arXiv subjects

Nicola Vittorio

Publications and source records attributed to Nicola Vittorio.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Constraining the general reheating phase in the $α$-attractor inflationary cosmology

In this paper we constrain some aspects of the general postinflationary phase in the context of superconformal $α$-attractor models of inflation. In particular, we provide constraints on the duration of the reheating process, $N_{reh}$, and on the reheating temperature, $T_{reh}$, simulating possible and future results given by the next-generation of cosmological missions. Moreover, we stress what kinds of equation-of-state parameter, $w_{reh}$, are favored for different scenarios. The analysis does not depend on the details of the reheating phase and it is performed assuming different measurements of the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$.

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arXiv2017

Strong evidence for an accelerating universe

A recent analysis of the Supernova Ia data claims a 'marginal' ($\sim3σ$) evidence for a cosmic acceleration. This result has been complemented with a non-accelerating $R_{h}=ct$ cosmology, which was presented as a valid alternative to the $Λ$CDM model. In this paper, we use the same analysis to show that a non-marginal evidence for acceleration is actually found. We compare the standard Friedmann models to the $R_{h}=ct$ cosmology by complementing SN Ia data with the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations, Gamma Ray Bursts and Observational Hubble datasets. We also study the power-law model which is a functional generalisation of $R_{h}=ct$. We find that the evidence for late-time acceleration is beyond refutable at a 4.56$σ$ confidence level from SN Ia data alone, and at an even stronger confidence level ($5.38σ$) from our joint analysis. Also, the non-accelerating $R_{h}=ct$ model fails to statistically compare with the $Λ$CDM having a $Δ(\text{AIC})\sim30$.

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arXiv2016

Is there a concordance value for $H_0$?

We test the theoretical predictions of several cosmological models against different observables to compare the indirect estimates of the current expansion rate of the Universe determined from model fitting with the direct measurements based on Cepheids data published recently. We perform a statistical analysis of type Ia supernova (SN Ia), Hubble parameter, and baryon acoustic oscillation data. A joint analysis of these datasets allows us to better constrain cosmological parameters, but also to break the degeneracy that appears in the distance modulus definition between $H_0$ and the absolute B-band magnitude of SN Ia, $M_0$. From the theoretical side, we considered spatially flat and curvature-free $Λ$CDM, $w$CDM, and inhomogeneous Lemaître-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) models. To analyse SN Ia we took into account the distributions of SN Ia intrinsic parameters. For the $Λ$CDM model we find that $Ω_m=0.35\pm0.02$, $H_0=(67.8\pm1.0)\,$km$\,$s$^{-1}/$Mpc, while the corrected SN absolute magnitude has a normal distribution ${\cal N}(19.13,0.11)$. The $w$CDM model provides the same value for $Ω_m$, while $H_0=(66.5\pm1.8)\,$km$\,$s$^{-1}/$Mpc and $w=-0.93\pm0.07$. When an inhomogeneous LTB model is considered, the combined fit provides $H_0=(64.2\pm1.9)\,$km$\,$s$^{-1}/$Mpc. Both the Akaike information criterion and the Bayes factor analysis cannot clearly distinguish between $Λ$CDM and $w$CDM cosmologies, while they clearly disfavour the LTB model. For the $Λ$CDM, our joint analysis of the SN Ia, the Hubble parameter, and the baryon acoustic oscillation datasets provides $H_0$ values that are consistent with CMB-only Planck measurements, but they differ by $2.5σ$ from the value based on Cepheids data.

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arXiv2016

Optimal cosmic microwave background map-making in the presence of cross-correlated noise

We present an extension of the ROMA map-making algorithm for the generation of optimal cosmic microwave background polarization maps. The new code allows for a possible cross-correlated noise component among the detectors of a CMB experiment. A promising application is the forthcoming LSPE balloon-borne experiment, which is devoted to the accurate observation of CMB polarization at large angular scales. We generalized the noise covariance matrix in time domain to account for all the off-diagonal terms due to the detector cross-talk. Hence, we performed preliminary forecasts of the LSPE-SWIPE instrument. We found that considering the noise cross-correlation among the detectors results in a more realistic estimate of the angular power spectra. In particular, the extended ROMA algorithm has provided a considerable reduction of the spectra error bars. We expect that this improvement could be crucial in constraining the B-mode polarization at the largest scales.

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arXiv2016

Polarization of Cosmic Microwave Background

In this work we present an extension of the ROMA map-making code for data analysis of Cosmic Microwave Background polarization, with particular attention given to the inflationary polarization B-modes. The new algorithm takes into account a possible cross-correlated noise component among the different detectors of a CMB experiment. We tested the code on the observational data of the BOOMERanG (2003) experiment and we show that we are provided with a better estimate of the power spectra, in particular the error bars of the BB spectrum are smaller up to 20% for low multipoles. We point out the general validity of the new method. A possible future application is the LSPE balloon experiment, devoted to the observation of polarization at large angular scales.

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arXiv2014

Dark Matter in Cosmology

In this paper we review the main theoretical and experimental achievements in the field of Dark Matter from the Cosmological and Astrophysical point of view. We revisit it from the very first surveys of local astrophysical matter, up to the stringent constraints on matter properties, coming from the last release of data on cosmological scales. To bring closer and justify the idea of dark matter, we will go across methods and tools for measuring dark matter characteristics, and in some cases a combination of methods that provide one of the greatest direct proofs for dark matter, such as Bullet cluster.

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arXiv2014

Quadrant asymmetry in the angular distribution of the Cosmic Microwave Background in the Planck satellite data

Some peculiar features found in the angular distribution of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) measured by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) deserve further investigation. Among these peculiar features, is the quadrant asymmetry, which is likely related to the north-south asymmetry. In this paper, we aim to extend the analysis of the quadrant asymmetry in the $Λ$CDM framework to the Planck foreground-cleaned maps, using the mask provided by Planck team. We compute the two-point correlation function (TPCF) from each quadrant of the Planck CMB sky maps, and compare the result with 1000 Monte Carlo (MC) simulations generated assuming the $Λ$CDM best-fit power spectrum. We detect the presence of an excess of power in the southeastern quadrant (SEQ) and a significant lack of power in the northeastern quadrant (NEQ) in the Planck data. Asymmetries between the SEQ and the other three quadrants (southwestern quadrant (SWQ), northwestern quadrant (NWQ), and NEQ) are each in disagreement with an isotropic sky at a 95\% confidence level. Furthermore, by rotating the Planck temperature sky map with respect to z direction, we showed the rotation angle where the TPCF of the SEQ has its maximal power. Our analysis of the Planck foreground-cleaned maps shows that there is an excess of power in the TPCF in the SEQ and a significant lack of power in the NEQ when compared with simulations. This asymmetry is anomalous when considering the $Λ$CDM framework .

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arXiv2013

Neutrinos and dark energy constraints from future galaxy surveys and CMB lensing information

We explore the possibility of obtaining better constraints from future astronomical data by means of the Fisher information matrix formalism. In particular, we consider how cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing information can improve our parameter error estimation. We consider a massive neutrino scenario and a time-evolving dark energy equation of state in the $Λ$CDM framework. We use Planck satellite experimental specifications together with the future galaxy survey Euclid in our forecast. We found improvements in almost all studied parameters considering Planck alone when CMB lensing information is used. In this case, the improvement with respect to the constraints found without using CMB lensing is of 93% around the fiducial value for the neutrino parameter. The improvement on one of the dark energy parameter reaches 4.4%. When Euclid information is included in the analysis, the improvements on the neutrino parameter constraint is of approximately 128% around its fiducial value. The addition of Euclid information provides smaller errors on the dark energy parameters as well. For Euclid alone, the FoM is a factor of $\sim$ 29 higher than that from Planck alone even considering CMB lensing. Finally, the consideration of a nearly perfect CMB experiment showed that CMB lensing cannot be neglected specially in more precise future CMB experiments since it provided in our case a 6 times better FoM in respect to the unlensed CMB analysis .

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arXiv2012

Forecasting isocurvature models with CMB lensing information: axion and curvaton scenarios

Some inflationary models predict the existence of isocurvature primordial fluctuations, in addition to the well known adiabatic perturbation. Such mixed models are not yet ruled out by available data sets. In this paper we explore the possibility of obtaining better constraints on the isocurva- ture contribution from future astronomical data. We consider the axion and curvaton inflationary scenarios, and use Planck satellite experimental specifications together with SDSS galaxy survey to forecast for the best parameter error estimation by means of the Fisher information matrix formal- ism. In particular, we consider how CMB lensing information can improve this forecast. We found substantial improvements for all the considered cosmological parameters. In the case of isocurvature amplitude this improvement is strongly model dependent, varying between less than 1% and above 20% around its fiducial value. Furthermore, CMB lensing enables the degeneracy break between the isocurvature amplitude and correlation phase in one of the models. In this sense, CMB lensing information will be crucial in the analysis of future data.

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arXiv2010

Needlet Bispectrum Asymmetries in the WMAP 5-year Data

We apply the needlet formalism to the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 5-year data, looking for evidence of non-Gaussianity in the bispectrum of the needlet amplitudes. We confirm earlier findings of an asymmetry in the non-Gaussianity between the northern and southern galactic hemispheres. We attempt to isolate which scales and geometrical configurations are most anomalous, and find the bispectrum is most significant on large scales and in the more co-linear configurations, and also in the `squeezed' configurations. However, these anomalies do not appear to affect the estimate of the non-linear parameter $\fnl$, and we see no significant difference between its value measured in the two hemispheres.

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arXiv2009

Constraints on Primordial Non-Gaussianity from a Needlet Analysis of the WMAP-5 Data

We look for a non-Gaussian signal in the WMAP 5-year temperature anisotropy maps by performing a needlet-based data analysis. We use the foreground-reduced maps obtained by the WMAP team through the optimal combination of the W, V and Q channels, and perform realistic non-Gaussian simulations in order to constrain the non-linear coupling parameter $\fnl$. We apply a third-order estimator of the needlet coefficients skewness and compute the $χ^2$ statistics of its distribution. We obtain $-80<\fnl<120$ at 95% confidence level, which is consistent with a Gaussian distribution and comparable to previous constraints on the non-linear coupling. We then develop an estimator of $\fnl$ based on the same simulations and we find consistent constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity. We finally compute the three point correlation function in needlet space: the constraints on $\fnl$ improve to $-50<\fnl<110$ at 95% confidence level.

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arXiv2006

The CMB polarization: status and prospects

The study of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization is still in a pioneering stage, but promises to bring a huge advancement in cosmology in the near future, just as high-accuracy observations of the anisotropies in the total intensity of the CMB revolutionized our understanding of the universe in the past few years. In this contribution, we outline the scientific case for observing CMB polarization, and review the current observational status and future experimental prospects in the field.

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arXiv2005

ROMA: a map-making algorithm for polarised CMB data sets

We present ROMA, a parallel code to produce joint optimal temperature and polarisation maps out of multidetector CMB observations. ROMA is a fast, accurate and robust implementation of the iterative generalised least squares approach to map-making. We benchmark ROMA on realistic simulated data from the last, polarisation sensitive, flight of BOOMERanG.

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arXiv2004

Asymmetries in the local curvature of the WMAP data

We use the local curvature to investigate the possible existence of non-Gaussianity/asymmetry in the WMAP data. Considering the full sky we find results which are consistent with the Gaussian assumption. However, strong non-Gaussian features emerge when considering the northern and southern galactic hemisphere separately, particularly on scales between 1 and 5 degrees. Quite interestingly, the maximum non-Gaussianity is found for hemispheres centered near the ecliptic poles, which might suggest the presence of some systematic effect. The direction of the asymmetry seems consistent with the findings by Eriksen et al. 2004.

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arXiv2004

Search for non-Gaussianity in pixel, harmonic and wavelet space: compared and combined

We present a comparison between three approaches to test non-Gaussianity of cosmic microwave background data. The Minkowski functionals, the empirical process method and the skewness of wavelet coefficients are applied to maps generated from non-standard inflationary models and to Gaussian maps with point sources included. We discuss the different power of the pixel, harmonic and wavelet space methods on these simulated almost full-sky data (with Planck like noise). We also suggest a new procedure consisting of a combination of statistics in pixel, harmonic and wavelet space.

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arXiv2003

The extended empirical process test for non-Gaussianity in the CMB, with an application to non-Gaussian inflationary models

In (Hansen et al. 2002) we presented a new approach for measuring non-Gaussianity of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy pattern, based on the multivariate empirical distribution function of the spherical harmonics a_lm of a CMB map. The present paper builds upon the same ideas and proposes several improvements and extensions. More precisely, we exploit the additional information on the random phases of the a_lm to provide further tests based on the empirical distribution function. Also we take advantage of the effect of rotations in improving the power of our procedures. The suggested tests are implemented on physically motivated models of non-Gaussian fields; Monte-Carlo simulations suggest that this approach may be very promising in the analysis of non-Gaussianity generated by non-standard models of inflation. We address also some experimentally meaningful situations, such as the presence of instrumental noise and a galactic cut in the map.

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arXiv2002

Testing for non-Gaussianity of the cosmic microwave background in harmonic space: an empirical process approach

We present a new, model-independent approach for measuring non-Gaussianity of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy pattern. Our approach is based on the empirical distribution function of the normalized spherical harmonic expansion coefficients a_lm of a nearly full-sky CMB map, like the ones expected from forthcoming satellite experiments. Using a set of Kolmogorov-Smirnov type tests, we check for Gaussianity and independency of the a_lm. We test the method on two non-Gaussian toy-models of the CMB, one generated in spherical harmonic space and one in pixel (real) space. We also provide some rigorous results, possibly of independent interest, on the exact distribution of the spherical harmonic coefficients normalized by an estimated angular power spectrum.

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arXiv2002

Constraints on flat cosmologies with tracking Quintessence from Cosmic Microwave Background observations

We constrain cosmological parameters in flat cosmologies with tracking dark energy (or Quintessence) using the existing data on Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies. We perform a maximum likelihood analysis using combined data from COBE/DMR, BOOMERanG, DASI and MAXIMA, obtaining estimates for the dark energy density $Ω_{Q}$ and equation of state $w_{Q}$, the physical baryon density $Ω_{b}h^{2}$, the scalar perturbation spectral index $n_{S}$, the ratio $R$ between the tensor and scalar perturbation amplitude (or the tensor spectral index $n_{T}$). Dark energy is found to be the dominant cosmological component $Ω_{Q}=0.71^{+0.05}_{-0.04}$, with equation of state $w_{Q}=-0.82^{+0.14}_{-0.11}$ (68% C.L.). Our best fit value of the physical baryon density is in good agreement with the primordial nucleosynthesis bound. We find no significant evidence for deviations from scale-invariance, although a scalar spectral index slightly smaller than unity is marginally preferred. Finally, we find that the contribution of cosmological gravitational waves is negligible. These results confirm that Quintessence is slightly preferred with respect to ordinary cosmological constant by the present CMB data.

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