arXiv subjects

Joshua Frieman

Publications and source records attributed to Joshua Frieman.

39 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2004

Eigenspectra of the SDSS DR1 quasars

We construct eigenspectra from the DR1 quasars in the SDSS using the Karhunen-Loève (KL) transform (or Principal Component Analysis, PCA) in different redshift and luminosity bins. We find that the quasar spectra can be classified, by the first two eigenspectra, into a continuous sequence in the variation of the spectral slope. We also find a dependence on redshift and luminosity in the eigencoefficients. The dominant redshift effect is the evolution of the blended Fe~II emission (optical) and the Balmer continuum (the ``small-bump'', $λ_{rest} \approx 2000-4000$Å), while the luminosity effect is related to the Baldwin effect. Correlations among several major broad emission lines are found, including the well-known ``Eigenvector-1''.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1995

Loop Corrections in Non-Linear Cosmological Perturbation Theory

Using a diagrammatic approach to Eulerian perturbation theory, we analytically calculate the variance and skewness of the density and velocity divergence induced by gravitational evolution from Gaussian initial conditions, including corrections *beyond* leading order. Except for the power spectrum, previous calculations in cosmological perturbation theory have been confined to leading order (tree level)-we extend these to include loop corrections. For scale-free initial power spectra, the one-loop variance σ^2 = σ^2_l + 1.82 σ^4_l and the skewness S_3 = 34/7 + 9.8 σ^2_l, where σ_l is the rms fluctuation of the linear density field. We also compute loop corrections to the variance, skewness, and kurtosis for several non-linear approximation schemes, where the calculation can be easily generalized to 1-point cumulants of higher order and arbitrary number of loops. We find that the Zel'dovich approximation gives the best approximation to the loop corrections of exact perturbation theory, followed by the Linear Potential approximation (LPA) and the Frozen Flow approximation (FFA), in qualitative agreement with the relative behavior of tree-level results. In LPA and FFA, loop corrections are infrared divergent for spectral indices n < 0; this is related to the breaking of Galilean invariance in these schemes.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1992

Natural Inflation: Particle Physics Models, Power Law Spectra for Large Scale Structure, and Constraints from COBE

A pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson, with a potential of the form $V(ϕ) = Λ^4[1 \pm \cos(ϕ/f)], naturally gives rise to inflation if $f \sim M_{Pl}$ and $Λ\sim M_{GUT}$. We show how this can arise in technicolor-like and superstring models, and work out an explicit string example in the context of multiple gaugino condensation models. We study the cosmology of this model in detail, and find that sufficient reheating to ensure that baryogenesis can take place requires $f > 0.3 M_{Pl}$. The primordial density fluctuation spectrum generated is a non-scale-invariant power law, $P(k) \propto k^{n_s}$, with $n_s \simeq 1 - (M^2_{Pl}/8πf^2)$, leading to more power on large length scales than the $n_s = 1$ Harrison-Zeldovich spectrum. The standard CDM model with $0 \la n_s \la 0.6-0.7$ could in principle explain the large-scale clustering observed in the APM and IRAS galaxy surveys as well as large-scale flows, but the COBE microwave anisotropy implies such low amplitudes (or high bias factors, $b>2$) for these CDM models that galaxy formation occurs too late to be viable; combining COBE with sufficiently early galaxy formation or the large-scale flows leads to $n_s >0.6$, or $f > 0.3 M_{Pl}$ as well. For extended and power law inflation models, this constraint is even tighter, $n_s > 0.7$; combined with other bounds on large bubbles in extended inflation, this leaves little room for most extended models.

hep-ph↗