arXiv subjects

Massimo Giovannini

Publications and source records attributed to Massimo Giovannini.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Multiplicity distributions in gravitational and strong interactions

The multiplicity distributions produced by the variation of time-dependent gravitational fields in a conformally flat background geometry belong to the same class of infinitely divisible distributions found, for fixed centre of mass energies and symmetric (pseudo)rapidity intervals, in charged multiplicities produced in $pp$, $p\overline{p}$ and in heavy ion collisions. Apparently unrelated multiplicity distributions are classified in terms of the (positive) discrete representations of the $SU(1,1)$ group. The gravitational analogy suggest a global high-energy asymptote for the distributions measured in $pp$ and $p\overline{p}$ collisions. Second-order cross correlations between positively and negatively charged distributions represent a relevant diagnostic for a closer scrutiny of the multiparticle final state.

hep-th↗

arXiv2010

Magnetic field contribution to the last electron-photon scattering

When the cosmic microwave photons scatter electrons just prior to the decoupling of matter and radiation, magnetic fields do contribute to the Stokes matrix as well as to the scalar, vector and tensor components of the transport equations for the brightness perturbations. The magnetized electron-photon scattering is hereby discussed in general terms by including, for the first time, the contribution of magnetic fields with arbitrary direction and in the presence of the scalar, vector and tensor modes of the geometry. The propagation of relic vectors and relic gravitons is discussed for a varying magnetic field orientation and for different photon directions. The source terms of the transport equations in the presence of the relativistic fluctuations of the geometry are also explicitly averaged over the magnetic field orientations and the problem of a consistent account of the small-scale and large-scale magnetic field is briefly outlined.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

A circular polarimeter for the Cosmic Microwave Background

A primordial degree of circular polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background is not observationally excluded. The hypothesis of primordial dichroism can be quantitatively falsified if the plasma is magnetized prior to photon decoupling since the initial V-mode polarization affects the evolution of the temperature fluctuations as well as the equations for the linear polarization. The observed values of the temperature and polarization angular power spectra are used to infer constraints on the amplitude and on the spectral slope of the primordial V-mode. Prior to photon decoupling magnetic fields play the role of polarimeters insofar as they unveil the circular dichroism by coupling the V-mode power spectrum to the remaining brightness perturbations. Conversely, for angular scales ranging between 4 deg and 10 deg the joined bounds on the magnitude of circular polarization and on the magnetic field intensity suggest that direct limits on the V-mode power spectrum in the range of 0.01 mK could directly rule out pre-decoupling magnetic fields in the range of 10-100 nG. The frequency dependence of the signal is located, for the present purposes, in the GHz range.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Last scattering, relic gravitons and the circular polarization of the CMB

The tensor contribution to the $V$-mode polarization induced by a magnetized plasma at last scattering vanishes exactly. Conversely a polarized background of relic gravitons cannot generate a $V$-mode polarization. The reported results suggest that, in the magnetized $Λ$CDM paradigm, the dominant source of circular dichroism stems from the large-scale fluctuations of the spatial curvature.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Circular dichroism, magnetic knots and the spectropolarimetry of the Cosmic Microwave Background

When the last electron-photon scattering takes place in a magnetized environment, the degree of circular polarization of the outgoing radiation depends upon the magnetic field strength. After deriving the scattering matrix of the process, the generalized radiative transfer equations are deduced in the presence of the relativistic fluctuations of the geometry and for all the four brightness perturbations. The new system of equations is solved under the assumption that the incident radiation is not polarized. The induced V-mode polarization is analyzed both analytically and numerically. The corresponding angular power spectra are calculated and compared with the measured (or purported) values of the linear polarizations (i.e. E-mode and B-mode) as they arise in the concordance model and in its neighboring extensions. Possible connections between the V-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave background and the topological properties of the magnetic flux lines prior to equality are outlined and briefly explored in analogy with the physics of magnetized sun spots.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

The V-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background

The V-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background is discussed in a weakly magnetized plasma. The VV and VT angular power spectra are computed for adiabatic initial conditions of the Einstein-Boltzmann hierarchy. Depending upon the frequency channel and upon the magnetic field intensity, the VT power spectra of the circular polarization can even be seven orders of magnitude larger than a putative B-mode polarization stemming from the lensing of the primary anisotropies. Specific programs aimed at the direct detection of the V-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background could provide a new observational tool for the scrutiny of pre-decoupling physics.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Spectator stresses and CMB observables

The large-scale curvature perturbations induced by spectator anisotropic stresses are analyzed across the matter-radiation transition. It is assumed that the anisotropic stress is associated with a plasma component whose energy density is subdominant both today and prior to photon decoupling. The enforcement of the momentum constraint and the interplay with the neutrino anisotropic stress determine the regular initial conditions of the Einstein-Boltzmann hierarchy. The Cosmic Microwave Background observables have shapes and phases which differ both from the ones of the conventional adiabatic mode as well as from their non-adiabatic counterparts.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Electric-magnetic duality and the conditions of inflationary magnetogenesis

The magnetogenesis scenarios triggered by the early variation of the gauge coupling are critically analyzed. In the absence of sources, it is shown that the electric and magnetic power spectra can be explicitly computed by means of electric-magnetic duality transformations. The remnants of a pre-inflationary expansion and the reheating process break explicitly electric-magnetic duality by inducing Ohmic currents. The generation of large-scale magnetic field and the physical distinction between electric and magnetic observables stems, in this class of models, from the final value reached by the conductivity of the plasma right after inflation. Specific numerical examples are given. The physical requirements of viable magnetogenesis scenarios are spelled out.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Dark energy, integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect and large-scale magnetic fields

The impact of large-scale magnetic fields on the interplay between the ordinary and integrated Sachs-Wolfe effects is investigated in the presence of a fluctuating dark energy component. The modified initial conditions of the Einstein-Boltzmann hierarchy allow for the simultaneous inclusion of dark energy perturbations and of large-scale magnetic fields. The temperature and polarization angular power spectra are compared with the results obtained in the magnetized version of the (minimal) concordance model. Purported compensation effects arising at large scales are specifically investigated. The fluctuating dark energy component modifies, in a computable manner, the shapes of the 1- and 2-$σ$ contours in the parameter space of the magnetized background. The allowed spectral indices and magnetic field intensities turn out to be slightly larger than those determined in the framework of the magnetized concordance model where the dark energy fluctuations are absent.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Ohmic currents and pre-decoupling magnetism

Ohmic currents induced prior to decoupling are investigated in a standard transport model accounting both for the expansion of the background geometry as well as of its relativistic inhomogeneities. The relative balance of the Ohmic electric fields in comparison with the Hall and thermoelectric contributions is specifically addressed. The impact of the Ohmic currents on the evolution of curvature perturbations is discussed numerically and it is shown to depend explicitly upon the evolution of the conductivity.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Parameter dependence of magnetized CMB observables

Pre-decoupling magnetic fields affect the scalar modes of the geometry and produce observable effects which can be constrained also through the use of current (as opposed to forthcoming) data stemming from the Cosmic Microwave Background observations. The dependence of the temperature and polarization angular power spectra upon the parameters of an ambient magnetic field is encoded in the scaling properties of a set of basic integrals whose derivation is simplified in the limit of small angular scales. The magnetically-induced distortions patterns of the relevant observables can be computed analytically by employing scaling considerations which are corroborated by numerical results.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Estimating relic magnetic fields from CMB temperature correlations

The temperature and polarization inhomogeneities of the Cosmic Microwave Background might bear the mark of pre-decoupling magnetism. The parameters of a putative magnetized background are hereby estimated from the observed temperature autocorrelation as well as from the measured temperature-polarization cross-correlation.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Stochastic backgrounds of relic gravitons: a theoretical appraisal

Stochastic backgrounds or relic gravitons, if ever detected, will constitute a prima facie evidence of physical processes taking place during the earliest stages of the evolution of the plasma. The essentials of the stochastic backgrounds of relic gravitons are hereby introduced and reviewed. The pivotal observables customarily employed to infer the properties of the relic gravitons are discussed both in the framework of the $Λ$CDM paradigm as well as in neighboring contexts. The complementarity between experiments measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (such as, for instance, WMAP, Capmap, Quad, Cbi, just to mention a few) and wide band interferometers (e.g. Virgo, Ligo, Geo, Tama) is emphasized. While the analysis of the microwave sky strongly constrains the low-frequency tail of the relic graviton spectrum, wide-band detectors are sensitive to much higher frequencies where the spectral energy density depends chiefly upon the (poorly known) rate of post-inflationary expansion.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

Thermal history of the plasma and high-frequency gravitons

Possible deviations from a radiation-dominated evolution, occurring prior the synthesis of light nuclei, impacted on the spectral energy density of high-frequency gravitons. For a systematic scrutiny of this situation, the $Λ$CDM paradigm must be complemented by (at least two) physical parameters describing, respectively, a threshold frequency and a slope. The supplementary frequency scale sets the lower border of a high-frequency domain where the spectral energy grows with a slope which depends, predominantly, upon the total sound speed of the plasma right after inflation. While the infra-red region of the graviton energy spectrum is nearly scale-invariant, the expected signals for typical frequencies larger than 0.01 nHz are hereby analyzed in a model-independent framework by requiring that the total sound speed of the post-inflationary plasma be smaller than the speed of light. Current (e.g. low-frequency) upper limits on the tensor power spectra (determined from the combined analysis of the three large-scale data sets) are shown to be compatible with a detectable signal in the frequency range of wide-band interferometers. In the present context, the scrutiny of the early evolution of the sound speed of the plasma can then be mapped onto a reliable strategy of parameter extraction including not only the well established cosmological observables but also the forthcoming data from wide band interferometers.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Birefringence, CMB polarization and magnetized B-mode

Even in the absence of a sizable tensor contribution, a B-mode polarization can be generated because of the competition between a pseudo-scalar background and pre-decoupling magnetic fields. By investigating the dispersion relations of a magnetoactive plasma supplemented by a pseudo-scalar interaction, the total B-mode polarization is shown to depend not only upon the plasma and Larmor frequencies but also on the pseudo-scalar rotation rate. If the (angular) frequency channels of a given experiment are larger than the pseudo-scalar rotation rate, the only possible source of (frequency dependent) B-mode autocorrelations must be attributed to Faraday rotation. In the opposite case the pseudo-scalar contribution dominates and the total rate becomes, in practice, frequency-independent. The B-mode cross-correlations can be used, under certain conditions, to break the degeneracy by disentangling the two birefringent contributions.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Cosmic polarimetry in magnetoactive plasmas

Polarimetry of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) represents one of the possible diagnostics aimed at testing large-scale magnetism at the epoch of the photon decoupling. The propagation of electromagnetic disturbances in a magnetized plasma leads naturally to a B-mode polarization whose angular power spectrum is hereby computed both analytically and numerically. Combined analyses of all the publicly available data on the B-mode polarization are presented, for the first time, in the light of the magnetized $Λ$CDM scenario. Novel constraints on pre-equality magnetism are also derived in view of the current and expected sensitivities to the B-mode polarization.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Dynamical suppression of non-adiabatic modes

Recent analyses of the WMAP 5-year data constrain possible non-adiabatic contributions to the initial conditions of CMB anisotropies. Depending upon the early dynamics of the plasma, the amplitude of the entropic modes can experience a different suppression by the time of photon decoupling. Explicit examples of the latter observation are presented both analytically and numerically when the post-inflationary dynamics is dominated by a stiff contribution.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Stochastic backgrounds of relic gravitons, T$Λ$CDM paradigm and the stiff ages

Absent any indirect tests on the thermal history of the Universe prior to the formation of light nuclear elements, it is legitimate to investigate situations where, before nucleosyntheis, the sound speed of the plasma was larger than $c/\sqrt{3}$, at most equalling the speed of light $c$. In this plausible extension of the current cosmological paradigm, hereby dubbed Tensor-$Λ$CDM (i.e. T$Λ$CDM) scenario, high-frequency gravitons are copiously produced. Without conflicting with the bounds on the tensor to scalar ratio stemming from the combined analysis of the three standard cosmological data sets (i.e. cosmic microwave background anisotropies, large-scale structure and supenovae), the spectral energy density of the relic gravitons in the T$Λ$CDM scenario can be potentially observable by wide-band interferometers (in their advanced version) operating in a frequency window which ranges between few Hz and few kHz.

astro-ph↗