Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Upala Mukhopadhyay

Publications and source records attributed to Upala Mukhopadhyay.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Investigating the $H_0$ Tension and Expansion-History Mismatch with Diverse Dark Energy Parametrization Frameworks

In this work, we investigate whether the mismatch between early- and late-Universe inferences of the cosmic expansion history is associated with a particular redshift range, and whether models that alleviate the $H_0$ tension also provide a consistent description of $H(z)$ across cosmic time. We consider four late-time cosmological frameworks: $Λ$CDM, a dark energy (DE) equation-of-state parametrization, a DE pressure parametrization, and a generalized scale-factor parametrization. Using Planck CMB data as an early-Universe anchor and Pantheon+ with SH0ES calibration as a late-Universe probe, together with DESI DR2 BAO measurements, we first assess the $H_0$ tension in each framework and then reconstruct the expansion history through $H(z)$. We further compare these parametric reconstructions with non-parametric reconstruction employing Gaussian process regression. We find that the expansion histories inferred within $Λ$CDM remain significantly discrepant over the full redshift range considered, whereas the alternative phenomenological parametrizations largely localize the mismatch to lower redshifts. Among these models, the pressure parametrization gives the strongest reduction of the $H_0$ tension, to approximately $2.6σ$, while still exhibiting significant discrepancies in the reconstructed $H(z)$ at intermediate redshifts. Both the parametric and model-independent reconstructions identify the strongest deviations around $z=0.51$ and $z=0.706$ consistently, indicating robust late-time tensions in the cosmic expansion rate.

astro-ph.CO↗

Observational constraints of diffusive dark-fluid cosmology

In this manuscript, we investigate late-time cosmology and the evolution of cosmic structures using an interacting dark fluid model in which dark matter (DM) and dark energy (DE) interact through a diffusive mechanism. To provide a comprehensive understanding, we derive the background evolution and perturbation equations within this model and obtain cosmological parameters through MCMC simulations. We use recent measurements for statistical analysis and constrain the parameters $H_0$ in km/s/Mpc, $Ω_m$, $r_d$, $M$, $σ_8$, $S_8$, and the interaction term $Q_{dm}$. From the constrained values of $Q_{dm}$, we show that the diffusive model is a promising alternative DE model, capable of driving late-time cosmic acceleration due to energy exchange from DM to DE. State-finder diagnostics indicate that the model behaves like a Chaplygin gas when energy transfers from DM to DE during the Universe's expansion. We also investigate the growth of density contrast, finding $δ_m(z)\ggδ_{de}(z)$, which highlights the dominant role of DM in structure formation. Redshift space distortion and growth rate analysis show that minor deviations from $Λ$CDM at low redshifts, with larger differences at higher redshifts, indicate the impact of energy diffusion on early structure growth. Finally, we perform a detailed statistical analysis, including ${\mathcal{L}(\hatΘ|data)}$, $χ^2$, $\rm{AIC}$, and $\rm{BIC}$, which strongly supports the proposed diffusive dark-fluid model.

astro-ph.CO↗

Inferring dark energy properties from the scale factor parametrisation

We propose and implement a novel test to assess deviations from well-established concordance $Λ$CDM cosmology while inferring dark energy properties. In contrast to the commonly implemented parametric forms of the dark energy equation-of-state (EoS), we test the validity of the cosmological constant on the more fundamental scale factor [$a(t)$] which determines the expansion rate of the Universe. We constrain our extended `general model' using the late-time observables. The posterior of the dark energy EoS is mainly constrained to be quintessence-like naturally excluding physically unviable regions such as phantom crossings or exponential growth.

astro-ph.CO↗

Negative cosmological constant in the dark energy sector: tests from JWST photometric and spectroscopic observations of high-redshift galaxies

Early observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed the existence of an unexpectedly large abundance of extremely massive galaxies at redshifts $z \gtrsim 5$: these observations are in tension with the predictions not only of the standard $Λ$CDM cosmology, but also with those of a wide class of dynamical dark energy (DE) models, and are generally in better agreement with models characterized by a phantom behaviour. Here we consider a model, inspired by string theory and the ubiquity of anti-de Sitter vacua therein, featuring an evolving DE component with positive energy density on top of a negative cosmological constant, argued in an earlier exploratory analysis to potentially be able to explain the JWST observations. We perform a robust comparison of this model against JWST data, considering both photometric observations from the CEERS program, and spectroscopic observations from the FRESCO survey. We show that the model is able to accommodate the JWST observations, with a consistency probability of up to $98\%$, even in the presence of an evolving component with a quintessence-like behaviour (easier to accommodate theoretically compared to phantom DE), while remaining consistent with standard low-redshift probes. Our results showcase the tremendous potential of measurements of high-redshift galaxy abundances in tests of fundamental physics, and their valuable complementarity with standard cosmological probes.

astro-ph.CO↗

Dark energy in light of the early JWST observations: case for a negative cosmological constant?

Early data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has uncovered the existence of a surprisingly abundant population of very massive galaxies at extremely high redshift, which are hard to accommodate within the standard $Λ$CDM cosmology. We explore whether the JWST observations may be pointing towards more complex dynamics in the dark energy (DE) sector. Motivated by the ubiquity of anti-de Sitter vacua in string theory, we consider a string-inspired scenario where the DE sector consists of a negative cosmological constant (nCC) and a evolving component with positive energy density on top, whose equation of state is allowed to cross the phantom divide. We show that such a scenario can drastically alter the growth of structure compared to $Λ$CDM, and accommodate the otherwise puzzling JWST observations if the dynamical component evolves from the quintessence-like regime in the past to the phantom regime today: in particular, we demonstrate that the presence of a nCC (which requires a higher density for the evolving component) plays a crucial role in enhancing the predicted cumulative comoving stellar mass density. Our work reinforces the enormous potential held by observations of the abundance of high-$z$ galaxies in probing cosmological models and new fundamental physics, including string-inspired ingredients.

astro-ph.CO↗

Constraining PBH mass distributions from 21cm brightness temperature results and an analytical mapping between probability distribution of 21cm signal and PBH masses

The evaporation of Primordial Black Hole (PBH) via Hawking radiation influences the evolution of Inter Galactic Medium by heating up the latter and consequently affects the 21cm signal originated from the neutral Hydrogen atoms. In this work, we have considered EDGES observational data of 21cm line corresponding to cosmic dawn era to constrain the mass and the abundance of PBHs. In this context, two different PBH mass distributions namely, power law and lognormal mass distributions are considered to estimate the effects of PBH evaporation on the 21cm brightness temperature $T_{21}$. In addition to these two mass distributions, different monochromatic masses are also considered. The impacts of Dark Matter - baryon interactions on $T_{21}$ are also considered in this work along with the influences of PBH evaporation. Furthermore, adopting different monochromatic masses for PBHs, an attempt has been made to formulate a distribution for PBH masses by associating a probability weightage of the $T_{21}$ values (at $z \sim 17.2$), within the range given by EDGES experiment, with the calculated $T_{21}$ values for each of the PBH mass values. The distribution best suited for the present purpose is found to be a combination of an error function and Owen function. Allowed contours in the parameter space of (initial PBH mass-dark matter mass) are obtained.

astro-ph.CO↗

Discriminating and Constraining the Synchrotron and Inverse Compton Radiations from Primordial Black Hole and Dark Matter at the Galactic Centre Region

The evaporations of Primordial Black Holes (PBH) (via Hawking radiation) can produce electrons/positrons ($e^-/e^+$) in the Galactic Centre (GC) region which under the influence of the magnetic field of Centre region can emit synchrotron radiation. These $e^-/e^+$ can also induce Inverse Compton radiation due to the scattering with ambient photons. In this work three different PBH mass distributions namely, monochromatic, power law and lognormal distributions are considered to calculate such radiation fluxes. On the other hand, annihilation or decay of dark matter in the Galactic Centre region can also yield $e^-/e^+$ as the end product which again may emit synchrotron radiation in the Galactic magnetic field and also induce Inverse Compton scattering. In this work a comparative study is made for these radiation fluxes from both PBH evaporations and from dark matter origins and their detectabilities are addressed in various ongoing and other telescopes as well as in upcoming telescopes such as SKA. Moreover, constraints on the model parameters are obtained from these experimental predictions. The variations of these radiation fluxes with the distance from the Galactic Centre are also computed and it is found that such variations could be a useful probe to determine the mass of PBH or the mass of dark matter.

astro-ph.CO↗

Probing Interacting Dark Energy and Scattering of Baryons with Dark Matter in Light of EDGES 21cm Signal

The EDGES experiment has observed an excess trough ($-500^{+200}_{-500}$ mK) in the brightness temperature $T_{21}$ of the 21cm absorption line of neutral Hydrogen atom (HI) from the era of cosmic dawn ($z \simeq 17.2$). We consider possible interaction of Dark Matter and Dark Energy fluid along with the cooling off of the baryon matter by its collision with Dark Matter to explain the observed excess trough of $T_{21}$. We make use of three different Dark Matter-Dark Energy (DM-DE) interaction models to taste the viability of those models in explaining the EDGES results. The evolution of Hubble parameter is modified by DM-DE interactions and this is also addressed in this work. This in turn influences the optical depth of HI 21cm as well as the baryon temperature and thus effects the $T_{21}$ brightness temperature. In addition we also find that the DM-DE interaction enables us to explore Dark Matter with varied mass regimes and their viabilities in terms of satisfying the EDGES result.

astro-ph.CO↗

Gravitational Wave Signatures from Domain Wall and Strong First-Order Phase Transitions in a Two Complex Scalar extension of the Standard Model

We consider a simple extension of Standard Model by adding two complex singlet scalars with a $\rm{U}\left(1\right)$ symmetry. A discrete $\mathcal{Z}_2 \times \mathcal{Z}^{\prime}_2$ symmetry is imposed in the model and the added scalars acquire a non zero vacuum expectation value (VEV) when the imposed symmetry is broken spontaneously. The real (CP even) parts of the complex scalars mix with the SM Higgs and give three physical mass eigenstates. One of these physical mass eigenstates is attributed to the SM like Higgs boson with mass 125.09 GeV. In the present scenario, domain walls are formed in the early Universe due to the breaking of discrete $\mathcal{Z}_2 \times \mathcal{Z}^{\prime}_2$ symmetry. In order to ensure the unstability of the domain wall this discrete symmetry is also explicitly broken by adding a bias potential to the Lagrangian. The unstable annihilating domain walls produce a significant amount of gravitational waves (GWs). In addition, we also explore the possibility of the production of GW emission from the strong first-order phase transition. We calculate the intensities and frequencies of each of such gravitational waves originating from two different phenomena of the early Universe namely annihilating domain walls and strong first-order phase transition. Finally, we investigate the observational signatures from these GWs at the future GW detectors such as ALIA, BBO, DECIGO, LISA, TianQin, Taiji, aLIGO, aLIGO+ and pulsar timing arrays such as SKA, IPTA, EPTA, PPTA, NANOGrav11 and NANOGrav12.5.

hep-ph↗

Addressing the High-$f$ Problem in Pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone Boson Dark Energy Models with Dark Matter - Dark Energy Interaction

We consider a dark energy scenario driven by a scalar field $ϕ$ with a pseudo Nambu Goldstone boson (pNGB) type potential $V(ϕ)=μ^4 \left( 1+ {\rm cos}(ϕ/f) \right)$. The pNGB originates out of breaking of spontaneous symmetry at a scale $f$ close to Planck mass $M_{\rm{pl}}$. We consider two cases namely the quintessence dark energy and the other, where the standard pNGB action is modified by the terms related to Slotheon cosmology. We demonstrate that for this pNGB potential, high-$f$ problem is better addressed when interaction between dark matter and dark energy is taken into account and that Slotheon dark energy scenario works even better over quintessence in this respect. To this end, a mass limit for dark matter is also estimated.

astro-ph.CO↗

Swampland Criteria in the Slotheon Field Dark Energy

We explore in this work whether Slotheon model of Dark Energy obeys the Swampland criteria of string theory. Since de Sitter vacuum is very difficult to construct in string theory the cosmological constant as an explanation of Dark Energy is almost ruled out in string theory since it involves a scalar potential $V$ with positive local minimum that ends up to a stable (or meta stable) de Sitter (ds) vacuum. In quintessence model however if the derivative of the scalar potential $V$ ($\nabla V$) is small and $\frac{|\nabla V|}{V} \sim {\cal {O}}(1)$ then in this situation the potential $V$ can be positive but the scalar field may not be at the minimum. For a consistent quantum theory of gravity the theory should not have any ds or meta stable ds vacua. In this regard the Swampland criterion is proposed which any low energy theory should obey to be consistent with quantum theory of gravity. This criterion is written as $|\nabla V|/V > c \sim {\cal {O}}(1)$. In this work we consider a scalar field model for Dark Energy namely the Slotheon Dark Energy model inspired by the theories of extra dimensions and show that this Dark Energy model agrees better with the Swampland criteria than the quintessence Dark Energy model.

gr-qc↗

Evolution of Dark Energy Perturbations for Slotheon Field and Power Spectrum

Within the framework of modified gravity model namely Slotheon model, inspired by the theory of extra dimensions, we explore the behaviour of Dark Energy and the perturbations thereof. The Dark Energy and matter perturbations equations are then derived and solved numerically by defining certain dimensionless variables and properly chosen initial conditions. The results are compared with those for standard quintessence model and $Λ$CDM model. The matter power spectrum is obtained and also compared with that for $Λ$CDM model. It appears that Dark Energy in Slotheon model is more akin to that for $Λ$CDM model than the standard quintessence model.

gr-qc↗