The cosmological principle states that the Universe is statistically homogeneous and isotropic at large distance scales. There currently exist many observations which indicate a departure from this principle. It has been shown that many of these observations can be explained by invoking superhorizon cosmological perturbations and may be consistent with the Big Bang paradigm. Remarkably, these modes simultaneously explain the observed Hubble tension, i.e., the discrepancy between the direct and indirect measurements of the Hubble parameter. We propose several tests of the cosmological principle using SKA. In particular, we can reliably extract the signal of dipole anisotropy in the distribution of radio galaxies. The superhorizon perturbations also predict a significant redshift dependence of the dipole signal which can be nicely tested by the study of signals of reionization and the dark ages using SKA. We also propose to study the alignment of radio galaxy axes as well as their integrated polarization vectors over distance scales ranging from a few Mpc to Gpc. We discuss data analysis techniques that can reliably extract these signals from data.
SKA will be a major step forward not only in astrophysics, but also in precision cosmology. We show how the neutral hydrogen intensity map can be combined with the Planck measurements of the CMB power spectrum, to provide a precision test of the inflaton potential. For a conservative range of redshifts we find that SKA can significantly improve current constraints on the Hubble slow-roll parameters.
In this work, we investigate what role the redshift drift data of Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will play in the cosmological parameter estimation in the future. To test the constraint capability of the redshift drift data of SKA-only, the $Λ$CDM model is chosen as a reference model. We find that using the SKA1 mock data, the $Λ$CDM model can be loosely constrained, while the model can be well constrained when the SKA2 mock data are used. When the mock data of SKA are combined with the data of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), the constraints can be significantly improved almost a…
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will produce spectroscopic surveys of tens to hundreds of millions of HI galaxies, eventually covering 30,000 sq. deg. and reaching out to redshift z~2. The huge volumes probed by the SKA will allow for some of the best constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity, based on measurements of the large-scale power spectrum. We investigate various observational set-ups for HI galaxy redshift surveys, compatible with the SKA Phase 1 and Phase 2 (full SKA) configurations. We use the corresponding number counts and bias for each survey from realistic simulations and deri…
In [1] a new method to measure the speed of light through Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) was introduced. Here, we describe in much more detail the theoretical basis of that method, its implementation, and give some newly updated results about its application to the forecast data. In particular, we will show that SKA will be able to detect a 1% variation (if any) in the speed of light at 3$σ$ level. Smaller signals will be hardly detected by already-planned future galaxy surveys, but we give indications about what sensitivity requirements should a survey fulfill in order to be successful.
We present an overview of the theory of high-redshift star and X-ray source formation, and how they affect the 21-cm background. Primary focus is given to Lyman alpha pumping and X-ray heating mechanisms at cosmic dawn, opening a new observational window for high-redshift astrophysics by generating sizable fluctuations in the 21-cm background. We describe observational prospects for power spectrum analysis and 3D tomography (imaging) of the signature of these early astrophysical sources by SKA1-LOW and SKA2.
There currently exist many observations which are not consistent with the cosmological principle. We review these observations with a particular emphasis on those relevant for Square Kilometre Array (SKA). In particular, several different data sets indicate a preferred direction pointing approximately towards the Virgo cluster. We also observe a hemispherical anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) temperature fluctuations. Although these inconsistencies may be attributed to systematic effects, there remains the possibility that they indicate new physics and various theo…
Probing late-time deviations from $Λ$CDM with a quadratic dark energy expansion
Plaksha University（普拉克斯哈大学）；Universidade Federal do Paraná（巴拉那联邦大学）；Federal University of Latin American Integration (UNILA)（拉丁美洲联邦大学）；Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul（南里奥格兰德联邦大学）；Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais（国家空间研究所）
This present article is dedicated to thoroughly exploring the competency of the synergy of the upcoming Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) missions and Square Kilometre Array (SKA) surveys in detecting features in the primordial power spectrum. Features are by definition specific scale-dependent modifications to the minimal power-law power spectrum. The functional form of the features depends on the inflationary scenarios taken into consideration. The identification of any conclusive deviation from the feature-less power-law power spectrum will allow us to largely fathom out the microphysics of…
Unlike the electromagnetic radiation from astrophysical objects, gravitational waves (GWs) from binary star mergers have much longer wavelengths and are coherent. For ground-based GW detectors, when the lens object between the source and the earth has mass $\sim 1-10^5M_\odot$, the diffraction effect should be considered since the chirping wavelengths are comparable to the scale of the barrier (its Schwarzschild radius). The waveform will thus be distorted as the fringes. In this work, we show that signals from the third-generation GW detectors like the Einstein Telescope (ET) would be a smoki…
With the first phase of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA1) entering into its final pre-construction phase, we investigate how best to maximise its scientific return. Specifically, we focus on the statistical measurement of the 21 cm power spectrum (PS) from the epoch of reionization (EoR) using the low frequency array, SKA1-low. To facilitate this investigation we use the recently developed MCMC based EoR analysis tool 21CMMC (Greig & Mesinger). In light of the recent 50 per cent cost reduction, we consider several different SKA core baseline designs, changing: (i) the number of antenna station…
Detection of individual luminous sources during the reionization epoch and cosmic dawn through their signatures in the HI 21-cm signal is one of the direct approaches to probe the epoch. Here, we summarize our previous works on this and present preliminary results on the prospects of detecting such sources using the SKA1-low experiment. We first discuss the expected HI 21-cm signal around luminous sources at different stages of reionization and cosmic dawn. We then introduce two visibility based estimators for detecting such signal: one based on the matched filtering technique and the other re…
A more inclusive effective dark fluid equation of state parameter: constraints from SKA and Euclid like surveys
Instituto de Física Teórica UAM-CSIC（UAM-CSIC理论物理研究所）；IRAP, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, CNES, UPS（图卢兹大学）；Faculty of Sciences, Université St Joseph（圣约瑟夫大学理学院）
Dark Matter (DM) is a fundamental ingredient of our Universe and of structure formation, and yet its nature is elusive to astrophysical probes. Information on the nature and physical properties of the WIMP (neutralino) DM (the leading candidate for a cosmologically relevant DM) can be obtained by studying the astrophysical signals of their annihilation/decay. Among the various e.m. signals, secondary electrons produced by neutralino annihilation generate synchrotron emission in the magnetized atmosphere of galaxy clusters and galaxies which could be observed as a diffuse radio emission (halo o…
Observations of anisotropies in the brightness temperature of the 21 cm line of neutral hydrogen from the period before reionization would shed light on the dawn of the first stars and galaxies. In this paper, we use large-scale semi-numerical simulations to analyse the imprint on the 21 cm signal of spatial fluctuations in the Lyman-alpha flux arising from the clustering of the first galaxies. We show that an experiment such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) can probe this signal at the onset of reionization, giving us important information about the UV emission spectra of the first stars a…
Probing ionized bubbles around luminous sources during reionization with SKA 21-cm observations
Jadavpur University（贾达普大学）；Indian Institute of Technology Indore（印度印多尔理工学院）；The Open University of Israel（以色列开放大学）；Indian Institute of Technology Madras（印度马德拉斯理工学院）
It is usually assumed that we will need to wait until next-generation surveys like Euclid, LSST and SKA, in order to improve on the current best constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity from the Planck experiment. We show that two contemporary surveys, with the SKA precursor MeerKAT and the Dark Energy Survey (DES), can be combined using the multi-tracer technique to deliver an accuracy on measurement of $f_{\rm NL}$ that is up to three times better than Planck.
We investigate the prospect of constraining scalar field dark energy models using HI 21-cm intensity mapping surveys. We consider a wide class of coupled scalar field dark energy models whose predictions about the background cosmological evolution are different from the $Λ$CDM predictions by a few percent. We find that these models can be statistically distinguished from $Λ$CDM through their imprint on the 21-cm angular power spectrum. At the fiducial $z= 1.5$, corresponding to a radio interferometric observation of the post-reionization HI 21 cm observation at frequency $568 \rm MHz$, these m…
With a radio continuum galaxy survey by the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a photometric galaxy survey by Euclid and their combination, we forecast future constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity. We focus on the potential impact of local-type higher-order nonlinear parameters on the parameter estimation and particularly the confirmation of the inflationary consistency inequality. Nonstandard inflationary models, such as multifield models, introduce the scale-dependent stochastic clustering of galaxies on large scales, which is a unique probe of mechanism for generating primordial density fluc…
Probing power spectrum enhancement at small scales with the SKA
National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家天文台）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学）
Beyond ΛCDM with the SKA Observatory -- I: Probing Gravity on Cosmological Scales
University of the Western Cape（西开普大学）；Queen Mary University of London（伦敦玛丽女王大学）；CNRS（法国国家科学研究中心）；University of Portsmouth（朴茨茅斯大学）；The University of Manchester（曼彻斯特大学）；University of South Africa（南非大学）；Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute（韩国天文学与空间科学研究所）
Probing High-redshift Intracluster Medium Using SKA
National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research（国家射电天体物理学中心，塔塔基础研究所）；International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research（国际理论科学中心，塔塔基础研究所）
The Planck CMB experiment has delivered the best constraints so far on primordial non-Gaussianity, ruling out early-Universe models of inflation that generate large non-Gaussianity. Although small improvements in the CMB constraints are expected, the next frontier of precision will come from future large-scale surveys of the galaxy distribution. The advantage of such surveys is that they can measure many more modes than the CMB -- in particular, forthcoming radio surveys with the SKA will cover huge volumes. Radio continuum surveys deliver the largest volumes, but with the disadvantage of no r…
Probing departures from $Λ$CDM by late-time datasets
Babeș-Bolyai University（博巴伊-波约大学）；Khazar University（哈萨尔大学）；Indian Institute of Astrophysics（印度天体物理研究所）；Università di Napoli “Federico II”（那不勒斯费德里科二世大学）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), sez. di Napoli（意大利国家核物理研究所那不勒斯分部）；Scuola Superiore Meridionale（南方高等学院）；Zhejiang Normal University（浙江师范大学）
The study of the Universe on ultra-large scales is one of the major science cases for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The SKA will be able to probe a vast volume of the cosmos, thus representing a unique instrument, amongst next-generation cosmological experiments, for scrutinising the Universe's properties on the largest cosmic scales. Probing cosmic structures on extremely large scales will have many advantages. For instance, the growth of perturbations is well understood for those modes, since it falls fully within the linear regime. Also, such scales are unaffected by the poorly understo…
Probing Merger Shocks in Galaxy Clusters in the SKA Era
National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research（国家射电天文中心，塔塔基础研究所）；Centre for Radio Astronomy Techniques and Technologies, Rhodes University（射电天文技术与方法中心，罗德斯大学）；Institute of Astronomy, National Tsing Hua University（天文研究所，国立清华大学）；Pole Scientific, University Catholic of Lyon（科学系，里昂天主教大学）；Department of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore（天文学、天体物理学与空间工程系，印度印度理工学院印多尔分校）
Theoretical uncertainties on non-linear scales are among the main obstacles to exploit the sensitivity of forthcoming galaxy and hydrogen surveys like Euclid or the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Here, we devise a new method to model the theoretical error that goes beyond the usual cut-off on small scales. The advantage of this more efficient implementation of the non-linear uncertainties is tested through a Markov-Chain-Monte-Carlo (MCMC) forecast of the sensitivity of Euclid and SKA to the parameters of the standard $Λ$CDM model, including massive neutrinos with total mass $M_ν$, and to 3 ext…
Probing the Fundamental Nature of Particle Dark Matter
University of the Witwatersrand（威特沃特斯兰德大学）；Rhodes University（罗德岛大学）；University of California, Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory（劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室）；École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)（洛桑联邦理工学院）
Understanding the nature of dark energy is one of the most outstanding problems in cosmology at present. In last twenty years, cosmological observations related to SNIa, Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations etc, have put stringent constraints on the the dark energy evolution, still there is enough uncertainty in our knowledge about dark energy that demands new generation of cosmological observations. Post-reionization neutral hydrogen 21 cm intensity mapping surveys are one of the most promising future cosmological observations that have the potential to map the …
Taking the neutrino oscillation data into consideration, a dimensionless parameter $Δ= (m_3-m_1)/(m_3+m_1)$ is adopted to parameterize the three neutrino mass eigenstates and the normal (positive $Δ$) or inverted (negative $Δ$) mass hierarchies in three typical cosmological models. Using the currently available cosmic observational data, several Markov Chain Monte Carlo chains are obtained with uniform priors on the free parameters at first. Applying importance sampling the results are compared with three new priors, i.e., logarithmic prior on $|Δ|$, linear and logarithmic priors on $Σm_ν$. It…
Chevallier-Polarski-Linder (CPL) parametrization for the equation of state of dark energy in terms of cosmic redshift or scale factor have been frequently studied in the literature. In this study, we consider cosmic time based CPL parametrization for the equation of state parameter of the effective cosmic fluid that fills the fabric of spatially flat and homogeneous Robertson-Walker spacetime in general relativity. The model exhibits two worthy features: (i) It fits the observational data from the latest $H(z)$ and Union 2.1 SN Ia compilations matching the success of $Λ$CDM model. (ii) It desc…
The Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) is an all-sky survey in radio-continuum which uses the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP). Using galaxy angular power spectrum and the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect, we study the potential of EMU to constrain models beyond $Λ$CDM (i.e., local primordial non-Gaussianity, dynamical dark energy, spatial curvature and deviations from general relativity), for different design sensitivities. We also include a multi-tracer analysis, distinguishing between star-forming galaxies and galaxies with an active galactic nucleus, to further improve EMU's potential. W…
In the most distant reaches of the Universe, the 21-cm hyperfine transition in neutral hydrogen provides one of the only available tracers of large-scale structure. A number of instruments have been working and planned to measure the 21-cm line signals, and in particular, Experiment to Detect the Global EoR Signature (EDGES) recently has reported the first detection of an absorption signal, which corresponds to the 21-cm line global signal at the epoch of reionization (EoR). The future large radio telescope, Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be able to deliver the high-precision measurement of…
One of the algorithms typically used for fitting anisotropic Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), $α_{\perp}D_{M, \text{fid}}(z)/r_{d, \text{fid}}=D_{M}(z)/r_{d}$, provides an excellent fit as $z\Rightarrow 0$. Yet, at $ z_{\text{drag}} \simeq 1060$, $D_{M, \text{fid}}(1060)/r_{d, \text{fid}}\simeq D_{M}(1060)/r_{d}$. Since $α_{\perp}$ does not change with increasing redshift, we conclude that the algorithms deviate from true solutions with increasing $z$. We investigate that departure through an assumption of a flat $Λ$CDM cosmology. At the relatively low redshifts at which isotropic BAO studi…
Weak lensing convergence statistics is a powerful tool to probe dark energy. Dark energy plays an important role to the structure formation and the effects can be detected through the convergence power spectrum, bi-spectrum etc. One of the most promising and simplest dark energy model is the $ Λ$CDM. However, it is worth investigating different dark energy models with evolving equation of state of the dark energy. In this work, detectability of different dark energy models from $ Λ$CDM model has been explored through convergence power spectrum and bi-spectrum.
Neutral hydrogen (HI) intensity mapping is a promising technique to probe the large-scale structure of the Universe, improving our understanding on the late-time accelerated expansion. In this work, we first scrutinize how an alternative cosmology, interacting dark energy (IDE), can affect the 21-cm angular power spectrum relative to the concordance $Λ$CDM model. We re-derive the 21-cm brightness temperature fluctuation in the context of such interaction and uncover an extra new contribution. Then we estimate the noise level of three upcoming HI intensity mapping surveys, BINGO, SKA1-MID Band$…
We model the 21-cm signal and LAE population evolution during the epoch of reionization in order to predict the 21cm-LAE cross-power spectrum. We employ high-dynamic-range simulations of the IGM to create models that are consistent with constraints from the CMB, Lyman-$α$ forest and LAE population statistics. Using these models we consider the evolution of the cross-power spectrum for a selection of realistic reionization histories and predict the sensitivity of current and upcoming surveys to measuring this signal. We find that the imprint of a delayed-end to reionization can be observed by f…
If we assume that we live in the center of a spherical inhomogeneous universe, we can explain the apparent accelerating expansion of the universe without introducing the unknown dark energy or modifying gravitational theory. Direct measurement of the cosmic acceleration can be a powerful tool in distinguishing $Λ$CDM and the inhomogeneous models. If $Λ$CDM is the correct model, we have shown that DECIGO/BBO has sufficient ability to detect the positive redshift drift of the source by observing gravitational waves from neutron star binaries for 5-10 years. This enables us to rule out any Lemaît…
Recently, some divergent conclusions about cosmic acceleration were obtained using type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), with opposite assumptions on the intrinsic luminosity evolution. In this paper, we use strong gravitational lensing systems to probe the cosmic acceleration. Since the theory of strong gravitational lensing is established certainly, and the Einstein radius is determined by stable cosmic geometry. We study two cosmological models, $Λ$CDM and power-law models, through 152 strong gravitational lensing systems, incorporating with 30 Hubble parameters $H(z)$ and 11 baryon acoustic oscilla…
Mapping the expansion history of the universe is a compelling task of physical cosmology, especially in the context of the observational evidence for the recent acceleration of the universe, which demonstrates that canonical theories of cosmology and particle physics are incomplete and that there is new physics still to be discovered. Cosmography is a phenomenological approach to cosmology, where (with some caveats) physical quantities are expanded as a Taylor series in the cosmological redshift $z$, or analogous parameters such as the rescaled redshift $y=z/(1+z)$ or the logarithmic redshift …
A phenomenological attempt at alleviating the so-called coincidence problem is to allow the dark matter and dark energy to interact. By assuming a coupled quintessence scenario characterized by an interaction parameter $ε$, we investigate the precision in the measurements of the expansion rate $H(z)$ required by future experiments in order to detect a possible deviation from the standard $Λ$CDM model ($ε= 0$). We perform our analyses at two levels, namely: through Monte Carlo simulations based on $ε$CDM models, in which $H(z)$ samples with different accuracies are generated and through an anal…
In the next decades, the gravitational-wave (GW) standard siren observations and the neutral hydrogen 21-cm intensity mapping (IM) surveys, as two promising cosmological probes, will play an important role in precisely measuring cosmological parameters. In this work, we make a forecast for cosmological parameter estimation with the synergy between the GW standard siren observations and the 21-cm IM surveys. We choose the Einstein Telescope (ET) and the Taiji observatory as the representatives of the GW detection projects and choose the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) phase I mid-frequency array a…
Dark matter (DM) occupies the majority of matter content in the universe and is probably cold (CDM). However, modifications to the standard CDM model may be required by the small-scale observations, and DM may be self-interacting (SIDM) or warm (WDM). Here we show that the diffractive lensing of gravitational waves (GWs) from binary black hole mergers by small halos ($\sim10^3-10^6M_\odot$; mini-halos) may serve as a clean probe to the nature of DM, free from the contamination of baryonic processes in the DM studies based on dwarf/satellite galaxies. The expected lensed GW signals and event ra…
The Universe's initial conditions, in particular baryon and cold dark matter (CDM) isocurvature perturbations, are poorly constrained on sub-Mpc scales. In this paper, we develop a new formalism to compute the effect of small-scale baryon perturbations on the mean free-electron abundance, thus on cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies. Our framework can accommodate perturbations with arbitrary time and scale dependence. We apply this formalism to four different combinations of baryon and CDM isocurvature modes, and use Planck CMB-anisotropy data to probe their initial amplitude. We fin…
One of the major science goals of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is to understand the role played by atomic hydrogen (HI) gas in the evolution of galaxies throughout cosmic time. The hyperfine transition line of the hydrogen atom at 21-cm is one of the best tools to detect and study the properties of HI gas associated with galaxies. In this article, we review our current understanding of HI gas and its relationship with galaxies through observations of the 21-cm line both in emission and absorption. In addition, we provide an overview of the HI science that will be possible with SKA and its …
Probing the Baryon Distribution with Fast Radio Bursts
The University of Sydney（悉尼大学）；University of Cape Town（开普敦大学）；African Institute for Mathematical Sciences（非洲数学科学研究所）；Curtin University（科廷大学）；Swinburne University of Technology（斯威本科技大学）；ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav)（引力波发现卓越研究中心 (OzGrav)）；Stanford University（斯坦福大学）；Trinity College Dublin（都柏林三一学院）；Stellenbosch University（斯坦陵布什大学）；Aix-Marseille University（艾克斯-马赛大学）；Australian National University（澳大利亚国立大学）；Indian Institute of Technology, Indore（印度理工学院印多尔分校）；Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）
The Higgs-Dilaton model is a scale-invariant extension of the Standard Model non-minimally coupled to gravity and containing just one additional degree of freedom on top of the Standard Model particle content. This minimalistic scenario predicts a set of measurable consistency relations between the inflationary observables and the dark-energy equation-of-state parameter. We present an alternative derivation of these consistency relations that highlights the connections and differences with the $α$-attractor scenario. We study in how far these constraints allow to distinguish the Higgs-Dilaton …
In these proceedings I discuss various extragalactic surveys which will be undertaken over the next few years and which will be complementary to any HI and/or continuum surveys with the SKA-precursor telescopes. I concentrate on the near-infrared public surveys which will be undertaken with the Visible and Infrared Survey Telscope for Astronomy (VISTA), and in particular the VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations (VIDEO) survey which will provide the ideal data set to combine with any deep SKA-precursor observations of the extragalactic sky. After highlighting the links that the SKA precursors …
