arXiv subjects

Katherine J. Mack

Publications and source records attributed to Katherine J. Mack.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Dark Energy Bubble as Dynamical Dark Energy: Properties and CMB Constraints

Recent DESI results are in tension with the constant dark energy density predicted by the $Λ$CDM model. If dark energy is associated with the vacuum energy of a scalar field in a metastable state, it will undergo a first-order phase transition through the nucleation of bubbles containing a reduced dark energy density. In this paper, we explore the consequences of this model, where dark energy density varies in both space and time. We model a single bubble spacetime using the Israel junction conditions and derive each of the usual distance measures in this inhomogeneous cosmology. We find that the model predictions of Alcock-Paczynski distortion have features that align strikingly well with the DESI measurements if the dark energy phase transition occurred at roughly a redshift of 1.4 and if the bubble of lower dark energy density has roughly 10$\%$ less dark energy density than the outer cosmology. Despite this feature, we find that the dark energy bubble is heavily constrained by the CMB which excludes the region of parameter space that reproduces the DESI BAO measurements. Still, the peculiar features in the distance measurements of the dark energy bubble cosmology serve as a useful toy model to motivate and inform future work in the currently poorly explored area of spatially varying dynamical dark energy.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Cosmology of Single Species Hidden Dark Matter

Cosmology and astrophysics provide various ways to study the properties of dark matter even if they have negligible non-gravitational interactions with the Standard Model particles and remain hidden. We study a type of hidden dark matter model in which the dark matter is completely decoupled from the Standard Model sector except gravitationally, and consists of a single species with conserved comoving particle number and conserved comoving entropy. This category of hidden dark matter includes models that act as warm dark matter but is more general. In particular, in addition to having an independent temperature from the Standard Model sector, it includes cases in which dark matter is in its own kinetic equilibrium or is free-streaming, obeys fermionic or bosonic statistics, and processes a chemical potential that controls the particle occupation number. While the usual parameterization using the free-streaming scale or the particle mass no longer applies, we show that all cases can be well approximated by a set of functions parameterized by only one parameter as long as the chemical potential is nonpositive: the characteristic scale factor at the time of the relativistic-to-nonrelativistic transition. We study the constraints from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, the cosmic microwave background, the Lyman-$α$ forest, and the smallest halo mass. We show that the most significant phenomenological impact is the suppression of the small-scale matter power spectrum -- a typical feature when the dark matter has a velocity dispersion or pressure at early times. So far, the Lyman-$α$ forest and the small dark matter halo population provide the strongest constraints, limiting the transition redshift to be larger than $\sim6.2\times10^7$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

The Effects of Dark Matter Annihilation and Dark Matter-Baryon Velocity Offsets at Cosmic Dawn

Dark matter annihilation has the potential to leave an imprint on the properties of the first luminous structures at Cosmic Dawn as well as the overall evolution of the intergalactic medium (IGM). In this work, we employ a semi-analytic method to model dark matter annihilation during Cosmic Dawn (approximately redshift $z=20$ to $40$), examining potential modifications to IGM evolution as well as gas collapse, cooling, and star formation in mini-halos. Our analysis takes into account the effects of dark matter-baryon velocity offsets, utilizing the public 21cmvFAST code, and producing predictions for the 21cm global signal. The results from our simplified model suggest that dark matter annihilation can suppress the gas fraction in small halos and alter the molecular cooling process, while the impact on star formation might be positive or negative depending on parameters of the dark matter model as well as the redshift and assumptions about velocity offsets. This underscores the need for more comprehensive simulations of the effects of exotic energy injection at Cosmic Dawn as observational probes are providing us new insights into the process of reionization and the formation of first stars and galaxies.

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arXiv2023

The Effects Of Relativistic Hidden Sector Particles on the Matter Power Spectrum

If dark matter resides in a hidden sector minimally coupled to the Standard Model, another particle within the hidden sector might dominate the energy density of the early universe temporarily, causing an early matter-dominated era (EMDE). During an EMDE, matter perturbations grow more rapidly than they would in a period of radiation domination, which leads to the formation of microhalos much earlier than they would form in standard cosmological scenarios. These microhalos boost the dark matter annihilation signal, but this boost is highly sensitive to the small-scale cut-off in the matter power spectrum. If the dark matter is sufficiently cold, this cut-off is set by the relativistic pressure of the particle that dominates the hidden sector. We determine the evolution of dark matter density perturbations in this scenario, obtaining the power spectrum at the end of the EMDE. We analyze the suppression of perturbations due to the relativistic pressure of the dominant hidden sector particle and express the cut-off scale and peak scale for which the matter power spectrum is maximized in terms of the properties of this particle. We also supply transfer functions to relate the matter power spectrum with a small-scale cut-off resulting from the pressure of the dominant hidden sector particle to the matter power spectrum that results from a cold hidden sector. These transfer functions facilitate the quick computation of accurate matter power spectra in EMDE scenarios with initially hot hidden sectors and allow us to identify which models significantly enhance the microhalo abundance.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter in the Context of Extra Dimensions

Theories of large extra dimensions (LEDs) such as the Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos & Dvali scenario predict a "true" Planck scale $M_\star$ near the TeV scale, while the observed $M_{pl}$ is due to the geometric effect of compact extra dimensions. These theories allow for the creation of primordial black holes (PBHs) in the early Universe, from the collisional formation and subsequent accretion of black holes in the high-temperature plasma, leading to a novel cold dark matter (sub)component. Because of their existence in a higher-dimensional space, the usual relationship between mass, radius and temperature is modified, leading to distinct behaviour with respect to their 4-dimensional counterparts. Here, we derive the cosmological creation and evolution of such PBH candidates, including the greybody factors describing their evaporation, and obtain limits on LED PBHs from direct observation of evaporation products, effects on big bang nucleosynthesis, and the cosmic microwave background angular power spectrum. Our limits cover scenarios of 2 to 6 extra dimensions, and PBH masses ranging from 10 to $10^{21}$ g. We find that for two extra dimensions, LED PBHs represent a viable dark matter candidate with a range of possible black hole masses between $10^{17}$ and $10^{23}$ g depending on the Planck scale and reheating temperature. For $M_\star = 10$ TeV, this corresponds to PBH dark matter with a mass of $M \simeq 10^{21}$ g, unconstrained by current observations. We further refine and update constraints on "ordinary" four-dimension black holes.

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arXiv2022

SkyHopper mission science case I: Identification of high redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts through space-based near-infrared afterglow observations

Long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow observations offer cutting-edge opportunities to characterise the star formation history of the Universe back to the epoch of reionisation, and to measure the chemical composition of interstellar and intergalactic gas through absorption spectroscopy. The main barrier to progress is the low efficiency in rapidly and confidently identifying which bursts are high redshift ($z > 5$) candidates before they fade, as this requires low-latency follow-up observations at near-infrared wavelengths (or longer) to determine a reliable photometric redshift estimate. So far this task has been performed by instruments on the ground, but sky visibility and weather constraints limit the number of GRB targets that can be observed and the speed at which follow-up is possible. In this work we develop a Monte Carlo simulation framework to investigate an alternative approach based on the use of a rapid-response near-infrared nano-satellite, capable of simultaneous imaging in four bands from $0.8$ to $1.7μ$m (a mission concept called SkyHopper). We find that such a nano-satellite is capable of detecting in the H band (1.6 $μ$m) $72.5\% \pm 3.1\%$ of GRBs concurrently observable with the Swift satellite via its UVOT instrument (and $44.1\% \pm 12.3\%$ of high redshift ($z>5$) GRBs) within 60 minutes of the GRB prompt emission. This corresponds to detecting $\sim 55$ GRB afterglows per year, of which 1-3 have $z > 5$. These rates represent a substantial contribution to the field of high-$z$ GRB science, as only 23 $z > 5$ GRBs have been collectively discovered by the entire astronomical community over the last $\sim 24$ years. Additionally, we find that launching a mini-constellation of 3 near-infrared nano-satellites would increase the detection fraction of afterglows to $\sim 83\%$ and substantially reduce the latency in the photometric redshift determination.

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arXiv2021

Early-Universe-Physics Insensitive and Uncalibrated Cosmic Standards: Constraints on $Ω_{\rm{m}}$ and Implications for the Hubble Tension

To further shed light on whether pre-recombination models can resolve the Hubble tension, we explore constraints on the cosmic background evolution that are insensitive to early-universe physics. The analysis of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy has been thought to highly rely on early-universe physics. However, we show that the fact that the sound horizon at recombination being close to that at the end of the drag epoch is insensitive to early-universe physics. This allows us to link the absolute sizes of the two horizons and treat them as free parameters. Jointly, the CMB peak angular size, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), and Type Ia supernovae can be used as "early-universe-physics insensitive and uncalibrated cosmic standards", which measure the cosmic history from recombination to today. They can set strong and robust constraints on the post-recombination cosmic background, especially the matter density parameter with $Ω_{\rm{m}}=0.302\pm0.008$ ($68\%$ C.L.) assuming a flat $Λ$CDM after recombination. When we combine these with other non-local observations, we obtain several constraints on $H_0$ with significantly reduced sensitivity to early-universe physics. These are all more consistent with the Planck 2018 result than the local measurement results such as those based on Cepheids. This suggests a tension between the post-recombination, but non-local, observations and the local measurements which cannot be resolved by modifying pre-recombination early universe physics.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

Investigating the Hubble Constant Tension -- Two Numbers in the Standard Cosmological Model

The current Hubble constant tension is usually presented by comparing constraints on $H_0$ only. However, the post-recombination background cosmic evolution is determined by two parameters in the standard $Λ$CDM model, the Hubble constant ($H_0$) and today's matter energy fraction ($Ω_{\rm{m}}$). If we therefore compare all constraints individually in the $H_0$-$Ω_{\rm{m}}$ plane, (1) various constraints can be treated as independently as possible, (2) single-sided constraints are easier to consider, (3) compatibility among different constraints can be viewed in a more robust way, (4) the model dependence of each constraint is clear, and (5) whether or not a nonstandard model is able to reconcile all constraints in tension can be seen more effectively. We perform a systematic comparison of different constraints in the $H_0$-$Ω_{\rm{m}}$ space based on a flat $Λ$CDM model, treating them as separately as possible. Constraints along different degeneracy directions consistently overlap in one region of the space, with the local measurement from Cepheid variable-calibrated supernovae being the most outlying, followed by the time-delay strong-lensing result. Considering the possibility that some nonstandard physics may reconcile the constraints, we provide a general discussion on nonstandard models with modifications at high, mid, or low redshifts, and the effect of local environmental factors. Due to the different responses of individual constraints to a modified model, it is not easy for nonstandard models to reconcile all constraints if none of them have unaccounted-for systematic effects.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

Signatures of microscopic black holes and extra dimensions at future neutrino telescopes

In scenarios with large extra dimensions (LEDs), the fundamental Planck scale can be low enough that collisions between high-energy particles may produce microscopic black holes. High-energy cosmic neutrinos can carry energies much larger than a PeV, opening the door to a higher energy range than Earth-based colliders. Here, for the first time, we identify a number of unique signatures of microscopic black holes as they would appear in the next generation of large-scale neutrino observatories such as IceCube-Gen2 and the Pacific Ocean Neutrino Explorer. These signatures include new event topologies, energy distributions, and unusual ratios of hadronic-to-electronic energy deposition, visible through Cherenkov light echos due to delayed neutron recombination. We find that the next generation of neutrino telescopes can probe LEDs with a Planck scale up to 6 TeV, though the identification of unique topologies could push their reach even further.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Gravitational wave probes of dark matter: challenges and opportunities

In this white paper, we discuss the prospects for characterizing and identifying dark matter using gravitational waves, covering a wide range of dark matter candidate types and signals. We argue that present and upcoming gravitational wave probes offer unprecedented opportunities for unraveling the nature of dark matter and we identify the most urgent challenges and open problems with the aim of encouraging a strong community effort at the interface between these two exciting fields of research.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Bounds on extra dimensions from micro black holes in the context of the metastable Higgs vacuum

We estimate the rate at which collisions between ultra-high energy cosmic rays can form small black holes in models with extra dimensions. If recent conjectures about false vacuum decay catalyzed by black hole evaporation apply, the lack of vacuum decay events in our past light cone may place new bounds on the black hole formation rate and thus on the fundamental scale of gravity in these models. For theories with fundamental scale $E_{*}$ above the Higgs instability scale of the Standard Model, we find a lower bound on $E_{*}$ that is within about an order of magnitude of the energy where the cosmic ray spectrum begins to show suppression from the GZK effect. Otherwise, the abundant formation of semiclassical black holes with short lifetimes would likely initiate vacuum decay. Assuming a Higgs instability scale at the low end of the range compatible with experimental data, the excluded range is approximately $10^{17} \,\text{eV} \lesssim E_{*} \leq 10^{18.8}\,\text{eV}$ for theories with $n=1$ extra dimension, narrowing to $10^{17}\,\text{eV} \lesssim E_{*} \leq 10^{18.1}\,\text{eV}$ for $n=6$. These bounds rule out regions of parameter space that are inaccessible to collider experiments, small-scale gravity tests, or estimates of Kaluza-Klein processes in neutron stars and supernovae.

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arXiv2017

Dark Matter Annihilation in the Circumgalactic Medium at High Redshifts

Annihilating dark matter (DM) models offer promising avenues for future DM detection, in particular via modification of astrophysical signals. However when modelling such potential signals at high redshift the emergence of both dark matter and baryonic structure, as well as the complexities of the energy transfer process, need to be taken into account. In the following paper we present a detailed energy deposition code and use this to examine the energy transfer efficiency of annihilating dark matter at high redshift, including the effects on baryonic structure. We employ the PYTHIA code to model neutralino-like DM candidates and their subsequent annihilation products for a range of masses and annihilation channels. We also compare different density profiles and mass-concentration relations for 10^5-10^7 M_sun haloes at redshifts 20 and 40. For these DM halo and particle models, we show radially dependent ionisation and heating curves and compare the deposited energy to the haloes' gravitational binding energy. We use the "filtered" annihilation spectra escaping the halo to calculate the heating of the circumgalactic medium and show that the mass of the minimal star forming object is increased by a factor of 2-3 at redshift 20 and 4-5 at redshift 40 for some DM models.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Collaborative workspaces to accelerate discovery

By applying a display ecology to the {\em Deeper, Wider, Faster} proactive, simultaneous telescope observing campaign, we have shown a dramatic reduction in the time taken to inspect DECam CCD images for potential transient candidates and to produce time-critical triggers to standby telescopes. We also show how facilitating rapid corroboration of potential candidates and the exclusion of non-candidates improves the accuracy of detection; and establish that a practical and enjoyable workspace can improve the experience of an otherwise taxing task for astronomers. We provide a critical road-test of two advanced displays in a research context -- a rare opportunity to demonstrate how they can be used rather than simply discuss how they might be used to accelerate discovery.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2015

Dark Matter Annihilation in the First Galaxy Halos

We investigate the impact of energy released from self-annihilating dark matter on heating of gas in the small, high-redshift dark matter halos thought to host the first stars. A SUSY neutralino like particle is implemented as our dark matter candidate. The PYTHIA code is used to model the final, stable particle distributions produced during the annihilation process. We use an analytic treatment in conjunction with the code MEDEA2 to find the energy transfer and subsequent partition into heating, ionizing and Lyman alpha photon components. We consider a number of halo density models, dark matter particle masses and annihilation channels. We find that the injected energy from dark matter exceeds the binding energy of the gas within a $10^5$ - $10^6$ M$_\odot$ halo at redshifts above 20, preventing star formation in early halos in which primordial gas would otherwise cool. Thus we find that DM annihilation could delay the formation of the first galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

21cm Forest with the SKA

An alternative to both the tomography technique and the power spectrum approach is to search for the 21cm forest, that is the 21cm absorption features against high-z radio loud sources caused by the intervening cold neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) and collapsed structures. Although the existence of high-z radio loud sources has not been confirmed yet, SKA-low would be the instrument of choice to find such sources as they are expected to have spectra steeper than their lower-z counterparts. Since the strongest absorption features arise from small scale structures (few tens of physical kpc, or even lower), the 21cm forest can probe the HI density power spectrum on small scales not amenable to measurements by any other means. Also, it can be a unique probe of the heating process and the thermal history of the early universe, as the signal is strongly dependent on the IGM temperature. Here we show what SKA1-low could do in terms of detecting the 21cm forest in the redshift range z = 7.5-15.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Known Unknowns of Dark Matter Annihilation over Cosmic Time

Dark matter self-annihilation holds promise as one of the most robust mechanisms for the identification of the particle responsible for the Universe's missing mass. In this work, I examine the evolution of the dark matter annihilation power produced by smooth and collapsed structures over cosmic time, taking into account uncertainties in the structure of dark matter halos. As we search for observational signatures of annihilation, an understanding of this time evolution will help us to best direct our observational efforts, either with local measurements or investigation of the effects of annihilation on the intergalactic medium at high redshift. As I show in this work, there are several key sources of uncertainty in our ability to estimate the dark matter annihilation from collapsed structures, including: the density profile of dark matter halos; the small-scale cut-off in the dark matter halo mass function; the redshift-dependent mass-concentration relation for small halos; and the particle-velocity dependence of the dark matter annihilation process. Varying assumptions about these quantities can result in annihilation power predictions that differ by several orders of magnitude. These uncertainties must be resolved, through a combination of observation and modeling, before robust estimations of the cosmological annihilation signal can be made.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Detecting the redshifted 21cm forest during reionization

The 21cm forest -- HI absorption features in the spectra of high-redshift radio sources -- can potentially provide a unique probe of the largely neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) during the epoch of reionization. We present simulations of the 21cm forest due to the large scale structure of the reionization-era IGM, including a prescription for x-ray heating and the percolation of photoionization bubbles. We show that, if detected with future instruments such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), the 21cm forest can provide a significant constraint on the thermal history of the IGM. Detection will be aided by consideration of the sudden increase in signal variance at the onset of 21cm absorption. If radio foregrounds and the intrinsic source spectra are well understood, the flux decrement over wide bandwidths can also improve detection prospects. Our analysis accounts for the possibility of narrow absorption lines from intervening dense regions, but, unlike previous studies, our results do not depend on their properties. Assuming x-ray heating corresponding to a local stellar population, we estimate that a statistically significant detection of 21cm absorption could be made by SKA in less than a year of observing against a Cygnus A-type source at $z \sim 9$, as opposed to nearly a decade for a significant detection of the detailed forest features. We discuss observational challenges due to uncertainties regarding the abundance of background sources and the strength of the 21cm absorption signal.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Cosmological Problems with Multiple Axion-like Fields

Incorporating the QCD axion and simultaneously satisfying current constraints on the dark matter density and isocurvature fluctuations requires non-minimal fine-tuning of inflationary parameters or the axion misalignment angle (or both) for Peccei-Quinn symmetry-breaking scales $f_a > 10^{12}$ GeV. To gauge the degree of tuning in models with many axion-like fields at similar symmetry-breaking scales and masses, as may occur in string theoretic models that include a QCD axion, we introduce a figure of merit ${\cal F}$ that measures the fractional volume of allowed parameter space: the product of the slow roll parameter $ε$ and each of the axion misalignment angles, $θ_0$. For a single axion, $\mathcal{F} \lesssim 10^{-11}$ is needed to avoid conflict with observations. We show that the fine tuning of $\mathcal{F}$ becomes exponentially more extreme in the case of numerous axion-like fields. Anthropic arguments are insufficient to explain the fine tuning because the bulk of the anthropically allowed parameter space is observationally ruled out by limits on the cosmic microwave background isocurvature modes. Therefore, this tuning presents a challenge to the compatibility of string-theoretic models with light axions and inflationary cosmology.

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