arXiv subjects

Joan Sola

Publications and source records attributed to Joan Sola.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Dynamical vacuum energy in the expanding Universe confronted with observations: a dedicated study

Despite the many efforts, our theoretical understanding of the ultimate nature of the dark energy component of the universe still lags well behind the astounding experimental evidence achieved from the increasingly sophisticated observational tools at our disposal. While the canonical possibility is a strict cosmological constant, or rigid vacuum energy density $ρ_Λ=$const., the exceeding simplicity of this possibility lies also at the root of its unconvincing theoretical status, as there is no explanation for the existence of such constant for the entire cosmic history. Herein we explore general models of the vacuum energy density slowly evolving with the Hubble function $H$ and/or its time derivative, $ρ_Λ(H,\dot{H})$. Some of these models are actually well-motivated from the theoretical point of view and may provide a rich phenomenology that could be explored in future observations, whereas some others have more limitations. In this work, we put them to the test and elucidate which ones are still compatible with the present observations and which ones are already ruled out. We consider their implications on structure formation, in combination with data on type Ia supernovae, the Cosmic Microwave Background, the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations, and the predicted redshift distribution of cluster-size collapsed structures. The relation of these vacuum models on possible evidence of dynamical dark energy recently pointed out in the literature is also briefly addressed.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Dark matter, dark energy and the time evolution of masses in the Universe

The traditional "explanation" for the observed acceleration of the universe is the existence of a positive cosmological constant. However, this can hardly be a truly convincing explanation, as an expanding universe is not expected to have a static vacuum energy density. So, it must be an approximation. This reminds us of the so-called fundamental "constants" of nature. Recent and past measurements of the fine structure constant and of the proton-electron mass ratio suggest that basic quantities of the standard model, such as the QCD scale parameter $Λ_{QCD}$, might not be conserved in the course of the cosmological evolution. The masses of the nucleons and of the atomic nuclei would be time-evolving. This can be consistent with General Relativity provided the vacuum energy itself is a dynamical quantity. Another framework realizing this possibility is QHD (Quantum Haplodynamics), a fundamental theory of bound states. If one assumes that its running couplings unify at the Planck scale and that such scale changes slowly with cosmic time, the masses of the nucleons and of the DM particles, including the cosmological term, will evolve with time. This could explain the dark energy of the universe.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2014

Quantum Haplodynamics, Dark Matter and Dark Energy

In quantum haplodynamics (QHD) the weak bosons, quarks and leptons are bound states of fundamental constituents, denoted as haplons. The confinement scale of the associated gauge group SU(2)_h is of the order of $Λ_h\simeq 0.3$ TeV. One scalar state has zero haplon number and is the resonance observed at the LHC. In addition, there exist new bound states of haplons with no counterpart in the SM, having a mass of the order of 0.5 TeV up to a few TeV. In particular, a neutral scalar state with haplon number 4 is stable and can provide the dark matter in the universe. The QHD, QCD and QED couplings can unify at the Planck scale. If this scale changes slowly with cosmic time, all of the fundamental couplings, the masses of the nucleons and of the DM particles, including the cosmological term (or vacuum energy density), will evolve with time. This could explain the dark energy of the universe.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

Entropic-force dark energy reconsidered

We reconsider the entropic-force model in which both kind of Hubble terms ${\dot H}$ and $H^{2}$ appear in the effective dark energy (DE) density affecting the evolution of the main cosmological functions, namely the scale factor, deceleration parameter, matter density and growth of linear matter perturbations. However, we find that the entropic-force model is not viable at the background and perturbation levels due to the fact that the entropic formulation does not add a constant term in the Friedmann equations. On the other hand, if on mere phenomenological grounds we replace the ${\dot H}$ dependence of the effective DE density with a linear term $H$ without including a constant additive term, we find that the transition from deceleration to acceleration becomes possible but the recent structure formation data strongly disfavors this cosmological scenario. Finally, we briefly compare the entropic-force models with some related DE models (based on dynamical vacuum energy) which overcome these difficulties and are compatible with the present observations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Vacuum energy and cosmological evolution

An expanding universe is not expected to have a static vacuum energy density. The so-called cosmological constant $Λ$ should be an approximation, certainly a good one for a fraction of a Hubble time, but it is most likely a temporary description of a true dynamical vacuum energy variable that is evolving from the inflationary epoch to the present day. We can compare the evolving vacuum energy with a Casimir device where the parallel plates slowly move apart ("expand"). The total vacuum energy density cannot be measured, only the effect associated to the presence of the plates, and then also their increasing separation with time. In the universe there is a nonvanishing spacetime curvature $R$ as compared to Minkowskian spacetime that is changing with the expansion. The vacuum energy density must change accordingly, and we naturally expect $δΛ\sim R\sim H^2$. A class of dynamical vacuum models that trace such rate of change can be constructed. They are compatible with the current cosmological data, and conveniently extended can account for the complete cosmic evolution from the inflationary epoch till the present days. These models are very close to the $Λ$CDM model for the late universe, but very different from it at the early times. Traces of the inherent vacuum dynamics could be detectable in our recent past.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2013

Effective equation of state for running vacuum: "mirage" quintessence and phantom dark energy

Past analyses of the equation of state (EoS) of the Dark Energy (DE) were not incompatible with a phantom phase near our time. This has been the case in the years of WMAP observations, in combination with the remaining cosmological observables. Such situation did not completely disappear from the data collected from the Planck satellite mission. In it the EoS analysis may still be interpreted as suggesting w<-1, and so a mildly evolving DE cannot be discarded. In our opinion the usual ansatzs made on the structure of the EoS for dynamical DE models (e.g. quintessence and the like) are too simplified. In this work we examine in detail some of these issues and suggest that a general class of models with a dynamical vacuum energy density could explain the persistent phantom anomaly, despite there is no trace of real phantom behavior in them. The spurious or "mirage" effect is caused by an attempt to describe them as if the DE would be caused by fundamental phantom scalar fields. Remarkably, the effective DE behavior can also appear as quintessence in transit to phantom, or vice versa.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Complete Cosmic History with a dynamical Lambda(H) term

In the present mainstream cosmology, matter and spacetime emerged from a singularity and evolved through four distinct periods: early inflation, radiation, dark matter and late-time inflation (driven by dark energy). During the radiation and dark matter dominated stages, the universe is decelerating while the early and late-time inflations are accelerating stages. A possible connection between the accelerating periods remains unknown, and, even more intriguing, the best dark energy candidate powering the present accelerating stage (Lambda-vacuum) is plagued with the cosmological constant and coincidence puzzles. Here we propose an alternative solution for such problems based on a large class of time-dependent vacuum energy density models in the form of power series of the Hubble rate, Lambda=Lambda(H). The proposed class of Lambda(H)-decaying vacuum model provides: i) a new mechanism for inflation (different from the usual inflaton models), (ii) a natural mechanism for a graceful exit, which is universal for the whole class of models; iii) the currently accelerated expansion of the universe, iv) a mild dynamical dark energy at present; and v) a final de Sitter stage. Remarkably, the late-time cosmic expansion history of our class of models is very close to the concordance LambdaCDM model, but above all it furnishes the necessary smooth link between the initial and final de Sitter stages through the radiation- and matter-dominated epochs.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Cosmological constant and vacuum energy: old and new ideas

The cosmological constant (CC) term in Einstein's equations, Lambda, was first associated to the idea of vacuum energy density. Notwithstanding, it is well-known that there is a huge, in fact appalling, discrepancy between the theoretical prediction and the observed value picked from the modern cosmological data. This is the famous, and extremely difficult, "CC problem". Paradoxically, the recent observation at the CERN Large Hadron Collider of a Higgs-like particle, should actually be considered ambivalent: on the one hand it appears as a likely great triumph of particle physics, but on the other hand it wide opens Pandora's box of the cosmological uproar, for it may provide (alas!) the experimental certification of the existence of the electroweak (EW) vacuum energy, and thus of the intriguing reality of the CC problem. Even if only counting on this contribution to the inventory of vacuum energies in the universe, the discrepancy with the cosmologically observed value is already of 55 orders of magnitude. This is the (hitherto) "real" magnitude of the CC problem, rather than the (too often) brandished 123 ones from the upper (but fully unexplored!) ultrahigh energy scales. Such is the baffling situation after 96 years of introducing the Lambda-term by Einstein. In the following I will briefly (and hopefully pedagogically) fly over some of the old and new ideas on the CC problem. Since, however, the Higgs boson just knocked our door and recalled us that the vacuum energy may be a fully tangible concept in real phenomenology, I will exclusively address the CC problem from the original notion of vacuum energy, and its possible "running" with the expansion of the universe, rather than venturing into the numberless attempts to replace the CC by the multifarious concept of dark energy.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2013

Delta r in the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model at full one loop level -- and beyond

After the recent discovery of a Higgs-like boson particle at the CERN LHC-collider, it becomes more necessary than ever to prepare ourselves for identifying its standard or non-standard nature. The Electroweak parameter Delta r relating the values of the gauge boson masses [MW,MZ] and the Fermi constant [G_F] is the traditional observable encoding high precision information of the electroweak physics at the quantum level. In this work we present a complete quantitative study of Delta r in the framework of the general (unconstrained) Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM). First of all we report on a systematic analysis of Delta r at the full one loop level in the general 2HDM, which to our knowledge was missing in the literature. Thereby we extract a theoretical prediction for the mass of the W-boson in this model, taking MZ, α_{em} and G_F as experimental inputs. We find typical corrections leading to mass shifts $δMW \sim 20-40 MeV$ which help to improve the agreement with the experimentally measured value, in a degree no less significant than in the MSSM case. In the second part of our study we extend our calculation beyond the mere one-loop order. We devise an effective Lagrangian approach that captures the dominant higher order quantum effects on delta rho (viz. that part of Delta r describing the breaking of the approximate SU(2) custodial symmetry) in the limit of large Higgs boson self-interactions. This limit constitutes a telltale property of the general 2HDM which is unmatched by e.g. the MSSM. Our conclusion is that the Electroweak precision program to be conducted at the LHC, and maybe at a future linear collider, can nicely complement the direct searches. Should these distinctive loop effects be eventually found they would signal a smoking gun hinting at non-standard Higgs physics.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Expansion History with Decaying Vacuum: A Complete Cosmological Scenario

We propose a novel cosmological scenario with the space-time emerging from a pure initial de Sitter stage and subsequently evolving into the radiation, matter and dark energy dominated epochs, thereby avoiding the initial singularity and providing a complete description of the expansion history and a natural solution to the horizon problem. The model is based on a dynamical vacuum energy density which evolves as a power series of the Hubble rate. The transit from the inflation into the standard radiation epoch is universal, giving a clue for a successful description of the graceful exit. Since the resulting late time cosmic history is very close to the concordance LCDM model, the new unified framework embodies a more complete past cosmic evolution than the standard cosmology.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2012

Matter Non-conservation in the Universe and Dynamical Dark Energy

In an expanding universe the vacuum energy density ρ_Λ is expected to be a dynamical quantity. In quantum field theory in curved space-time ρ_Λ should exhibit a slow evolution, determined by the expansion rate of the universe H. Recent measurements on the time variation of the fine structure constant and of the proton-electron mass ratio suggest that basic quantities of the Standard Model, such as the QCD scale parameter Λ_{QCD}, may not be conserved in the course of the cosmological evolution. The masses of the nucleons m_N and of the atomic nuclei would also be affected. Matter is not conserved in such a universe. These measurements can be interpreted as a leakage of matter into vacuum or vice versa. We point out that the amount of leakage necessary to explain the measured value of \dot{m}_N/m_N could be of the same order of magnitude as the observationally allowed value of \dotρ_Λ/ρ_Λ, with a possible contribution from the dark matter particles. The dark energy in our universe could be the dynamical vacuum energy in interaction with ordinary baryonic matter as well as with dark matter.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Generalizing the running vacuum energy model and comparing with the entropic-force models

We generalize the previously proposed running vacuum energy model by including a term proportional to \dot{H}, in addition to the existing H^2 term. We show that the added degree of freedom is very constrained if both low redshift and high redshift data are taken into account. Best-fit models are undistinguishable from LCDM at the present time, but could be distinguished in the future with very accurate data at both low and high redshifts. We stress the formal analogy at the phenomenological level of the running vacuum models with recently proposed dark energy models based on the holographic or entropic point of view, where a combination of \dot{H} and H^2 term is also present. However those particular entropic formulations which do not have a constant term in the Friedmann equations are not viable. The presence of this term is necessary in order to allow for a transition from a decelerated to an accelerated expansion. In contrast, the running vacuum models, both the original and the generalized one introduced here contain this constant term in a more natural way. Finally, important conceptual issues common to all these models are emphasized.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2012

Higgs boson production at Linear Colliders from a generic 2HDM: the role of triple Higgs self-interactions

We review selected results for Higgs boson production at Linear Colliders in the framework of the general Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM). We concentrate on the analysis of i) the pairwise production of neutral Higgs bosons (hA,HA); and ii) the neutral Higgs boson-strahlung modes (hZ, HZ). We identify sizable production rates, in the range of 10-100 fb for center-of-mass energies of 0.5 TeV, alongside with large quantum effects (up to 50 %), which we can fundamentally track down to the enhancement power of the triple-Higgs self-interactions. This constitutes a telltale signature of the 2HDM, with no counterpart in e.g. the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We compare these results with several complementary double and triple Higgs-boson production mechanisms at order O(α^3_{ew})-O(α^4_{ew} and spotlight a characteristic phenomenological profile which could eventually be highly distinctive of a non-supersymmetric two-Higgs-doublet structure.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Confronting the relaxation mechanism for a large cosmological constant with observations

In order to deal with a large cosmological constant a relaxation mechanism based on modified gravity has been proposed recently. By virtue of this mechanism the effect of the vacuum energy density of a given quantum field/string theory (no matter how big is its initial value in the early universe) can be neutralized dynamically, i.e. without fine tuning, and hence a Big Bang-like evolution of the cosmos becomes possible. Remarkably, a large class F^n_m of models of this kind, namely capable of dynamically adjusting the vacuum energy irrespective of its value and size, has been identified. In this paper, we carefully put them to the experimental test. By performing a joint likelihood analysis we confront these models with the most recent observational data on type Ia supernovae (SNIa), the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) and the high redshift data on the expansion rate, so as to determine which ones are the most favored by observations. We compare the optimal relaxation models F^n_m found by this method with the standard or concordance LambdaCDM model, and find that some of these models may appear as almost indistinguishable from it. Interestingly enough, this shows that it is possible to construct viable solutions to the tough cosmological fine tuning problem with models that display the same basic phenomenological features as the concordance model.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2011

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↗

arXiv2011

Single Higgs-boson production at a photon-photon collider: general 2HDM versus MSSM

We revisit the production of a single Higgs boson from direct γγ-scattering at a photon collider. We compute the total cross section σ(γγ\to h) (for h=h0, H0, A0), and the strength of the effective g_{h γγ} coupling normalized to the Standard Model (SM), for both the general Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM) and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). In both cases the predicted production rates for the CP-even (odd) states render up to 10^4 (10^3) events per 500 \invfb of integrated luminosity, in full consistency with all the theoretical and phenomenological constraints. Depending on the channel the maximum rates can be larger or smaller than the SM expectations, but in most of the parameter space they should be well measurable. We analyze how these departures depend on the dynamics underlying each of the models, supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric, and highlight the possible distinctive phenomenological signatures. We demonstrate that this process could be extremely helpful to discern non-supersymmetric Higgs bosons from supersymmetric ones. Furthermore, in the MSSM case, we show that γγ-physics could decisively help to overcome the serious impasse afflicting Higgs boson physics at the infamous "LHC wedge".

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Hubble expansion and structure formation in the "running FLRW model" of the cosmic evolution

A new class of FLRW cosmological models with time-evolving fundamental parameters should emerge naturally from a description of the expansion of the universe based on the first principles of quantum field theory and string theory. Within this general paradigm, one expects that both the gravitational Newton's coupling, G, and the cosmological term, Lambda, should not be strictly constant but appear rather as smooth functions of the Hubble rate. This scenario ("running FLRW model") predicts, in a natural way, the existence of dynamical dark energy without invoking the participation of extraneous scalar fields. In this paper, we perform a detailed study of these models in the light of the latest cosmological data, which serves to illustrate the phenomenological viability of the new dark energy paradigm as a serious alternative to the traditional scalar field approaches. By performing a joint likelihood analysis of the recent SNIa data, the CMB shift parameter, and the BAOs traced by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we put tight constraints on the main cosmological parameters. Furthermore, we derive the theoretically predicted dark-matter halo mass function and the corresponding redshift distribution of cluster-size halos for the "running" models studied. Despite the fact that these models closely reproduce the standard LCDM Hubble expansion, their normalization of the perturbation's power-spectrum varies, imposing, in many cases, a significantly different cluster-size halo redshift distribution. This fact indicates that it should be relatively easy to distinguish between the "running" models and the LCDM cosmology using realistic future X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

One-loop Higgs boson production at the Linear Collider within the general two-Higgs-doublet model: e+e- versus gamma-gamma

We present an updated overview on the phenomenology of one-loop Higgs boson production at Linear Colliders within the general Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM). First we report on the Higgs boson pair production, and associated Higgs-Z boson production, at O(alpha^3_{ew}) from e+e- collisions. These channels furnish cross-sections in the range of 10-100 fb for Ecm=0.5 TeV and exhibit potentially large radiative corrections (of order 50%), whose origin can be traced back to the genuine enhancement capabilities of the triple Higgs boson self-interactions. Next we consider the loop-induced production of a single Higgs boson from direct gamma-gamma scattering. We single out sizable departures from the corresponding rates in the Standard Model, which are again correlated to trademark dynamical features of the 2HDM -- namely the balance of the non-standard Higgs/gauge, Higgs/fermion and Higgs self-interactions leading to sizable (destructive) interference effects. This pattern of quantum effects is unmatched in the MSSM, and could hence provide distinctive footprints of non-supersymmetric Higgs boson physics. Both calculations are revisited within a common, brought-to-date framework and include, in particular, the most stringent bounds from unitarity and flavor physics.

hep-ph↗