arXiv subjects

Thais Lemos

Publications and source records attributed to Thais Lemos.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Testing Statistical Isotropy in the FRB Sky Distribution: A Selection-Function-Aware Framework

We perform a test of statistical isotropy in the Universe using the sky distribution of fast radio bursts (FRBs), based on a compilation of $4066$ events detected by multiple surveys. Our method is based on the two-point angular correlation function $w(\theta)$ as in the Landy--Szalay estimator, together with a tomographic absolute-anisotropy statistic, and estimates their observational uncertainties from complementary jackknife and bootstrap resampling. Both estimators are confronted with hierarchical ensembles of isotropic mock catalogs that propagate the uncertainties of empirically reconstructed survey selection functions, as well as the Poisson fluctuations of the isotropic realizations. The significances are obtained from a covariance-aware, SVD-regularized $\chi^2$ statistic calibrated empirically against the mock ensemble, and we evaluate four nested scenarios that progressively incorporate a Galactic-plane mask and the survey selection functions. As for our results, we find that the raw FRB sky is strongly inconsistent with isotropy; Galactic masking alone reduces the tension by only a factor of $\sim 3$, whereas the selection functions reduce it by nearly four orders of magnitude, showing that the apparent anisotropy is driven by the highly non-uniform sky coverage of the contributing surveys, overwhelmingly dominated by CHIME. Only when both effects are combined we obtain that the observed distribution is fully consistent with statistical isotropy. This result is independently corroborated by the absolute-anisotropy estimator, and is stable under variations of the analysis parameters. Therefore, we find that the FRB sky distribution is consistent with statistical isotropy, helping confirm one of the main predictions of the standard model scenario.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

The impact of FRB dispersion measure probability distribution functions on cosmographic estimates

Recent cosmological observations have reopened the discussion about the model that best describes the dynamics of the Universe, highlighting the need for cosmological model-independent analyses. In this paper, we utilize the cosmographic approach applied to a robust sample of 106 well-localized Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) within the redshift range $z \le 0.7$ to constrain the Hubble constant $H_0$, the deceleration parameter $q_0$, and the jerk parameter $j_0$. Our primary goal is to assess the impact of intergalactic medium (IGM) inhomogeneities on cosmographic parameter estimation. To this end, we consider the statistical behavior of these parameters under two distinct functional forms for the IGM dispersion measure ($\mathrm{DM_{IGM}}$) probability density function (PDF): a Gaussian distribution (Distribution I) and a quasi-Gaussian distribution (Distribution II) that accounts for the skewed structure of cosmic large-scale environments along the lines of sight. We further investigate the role of the baryon mass fraction by considering both fixed and free-parameter scenarios. We find that the inferred cosmographic constraints, particularly those on $q_0$, depend sensitively on both the assumed IGM distribution and the adopted parameter priors.

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arXiv2025

Estimating the baryon fraction in the IGM from well-localized FRBs and DESI data

Current measurements of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Survey (DESI DR2), when combined with data from Type Ia supernovae (SNe), challenge the observational viability of the $Λ$-Cold Dark Matter ($Λ$CDM) model, motivating combinations of independent datasets to estimate cosmological quantities. In a previous communication, we presented a cosmological independent method to constrain the baryon fraction in the IGM ($f_{\mathrm{IGM}}$), where we derived relevant expressions for the dispersion measure ($\mathrm{DM}$) in terms of luminosity distance, allowing us to estimate $f_{\mathrm{IGM}}$ combining directly measurements of 17 well-localized FRBs and 1048 SNe from the Pantheon catalog. Here we revisit this method to constrain $f_{\mathrm{IGM}}$, considering two parameterizations for the $f_{\mathrm{IGM}}$: constant and time-dependent. We expand our sample by combining 107 well-localized Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) with BAO measurements from DESI DR2 and SNe observations from DESY5, and the Pantheon+ catalog. We find through a Bayesian model selection analysis that a conclusive answer about the evolution of $f_{\mathrm{IGM}}$ cannot be achieved from the current FRBs observational data. In particular, our results show weak evidence in favor of the constant case.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Cosmological-model independent limits on photon mass from FRB and SNe data

Electromagnetic emissions from astrophysical sources at cosmological distances can be used to estimate the photon mass, $m_γ$. In this paper, we combine measurements of the dispersion measure ($\mathrm{DM}$) of fast radio bursts (FRB) with the luminosity distance from type Ia supernovae (SNe) to investigate update constraints on the photon rest mass. We derive the expression of $\mathrm{DM}$ dependence concerning a non-vanishing photon mass from a cosmological-model independent approach and constrain the parameter $m_γ$ from measurements of 68 well-localized FRBs and 1048 SNe data from the Pantheon compilation. We consider two scenarios for the baryon fraction in the intergalactic medium ($f_{\mathrm{IGM}}$): one where the value is fixed according to recent reports and another where it is treated as a free parameter, $f_{\mathrm{IGM}} = f_{\mathrm{IGM,0}}$. In the latter case, we find $m_γ = (29.4_{-15.5}^{+5.80}) \times 10^{-51}$ kg, at $1σ$ level. Our results also demonstrate an anticorrelation between $f_{\mathrm{IGM}}$ and $m_γ$, which highlights the importance of analyzing a larger sample of FRBs for a more comprehensive understanding of their properties.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

A search for the fine-structure constant evolution from fast radio bursts and type Ia supernovae data

The search for a space-time variation of the fundamental constants has been explored over the years to test our physical theories. In this paper, we use the dispersion measure ($DM$) of fast radio bursts (FRB) combined with type Ia supernovae (SNe) data to investigate a possible redshift evolution of the fine-structure constant ($α$), considering the runaway dilaton scenario, which predicts $\frac{Δα}α = - γ\ln{(1+z)}$, where $γ$ is a constant proportional to the current value of the coupling between the dilaton field and hadronic matter. We derive all the relevant expressions for the $DM$ dependence concerning the fine-structure constant and constrain the parameter $γ$ from measurements of 17 well-localized FRBs and 1048 SNe data from the Pantheon compilation. We also use Monte Carlo simulations to forecast the constraining power of larger samples of FRB measurements for data sets with $N = 500$ and $N = 1000$ points. We found that the uncertainty on $γ$ can be improved by one order of magnitude and that limits on $\frac{Δα}α$ beyond $σ\sim 10^{-2}$ will depend crucially on better control of statistical and systematic uncertainties of upcoming FRB data.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Forecasting constraints on the baryon mass fraction in the IGM from fast radio bursts and type Ia supernovae

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are millisecond transient radio events with a high energy. By identifying the origin of the \textbf{burst}, it is possible to measure the redshift of the host galaxy, which can be used to constrain cosmological and astrophysical parameters and test aspects of fundamental physics when combined with the dispersion measure ($DM$). However, some factors limit the cosmological application of FRBs: (i) the poor modelling of the fluctuations in the $DM$ due to spatial variation in the cosmic electrons density; (ii) the fact that the fraction of baryon mass in the intergalactic medium ($f_{IGM}$) is degenerated with some cosmological parameters; (iii) the limited knowledge about host galaxy contribution ($DM_{host}$). In this work, we investigate the impact of different redshift distribution models of FRBs to constrain the baryon fraction in the IGM and host galaxy contribution. We use a cosmological model-independent method developed in previous work \cite{Lemos2023} to perform the analysis and combine simulated FRB data from Monte Carlo simulation and supernovae data. We assume four distribution models for the FRBs: gamma-ray bursts (GRB), star formation rate (SFR), uniform and equidistant (ED). Also, we consider samples with $N = 15, 30, 100$ and $500$ points and different values of the fluctuations of electron density in the $DM$, $δ= 0, 100, 200, 400, 230\sqrt{z}$ pc/cm$^{3}$. Our analysis shows that all the distribution models present consistent results within $2σ$ for the free parameters $f_{IGM}$ and $DM_{host,0}$ and highlights the crucial role of $DM$ fluctuations in obtaining more precise measurements.

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arXiv2023

Cosmological model-independent constraints on the baryon fraction in the IGM from fast radio bursts and supernovae data

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration radio transients with an observed dispersion measure ($DM$) greater than the expected Milky Way contribution, which suggests that such events are of extragalactic origin. Although some models have been proposed to explain the physics of the pulse, the mechanism behind the FRBs emission is still unknown. From FRBs data with known host galaxies, the redshift is directly measured and can be combined with estimates of the $DM$ to constrain the cosmological parameters, such as the baryon number density and the Hubble constant. However, the poor knowledge of the fraction of baryonic mass in the intergalactic medium ($f_{IGM}$) and its degeneracy with the cosmological parameters impose limits on the cosmological application of FRBs. In this work we present a cosmological model-independent method to determine the evolution of $f_{IGM}$ combining the latest FRBs observations with localized host galaxy and current supernovae data. We consider constant and time-dependent $f_{IGM}$ parameterizations and show, through a Bayesian model selection analysis, that a conclusive answer about the time-evolution of $f_{IGM}$ depend strongly on the $DM$ fluctuations due to the spatial variation in cosmic electron density ($δ$). In particular, our analysis show that the evidence varies from strong (in favor of a growing evolution of $f_{IGM}$ with redshift) to inconclusive, as larger values of $δ$ are considered.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Low-redshift estimates of the absolute scale of baryon acoustic oscillations

Measurements of the characteristic length scale $r_s$ of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) provide a robust determination of the distance-redshift relation. Currently, the best (sub-per cent) estimate of $r_s$ at the drag epoch is provided by Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations assuming the validity of the standard $Λ$CDM model at $z \sim 1000$. Therefore, inferring $r_s$ from low-$z$ observations in a model-independent way and comparing its value with CMB estimates provides a consistency test of the standard cosmology and its assumptions at high-$z$. In this paper, we address this question and estimate the absolute BAO scale combining angular BAO measurements and type Ia Supernovae data. Our analysis uses two different methods to connect these data sets and finds a good agreement between the low-$z$ estimates of $r_{s}$ with the CMB sound horizon at drag epoch, regardless of the value of the Hubble constant $H_0$ considered. These results highlight the robustness of the standard cosmology at the same time that they also reinforce the need for more precise cosmological observations at low-$z$.

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