arXiv subjects

Chi Tian

Publications and source records attributed to Chi Tian.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Ultralight Bosons Explain the Mass-Spin Correlations in the Merging Binary Black Hole Population

Ultralight bosons could trigger superradiant instabilities in rapidly spinning black holes, forming oscillating clouds while extracting rotational energy. We consider an extended, superradiance-informed spin distribution model that characterizes possible environment-induced spin variations and compare its predictions with the observed population of merging black hole binaries in the Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalogs (GWTCs). We find that the mass-spin relation predicted by a scalar boson with mass $m_b\sim 10^{-12} \,\rm eV$ is consistent with the GWTCs, with increasing significance from GWTC-3.0 to 5.0. The Bayes factor reaches $\ln B \approx 7.8$ for GWTC-5.0. Intriguingly, this mass range largely coincides with a previous study based on a waveform analysis of the GW190728 gravitational wave event. Our findings provide compelling evidence that a superradiance-informed spin distribution model is highly compatible with the expanding binary black hole population dataset.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2026

Nonlinear growth and amplification of phase-transition gravitational waves induced by cosmic expansion

We perform the first three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of cosmological first-order phase transitions in an expanding background. These simulations consistently incorporate the effects of the evolving phase transition strength throughout the full nucleation process of slow phase transitions. We find that, in addition to reducing mean bubble separations via an effectively enhanced nucleation rate, cosmic expansion unexpectedly induces highly nonlinear growth in the gravitational wave energy fraction, ultimately leading to a significant $\mathcal{O}(10)$ to $\mathcal{O}(100)$ amplification of the gravitational wave spectra. This amplification is more pronounced for initially weak transitions than for those of initially intermediate strength. Our results highlight the challenge and importance of accurately modelling slow phase transitions while accounting for cosmic expansion.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

How large are curvature perturbations from slow first-order phase transitions? A gauge-invariant analysis

When strongly supercooled cosmological first-order phase transitions (FOPTs) are sufficiently slow, super-horizon inhomogeneities can be generated. We compute these super-horizon curvature perturbations by employing a gauge-invariant, multi-fluid formalism. By resolving the gauge ambiguities inherent in conventional separate-universe simulations, we demonstrate that Primordial Black Holes are unlikely to be produced by these super-horizon inhomogeneities. We also derive a fitting formula for the resulting curvature perturbations and discuss potential observational constraints on FOPTs imposed by limits on primordial curvature perturbations and associated scalar-induced gravitational waves.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

DeepSSM: an emulator of gravitational wave spectra from sound waves during cosmological first-order phase transitions

We present DeepSSM, an open-source code powered by neural networks (NNs) to emulate gravitational wave (GW) spectra produced by sound waves during cosmological first-order phase transitions in the radiation-dominated era. The training data is obtained from an enhanced version of the Sound Shell Model (SSM), which accounts for the effects of cosmic expansion and yields more accurate spectra in the infrared regime. The emulator enables instantaneous predictions of GW spectra given the phase transition parameters, while achieving agreement with the enhanced SSM model within 10\% accuracy in the worst-case scenarios. The emulator is highly computationally efficient and fully differentiable, making it particularly suitable for direct Bayesian inference on phase transition parameters without relying on empirical templates, such as broken power-law models. We demonstrate this capability by successfully reconstructing phase transition parameters and their degeneracies from mock LISA observations using a Hamiltonian Monte Carlo sampler. The code is available at: https://github.com/ctian282/DeepSSM.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Estimating the gravitational wave background anisotropy: a Bayesian approach boosted by cross-correlation angular power spectrum

We introduce a new method designed for Bayesian inference of the angular power spectrum of the Gravitational Wave Background (GWB) anisotropy. This scheme works with time-series data and can optionally incorporate the cross-correlations between the GWB anisotropy and other cosmological tracers, enhancing the significance of Bayesian inference. We employ the realistic LISA response and noise model to demonstrate the validity of this approach. The findings indicate that, without considering any cross-correlations, the 4-year LISA data is insufficient to achieve a significant detection of multipoles. However, if the anisotropies in the GWB are strongly correlated with the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the 4-year data can provide unbiased estimates of the quadrupole moment ($\ell = 2$). This reconstruction process is generic and not restricted to any specific detector, offering a new framework for extracting anisotropies in the GWB data from various current and future gravitational wave observatories.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Gravitational waves from cosmological first-order phase transitions with precise hydrodynamics

We calculate the gravitational wave spectrum generated by sound waves during a cosmological phase transition, incorporating several advancements beyond the current state-of-the-art. Rather than relying on the bag model or similar approximations, we derive the equation of state directly from the effective potential. This approach enables us to accurately determine the hydrodynamic quantities, which serve as initial conditions in a generalised hybrid simulation. This simulation tracks the fluid evolution after bubble collisions, leading to the generation of gravitational waves. Our work is the first self-consistent numerical calculation of gravitational waves for the real singlet extension of the standard model. Our computational method is adaptable to any particle physics model, offering a fast and reliable way to calculate gravitational waves generated by sound waves. With fewer approximations, our approach provides a robust foundation for precise gravitational wave calculations and allows for the exploration of model-independent features of gravitational waves from phase transitions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Self-consistent prediction of gravitational waves from cosmological phase transitions

Gravitational waves from cosmological phase transitions are novel probes of fundamental physics, making their precise calculation essential for revealing various mysteries of the early Universe. In this work we propose a framework that enables the consistent calculation of such gravitational waves sourced by sound waves. Starting from the Lagrangian, this framework integrates the calculation of the dynamics of first-order phase transitions in a self-consistent manner, eliminating various approximations typically introduced by conventional methods. At the heart of our approach is the congruous evaluation of the phase transition hydrodynamics that, at every step, is consistently informed by the Lagrangian. We demonstrate the application of our framework using the SM+$|H|^6$ model, deriving the corresponding gravitational wave spectrum. Our framework establishes a robust foundation for the precise prediction of gravitational waves from phase transitions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

On the anisotropies of the cosmological gravitational-wave background from pulsar timing array observations

Significant evidence for a stochastic gravitational-wave background has recently been reported by several Pulsar Timing Array observations. These studies have shown that, in addition to astrophysical explanations based on supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs), cosmological origins are considered equally important sources for these signals. To further explore these cosmological sources, in this study, we discuss the anisotropies in the cosmological gravitational wave background (CGWB) in a model-independent way. Taking the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) 15-year dataset as a benchmark, we estimate the angular power spectra of the CGWB and their cross-correlations with cosmic microwave background (CMB) fluctuations and weak gravitational lensing. We find that the NANOGrav 15-year data implies suppressed Sachs-Wolf (SW) effects in the CGBW spectrum, leading to a marginally negative cross-correlation with the CMB at large scales. This procedure is applicable to signals introduced by different early universe processes and is potentially useful for identifying unique features about anisotropies of CGWB from future space-based interferometers and astrometric measurements.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Evaluation of Infrastructure-based Warning System on Driving Behaviors-A Roundabout Study

Smart intersections have the potential to improve road safety with sensing, communication, and edge computing technologies. Perception sensors installed at a smart intersection can monitor the traffic environment in real time and send infrastructure-based warnings to nearby travelers through V2X communication. This paper investigated how infrastructure-based warnings can influence driving behaviors and improve roundabout safety through a driving-simulator study - a challenging driving scenario for human drivers. A co-simulation platform integrating Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) and Webots was developed to serve as the driving simulator. A real-world roundabout in Ann Arbor, Michigan was built in the co-simulation platform as the study area, and the merging scenarios were investigated. 36 participants were recruited and asked to navigate the roundabout under three danger levels (e.g., low, medium, high) and three collision warning designs (e.g., no warning, warning issued 1 second in advance, warning issued 2 seconds in advance). Results indicated that advanced warnings can significantly enhance safety by minimizing potential risks compared to scenarios without warnings. Earlier warnings enabled smoother driver responses and reduced abrupt decelerations. In addition, a personalized intention prediction model was developed to predict drivers' stop-or-go decisions when the warning is displayed. Among all tested machine learning models, the XGBoost model achieved the highest prediction accuracy with a precision rate of 95.56% and a recall rate of 97.73%.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2023

Model-dependent analysis method for energy budget of the cosmological first-order phase transition

The kinetic energy of the fluid shell in the cosmological first-order phase transition is crucial for predicting the gravitational wave signals generated by the sound wave mechanism. We propose a model-dependent method to calculate the kinetic energy fraction by dividing the bubble-fluid system into three distinct regions: the symmetric phase, the broken phase, and the bubble wall. By solving the local equation of motion of the scalar field with a phenomenological friction term, the bubble wall velocity and the boundary conditions of the fluid equations of both phases can be derived simultaneously. Then, for a given particle physics model, the fluid profiles of different hydrodynamical modes and the corresponding kinetic energy fraction can be obtained. Our method can also capture the temperature dependency of the sound speed of the plasma. Compared with the conventional model-independent method, our approach is based on an accurate equation of state derived directly from the effective potential and takes into account the contribution of the bubble wall to the energy-momentum tensor. Therefore, our method in-principle provides a more consistent and accurate result, which is crucial for high-precision calculations of the gravitational waves induced by the first-order phase transition.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Accelerating spherical harmonic transforms for a large number of sky maps

The spherical harmonic transform is a powerful tool in the analysis of spherical data sets, such as the cosmic microwave background data. In this work, we present a new scheme for the spherical harmonic transforms that supports both CPU and GPU computations, which is specially efficient on a large number of sky maps. By comparing our implementation with the standard Libsharp-HEALPix program, we demonstrate 2-10 times speedup for the CPU implementation, and up to 30 times speedup when a state-of-the-art GPU is employed. This new scheme's software package is available via an open source GitHub repository.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2022

What is flat ΛCDM, and may we choose it?

The Universe is neither homogeneous nor isotropic, but it is close enough that we can reasonably approximate it as such on suitably large scales. The inflationary-$Λ$-Cold Dark Matter ($Λ$CDM) concordance cosmology builds on these assumptions to describe the origin and evolution of fluctuations. With standard assumptions about stress-energy sources, this system is specified by just seven phenomenological parameters, whose precise relations to underlying fundamental theories are complicated and may depend on details of those fields. Nevertheless, it is common practice to set the parameter that characterizes the spatial curvature, $Ω_K$, exactly to zero. This parameter-fixed $Λ$CDM is awarded distinguished status as separate model, "flat $Λ$CDM.'' Ipso facto this places the onus on proponents of "curved $Λ$CDM'' to present sufficient evidence that $Ω_K\neq0$, and is needed as a parameter. While certain inflationary model Lagrangians, with certain values of their parameters, and certain initial conditions, will lead to a present-day universe well-described as containing zero curvature, this does not justify distinguishing that subset of Lagrangians, parameters and initial conditions into a separate model. Absent any theoretical arguments, we cannot use observations that suggest small $Ω_K$ to enforce $Ω_K=0$. Our track record in picking inflationary models and their parameters a priori makes such a choice dubious, and concerns about tensions in cosmological parameters and large-angle cosmic-microwave-background anomalies strengthens arguments against this choice. We argue that $Ω_K$ must not be set to zero, and that $Λ$CDM remains a phenomenological model with at least 7 parameters.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Gravitational Waves from Fully General Relativistic Oscillon Preheating

As long-lived quasi-solitons from the fragmentation of a scalar condensate, oscillons may dominate the preheating era after inflation. During this period, stochastic gravitational waves can also be generated. We quantify the gravitational wave production in this period with simulations accounting for full general relativity to capture all possible non-perturbative effects. We compute the gravitational wave spectra across a range of choices of the oscillon preheating models and compare our results to a conventional perturbative approach on an FLRW background. We clarify the gauge ambiguities in computing induced gravitational waves from scenarios where dense non-perturbative objects such as oscillons are being formed. In particular, we find that the synchronous gauge tends to contain large artificial enhancements in the gravitational wave spectrum due to gauge modes if gravity plays an important role in the formation of the oscillons, while other gauge choices, such as the radiation gauge or a suitably chosen "1+log" gauge, can efficiently reduce the contributions of gauge modes. The full general relativistic simulations indicate that gravitational wave spectra obtained from the perturbative approach on the FLRW background are fairly accurate, except when oscillon formation induces strong gravitational effects, for which case there can be an order unity enhancement.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Accurate relativistic observables from post-processing light cone catalogues

We introduce and study a new scheme to construct relativistic observables from post-processing light cone data. This construction is based on a novel approach, LC-Metric, which takes general light cone or snapshot output generated by arbitrary N-body simulations or emulations and solves the linearized Einstein equations to determine the spacetime metric on the light cone. We find that this scheme is able to determine the metric to high precision, and subsequently generate accurate mock cosmological observations sensitive to effects such as post-Born lensing and nonlinear ISW contributions. By comparing to conventional methods in quantifying those general relativistic effects, we show that this scheme is able to accurately construct the lensing convergence signal. We also find the accuracy of this method in quantifying the ISW effects in the highly nonlinear regime outperforms conventional methods by an order of magnitude. This scheme opens a new path for exploring and modeling higher-order and nonlinear general relativistic contributions to cosmological observables, including mock observations of gravitational lensing and the moving lens and Rees-Sciama effects.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

On the question of measuring spatial curvature in an inhomogeneous universe

The curvature of a spacetime, either in a topological sense, or averaged over super-horizon-sized patches, is often equated with the global curvature term that appears in Friedmann's equation. In general, however, the Universe is inhomogeneous, and gravity is a nonlinear theory, thus any curvature perturbations violate the assumptions of the FLRW model; it is not necessarily true that local curvature, averaged over patches of constant-time surfaces, will reproduce the observational effects of global symmetry. Further, the curvature of a constant-time hypersurface is not an observable quantity, and can only be inferred indirectly. Here, we examine the behavior of curvature modes on hypersurfaces of an inhomogeneous spacetime non-perturbatively in a numerical relativistic setting, and how this curvature corresponds with that inferred by observers. We also note the point at which observations become sensitive to the impact of curvature sourced by inhomogeneities on inferred average properties, finding general agreement with past literature.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

Oscillon Preheating in Full General Relativity

Oscillons are dense objects that may be copiously produced in the preheating period after inflation, during which what role general relativity might play is largely unknown. We investigate the oscillon preheating scenario in full general relativity, and compare the general-relativistic simulations with the traditional ones done in an FLRW background. We find that in certain parameter regions the general-relativistic corrections are significant, producing more and denser oscillons, and can be strong enough to collapse the oscillons to black holes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

Cosmic expansion from spinning black holes

We examine how cosmological expansion arises in a universe containing a lattice of spinning black holes. We study averaged expansion properties as a function of fundamental properties of the black holes, including the bare mass of the black holes and black hole spin. We then explore how closely the expansion properties correspond to properties of a corresponding matter-dominated FLRW universe. As residual radiation present in the initial data decays, we find good agreement with a matter-dominated FLRW solution, and the effective density in the volume is well-described by the horizon mass of the black hole.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

The Limited Accuracy of Linearized Gravity

Standard cosmological models rely on an approximate treatment of gravity, utilizing solutions of the linearized Einstein equations as well as physical approximations. In an era of precision cosmology, we should ask: are these approximate predictions sufficiently accurate for comparison to observations, and can we draw meaningful conclusions about properties of our Universe from them? In this work we examine the accuracy of linearized gravity in the presence of collisionless matter and a cosmological constant utilizing fully general relativistic simulations. We observe the gauge-dependence of corrections to linear theory, and note the amplitude of these corrections. For perturbations whose amplitudes are in line with expectations from the standard $Λ$CDM model, we find that the full, general relativistic metric is well-described by linear theory in Newtonian and harmonic gauges, while the metric in comoving-synchronous gauge is not. For the largest observed structures in our Universe, our results suggest that corrections to linear gravitational theory can reach or surpass the percent-level.

astro-ph.CO↗