arXiv subjects

Stéphane Ilić

Publications and source records attributed to Stéphane Ilić.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

$Λ$CDM is alive and well

The $Λ$CDM model faces several tensions with recent cosmological data and their increased accuracy. The mismatch between the values of the Hubble constant $H_0$ obtained from direct distance ladder measurements and from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the most statistically significant, but the amplitude of the matter fluctuations is also regarded as a serious concern, leading to the investigation of a plethora of models. We first show that the combination of several recent measurements from local probes leads to a tight constraint on the present-day matter density $Ω_M$ as well as on the amplitude of the matter fluctuations, both acceptably consistent with the values inferred from the CMB. Secondly, we show that the data on cosmic chronometers allow to derive an accurate value of the Hubble constant $H_0$ for $Λ$CDM models: $H_0 = 67.4 \pm 1.34$ km/s/Mpc. This implies that, within $Λ$CDM, some determinations of $H_0$ are biased. Considering a bias on the Hubble constant as a nuisance parameter within $Λ$CDM, we examine such a $Λ$CDM$+ H_0$ bias model on the same statistical grounds as alternative cosmological models. We show that the former statistically supersede most existing extended models proposed up to now. In a third step, we show that the value of $Ω_M$ we obtained, combined with $H_0$ from SH0ES, leads to an accurate measurement of $ω_M$, providing an additional low-redshift test for cosmological models. From this test, most extensions seem to be confronted with a new tension, whereas the $Λ$CDM with $H_0 \sim 67 $ has none. We conclude that a standard $Λ$CDM model with an unknown bias in the Cepheids distance calibration represents a model that reaches a remarkable agreement, statistically better than previously proposed extensions with $H_0 \sim 73 $ for which such a comparison can be performed. (abridged)

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arXiv2022

A Cautionary Tale: Dark Energy in Single-Field, Slow-Roll Inflationary Models

The current epoch of accelerated cosmic expansion is postulated to be driven by dark energy, which in the standard model takes the form of a cosmological constant with equation of state parameter $w=-1$. We propose an innovative perspective over the nature of dark energy by drawing a parallel with inflation, which we assume to be driven by a single scalar field, the inflaton. The inflaton was not a cosmological constant, as indicated by the fact that inflation ended and by the Planck satellite's constraint of $n_s\neq 1$ at $8σ$ confidence. Therefore, it is interesting to verify whether its equation of state parameter was measurably different from $-1$. We analyze this question for a class of single-field slow-roll inflationary models, where the hierarchy of Hubble slow-roll parameters is truncated at different orders. Based on the latest Planck and BICEP2/Keck data, we obtain a $68\%$ upper bound of $1+w < 0.0014$ for the three-parameter model, which gives the best description to the data. This provides a cautionary tale for drawing conclusions about the nature of today's dark energy based upon the non-detection of a deviation from $w=-1$ with current and upcoming cosmological surveys.

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arXiv2021

Multi-tasking the growth of cosmological structures

Next-generation large-scale structure surveys will deliver a significant increase in the precision of growth data, allowing us to use `agnostic' methods to study the evolution of perturbations without the assumption of a cosmological model. We focus on a particular machine learning tool, Gaussian processes, to reconstruct the growth rate $f$, the root mean square of matter fluctuations $σ_8$, and their product $fσ_8$. We apply this method to simulated data, representing the precision of upcoming Stage IV galaxy surveys. We extend the standard single-task approach to a multi-task approach that reconstructs the three functions simultaneously, thereby taking into account their inter-dependence. We find that this multi-task approach outperforms the single-task approach for future surveys and will allow us to detect departures from the standard model with higher significance. By contrast, the limited sensitivity of current data severely hinders the use of agnostic methods, since the Gaussian processes parameters need to be fine tuned in order to obtain robust reconstructions.

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arXiv2021

Closing up the cluster tension?

The excellent measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) fluctuations by Planck allow us to tightly constrain the amplitude of matter fluctuations at redshift $\sim 1100$ in the $Λ$-cold dark matter ($Λ$CDM) model. This amplitude can be extrapolated to the present epoch, yielding constraints on the value of the $σ_8$ parameter. On the other hand, the abundance of Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) clusters detected by Planck, with masses inferred using a hydrostatic equilibrium assumption, leads to a significantly lower value of the same parameter. This discrepancy is often dubbed the $σ_8$ tension in the literature and is sometimes regarded as a possible sign of new physics. Here, we examine a direct determination of $σ_8$ at the present epoch in $Λ$CDM, and thereby the cluster mass calibrations using cosmological data at low redshift, namely the measurements of $fσ_8$ from the analysis of the completed Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We combined redshift-space distortion measurements with Planck CMB constraints, X-ray, and SZ cluster counts within the $Λ$CDM framework, but leaving the present-day amplitude of matter fluctuations as an independent parameter (i.e. no extrapolation is made from high-redshift CMB constraints). The calibration of X-ray and SZ masses are left as free parameters throughout the whole analysis. Our study yields tight constraints on the aforementioned calibrations, with values entirely consistent with results obtained from the full combination of CMB and cluster data only. Such an agreement suggests an absence of tension in the $Λ$CDM model between CMB-based estimates of $σ_8$ and constraints from low-redshift on $fσ_8$; however, it also indicates tension with the standard calibration of clusters masses.

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arXiv2021

Dark Matter properties through cosmic history

We perform the first test of dark matter (DM) stress-energy evolution through cosmic history, using cosmic microwave background measurements supplemented with baryon acoustic oscillation data and the Hubble Space Telescope key project data. We constrain the DM equation of state (EoS) in 8 redshift bins, and its sound speed and (shear) viscosity in 9 redshift bins, finding no convincing evidence for non-$Λ$CDM values in any of the redshift bins. Despite this enlarged parameter space, the sound speed and viscosity are constrained relatively well at late times (due to the inclusion of CMB lensing), whereas the EoS is most strongly constrained around recombination. These results constrain for the first time the level of "coldness" required of DM across various cosmological epochs at both the background and perturbative levels. We show that simultaneously allowing time dependence for both the EoS and sound speed parameters shifts the posterior of the DM abundance before recombination to a higher value, while keeping the present day DM abundance similar to the $Λ$CDM value. This shifts the posterior for the present day Hubble constant compared to $Λ$CDM, suggesting that DM with time-dependent parameters is well-suited to explore possible solutions to persistent tensions within the $Λ$CDM model. We perform a detailed comparison with our previous study involving a vanishing sound speed and viscosity using the same datasets in order to explain the physical mechanism behind these shifts.

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arXiv2021

An updated dark energy view of inflation

The present epoch of accelerated cosmic expansion is supposed to be driven by an unknown constituent called dark energy, which in the standard model takes the form of a cosmological constant, characterized by a constant equation of state w=-1. An interesting perspective over the role and nature of dark energy can be achieved by drawing a parallel with a previous epoch of accelerated expansion, inflation, which we assume to be driven by a single scalar field, the inflaton. Since the Planck satellite has constrained the value of $n_s$ away from 1, the inflaton cannot be identified with a pure cosmological constant, as is also suggested by the fact that inflation ended. Thus, it is interesting to verify whether a hypothetical observer would have been able to measure the deviation of the w of the inflaton from -1. To do so, we consider a class of single-field slow-roll inflationary models dubbed HSR{i}, where the hierarchy of Hubble slow-roll parameters is truncated at the i-th order. The models are tested through a MCMC analysis based on combinations of the latest Planck and BICEP2/Keck data sets, and the resulting chains are converted into sets of allowed evolution histories of w. HSR{1} is excluded observationally since it would predict that $n_s=1$, in contrast with the recent Planck constraints, while we find that HSR{2} would prefer w>-1, but is disfavoured by the addition of the BICEP2/Keck data. The overall best description for the data is provided by HSR{3}, which yields a 68% upper bound of 1+w<0.0014. Therefore, if the current era of accelerated expansion happens to have the same equation of state as inflation during the observable epoch, then current and upcoming cosmological observations will not be able to detect that w$\neq$-1. This provides a cautionary tale for drawing conclusions about the nature of dark energy on the basis of the non-observation of a deviation from w=-1.

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arXiv2021

Gravitation And the Universe from large Scale-Structures: The GAUSS mission concept

Today, thanks in particular to the results of the ESA Planck mission, the concordance cosmological model appears to be the most robust to describe the evolution and content of the Universe from its early to late times. It summarizes the evolution of matter, made mainly of dark matter, from the primordial fluctuations generated by inflation around $10^{-30}$ second after the Big-Bang to galaxies and clusters of galaxies, 13.8 billion years later, and the evolution of the expansion of space, with a relative slowdown in the matter-dominated era and, since a few billion years, an acceleration powered by dark energy. But we are far from knowing the pillars of this model which are inflation, dark matter and dark energy. Comprehending these fundamental questions requires a detailed mapping of our observable Universe over the whole of cosmic time. The relic radiation provides the starting point and galaxies draw the cosmic web. JAXA's LiteBIRD mission will map the beginning of our Universe with a crucial test for inflation (its primordial gravity waves), and the ESA Euclid mission will map the most recent half part, crucial for dark energy. The mission concept, described in this White Paper, GAUSS, aims at being a mission to fully map the cosmic web up to the reionization era, linking early and late evolution, to tackle and disentangle the crucial degeneracies persisting after the Euclid era between dark matter and inflation properties, dark energy, structure growth and gravitation at large scale.

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arXiv2020

Improvements in cosmological constraints from breaking growth degeneracy

The key probes of the growth of large-scale structure are its rate $f$ and amplitude $σ_8$. Redshift space distortions in the galaxy power spectrum allow us to measure only the combination $fσ_8$, which can be used to constrain the standard cosmological model or alternatives. By using measurements of the galaxy-galaxy lensing cross-correlation spectrum or of the galaxy bispectrum, it is possible to break the $fσ_8$ degeneracy and obtain separate estimates of $f$ and $σ_8$ from the same galaxy sample. Currently there are only a handful of such separate measurements, but even this allows for improved constraints on cosmological models. We explore how having a larger and more precise sample of such measurements in the future could constrain further cosmological models. We consider what can be achieved by a future nominal sample that delivers a $\sim 1\%$ constraint on $f$ and $σ_8$ separately, compared to the case with a similar precision on the combination $fσ_8$. For the six cosmological parameters of $Λ$CDM, we find improvements of $\sim\! 5$--$50\%$ on their constraints. For modified gravity models in the Horndeski class, the improvements on these standard parameters are $\sim\! 0$--$15\%$. However, the precision on the sum of neutrino masses improves by 65\% and there is a significant increase in the precision on the background and perturbation Horndeski parameters.

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arXiv2020

Improved constraints on reionisation from CMB observations: A parameterisation of the kSZ effect

We show that, in the context of patchy reionisation, an accurate description of the angular power spectrum of the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect is not possible with simple scaling relations between the amplitude of the spectrum and global parameters, such as the reionisation midpoint and its duration. We introduce a new parameterisation of this spectrum, based on a novel description of the power spectrum of the free electrons density contrast Pee (k,z) in terms of the reionisation global history and morphology. We directly relate features of the spectrum to the typical ionised bubble size at different stages in the process and, subsequently, to the angular scale at which the patchy kSZ power spectrum reaches its maximum. We successfully calibrated our results on a custom set of advanced radiative hydrodynamical simulations and later found our parameterisation to be a valid description of a wide range of other simulations and, therefore, reionisation physics. In the end, and as long as the global reionisation history is known, two parameters are sufficient to derive the angular power spectrum. Such an innovative framework applied to cosmic microwave background data and combined with 21cm intensity mapping will allow a first consistent detection of the amplitude and shape of the patchy kSZ signal, giving in turn access to the physics of early light sources.

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arXiv2019

Cluster counts: calibration issue or new physics?

In recent years, the amplitude of matter fluctuations inferred from low-redshift probes has been found to be generally lower than the value derived from CMB observations in the $Λ$CDM model. This tension has been exemplified by Sunyaev-Zel'dovich and X-ray cluster counts which, when using their Planck standard cluster mass calibration, yield a value of $σ_8$ , appreciably lower than estimations based on the latest Planck CMB measurements. In this work we examine whether non-minimal neutrino masses can alleviate this tension substantially. We used the cluster X-ray temperature distribution function derived from a flux-limited sample of local X-ray clusters, combined with Planck CMB measurements. These datasets were compared to $Λ$CDM predictions based on recent mass function, adapted to account for the effects of massive neutrinos. Treating the clusters mass calibration as a free parameter, we examined whether the data favours neutrino masses appreciably higher than the minimal 0.06 eV value. Using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, we found no significant correlation between the mass calibration of clusters and the sum of neutrino masses, meaning that massive neutrinos do not noticeably alleviate the above-mentioned Planck CMB--clusters tension. The addition of other datasets (BAO and Ly-$α$) reinforces those conclusions. As an alternative possible solution to the tension, we introduced a simple, phenomenological modification of gravity by letting the growth index $γ$ vary as an additional free parameter. We find that the cluster mass calibration is robustly correlated with the $γ$ parameter, insensitively to the presence of massive neutrinos or/and additional data used. We conclude that the standard Planck mass calibration of clusters, if consolidated, would represent evidence for new physics beyond $Λ$CDM with massive neutrinos.

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arXiv2019

Cluster counts. II. Tensions, massive neutrinos, and modified gravity

The $Λ$CDM concordance model is very successful at describing our Universe with high accuracy and few parameters. Despite its successes, a few tensions persist; most notably, the best-fit $Λ$CDM model, as derived from the Planck CMB data, largely overpredicts the abundance of SZ clusters when using their standard mass calibration. Whether this is a sign of an incorrect calibration or the need for new physics remains a matter of debate. Here we examined two simple extensions of the standard model and their ability to release this tension: massive neutrinos and a simple modified gravity model via a non-standard growth index $γ$. We used both the Planck CMB and SZ cluster counts as datasets, with or without local X-ray clusters. In the case of massive neutrinos, the SZ calibration $(1-b)$ is constrained to $0.59^{+0.03}_{-0.04}$ (68\%), more than 5$σ$ away from its standard value $\sim0.8$. We found little correlation between $\sum m_ν$ and $(1-b)$, corroborating previous conclusions derived from X-ray clusters; massive neutrinos do not alleviate the cluster-CMB tension. With our simple $γ$ model, we found a large correlation between calibration and growth index but contrary to local X-ray clusters, SZ clusters are able to break the degeneracy between the two thanks to their extended $z$ range. The calibration $(1-b)$ was then constrained to $0.60^{+0.05}_{-0.07}$, leading to an interesting constraint on $γ=0.60\pm 0.13$. When both massive neutrinos and modified gravity were allowed, preferred values remained centred on standard $Λ$CDM values, but $(1-b)\sim0.8$ was allowed (though only at the $2σ$ level) provided $\sum m_ν\sim0.34 $ eV and $γ\sim0.8$. We conclude that massive neutrinos do not relieve the cluster-CMB tension and that a calibration close to the standard value $0.8$ would call for new physics in the gravitational sector.

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arXiv2018

The Dark Matter equation of state through cosmic history

Cold Dark Matter (CDM) is a crucial constituent of the current concordance cosmological model. Having a vanishing equation of state (EoS), its energy density scales with the inverse cosmic volume and is thus uniquely described by a single number, its present abundance. We test the inverse cosmic volume law for Dark Matter (DM) by allowing its EoS to vary independently in eight redshift bins in the range $z=10^5$ and $z=0$. We use the latest measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation from the Planck satellite and supplement them with Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) data from the 6dF and SDSS-III BOSS surveys, and with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) key project data. We find no evidence for nonzero EoS in any of the eight redshift bins. With Planck data alone, the DM abundance is most strongly constrained around matter-radiation equality $ω^{\rm eq}_g = 0.1193^{+0.0036}_{-0.0035}$ (95% c.l.), whereas its present day value is more weakly constrained $ω^{(0)}_g = 0.16^{+0.12}_{-0.10}$ (95% c.l.). Adding BAO or HST data does not significantly change the $ω^{\rm eq}_g$ constraint, while $ω^{(0)}_g$ tightens to $0.160^{+0.069}_{-0.065} $ (95% c.l.) and $0.124^{+0.081}_{-0.067}$ (95% c.l.) respectively. Our results constrain for the first time the level of "coldness" required of the DM across various cosmological epochs and show that the DM abundance is strictly positive at all times.

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arXiv2016

Power law cosmology model comparison with CMB scale information

Despite the ability of the cosmological concordance model ($Λ$CDM) to describe the cosmological observations exceedingly well, power law expansion of the Universe scale radius, $R(t)\propto t^n$, has been proposed as an alternative framework. We examine here these models, analyzing their ability to fit cosmological data using robust model comparison criteria. Type Ia supernovae (SNIa), baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO) and acoustic scale information from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have been used. We find that SNIa data either alone or combined with BAO can be well reproduced by both $Λ$CDM and power law expansion models with $n\sim 1.5$, while the constant expansion rate model $(n=1)$ is clearly disfavored. Allowing for some redshift evolution in the SNIa luminosity essentially removes any clear preference for a specific model. The CMB data are well known to provide the most stringent constraints on standard cosmological models, in particular, through the position of the first peak of the temperature angular power spectrum, corresponding to the sound horizon at recombination, a scale physically related to the BAO scale. Models with $n\geq 1$ lead to a divergence of the sound horizon and do not naturally provide the relevant scales for the BAO and the CMB. We retain an empirical footing to overcome this issue: we let the data choose the preferred values for these scales, while we recompute the ionization history in power law models, to obtain the distance to the CMB. In doing so, we find that the scale coming from the BAO data is not consistent with the observed position of the first peak of the CMB temperature angular power spectrum for any power law cosmology. Therefore, we conclude that when the three standard probes are combined, the $Λ$CDM model is very strongly favored over any of these alternative models, which are then essentially ruled out.

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arXiv2015

A new parameterization of the reionisation history

Motivated by the current constraints on the epoch of reionisation from recent cosmic microwave background observations, ionising background measurements of star-forming galaxies, and low redshifts line-of-sight probes, we propose a new data-motivated parameterisation of the history of the average ionisation fraction. This parameterisation describes a flexible redshift-asymmetric reionisation process in two regimes that is capable of fitting all the current constraints.

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