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Steen H. Hansen

Publications and source records attributed to Steen H. Hansen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The Doublet Tower of Cl(4,2): Universal Nilpotency, Projector Identities, and the sl(8,R) Parabolic from Conformal Null Vectors

The conformal geometric algebra Cl(4,2) ~ R(8) carries a natural Z_2-grading defined by the dilatation bivector D=\e_4e_0, which satisfies $D^2=1$ and splits the eight-dimensional spinor module into two four-dimensional eigenspaces $S=S_+\oplus S_-$. We prove that the ad_D-eigenvectors of Cl(4,2), those elements with eigenvalue~$\pm1$ under the Lie bracket $[D,\cdot]$, are exhausted by 16 doublets of the form $T^\pm_J=n_\bullet e_J$, where $n_\bullet \in {n_\infty,n_o}$ is a null vector and $e_J$ is a product of Lorentz-sector basis vectors indexed by $J\subseteq\{1,2,3,5\}$. These doublets satisfy universal algebraic identities: $(T^\pm_J)^2=0$ (nilpotency) and $T^+_J\,T^-_J=(-1)^{k(k+1)/2+1}\,η_J 2Π_+$ (single-projector proportionality), where $k=|J|$, $η_J=\prod_{j\in J}η_{jj}$ is the spectator metric, and $Π_+=\tfrac12(1+D)$. The contracted sums $\sum_{|J|=k}T^+_J T^-_J$ are shown to be controlled by the elementary symmetric polynomials $S_k$ of the Lorentz signature values $(+1,+1,+1,-1)$, with the vanishing of $S_2=0$ reflecting the $(3,1)$ signature of physical spacetime. The even-grade doublets (belonging to Cl^+(4,2) ~ Cl(4,1)) contribute $8Π_+$ to the unweighted grand total, while the odd-grade doublets cancel exactly. The 32 doublet eigenvectors generate, under the commutator bracket, the 63-dimensional Lie algebra sl(8,R) in which the conformal algebra so(4,2) embeds as a 15-dimensional subalgebra. All identities, including a closed form for the commutators across the Levi interface, are proved in every conformal extension Cl(p+1,q+1); there the commutator span misses precisely the center of the algebra, a parity dichotomy invisible at the Lorentz signature. Two applications are developed: the top rung of the tower computes the Dirac versus Majorana dichotomy of rank-five pseudoscalars ... [shortened]

math.GM

Cosmological test of an ultraviolet origin of Dark Energy

The accelerated expansion of the Universe is impressively well described by a cosmological constant. However, the observed value of the cosmological constant is much smaller than expected based on quantum field theories. Recent efforts to achieve consistency in these theories have proposed a relationship between Dark Energy and the most compact objects, such as black holes (BH). However, experimental tests are very challenging to devise and perform. In this article, we present a testable model with no cosmological constant, in which the accelerated expansion can be driven by black holes. The model couples the expansion of the Universe (the Friedmann equation) with the mass-function of cosmological haloes (using the Press-Schechter formalism). Through the observed link between halo-masses and BH-masses one thus gets a coupling between the expansion rate of the Universe and the BHs. We compare the predictions of this simple BH model with SN1a data and find a poor agreement with observations. Our method is sufficiently general that it allows us to also test a fundamentally different model, also without a cosmological constant, where the accelerated expansion is driven by a new force proportional to the internal velocity dispersion of galaxies. Surprisingly enough this model cannot be excluded using the SN1a data.

astro-ph.CO

A phenomenological model for dark matter phase space distribution

Understanding the nature of dark matter is among the top priorities of modern physics. However, due to its inertness, detecting and studying it directly in terrestrial experiments is extremely challenging. Numerical N-body simulations currently represent the best approach for studying the particle properties and phase space distribution, assuming the collisionless nature of dark matter. These simulations also address the lack of a satisfactory theory for predicting the universal properties of dark matter halos, including the density profile and velocity distribution. In this work, we propose a new phenomenological model for the dark matter phase space distribution. This model aims to provide an NFW-like density profile, velocity magnitude distribution, and velocity component distributions that align closely with simulation data. Our model is relevant both for theoretical modeling of dark matter distributions, as well as for underground detector experiments that rely on the dark matter velocity distribution for experimental analysis.

astro-ph.GA

The destiny of Dark Matter

The majority of baryons, which account for $15\%$ of the matter in the Universe, will end their lives as carbon and oxygen inside cold black dwarfs. Dark matter (DM) makes up the remaining $85\%$ of the matter in the universe, however, the fate of DM is unknown. Here we show that the destiny of purely gravitationally interacting DM particles follows one of two possible routes. The first possible route, the "radiation-destiny" scenario, is that massive DM particles lose sufficient energy through gravitational radiation causing them to spiral into a supermassive black hole that ultimately disappears through Hawking radiation. The second possible route, the "drifting-alone" destiny, applies to lighter DM particles, where only the central DM halo region spirals into the central BH which is then Hawking radiated away. The rest of the DM halo is ripped apart by the accelerated expansion of the Universe.

astro-ph.GA

Accelerated expansion induced by Dark Matter with two charges

The accelerated expansion of the universe has been established through observations of supernovae, the growth of structure, and the cosmic microwave background. The most popular explanation is Einsteins cosmological constant, or dynamic variations hereof. A recent paper demonstrated that if dark matter particles are endowed with a repulsive force proportional to the internal velocity dispersion of galaxies, then the corresponding acceleration of the universe may follow that of a cosmological constant fairly closely. However, no such long-range force is known to exist. A concrete example of such a force is derived here, by equipping the dark matter particles with two new dark charges. This result lends support to the possibility that the current acceleration of the universe may be explained without the need for a cosmological constant.

physics.gen-ph

A force proportional to velocity squared derived from spacetime algebra

The underlying geometri of spacetime algebra allows one to derive a force by contracting the relativistic generalization of angular momentum, M, with the mass-current, mw, where w is a proper 4-vector velocity. By applying this force to a cosmological object, a repulsive inverse distance-square law is found, which is proportional to the velocity dispersion squared of that structure. It is speculated if this finding may be relevant to the recent suggestion, that such a force may accelerate the expanding universe with no need for a cosmological constant.

gr-qc

Consistency analysis of a Dark Matter velocity dependent force as an alternative to the Cosmological Constant

A range of cosmological observations demonstrate an accelerated expansion of the Universe, and the most likely explanation of this phenomenon is a cosmological constant. Given the importance of understanding the underlying physics, it is relevant to investigate alternative models. This article uses numerical simulations to test the consistency of one such alternative model. Specifically, this model has no cosmological constant, instead the dark matter particles have an extra force proportional to velocity squared, somewhat reminiscent of the magnetic force in electrodynamics. The constant strength of the force is the only free parameter. Since bottom-up structure formation creates cosmological structures whose internal velocity dispersions increase in time, this model may mimic the temporal evolution of the effect from a cosmological constant. It is shown that models with force linearly proportional to internal velocites, or models proportional to velocity to power three or more cannot mimic the accelerated expansion induced by a cosmological constant. However, models proportional to velocity squared are still consistent with the temporal evolution of a Universe with a cosmological model.

astro-ph.CO

Distinguishing cosmologies using the turn-around radius near galaxy clusters

Outside galaxy clusters the competition between the inwards gravitational attraction and the outwards expansion of the Universe leads to a special radius of velocity cancellation, which is called the turn-around radius. Measurements of the turn-around radius hold promises of constraining cosmological parameters, and possibly even properties of gravity. Such a measurement is, however, complicated by the fact that the surroundings of galaxy clusters are not spherical, but instead are a complicated collection of filaments, sheets and voids. In this paper we use the results of numerically simulated universes to quantify realistic error-bars of the measurement of the turn-around radius. We find that for a $Λ$CDM cosmology these error-bars are typically of the order of $20\%$. We numerically simulate three different implementations of dark energy models and of a scalar dark sector interaction to address whether the turn-around radius can be used to constrain non-trivial cosmologies, and we find that only rather extreme models can be distinguished from a $Λ$CDM universe due to the large error-bars arising from the non-trivial cluster environments.

astro-ph.CO

Estimating the dark matter velocity anisotropy to the cluster edge

Dark matter dominates the properties of large cosmological structures such as galaxy clusters, and the mass profiles of the dark matter have been measured for these equilibrated structures for years using X-rays, lensing or galaxy velocities. A new method has been proposed, which should allow us to estimate a dynamical property of the dark matter, namely the velocity anisotropy. For the gas a similar velocity anisotropy is zero due to frequent collisions, however, the collisionless nature of dark matter allows it to be non-trivial. Numerical simulations have for years found non-zero and radially varying dark matter velocity anisotropies. Here we employ the method proposed by Hansen and Pifaretti (2007), and developed by Host et al. (2009) to estimate the dark matter velocity anisotropy in the bright galaxy cluster Perseus, to near 5 times the radii previously obtained. We find the dark matter velocity anisotropy to be consistent with the results of numerical simulations, however, still with large error-bars. At half the virial radius we find the velocity anisotropy to be non-zero at 1.7 standard deviations, lending support to the collisionless nature of dark matter.

astro-ph.CO

Baryons in the CosmicWeb of IllustrisTNG -- II: the Connection among Galaxies, Halos, their Formation Time and their Location in the Cosmic Web

The connections among galaxies, the dark matter halos where they form and the properties of the large-scale Cosmic Web still need to be completely disentangled. We use the cosmological hydrodynamical simulation TNG100 of the IllustrisTNG suite to quantify the effects played by the large-scale density field and the Cosmic Web morphology on the relation between halo mass and galaxy stellar mass. We select objects with total dynamical mass in the range $\geq 6.3\times 10^{10} h ^{-1}\, M_{\odot}$ up to a few $10^{14} h^{-1} \, M_{\odot}$ between redshift $z=4$ and redshift $z=0$. A Cosmic Web class (knot, filament, sheet, void) is assigned to each region of the volume using a density field deformation tensor-based method. We find that galaxy stellar mass strongly correlates with total dynamical mass and formation time, and more weakly with large-scale overdensity and Cosmic Web class. The latter two quantities correlate with each other, but are not entirely degenerate. Furthermore, we find that at fixed halo mass, galaxies with stellar mass lower than the median value are more likely to be found in voids and sheets, whereas galaxies with stellar mass higher than the median are more likely to be found in filaments and knots. Finally, we find that the dependence on environment is stronger for satellites than for centrals, and discuss the physical implications of these results.

astro-ph.GA

The structure and assembly history of cluster-size haloes in Self-Interacting Dark Matter

We perform dark-matter-only simulations of 28 relaxed massive cluster-sized haloes for Cold Dark Matter (CDM) and Self-Interacting Dark Matter (SIDM) models, to study structural differences between the models at large radii, where the impact of baryonic physics is expected to be very limited. We find that the distributions for the radial profiles of the density, ellipsoidal axis ratios, and velocity anisotropies ($β$) of the haloes differ considerably between the models (at the $\sim1σ$ level), even at $\gtrsim10\%$ of the virial radius, if the self-scattering cross section is $σ/m_χ=1$ cm$^2$ gr$^{-1}$. Direct comparison with observationally inferred density profiles disfavours SIDM for $σ/m_χ=1$ cm$^2$ gr$^{-1}$, but in an intermediate radial range ($\sim3\%$ of the virial radius), where the impact of baryonic physics is uncertain. At this level of the cross section, we find a narrower $β$ distribution in SIDM, clearly skewed towards isotropic orbits, with no SIDM (90\% of CDM) haloes having $β>0.12$ at $7\%$ of the virial radius. We estimate that with an observational sample of $\sim30$ ($\sim10^{15}$ M$_\odot$) relaxed clusters, $β$ can potentially be used to put competitive constraints on SIDM, once observational uncertainties improve by a factor of a few. We study the suppression of the memory of halo assembly history in SIDM clusters. For $σ/m_χ=1$ cm$^2$ gr$^{-1}$, we find that this happens only in the central halo regions ($\sim1/4$ of the scale radius of the halo), and only for haloes that assembled their mass within this region earlier than a formation redshift $z_f\sim2$. Otherwise, the memory of assembly remains and is reflected in ways similar to CDM, albeit with weaker trends.

astro-ph.CO

Analytical derivation of the radial distribution function in spherical dark matter halos

The velocity distribution of dark matter near the Earth is important for an accurate analysis of the signals in terrestrial detectors. This distribution is typically extracted from numerical simulations. Here we address the possibility of deriving the velocity distribution function analytically. We derive a differential equation which is a function of radius and the radial component of the velocity. Under various assumptions this can be solved, and we compare the solution with the results from controlled numerical simulations. Our findings complement the previously derived tangential velocity distribution. We hereby demonstrate that the entire distribution function, below 0.7 v_esc, can be derived analytically for spherical and equilibrated dark matter structures.

astro-ph.GA

Dynamical signatures of infall around galaxy clusters: a generalized Jeans equation

We study the internal kinematics of galaxy clusters in the region beyond the sphere of virialization. Galaxies around a virialized cluster are infalling towards the cluster centre with a non-zero mean radial velocity. We develop a new formalism for describing the dynamical state of clusters, by generalizing the standard Jeans formalism with the inclusion of the peculiar infall motions of galaxies and the Hubble expansion as well as the contributions due to background cosmology. Using empirical fits to the radial profiles of density, mean radial velocity and velocity anisotropy of both a stacked cluster-mass halo and two isolated halos of a cosmological dark matter only simulation, we verify that our generalized Jeans equation correctly predicts the radial velocity dispersion out to 4 virial radii. We find that the radial velocity dispersion inferred from the standard Jeans equation is accurate up to 2 virial radii, but overestimated by \approx 20% for the stacked halo and by \approx 40% for the isolated halos, in the range \approx 2-3 virial radii. Our model depends on the logarithmic growth rate of the virial radius (function of halo mass or concentration), which we estimate in 7 different ways, and on the departure from self-similarity of the evolution of the peculiar velocity profile in virial units.

astro-ph.CO

A facility to Search for Hidden Particles at the CERN SPS: the SHiP physics case

This paper describes the physics case for a new fixed target facility at CERN SPS. The SHiP (Search for Hidden Particles) experiment is intended to hunt for new physics in the largely unexplored domain of very weakly interacting particles with masses below the Fermi scale, inaccessible to the LHC experiments, and to study tau neutrino physics. The same proton beam setup can be used later to look for decays of tau-leptons with lepton flavour number non-conservation, $τ\to 3μ$ and to search for weakly-interacting sub-GeV dark matter candidates. We discuss the evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model and describe interactions between new particles and four different portals - scalars, vectors, fermions or axion-like particles. We discuss motivations for different models, manifesting themselves via these interactions, and how they can be probed with the SHiP experiment and present several case studies. The prospects to search for relatively light SUSY and composite particles at SHiP are also discussed. We demonstrate that the SHiP experiment has a unique potential to discover new physics and can directly probe a number of solutions of beyond the Standard Model puzzles, such as neutrino masses, baryon asymmetry of the Universe, dark matter, and inflation

hep-ph

Effect of asphericity in caustic mass estimates of galaxy clusters

The caustic technique for measuring mass profiles of galaxy clusters relies on the assumption of spherical symmetry. When applied to aspherical galaxy clusters, the method yields mass estimates affected by the cluster orientation. Here we employ mock redshift catalogues generated from cosmological simulations to study the effect of clusters intrinsic shape and surrounding filamentary structures on the caustic mass estimates. To this end, we develop a new method for removing perturbations from large-scale structures, modelled as the two-halo term, in a caustic analysis of stacked cluster data. We find that the cluster masses inferred from kinematical data of ~10^14 Msun clusters observed along the major axis are larger than masses from those observed along the minor axis by a factor of 1.7 within the virial radius, increasing to 1.8 within three virial radii. This discrepancy increases by 20% for the most massive clusters. In addition a smaller but still significant mass discrepancy arises when filamentary structures are present near a galaxy cluster. We find that the mean cluster mass from random sightlines is unbiased at all radii and their scatter ranges from 0.14 to 0.17 within one and three virial radii, with a 40% increase for the most massive clusters. We provide tables which estimate the caustic mass bias given observational constraints on the cluster orientation.

astro-ph.CO

Zeldovich pancakes at redshift zero: the equilibration state and phase space properties

One of the components of the cosmic web are sheets, which are commonly referred to as Zeldovich pancakes. These are structures which have only collapsed along one dimension, as opposed to filaments or galaxies and cluster, which have collapsed along two or three dimensions. These pancakes have recently received renewed interest, since they have been shown to be useful tools for an independent method to determine galaxy cluster masses. We consider sheet-like structures resulting from cosmological simulations, which were previously used to establish the cluster mass determination method, and we show through their level of equilibration, that these structures have indeed only collapsed along the one dimension. We also extract the density profiles of these pancake, which agrees acceptably well with theoretical expectations. We derive the observable velocity distribution function (VDF) analytically by generalizing the Eddington method to one dimension, and we compare with the distribution function from the numerical simulation.

astro-ph.CO

Particle ejection during mergers of dark matter halos

Dark matter halos are built from accretion and merging. During merging some of the dark matter particles may be ejected with velocities higher than the escape velocity. We use both N-body simulations and single-particle smooth-field simulations to demonstrate that rapid changes to the mean field potential are responsible for such ejection, and in particular that dynamical friction plays no significant role in it. Studying a range of minor mergers, we find that typically between 5-15% of the particles from the smaller of the two merging structures are ejected. We also find that the ejected particles originate essentially from the small halo, and more specifically are particles in the small halo which pass later through the region in which the merging occurs.

astro-ph.CO

Stirring N-body systems II: Necessary conditions for the dark matter attractor

We study the evolution of the phase-space of collisionless N-body systems under repeated stirrings or perturbations, which has been shown to lead to a convergence towards a limited group of end states. This so-called attractor was previously shown to be independent of the initial system and environmental conditions. However the fundamental reason for its appearance is still unclear. It has been suggested that the origin of the attractor may be either radial infall (RI), the radial orbit instability (ROI), or energy exchange which, for instance, happens during violent relaxation. Here we examine the effects of a set of controlled perturbations, referred to as `kicks', which act in addition to the standard collisionless dynamics by allowing pre-specified instantaneous perturbations in phase-space. We first demonstrate that the attractor persists in the absence of RI and ROI by forcing the system to expand. We then consider radial velocity kicks in a rigid potential and isotropic velocity kicks, since there are no energy exchanges in these two recipes of kicks. We find that these kicks do not lead to the attractor, indicating that the energy exchange in a dynamic potential is indeed the physical mechanism responsible for the attractor.

astro-ph.GA