arXiv subjects

Hardi Veermäe

Publications and source records attributed to Hardi Veermäe.

69 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

The EDGES 21 cm Anomaly and Properties of Dark Matter

The recently claimed anomaly in the measurement of the 21 cm hydrogen absorption signal by EDGES at $z\sim 17$, if cosmological, requires the existence of new physics. The possible attempts to resolve the anomaly rely on either (i) cooling the hydrogen gas via new dark matter-hydrogen interactions or (ii) modifying the soft photon background beyond the standard CMB one, as possibly suggested also by the ARCADE~2 excess. We argue that solutions belonging to the first class are generally in tension with cosmological dark matter probes once simple dark sector models are considered. Therefore, we propose soft photon emission by light dark matter as a natural solution to the 21 cm anomaly, studying a few realizations of this scenario. We find that the signal singles out a photophilic dark matter candidate characterised by an enhanced collective decay mechanism, such as axion mini-clusters.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Simulations of Galaxy Cluster Collisions with a Dark Plasma Component

Dark plasma is an intriguing form of self-interacting dark matter with an effective fluid-like behavior, which is well motivated by various theoretical particle physics models. We aim to find an explanation for an isolated mass clump in the Abell 520 system, which cannot be explained by traditional models of dark matter, but has been detected in weak lensing observations. We performed N-body smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of galaxy cluster collisions with a two component model of dark matter, which is assumed to consist of a predominant non-interacting dark matter component and a 10-40 percent mass fraction of dark plasma. The mass of a possible dark clump was calculated for each simulation in a parameter scan over the underlying model parameters. In two higher resolution simulations shock-waves and Mach cones were observed to form in the dark plasma halos. By choosing suitable simulation parameters, the observed distributions of dark matter in both the Bullet Cluster (1E 0657-558) and Abell 520 (MS 0451.5+0250) can be qualitatively reproduced.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Single Field Double Inflation and Primordial Black Holes

Within the framework of scalar-tensor theories, we study the conditions that allow single field inflation dynamics on small cosmological scales to significantly differ from that of the large scales probed by the observations of cosmic microwave background. The resulting single field double inflation scenario is characterised by two consequent inflation eras, usually separated by a period where the slow-roll approximation fails. At large field values the dynamics of the inflaton is dominated by the interplay between its non-minimal coupling to gravity and the radiative corrections to the inflaton self-coupling. For small field values the potential is, instead, dominated by a polynomial that results in a hilltop inflation. Without relying on the slow-roll approximation, which is invalidated by the appearance of the intermediate stage, we propose a concrete model that matches the current measurements of inflationary observables and employs the freedom granted by the framework on small cosmological scales to give rise to a sizeable population of primordial black holes generated by large curvature fluctuations. We find that these features generally require a potential with a local minimum. We show that the associated primordial black hole mass function is only approximately lognormal.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Vacuum Stability and Perturbativity of SU(3) Scalars

We calculate the vacuum stability conditions and renormalisation group equations for the extensions of standard model with a higher colour multiplet scalar up to the representation $\mathbf{15'}$ that leaves the strong interaction asymptotically free. In order to find the vacuum stability conditions, we calculate the orbit spaces for the self-couplings of the higher multiplets, which for the representations $\mathbf{15}$ and $\mathbf{15'}$ of $SU(3)_c$ are highly complicated. However, if the scalar potential is linear in orbit space variables, it is sufficient to know the convex hull of the orbit space. In contrast to the self-couplings of other multiplets, we find that the scalar quartic couplings of the representations $\mathbf{3}$ and $\mathbf{8}$ walk rather than run, remaining nearly constant and perturbative over a vast energy range. We describe the conditions for walking couplings using a schematic model. With these technical results at hand we revise earlier results of generation of new scales with large $SU(3)_c$ scalar multiplets. Our results are easily extendable to models of new physics with additional $SU(3)$ or SU($N$) gauge symmetries.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

A frame independent classification of single field inflationary models

Seemingly unrelated models of inflation that originate from different physical setups yield, in some cases, identical predictions for the currently constrained inflationary observables. In order to classify the available models, we propose to express the slow-roll parameters and the relevant observables in terms of frame and reparametrisation invariant quantities. The adopted invariant formalism makes manifest the redundancy that afflicts the current description of inflation dynamics and offers a straightforward way to identify classes of models which yield identical phenomenology. In this Letter we offer a step-to-step recipe to recast every single field inflationary model in the proposed formalism, detailing also the procedure to compute inflationary observables in terms of frame and reparametrisation invariant quantities. We hope that our results become the cornerstone of a new categorisation of viable inflationary models and open the way to a deeper understanding of the inflation mechanism.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

On the Quantisation of Complex Higher Derivative Theories and Avoiding the Ostrogradsky Ghost

Generic higher derivative theories are believed to be fundamentally unphysical because they contain Ostrogradsky ghosts. We show that within complex classical mechanics it is possible to construct higher derivative theories that circumvent the Ostrogradsky theorem and have a real energy spectrum that is bounded from below. The complex theory can be canonically quantised. The resulting quantum theory does not suffer from the kinetic instability and maintains the usual probabilistic interpretation without violating the correspondence principle. As a proof of concept, we construct a class of stable interacting complex higher derivative theories. This consistent and canonical framework allows us to analyse previous attempts to avoid the ghosts that use non-canonical quantisation schemes, such as the Lee-Wick theories, Dirac-Pauli quantisation or PT-symmetric quantum mechanics. The key to understand the would-be ghosts in any kinetically stable higher derivative theory is to accept the complex system behind it.

hep-th↗

arXiv2016

Polarization observables for millicharged particles in photon collisions

Particles in a hidden sector can potentially acquire a small electric charge through their interaction with the Standard Model and can consequently be observed as millicharged particles. We systematically compute the production of millicharged scalar, fermion and vector boson particles in collisions of polarized photons. The presented calculation is model independent and is based purely on the assumptions of electromagnetic gauge invariance and unitarity. Polarization observables are evaluated and analyzed for each spin case. We show that the photon polarization asymmetries are a useful tool for discriminating between the spins of the produced millicharged particles. Phenomenological implications for searches of millicharged particles in dedicated photon-photon collision experiments are also discussed.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Heavy spin-2 Dark Matter

We provide further details on a recent proposal addressing the nature of the dark sectors in cosmology and demonstrate that all current observations related to Dark Matter can be explained by the presence of a heavy spin-2 particle. Massive spin-2 fields and their gravitational interactions are uniquely described by ghost-free bimetric theory, which is a minimal and natural extension of General Relativity. In this setup, the largeness of the physical Planck mass is naturally related to extremely weak couplings of the heavy spin-2 field to baryonic matter and therefore explains the absence of signals in experiments dedicated to Dark Matter searches. It also ensures the phenomenological viability of our model as we confirm by comparing it with cosmological and local tests of gravity. At the same time, the spin-2 field possesses standard gravitational interactions and it decays universally into all Standard Model fields but not into massless gravitons. Matching the measured DM abundance together with the requirement of stability constrains the spin-2 mass to be in the 1 to 100 TeV range.

hep-th↗

arXiv2016

Gravitational Origin of Dark Matter

Observational evidence for the existence of Dark Matter is limited to its gravitational effects. The extensive program for dedicated searches has yielded null results so far, challenging the most popular models. Here we propose that this is the case because the very existence of cold Dark Matter is a manifestation of gravity itself. The consistent bimetric theory of gravity, the only known ghost-free extension of General Relativity involving a massless and a massive spin-2 field, automatically contains a perfect Dark Matter candidate. We demonstrate that the massive spin-2 particle can be heavy, stable on cosmological scales, and that it interacts with matter only through a gravitational type of coupling. Remarkably, these features persist in the same region of parameter space where bimetric theory satisfies the current gravity tests. We show that the observed Dark Matter abundance can be generated via freeze-in and suggest possible particle physics and gravitational signatures of our bimetric Dark Matter model.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Non-minimal CW inflation, electroweak symmetry breaking and the 750 GeV anomaly

We study whether the hinted 750 GeV resonance at the LHC can be a Coleman-Weinberg inflaton which is non-minimally coupled to gravity. Since the inflaton must couple to new charged and coloured states to reproduce the LHC diphoton signature, the same interaction can generate its effective potential and trigger the electroweak symmetry breaking via the portal coupling to the Higgs boson. This inflationary scenario predicts a lower bound on the tensor-to-scalar ratio of $r\gtrsim 0.006$, where the minimal value corresponds to the measured spectral index $n_s\simeq0.97$. However, we find that the compatibility with the LHC diphoton signal requires exotic new physics at energy scales accessible at the LHC. We study and quantify the properties of the predicted exotic particles.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Diffusion in the presence of a local attracting factor: Theory and some interdisciplinary applications

We study a simple model of a random walker in d dimensions moving in the presence of a local heterogeneous attracting factor expressed in terms of an assigned space-dependent "attractiveness function", a situation frequently encountered in the study of various diffusion problems. The corresponding drift-diffusion equation and the explicit expressions for the velocity field and the diffusion coefficient are obtained and discussed. We consider some examples of applications of the results obtained to chemotactic diffusion processes and social dynamics.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2015

Dark matter and spin-1 milli-charged particles

New physics scenarios beyond the Standard Model predict the existence of milli-charged particles. So far, only spin-1/2 and spin-0 milli-charged particles have been considered in literature, leaving out the interesting case of spin-1. We propose a minimal unitary and renormalizable model of massive milli-charged vector particles. Unitarity requires that these particles are gauge bosons of a non-abelian spontaneously broken gauge symmetry. The minimal scenario then consists of an extended Standard Model gauge group $SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y \times SU(2)_D$ together with a $SU(2)_D$ dark Higgs boson responsible for the symmetry breaking in the dark sector. By imposing that the dark Higgs multiplet has a non-vanishing milli-hypercharge, stable milli-charged spin-1 fields arise thereby providing a potential dark matter candidate. We analyse the phenomenological constraints on this scenario and discuss their implications.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

Evidence for Dark Matter Self-Interactions via Collisionless Shocks in Cluster Mergers

While dark matter self-interactions may solve several problems with structure formation, so far only the effects of two-body scatterings of dark matter particles have been considered. We show that, if a subdominant component of dark matter is charged under an unbroken $U(1)$ gauge group, collective dark plasma effects need to be taken into account to understand its dynamics. Plasma instabilities can lead to collisionless dark matter shocks in galaxy cluster mergers which might have been already observed in the Abell 3827 and 520 clusters. As a concrete model we propose a thermally produced dark pair plasma of vectorlike fermions. In this scenario the interacting dark matter component is expected to be separated from the stars and the non-interacting dark matter halos in cluster collisions. In addition, the missing satellite problem is softened, while constraints from all other astrophysical and cosmological observations are avoided.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

A new mechanism for dark energy: the adaptive screening

We describe how known matter effects within a well-motivated particle physics framework can explain the dark energy component of the Universe. By considering a cold gas of particles which interact via a vector mediator, we show that there exists a regime where the gas reproduces the dynamics of dark energy. In this regime the screening mass of the mediator is proportional to the number density of the gas, hence we refer to this phenomenon as "the adaptive screening mechanism". As an example, we argue that such screening mass can result from strong localization of the vector mediators. The proposed dark energy mechanism could be experimentally verified through cosmological observations by the Euclid experiment, as well as by studying properties of dark photons and sterile neutrinos.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Renormalization group approach to chaotic strings

Coupled map lattices of weakly coupled Chebychev maps, so-called chaotic strings, may have a profound physical meaning in terms of dynamical models of vacuum fluctuations in stochastically quantized field theories. Here we present analytic results for the invariant density of chaotic strings, as well as for the coupling parameter dependence of given observables of the chaotic string such as the vacuum expectation value. A highly nontrivial and selfsimilar parameter dependence is found, produced by perturbative and nonperturbative effects, for which we develop a mathematical description in terms of suitable scaling functions. Our analytic results are in good agreement with numerical simulations of the chaotic dynamics.

nlin.CD↗