We present the OptiBounce algorithm, a new and fast method for finding the bounce action for cosmological phase transitions. This is done by direct solution of the "reduced" minimisation problem proposed by Coleman, Glaser, and Martin. By using a new formula for the action, our method avoids the rescaling step used in other algorithms based on this formulation. The bounce path is represented using a pseudo-spectral Gauss-Legendre collocation scheme leading to a non-linear optimisation problem over the collocation coefficients. Efficient solution of this problem is enabled by recent advances in automatic differentiation, sparse matrix representation and large scale non-linear programming. The algorithm is optimised for finding nucleation temperatures by sharing model initialisation work between instances of the calculation when operating at different temperatures. We present numerical results on a range of potentials with up to 20 scalar fields, demonstrating O(1%) agreement with existing codes and highly favourable performance characteristics.
Many cosmological models have only a finite number of parameters of interest, but a very expensive data-generating process and an intractable likelihood function. We address the problem of performing likelihood-free Bayesian inference from such black-box simulation-based models, under the constraint of a very limited simulation budget (typically a few thousand). To do so, we adopt an approach based on the likelihood of an alternative parametric model. Conventional approaches to approximate Bayesian computation such as likelihood-free rejection sampling are impractical for the considered proble…
The Lyman-alpha forest provides strong constraints on both cosmological parameters and intergalactic medium astrophysics, which are forecast to improve further with the next generation of surveys including eBOSS and DESI. As is generic in cosmological inference, extracting this information requires a likelihood to be computed throughout a high-dimensional parameter space. Evaluating the likelihood requires a robust and accurate mapping between the parameters and observables, in this case the 1D flux power spectrum. Cosmological simulations enable such a mapping, but due to computational time c…
We optimise the parameters of the Population Monte Carlo algorithm using numerical simulations. The optimisation is based on an efficiency statistic related to the number of samples evaluated prior to convergence, and is applied to a D-dimensional Gaussian distribution to derive optimal scaling laws for the algorithm parameters. More complex distributions such as the banana and bimodal distributions are also studied. We apply these results to a cosmological parameter estimation problem that uses CMB anisotropy data from the WMAP nine-year release to constrain a six parameter adiabatic model an…
I will summarize Noncommutative Geometry Spectral Action, an elegant geometrical model valid at unification scale, which offers a purely gravitational explanation of the Standard Model, the most successful phenomenological model of particle physics. Noncommutative geometry states that close to the Planck energy scale, space-time has a fine structure and proposes that it is given as the product of a four-dimensional continuum compact Riemaniann manifold by a tiny discrete finite noncommutative space. The spectral action principle, a universal action functional on spectral triples which depends …
We present BubbleProfiler, a C++ software package for finding field profiles in bubble walls and calculating the bounce action during phase transitions involving multiple scalar fields. Our code uses a recently proposed perturbative method for potentials with multiple fields and a shooting method for single field cases. BubbleProfiler is constructed with modularity, flexibility and practicality in mind. These principles extend from the input of an arbitrary potential with multiple scalar fields in various forms, through the code structure, to the testing suite. After reviewing the physics cont…
Following an approach of Matarrese and Pietroni, we derive the functional renormalization group (RG) flow of the effective action of cosmological large-scale structures. Perturbative solutions of this RG flow equation are shown to be consistent with standard cosmological perturbation theory. Non-perturbative approximate solutions can be obtained by truncating the a priori infinite set of possible effective actions to a finite subspace. Using for the truncated effective action a form dictated by dissipative fluid dynamics, we derive RG flow equations for the scale dependence of the effective vi…
Cosmological consequences of the noncommutative geometry spectral action are presented. Neglecting the nonminimal coupling of the Higgs field to the curvature, background cosmology remains unchanged, and only the inhomogeneous perturbations will evolve differently from the equivalent classical system. However, considering the nonminimal coupling, corrections will be obtained even at the level of the background cosmologies. Finally, the Higgs field may act as an inflaton field, due to its nonminimal coupling with geometry.
We propose and develop a general algorithm for finding the action for cosmological perturbations which rivals the conventional, gauge-invariant approach and can be applied to theories with more than one metric. We then apply it to a particular case of bigravity, focusing on the Eddington- inspired Born-Infeld theory, and show that we can obtain a nearly scale-invariant power spectrum for both scalar and tensor primordial quantum perturbations. Unfortunately, in the case of the minimal Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld theory, we find that the tensor-to-scalar ratio of perturbations is unacceptabl…
The cosmological constant $Λ$ is usually interpreted as Dark Energy (DE) or modified gravity (MG). Here we propose instead that $Λ$ corresponds to a boundary term in the action of classical General Relativity. The action is zero for a perfect fluid solution and this fixes $Λ$ to the average density $ρ$ and pressure $p$ inside a primordial causal boundary: $Λ= 4πG <ρ+3p>$. This explains both why the observed value of $Λ$ is related to the matter density today and also why other contributions to $Λ$, such as DE or MG, do not produce cosmic expansion. Cosmic acceleration results from the repulsiv…
We present an unconventional approach for addressing the old cosmological constant (CC) problem in a class of F(R,G) models of modified gravity. For a CC of arbitrary size and sign the corresponding cosmological evolution follows an expansion history which strikingly resembles that of our real universe. The effects of the large CC are relaxed dynamically and there is no fine-tuning at any stage. In addition, the relaxation mechanism alleviates the coincidence problem. The upshot is that a large cosmological constant and the observed cosmic expansion history coexist peacefully in the Relaxed Un…
We construct a model in which the cosmological constant is canceled from the gravitational equations of motion. Our model relies on two key ingredients: a nonlocal constraint on the action, which forces the spacetime average of the Lagrangian density to vanish, and a dynamical way for this condition to be satisfied classically with arbitrary matter content. We implement the former condition with a spatially-constant Lagrange multiplier associated with the volume form and the latter by including a free four-form gauge field strength in the action. These two features are enough to remove the cos…
In second order perturbation theory different definitions are known of gauge invariant perturbations in single field inflationary models. Consequently the corresponding gauge invariant cubic actions do not have the same form. Here we show that the cubic action for one choice of gauge invariant variables is unique in the following sense: the action for any other, non-linearly related variable can be brought to the same bulk action, plus additional boundary terms. These boundary terms correspond to the choice of hypersurface and generate extra, disconnected contributions to the bispectrum. We al…
We study cosmological perturbations in Hořava-Lifshitz Gravity. We consider scalar metric fluctuations about a homogeneous and isotropic space-time. Starting from the most general metric, we work out the complete second order action for the perturbations. We then make use of the residual gauge invariance and of the constraint equations to reduce the number of dynamical degrees of freedom. After introducing the Sasaki-Mukhanov variable, the combination of spatial metric fluctuation and matter inhomogeneity for which the action in General Relativity has canonical form, we find that this variable…
We present a covariant formulation for constructing general quadratic actions for cosmological perturbations, invariant under a given set of gauge symmetries for a given field content. This approach allows us to analyse scalar, vector and tensor perturbations at the same time in a straightforward manner. We apply the procedure to diffeomorphism invariant single-tensor, scalar-tensor and vector-tensor theories and show explicitly the full covariant form of the quadratic actions in such cases, in addition to the actions determining the evolution of vector and tensor perturbations. We also discus…
The conditions for the existence and stability of cosmological power-law scaling solutions are established when the Einstein-Hilbert action is modified by the inclusion of a function of the Gauss-Bonnet curvature invariant. The general form of the action that leads to such solutions is determined for the case where the universe is sourced by a barotropic perfect fluid. It is shown by employing an equivalence between the Gauss-Bonnet action and a scalar-tensor theory of gravity that the cosmological field equations can be written as a plane autonomous system. It is found that stable scaling sol…
We consider the quantum Friedmann equations which include one-loop vacuum fluctuations due to gravitons and scalar field matter in a FLRW background with constant $ε=-{\dot{H}}/{H^2}$. After several field redefinitions, to remove the mixing between the gravitational and matter degrees of freedom, we can construct the one loop correction to the Friedmann equations. Due to cosmological particle creation, the propagators needed in such a calculation are typically infrared divergent. In this paper we construct the graviton and matter propagators, making use of the recent construction of the infrar…
We implement the method developed in [1] to construct the most general parametrised action for linear cosmological perturbations of bimetric theories of gravity. Specifically, we consider perturbations around a homogeneous and isotropic background, and identify the complete form of the action invariant under diffeomorphism transformations, as well as the number of free parameters characterising this cosmological class of theories. We discuss, in detail, the case without derivative interactions, and compare our results with those found in massive bigravity.
Cosmological constant behavior can be realized as solutions of the Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) action within Type IIB string theory and the AdS/CFT correspondence. We derive a family of attractor solutions to the cosmological constant that arise purely from the "relativistic" nature of the DBI action without an explicit false vacuum energy. We also find attractor solutions with values of the equation of state near but with $w\ne-1$; the forms for the potential arising from flux interactions are renormalizable and natural, and the D3-brane tension can be given by the standard throat form. We discus…
We consider cosmological constraints arising from the background expansion history on the ef- fective field theory of cosmic acceleration, a theoretical framework that allows for a unified way to classify both models of dark energy and modified gravity within the linear regime. In the Einstein frame, the most general action for the background can be written in terms of a canonical scalar field which is non-minimally coupled to matter. The leading corrections to the action are expressible through a quartic kinetic term, and scalar couplings to a Gauss-Bonnet curvature term and the Einstein tens…
General relativity (GR) extensions based on renormalization group (RG) flows may lead to scale-dependent couplings with nontrivial effects at large distance scales. Here we develop further the approach in which RG effects at large distance scales are fully encoded in an effective action and we apply it to cosmology. In order to evaluate the cosmological consequences, our main assumption is the use of a RG scale such that the (infrared) RG effects only appear at perturbative order (not at the background level). The emphasis here is on analytical results and qualitative understanding of the impl…
We show that the generalized McVittie spacetime, which represents a black hole with time-dependent mass in an expanding universe, is an exact solution of a subclass of the Horndeski family of actions. The heat-flow term responsible for the energy transfer between the black hole and the cosmological background is generated by the higher-order kinetic gravity braiding term, which generalizes the cuscuton action that yields McVittie with constant mass as a solution. Finally, we show that this generalization can be understood in terms of a duality realized by a disformal transformation, connecting…
We compute the third order gauge invariant action for scalar-graviton interactions in the Jordan frame. We demonstrate that the gauge invariant action for scalar and tensor perturbations on one physical hypersurface only differs from that on another physical hypersurface via terms proportional to the equation of motion and boundary terms, such that the evolution of non-Gaussianity may be called unique. Moreover, we demonstrate that the gauge invariant curvature perturbation and graviton on uniform field hypersurfaces in the Jordan frame are equal to their counterparts in the Einstein frame. Th…
Recently the global variation of the Planck mass in the General Relativistic Einstein-Hilbert action was proposed as a self-tuning mechanism of the cosmological constant preventing vacuum energy from freely gravitating. We show that this global mechanism emerges for generic local scalar-tensor theories with additional coupling of the scalar field to the field strength of a three-form gauge field that turns the scalar field constant on the domain of the action. Evaluation of the resulting integral constraint equation over the observable Universe yields a self-consistent framework with General R…
In the paradigm of effective field theory, one hierarchically obtains the effective action $\mathcal{A}_{\rm eff}[q, \cdots]$ for some low(er) energy degrees of freedom $q$, by integrating out the high(er) energy degrees of freedom $ξ$, in a path integral, based on an action $\mathcal{A}[q,ξ, \cdots]$. We show how one can integrate out a vector field $v^a$ in an action $\mathcal{A}[Γ,v,\cdots ]$ and obtain an effective action $\mathcal{A}_{\rm eff}[Γ, \cdots]$ which, on variation with respect to the connection $Γ$, leads to the Einstein's field equations and a metric compatible with the connec…
