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Fernanda Oliveira

Publications and source records attributed to Fernanda Oliveira.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Testing Scale-Dependent Suppression of Structure Growth in the Linear Regime

We investigate recent reports of a suppression in the growth rate of cosmic structures inferred from analyses of the $[f\sigma_8](z)$ dataset. To address this issue, we explore the hypothesis that the evolution of matter clustering is more accurately described within the framework of scale-dependent modified gravity. We perform a joint analysis of $[f\sigma_8](z)$, cosmic chronometer $H(z)$ measurements, luminosity distance data, and CMB observations using Markov Chain Monte Carlo techniques to constrain the parameters of a scale-dependent cosmological model and investigate its impact on the evolution of $[f\sigma_8](z)$. Our results indicate that the suppression of the growth rate of large-scale structures is more pronounced during the matter-dominated era than in the dark-energy-dominated epoch. We find evidence for scale-dependent growth at a statistical significance of $2.2\, \sigma$. In addition, we constrain the $S_8$ parameter and find it to be consistent with the value inferred from the CMB observations of the Planck Collaboration. Overall, our analysis shows that $k$-dependent growth models provide a viable explanation for the observed clustering of matter without exacerbating the current cosmological tensions.

astro-ph.CO

Probing the Cosmic Distance Duality Relation via Non-Parametric Reconstruction for High Redshifts

We test the validity of the cosmic distance duality relation (CDDR) by combining angular diameter distance and luminosity distance measurements from recent cosmological observations. For the angular diameter distance, we use data from transverse baryon acoustic oscillations and galaxy clusters. On the other hand, the luminosity distance is obtained from Type Ia supernovae in the Pantheon+ sample and from quasar catalogs. To reduce the large dispersion in quasar luminosity distances, we apply a selection criterion based on their deviation from the $\Lambda$CDM model and implement a binning procedure to suppress statistical noise. We reconstruct the CDDR using Gaussian Processes, a non-parametric supervised machine learning method. Our results show no significant deviation from the CDDR within the $2\sigma$ confidence level across the redshift range explored, supporting its validity even at high redshifts.

astro-ph.CO

Is $\omega_0 \omega_a$CDM a good model for the clumpy Universe?

The DESI collaboration just obtained a set of precise BAO measurements, that combined with CMB and SNIa datasets show that the $\omega_0 \omega_a$CDM model is preferred over $\Lambda$CDM, at more than $4\,\sigma$, to describe the dynamics of the expanding Universe. This raises the question whether this model also suitably describes the clumpy Universe. Also lately, detailed analyses of diverse cosmic tracers resulted in a new dataset of measurements of an observable from the clumpy Universe: $\sigma_8(z)$, spanning a high-redshift data $z \in [0.013, 3.8]$. In this work we use this dataset of 15 $\sigma_8(z_i)$ measurements to study the viability of the $\omega_0 \omega_a$CDM cosmological model to explain the clustered Universe. Our analyses compare the $\omega_0 \omega_a$CDM model with the $\sigma_8(z)$ function reconstructed from the data points using Gaussian Process. Moreover, we perform a similar evaluation of the $\Lambda$CDM model considering Planck and~DESI best-fit parameters. In addition, we implemented robustness tests regarding Gaussian Process reconstruction to support our results.

astro-ph.CO

Viability of general relativity and modified gravity cosmologies using high-redshift cosmic probes

Several models based on General Relativity and Modified Gravity aim to reproduce the observed universe with precision comparable to the flat-$\Lambda$CDM cosmological model. In this study, we investigate the consistency of some of these models with current high-redshift cosmic data, assessing their ability to simultaneously describe both the background expansion and matter clustering, using measurements of the Hubble parameter $H(z)$, the luminosity distance $D_L(z)$, and the growth rate of structures $[f\sigma_8](z)$ through parametric and non-parametric methods. Our results indicate that background observables alone offer limited capacity to distinguish between models, while the inclusion of growth of structures data proves useful in revealing deviations, even if small. An $F(Q)$ model, the non-flat $\Lambda$CDM and the $\omega$CDM emerge as alternatives well supported by data, closely matching the growth data and showing performance comparable to $\Lambda$CDM, as revealed by the Akaike Information Criterion. In contrast, $F(R)$ models are strongly disfavored compared to $\Lambda$CDM and $F(Q)$. However, according to the Bayesian Information Criterion, $\Lambda$CDM remains the preferred model among the models analysed. These analyses illustrate the usefulness of both parametric and non-parametric approaches to explore the observational viability of alternative cosmological models.

astro-ph.CO

Reconstructing the growth index $\gamma$ with Gaussian Processes

Alternative cosmological models have been proposed to alleviate the tensions reported in the concordance cosmological model, or to explain the current accelerated phase of the universe. One way to distinguish between General Relativity and modified gravity models is using current astronomical data to measure the growth index $\gamma$, a parameter related to the growth of matter perturbations, which behaves differently in different metric theories. We propose a model independent methodology for determining $\gamma$, where our analyses combine diverse cosmological data sets, namely $\{ f(z_i) \}$, $\{ [f\sigma_8](z_i) \}$, and $\{ H(z_i) \}$, and use Gaussian Processes, a non-parametric approach suitable to reconstruct functions. This methodology is a new consistency test for $\gamma$ constant. Our results show that, for the redshift interval $0 < z < 1$, $\gamma$ is consistent with the constant value $\gamma = 0.55$, expected in General Relativity theory, within $2 \sigma$ confidence level (CL). Moreover, we find $\gamma(z=0)$ = 0.311 $\pm 0.144 $ and $\gamma(z=0) = 0.609 \pm 0.200$ for the reconstructions using the $\{ f(z_i) \}$ and $\{ [f\sigma_8](z_i) \}$ data sets, respectively, values that also agree at a 2$\sigma$ CL with $\gamma = 0.55$. Our methodology and analyses can be considered as an alternative approach in light of the current discussion in the literature that suggests a possible evidence for the growth index evolution.

astro-ph.CO