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Houri Ziaeepour

Publications and source records attributed to Houri Ziaeepour.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2012

Discrimination between Lambda-CDM, quintessence, and modified gravity models using wide area surveys

In the past decade or so observations of supernovae, Large Scale Structures (LSS), and the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) have confirmed the presence of what is called dark energy - the cause of accelerating expansion of the Universe. They have also measured its density as well as the value of other cosmological parameters according to the concordance $Λ$CDM model with few percent uncertainties. Next generation of surveys should allow to constrain this model with better precisions, or distinguish between a LCDM and alternative models such as modified gravity and (interacting)-quintessence models. In this work we parametrize both homogeneous and anisotropic components of matter density in the context of interacting dark energy models with the goal of discriminating between f(R) modified gravity and its generalizations, and interacting dark energy models, for which we also propose a phenomenological description of energy-momentum conservation equations inspired by particle physics. It is based on the fact that the simplest interactions between particles/fields are elastic scattering and decay. The parametrization of growth rate proposed here is nonetheless general and can be used to constrain other interactions. As an example of applications, we present an order of magnitude estimation of the accuracy of the measurement of these parameters using Euclid and Planck surveys data, and leave a better estimation to a dedicated work.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2011

Simulation of high energy emission from gamma-ray bursts

Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the must violent explosions after the Big-Bang. Their high energy radiation can potentially carry information about the most inner part of the accretion disk of a collapsing star, ionize the surrounding material in the host galaxy and thereby influence the process of star formation specially in the dense environment at high redshifts. They can also have a significant contribution in the formation of high energy cosmic-rays. Here we present new simulations of GRBs according to a dynamically consistent relativistic shock model for the prompt emission, with or without the presence of an magnetic field. They show that the properties of observed bursts are well reproduced by this model up to GeV energies. They help to better understand GRB phenomenon, and provide an insight into characteristics of relativistic jets and particle acceleration which cannot yet be simulated with enough precision from first principles.

astro-ph.HE↗
arXiv2011

Dark energy condensate and vacuum energy

Many candidate models for dark energy are based on the existence of a classical scalar field. In the context of Quantum Field Theory (QFT), we briefly discus the condensation of such a field from a light quantum scalar field produced by gradual decay of a heavy particle during cosmological time. We obtain the necessary conditions for survival of the condensate in an expanding universe and show that this process is directly related to quantum nature of the field which preserves the coherence of the condensate at cosmological distances. We also suggest a new interpretation of {\it vacuum energy} in QFT in curved space time which can potentially solve the puzzle of huge deviation of what is considered to be the vacuum energy from observations of dark energy.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

Broad band simulation of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB) prompt emission in presence of an external magnetic field

The origin of prompt emission in GRBs is not yet well understood. The simplest and most popular model is Synchrotron, Self-Compton (SSC) emission produced by internal shocks inside an ultra-relativistic jet. However, recent observations of a delayed high energy component have encouraged alternative models. Here we use a recently developed formulation of relativistic shocks to simulate GRBs. It takes into account the evolution of quantities such as densities of colliding shells, electric and magnetic fields. We also extend the previous formulation by considering a precessing external magnetic field. These simulations are very realistic and present significant improvement with respect to previous phenomenological GRB simulations. They reproduce light curves of separated peaks of real GRBs and variety of observed spectral slopes at E > E_{peak}. The high energy emission can be explained by synchrotron emission and a subdominant contribution from inverse Compton. We also suggest an explanation for the extended tail emission observed by the Fermi-LAT instrument and relate it to the screening of the magnetic field and/or trapping of accelerated electrons in the electromagnetic energy structure of the plasma in the shock front. Spectral slopes of simulated bursts at E << E_{peak} are consistent with theoretical prediction and at E < E_{peak} can be flatter if the spectrum of electrons is roughly flat or has a shallow slope. The observed flat spectra at soft gamma-ray and hard x-ray bands is the evidence that there is a significant contribution at $E < E_{peak}$ from lower Lorentz factor wing of electrons distribution which have a roughly random acceleration rather than being thermal. This means that the state of matter in the jet at the time of ejection is most probably nonthermal and electrons have a shallow spectrum at low energies.(abbreviated)

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2010

Cosmological Condensation of Scalar Fields -- Making a dark energy

Our Universe is ruled by quantum mechanics and its extension Quantum Field Theory (QFT). However, the explanations for a number of cosmological phenomena such as inflation, dark energy, symmetry breakings, and phase transitions need the presence of classical scalar fields. Although the process of condensation of scalar fields in the lab is fairly well understood, the extension of results to a cosmological context is not trivial. Here we investigate the formation of a condensate - a classical scalar field - after reheating of the Universe. We assume a light quantum scalar field produced by the decay of a heavy particle, which for simplicity is assumed to be another scalar. We show that during radiation domination epoch under certain conditions, the decay of the heavy particle alone is sufficient for the production of a condensate. This process is very similar to preheating - the exponential particle production at the end of inflation. During matter domination epoch when the expansion of the Universe is faster, the decay alone can not keep the growing trend of the field and the amplitude of the condensate decreases rapidly, unless there is a self interaction. This issue is particularly important for dark energy. We show that quantum corrections of the self-interaction play a crucial role in this process. Notably, they induce an effective action which includes inverse power-law terms, and therefore can lead to a tracking behaviour even when the classical self-interaction is a simple power-law of order 3 or 4. This removes the necessity of having nonrenormalisable terms in the Lagrangian. If dark energy is the condensate of a quantum scalar field, these results show that its presence is deeply related to the action of quantum physics at largest observable scales.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2009

Condensation of a Classical Scalar Field After Inflation and Dark Energy

In cosmological context, classical scalar fields are important ingredients for inflation models, many candidate models of dark energy, symmetry breaking and phase transition epochs, and their consequences such as baryo and lepto-genesis. We investigate the formation of these fields by studying the production of a light quantum scalar field during the decay of a heavy particle. For simplicity it is assumed to be a scalar too. We discuss the effects of the decay mode, the thermodynamical state of the decaying field, boundary conditions, and related physical parameters on the production and evolution of a condensate. For a simplified version of this model we calculate the asymptotic behaviour of the condensate and conditions for its contribution to the dark energy with an equation of state close to a cosmological constant. We also discus the role of the back-reaction from interactions with other fields and expansion of the Universe on the evolution of the condensate.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2009

Gamma Ray Bursts Cook Book I: Formulation

Since the suggestion of relativistic shocks as the origin of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in early 90's, the mathematical formulation of this process has stayed at phenomenological level. One of the reasons for the slow development of theoretical works in this domain has been the simple power-law behaviour of the afterglows hours or days after the prompt gamma-ray emission. Nowadays with the launch of the Swift satellite, gamma-ray bursts can be observed in multi-wavelength from a few tens of seconds after trigger onward. These observations have leaded to the discovery of features unexplainable by the simple formulation of the shocks and emission processes used up to now. But "devil is in details" and some of these features may be explained with a more detailed formulation of phenomena and without adhoc addition of new processes. Such a formulation is the goal of this work. We present a consistent formulation of the collision between two spherical relativistic shells. The model can be applied to both internal and external shocks. Notably, we propose two phenomenological models for the evolution of the emitting region during the collision. One of these models is more suitable for the internal shocks and the other for the external collisions. We calculate radiation flux, lags, and hardness ratios. One of our aims has been a formulation enough complex to include the essential processes, but enough simple such that the data can be directly compared with the theory to extract the value and evolution of physical quantities. To accomplish this goal, we also suggest a procedure for extracting parameters of the model from data. In a following paper we numerically calculate the evolution of some simulated models and compare their features with the properties of the observed gamma-ray bursts.(abbreviated)

astro-ph↗
arXiv2009

Gamma Ray Bursts Cook Book II: Simulation

In Paper I we presented a detailed formulation of the relativistic shocks and synchrotron emission in the context of Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) physics. To see how well this model reproduces the observed characteristics of the GRBs and their afterglows, here we present the results of some simulations based on this model. They are meant to reproduce the prompt and afterglow emission in some intervals of time during a burst. We show that this goal is achieved for both short and long GRBs and their afterglows, at least for part of the parameter space. Moreover, these results are the evidence of the physical relevance of the two phenomenological models we have suggested in Paper I for the evolution of the {\it active region}, the synchrotron emitting region in a shock. The dynamical active region model seems to reproduce the observed characteristics of prompt emissions and late afterglow better than the quasi-steady model which is more suitable for the onset of afterglows. Therefore these simulations confirm the arguments presented in Paper I about the behaviour of these models based on their physical properties.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2009

And what if gravity is intrinsically quantic ?

Since the early days of search for a quantum theory of gravity the attempts have been mostly concentrated on the quantization of an otherwise classical system. The two most contentious candidate theories of gravity, sting theory and quantum loop gravity are based on a quantum field theory - the latter is a quantum field theory of connections on a SU(2) group manifold and former a quantum field theory in two dimensional spaces. Here we argue that there is a very close relation between quantum mechanics and gravity. Without gravity quantum mechanics becomes ambiguous. We consider this observation as the evidence for an intrinsic relation between these fundamental laws of nature. We suggest a quantum role and definition for gravity in the context of a quantum universe, and present a preliminary formulation for gravity in a system with a finite number of particles.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2007

Statistical Algorithms for Identification of Astronomical X-Ray Sources

Observations of present and future X-ray telescopes include a large number of serendipidious sources of unknown types. They are a rich source of knowledge about X-ray dominated astronomical objects, their distribution, and their evolution. The large number of these sources does not permit their individual spectroscopical follow-up and classification. Here we use Chandra Multi-Wavelength public data to investigate a number of statistical algorithms for classification of X-ray sources with optical imaging follow-up. We show that up to statistical uncertainties, each class of X-ray sources has specific photometric characteristics which can be used for its classification. We assess the relative and absolute performance of classification methods and measured features by comparing the behaviour of physical quantities for statistically classified objects with what is obtained from spectroscopy. We find that among methods we have studied, multi-dimensional probability distribution is the best for both classifying source type and redshift, but it needs a sufficiently large input (learning) data set. In absence of such data, a mixture of various methods can give a better final result. We also discuss the enhancement of information obtained from statistical identification, and the effect of classification method and the input set on the astronomical conclusions about distribution and properties of the X-ray selected sources.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

GRB 060607A: A GRB with Bright Asynchronous Early $X$-ray and Optical Emissions

The early optical emission of the moderately high redshift ($z=3.08$) GRB 060607A shows a remarkable broad and strong peak with a rapid rise and a relatively slow power-law decay. It is not coincident with the strong early-time flares seen in the X-ray and gamma-ray energy bands. There is weak evidence for variability superposed on this dominant component in several optical bands that can be related to flares in high energy bands. While for a small number of GRBs, well-sampled optical flares have been observed simultaneously with X-ray and gamma ray pulses, GRB 060607A is one of the few cases where the early optical emission shows no significant evidence for correlation with the prompt emission. In this work we first report in detail the broad band observations of this burst by Swift. Then by applying a simple model for the dynamics and the synchrotron radiation of a relativistic shock, we show that the dominant component of the early emissions in optical wavelengths has the same origin as the tail emission produced after the main gamma ray activity. The most plausible explanation for the peak in the optical light curve seems to be the cooling of the prompt after the main collisions, shifting the characteristic synchrotron frequency to the optical bands. It seems that the cooling process requires a steepening of the electron energy distribution and/or a break in this distribution at high energies. The sharp break in the X-ray light curve at few thousands of seconds after the trigger, is not observed in the IR/optical/UV bands, and therefore can not be a jet break. Either the X-ray break is due to a change in the spectrum of the accelerated electrons or the lack of an optical break is due to the presence of a related delayed response component (Abbreviated).

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Distinguishing between $w < -1$ Dark Energy Models

Recent data and new data analysis methods show that most probably the parameter $w$ in the equation of state of the dark energy is smaller than -1 at low redshifts. We briefly review some of the models with such a property and without violating null energy condition. We investigate the difference between the observables and predictions of these models, and how they can be explored to single out or constrain the origin of dark energy and its properties.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2007

Nonparametric determination of redshift evolution index of Dark Energy

We propose a nonparametric method to determine the sign of γ- the redshift evolution index of dark energy. This is important for distinguishing between positive energy models, a cosmological constant, and what is generally called ghost models. Our method is based on geometrical properties and is more tolerant to uncertainties of other cosmological parameters than fitting methods in what concerns the sign of γ. The same parameterization can also be used for determining $γ$ and its redshift dependence by fitting. We apply this method to SNLS supernovae and to gold sample of re-analyzed supernovae data from Riess et al. 2004. Both datasets show strong indication of a negative γ. If this result is confirmed by more extended and precise data, many of dark energy models, including simple cosmological constant, standard quintessence models without interaction between quintessence scalar field(s) and matter, and scaling models are ruled out.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2006

Nonparametric determination of the sign of w+1 in the equation of state of Dark Energy

We present a nonparametric method to determine the sign of $w+1$ in the equation of state of dark energy. It is based on geometrical behaviour and is more tolerant to uncertainties of other cosmological parameters than fitting methods. It permits to distinguish between different classes of dark energy models even with relatively low precision data. We apply this method to SNLS supernovae and to gold sample of re-analyzed supernovae data from Riess et.al. 2004. Both data sets show strong indication of $w < -1$. If this result is confirmed by more extended and precise data available in near future, many of dark energy models, including simple cosmological constant, standard quintessence models without interaction between quintessence scalar field(s) and matter, and scaling models are ruled out.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2006

ANOXIA, Treatment by Oxygen Deprivation, Optimizing Treatment Time of Museum Objects

ANOXIA, treatment by oxygen deprivation is largely used for decontamination and disinfestation of cellulose and protein-based organic materials. More specifically this method is applied to more than one hundred thousand of objects destinated for a new museum in Paris, "Musee du Quai Branly". We describe the anoxia installation in this museum and report the result of a study regarding the efficiency of this method and the optimum treatment time, crucial for treating a large collection. We show that the standard 21 days of exposure is not always the optimal choice. Temperature plays a crucial role for hastening the death of insects found within objects. At a temperature of 25C, it is entirely possible to reduce exposure times to 10 or 15 days for the insect species commonly found in museums. The oxygen drop times is between 1 and 2 days for most objects, depending on type and porosity of materials. This corresponds to a treatment time between 15 and 16 days. The effect of humidity is less clear. It can increase the necessary treatment time both for larvae and for adult insects.

physics.chem-ph↗
arXiv2006

Dark energy and formation of classical scalar fields

We present a quintessence model for the dark energy in which the quintessence scalar field is produced by the decay of a super heavy dark matter and gradually condensate to a classical scalar field. This model can explain both the smallness and the latest observations by WMAP for the equation of state of the dark energy which has $w \sim -1.06$. We review both classical and field theoretical treatment of this model and briefly explain the most important parameters for obtaining the observed characteristic of the dark energy.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2006

QCD Color Glass Condensate Model in Warped Brane Models

Hadron-hadron interaction and Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) at very high energies is dominated by events at small-$x_B$ regime. Interesting and complex physical content of this regime is described by a phenomenological model called McLerran-Venugopalan Color Glass Condensate (MVCGC) model. The advantage of this formalism is the existence of a renormalization-type equation which relates directly observable low energy (small-$x_B$) physics to high energy scales where one expects the appearance of phenomena beyond Standard model. After a brief argument about complexity of observations and their interpretation, we extend CGC to warped space-times with brane boundaries and show that in a hadron-hadron collision or DIS all the events - and not just hard processes - have an extended particle distribution in the bulk. In other word, particles living on the visible brane escape to the bulk. For an observer on the brane the phenomenon should appear as time decoherence in the outgoing particles or missing energy, depending on the time particles propagate in the bulk before coming back to the brane. Assuming that primaries of UHECRs are nucleons, the interaction of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) in the terrestrial atmosphere is the most energetic hadron-hadron interaction available for observation. Using the prediction of CGC for gluon distribution as well as classical propagation of relativistic particles in the bulk, we constrain the parameter space of warped brane models.

hep-ph↗