arXiv subjects

Soumen Basak

Publications and source records attributed to Soumen Basak.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantum resolution of the Schwarzschild singularity

We revisit the Schwarzschild singularity in a semiclassical setting where the background geometry is classical and quantum effects enter through Bohmian (quantal) trajectories associated with a Klein Gordon wave packet. Using the Madelung-Bohm decomposition of the Klein Gordon wavefunction, we show that the quantum-modified motion is equivalent to geodesic motion in an effective metric conformally related to Schwarzschild, with a conformal factor fixed by the wavefunction amplitude. Solving the wavefunction equation near $r\to 0$ determines this factor and yields finite curvature invariants, in suitable coordinates the interior extends smoothly and the effective spacetime is geodesically complete. This suggests that quantum dynamics on a fixed classical background can regularize the Schwarzschild singularity without a full theory of quantum gravity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Spin-orbit driven $J_{eff} = 1/2$ magnetism in a d$^7$ triangular-lattice monolayer cobaltate

Recent theoretical and experimental advances have identified cobaltates with a high-spin $d^7$ electronic configuration as promising hosts for spin-orbit entangled $J_{eff} = 1/2$ magnetism that can support bond-dependent exchange interactions. In two-dimensional triangular lattices, the coexistence of such exchange frustration along with geometric frustration gives rise to a rich landscape of competing magnetic phases, establishing monolayer triangular $d^7$ cobaltates as a compelling platform for frustrated magnetism. Here we investigate a representative triangular-lattice monolayer cobaltate CoBr$_2$, where first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal a dominant nearest-neighbor $t_{2g}$-$e_g$ hopping channel that enhances the ferromagnetic Kitaev-type exchange interactions. In contrast, the nearest-neighbor Heisenberg term is highly sensitive to a direct $t_{2g}$-$t_{2g}$ hopping path and electronic correlations. The magnetic exchange parameters are evaluated using the hopping amplitudes obtained from DFT calculations within an exact diagonalization framework. We construct the first and third nearest neighbor Heisenberg exchange dependent $J_1$-$J_3$ magnetic phase diagram in the physically relevant regime and identify multiple competing ground states, including ferromagnetic, stripy, spiral, and $120^{\circ}$ antiferromagnetic orders. The Luttinger-Tisza analysis further predicts a Z$_2$ vortex crystal phase, while exact diagonalization reveals a bond-nematic phase stabilized by the longer-range couplings. Going beyond the conventional bond-independent XXZ picture typically applied to Co$^{2+}$ systems, our results on monolayer CoBr$_2$ establish d$^7$ cobalt dihalides as a promising platform to explore the interplay of long-range Heisenberg and bond-dependent exchange interactions that can stabilize diverse magnetic ground states on a triangular lattice.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Parameterizing Noise Covariance in Maximum-Likelihood Component Separation

We introduce a noise-aware extension to the parametric maximum-likelihood framework for component separation by modeling correlated $1/f^\alpha$ noise as a harmonic-space power law. This approach addresses a key limitation of existing implementations, for which a mismodelling of the statistical properties of the noise can lead to biases in the characterization of the spectral laws, and consequently biases in the recovered CMB maps. We propose a novel framework based on a modified ridge likelihood embedded in an ensemble-average pipeline and derive an analytic bias correction to control noise-induced foreground residuals. We discuss the practical applications of this approach in the absence of true noise information, leading to the choice of white noise as a realistic assumption. As a proof of concept, we apply this methodology to a set of simplified, idealized simulations inspired by the specifications of the proposed ECHO (CMB-Bh$\overline{a}$rat) mission, which features multi-frequency, large-format focal planes. We forecast the $95 \%$ upper limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r_{95}$, under a suite of realistic noise scenarios. Our results show that for an optimistic full sky observation, ECHO can achieve $r_{95}\leq 10^{-4}$ even in the presence of significant correlated noise, demonstrating the mission's capability to probe primordial gravitational waves with unprecedented sensitivity. Without degrading the statistical performance of the traditional component separation, this methodology offers a robust path toward next-generation B-mode searches and informs instrument design by quantifying the impact of noise correlations on cosmological parameter recovery.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Generative AI for image reconstruction in Intensity Interferometry: a first attempt

In the last few years, Intensity Interferometry (II) has made significant strides in achieving high-precision resolution of stellar objects at optical wavelengths. Despite these advancements, phase retrieval remains a major challenge due to the nature of photon correlation. This paper explores the application of a conditional Generative Adversarial Network (cGAN) to tackle the problem of image reconstruction in II. This method successfully reconstructs the shape, size, and brightness distribution of simulated, fast-rotating stars based on sparsely sampled spatial power spectra obtained by using two different hypothetical ground-based II facilities composed of six and nine Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs), respectively. Although this particular example could also be addressed using parameter fitting, our results suggest that with larger arrays of IACTs much more complex systems with varied surface features could be reconstructed by applying machine-learning techniques to II. Hence this approach merits closer examination.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Constraints on Generalized Gravity-Thermodynamic Cosmology from DESI DR2

We explore the cosmological implications of generalized entropic models within the framework of Gravity-Thermodynamics (GT) approaches. These models, characterized by three or four additional free parameters, are designed to capture deviations from the standard Bekenstein-Hawking entropy and can reproduce well-known entropic formulations, including Tsallis, R\'enyi, Sharma-Mittal, Barrow, Kaniadakis, and Loop Quantum Gravity entropies in various analytical limits. We implement the corresponding cosmological models using a fully numerical GT approach to constrain the model parameters and to study the evolution of the dark energy equation of state as a function of the scale factor. Our Bayesian analysis, which incorporates the Pantheon+ and DESy5 supernovae data alongside the recently released DESI-DR2/DR1 Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) measurements, shows that the data favor the standard Bekenstein-Hawking entropy, leading to a $\Lambda$CDM-like late-time behavior. In this context, the three-parameter ($\mathcal{S}_3$) entropic model appears to be sufficient to capture the observed dark energy phenomenology. Furthermore, a direct comparison of the Bayesian evidence indicates that the three-parameter model is preferred over the four-parameter ($\mathcal{S}_4$) variant by a factor of $\Delta\log\mathcal{B} \sim -6$, while the GT approach as a whole is significantly disfavored relative to the $\Lambda$CDM model with at least $\Delta\log\mathcal{B} \sim -8$ ($\mathcal{S}_3$) to $\Delta\log\mathcal{B} \sim -13$ ($\mathcal{S}_4$), when using the DESy5 and DESI-DR2 datasets.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Superradiance of anyons

In this paper, we investigate superradiance of anyons from a (2+1)-dimensional Ba\~nados, Teitelboim and Zanelli (BTZ) black hole. Our analysis demonstrates that the superradiance condition for anyons mirrors that of a neutral scalar field within a BTZ black hole. Furthermore, we explore the feasibility of observing this phenomenon in analogue black holes and formulate the corresponding superradiance condition for acoustic black holes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Inflationary Gravitational Waves as a probe of the unknown post-inflationary primordial Universe

One of the key predictions of the standard inflationary paradigm is the quantum mechanical generation of the transverse and traceless tensor fluctuations due to the rapid accelerated expansion of space, which later constitute a stochastic background of primordial gravitational waves (GWs). The amplitude of the (nearly) scale-invariant inflationary tensor power spectrum at large scales provides us with crucial information about the energy scale of inflation in the case of the minimal inflaton coupling to gravity. Furthermore, the spectral energy density, $\Omega_{_{\rm GW}}(f)$, of the GWs at sufficiently small scales (or, large frequencies $f$) serves as an important observational probe of post-inflationary primordial dynamics. In fact, the small-scale spectral tilt, $n_{_{\rm GW}} = \frac{{\rm d}\log{\Omega_{_{\rm GW}}}}{{\rm d}\log{f}}$, of the spectral energy density of GWs is sensitive to the (unknown) post-inflationary equation of state (EoS), $w$, of the universe; with a softer EoS ($w < 1/3$) leading to a red tilt: $n_{_{\rm GW}} < 0$, while a stiffer EoS ($w > 1/3$) resulting in a blue tilt: $n_{_{\rm GW}} > 0$. The post-inflationary dynamics, however, is generically expected to be quite complex, potentially involving a number of distinct phases. Hence, in this work, we discuss the possibility of multiple sharp transitions, namely $w_1 \to w_2 \to w_3 \to ... \to w_n$, in the EoS of the post-inflationary universe and compute the corresponding spectral energy density of the inflationary GWs. We explicitly determine the region of the parameter space $\lbrace{ w_1, \, w_2, \, w_3, ..., w_n\rbrace}$ which leads to a potentially detectable signal in the upcoming GW detectors, without violating the current constraints.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Holographic and Gravity-Thermodynamic Approaches in Entropic Cosmology: Bayesian Assessment using late-time Data

We investigate the cosmological implications of entropy-based approaches in the context of Holographic Dark Energy (HDE) and Gravity-Thermodynamics (GT) formalisms. We utilise the extended Barrow entropy form, with the index parameter $\Delta$, representing the fractal dimension of the horizon. We also test implementing different parameter ranges for $\Delta$, which can be extended to Tsallis' interpretation within the same formal cosmology. We perform a Bayesian analysis to constrain the cosmological parameters using the Pantheon+, more recent DESy5, DESI, and, as a supplement, Quasar datasets. We find that the HDE model within almost all data combinations performs extremely well in comparison to the GT approach, which is usually strongly disfavored. Using the combination of DESy5+DESI alone, we find that the GT approaches are disfavored at $|\log \mathcal{B}| \sim 5.8$ and $|\log \mathcal{B}| \sim 6.2$ for the Barrow and Tsallis limits on $\Delta$, respectively, wrt $\Lambda$CDM model. While the HDE approach is statistically equivalent to $\Lambda$CDM when comparing the Bayesian evidence. We also investigate the evolution of the dark energy equation of state and place limits on the same, consistent with quintessence-like behaviour in the HDE approaches.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Formation and decay of oscillons after inflation in the presence of an external coupling, Part-I: Lattice simulations

We investigate the formation and decay of oscillons during the post-inflationary reheating epoch from inflaton oscillations around asymptotically flat potentials $V(\varphi)$ in the presence of an external coupling of the form $\frac{1}{2}\, g^2 \, \varphi^2 \, \chi^2$. It is well-known that in the absence of such an external coupling, the attractive self-interaction term in the potential leads to the formation of copious amounts of long-lived oscillons both for symmetric and asymmetric plateau potentials. We perform a detailed numerical analysis to study the formation of oscillons in the $\alpha$-attractor E- and T-model potentials using the publicly available lattice simulation code ${\cal C}$osmo${\cal L}$attice. We observe the formation of nonlinear oscillon-like structures with the average equation of state $\langle w_\varphi\rangle \simeq 0$ for a range of values of the inflaton self-coupling $\lambda$ and the external coupling $g^2$. Our results demonstrate that oscillons form even in the presence of an external coupling and we determine the upper bound on $g^2$ which facilitates oscillon formation. We also find that eventually, these oscillons decay into the scalar inflaton radiation as well as into the quanta of the offspring field $\chi$. Thus, we establish the possibility that reheating could have proceeded through the channel of oscillon decay, along with the usual decay of the oscillating inflaton condensate into $\chi$ particles. For a given value of the self-coupling $\lambda$, we notice that the lifetime of a population of oscillons decreases with an increase in the strength of the external coupling, following an (approximately) inverse power-law dependence on $g^2$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Interference with (Pseudo) Thermal Light; The Hanbury Brown and Twiss Effect

The correlation of light from two sources leads to an interference pattern if they belong to a specific time interval known as the coherence time, denoted as $\Delta \tau$. The relationship governing this phenomenon is $\Delta \tau \Delta \nu \approx 1$, where $\Delta \nu$ represents the bandwidth of the light. This requirement is not satisfied, and hence, interference fringes are not observable in the case of ordinary (thermal) light. In the 1950s, Robert Hanbury Brown and Richard Q. Twiss explored interference phenomena using a narrow bandwidth of thermal light. This investigation led to the discovery of the Hanbury-Brown and Twiss effect (or the HBT effect in short), which has since found applications in various fields, particularly stellar observations and quantum optics. This article briefly traces the history of the HBT effect and its applications in various fields, including stellar observations. More importantly, it outlines the basic theoretical framework of this effect, followed by the design and results of the correlation in intensity fluctuation of a pseudo-thermal light in a college laboratory setting (Michelson interferometer).

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2023

Implications of the pulsar timing array detections for massive black hole mergers in the LISA band

The recent evidence of a stochastic background of gravitational waves in the nHz band by pulsar-timing array (PTA) experiments has shed new light on the formation and evolution of massive black hole binaries with masses $\sim 10^8$--$10^9 M_\odot$. The PTA data are consistent with a population of such binaries merging efficiently after the coalescence of their galactic hosts, and presenting masses slightly larger than previously expected. This momentous discovery calls for investigating the prospects of detecting the smaller ($\sim 10^5$--$10^7 M_\odot$) massive black hole binaries targeted by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). By using semi-analytic models for the formation and evolution of massive black hole binaries calibrated against the PTA results, we find that LISA will observe at least a dozen and up to thousands of black hole binaries during its mission duration. The minimum number of detections rises to $\sim 70$ if one excludes models that only marginally reproduce the quasar luminosity function at $z=6$. We also assess LISA's parameter estimation capabilities with state-of-the-art waveforms including higher modes and realistic instrumental response, and find that the masses, sky position, and distance will typically be estimated to within respectively 1%, 10 square degrees, and 10% for the detected systems (assuming a 4-year mission).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Measuring deviations from the Kerr geometry with black hole ringdown

Black holes in General Relativity are famously characterized by two "hairs" only, the mass and the spin of the Kerr spacetime. Theories extending General Relativity, however, allow in principle for additional black hole charges, which will generally modify the multipole structure of the Kerr solution. Here, we show that gravitational wave observations of the post-merger ringdown signal from black hole binaries may permit measuring these additional "hairs". We do so by considering spacetime geometries differing from the Kerr one at the level of the quadrupole moment, and computing the differences of their quasinormal mode frequencies from the Kerr ones in the eikonal limit. We then perform a Bayesian analysis with current and future gravitational wave data and compute posterior constraints for the quadrupole deviation away from Kerr. We find that the inclusion of higher modes, which are potentially observable by future detectors, will allow for constraining deviations from the Kerr quadrupole at percent level.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Importance of high-frequency bands for thermal dust removal in ECHO

The Indian Consortium of Cosmologists has proposed a cosmic microwave background (CMB) space mission, Exploring Cosmic History and Origin (ECHO). A major scientific goal of the mission is to detect the primordial B-mode signal of CMB polarization. The detection of the targeted signal is very challenging as it is deeply buried under the dominant astrophysical foreground emissions of the thermal dust and the Galactic synchrotron. To facilitate the adequate subtraction of thermal dust, the instrument design of ECHO has included nine dust-dominated high-frequency bands over the frequency range of 220-850 GHz. In this work, we closely reexamine the utility of the high-frequency ECHO bands in foreground subtraction using the Needlet Internal Linear Combination component separation method. We consider three dust models: a physical dust model, a dust spectral energy distribution (SED) with a single modified black body (MBB) emission law and a multilayer dust model with frequency-frequency decorrelation. We consider eleven ECHO bands in the 28-190 GHz range as our baseline configuration and investigate the changes in the level foreground and noise residuals as subsequent dust-dominated high-frequency bands are added. We find that adding the high-frequency bands leads to a consistent decrease in the level of residual foreground and noise, and the sensitivity of r measurement improves. Most of the reduction in both residual levels and enhancement in the sensitivity is achieved in the 28-600 GHz frequency range. Negligible change in residual levels is seen by extending the frequency range from 600 GHz to 850 GHz.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Numerical simulations of inflationary dynamics: slow roll and beyond

Numerical simulations of the inflationary dynamics are presented here for a single canonical scalar field minimally coupled to gravity. We spell out the basic equations governing the inflationary dynamics in terms of cosmic time $t$ and define a set of dimensionless variables convenient for numerical analysis. We then provide a link to our simple numerical Python code on GitHub that can be used to simulate the background dynamics as well as the evolution of linear perturbations during inflation. The code computes both scalar and tensor power spectra for a given inflaton potential $V(\phi)$. We discuss a concrete algorithm to use the code for various purposes, especially for computing the enhanced scalar power spectrum in the context of Primordial Black Holes and scalar-induced Gravitational Waves. We also compare the efficiency of different variables used in the literature to compute the scalar fluctuations. We intend to extend the framework to simulate the dynamics of a number of different quantities, including the computation of scalar-induced second-order tensor power spectrum in the near future.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Quasinormal modes of anyons

We derive the quasinormal modes of anyons from (2+1)-dimensional Banados, Teitelboim, and Zanelli(BTZ) and analogue black holes, and discuss potential experiments to measure these quasinormal modes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Simulations of astrometric planet detection in Alpha Centauri by intensity interferometry

Recent dynamical studies indicate that the possibility of an Earth-like planet around $\alpha\;$Cen A or B should be taken seriously. Such a planet, if it exists, would perturb the orbital astrometry by $<10 \ {\mu}\rm as$, which is $10^{-6}$ of the separation between the two stars. We assess the feasibility of detecting such perturbations using ground-based intensity interferometry. We simulate a dedicated setup consisting of four 40-cm telescopes equipped with photon counters and correlators with time resolution $0.1\,\rm ns$, and a sort of matched filter implemented through an aperture mask. The astrometric error from one night of observing $\alpha\;$Cen AB is $\approx0.5\,\rm mas$. The error decreases if longer observing times and multiple spectral channels are used, as $(\hbox{channels}\times\hbox{nights})^{-1/2}$.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2021

In-flight polarization angle calibration for LiteBIRD: blind challenge and cosmological implications

We present a demonstration of the in-flight polarization angle calibration for the JAXA/ISAS second strategic large class mission, LiteBIRD, and estimate its impact on the measurement of the tensor-to-scalar ratio parameter, r, using simulated data. We generate a set of simulated sky maps with CMB and polarized foreground emission, and inject instrumental noise and polarization angle offsets to the 22 (partially overlapping) LiteBIRD frequency channels. Our in-flight angle calibration relies on nulling the EB cross correlation of the polarized signal in each channel. This calibration step has been carried out by two independent groups with a blind analysis, allowing an accuracy of the order of a few arc-minutes to be reached on the estimate of the angle offsets. Both the corrected and uncorrected multi-frequency maps are propagated through the foreground cleaning step, with the goal of computing clean CMB maps. We employ two component separation algorithms, the Bayesian-Separation of Components and Residuals Estimate Tool (B-SeCRET), and the Needlet Internal Linear Combination (NILC). We find that the recovered CMB maps obtained with algorithms that do not make any assumptions about the foreground properties, such as NILC, are only mildly affected by the angle miscalibration. However, polarization angle offsets strongly bias results obtained with the parametric fitting method. Once the miscalibration angles are corrected by EB nulling prior to the component separation, both component separation algorithms result in an unbiased estimation of the r parameter. While this work is motivated by the conceptual design study for LiteBIRD, its framework can be broadly applied to any CMB polarization experiment. In particular, the combination of simulation plus blind analysis provides a robust forecast by taking into account not only detector sensitivity but also systematic effects.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

$B$-mode forecast of CMB-Bh$\overline{a}$rat

Exploring Cosmic History and Origins (ECHO), popularly known as `CMB-Bh$\overline{a}$rat', is a space mission that has been proposed to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the scientific exploitation of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at the next level of precision and accuracy. The quest for the CMB polarization $B$-mode signals, generated by inflationary gravitational waves in the very early universe, is one of the key scientific goals of its experimental design. This work studies the potential of the proposed ECHO instrumental configuration to detect the target tensor-to-scalar ratio $r \sim 10^{-3}$ at $3\sigma$ significance level, which covers the predictions of a large class of inflationary models. We investigate the performance of two different component separation pipelines, NILC and Commander, for the measurement of $r$ in presence of different physically motivated models of astrophysical foregrounds. For a simplistic foreground model (only polarized dust and synchrotron), both component separation pipelines can achieve the desired sensitivity of ECHO, i.e. $\sigma (r =0) \sim (0.4 - 0.7)\times 10^{-3}$. NILC performs better than Commander in terms of bias on recovered $r$ for complex spectral models (power-law and curved power-law) of the synchrotron emission and complex dust models (dust decorrelation). Assuming 84 % delensing, we can achieve an improvement of $\sigma (r = 0)$ by approximately 50 % as compared to the results obtained for the same configuration without any lensing correction.

astro-ph.CO↗