arXiv subjects

Dominik J. Schwarz

Publications and source records attributed to Dominik J. Schwarz.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Missing Power vs low-l Alignments in the Cosmic Microwave Background: No Correlation in the Standard Cosmological Model

On large angular scales (greater than about 60 degrees), the two-point angular correlation function of the temperature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), as measured (outside of the plane of the Galaxy) by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, shows significantly lower large-angle correlations than expected from the standard inflationary cosmological model. Furthermore, when derived from the full CMB sky, the two lowest cosmologically interesting multipoles, the quadrupole (l=2) and the octopole (l=3), are unexpectedly aligned with each other. Using randomly generated full-sky and cut-sky maps, we investigate whether these anomalies are correlated at a statistically significant level. We conclusively demonstrate that, assuming Gaussian random and statistically isotropic CMB anisotropies, there is no statistically significant correlation between the missing power on large angular scales in the CMB and the alignment of the l=2 and l=3 multipoles. The chance to measure the sky with both such a lack of large-angle correlation and such an alignment of the low multipoles is thus quantified to be below 10^{-6}.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Cosmological backreaction

This work summarises some of the attempts to explain the phenomenon of dark energy as an effective description of complex gravitational physics and the proper interpretation of observations. Cosmological backreaction has been shown to be relevant for observational (precision) cosmology, nevertheless no convincing explanation of dark energy by means of backreaction has been given so far.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Just enough inflation

We propose a version of chaotic inflation, in which a fundamental scale M, well below the Planck scale M_P, fixes the initial value of the effective potential. If this scale happens to be the scale of grand unified theories, there are just enough e-foldings of inflation. An initial epoch of fast-roll breaks scale-invariance at the largest observable scales.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Probing Backreaction Effects with Supernova Data

As the Einstein equations are non-linear, spatial averaging and temporal evolution do not commute. Therefore, the evolution of the averaged universe is affected by inhomogeneities. It is, however, highly controversial how large these cosmological backreaction effects are. We use the supernova data of the Constitution set up to a redshift of 0.1 in order to analyse to what extent the measurement of the Hubble constant is affected. The size of the effect depends on the size of the volume that is averaged over. The observational results are then compared to the theory of the backreaction mechanism.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Power spectra from an inflaton coupled to the Gauss-Bonnet term

We consider power-law inflation with a Gauss-Bonnet correction inspired by string theory. We analyze the stability of cosmological perturbations and obtain the allowed parameter space. We find that for GB-dominated inflation ultra-violet instabilities of either scalar or tensor perturbations show up on small scales. The Gauss-Bonnet correction with a positive (or negative) coupling may lead to a reduction (or enhancement) of the tensor-to-scalar ratio in the potential-dominated case. We place tight constraints on the model parameters by making use of the WMAP 5-year data.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

$ϕ^4$ inflation is not excluded

We present counter examples to the claim that the $λϕ^4$ inflaton potential is excluded by recent cosmological data. Finding counter examples requires that the actually observed primordial fluctuations are generated at the onset of the slow-roll regime of inflation. This set up for the initial conditions is therefore different from the usual scenario of chaotic inflation where inflation starts long before the observed fluctuations are created. The primordial power spectrum of "just enough" chaotic inflation violates scale-invariance in a way consistent with observations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Dark matter annihilation and its effect on CMB and Hydrogen 21 cm observations

If dark matter is made up of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, the annihilation of these particles in halos results in energy being released, some of which is absorbed by gas, causing partial ionization and heating. Dark matter annihilation may result in partial ionization and gas heating at high redshifts, even before the formation of the first stars. It is shown that early ionization results in a transfer of power to higher multipoles in the large angle CMB polarization power spectra. Future CMB experiments may be able to place constraints on certain light dark matter models. We also investigate the effect of gas heating on the expected H21 cm power spectrum. Heating by particle annihilation results in a decrease in the amplitude of the H21 cm power spectrum as the gas temperature $T$ becomes comparable to the CMB temperature $T_γ$, and then an increase as $T > T_γ$. The result is a minimum in the power spectrum at the redshift for which $T \approx T_γ$. Only certain models (low particle masses $\sim$ 10 GeV, or favorable halo parameters) show this effect. Within these models, observations of the H21 cm power spectrum at multiple redshifts can help us obtain constraints on dark matter particle and halo properties.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Thoughts on the cosmological principle

The cosmological principle says that the Universe is spatially homogeneous and isotropic. It predicts, among other phenomena, the cosmic redshift of light and the Hubble law. Nevertheless, the existence of structure in the Universe violates the (exact) cosmological principle. A more precise formulation of the cosmological principle must allow for the formation of structure and must therefore incorporate probability distributions. In this contribution to the Memorial Volume for Wolfgang Kummer, a great teacher and mentor to me, I discuss how we could formulate a new version of the cosmological principle, how to test it, and how to possibly justify it by fundamental physics. My contribution starts with some of my memories of Wolfgang.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Model- and calibration-independent test of cosmic acceleration

We present a calibration-independent test of the accelerated expansion of the universe using supernova type Ia data. The test is also model-independent in the sense that no assumptions about the content of the universe or about the parameterization of the deceleration parameter are made and that it does not assume any dynamical equations of motion. Yet, the test assumes the universe and the distribution of supernovae to be statistically homogeneous and isotropic. A significant reduction of systematic effects, as compared to our previous, calibration-dependent test, is achieved. Accelerated expansion is detected at significant level (4.3 sigma in the 2007 Gold sample, 7.2 sigma in the 2008 Union sample) if the universe is spatially flat. This result depends, however, crucially on supernovae with a redshift smaller than 0.1, for which the assumption of statistical isotropy and homogeneity is less well established.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

The effect of early dark matter halos on reionization

The annihilation of dark matter particles releases energy, ionizing some of the gas in the Universe. We investigate the effect of dark matter halos on reionization. We show that the effect depends on the assumed density profile, the particle mass, and the assumed minimum halo mass. For NFW halos and typical WIMPs, we find the effect to be quite small. However, light dark matter candidates in the MeV range can contribute significantly to reionization and can make an important contribution to the measured optical depth. This effect may be used to constrain light dark matter models. We also study the effect of varying the halo density profile on reionization.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Newtonian Aspects of General Relativistic Galaxy Models

Many cosmological observations call for the existence of dark matter. The most direct evidence for dark matter is inferred from the measured flatness of galactic rotation curves. The latter is based on Newtonian gravity. Alternative approaches to the rotation curve problem by means of general relativity have recently been put forward. The class of models of interest is a subset of the axially symmetric and stationary solutions of Einstein's equations with rotating dust. As a step toward the understanding of general relativistic galaxy models, we analyse rigidly as well as non-rigidly rotating (Post-)Newtonian spacetimes. We find that the Newtonian limit of the considered general relativistic galaxy model leads to Post-Newtonian terms in the metric.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

General Relativistic Rotation Curves in a Post-Newtonian Light

The missing of a Keplerian fall-off in the observed galaxy rotation curves represents classical evidence for the existence of dark matter on galactic scales. There has been some recent activity concerning the potential of modelling galactic systems with the help of general relativity. This was motivated by claims that by the use of full general relativity dark matter could be made superfluous. Here we focus on possible axisymmetric and stationary solutions of Einstein's equations with rotating dust. After a short review of the current debate we pursue the idea of approaching such relativistic models in a Newtonian language. We analyse rigidly as well as differentially rotating Newtonian and Post-Newtonian spacetimes and find that it is necessary to incorporate a Post-Newtonian term in order to make physical sense.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Stochastic Inflation and Dimensional Reduction

We present a replica field-theoretic approach to stochastic inflation in which a manifestation of dimensional reduction is found. The scale above which the latter dominates grows exponentially fast with time and thus affects largest super-horizon scales. We find inevitable modifications of the spectral index on those scales. An explicit relation between the noise correlator and the non-gaussianity parameter f_NL is found.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Stochastic Inflation and Replica Field Theory

We adopt methods from statistical field theory to stochastic inflation. For the example of a free test field in de Sitter and power-law inflation, the power spectrum of long-wavelength fluctuations is computed. We study its dependence on the shape of the filter that separates long from short wavelength modes. While for filters with infinite support the phenomenon of dimensional reductions is found on large super-horizon scales, filters with compact support return a scale-invariant power spectrum in the infra-red. Features of the power spectrum, induced by the filter, decay within a few e-foldings. Thus the late-time power spectrum is independent of the filter details.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Scale dependence of cosmological backreaction

Due to the non-commutation of spatial averaging and temporal evolution, inhomogeneities and anisotropies (cosmic structures) influence the evolution of the averaged Universe via the cosmological backreaction mechanism. We study the backreaction effect as a function of averaging scale in a perturbative approach up to higher orders. We calculate the hierarchy of the critical scales, at which 10% effects show up from averaging at different orders. The dominant contribution comes from the averaged spatial curvature, observable up to scales of 200 Mpc. The cosmic variance of the local Hubble rate is 10% (5%) for spherical regions of radius 40 (60) Mpc. We compare our result to the one from Newtonian cosmology and Hubble Space Telescope Key Project data.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Is dark energy an effect of averaging?

The present standard model of cosmology states that the known particles carry only a tiny fraction of total mass and energy of the Universe. Rather, unknown dark matter and dark energy are the dominant contributions to the cosmic energy budget. We review the logic that leads to the postulated dark energy and present an alternative point of view, in which the puzzle may be solved by properly taking into account the influence of cosmic structures on global observables. We illustrate the effect of averaging on the measurement of the Hubble constant.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

How strong is the evidence for accelerated expansion?

We test the present expansion of the universe using supernova type Ia data without making any assumptions about the matter and energy content of the universe or about the parameterization of the deceleration parameter. We assume the cosmological principle to apply in a strict sense. The result strongly depends on the data set, the light-curve fitting method and the calibration of the absolute magnitude used for the test, indicating strong systematic errors. Nevertheless, in a spatially flat universe there is at least a 5 sigma evidence for acceleration which drops to 1.8 sigma in an open universe.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

On the onset of cosmological backreaction

Cosmological backreaction has been suggested as an explanation of dark energy and is heavily disputed since. We combine cosmological perturbation theory with Buchert's non-perturbative framework, calculate the relevant averaged observables up to second order in the comoving synchronous gauge, and discuss their gauge dependence. With the help of an integrability condition the leading second order contributions follow from the first order calculation. We focus on the onset of cosmological backreaction, as a perturbative treatment is necessarily restricted to the era when the effect is still small. We demonstrate that the leading contributions to all averaged physical observables are completely specified on the boundary of the averaged domain. For any finite domain these surface terms are nonzero in general and thus backreaction is for real. We map the backreaction effect on an effectively homogeneous and isotropic fluid. The generic effective equation of state is not only time dependent, but also depends on scale.

gr-qc↗