arXiv subjects

Mikhail M. Ivanov

Publications and source records attributed to Mikhail M. Ivanov.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

Love numbers of black p-branes: fine tuning, Love symmetries, and their geometrization

We compute scalar static response coefficients (Love numbers) of non-dilatonic black $p$-brane solutions in higher dimensional supergravity. This calculation revels a fine-tuning behavior similar to that of higher dimensional black holes, which we explain by ``hidden'' near-zone Love symmetries. In general, these symmetries act on equations for perturbations but they are not background isometries. The Love symmetry of charged $p=0$ branes is described by the usual $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ algebra. For $p=1$ the Love symmetry has an algebraic structure $SL(2,\mathbb{R})\times SL(2,\mathbb{R})$. The $p=0,1$ Love symmetries reduce to isometries of the near-horizon Schwarzschild-AdS$_{p+2}$ metric in the near-extremal finite temperature limit. They further reduce to the AdS$_{p+2}$ isometries in the extremal zero-temperature limit. We call this process geometrization. In contrast, for the $p>1$ cases, the Love symmetry is always an $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$, and there is no limit in which it becomes geometric. We interpret geometrization and its absence as a consequence of the local equivalence between the Schwarzschild-AdS$_{p+2}$ and pure AdS$_{p+2}$ spaces for $p=0,1$, which does not hold for $p>1$. We also show that the static Love numbers of extremal $p$-branes are always zero regardless of spacetime dimensionality, which contrasts starkly with the non-extremal case. Overall, our results suggest that the Love symmetry is hidden by nature, and it can acquire a geometric meaning only if the background has an AdS$_{2}$ or AdS$_{3}$ limit.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Lyman Alpha Forest - Halo Cross-Correlations in Effective Field Theory

We provide a perturbative effective field theory (EFT) description for anisotropic (redshift-space) correlations between the Lyman alpha forest and a generic biased tracer of matter, which could be represented by quasars, high-redshift galaxies, or dark matter halos. We compute one-loop EFT power spectrum predictions for the combined analysis of the Lyman alpha and biased tracers' data and test them on the publicly available high fidelity Sherwood simulations. We use massive and light dark matter halos at redshift $z=2.8$ as proxies for quasars and high-redshift galaxies, respectively. In both cases, we demonstrate that our EFT model can consistently describe the complete data vector consisting of the Lyman alpha forest auto spectrum, the halo auto spectrum, and the Lyman alpha -- halo cross spectrum. We show that the addition of cross-correlations significantly sharpens constraints on EFT parameters of the Lyman alpha forest and halos. In the combined analysis, our EFT model fits the simulated cross-spectra with a percent level accuracy at $k_{\rm max}= 1~h$Mpc$^{-1}$, which represents a significant improvement over previous analytical models. Thus, our work provides precision theoretical tools for full-shape analyses of Lyman alpha - quasar cross-correlations with ongoing and upcoming spectroscopic surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

The ACCEL2 Project: Precision Measurements of EFT Parameters and BAO Peak Shifts for the Lyman-$α$ Forest

We present precision measurements of the bias parameters of the one-loop power spectrum model of the Lyman-alpha (Lya) forest, derived within the effective field theory of large-scale structure (EFT). We fit our model to the three-dimensional flux power spectrum measured from the ACCEL2 hydrodynamic simulations. The EFT model fits the data with an accuracy of below 2 percent up to a wavenumber of k = 2 h/Mpc. Further, we analytically derive how non-linearities in the three-dimensional clustering of the Lya forest introduce biases in measurements of the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) scaling parameters in radial and transverse directions. From our EFT parameter measurements, we obtain a theoretical error budget of -0.2 (-0.3) percent for the radial (transverse) parameters at redshift two. This corresponds to a shift of -0.3 (0.1) percent for the isotropic (anisotropic) distance measurements. We provide an estimate for the shift of the BAO peak for Lya-quasar cross-correlation measurements assuming analytical and simulation-based scaling relations for the non-linear quasar bias parameters resulting in a shift of -0.2 (-0.1) percent for the radial (transverse) dilation parameters, respectively. This analysis emphasizes the robustness of Lya forest BAO measurements to the theory modeling. We provide informative priors and an error budget for measuring the BAO feature -- a key science driver of the currently observing Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). Our work paves the way for full-shape cosmological analyses of Lya forest data from DESI and upcoming surveys such as the Prime Focus Spectrograph, WEAVE-QSO, and 4MOST.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

The Millennium and Astrid galaxies in effective field theory: comparison with galaxy-halo connection models at the field level

Cosmological analyses of redshift space clustering data are primarily based on using luminous ``red'' galaxies (LRGs) and ``blue'' emission line galaxies (ELGs) to trace underlying dark matter. Using the large high-fidelity high-resolution MillenniumTNG (MTNG) and Astrid simulations, we study these galaxies with the effective field theory (EFT)-based field level forward model. We confirm that both red and blue galaxies can be accurately modeled with EFT at the field level and their parameters match those of the phenomenological halo-based models. Specifically, we consider the state of the art Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD) and High Mass Quenched (HMQ) models for the red and blue galaxies, respectively. Our results explicitly confirm the validity of the halo-based models on large scales beyond the two-point statistics. In addition, we validate the field-level HOD/HMQ-based priors for EFT full-shape analysis. We find that the local bias parameters of the ELGs are in tension with the predictions of the LRG-like HOD models and present a simple analytic argument explaining this phenomenology. We also confirm that ELGs exhibit weaker non-linear redshift-space distortions (``fingers-of-God''), suggesting that a significant fraction of their data should be perturbative. We find that the response of EFT parameters to galaxy selection is sensitive to assumptions about baryonic feedback, suggesting that a detailed understanding of feedback processes is necessary for robust predictions of EFT parameters. Finally, using neural density estimation based on paired HOD-EFT parameter samples, we obtain optimal HOD models that reproduce the clustering of Astrid and MTNG galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Suppression without Thawing: Constraining Structure Formation and Dark Energy with Galaxy Clustering

We present a new perturbative full-shape analysis of BOSS galaxy clustering data, including the full combination of the galaxy power spectrum and bispectrum multipoles, baryon acoustic oscillations, and cross-correlations with the gravitational lensing of cosmic microwave background measured from \textit{Planck}. Assuming the $Λ$CDM model, we constrain the matter density fraction $Ω_m = 0.3138\pm 0.0086$, the Hubble constant $H_0=68.23\pm 0.78\,\mathrm{km}\,\mathrm{s}^{-1}\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$, and the mass fluctuation amplitude $σ_8=0.688\pm 0.026$ (equivalent to $S_8 = 0.703\pm 0.029$). Cosmic structure at low redshifts appears suppressed with respect to the Planck $Λ$CDM concordance model at $4.5σ$. We explore whether this tension can be explained by the recent DESI preference for dynamical dark energy (DDE): the BOSS data combine with DESI BAO and PantheonPlus supernovae competitively compared to the CMB, yielding no preference for DDE, but the same $\sim 10\%$ suppression of structure, with dark energy being consistent with a cosmological constant at 68\% CL. Our results suggest that either the data contains residual systematics, or more model-building efforts may be required to restore cosmological concordance.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Learning Theory Informed Priors for Bayesian Inference: A Case Study with Early Dark Energy

Cosmological models are often motivated and formulated in the language of particle physics, using quantities such as the axion decay constant, but tested against data using ostensibly physical quantities, such as energy density ratios, assuming uniform priors on the latter. This approach neglects priors on the model from fundamental theory, including from particle physics and string theory, such as the preference for sub-Planckian axion decay constants. We introduce a novel approach to learning theory-informed priors for Bayesian inference using normalizing flows (NF), a flexible generative machine learning technique that generates priors on model parameters when analytic expressions are unavailable or difficult to compute. As a test case, we focus on early dark energy (EDE), a model designed to address the Hubble tension. Rather than using uniform priors on the $\textit{phenomenological}$ EDE parameters $f_{\rm EDE}$ and $z_c$, we train a NF on EDE cosmologies informed by theory expectations for axion masses and decay constants. Our method recovers known constraints in this representation while being $\sim 300,000$ times more efficient in terms of total CPU compute time. Applying our NF to $\textit{Planck}$ and BOSS data, we obtain the first theory-informed constraints on EDE, finding $f_{\rm EDE} \lesssim 0.02$ at $95\%$ confidence with an $H_0$ consistent with $\textit{Planck}$, but in $\sim 6σ$ tension with SH0ES. This yields the strongest constraints on EDE to date, additionally challenging its role in resolving the Hubble tension.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Full-shape analysis with simulation-based priors: constraints on single field inflation from BOSS

Perturbative, or effective field theory (EFT)-based, full-shape analyses of galaxy clustering data involve ``nuisance parameters'' to capture various observational effects such as the galaxy-dark matter connection (galaxy bias). We present an efficient approach to set informative physically motivated priors on these parameters. We extract these priors from simulated galaxy catalogs based on halo occupation distribution (HOD) models. First, we build a joint distribution between EFT galaxy bias and HOD parameters from a set of 10,500 HOD mock catalogs. We use the field level EFT technique that allows for cosmic variance cancellation, enabling a precision calibration of EFT parameters from computationally inexpensive small-volume simulations. Second, we use neural density estimators -- normalizing flows -- to model the marginal probability density of the EFT parameters, which can be used as a prior distribution in full shape analyses. As a first application, we use our HOD-based priors in a new analysis of galaxy power spectra and bispectra from the BOSS survey in the context of single field primordial non-Gaussianity. We find that our priors lead to a reduction of the posterior volume of bias parameters by an order of magnitude. We also find $f_{\rm NL}^{\rm equil} = 320\pm 300$ and $f_{\rm NL}^{\rm ortho} = 100\pm 130$ (at 68\% CL) in a combined two-template analysis, representing a $\approx 40\%$ improvement in constraints on single field primordial non-Gaussianity, equivalent to doubling the survey volume.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Self-Interacting Neutrinos in Light of Large-Scale Structure Data

We explore a self-interacting neutrino cosmology in which neutrinos experience a delayed onset of free-streaming. We use the effective field theory of large-scale structure (LSS) to model matter distribution on mildly non-linear scales within the self-interacting neutrino cosmology for the first time. We perform the first combined likelihood analysis of BOSS full-shape galaxy clustering, weak lensing, and Lyman-$α$ forest measurements, together with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from Planck. We find that the full data set strongly favors presence of a flavor-universal neutrino self-interaction, with a characteristic energy scale of order $10$ MeV. The preference is at the $\sim 5σ$ level and is primarily driven by the Lyman-$α$ forest measurements and, to a lesser extent, the weak lensing data from DES. The self-interacting neutrino model eases both the Hubble tension and the $S_8$ tension between different cosmological data sets, but it does not resolve either. Finally, we note a preference for a non-zero sum of neutrino masses at the level of $\sim 0.3$ eV under this model, consistent with previous bounds. These results call for further investigation in several directions, and may have significant implications for neutrino physics and for future new-physics searches with galaxy surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Bring the Heat: Tidal Heating Constraints for Black Holes and Exotic Compact Objects from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Data

We present the first constraints on tidal heating for the binary systems detected in the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) gravitational wave data. Tidal heating, also known as tidal dissipation, characterizes the viscous nature of an astrophysical body and provides a channel for exchanging energy and angular momentum with the tidal environment. Using the worldline effective field theory formalism, we introduce a physically motivated and easily interpretable parametrization of tidal heating valid for an arbitrary compact astrophysical object. We then derive the imprints of the spin-independent and linear-in-spin tidal heating effects of generic binary components on the waveform phases and amplitudes of quasi-circular orbits. Notably, the mass-weighted spin-independent tidal heating coefficient derived in this work, $\mathcal{H}_0$, is the dissipative analog of the tidal Love number. We constrain the tidal heating coefficients using the public LVK O1-O3 data. Our parameter estimation study includes two separate analyses: the first treats the catalog of binary events as binary black holes (BBH), while the second makes no assumption about the nature of the binary constituents and can therefore be interpreted as constraints for exotic compact objects. In the former case, we combine the posterior distributions of the individual BBH events and obtain a joint constraint of $-13 < \mathcal{H}_0 < 20$ at the $90\%$ credible interval for the BBH population. This translates into a bound on the fraction of the emitted gravitational wave energy lost due to tidal heating (or gained due to radiation enhancement effects) at $|ΔE_H/ΔE_{\infty}|\lesssim 3\cdot 10^{-3}$. Our work provides the first robust framework for deriving and measuring tidal heating effects in merging binary systems, demonstrating its potential as a powerful probe of the nature of binary constituents and tests of new physics.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Revisiting the matching of black hole tidal responses: a systematic study of relativistic and logarithmic corrections

The worldline effective field theory (EFT) gives a gauge-invariant definition of black hole conservative tidal responses (Love numbers), dissipation numbers, and their spin-0 and spin-1 analogs. In the first part of this paper we show how the EFT allows us to circumvent the source/response ambiguity without having to use the analytic continuation prescription. The source/response ambiguity appears if Post-Newtonian (PN)corrections to external sources overlap with the response. However, these PN corrections can be clearly identified and isolated using the EFT. We illustrate that by computing static one-point functions of various external fields perturbing the four-dimensional Schwarzschild geometry. Upon resumming all relevant Feynman diagrams, we find that the PN terms that may mimic the response actually vanish for static black holes. Thus, the extraction of Love numbers from matching the EFT and general relativity (GR) calculations is completely unambiguous, and it implies that the Love numbers vanish identically for all types of perturbations. We also study in detail another type of fine tuning in the EFT, the absence of Love numbers' running. We show that logarithmic corrections to Love numbers do stem from individual loop diagrams in generic gauges, but cancel after all diagrams are summed over. In the particular cases of spin-0 and spin-2 fields the logarithms are completely absent if one uses the Kaluza-Klein metric decomposition. In the second part of the paper we compute frequency-dependent dissipative response contributions to the one-point functions using the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism. We extract black hole dissipation numbers by comparing the one-point functions in the EFT and GR. Our results are in perfect agreement with those obtained from a manifestly gauge-invariant matching of absorption cross-sections.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Dynamical Tidal Response of Kerr Black Holes from Scattering Amplitudes

We match scattering amplitudes in point particle effective field theory (EFT) and general relativity to extract low frequency dynamical tidal responses of rotating (Kerr) black holes to all orders in spin. In the conservative sector, we study local worldline couplings that correspond to the time-derivative expansion of the black hole tidal response function. These are dynamical (frequency-dependent) generalizations of the static Love numbers. We identify and extract couplings of three types of subleading local worldline operators: the curvature time derivative terms, the spin - curvature time derivative couplings, and quadrupole - octupole mixing operators that arise due to the violation of spherical symmetry. The first two subleading couplings are non-zero and exhibit a classical renormalization group running; we explicitly present their scheme-independent beta functions. The conservative mixing terms, however, vanish as a consequence of vanishing static Love numbers. In the non-conservative sector, we match the dissipation numbers at next-to-leading and next-to-next-to leading orders in frequency. In passing, we identify terms in the general relativity absorption probabilities that originate from tails and short-scale logarithmic corrections to the lowest order dissipation contributions.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Don't miss the forest for the trees: the Lyman alpha forest power spectrum in effective field theory

We derive an effective field theory (EFT) for cosmological Lyman alpha forest fluctuations valid for the power spectrum at the one-loop order. The ``bottom-up'' EFT expansion at the level of the transmitted flux is identical to the line-of-sight dependent bias model first derived by Desjacques et al. We confirm this result by a ``top-down'' derivation based on the exponential map of the optical depth field. Specifically, we show that the combination of the exponential map and conditions of renormalizability generates the same EFT expansion as the ``bottom-up'' approach. In passing, we point out inconsistencies of the tree-level perturbative expansion of the exponential map without counterterms. To facilitate practical applications, we generalize the FFTLog method for efficient calculations of one-loop integrals from new line-of-sight dependent operators. Finally, we compare the one-loop EFT model against data from the Sherwood hydrodynamic simulation. The theory fits the data with sub percent accuracy up to $k= $ 3 $h$Mpc$^{-1}$ at $z= 2.8$ for both 3D and 1D correlations. Our model can be readily used for cosmological full-shape analyses of Lyman alpha forest data.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Observational constraints on early dark energy

We review and update constraints on the Early Dark Energy (EDE) model from cosmological data sets, in particular Planck PR3 and PR4 cosmic microwave background (CMB) data and large-scale structure (LSS) data sets including galaxy clustering and weak lensing data from the Dark Energy Survey, Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam, and KiDS+VIKING-450, as well as BOSS/eBOSS galaxy clustering and Lyman-$α$ forest data. We detail the fit to CMB data, and perform the first analyses of EDE using the CAMSPEC and Hillipop likelihoods for Planck CMB data, rather than Plik, both of which yield a tighter upper bound on the allowed EDE fraction than that found with Plik. We then supplement CMB data with large-scale structure data in a series of new analyses. All these analyses are concordant in their Bayesian preference for $Λ$CDM over EDE, as indicated by marginalized posterior distributions. We perform a series of tests of the impact of priors in these results, and compare with frequentist analyses based on the profile likelihood, finding qualitative agreement with the Bayesian results. All these tests suggest prior volume effects are not a determining factor in analyses of EDE. This work provides both a review of existing constraints and several new analyses.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Constraining Single-Field Inflation with MegaMapper

We forecast the constraints on single-field inflation from the bispectrum of future high-redshift surveys such as MegaMapper. Considering non-local primordial non-Gaussianity (NLPNG), we find that current methods will yield constraints of order $σ(f_{\rm NL}^{\rm eq})\approx 23$, $σ(f_{\rm NL}^{\rm orth})\approx 12$ in a joint power-spectrum and bispectrum analysis, varying both nuisance parameters and cosmology, including a conservative range of scales. Fixing cosmological parameters and quadratic bias parameter relations, the limits tighten significantly to $σ(f_{\rm NL}^{\rm eq})\approx 17$, $σ(f_{\rm NL}^{\rm orth})\approx 8$. These compare favorably with the forecasted bounds from CMB-S4: $σ(f_{\rm NL}^{\rm eq})\approx 21$, $σ(f_{\rm NL}^{\rm orth})\approx 9$, with a combined constraint of $σ(f_{\rm NL}^{\rm eq})\approx 14$, $σ(f_{\rm NL}^{\rm orth})\approx 7$; this weakens only slightly if one instead combines with data from the Simons Observatory. We additionally perform a range of Fisher analyses for the error, forecasting the dependence on nuisance parameter marginalization, scale cuts, and survey strategy. Lack of knowledge of bias and counterterm parameters is found to significantly limit the information content; this could be ameliorated by tight simulation-based priors on the nuisance parameters. The error-bars decrease significantly as the number of observed galaxies and survey depth is increased: as expected, deep dense surveys are the most constraining, though it will be difficult to reach $σ(f_{\rm NL})\approx 1$ with current methods. The NLPNG constraints will tighten further with improved theoretical models (incorporating higher-loop corrections and improved understanding of nuisance parameters), as well as the inclusion of additional higher-order statistics.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Renormalizing one-point probability distribution function for cosmological counts in cells

We study the one-point probability distribution function (PDF) for matter density averaged over spherical cells. The leading part to the PDF is defined by spherical collapse dynamics, whereas the next-to-leading part comes from the integration over fluctuations around the saddle-point solution. The latter calculation receives sizable contributions from short modes and must be renormalized. We propose a new approach to renormalization by modeling the effective stress-energy tensor for short perturbations. The model contains three free parameters. Two of them are related to the counterterms in the one-loop matter power spectrum and bispectrum, one more parameterizes their redshift dependence. This relation can be used to impose priors in fitting the model to the PDF data. We confront the model with the results of high-resolution N-body simulations and find excellent agreement for cell radii $r_*\geq 10\,{\rm Mpc}/h$ at all redshifts down to $z=0$. Discrepancies at a few per cent level are detected at low redshifts for $r_*\leq 10\,{\rm Mpc}/h$ and are associated with two-loop corrections to the model.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Scalar Love numbers and Love symmetries of 5-dimensional Myers-Perry black holes

The near-zone ``Love'' symmetry resolves the naturalness issue of black hole Love number vanishing with $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)$ representation theory. Here, we generalize this proposal to $5$-dimensional asymptotically flat and doubly spinning (Myers-Perry) black holes. We consider the scalar response of Myers-Perry black holes and extract its static scalar Love numbers. In agreement with the naturalness arguments, these Love numbers are, in general, non-zero and exhibit logarithmic running unless certain resonant conditions are met; these conditions include new cases with no previously known analogs. We show that there exist two near-zone truncations of the equations of motion that exhibit enhanced $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)$ Love symmetries that explain the vanishing of the static scalar Love numbers in the resonant cases. These Love symmetries can be interpreted as local $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)\times\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)$ near-zone symmetries spontaneously broken down to global $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)\times U\left(1\right)$ symmetries by the periodic identification of the azimuthal angles. We also discover an infinite-dimensional extension of the Love symmetry into $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)\ltimes\hat{U}\left(1\right)_{\mathcal{V}}^2$ that contains both Love symmetries as particular subalgebras, along with a family of $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)$ subalgebras that reduce to the exact near-horizon Myers-Perry black hole isometries in the extremal limit. Finally, we show that the Love symmetries acquire a geometric interpretation as isometries of subtracted (effective) black hole geometries that preserve the internal structure of the black hole and interpret these non-extremal $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)$ structures as remnants of the enhanced isometry of the near-horizon extremal geometries.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

$S_8$ Tension in the Context of Dark Matter-Baryon Scattering

We explore an interacting dark matter (IDM) model that allows for a fraction of dark matter (DM) to undergo velocity-independent scattering with baryons. In this scenario, structure on small scales is suppressed relative to the cold DM scenario. Using the effective field theory of large-scale structure, we perform the first systematic analysis of BOSS full-shape galaxy clustering data for the IDM scenario, and we find that this model alleviates the $S_8$ tension between large-scale structure and Planck data. Adding the $S_8$ prior from DES to our analysis further leads to a mild $\sim3σ$ preference for a non-vanishing DM-baryon scattering cross-section, assuming $\sim 10\%$ of DM is interacting and has a particle mass of 1 MeV. This result produces a modest $\sim 20$% suppression of the linear power at $k\lesssim 1~h$/Mpc, consistent with other small-scale structure observations. Similar scale-dependent power suppression was previously shown to have the potential to resolve $S_8$ tension between cosmological data sets. The validity of the specific IDM model explored here will be critically tested with upcoming galaxy surveys at the interaction level needed to alleviate the $S_8$ tension.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Ultra-light axions and the $S_8$ tension: joint constraints from the cosmic microwave background and galaxy clustering

We search for ultra-light axions as dark matter (DM) and dark energy particle candidates, for axion masses $10^{-32}\,\mathrm{eV} \leq m_\mathrm{a} \leq 10^{-24}\,\mathrm{eV}$, by a joint analysis of cosmic microwave background (CMB) and galaxy clustering data -- and consider if axions can resolve the tension in inferred values of the matter clustering parameter $S_8$. We give legacy constraints from Planck 2018 CMB data, improving 2015 limits on the axion density $Ω_\mathrm{a} h^2$ by up to a factor of three; CMB data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and the South Pole Telescope marginally weaken Planck bounds at $m_\mathrm{a} = 10^{-25}\,\mathrm{eV}$, owing to lower (and theoretically-consistent) gravitational lensing signals. We jointly infer, from Planck CMB and full-shape galaxy power spectrum and bispectrum data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), that axions are, today, $< 10\%$ of the DM for $m_\mathrm{a} \leq 10^{-26}\,\mathrm{eV}$ and $< 1\%$ for $10^{-30}\,\mathrm{eV} \leq m_\mathrm{a} \leq 10^{-28}\,\mathrm{eV}$. BOSS data strengthen limits, in particular at higher $m_\mathrm{a}$ by probing high-wavenumber modes ($k < 0.4 h\,\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$). BOSS alone finds a preference for axions at $2.7 σ$, for $m_\mathrm{a} = 10^{-26}\,\mathrm{eV}$, but Planck disfavours this result. Nonetheless, axions in a window $10^{-28}\,\mathrm{eV} \leq m_\mathrm{a} \leq 10^{-25}\,\mathrm{eV}$ can improve consistency between CMB and galaxy clustering data, e.g., reducing the $S_8$ discrepancy from $2.7 σ$ to $1.6 σ$, since these axions suppress structure growth at the $8 h^{-1}\,\mathrm{Mpc}$ scales to which $S_8$ is sensitive. We expect improved constraints with upcoming high-resolution CMB and galaxy lensing and future galaxy clustering data, where we will further assess if axions can restore cosmic concordance.

astro-ph.CO↗