arXiv subjects

Shashikant Gupta

Publications and source records attributed to Shashikant Gupta.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Luminosity-Dependent Variations in the Secondary Maximum of Type Ia Supernovae and Their Connection to Host Galaxy Morphology

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are considered standardizable candles and are therefore important probes of the universe's expansion history and cosmic distances. In comparison to the optical and IR photometric observations, NIR light curves of SNe Ia are more uniform and are less affected by dust extinction; hence, they can provide more precise distance estimates. This study examines the relationship between the luminosity-dependent behavior of the NIR secondary maximum ($t_2$) and the decline rate parameter ($\Delta m_{15}$) in the B Band. We analyzed 54 SNe Ia using linear, piecewise linear regression, and non-linear models along with non-parametric statistical techniques to examine the correlation between $t_2$ and $\Delta m_{15}$. Our results show that the secondary maximum timing varies among SNe Ia but exhibits a luminosity-dependent structure, with significant differences between SNe hosted in late and early-type galaxies. Two separate groups belonging to different host morphologies have been identified through our analysis, one containing brighter SNe and the other containing fainter SNe. These findings have important implications for improving the calibration of SNe Ia for cosmological applications.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

How accurate are current $^{56}$Ni mass estimates in Type Ia Supernovae?

The diversity of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) has become increasingly apparent with the rapid growth in observational data. Understanding the explosion mechanism of SNe Ia is crucial for their cosmological calibration and for advancing our knowledge of stellar physics. The estimation of $^{56}$Ni mass produced in these events is key to elucidating their explosion mechanism. This study compares two methods of $^{56}$Ni mass estimation. We first examine the relationship between peak luminosity and the second maximum in near-infrared (NIR) bands using observations of 18 nearby SNe Ia. Based on this relationship, we estimate the Ni mass for a set of nine well-observed SNe Ia using the Arnett rule. Additionally, we estimate the $^{56}$Ni mass using bolometric light curves of these SNe through energy conservation arguments. A comparison of these two estimation methods using Student's t-test reveals no statistically significant differences between the estimates. This finding suggests that both methods provide robust estimates of Ni mass in SNe Ia.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Does the Amati Correlation Exhibit Redshift-Driven Heterogeneity in Long GRBs?

Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) offer significant insights into cosmology due to their high energy emissions and the potential to probe the early universe. The Amati relation, which links the intrinsic peak energy to the isotropic energy, is crucial for understanding their cosmological applications. This study investigates the redshift-driven heterogeneity of the Amati correlation in long GRBs. Analyzing 221 long GRBs with redshifts from 0.034 to 8.2 we divided the dataset based on redshift thresholds of 1.5 and 2. Using Bayesian marginalization and Reichart's likelihood approach, we found significant differences in the Amati parameters between low and high redshift subgroups. These variations, differing by approximately $2\sigma$ at $z = 1.5$ and more than $1\sigma$ at $z = 2$, suggest an evolution in the GRB population with redshift, possibly reflecting changes in host galaxy properties. However, selection effects and instrumental biases may also contribute. Our results challenge the assumption of the Amati relation's universality and underscore the need for larger datasets and more precise measurements from upcoming missions like Transient High-Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor (THESEUS) and enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry mission (eXTP) to refine our understanding of GRB physics.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Investigating The Hubble Tension Through Hubble Parameter Data

The Hubble constant ($H_0$), which represents the expansion rate of the Universe, is one of the most important cosmological parameters. The recent measurements of $H_0$ using the distance ladder methods such as Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) are significantly greater than the CMB measurements by Planck. The difference points to a crisis in the standard model of cosmology termed as Hubble tension. In this work we compare different cosmological models, determine the Hubble constant and comment on the Hubble tension using the data from differential ages of galaxies. The data we use is free from the systematic effects as the absolute age estimation of the galaxies is not needed. We have used the Bayesian approach along with the commonly used maximum likelihood method to estimate $H_0$ and have calculated the AIC scores to compare the different cosmological models.The non-flat cosmological model provides a higher value for matter density as well as the Hubble constant compared to the flat $Λ$CDM model. The AIC score is smaller for the flat $Λ$CDM cosmology compared to the non-flat model indicating the flat model a better choice. The best-fit value of $H_0$ for both these models are $68.7\pm3.1$ km/s/Mpc and $72.2\pm4$ km/s/Mpc, respectively. Our results are consistent with the CCHP measurements. However, flat model result does not agree with the SH0ES result, while the non-flat result is inconsistent with the Planck value.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Investigating the Evolution of Amati Parameters with Redshift

Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB) are among the brightest objects in the Universe and hence can be observed up to a very high redshift. Properly calibrated empirical correlations between intensity and spectral correlations of GRBs can be used to estimate the cosmological parameters. However, the possibility of the evolution of GRBs with the redshift is a long-standing puzzle. In this work, we used 162 long-duration GRBs to determine whether GRBs below and above a certain redshift have different properties. The GRBs are split into two groups, and we fit the Amati relation for each group separately. Our findings demonstrate that estimations of the Amati parameters for the two groups are substantially dissimilar. We perform simulations to investigate whether the selection effects could cause the difference. Our analysis shows that the differences may be intrinsic, and the selection effects are not their true origin.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Investigating the Hubble Tension: Effect of Cepheid Calibration

Recent observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe) by SH0ES collaboration (R11 and R16) diverge from the value reported by recent CMBR observations utilising the Planck satellite and application of the $ΛCDM$ cosmological model by at least $3 σ$. It is among the most challenging problems in contemporary cosmology and is known as the Hubble tension. The SNe Ia in R11 and R16 were calibrated through cepheid variables in three distinct galaxies: Milky Way, LMC, and NGC4258. Carnegie Hubble Program (CHP) observations of type Ia SNe calibrated using the tip of the red giant approach yielded a somewhat different estimate for the Hubble constant. This decreased the Hubble tension from over 3$σ$ to below 2$σ$. It is a legitimate question to answer whether there are any issues with SNe Ia calibration and to investigate whether the Hubble tension is real or not. We use statistical techniques namely, ANOVA, K-S test, and t-test to examine whether the cepheid calibration is host-dependent. Our analysis shows that (i) both R11 and R16 data suffer from non-Gaussian systematic effects, (ii) $H_0$ values in the sub-samples (different anchor-based) in both R11 and R16 groups are significantly different at a 99\% confidence level, and (iii) neglecting the metal-rich MW sample does not reduce the $H_0$ value significantly, and thus Hubble tension persists. A small reduction in the Hubble constant could be linked to the differences in the host environment. Hence instead of using a single universal relation environment based slope and zero point should be preferred.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Accreting White Dwarfs: Effect of WD Composition on Helium Ignition During Slow Accretion

Understanding the explosion mechanism of type Ia supernova is among the most challenging issues in astrophysics. Accretion of matter on a carbon-oxygen white dwarf from a companion star is one of the most important keys in this regard. Our aim is to study the effects of WD composition on various parameters during the accretion of helium rich matter at a slow rate. We have used the computer simulation code Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA) to understand the variations in the properties such as specific heat (\textit{$C_P$}) and degeneracy parameter (\textit{$η$}). The profile of specific heat shows a discontinuity and that of the degeneracy parameter shows a dip near the ignition region. As expected, the size of WD decreases and \textit{g} increases during the accretion. However, a red-giant-like expansion is observed after the rapid ignition towards the end. Our study explains the reason behind the delay in onset of helium ignition due to the difference in carbon abundance in a CO-WD. We find that white dwarfs of the lower abundance of carbon accrete slightly longer before the onset of helium ignition.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2021

Low temperature magnetic and dielectric properties correlation in Fe-doped copper (ii) oxide ceramics for potential device application

The bulk samples of CuO and Fe-doped CuO were synthesized by ceramics methods. Structural and compositional analyses were performed by using X-ray diffraction, SEM, and EDAX. Through this manuscript, we are going to report the effect of trivalent iron doping (Fe$^{3+}$) in copper (II) oxide (Cu$_{0.95}$Fe$_{0.05}$O) bulk samples on magnetic and dielectric behavior. The paramagnetic phase has been established in CuO as a result of Fe$^{3+}$ doping. The strong correlation between magnetic and dielectric properties indicated spin-polaron interaction at the transition temperature. Bulk CuO and also Cu$_{0.95}$Fe$_{0.05}$O exhibit the multiferroic phase in a narrow temperature range (190 K to 230 K). Two transitions happened from a paramagnetic-paraelectric phase to incommensurate or asymmetrical antiferromagnetic (AF) and ferroelectric state near highest Neel temperature (TN1) ~230 K and another second phase transition, the order of AF phase transformed to commensurate AF phase and ferroelectricity disappeared at around the Neel temperature (TN2) ~210 K in all samples. This Cu$_{0.95}$Fe$_{0.05}$O would show its potential in the spintronic application for a high dielectric constant with low loss and high magnetic susceptibility.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Slow Accretion of Helium Rich Matter onto C-O White Dwarf: Does Composition of WD Matter?

In binary systems, the helium accretion onto carbon-oxygen (CO) white dwarfs (WDs) plays a vital role in many astrophysical scenarios, especially in supernovae type Ia. Moreover, ignition density for accretion rate $\dot{M} \lesssim 10^{-9} M_{\odot}$ $yr^{-1}$ in helium accreting CO white dwarfs decides the triggering mechanism of a supernova explosion which could be either off-centre helium flash or central carbon flash. We aim to study the accretion of helium with a slow accretion rate $5 \times 10^{-10} M_{\odot}$ $yr^{-1}$ onto relatively cool and hot white dwarfs of different abundances of carbon and oxygen. The simulation code Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA) has been used for our study. We analyze the variation in several properties like surface gravity (g), helium luminosity ($L_{He}$), and effective temperature ($T_{eff}$) during the accretion phase of the white dwarfs. We also calculate the ignition density ($ρ_{He}$) and ignition temperature ($T_{He}$) of helium burning. As expected, the size of WD decreases and g increases during the accretion. However, a red-giant-like expansion is observed after the rapid ignition towards the end. The dependence of helium accreting WD evolution on its composition has also been explored in this study. We find that white dwarfs of the lower abundance of carbon accrete slightly longer before the onset of helium ignition.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2021

Cosmological Analysis using Panstarrs data: Hubble Constant and Direction Dependence

Hubble tension and the search for preferred direction are two crucial unresolved issues in modern cosmology. Different measurements of the Hubble constant provide significantly different values, and this is known as the Hubble tension. The cosmological principle assumes that the universe is homogeneous and isotropic; however, deviations from the isotropy have often been observed. We apply the Bayesian tools and the Extreme Value theory dependent statistic to address the above issues. These techniques have been applied to the Panstarrs1 type Ia supernovae data. Our analysis for Hubble constant does not reject the Hubble tension. However, our value is smaller than that of the SHoES program and agrees with the CCHP value. Extreme value theory-based analysis indicates that the data does not show direction dependence. As a byproduct of our technique, we show that the errors in the data are non-Gaussian in nature.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

Measurement of Hubble Constant: Do Different Cosmological Probes Provide Different Values?

Different measurements of the Hubble constant ($H_{0}$) are not consistent and a tension between the CMB based methods and cosmic distance ladder based methods has been observed. Measurements from various distance based methods are also inconsistent. To aggravate the problem, same cosmological probe (Type Ia SNe for instance) calibrated through different methods also provide different value of $H_{0}$. We compare various distance ladder based methods through the already available unique data obtained from Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Our analysis is based on parametric (T-test) as well as non-parametric statistical methods such as the Mann-Whitney U test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Our results show that different methods provide different values of $H_0$ and the differences are statistically significant. The biases in the calibration would not account for these differences as the data has been taken from a single telescope with common calibration scheme. The unknown physical effects or issues with the empirical relations of distance measurement from different probes could give rise to these differences.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Measurement of Hubble constant: Non-Gaussian Errors in HST key project data

Assuming the Central Limit Theorem, experimental uncertainties in any data set are expected to follow the Gaussian distribution with zero mean. We propose an elegant method based on Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic to test the above; and apply it on the measurement of Hubble constant which determines the expansion rate of the Universe. The measurements were made using Hubble Space Telescope. Our analysis shows that the uncertainties in the above measurement are non-Gaussian.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

On The Non-Gaussian Errors in High-z Supernovae Type Ia Data

The nature of random errors in any data set that is Gaussian is a well established fact according to the Central Limit Theorem. Supernovae type Ia data have played a crucial role in major discoveries in cosmology. Unlike in laboratory experiments, astronomical measurements can not be performed in controlled situations. Thus, errors in astronomical data can be more severe in terms of systematics and non-Gaussianity compared to those of laboratory experiments. In this paper, we use the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic to test non-Gaussianity in high-z supernovae data. We apply this statistic to four data sets, i.e., Gold data(2004), Gold data(2007), Union2 catalogue and the Union2.1 data set for our analysis. Our results shows that in all four data sets the errors are consistent with the Gaussian distribution.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

High-z Supernova Type Ia Data: non-Gaussianity and Direction Dependence

We use the $Δ_{χ^2}$ statistic introduced in \cite{gup08,gup10} to study directional dependence, in the high-z supernovae data. This dependence could arise due to departures from the cosmological principle or from direction dependent statistical systematics in the data. We apply our statistic to the gold data set from \cite{rie04} and \cite{rie07}, and Union2 catalogue from \cite{aman10}. Our results show that all the three data sets show a weak but consistent direction dependence. In 2007 data errors are Gaussian, however other two data sets show non-Gaussian features.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Non-Gaussianity and direction dependent systematics in HST key project data

Two new statistics, namely $Δ_χ^2$ and $Δ_χ$, based on extreme value theory, were derived in \cite{gupta08,gupta10}. We use these statistics to study direction dependence in the HST key project data which provides the most precise measurement of the Hubble constant. We also study the non-Gaussianity in this data set using these statistics. Our results for $Δ_χ^2$ show that the significance of direction dependent systematics is restricted to well below one $σ$ confidence limit, however, presence of non-Gaussian features is subtle. On the other hand $Δ_χ$ statistic, which is more sensitive to direction dependence, shows direction dependence systematics to be at slightly higher confidence level, and the presence of non-Gaussian features at a level similar to the $Δ_χ^2$ statistic.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Direction Dependence in Supernova Data: Constraining Isotropy

We revise and extend the extreme value statistic, introduced in \cite{gup08}, to study directional dependence in the high redshift supernova data; arising either from departures from the cosmological principle or due to direction dependent statistical systematics in e data. We introduce a likelihood function that analytically marginalises over the Hubble constant, and use it to extend our previous statistic. We also introduce a new statistic that is sensitive to direction dependence arising from living off-centre inside a large void, as well as previously mentioned reasons for anisotropy. We show that for large data sets this statistic has a limiting form that can be computed analytically. We apply our statistics to the gold data sets from \cite{rie04} and \cite{rie07}, as in our previous work. Our revision and extension of previous statistic shows that 1) the effect of marginalsing over Hubble constant instead of using its best fit value has only a marginal effect on our results. However, correction of errors in our previous work reduce the level of non-Gaussianity in the 2004 gold data that was found in our earlier work. The revised results for the 2007 gold data show that the data is consistent with isotropy and Gaussianity. Our second statistic confirms these results.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2007

Direction Dependent Non-gaussianity in High-z Supernova Data

The most detailed constraints on the accelerating expansion of the universe and details of nature of dark energy are derived from the high redshift supernova data, assuming that the errors in the measurements are Gaussian in nature. There is a possibility that there are direction dependent systematics in the data, either due to uncorrected, known physical processes or because there are tiny departures from the cosmological principle, making the universe slightly anisotropic. To investigate this possibility we introduce a statistic based on the extreme value theory and apply it to the gold data set from Riess et al. (2004). Our analysis indicates a systematic, direction dependent non-gaussianity at about one sigma level.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Cosmology with decaying tachyon matter

We investigate the case of a homogeneous tachyon field coupled to gravity in a spatially flat Friedman-Robertson-Walker spacetime. Assuming the field evolution to be exponentially decaying with time we solve the field equations and show that, under certain conditions, the scale factor represents an accelerating universe, following a phase of decelerated expansion. We make use of a model of dark energy (with p=-ρ) and dark matter (p=0) where a single scalar field (tachyon) governs the dynamics of both the dark components. We show that this model fits the current supernova data as well as the canonical \LambdaCDM model. We give the bounds on the parameters allowed by the current data.

astro-ph↗