arXiv subjects

Antonio L. Maroto

Publications and source records attributed to Antonio L. Maroto.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Vector dark radiation and gravitational-wave polarization

We consider conformal vector models which could play the role of a cosmological dark radiation component. We analyse the propagation of gravitational waves in the presence of this vector background and find a suppression in the tensor transfer function at large scales. We also find that although the cosmological background metric is isotropic, anisotropies are imprinted in the tensor power spectrum. In addition, the presence of the background vector fields induces a net polarization of the gravitational wave background and, for certain configurations of the vector field, a linear to circular polarization conversion. We also show that this kind of effects are also present for vector models with more general potential terms.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

J-PAS: Forecasts for dark matter - dark energy elastic couplings

We consider a cosmological model where dark matter and dark energy feature a coupling that only affects their momentum transfer in the corresponding Euler equations. We perform a fit to cosmological observables and confirm previous findings within these scenarios that favour the presence of a coupling at more than $3σ$. This improvement is driven by the Sunyaev-Zeldovich data. We subsequently perform a forecast for future J-PAS data and find that clustering measurements will permit to clearly discern the presence of an interaction within a few percent level with the uncoupled case at more than $10σ$ when the complete survey, covering $8500$ sq. deg., is considered. We found that the inclusion of weak lensing measurements will not help to further constrain the coupling parameter. For completeness, we compare to forecasts for DESI and Euclid, which provide similar discriminating power.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

The imprint of ultralight vector fields on gravitational wave propagation

We study the effects of ultralight vector field (ULVF) dark matter on gravitational-wave propagation. We find that the coherent oscillations of the vector field induce an anisotropic suppression of the gravitational-wave amplitude as compared to the $Λ$CDM prediction. The effect is enhanced for smaller vector field masses and peaks for modes around $k=H_0/\sqrt{a(H=m)}$. The suppression is negligible for astrophysically generated gravitational waves but could be sizeable for primordial gravity waves. We discuss the possibility of detecting such an effect on the tensor power spectrum with future CMB B-mode polarization detectors. We find that for the sensitivity of the upcoming LiteBIRD mission, the correction to the tensor power spectrum at decoupling time could be distinguishable from that of $Λ$CDM for ULVF masses $m\lesssim 10^{-26}$ eV and sufficiently large abundances.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

Modified gravity or imperfect dark matter: a model-independent discrimination

We analyze how to parametrize general modifications of the dark matter perturbations equations in a model-independent way. We prove that a general model with an imperfect and non-conserved dark matter fluid with bulk and shear viscosities and heat flux in a modified gravity scenario can be described with five general functions of time and scale. We focus on the sub-Hubble regime within the quasi-static approximation and calculate the observable power spectra of the galaxy distribution, galaxy velocities and weak lensing and find that these observables are only sensitive to three combinations of the initial five functions. Deviations of these three observable functions with respect to $\mathrm{ΛCDM}$ give us different characteristic signals which allow us to determine in which cases it is possible to discriminate a modification of gravity from an imperfect or non-conserved dark matter. Finally, we perform a Fisher forecast analysis for these three parameters and show an example for a particular model with shear viscosity.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

The Fisher gAlaxy suRvey cOde ($\texttt{FARO}$)

The Fisher gAlaxy suRvey cOde ($\texttt{FARO}$) is a new public Python code that computes the Fisher matrix for galaxy surveys observables. The observables considered are the linear multitracer 3D galaxy power spectrum, the linear convergence power spectrum for weak lensing, and the linear multitracer power spectrum for the correlation between galaxy distribution and convergence. The code allows for tomographic and model-independent analysis in which, for scale-independent growth, the following functions of redshift $A_a (z) \equiv σ_{8}(z) \, b_a (z)$, $R(z) \equiv σ_{8}(z) \, f(z)$, $L(z) \equiv Ω_{m} \, σ_{8}(z) \, Σ(z)$ and $E(z) \equiv H(z)/H_0$, together with the function of scale $\hat{P}(k)$, are taken as free parameters in each redshift and scale bins respectively. In addition, a module for change of variables is provided to project the Fisher matrix on any particular set of parameters required. The code is built to be as fast as possible and user-friendly. As an application example, we forecast the sensitivity of future galaxy surveys like DESI, Euclid, J-PAS and LSST and compare their performance on different redshift and scale ranges.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

On the tension between growth rate and CMB data

We analyze the claimed tension between redshift space distorsions measurements of $f(z)σ_8(z)$ and the predictions of standard $Λ$CDM (Planck 2015 and 2018) cosmology. We consider a dataset consisting of 17 data points extending up to redshift $z=1.52$ and corrected for the Alcock-Paczynski effect. Thus, calculating the evolution of the growth factor in a $w$CDM cosmology, we find that the tension for the best fit parameters $w$, $Ω_m$ and $σ_8$ with respect to the Planck 2018 $Λ$CDM parameters is below $2σ$ in all the marginalized confidence regions.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Isotropic charged cosmologies in infrared-modified electrodynamics

It has long been known that the covariant formulation of quantum electrodynamics conflicts with the local description of states in the charged sector. Some of the solutions to this problem amount to modifications of the subsidiary conditions below some arbitrarily low photon frequency. Such infrared modified theories have been shown to be equivalent to standard Maxwell electrodynamics with an additional classical electromagnetic current induced by the quantum charges. The induced current only has support for very small frequencies and cancels the effects of the physical charges on large scales. In this work we explore the possibility that this de-electrification effect could allow for the existence of isotropic charged cosmologies, thus evading the stringent limits on the electric charge asymmetry of the universe. We consider a simple model of infrared-modified scalar electrodynamics in the cosmological context and find that the charged sector generates a new contribution to the energy-momentum tensor whose dominant contribution at late times is a cosmological constant-like term. If the charge asymmetry was generated during inflation, the limits on the asymmetry parameter in order not to produce a too-large cosmological constant are very stringent $η_Q <10^{-131}- 10^{-144}$ for a number of e-folds $N=50-60$ in typical models. However if the charge imbalance is produced after inflation, the limits are relaxed in such a way that $η_Q<10^{-43}(100 \,\mbox{GeV}/T_Q)$, with $T_Q$ the temperature at which the asymmetry was generated. If the charge asymmetry has ever existed and the associated electromagnetic fields vanish in the asymptotic future, the limit can be further reduced to $η_Q<10^{-28}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

J-PAS: forecasts on dark energy and modified gravity theories

The next generation of galaxy surveys will allow us to test one of the most fundamental assumptions of the standard cosmology, i.e., that gravity is governed by the general theory of relativity (GR). In this paper we investigate the ability of the Javalambre Physics of the Accelerating Universe Astrophysical Survey (J-PAS) to constrain GR and its extensions. Based on the J-PAS information on clustering and gravitational lensing, we perform a Fisher matrix forecast on the effective Newton constant, $μ$, and the gravitational slip parameter, $η$, whose deviations from unity would indicate a breakdown of GR. Similar analysis is also performed for the DESI and Euclid surveys and compared to J-PAS with two configurations providing different areas, namely an initial expectation with 4000 $\mathrm{deg}^2$ and the future best case scenario with 8500 $\mathrm{deg}^2$. We show that J-PAS will be able to measure the parameters $μ$ and $η$ at a sensitivity of $2\% - 7\%$, and will provide the best constraints in the interval $z = 0.3 - 0.6$, thanks to the large number of ELGs detectable in that redshift range. We also discuss the constraining power of J-PAS for dark energy models with a time-dependent equation-of-state parameter of the type $w(a)=w_0+w_a(1-a)$, obtaining $Δw_0=0.058$ and $Δw_a=0.24$ for the absolute errors of the dark energy parameters.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Testing for gravitational preferred directions with galaxy and lensing surveys

We analyze the sensitivity of galaxy and weak-lensing surveys to detect preferred directions in the gravitational interaction. We consider general theories of gravity involving additional vector degrees of freedom with non-vanishing spatial components in the background. We use a model-independent parametrization of the perturbations equations in terms of four effective parameters, namely, the standard effective Newton constant $G_{eff}$ and slip parameter $γ$ for scalar modes and two new parameters $μ_Q$ and $μ_h$ for vector and tensor modes respectively, which are required when preferred directions are present. We obtain the expressions for the multipole galaxy power spectrum in redshift space and for the weak-lensing shear, convergence and rotation spectra in the presence of preferred directions. By performing a Fisher matrix forecast analysis, we estimate the sensitivity of a future Euclid-like survey to detect this kind of modification of gravity. We finally compare with the effects induced by violations of statistical isotropy in the primordial power spectrum and identify the observables which could discriminate between them.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

Parametrizing modified gravities with vector degrees of freedom: anisotropic growth and lensing

We consider the problem of parametrizing modified gravity theories that include an additional vector field in the sub-Hubble regime within the quasi-static approximation. We start from the most general set of second order equations for metric and vector field perturbations and allow for both temporal and spatial components of the background vector field. We find that in the case in which dark matter obeys standard conservation equations, eight parameters are needed to fully characterize the theory. If dark matter vorticity can be neglected, the number of independent parameters is reduced to four. In addition to the usual scale and redshift dependence, the effective parameters have an additional angular dependence induced by the preferred direction set by the background vector. In the considered sub-Hubble regime, we show that this angular dependence appears only through even multipoles and generates anisotropies in the growth function which translate into anisotropies in the galaxy and lensing convergence power spectra. The angular dependence generated by the preferred direction is different from that induced by redshift space distortions and could be disentangled in the data collected by future galaxy surveys.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Finite temperature corrections to the energy-momentum tensor at one-loop in static space-times

Finite temperature corrections to the effective potential and the energy-momentum tensor of a scalar field are computed in a perturbed Minkoswki space-time. We consider the explicit mode decomposition of the field in the perturbed geometry and obtain analytical expressions in the non-relativistic and ultra-relativistic limits to first order in scalar metric perturbations. In the static case, our results are in agreement with previous calculations based on the Schwinger-De Witt expansion which indicate that thermal effects in a curved space-time can be encoded in the local Tolman temperature at leading order in perturbations and in the adiabatic expansion. We also study the shift of the effective potential minima produced by thermal corrections in the presence of static gravitational fields. Finally we discuss the dependence on the initial conditions set for the mode solutions.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Parametrizing growth in dark energy and modified gravity models

It is well-known that an extremely accurate parametrization of the growth function of matter density perturbations in $Λ$CDM cosmology, with errors below $0.25 \%$, is given by $f(a)=Ω_{m}^γ \,(a)$ with $γ\simeq 0.55$. In this work, we show that a simple modification of this expression also provides a good description of growth in modified gravity theories. We consider the model-independent approach to modified gravity in terms of an effective Newton constant written as $μ(a,k)=G_{eff}/G$ and show that $f(a)=β(a)Ω_{m}^γ \,(a)$ provides fits to the numerical solutions with similar accuracy to that of $Λ$CDM. In the time-independent case with $μ=μ(k)$, simple analytic expressions for $β(μ)$ and $γ(μ)$ are presented. In the time-dependent (but scale-independent) case $μ=μ(a)$, we show that $β(a)$ has the same time dependence as $μ(a)$. As an example, explicit formalae are provided in the DGP model. In the general case, for theories with $μ(a,k)$, we obtain a perturbative expansion for $β(μ)$ around the General Relativity case $μ=1$ which, for $f(R)$ theories, reaches an accuracy below $1 \%$. Finally, as an example we apply the obtained fitting functions in order to forecast the precision with which future galaxy surveys will be able to measure the $μ$ parameter.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Gravitational perturbations of the Higgs field

We study the possible effects of classical gravitational backgrounds on the Higgs field through the modifications induced in the one-loop effective potential and the vacuum expectation value of the energy-momentum tensor. We concentrate our study on the Higgs self-interaction contribution in a perturbed FRW metric. For weak and slowly varying gravitational fields, a complete set of mode solutions for the Klein-Gordon equation is obtained to leading order in the adiabatic approximation. Dimensional regularization has been used in the integral evaluation and a detailed study of the integration of nonrational functions in this formalism has been presented. As expected, the regularized effective potential contains the same divergences as in flat spacetime, which can be renormalized without the need of additional counterterms. We find that, in contrast with other regularization methods, even though metric perturbations affect the mode solutions, they do not contribute to the leading adiabatic order of the potential. We also obtain explicit expressions of the complete energy-momentum tensor for general nonminimal coupling in terms of the perturbed modes. The corresponding leading adiabatic contributions are also obtained.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Higgs effective potential in a perturbed Robertson-Walker background

We calculate the one-loop effective potential of a scalar field in a Robertson-Walker background with scalar metric perturbations. A complete set of orthonormal solutions of the perturbed equations is obtained by using the adiabatic approximation for comoving observers. After analyzing the problem of renormalization in inhomogeneous backgrounds, we get the explicit contribution of metric perturbations to the effective potential. We apply these results to the Standard Model Higgs field and evaluate the effects of metric perturbations on the Higgs mass and on its vacuum expectation value. Space-time variations are found, which are proportional to the gravitational slip parameter, with a typical amplitude of the order of $Δϕ/ϕ\simeq 10^{-11}$ on cosmological scales. We also discuss possible astrophysical signatures in the Solar System and in the Milky Way that could open new possibilities to explore the symmetry breaking sector of the electroweak interactions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Gravitational effects on the Higgs field within the Solar System

The Higgs mechanism predicts, apart from the existence of a new scalar boson, the presence of a constant Higgs field that permeates all of space. The vacuum expectation value (VEV) of this field is affected by quantum corrections which are mainly generated by the self-interactions and couplings of the Higgs field to gauge bosons and heavy quarks. In this work we show that gravity can affect, in a non-trivial way, these quantum corrections through the finite parts of the one-loop contributions to the effective potential. In particular, we consider the corrections generated by the Standard Model Higgs self-interactions in slowly-varying weak gravitational backgrounds. The obtained results amount to the existence of non-negligible inhomogeneities in the Higgs VEV. Such inhomogeneities translate into spatial variations of the particle masses, and in particular of the proton-to-electron mass ratio. We find that these Higgs perturbations in our Solar System are controlled by the Eddington parameter, and are absent in pure General Relativity. Yet, they may be present in modified gravity theories. This predicted effect may be constrained by atomic clocks or high-resolution spectroscopic measurements, which could allow to improve current limits on modifications of Einstein's gravity.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Cosmology with moving bimetric fluids

We study cosmological implications of bigravity and massive gravity solutions with non-simultaneously diagonal metrics by considering the generalized Gordon and Kerr-Schild ansatzes. The scenario that we obtain is equivalent to that of General Relativity with additional non-comoving perfect fluids. We show that the most general ghost-free bimetric theory generates three kinds of effective fluids whose equations of state are fixed by a function of the ansatz. Different choices of such function allow to reproduce the behaviour of different dark fluids. In particular, the Gordon ansatz is suitable for the description of various kinds of slowly-moving fluids, whereas the Kerr-Schild one is shown to describe a null dark energy component. The motion of those dark fluids with respect to the CMB is shown to generate, in turn, a relative motion of baryonic matter with respect to radition which contributes to the CMB anisotropies. CMB dipole observations are able to set stringent limits on the dark sector described by the effective bimetric fluid.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Disformal scalars as dark matter candidates: Branon phenomenology

Scalar particles coupled to the Standard Model fields through a disformal coupling arise in different theories, such as massive gravity or brane-world models. We will review the main phenomenology associated with such particles. Distinctive disformal signatures could be measured at colliders and with astrophysical observations. The phenomenological relevance of the disformal coupling demands the introduction of a set of symmetries, which may ensure the stability of these new degrees of freedom. In such a case, they constitute natural dark matter candidates since they are generally massive and weakly coupled. We will illustrate these ideas by paying particular attention to the branon case, since these questions arise naturally in brane-world models with low tension, where they were first discussed.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

A few cosmological implications of tensor nonlocalities

We consider nonlocal gravity theories that include tensor nonlocalities. We show that in the cosmological context, the tensor nonlocalities, unlike scalar ones, generically give rise to growing modes. An explicit example with quadratic curvature terms is studied in detail. Possible consequences for recent nonlocal cosmological models proposed in the literature are also discussed.

astro-ph.CO↗