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Hrvoje Stefancic

Publications and source records attributed to Hrvoje Stefancic.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Analytical reconstruction of equivalent purely kinetic k-essence description for $c_s^2(w)$ barotropic fluid models

A novel approach to the class of cosmic barotropic fluids in which the speed of sound squared is defined as a function of the Equation of State parameter, so called $c_s^2(w)$ models, is examined. For this class of models, a new analytical reconstruction method is introduced for finding their equivalent purely kinetic k-essence formulation. The method is explicitly demonstrated for several $c_s^2(w)$ models. A distinguished feature of the studied models is a peak in $c_s^2$ during cosmic expansion. A possible role that such model features could play in understanding of so far unexplained aspects of cosmic evolution is discussed. The application of the obtained explicit or closed form solutions in understanding dark sector unification models is outlined.

astro-ph.CO↗

Dark matter fluid constraints from galaxy rotation curves

Galaxy rotation curves are considered to be convincing evidence for dark matter or some dynamically equivalent alternative mechanism. Starting only from the rotation curve data, we present a model independent approach of testing a general hypothesis that dark matter has the properties of a barotropic fluid. It is shown how the speed of sound squared can be expressed in terms of rotation curve data and their radial derivatives and how model independent constraints can be obtained from the requirements that it is confined between 0 and $c^2$. Using the Milky Way rotation curve data available in the literature, we obtain the constraints on the barotropic fluid speed of sound and illustrate the potential of this approach. Technical challenges, limitations and possible future extensions and improvements of the proposed approach are discussed.

astro-ph.CO↗

Purely kinetic k-essence description of $c_s^2(w)$ barotropic fluid models

Purely kinetic k-essence models have been shown in the literature to be a field theory equivalent of barotropic fluid models of dark energy or dark matter-dark energy unification. In the modeling framework where the speed of sound squared of a barotropic fluid is modeled as a function of its Equation of State parameter, a systematic procedure of obtaining the Lagrangian density of an equivalent purely kinetic k-essence model is presented. As this modeling approach starts from the speed of sound, purely kinetic k-essence models can be constructed for which the speed of sound is in agreement with the observational constraints. Depending on the chosen functional form for the barotropic fluid speed of sound squared, analytically tractable examples of solutions for the purely kinetic k-essence Lagrangian density in parametric and closed form are obtained.

astro-ph.CO↗

Barotropic fluid compatible parametrizations of dark energy

Parametrizations of Equation of state parameter as a function of the scale factor or redshift are frequently used in dark energy modeling. The question investigated in this paper is if parametrizations proposed in the literature are compatible with the dark energy being a barotropic fluid. The test of this compatibility is based on the functional form of the speed of sound squared, which for barotropic fluid dark energy follows directly from the function for the Equation of state parameter. The requirement that the speed of sound squared should be between 0 and speed of light squared provides constraints on model parameters using analytical and numerical methods. It is found that this fundamental requirement eliminates a large number of parametrizations as barotropic fluid dark energy models and puts strong constraints on parameters of other dark energy parametrizations.

gr-qc↗

Dark sector unifications: dark matter-phantom energy, dark matter -- constant $w$ dark energy, dark matter-dark energy-dark matter

The paper brings a novel approach to unification of dark matter and dark energy in terms of a cosmic fluid. A model is introduced in which the cosmic fluid speed of sound squared is defined as a function of its equation of state (EoS) parameter. It is shown how logarithmic part of this function results in dynamical regimes previously not observed in cosmic fluid models. It is shown that in a particular dynamical regime the model behaves as a unification of dark matter and phantom dark energy. Further, it is shown that the model may describe dark matter - dark energy unification in which dark energy asymptotically behaves as dark energy with a constant EoS parameter larger than -1. In a specific parameter regime the unified fluid model also reproduces global expansion similar to $Λ$CDM model with fluid speed of sound vanishing for small scale factor values and being small, or even vanishing, for large scale factor values. Finally, it is shown how the model may be instrumental in describing the cosmic fluid dark matter-dark energy-dark matter unification. Physical constraints on model parameters yielding such transient dark energy behavior are obtained.

gr-qc↗

Observed lifespan differential - global trends, policy impact and computational methods

The issue of longevity has been long time recognized as one of key concepts in demography. A particular aspect of longevity addressed in this paper is the difference in average observed duration of life for female and male population, called observed lifespan differential. Using the data from Human Mortality Database, the dynamics of the observed lifespan differential is studied for a large number of countries worldwide from 1960 to 2014. An interesting phenomenon that the growing trend of the observed lifespan differential at the beginning of the studied interval does not persist, i.e. that it reverts to stagnation or even decline is revealed for a large majority of countries in the dataset. In a number of case studies, a strong association of lifespan dynamic with disruptive events such as wars, dissolutions or integrations of states or policy measures is demonstrated. Finally, a novel method of calculating the observed lifespan differential of a population from mortality indicators of its subpopulations is introduced and applied to the analysis of the observed lifespan differential in Israel from 1990 to 2000.

physics.soc-ph↗

Transient dark energy, cosmological constant boundary crossing and dark energy $w(z)$ data fits

The formalism of dark energy based on modeling speed of sound as a function of equation of state parameter is elaborated. A specific model which allows detailed study of cosmological constant boundary crossing is introduced and analytical solutions for the model dynamics are obtained. It is shown how in specific parameter regimes dark energy can be a transient phenomenon. It is further demonstrated how the model reproduces specific features of recent fits of dark energy $w(z)$ to observational data.

astro-ph.CO↗

Identification of Patient Zero in Static and Temporal Networks - Robustness and Limitations

Detection of patient-zero can give new insights to the epidemiologists about the nature of first transmissions into a population. In this paper, we study the statistical inference problem of detecting the source of epidemics from a snapshot of spreading on an arbitrary network structure. By using exact analytic calculations and Monte Carlo estimators, we demonstrate the detectability limits for the SIR model, which primarily depend on the spreading process characteristics. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of the approach in a case of a simulated sexually transmitted infection spreading over an empirical temporal network of sexual interactions.

cs.SI↗

Generalized models of unification of dark matter and dark energy

A model of unification of dark matter and dark energy based on the modeling of the speed of sound as a function of the parameter of the equation of state is introduced. It is found that the model in which the speed of sound depends on the power of the parameter of the equation of state, $c_s^2=α(-w)^γ$, contains the generalized Chaplygin gas models as its subclass. An effective scalar field description of the model is obtained in a parametric form which in some cases can be translated into a closed form solution for the scalar field potential. A constraint on model parameters is obtained using the observational data on the Hubble parameter at different redshifts.

astro-ph.CO↗

Statistical inference framework for source detection of contagion processes on arbitrary network structures

In this paper we introduce a statistical inference framework for estimating the contagion source from a partially observed contagion spreading process on an arbitrary network structure. The framework is based on a maximum likelihood estimation of a partial epidemic realization and involves large scale simulation of contagion spreading processes from the set of potential source locations. We present a number of different likelihood estimators that are used to determine the conditional probabilities associated to observing partial epidemic realization with particular source location candidates. This statistical inference framework is also applicable for arbitrary compartment contagion spreading processes on networks. We compare estimation accuracy of these approaches in a number of computational experiments performed with the SIR (susceptible-infected-recovered), SI (susceptible-infected) and ISS (ignorant-spreading-stifler) contagion spreading models on synthetic and real-world complex networks.

cs.SI↗

On analytical solutions of f(R) modified gravity theories in FLRW cosmologies

A novel analytical method for f(R) modified theories without matter in Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker spacetimes is introduced. The equation of motion for the scale factor in terms of cosmic time is reduced to the equation for the evolution of the Ricci scalar R with the Hubble parameter H. The solution of equation of motion for actions of the form of power law in Ricci scalar R, is presented with a detailed elaboration of the action quadratic in R. The reverse use of the introduced method is exemplified in finding functional forms f(R) which lead to specified scale factor functions. The analytical solutions are corroborated by numerical calculations with excellent agreement. Possible further applications to the phases of inflationary expansion and late-time acceleration as well as f(R) theories with radiation are outlined.

gr-qc↗

AdS-inspired noncommutative gravity on the Moyal plane

We consider noncommutative gravity on a space with canonical noncommutativity that is based on the commutative MacDowell-Mansouri action. Gravity is treated as gauge theory of the noncommutative $SO(1,3)_\star$ group and the Seiberg-Witten (SW) map is used to express noncommutative fields in terms of the corresponding commutative fields. In the commutative limit the noncommutative action reduces to the Einstein-Hilbert action plus the cosmological term and the topological Gauss-Bonnet term. After the SW expansion in the noncommutative parameter the first order correction to the action, as expected, vanishes. We calculate the second order correction and write it in a manifestly gauge covariant way.

hep-th↗

Renormalization group scale-setting from the action - a road to modified gravity theories

The renormalization group (RG) corrected gravitational action in Einstein-Hilbert and other truncations is considered. The running scale of the renormalization group is treated as a scalar field at the level of the action and determined in a scale-setting procedure recently introduced by Koch and Ramirez for the Einstein-Hilbert truncation. The scale-setting procedure is elaborated for other truncations of the gravitational action and applied to several phenomenologically interesting cases. It is shown how the logarithmic dependence of the Newton's coupling on the RG scale leads to exponentially suppressed effective cosmological constant and how the scale-setting in particular RG corrected gravitational theories yields the effective $f(R)$ modified gravity theories with negative powers of the Ricci scalar $R$. The scale-setting at the level of the action at the non-gaussian fixed point in Einstein-Hilbert and more general truncations is shown to lead to universal effective action quadratic in Ricci tensor.

gr-qc↗

Epidemic centrality - is there an underestimated epidemic impact of network peripheral nodes?

In the study of disease spreading on empirical complex networks in SIR model, initially infected nodes can be ranked according to some measure of their epidemic impact. The highest ranked nodes, also referred to as "superspreaders", are associated to dominant epidemic risks and therefore deserve special attention. In simulations on studied empirical complex networks, it is shown that the ranking depends on the dynamical regime of the disease spreading. A possible mechanism leading to this dependence is illustrated in an analytically tractable example. In systems where the allocation of resources to counter disease spreading to individual nodes is based on their ranking, the dynamical regime of disease spreading is frequently not known before the outbreak of the disease. Therefore, we introduce a quantity called epidemic centrality as an average over all relevant regimes of disease spreading as a basis of the ranking. A recently introduced concept of phase diagram of epidemic spreading is used as a framework in which several types of averaging are studied. The epidemic centrality is compared to structural properties of nodes such as node degree, k-cores and betweenness. There is a growing trend of epidemic centrality with degree and k-cores values, but the variation of epidemic centrality is much smaller than the variation of degree or k-cores value. It is found that the epidemic centrality of the structurally peripheral nodes is of the same order of magnitude as the epidemic centrality of the structurally central nodes. The implications of these findings for the distributions of resources to counter disease spreading are discussed.

physics.soc-ph↗

FastSIR Algorithm: A Fast Algorithm for simulation of epidemic spread in large networks by using SIR compartment model

The epidemic spreading on arbitrary complex networks is studied in SIR (Susceptible Infected Recovered) compartment model. We propose our implementation of a Naive SIR algorithm for epidemic simulation spreading on networks that uses data structures efficiently to reduce running time. The Naive SIR algorithm models full epidemic dynamics and can be easily upgraded to parallel version. We also propose novel algorithm for epidemic simulation spreading on networks called the FastSIR algorithm that has better average case running time than the Naive SIR algorithm. The FastSIR algorithm uses novel approach to reduce average case running time by constant factor by using probability distributions of the number of infected nodes. Moreover, the FastSIR algorithm does not follow epidemic dynamics in time, but still captures all infection transfers. Furthermore, we also propose an efficient recursive method for calculating probability distributions of the number of infected nodes. Average case running time of both algorithms has also been derived and experimental analysis was made on five different empirical complex networks.

cs.DS↗

Relaxing a large cosmological constant in the astrophysical domain

We study the problem of relaxing a large cosmological constant in the astrophysical domain through a dynamical mechanism based on a modified action of gravity previously considered by us at the cosmological level. We solve the model in the Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric for large and small astrophysical scales, and address its physical interpretation by separately studying the Jordan's frame and Einstein's frame formulations of it. In particular, we determine the extremely weak strength of fifth forces in our model and show that they are virtually unobservable. Finally, we estimate the influence that the relaxation mechanism may have on pulling apart the values of the two gravitational potentials Psi and Phi of the metric, as this implies a departure of the model from General Relativity and could eventually provide an observational test of the new framework at large astrophysical scales, e.g. through gravitational lensing.

gr-qc↗

Renormalization group scale-setting in astrophysical systems

A more general scale-setting procedure for General Relativity with Renormalization Group corrections is proposed. Theoretical aspects of the scale-setting procedure and the interpretation of the renormalization group running scale are discussed. The procedure is elaborated for several highly symmetric systems with matter in the form of an ideal fluid and for two models of running of the Newton coupling and the cosmological term. For a static spherically symmetric system with the matter obeying the polytropic equation of state the running scale-setting is performed analytically. The obtained result for the running scale matches the Ansatz introduced in a recent paper by Rodrigues, Letelier and Shapiro which provides an excellent explanation of rotation curves for a number of galaxies. A systematic explanation of the galaxy rotation curves using the scale-setting procedure introduced in this paper is identified as an important future goal.

gr-qc↗

Dynamically avoiding fine-tuning the cosmological constant: the "Relaxed Universe"

We demonstrate that there exists a large class of action functionals of the scalar curvature and of the Gauss-Bonnet invariant which are able to relax dynamically a large cosmological constant (CC), whatever it be its starting value in the early universe. Hence, it is possible to understand, without fine-tuning, the very small current value of the CC as compared to its theoretically expected large value in quantum field theory and string theory. In our framework, this relaxation appears as a pure gravitational effect, where no ad hoc scalar fields are needed. The action involves a positive power of a characteristic mass parameter, M, whose value can be, interestingly enough, of the order of a typical particle physics mass of the Standard Model of the strong and electroweak interactions or extensions thereof, including the neutrino mass. The model universe emerging from this scenario (the "Relaxed Universe") falls within the class of the so-called LXCDM models of the cosmic evolution. Therefore, there is a "cosmon" entity X (represented by an effective object, not a field), which in this case is generated by the effective functional and is responsible for the dynamical adjustment of the cosmological constant. This model universe successfully mimics the essential past epochs of the standard (or "concordance") cosmological model (LCDM). Furthermore, it provides interesting clues to the coincidence problem and it may even connect naturally with primordial inflation.

hep-th↗