arXiv subjects

A. Garzilli

Publications and source records attributed to A. Garzilli.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

How to constrain warm dark matter with the Lyman $\alpha$ forest

The flux power spectrum of the high resolution Lyman-$\alpha$ forest data exhibits suppression at small scales. The origin of this suppression can be due to long-sought warm dark matter (WDM) or to thermal effects, related to the largely unknown reionization history of the Universe. Previous works explored a specific class of reionization histories that exhibit sufficiently strong thermal supression and leave little room for warm dark matter interpretation. In this work we choose a different class of reionization histories, fully compatible with available data on evolution of reionization, but much colder then the reionization histories used by previous authors in determining the nature of dark matter, thus leaving the broadest room for the WDM interpretation of the suppression in the flux power spectrum. We find that WDM thermal relics with masses below 1.9 keV (95% CL) would produce a suppression at scales that are larger than observed maximum of the flux power spectrum, independently of assumptions about thermal effects. This WDM mass is significantly lower than previously claimed bounds, demonstrating the level of systematic uncertainty of the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest method, due to the previous modelling. We also discuss how this uncertainty may affect also data at large scales measured by eBOSS.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

A White Paper on keV Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter

We present a comprehensive review of keV-scale sterile neutrino Dark Matter, collecting views and insights from all disciplines involved - cosmology, astrophysics, nuclear, and particle physics - in each case viewed from both theoretical and experimental/observational perspectives. After reviewing the role of active neutrinos in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, we focus on sterile neutrinos in the context of the Dark Matter puzzle. Here, we first review the physics motivation for sterile neutrino Dark Matter, based on challenges and tensions in purely cold Dark Matter scenarios. We then round out the discussion by critically summarizing all known constraints on sterile neutrino Dark Matter arising from astrophysical observations, laboratory experiments, and theoretical considerations. In this context, we provide a balanced discourse on the possibly positive signal from X-ray observations. Another focus of the paper concerns the construction of particle physics models, aiming to explain how sterile neutrinos of keV-scale masses could arise in concrete settings beyond the Standard Model of elementary particle physics. The paper ends with an extensive review of current and future astrophysical and laboratory searches, highlighting new ideas and their experimental challenges, as well as future perspectives for the discovery of sterile neutrinos.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

The intergalactic medium thermal history at redshift z=1.7--3.2 from the Lyman alpha forest: a comparison of measurements using wavelets and the flux distribution

We investigate the thermal history of the intergalactic medium (IGM) in the redshift interval z=1.7--3.2 by studying the small-scale fluctuations in the Lyman alpha forest transmitted flux. We apply a wavelet filtering technique to eighteen high resolution quasar spectra obtained with the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES), and compare these data to synthetic spectra drawn from a suite of hydrodynamical simulations in which the IGM thermal state and cosmological parameters are varied. From the wavelet analysis we obtain estimates of the IGM thermal state that are in good agreement with other recent, independent wavelet-based measurements. We also perform a reanalysis of the same data set using the Lyman alpha forest flux probability distribution function (PDF), which has previously been used to measure the IGM temperature-density relation. This provides an important consistency test for measurements of the IGM thermal state, as it enables a direct comparison of the constraints obtained using these two different methodologies. We find the constraints obtained from wavelets and the flux PDF are formally consistent with each other, although in agreement with previous studies, the flux PDF constraints favour an isothermal or inverted IGM temperature-density relation. We also perform a joint analysis by combining our wavelet and flux PDF measurements, constraining the IGM thermal state at z=2.1 to have a temperature at mean density of T0/[10^3 K]=17.3 +/- 1.9 and a power-law temperature-density relation exponent gamma=1.1 +/- 0.1 (1 sigma). Our results are consistent with previous observations that indicate there may be additional sources of heating in the IGM at z<4.

astro-ph.CO↗