arXiv subjects

Juan García-Bellido

Publications and source records attributed to Juan García-Bellido.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Primordial black holes and their gravitational-wave signatures

In the recent years, primordial black holes (PBHs) have emerged as one of the most interesting and hotly debated topics in cosmology. Among other possibilities, PBHs could explain both some of the signals from binary black hole mergers observed in gravitational wave detectors and an important component of the dark matter in the Universe. Significant progress has been achieved both on the theory side and from the point of view of observations, including new models and more accurate calculations of PBH formation, evolution, clustering, merger rates, as well as new astrophysical and cosmological probes. In this work, we review, analyse and combine the latest developments in order to perform end-to-end calculations of the various gravitational wave signatures of PBHs. Different ways to distinguish PBHs from stellar black holes are emphasized. Finally, we discuss their detectability with LISA, the first planned gravitational-wave observatory in space.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Stochastic gravitational wave background constraints from Gaia DR3 astrometry

Astrometric surveys can be used to constrain the stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) at very low frequencies. We use proper motion data provided by Gaia DR3 to fit a generic dipole+quadrupole field. We analyse several quasar-based datasets and discuss their purity and idoneity to set constraints on gravitational waves. For the cleanest dataset, we derive an upper bound on the (frequency-integrated) energy density of the SGWB $h_{70}^2Ω_{\rm GW}\lesssim 0.087$ for $4.2\times 10^{-18}~\mathrm{Hz}\lesssim f\lesssim 1.1\times 10^{-8}~\mathrm{Hz}$. We also reanalyse previous VLBI-based data to set the constraint $h_{70}^2Ω_{\rm GW}\lesssim 0.024$ for $5.8\times 10^{-18}~\mathrm{Hz}\lesssim f\lesssim 1.4\times 10^{-9}~\mathrm{Hz}$ under the same formalism, standing as the best astrometric constraint on GWs. Based on our results, we discuss the potential of future Gaia data releases to impose tighter constraints.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Analysis of a subsolar-mass compact binary candidate from the second observing run of Advanced LIGO

We perform an exhaustive follow-up analysis of a subsolar-mass (SSM) gravitational wave (GW) candidate reported by Phukon et al. from the second observing run of Advanced LIGO. This candidate has a reported signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of $8.6$ and false alarm rate of $0.41$ yr which are too low to claim a clear gravitational-wave origin. When improving on the search by using more accurate waveforms, extending the frequency range from 45 Hz down to 20 Hz, and removing a prominent blip glitch, we find that the posterior distribution of the network SNR lies mostly below the search value, with the $90\%$ confidence interval being $7.94^{+0.70}_{-1.05}$. Assuming that the origin of the signal is a compact binary coalescence (CBC), the secondary component is $m_2 = \text{$0.76^{+0.50}_{-0.14}$} M_\odot$, with $m_2 < 1 M_\odot$ at $84\%$ confidence level, suggesting an unexpectedly light neutron star or a black hole of primordial or exotic origin. The primary mass would be $m_1 = \text{$4.71^{+1.57}_{-2.18}$} M_\odot$, likely in the hypothesized lower mass gap and the luminosity distance is measured to be $D_{\rm L}=124^{+82}_{-48}$Mpc. We then probe the CBC origin hypothesis by performing the signal coherence tests, obtaining a log Bayes factor of $4.96 \pm 0.13$ for the coherent vs. incoherent hypothesis. We demonstrate the capability of performing a parameter estimation follow-up on real data for an SSM candidate with moderate SNR. The improved sensitivity of O4 and subsequent LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing runs could make it possible to observe similar signals, if present, with a higher SNR and a more precise measurement of the parameters of the binary.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

The PAU survey: Estimating galaxy photometry with deep learning

With the dramatic rise in high-quality galaxy data expected from Euclid and Vera C. Rubin Observatory, there will be increasing demand for fast high-precision methods for measuring galaxy fluxes. These will be essential for inferring the redshifts of the galaxies. In this paper, we introduce Lumos, a deep learning method to measure photometry from galaxy images. Lumos builds on BKGnet, an algorithm to predict the background and its associated error, and predicts the background-subtracted flux probability density function. We have developed Lumos for data from the Physics of the Accelerating Universe Survey (PAUS), an imaging survey using a 40 narrow-band filter camera (PAUCam). PAUCam images are affected by scattered light, displaying a background noise pattern that can be predicted and corrected for. On average, Lumos increases the SNR of the observations by a factor of 2 compared to an aperture photometry algorithm. It also incorporates other advantages like robustness towards distorting artefacts, e.g. cosmic rays or scattered light, the ability of deblending and less sensitivity to uncertainties in the galaxy profile parameters used to infer the photometry. Indeed, the number of flagged photometry outlier observations is reduced from 10% to 2%, comparing to aperture photometry. Furthermore, with Lumos photometry, the photo-z scatter is reduced by ~10% with the Deepz machine learning photo-z code and the photo-z outlier rate by 20%. The photo-z improvement is lower than expected from the SNR increment, however currently the photometric calibration and outliers in the photometry seem to be its limiting factor.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Massive galaxy clusters like "El Gordo'' hint at primordial quantum diffusion

It is generally assumed within the standard cosmological model that initial density perturbations are Gaussian at all scales. However, primordial quantum diffusion unavoidably generates non-Gaussian, exponential tails in the distribution of inflationary perturbations. These exponential tails have direct consequences for the formation of collapsed structures in the universe, as has been studied in the context of primordial black holes. We show that these tails also affect the very-large-scale structures, making heavy clusters like "El Gordo", or large voids like the one associated with the cosmic microwave background cold spot, more probable. We compute the halo mass function and cluster abundance as a function of redshift in the presence of exponential tails. We find that quantum diffusion generically enlarges the number of heavy clusters and depletes subhalos, an effect that cannot be captured by the famed $f_{\mathrm{NL}}$ corrections. These late-universe signatures could thus be fingerprints of quantum dynamics during inflation that should be incorporated in $N$-body simulations and checked against astrophysical data.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

The PAU Survey: Measurements of the 4000 Å spectral break with narrow-band photometry

The D4000 spectral break index is one of the most important features in the visible spectrum, as it is a proxy for stellar ages and is also used in galaxy classification. However, its direct measurement has always been reserved to spectroscopy. Here, we present a general method to directly measure the D4000 with narrow-band (NB) photometry; it has been validated using realistic simulations, and then evaluated with PAUS NBs, cross-matched with VIPERS spectra ($i_{\rm AB} < 22.5$, $0.562 < z < 0.967$). We also reconstruct the D4000 with the SED-fitting code CIGALE; the use of PAUS NBs instead of broad bands significantly improves the SED fitting results. For D4000$_{\rm n}$, the direct measurement has $\rm \langle SNR \rangle \sim 4$, but we find that for $i_{\rm AB}<21$ all direct D4000 measurements have $\rm SNR>3$. The CIGALE D4000$_{\rm n}$ has $\rm \langle SNR \rangle \sim 20$, but underestimates the error by $>$50\%. Furthermore, the direct method recreates well the D4000-SFR relation, as well as the D4000-mass relation for blue galaxies (for red galaxies, selection effects impact the results). On the other hand, CIGALE accurately classifies galaxies into red and blue populations. We conclude that the direct measurement of D4000 with narrow-band photometry is a promising tool to determine average properties of galaxy samples, with results compatible with spectroscopy.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

New Horizons for Fundamental Physics with LISA

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) has the potential to reveal wonders about the fundamental theory of nature at play in the extreme gravity regime, where the gravitational interaction is both strong and dynamical. In this white paper, the Fundamental Physics Working Group of the LISA Consortium summarizes the current topics in fundamental physics where LISA observations of GWs can be expected to provide key input. We provide the briefest of reviews to then delineate avenues for future research directions and to discuss connections between this working group, other working groups and the consortium work package teams. These connections must be developed for LISA to live up to its science potential in these areas.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

A GREAT model comparison against the cosmological constant

Recently, a covariant formulation of non-equilibrium phenomena in the context of General Relativity was proposed in order to explain from first principles the observed accelerated expansion of the Universe, without the need for a cosmological constant, leading to the GREA theory. Here, we confront the GREA theory against the latest cosmological data, including type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations, the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, Hubble rate data from the cosmic chronometers and the recent $H_0$ measurements. We perform Markov Chain Monte Carlo analyses and a Bayesian model comparison, by estimating the evidence via thermodynamic integration, and find that when all the aforementioned data are included, but no prior on $H_0$, the difference in the log-evidence is $\sim -9$ in favor of GREA, thus resulting in overwhelming support for the latter over the cosmological constant and cold dark matter model ($Λ$CDM). When we also include priors on $H_0$, either from Cepheids or the Tip of the Red Giant Branch measurements, then due to the tensions with CMB data the GREA theory is found to be statistically equivalent with $Λ$CDM.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

The stochastic gravitational wave background from close hyperbolic encounters of primordial black holes in dense clusters

The inner part of dense clusters of primordial black holes is an active environment where multiple scattering processes take place. Some of them give rise from time to time to bounded pairs, and the rest ends up with a single scattering event. The former eventually evolves to a binary black hole (BBH) emitting periodic gravitational waves (GWs), while the latter with a short distance, called close hyperbolic encounters (CHE), emits a strong GW burst. We make the first calculation of the stochastic GW background originating from unresolved CHE sources. Unlike the case for BBH, the low-frequency tail of the SGWB from CHE is sensitive to the redshift dependence of the event rate, which could help distinguish the astrophysical from the primordial black hole contributions. We find that there is a chance that CHE can be tested by third-generation ground-based GW detectors such as Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Search for black hole hyperbolic encounters with gravitational wave detectors

In recent years, the proposal that there is a large population of primordial black holes living in dense clusters has been gaining popularity. One natural consequence of these dense clusters will be that the black holes inside will gravitationally scatter off each other in hyperbolic encounters, emitting gravitational waves that can be observed by current detectors. In this paper we will derive how to compute the gravitational waves emitted by black holes in hyperbolic orbits, taking into account up to leading order spin effects. We will then study the signal these waves leave in the network of gravitational wave detectors currently on Earth. Using the properties of the signal, we will detail the data processing techniques that can be used to make it stand above the detector noise. Finally, we will look for these signals from hyperbolic encounters in the publicly available LIGO-Virgo data. For this purpose we will develop a two step trigger. The first step of the trigger will be based on looking for correlations between detectors in the time-frequency domain. The second step of the trigger will make use of a residual convolutional neural network, trained with the theoretical predictions for the signal, to look for hyperbolic encounters. With this trigger we find 8 hyperbolic encounter candidates in the 15.3 days of public data analyzed. Some of these candidates are promising, but the total number of candidates found is consistent with the number of false alarms expected from our trigger.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

The PAU Survey: Measurement of Narrow-band galaxy properties with Approximate Bayesian Computation

Narrow-band imaging surveys allow the study of the spectral characteristics of galaxies without the need of performing their spectroscopic follow-up. In this work, we forward-model the Physics of the Accelerating Universe Survey (PAUS) narrow-band data. The aim is to improve the constraints on the spectral coefficients used to create the galaxy spectral energy distributions (SED) of the galaxy population model in Tortorelli et al. 2020. In that work, the model parameters were inferred from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) data using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC). This led to stringent constraints on the B-band galaxy luminosity function parameters, but left the spectral coefficients only broadly constrained. To address that, we perform an ABC inference using CFHTLS and PAUS data. This is the first time our approach combining forward-modelling and ABC is applied simultaneously to multiple datasets. We test the results of the ABC inference by comparing the narrow-band magnitudes of the observed and simulated galaxies using Principal Component Analysis, finding a very good agreement. Furthermore, we prove the scientific potential of the constrained galaxy population model to provide realistic stellar population properties by measuring them with the SED fitting code \textsc{CIGALE}. We use CFHTLS broad-band and PAUS narrow-band photometry for a flux-limited ($\mathrm{i}<22.5$) sample of galaxies up to redshift $\mathrm{z \sim 0.8}$. We find that properties like stellar masses, star-formation rates, mass-weighted stellar ages and metallicities are in agreement within errors between observations and simulations. Overall, this work shows the ability of our galaxy population model to correctly forward-model a complex dataset such as PAUS and the ability to reproduce the diversity of galaxy properties at the redshift range spanned by CFHTLS and PAUS.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Mass classification of dark matter perturbers of stellar tidal streams

Stellar streams formed by tidal stripping of progenitors orbiting around the Milky Way are expected to be perturbed by encounters with dark matter subhalos. Recent studies have shown that they are an excellent proxy to infer properties of the perturbers, such as their mass. Here we present two different methodologies that make use of the fully non-Gaussian density distribution of stellar streams: a Bayesian model selection based on the probability density function (PDF) of stellar density, and a likelihood-free gradient boosting classifier. While the schemes do not assume a specific dark matter model, we are mainly interested in discerning the primordial black holes cold dark matter (PBH CDM) hypothesis form the standard particle dark matter one. Therefore, as an application we forecast model selection strength of evidence for cold dark matter clusters of masses $10^3$ - $10^5 M_{\odot}$ and $10^5$ - $10^9 M_{\odot}$, based on a GD-1-like stellar stream and including realistic observational errors. Evidence for the smaller mass range, so far under-explored, is particularly interesting for PBH CDM. We expect weak to strong evidence for model selection based on the PDF analysis, depending on the fiducial model. Instead, the gradient boosting model is a highly efficient classifier (99\% accuracy) for all mass ranges here considered. As a further test of the robustness of the method, we reach similar conclusions when performing forecasts further dividing the largest mass range into $10^5$ - $10^7 M_{\odot}$ and $10^7$ - $10^9 M_{\odot}$ ranges.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Constraining Baryonic Physics in the Universe

Measurements of large-scale structure are interpreted using theoretical predictions for the matter distribution, including potential impacts of baryonic physics. We constrain the feedback strength of baryons jointly with cosmology using weak lensing and galaxy clustering observables (3$\times$2pt) of Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 data in combination with external information from baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and Planck cosmic microwave background polarization. Our baryon modeling is informed by a set of hydrodynamical simulations that span a variety of baryon scenarios; we span this space via a Principal Component (PC) analysis of the summary statistics extracted from these simulations. We show that at the level of DES Y1 constraining power, one PC is sufficient to describe the variation of baryonic effects in the observables, and the first PC amplitude ($Q_1$) generally reflects the strength of baryon feedback. With the upper limit of $Q_1$ prior being bound by the Illustris feedback scenarios, we reach $\sim 20\%$ improvement in the constraint of $S_8=σ_8(Ω_{\rm m}/0.3)^{0.5}=0.788^{+0.018}_{-0.021}$ compared to the original DES 3$\times$2pt analysis. This gain is driven by the inclusion of small-scale cosmic shear information down to 2.5 arcmin, which was excluded in previous DES analyses that did not model baryonic physics. We obtain $S_8=0.781^{+0.014}_{-0.015}$ for the combined DES Y1+Planck EE+BAO analysis with a non-informative $Q_1$ prior. In terms of the baryon constraints, we measure $Q_1=1.14^{+2.20}_{-2.80}$ for DES Y1 only and $Q_1=1.42^{+1.63}_{-1.48}$ for DESY1+Planck EE+BAO, allowing us to exclude one of the most extreme AGN feedback hydrodynamical scenario at more than $2 σ$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

The clustering dynamics of primordial black boles in $N$-body simulations

We explore the possibility that Dark Matter (DM) may be explained by a non-uniform background of approximately stellar-mass clusters of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs), by simulating the evolution them from recombination to the present with over 5000 realisations using a Newtonian $ N $-body code. We compute the cluster rate of evaporation, and extract the binary and merged sub-populations along with their parent and merger tree histories, lifetimes and formation rates; the dynamical and orbital parameter profiles, the degree of mass segregation and dynamical friction, and power spectrum of close encounters. Overall, we find that PBHs can constitute a viable DM candidate, and that their clustering presents a rich phenomenology throughout the history of the Universe. We show that binary systems constitute about 9.5\% of all PBHs at present, with mass ratios of $ \bar{q}_{\rm B} = 0.154 $, and total masses of $ \bar{m}_{\rm T,\,B} = 303\,M_\odot$. Merged PBHs are rare, about 0.0023\% of all PBHs at present, with mass ratios of $ \bar{q}_{\rm B}= 0.965 $ with total and chirp masses of $ \bar{m}_{\rm T,\,B}= 1670\,M_\odot$ and $ \bar{m}_{c,{\rm M}} = 642\,M_\odot $ respectively. We find that cluster puffing up and evaporation leads to bubbles of these PBHs of order 1 kpc containing at present times about 36\% of objects and mass, with hundred pc sized cores. We also find that these PBH sub-haloes are distributed in wider PBH haloes of order hundreds of kpc, containing about 63\% of objects and mass, coinciding with the sizes of galactic halos. We find at last high rates of close encounters of massive Black Holes ($ M \sim 1000\,M_\odot$), with $ Γ^{\mathrm{S}} = (1.2^{+5.9}_{-0.9}) \times 10^{7} \mathrm{yr^{-1} Gpc^{-3}}$ and mergers with $Γ^{\mathrm{M}} = 1337 \pm 41 \mathrm{yr^{-1} Gpc^{-3}} $.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

The PAU Survey: Intrinsic alignments and clustering of narrow-band photometric galaxies

We present the first measurements of the projected clustering and intrinsic alignments (IA) of galaxies observed by the Physics of the Accelerating Universe Survey (PAUS). With photometry in 40 narrow optical passbands ($450\rm{nm}-850\rm{nm}$), the quality of photometric redshift estimation is $σ_{z} \sim 0.01(1 + z)$ for galaxies in the $19\,\rm{deg}^{2}$ Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) W3 field, allowing us to measure the projected 3D clustering and IA for flux-limited, faint galaxies ($i < 22.5$) out to $z\sim0.8$. To measure two-point statistics, we developed, and tested with mock photometric redshift samples, `cloned' random galaxy catalogues which can reproduce data selection functions in 3D and account for photometric redshift errors. In our fiducial colour-split analysis, we made robust null detections of IA for blue galaxies and tentative detections of radial alignments for red galaxies ($\sim1-3σ$), over scales of $0.1-18\,h^{-1}\rm{Mpc}$. The galaxy clustering correlation functions in the PAUS samples are comparable to their counterparts in a spectroscopic population from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly survey, modulo the impact of photometric redshift uncertainty which tends to flatten the blue galaxy correlation function, whilst steepening that of red galaxies. We investigate the sensitivity of our correlation function measurements to choices in the random catalogue creation and the galaxy pair-binning along the line of sight, in preparation for an optimised analysis over the full PAUS area.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Long-range enhanced mutual information from inflation

The quantum origin of cosmological primordial perturbations is a cornerstone framework in the interplay between gravity and quantum physics. In this paper we study the mutual information between two spatial regions in a radiation-dominated universe filled by a curvature perturbation field in a squeezed state. We find an enhancement with respect to the usual mutual information of the Minkowski vacuum due to momentum modes affected by particle production during inflation. This result supports our previous claim of the existence of long-range correlations between Primordial Black Holes (PBH) at formation during the radiation era.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

The PAU survey: Ly$α$ intensity mapping forecast

In this work, we explore the application of intensity mapping to detect extended Ly$α$ emission from the IGM via cross-correlation of PAUS images with Ly$α$ forest data from eBOSS and DESI. Seven narrow-band (FWHM=13nm) PAUS filters have been considered, ranging from 455 to 515 nm in steps of 10 nm, which allows the observation of Ly$α$ emission in a range $2.7<z<3.3$. The cross-correlation is simulated first in an area of 100 deg$^2$ (PAUS projected coverage), and second in two hypothetical scenarios: a deeper PAUS (complete up to $i_{\rm AB}<24$ instead of $i_{\rm AB}<23$, observation time x6), and an extended PAUS coverage of 225 deg$^2$ (observation time x2.25). A hydrodynamic simulation of size 400 Mpc/h is used to simulate both extended Ly$α$ emission and absorption, while the foregrounds in PAUS images have been simulated using a lightcone mock catalogue. Using an optimistic estimation of uncorrelated PAUS noise, the total probability of a non-spurious detection is estimated to be 1.8\% and 4.5\% for PAUS-eBOSS and PAUS-DESI , from a run of 1000 simulated cross-correlations with different realisations of instrumental noise and quasar positions. The hypothetical PAUS scenarios increase this probability to 15.3\% (deeper PAUS) and 9.0\% (extended PAUS). With realistic correlated noise directly measured from PAUS images, these probabilities become negligible. Despite these negative results, some evidences suggest that this methodology may be more suitable to broad-band surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

Primordial black holes from the QCD epoch: Linking dark matter, baryogenesis and anthropic selection

If primordial black holes (PBHs) formed at the quark-hadron epoch, their mass must be close to the Chandrasekhar limit, this also being the characteristic mass of stars. If they provide the dark matter (DM), the collapse fraction must be of order the cosmological baryon-to-photon ratio $\sim 10^{-9}$, which suggests a scenario in which a baryon asymmetry is produced efficiently in the outgoing shock around each PBH and then propagates to the rest of the Universe. We suggest that the temperature increase in the shock provides the ingredients for hot spot electroweak baryogenesis. This also explains why baryons and DM have comparable densities, the precise ratio depending on the size of the PBH relative to the cosmological horizon at formation. The observed value of the collapse fraction and baryon asymmetry depends on the amplitude of the curvature fluctuations which generate the PBHs and may be explained by an anthropic selection effect associated with the existence of galaxies. We propose a scenario in which the quantum fluctuations of a light stochastic spectator field during inflation generate large curvature fluctuations in some regions, with the stochasticity of this field providing the basis for the required selection. Finally, we identify several observational predictions of our scenario that should be testable within the next few years. In particular, the PBH mass function could extend to sufficiently high masses to explain the black hole coalescences observed by LIGO/Virgo.

astro-ph.CO↗