Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Tina Kahniashvili

Publications and source records attributed to Tina Kahniashvili.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Growth Rate in the Dynamical Dark Energy Models

Dark Energy models with slowly-rolling cosmological scalar field provide a popular alternative to the standard, time-independent cosmological constant model. We study simultaneous evolution of background expansion and growth in the scalar field model with the Ratra-Peebles self-interaction potential. We use recent measurements of the linear growth rate and the baryon acoustic oscillation peak positions to constrain the model parameter $α$ that describes the steepness of the scalar field potential.

astro-ph.CO↗

Constraining primordial magnetic fields through large scale structure

We study primordial magnetic field effects on the matter perturbations in the Universe. We assume magnetic field generation prior to the big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), i.e. during the radiation dominated epoch of the Universe expansion, but do not limit analysis by considering a particular magnetogenesis scenario. Contrary to previous studies, we limit the total magnetic field energy density and not the smoothed amplitude of the magnetic field at large (order of 1 Mpc) scales. We review several cosmological signatures, such as halos abundance, thermal Sunyaev Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect, and Lyman-$α$ data. For a cross check we compare our limits with that obtained through the CMB faraday rotation effect and BBN. The limits are ranging between 1.5 nG and 4.5 nG for $n_B \in (-3; -1.5)$.

astro-ph.CO↗

Evolution of Primordial Magnetic Fields from Phase Transitions

We consider the evolution of primordial magnetic fields generated during cosmological, electroweak or QCD, phase transitions. We assume that the magnetic field generation can be described as an injection of magnetic energy to cosmological plasma at a given scale determined by the moment of magnetic field generation. A high Reynolds number ensures strong coupling between magnetic field and fluid motions. The subsequent evolution of the magnetic field is governed by decaying hydromagnetic turbulence. Both our numerical simulations and a phenomenological description allow us to recover "universal" laws for the decay of magnetic energy and the growth of magnetic correlation length in the turbulent (low viscosity) regime. In particular, we show that during the radiation dominated epoch, energy and correlation length of non-helical magnetic fields scale as conformal time to the powers -1/2 and +1/2, respectively. For helical magnetic fields, energy and correlation length scale as conformal time to the powers -1/3 and +2/3, respectively. The universal decay law of the magnetic field implies that the strength of magnetic field generated during the QCD phase transition could reach $\sim 10^{-9}$\,G with the present day correlation length $\sim 50$ kpc. The fields generated at the electroweak phase transition could be as strong as $\sim 10^{-10}$ G with correlation lengths reaching $\sim 0.3$\,kpc. These values of the magnetic fields are consistent with the lower bounds of the extragalactic magnetic fields.

astro-ph.CO↗

Evolution of inflation-generated magnetic field through phase transitions

We study the evolution of an inflation-generated magnetic field, due to its coupling to fluid motions, during cosmological phase transitions. We find that the magnetic field stays almost unchanged on large scales, while on small scales the spectrum is modified in such a way that power at small scales becomes progressively suppressed. We also show that the magnetic field generates turbulent motions in the initially turbulence-free plasma. On large scales, the slope of the resulting kinetic energy spectrum is consistent with that of white noise.

astro-ph.CO↗

CMB two- and three-point correlation functions from Alfvén waves

We study the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature fluctuations non-gaussianity due to the vector mode perturbations (Alfvén waves) supported by a stochastic cosmological magnetic field. We present detailed derivations of the statistical properties, two and three point correlation functions of the vorticity perturbations and corresponding CMB temperature fluctuations.

astro-ph.CO↗

Magnetic Fields from QCD Phase Transitions

We study the evolution of QCD phase transition-generated magnetic fields in freely decaying MHD turbulence of the expanding Universe. We consider a magnetic field generation model that starts from basic non-perturbative QCD theory and predicts stochastic magnetic fields with an amplitude of the order of 0.02 $μ$G and small magnetic helicity. We employ direct numerical simulations to model the MHD turbulence decay and identify two different regimes: "weakly helical" turbulence regime, when magnetic helicity increases during decay, and "fully helical" turbulence, when maximal magnetic helicity is reached and an inverse cascade develops. The results of our analysis show that in the most optimistic scenario the magnetic correlation length in the comoving frame can reach 10 kpc with the amplitude of the effective magnetic field being 0.007 nG. We demonstrate that the considered model of magneto-genesis can provide the seed magnetic field for galaxies and clusters.

astro-ph.CO↗

Phase Transition Generated Cosmological Magnetic Field at Large Scales

We constrain a primordial magnetic field (PMF) generated during a phase transition (PT) using the big bang nucleosynthesis bound on the relativistic energy density. The amplitude of the PMF at large scales is determined by the shape of the PMF spectrum outside its maximal correlation length scale. Even if the amplitude of the PMF at 1 Mpc is small, PT-generated PMFs can leave observable signatures in the potentially detectable relic gravitational wave background if a large enough fraction ($1-10%$) of the thermal energy is converted into the PMF.

astro-ph.CO↗

Primordial magnetic field limits from cosmological data

We study limits on a primordial magnetic field arising from cosmological data, including that from big bang nucleosynthesis, cosmic microwave background polarization plane Faraday rotation limits, and large-scale structure formation. We show that the physically-relevant quantity is the value of the effective magnetic field, and limits on it are independent of how the magnetic field was generated.

astro-ph.CO↗

The Signature of Proper Motion in the Microwave Sky

The cosmic microwave background radiation defines a preferred cosmic rest frame, and inflationary cosmological theories predict that the microwave background temperature fluctuations should be statistically isotropic in this rest frame. For observers moving with respect to the rest frame, the temperature fluctuations will no longer be isotropic, due to the preferred direction of motion. The most prominent effect is a dipole temperature variation, which has long been observed with an amplitude of a part in a thousand of the mean temperature. An observer's velocity with respect to the rest frame will also induce changes in the angular correlation function and creation of non-zero off-diagonal correlations between multipole moments. We calculate both of these effects, which are part-in-a-thousand corrections to the rest frame power spectrum and correlation function. Both should be detectable in future full-sky microwave maps from the Planck satellite. These signals will constrain cosmological models in which the cosmic dipole arises partly from large-scale isocurvature perturbations, as suggested by recent observations.

astro-ph.CO↗

Numerical simulations of the decay of primordial magnetic turbulence

We perform direct numerical simulations of forced and freely decaying 3D magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in order to model magnetic field evolution during cosmological phase transitions in the early Universe. Our approach assumes the existence of a magnetic field generated either by a process during inflation or shortly thereafter, or by bubble collisions during a phase transition. We show that the final configuration of the magnetic field depends on the initial conditions, while the velocity field is nearly independent of initial conditions.

astro-ph.CO↗

Gravitational Radiation Generated by Cosmological Phase Transition Magnetic Fields

We study gravitational waves generated by the cosmological magnetic fields induced via bubble collisions during the electroweak (EW) and QCD phase transitions. The magnetic field generation mechanisms considered here are based on the use of the fundamental EW minimal supersymmetric (MSSM) and QCD Lagrangians. The gravitational waves spectrum is computed using a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence model. We find that gravitational wave spectrum amplitude generated by the EW phase transition peaks at frequency approximately 1-2 mHz, and is of the order of $10^{-20}-10^{-21}$; thus this signal is possibly detectable by Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The gravitational waves generated during the QCD phase transition, however, are outside the LISA sensitivity bands.

astro-ph.CO↗

Faraday Rotation Limits on a Primordial Magnetic Field from WMAP Five-Year Data

A primordial magnetic field in the early universe will cause Faraday rotation of the linear polarization of the cosmic microwave background generated via Compton scattering at the surface of last scattering. This rotation induces a non-zero parity-odd (B-mode) polarization component. The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 5-year data puts an upper limit on the magnitude of the B-polarization power spectrum; assuming that the B-polarization signal is totally due to the Faraday rotation effect, the upper limits on the comoving amplitude of a primordial stochastic magnetic field range from $6 \times 10^{-8}$ to $2 \times 10^{-6}$ G on a comoving length scale of 1 Mpc, depending on the power spectrum of the magnetic field.

astro-ph↗

The Spectrum of Gravitational Radiation from Primordial Turbulence

Energy injection into the early universe can induce turbulent motions of the primordial plasma, which in turn act as a source for gravitational radiation. Earlier work computed the amplitude and characteristic frequency of the relic gravitational wave background, as a function of the total energy injected and the stirring scale of the turbulence. This paper computes the frequency spectrum of relic gravitational radiation from a turbulent source of the stationary Kolmogoroff form which acts for a given duration, making no other approximations. We also show that the limit of long source wavelengths, commonly employed in aeroacoustic problems, is an excellent approximation. The gravitational waves from cosmological turbulence around the electroweak energy scale will be detectable by future space-based laser interferometers for a substantial range of turbulence parameters.

astro-ph↗

Gravitational Radiation from Primordial Helical Inverse Cascade MHD Turbulence

We consider the generation of gravitational waves by primordial helical inverse cascade magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence produced by bubble collisions at the electroweak phase transition. We extend the previous study \cite{kgr08} by considering both currently discussed models of MHD turbulence. For popular electroweak phase transition parameter values, the generated gravitational wave spectrum is only weakly dependent on the MHD turbulence model. Compared to the unmagnetized electroweak phase transition case, the spectrum of MHD-turbulence-generated gravitational waves peaks at lower frequency with larger amplitude and can be detected by the proposed Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

astro-ph↗

Testing Lorentz Invariance Violation with WMAP Five Year Data

We consider different renormalizable models of Lorentz invariance violation. We show that the limits on birefringence of the propagation of cosmic microwave background photons from the five year data of the Wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe (WMAP) can be translated into a limit of Lorentz symmetry violation. The obtained limits on Lorentz invariance violation are stronger than other published limits. We also cast them in terms of limits on a birefringent effective photo "mass" and on a polarization dependence of the speed of light.

astro-ph↗

Detectability of Gravitational Waves from Phase Transitions

Gravitational waves potentially represent our only direct probe of the universe when it was less than one second old. In particular, first-order phase transitions in the early universe can generate a stochastic background of gravitational waves which may be detectable today. We briefly summarize the physical sources of gravitational radiation from phase transitions and present semi-analytic expressions for the resulting gravitational wave spectra from three distinct realistic sources: bubble collisions, turbulent plasma motions, and inverse-cascade helical magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. Using phenomenological parameters to describe phase transition properties, we determine the region of parameter space for which gravitational waves can be detected by the proposed Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. The electroweak phase transition is detectable for a wide range of parameters.

astro-ph↗

Gravitational Radiation from Primordial Helical MHD Turbulence

We consider gravitational waves (GWs) generated by primordial inverse-cascade helical magneto-hydrodynamical (MHD) turbulence produced by bubble collisions at the electroweak phase transitions (EWPT). Compared to the unmagnetized EWPT case, the spectrum of MHD-turbulence-generated GWs peaks at lower frequency with larger amplitude and can be detected by the proposed Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA).

astro-ph↗