arXiv subjects

Antonio Enea Romano

Publications and source records attributed to Antonio Enea Romano.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy catalog approach for gravitational wave cosmology

We outline the ``dark siren'' galaxy catalog method for cosmological inference using gravitational wave (GW) standard sirens, clarifying some common misconceptions in the implementation of this method. When a confident transient electromagnetic counterpart to a GW event is unavailable, the identification of a unique host galaxy is in general challenging. Instead, as originally proposed by Schutz (1986), one can consult a galaxy catalog and implement a dark siren statistical approach incorporating all potential host galaxies within the localization volume. Trott & Hunterer 2021 recently claimed that this approach results in a biased estimate of the Hubble constant, $H_0$, when implemented on mock data, even if optimistic assumptions are made. We demonstrate explicitly that, as previously shown by multiple independent groups, the dark siren statistical method leads to an unbiased posterior when the method is applied to the data correctly. We highlight common sources of error possible to make in the generation of mock data and implementation of the statistical framework, including the mismodeling of selection effects and inconsistent implementations of the Bayesian framework, which can lead to a spurious bias.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Reconstructing homospectral inflationary potentials

Purely geometrical arguments show that there exist classes of homospectral inflationary cosmologies, i.e. different expansion histories producing the same spectrum of comoving curvature perturbations. We develop a general algorithm to reconstruct the potential of minimally-coupled single scalar fields from an arbitrary expansion history. We apply it to homospectral expansion histories to obtain the corresponding potentials, providing numerical and analytical examples. The infinite class of homospectral potentials depends on two free parameters, the initial energy scale and the initial value of the field, showing that in general it is impossible to reconstruct a unique potential from the curvature spectrum unless the initial energy scale and the field value are fixed, for instance through observation of primordial gravitational waves.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Deep learning reconstruction of the large scale structure of the Universe from luminosity distance observations

Supernovae Ia (SNe) can provide a unique window on the large scale structure (LSS) of the Universe at redshifts where few other observations are available, by solving the inversion problem (IP) consisting in reconstructing the LSS from its effects on the observed luminosity distance. So far the IP was solved assuming some restrictions about space-time, such as spherical symmetry for example, while we obtain for the first time solutions of the IP problem for arbitrary space-time geometries using deep learning. The method is based on the use of convolutional neural networks (CNN) trained on simulated data. The training data set is obtained by first generating random density and velocity fields, and then computing their effects on the luminosity distance. The CNN, based on an appriately modified version of U-Net to account for the tridimensionality of the data, is then trained to reconstruct the density and velocity fields from the luminosity distance. We find that the velocity field inversion is more accurate than the density field, because the effects of the velocity on the luminosity distance only depend on the source velocity, while in the case of the density it is an integrated effect along the line of sight, giving rise to more degeneracy in the solution of the IP. Improved versions of these neural networks, modified to accommodate the non uniform distribution of the SNe, can be applied to observational data to reconstruct the large scale structure of the Universe at redshifts at which few other observations are available.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Model-independent approach to effective sound speed in multi-field inflation

For any physical system satisfying the Einstein's equations, the comoving curvature perturbations satisfy an equation involving the momentum-dependent effective sound speed, valid for any system with a well defined energy-stress tensor, including multi-fields models of inflation. We derive a general model-independent formula for the effective sound speed of comoving adiabatic perturbations, valid for a generic field-space metric, without assuming any approximation to integrate out entropy perturbations, but expressing the momentum-dependent effective sound speed in terms of the components of the total energy-stress tensor. As an application, we study a number of two-field models with a kinetic coupling between the fields, identifying the single curvature mode of the effective theory and showing that momentum-dependent effective sound speed fully accounts for the predictions for the power spectrum of curvature perturbations. Our results show that the momentum-dependent effective sound speed is a convenient scheme for describing all inflationary models that admit a single-field effective theory, including the effects of entropy perturbations present in multi-fields systems.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

$H_0$ tension or $M$ overestimation?

There is a strong discrepancy between the value of the Hubble parameter $H_0^P$ obtained from large scale observations such as the Planck mission, and the small scale value $H_0^R$, obtained from low redshift supernovae (SNe). The value of the absolute magnitude $M^{Hom}$ used as prior in analyzing observational data is obtained from low-redshift SNe, assuming a homogeneous Universe, but the distance of the anchors used to calibrate the SNe to obtain $M$ would be affected by a local inhomogeneity, making it inconsistent to test the Copernican principle using $M^{Hom}$, since $M$ estimation itself is affected by local inhomogeneities. We perform an analysis of the luminosity distance of low redshift SNe, using different values of $M$, $\{M^P,M^R\}$, corresponding to different values of $H_0$, $\{H_0^P,H_0^R\}$, obtained from the model independent consistency relation between $H_0$ and $M$ which can be derived from the definition of the distance modulus. We find that the value of $M$ can strongly affect the evidence of a local inhomogeneity. We analyze data from the Pantheon catalog, finding no significant statistical evidence of a local inhomogeneity using the parameters $\{M^R,H_0^R\}$, confirming previous studies, while with $\{M^P,H_0^P\}$ we find evidence of a small local void, which causes an overestimation of $M^R$ with respect to $M^P$. An inhomogeneous model with the parameters $\{M^P,H_0^P\}$ fits the data better than a homogeneous model with $\{M^R,H_0^R\}$, resolving the apparent $H_0$ tension. Using $\{M^P,H_0^P\}$, we obtain evidence of a local inhomogeneity with a density contrast $-0.140 \pm 0.042 $, extending up to a redshift of $z_v =0.056 \pm 0.0002$, in good agreement with recent results of galaxy catalogs analysis.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

Combining gravitational and electromagnetic waves observations to investigate local structure and the Hubble tension

Recent estimations of the Hubble parameter $H_0$ based on gravitational waves (GW) observations can be used to shed some light on the discrepancy between the value of the Hubble parameter $H_0^P$ obtained from large scale observations such as the Planck mission, and the small scale value $H_0^R$, obtained from low redshift supernovae (SNe). In order to investigate the origin of this discrepancy we perform a combined analysis of the luminosity distance of SNe and GW sources, using different methods, finding that the impact of the GW data is very limited, due to the small number of data points, and their large errors. We analyze separately data from the Pantheon and the Union 2.1 catalogues, finding that a model with $H_0^P$ and a small local void can fit the data as well as a homogeneous model with $H_0^R$, resolving the apparent $H_0$ tension. We find that there is a significant difference between the size and depth of the inhomogeneity obtained using the two datasets, which could be due to the different sky coverage of the two catalogues. For Pantheon we obtain evidence of a local inhomogeneity with a density contrast $δ_v=-0.155 \pm 0.026$, extending up to a redshift of $z_v = 0.056 \pm 0.0002$, while for Union 2.1 we obtain $δ_v=-0.461 \pm 0.032$ and $z_v= 0.081\pm 0.008$. We also perform some analysis using redshift shell averaged data, and obtain approximately the same results, hinting to the fact that the effects of the monopole component of the local inhomogeneity are the dominant ones

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Newton gauge cosmological perturbations for static spherically symmetric modifications of the de Sitter metric

Static coordinates can be convenient to solve the vacuum Einstein's equations in presence of spherical symmetry, but for cosmological applications comoving coordinates are more suitable to describe an expanding Universe, especially in the framework of cosmological perturbation theory (CPT). Using CPT we develop a method to transform static spherically symmetric (SSS) modifications of the de Sitter solution from static coordinates to the Newton gauge. We test the method with the Schwarzschild de Sitter (SDS) metric and then derive general expressions for the Bardeen's potentials for a class of SSS metrics obtained by adding to the de Sitter metric a term linear in the mass and proportional to a general function of the radius. Using the gauge invariance of the Bardeen's potentials we then obtain a gauge invariant definition of the turn around radius. We apply the method to an SSS solution of the Brans-Dicke theory, confirming the results obtained independently by solving the perturbation equations in the Newton gauge. The Bardeen's potentials are then derived for new SSS metrics involving logarithmic, power law and exponential modifications of the de Sitter metric. We also apply the method to SSS metrics which give flat rotation curves, computing the radial energy density profile in comoving coordinates in presence of a cosmological constant.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Effects of the modification of gravity on the production of primordial black holes

The enhancement of the spectrum of primordial comoving curvature perturbation $\R$ can induce the production of primordial black holes (PBH) which could account for part of present day dark matter. As an example of the effects of the modification of gravity on the production of PBHs, we investigate the effects on the spectrum of $\R$ produced by the modification of gravity in the case of G-inflation, deriving the relation between the unitary gauge curvature perturbation $ζ$ and the comoving curvature perturbation $\R$, and identifying a background dependent enhancement function $\E$ which can induce large differences between the two gauge invariant variables. We use this relation to derive an equation for $\R$, showing for the presence of a momentum dependent effective sound speed (MESS), associated to the intrinsic entropy which can arise in modified gravity theories, in agreement with the model independent MESS approach to cosmological perturbations. When $ζ$ is not constant in time it is different from $\R$, for example on sub-horizon scales, or in models exhibiting an anomalous super-horizon growth of $ζ$, but since this growth cannot last indefinitely, eventually they will coincide. We derive the general condition for super-horizon growth of $ζ$, showing that slow-roll violation is not necessary. Since the abundance of PBHs depends on the statistics of the peaks of the comoving density contrast, which is related to the spectrum of $\R$, it is important to take into account these effects on the PBHs abundance in modified gravity theories.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Effects of the shape of curvature peaks on the size of primordial black holes

We simulate numerically the formation of spherically symmetric primordial black holes (PBHs) seeded by different families of primordial curvature perturbations profiles on a Friedman-Robertson-Walker (FRW) Universe filled by radiation fluid. We have studied the dependency on the curvature profile of the initial mass $M_{\rm BH,i}$ of the PBHs at the time of apparent horizon formation $t_{AH}$, and the final mass $M_{\rm BH,f}$ after the accretion process, using an excision technique, comparing $M_{\rm BH,i}$ to previous analytical estimations obtained using compensated PBHs model approach. The analytical estimations are in agreement with numerical results, except for large values of the initial perturbation amplitude, when the compensated model is less accurate. The masses $M_{\rm BH,f}$ and $M_{\rm BH,i}$ do not depend only on the shape around the compaction function peak, but on the full profile of the initial curvature perturbation. We also estimate the accretion effects, and for those PBHs with masses relevant for the dark matter abundance, with a final mass equal to the horizon crossing mass, we find $M_{\rm BH,f}\approx 3 M_{\rm BH,i} $.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Deep learning merger masses estimation from gravitational waves signals in the frequency domain

Detection of gravitational waves (GW) from compact binary mergers provide a new window into multi-messenger astrophysics. The standard technique to determine the merger parameters is matched filtering, consisting in comparing the signal to a template bank. This approach can be time consuming and computationally expensive due to the large amount of experimental data which needs to be analyzed. In the attempt to find more efficient data analysis methods we develop a new frequency domain convolutional neural network (FCNN) to predict the merger masses from the spectrogram of the detector signal, and compare it to time domain neural networks (TCNN). Since FCNNs are trained using spectrograms, the dimension of the input is reduced as compared to TCNNs, implying a substantially lower number of model parameters, and consequently less over-fitting. The additional time required to compute the spectrogram is approximately compensated by the lower execution time of the FCNNs, due to the lower number of parameters. In our analysis FCNNs show a slightly better performance on validation data and a substantially lower over-fit, as expected due to the lower number of parameters, providing a new promising approach to the analysis of GW detectors data, which could be further improved in the future by using more efficient and faster computations of the spectrogram.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Constraining gravity theories with the gravitational stability mass

The measurement of the size of gravitationally bounded structures is an important test of gravity theories. For a given radius different theories can in fact predict a different gravitational stability mass (GSM) necessary to ensure the stability of the structure in presence of dark energy. We compute the GSM of gravitationally bounded structures as a function of the radius for different scalar-tensor theories, including $f(R)$ and generalized Brans-Dicke, and compare the theoretical predictions to observational data. Since the GSM only gives a lower bound, the most stringent constraints come few objects with a mass lower that the one expected in general relativity. The analysis of different observational data sets shows that modified gravity theories (MGT) are compatible with observational data, and in some cases fit the data better than general relativity (GR), but the latter is not in strong tension with the observations. The data presently available does not provide a conclusive evidence of the need of a modification of GR, with the largest deviation of order $2.6 \,σ$ for the galaxy cluster NGC5353/4. Future data from galaxy surveys such as the Euclid mission could be important to get stronger constraints.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Sound speed induced production of primordial black holes

We study different mechanisms by which the speed of primordial curvature perturbations can produce an enhancement of the curvature spectrum, which could lead to the production of primordial black holes (PBH). One possibility is the growth of the sound speed in single scalar field models, which can induce super-horizon growth of curvature perturbations. The other is the momentum dependent effective sound (MESS) of curvature perturbations, which can arise in multi-fields models or modified gravity theories. Future gravitational waves observatories such as LISA will allow to set constraints of the space and time dependency of the sound speed, and on the different theoretical scenarios from which it can originate.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

The MESS of the CMB

We analyze cosmic microwave background (CMB) data taking into account the effects of a momentum dependent effective sound speed (MESS). This approach allows to study the effects of primordial entropy in a model independent way, and its implementation requires a minimal modification of existing CMB fitting numerical codes developed for single scalar field models. We adopt a phenomenological approach, and study the effects a local variation of the MESS around the scale where other analysis have shown some deviation from an approximately scale invariant curvature perturbation spectrum. We obtain a substantial improvement of the fit with respect to a model without MESS, showing that primordial entropy modeled by MESS can be an explanation of these deviations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Are primordial black holes produced by entropy perturbations in single field inflationary models?

We show that in single field inflationary models the super-horizon evolution of curvature perturbations on comoving slices $\mathcal{R}$, which can cause the production of primordial black holes (PBH), is not due to entropy perturbations, but to the background evolution effect on the conversion between entropy and curvature perturbations. We derive a general relation between the time derivative of comoving curvature perturbations and entropy perturbations, in terms of a conversion factor depending on the background evolution. Contrary to previous results derived in the uniform density gauge assuming the gradient term can be neglected on super-horizon scales, the relation is valid on any scale for any minimally coupled single scalar field model, also on sub-horizon scales where gradient terms are large. We apply it to the case of quasi-inflection inflation, showing that while entropy perturbations are decreasing, $\mathcal{R}$ can grow on super-horizon scales, due to a large increase of the conversion factor. This happens in the time interval during which a sufficiently fast decrease of the equation of state $w$ transforms into a growing mode that in slow-roll models would be a decaying mode. The same mechanism also explains the super-horizon evolution of $\mathcal{R}$ in globally adiabatic systems, for which entropy perturbations vanish on any scale, such as ultra slow-roll inflation and its generalizations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

The effects of anisotropy and non-adiabaticity on the evolution of comoving curvature perturbation

We derive the equation for the evolution of the curvature perturbation on the comoving time slice, $\mathcal{R}_c$, in the presence of anisotropic and non-adiabatic terms in the energy-momentum tensor of matter fields. The equation is obtained by manipulating the perturbed Einstein's equations in the comoving time slice. It could be used to study the evolution of the comoving curvature perturbations for systems with an anisotropic energy-momentum tensor, such as in the presence of vector fields, in the presence of entropy, such as in a multi-field system, or in modified gravity theories. As a simple application, after checking that the comoving time slice for a multi-field system does not coincide with the uniform field time slice in general, we use the equation in the case of two minimally coupled scalar fields and derive a closed set of equations for the curvature and entropy perturbations on the comoving time slice.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

Probing homogeneity with standard candles

We show that standard candles can provide some valuable information about the density contrast, which could be particularly important at redshifts where other observations are not available. We use an inversion method to reconstruct the local radial density profile from luminosity distance observations assuming background cosmological parameters obtained from large scale observations. Using type Ia Supernovae% (SNe) , Cepheids and the cosmological parameters from the Planck mission we reconstruct the radial density profiles along two different directions of the sky. We compare these profiles to other density maps obtained from luminosity density, in particular Keenan et al. 2013 and the \TMPP galaxy catalogue. The method independently confirms the existence of inhomogeneities, could be particularly useful to correctly normalize density maps from galaxy surveys with respect to the average density of the Universe, and could clarify the apparent discrepancy between local and large scale estimations of the Hubble constant. When better observational supernovae data will be available, the accuracy of the reconstructed density profiles will improve and will allow to further investigate the existence of structures whose size is beyond the reach of galaxy surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Coordinate independent approach to the calculation of the effects of local structure on the luminosity distance

Local structure can have important effects on luminosity distance observations, which could for example affect the local estimation of the Hubble constant based on low red-shift type Ia supernovae. Using a spherically symmetric exact solution of the Eistein's equations and a more accurate expansion of the solution of the geodesic equations, we improve the low red-shift expansion of the monopole of the luminosity distance in terms of the curvature function. Based on this we derive the coordinate independent low red-shift expansion of the monopole of the luminosity distance in terms of the monopole of the density contrast. The advantage of this approach is that it relates the luminosity distance directly to density observations, without any dependency on the radial coordinate choice. We compute the effects of different inhomogeneities on the luminosity distance, and find that the formulae in terms of the density contrast are in good agreement with numerical calculations, in the non linear regime are more accurate than the results obtained using linear perturbation theory, and are also more accurate than the formulae in terms of the curvature function.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

One spectrum to rule them all?

We show that in absence of entropy or effective anisotropic stress the freedom in the choice of the initial energy scale of inflation implies the existence of an infinite family of dual slow-roll parameters histories which can produce the same spectrum of comoving curvature perturbations. This implies that in general there is no one-to-one correspondence between the spectrum and higher order correlation functions. We give some numerical examples of expansion histories corresponding to different initial energy scales, with the same spectrum of curvature perturbations, the same squeezed limit bispectrum, in agreement with the squeezed limit consistency condition, but with different bispectra in other configurations and different spectra of primordial gravitational waves. The combined analysis of data from future CMB and gravitational wave experiments could allow to distinguish between dual models.

astro-ph.CO↗