Λ$CDM and various cosmologies with dynamical evolution of the dark energy. Particular attention is paid to models with a significant contribution of dark energy at early times which affects the process of structure formation. Past light cone and selection effects in cluster catalogs are carefully modeled by realistic scal…
We explore the effects of small scale structure on the formation and equilibrium of dark matter halos in a universe dominated by vacuum energy. We present the results of a suite of four N-body simulations, two with a LCDM initial power spectrum and two with WDM-like spectra that suppress the early formation of small structures. All simulations are run into to far future when the universe is 64Gyr/h old, long enough for halos to essentially reach dynamical equilibrium. We quantify the importance of hierarchical merging on the halo mass accretion history, the substructure population, and the equ…
Moduli fields, a natural prediction of any supergravity and superstring-inspired supersymmetry theory, may lead to a prolonged period of matter domination in the early Universe. This can be observationally viable provided the moduli decay early enough to avoid harming nucleosynthesis. If primordial black holes form, they would be expected to do so before or during this matter dominated era. We examine the extent to which the standard primordial black hole constraints are weakened in such a cosmology. Permitted mass fractions of black holes at formation are of order $10^{-8}$, rather than the u…
We present the results of a series of N-body simulations in cosmologies where dark matter (DM) is coupled to dark energy (DE), so easing the cosmic coincidence problem. The dark-dark coupling introduces two novel effects in N-body dynamics: (i) DM particle masses vary with time; (ii) gravity between DM particles is ruled by a constant $G^{*}$, greater than Newton's constant $G$, holding in other 2-body interactions. As a consequence, baryons and DM particle distributions develop a large scale bias. Here we investigate DE models with Ratra-Peebles (RP) potentials; the dark-dark coupling is set …
Wide-separation lensed QSOs measure the mass function and evolution of massive galaxy clusters, in a similar way to the cluster mass function deduced from X-ray-selected samples or statistical measurements of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. We compute probabilities of strong lensing of QSOs by galaxy clusters in dark energy cosmologies using semianalytical modelling and explore the sensitivity of the method to various input parameters and assumptions. We highlight the importance of considering both the variation of halo properties with mass, redshift and cosmology and the effect of cosmic scatte…
A new class of braneworld models displaying late-time phantom acceleration without resorting to a phantom fluid is presented. In this scenario expansion is fuelled by dark matter together with some effective dark energy capable of crossing the phantom divide. Unlike a previous proposal of this nature, in these models the effective phantom behaviour remains valid at all redshifts for some choices of the free parameters of the models. The construction is based on the generalised Chaplygin gas, and the cosmological history interpolates between a standard CDM-like behaviour at early times and a de…
I study the evolution of haloes density profiles as a function of time in the SCDM and LCDM cosmologies. Following Del Popolo et al. (1999), I calculate the concentration parameter c=r_v/a and study its time evolution. For a given halo mass, I find that c(z) ~1/(1+z) both in the LCDM and SCDM cosmology, in agreement with Bullock et al. (1999) analytic model and N-body simulations. In both models, a(z) is roughly constant. The present model predicts a stronger evolution of c(z) with respect to Navarro et al. (1997) model. Finally I show some consequences of the result on galaxy modelling.
If the accelerated expansion of the Universe at the present epoch is driven by a dark energy scalar field, there may well be a non-trivial coupling between the dark energy and the cold dark matter (CDM) fluid. Such interactions give rise to new features in cosmological structure growth, like an additional long-range attractive force between CDM particles, or variations of the dark matter particle mass with time. We have implemented these effects in the N-body code GADGET-2 and present results of a series of high-resolution N-body simulations where the dark energy component is directly interact…
Old, metal-poor globular clusters trace the formation and evolution of early-type galaxies. Their are the best probes, at low redshift, of the building-up of galaxy halos at high redshift. Their properties constrain the characteristics of their progenitors. Recent results suggest that DLAs at z>3 are the likely hosts for their formation. Finally, they shed light on the old, metal-poor halos probably present around all early-type galaxies.
We present an observational survey program using planetary nebulae, globular clusters, and X-ray emission to probe the halos of early-type galaxies. We review evidence for scanty dark matter halos around ordinary elliptical galaxies, and discuss the possible implications. We also present measurements of rotation in the halos.
Context. One science goal of the upcoming Planck mission is to perform a full-sky cluster survey based on the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect, which leads to the question of how such a survey would be affected by cosmological models with a different history of structure formation than LCDM. One class of these models are early dark energy (EDE) cosmologies, where the dark energy contribution does not vanish at early times. Aims. Since structures grow slower in the presence of EDE, one expects an increase in the number of galaxy clusters compared to LCDM at intermediate and high redshifts, which …
I present an analysis of the density shapes of dark matter halos in LCDM and LWDM cosmologies. The main results are derived from a statistical sample of galaxy-mass halos drawn from a high resolution LCDM N-body simulation. Halo shapes show significant trends with mass and redshift: low-mass halos are rounder than high mass halos, and, for a fixed mass, halos are rounder at low z. Contrary to previous expectations, which were based on cluster-mass halos and non-COBE normalized simulations, LCDM galaxy-mass halos at z=0 are not strongly flattened, with short to long axis ratios of s = 0.70 +/- …
The string $α^\prime$-correction to the usual Einstein action comprises a Gauss-Bonnet integrand multiplied by non-trivial functions of the modulus field $χ$ and/or the dilaton field $ϕ$. We discuss how the presence of such terms in the four dimensional effective action can explain several novel phenomena, such as a four-dimensional flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe undergoing a cosmic inflation at the early epoch, as well as a cosmic acceleration at late times. The model predicts, during inflation, spectra of both density perturbations and gravitational waves that may fall well within …
We consider a physically viable cosmological model that has a field dependent Gauss-Bonnet coupling in its effective action, in addition to a standard scalar field potential. The presence of such terms in the four dimensional effective action gives rise to several novel effects, such as a four dimensional flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe undergoing a cosmic inflation at early epoch, as well as a cosmic acceleration at late times. The model predicts, during inflation, spectra of both density perturbations and gravitational waves that may fall well within the experimental bounds. Further…
We determine the behaviour of a time-varying fine structure 'constant' $α(t)$ during the early and late phases of universes dominated by the kinetic energy of changing $α(t)$, radiation, dust, curvature, and lambda, respectively. We show that after leaving an initial vacuum-dominated phase during which $α$ increases, $α$ remains constant in universes like our own during the radiation era, and then increases slowly, proportional to a logarithm of cosmic time, during the dust era. If the universe becomes dominated by negative curvature or a positive cosmological constant then $α$ tends rapidly t…
We examine stochastic temperature fluctuations of the cosmic background radiation (CBR) arising via the Sachs-Wolfe effect from gravitational wave perturbations produced in the early universe. These temperature fluctuations are described by an angular correlation function $C(γ)$. A new (more concise and general) derivation of $C(γ)$ is given, and evaluated for inflationary-universe cosmologies. This yields standard results for angles $γ$ greater than a few degrees, but new results for smaller angles, because we do not make standard long-wavelength approximations to the gravitational wave mode …
When the universe was about 10 $μ$seconds old, a first order cosmological quark - hadron phase transition occurred at a critical temperature of around 200 MeV. In this work, we study the quark-hadron phase transition in the context of brane-world cosmologies, in which our Universe is a three-brane embedded in a five-dimensional bulk, and within an effective model of QCD. We analyze the evolution of the physical quantities, relevant for the physical description of the early universe, namely, the energy density, temperature and scale factor, before, during, and after the phase transition. To stu…
