arXiv subjects

E. Ferreira

Publications and source records attributed to E. Ferreira.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Constraining quantum-gravity predictions for evolving dark energy

We confront a class of dark-energy equations of state emerging from group field theory (GFT) quantum gravity with DESI Data Release 2 baryon acoustic oscillations and Pantheon+ type-Ia supernovae. We introduce sampling parametrisations that replace microscopic initial-condition parameters by combinations more directly measured by background probes. The GFT solutions separate into logarithmic, power-law and oscillatory branches, determined by the microscopic interaction parameter $m$. The logarithmic branch is constrained to lie extremely close to a cosmological constant, while the power-law branch permits a small phantom deviation. Without perturbative-theory priors, oscillatory solutions can reproduce the mild preference of the distance data for a dip in $w(z)$ near $z\simeq0.5$--$1$. Profile-likelihood constraints favour $m\sim-2$ and $m\sim-5$ from BAO and supernovae, shifting towards $m\sim-3.5$ when CMB information is included. Conservative perturbative priors strongly suppress these deviations from $Λ$CDM. The quantum-gravity scale $z_q$, related to the average number of quantum gravity atoms, remains unconstrained, although its role in the time evolution makes higher-redshift observations a promising route to probing it. We further find that strong projection effects highlight the importance of performing likelihood profiling alongside our marginal posterior constraints. Our results provide a first direct test of GFT-motivated dynamical dark energy and demonstrate the potential for cosmological observations to inform quantum-gravity model building.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

LiteBIRD Mission Overview after Mission Reformation

LiteBIRD is a JAXA-led space mission designed to produce all-sky microwave polarization maps. Its primary science goal is to test representative inflationary models by measuring the cosmic microwave background $B$-mode polarization generated by primordial gravitational waves, while also providing new insights into cosmology, particle physics, and astrophysics. The mission concept has been updated following the reformation activities initiated after the Mission Definition Review in 2024. The current concept preserves the central scientific objectives, while simplifying the payload configuration: a single telescope covers 12 frequency bands with band centers spanning 40 to 402~GHz, corresponding to an optical coverage of 34--448~GHz. The telescope is a cross-Dragone reflector with a 500~mm aperture diameter, cooled to approximately 5~K and coupled to transition-edge-sensor bolometer arrays operated at 0.1~K. LiteBIRD will observe from a Lissajous orbit around the Sun--Earth L2 point during a nominal 3-year survey. More specifically, the primary scientific objective is to achieve total uncertainty in the tensor-to-scalar ratio of $δr < 0.002$ (68\% C.L.), including contributions from foreground residuals, statistical uncertainties, instrumental systematics, and margin contingency. The corresponding map-noise requirements are specified separately for the low-, mid-, and high-frequency ranges over the reionization and recombination multipole ranges. This sensitivity makes LiteBIRD unique not only for inflationary science but also for a broad range of scientific investigations probing the history of both the early and late Universe, as well as for astrophysical processes, including Galactic science. This paper summarizes the scientific objectives, updated payload and instrument concepts, observation strategy, and ground segment plans.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2026

Analysis of ATLAS pp elastic measurements at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV and comparison with TOTEM measurements

A comparative description is made of the measurements at LHC of pp elastic scattering at 13 TeV by the ATLAS and TOTEM Collaborations. In the total and differential cross sections we show that the differences are justified through single numerical factor. It seems that there is no fundamental physical difference, but only a difference of normalization between the two experiments. We study the real and imaginary amplitudes disentangled with the KFK (Kohara-Ferreira-Kodama) model and show that the properties are similar in qualitative aspects for both experiments. The real and imaginary parts have different slopes at the origin and present zeros, with distributions that are common to several models, with three zeros in the real part and one zero in the imaginary amplitude. A zero in the real part, known as Martin's zero, influences the determination of the $ρ$ parameter.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

LiteBIRD Science Goals and Forecasts: constraining isotropic cosmic birefringence

Cosmic birefringence (CB) is the rotation of the photons' linear polarisation plane during propagation. Such an effect is a tracer of parity-violating extensions of standard electromagnetism and would probe the existence of a new cosmological field acting as dark matter or dark energy. It has become customary to employ cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarised data to probe such a phenomenon. Recent analyses on Planck and WMAP data provide a hint of detection of the isotropic CB angle with an amplitude of around $0.3^\circ$ at the level of $2.4$ to $3.6σ$. In this work, we explore the LiteBIRD capabilities in constraining such an effect, accounting for the impact of the more relevant systematic effects, namely foreground emission and instrumental polarisation angles. We build five semi-independent pipelines and test these against four different simulation sets with increasing complexity in terms of non-idealities. All the pipelines are shown to be robust and capable of returning the expected values of the CB angle within statistical fluctuations for all the cases considered. We find that the uncertainties in the CB estimates increase with more complex simulations. However, the trend is less pronounced for pipelines that account for the instrumental polarisation angles. For the most complex case analysed, we find that LiteBIRD will be able to detect a CB angle of $0.3^\circ$ with a statistical significance ranging from $5$ to $13 \, σ$, depending on the pipeline employed, where the latter uncertainty corresponds to a total error budget of the order of $0.02^\circ$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Requirements on the gain calibration for LiteBIRD polarisation data with blind component separation

Future cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments are primarily targeting a detection of the primordial $B$-mode polarisation. The faintness of this signal requires exquisite control of systematic effects which may bias the measurements. In this work, we derive requirements on the relative calibration accuracy of the overall polarisation gain ($Δg_ν$) for LiteBIRD experiment, through the application of the blind Needlet Internal Linear Combination (NILC) foreground-cleaning method. We find that minimum variance techniques, as NILC, are less affected by gain calibration uncertainties than a parametric approach, which requires a proper modelling of these instrumental effects. The tightest constraints are obtained for frequency channels where the CMB signal is relatively brighter (166 GHz channel, $Δ{g}_ν\approx 0.16 \%$), while, with a parametric approach, the strictest requirements were on foreground-dominated channels. We then propagate gain calibration uncertainties, corresponding to the derived requirements, into all frequency channels simultaneously. We find that the overall impact on the estimated $r$ is lower than the required budget for LiteBIRD by almost a factor $5$. The adopted procedure to derive requirements assumes a simple Galactic model. We therefore assess the robustness of obtained results against more realistic scenarios by injecting the gain calibration uncertainties, according to the requirements, into LiteBIRD simulated maps and assuming intermediate- and high-complexity sky models. In this case, we employ the so-called Multi-Clustering NILC (MC-NILC) foreground-cleaning pipeline and obtain that the impact of gain calibration uncertainties on $r$ is lower than the LiteBIRD gain systematics budget for the intermediate-complexity sky model. For the high-complexity case, instead, it would be necessary to tighten the requirements by a factor $1.8$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

The LiteBIRD mission to explore cosmic inflation

LiteBIRD, the next-generation cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment, aims for a launch in Japan's fiscal year 2032, marking a major advancement in the exploration of primordial cosmology and fundamental physics. Orbiting the Sun-Earth Lagrangian point L2, this JAXA-led strategic L-class mission will conduct a comprehensive mapping of the CMB polarization across the entire sky. During its 3-year mission, LiteBIRD will employ three telescopes within 15 unique frequency bands (ranging from 34 through 448 GHz), targeting a sensitivity of 2.2\,$μ$K-arcmin and a resolution of 0.5$^\circ$ at 100\,GHz. Its primary goal is to measure the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ with an uncertainty $δr = 0.001$, including systematic errors and margin. If $r \geq 0.01$, LiteBIRD expects to achieve a $>5σ$ detection in the $\ell=$2-10 and $\ell=$11-200 ranges separately, providing crucial insight into the early Universe. We describe LiteBIRD's scientific objectives, the application of systems engineering to mission requirements, the anticipated scientific impact, and the operations and scanning strategies vital to minimizing systematic effects. We will also highlight LiteBIRD's synergies with concurrent CMB projects.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2022

E-TEST prototype design report

E-TEST (Einstein Telescope Euregio-Meuse-Rhin Site and Technology) is a project recently funded by the European program Ineterreg Euregio Meuse-Rhine. This program is dedicated to innovative cross boarder activities between Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany. With a total budget of15MC and a consortium of 11 partners from the three countries, the objective of the project is twofold. Firstly, to develop an eco-friendly and non-invasive imaging of the geological conditions as well as the development of an observatory of the underground in the EMR region. Secondly, to develop technologies necessary for 3rd generation gravitational wave detectors. In particular, it is proposed to develop a prototype of large suspended cryogenic silicon mirror, isolated from seismic vibrations at low frequency. The total budget of the project is equally spread over the two activities. The first activity is not discussed at all in this report. The E-TEST prototype will have some key unique features: a silicon mirror of 100 kg, a radiative cooling strategy (non contact), a low-frequency hybrid isolation stage, cryogenic sensors and electronics, a laser and optics at 2 microns, a low thermal noise coating.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2021

Loss of structural balance in stock markets

We use rank correlations as distance functions to establish the interconnectivity between stock returns, building weighted signed networks for the stocks of seven European countries, the US and Japan. We establish the theoretical relationship between the level of balance in a network and stock predictability, studying its evolution from 2005 to the third quarter of 2020. We find a clear balance-unbalance transition for six of the nine countries, following the August 2011 Black Monday in the US, when the Economic Policy Uncertainty index for this country reached its highest monthly level before the COVID-19 crisis. This sudden loss of balance is mainly caused by a reorganization of the market networks triggered by a group of low capitalization stocks belonging to the non-financial sector. After the transition, the stocks of companies in these groups become all negatively correlated between them and with most of the rest of the stocks in the market. The implied change in the network topology is directly related to a decrease in stocks predictability, a finding with novel important implications for asset allocation and portfolio hedging strategies.

q-fin.ST↗

arXiv2021

Analytical representation for amplitudes and differential cross section of pp elastic scattering at 13 TeV

With analytical representation for the pp scattering amplitudes introduced and tested at lower energies, a description of high precision is given of the $dσ/dt$ data at $\sqrt{s}$= 13 TeV for all values of the momentum transfer, with explicit identification of the real and imaginary parts. In both $t$ and $b$ coordinates the amplitudes have terms identified as of non-perturbative and perturbative nature, with distinction of their influences in forward and large $|t|$ ranges and in central and peripheral regions respectively. In the forward range, the role of the Coulomb-nuclear interference phase is investigated. The energy dependence of the parameters of the amplitudes are reviewed and updated, revealing a possible emergence of a peculiar behavior of elastic and inelastic profiles in b-space for central collisions, which seems to be enhanced quickly at higher energies. Some other models are also briefly discussed in comparison, including the above mentioned behavior in b-space.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

The interplay of hadronic amplitudes and Coulomb phase in LHC measurements at 13 $\rm TeV$

Detailed analysis of the measurements of differential cross sections in the forward region of pp elastic scattering at 13 TeV in LHC is performed. The structures of the real and imaginary parts of the scattering amplitude are investigated, both requiring exponential and linear factors. Representations of the data in different conditions are compared, accounting for predictions from dispersion relations and investigating the role of the Coulomb-nuclear interference. The additivity of nuclear and Coulomb eikonal phases to determine the interference phase in pp scattering is submitted to a comparison with assumption of phase equal to zero. The structures of the real part of the scattering amplitude under the two assumptions are examined, and direct comparison is performed with the information extracted from the data. The alternative criteria for the treatment of the interference phase lead to different values for the $ρ$ parameter between 0.1 and 0.13 while $σ$ differ by 0.18 mb, and it is shown that the available data cannot discriminate the two models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Structure of Forward pp and pp Elastic Amplitudes at Low Energies

Exact analytical forms of solutions for Dispersion Relations for Amplitudes and Dispersion Relations for Slopes are applied in the analysis of pp and $\rm {p \bar p}$ scattering data in the forward range at energies below $\sqrt(s)\approx 30 \GeV$. As inputs for the energy dependence of the imaginary part, use is made of analytic form for the total cross sections and for parameters of the $t$ dependence of the imaginary parts, with exponential and linear factors. A structure for the $t$ dependence of the real amplitude is written, with slopes $B_R$ and a linear factor $ρ-μ_R t$ that allows compatibility of the data with the predictions from dispersion relations for the derivatives of the real amplitude at the origin. A very precise description is made of all $dσ/dt$ data, with regular energy dependence of all quantities. It is shown that a revision of previous calculations of total cross sections, slopes and $ρ$ parameters in the literatures is necessary, and stressed that only determinations based on $dσ/dt$ data covering sufficient $t$ range using appropriate forms of amplitudes can be considered as valid.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

pp forward elastic scattering amplitudes at 7 and 8 TeV

We analyse the recent LHC data at 7 and 8 TeV for pp elastic scattering with special attention for the structure of the real part, which is shown to be crucial to describe the differential cross section in the forward region. We determine accurately the position of the zero of the real amplitude, which corresponds to the zero of a theorem by A. Martin.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Description of pp forward elastic scattering at 7 and 8 TeV

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Elastic amplitudes studied with the LHC measurements at 7 and 8 TeV

Recent measurements of the differential cross sections in the forward region of pp elastic scattering at 7 and 8 TeV show precise form of the $t$ dependence. We propose a detailed analysis of these measurements including the structures of the real and imaginary parts of the scattering amplitude. A good description is achieved, confirming in all experiments the existence of a zero in the real part in the forward region close to the origin, in agreement with the prediction of a theorem by A. Martin, with important role in the observed form of $dσ/dt$. Universal value for the position of this zero and regularity in other features of the amplitudes are found, leading to quantitative predictions for the forward elastic scattering at 13 TeV.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Exact treatment of dispersion relations in pp and pp elastic scattering

Based on a study of the properties of the Lerch's transcendent, exact closed forms of dispersion relations for amplitudes and for derivatives of amplitudes in pp and pp scattering are introduced. Exact and complete expressions are written for the real parts and for their derivatives at $t=0$ based on given inputs for the energy dependence of the total cross sections and of the slopes of the imaginary parts. The results are prepared for application in the analysis of forward scattering data of the pp and pp systems at all energies, where exact and precise representations can be written.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

Diffractive Electromagnetic Processes from a Regge Point of View

The energy dependence of the cross sections for electromagnetic diffractive processes can be well described by a single power, $W^δ$. For $J/ψ$ photoproduction this holds in the range from 20 GeV to 2 TeV. This feature is most easily explained by a single pole in the angular momentum plane which depends on the scale of the process, at least in a certain range of values of the momentum transfer. It is shown that this assumption allows a unified description of all electromagnetic elastic diffractive processes. We also discuss an alternative model with an energy dependent dipole cross section, which is compatible with the data up to 2 TeV and which shows an energy behaviour typical for a cut in the angular momentum plane.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

Scale Dependent Pomeron Intercept in Electromagnetic Diffractive Processes

We test the hypothesis that diffractive scattering in the perturbative and non-perturbative domain is determined by the exchange of a single pomeron with a scale dependent trajectory. Present data on diffractive vector meson production are well compatible with this model and recent results for $J/ψ$ photoproduction at LHC strongly support it. The model is inspired by concepts of gauge/string duality applied to the pomeron.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

pp scattering in t and b spaces

We propose analytical forms, in both momentum transfer and impact parameter spaces, for the amplitudes of elastic pp scattering, giving coherent and accurate description of the observables at all energies $\sqrt{s}\geq 20$ GeV. The real and imaginary parts are separately identified through their roles at small and large t values. The study of the differential cross sections in b-space leads to the understanding of the effective interaction ranges contributing to elastic and inelastic processes.

hep-ex↗