arXiv subjects

V. F. Cardone

Publications and source records attributed to V. F. Cardone.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Cosmography of f(R) gravity

It is nowadays accepted that the universe is undergoing a phase of accelerated expansion as tested by the Hubble diagram of Type Ia Supernovae (SNeIa) and several LSS observations. Future SNeIa surveys and other probes will make it possible to better characterize the dynamical state of the universe renewing the interest in cosmography which allows a model independent analysis of the distance - redshift relation. On the other hand, fourth order theories of gravity, also referred to as $f(R)$ gravity, have attracted a lot of interest since they could be able to explain the accelerated expansion without any dark energy. We show here how it is possible to relate the cosmographic parameters (namely the deceleration $q_0$, the jerk $j_0$, the snap $s_0$ and the lerk $l_0$ parameters) to the present day values of $f(R)$ and its derivatives $f^{(n)}(R) = d^nf/dR^n$ (with $n = 1, 2, 3$) thus offering a new tool to constrain such higher order models. Our analysis thus offers the possibility to relate the model independent results coming from cosmography to the theoretically motivated assumptions of $f(R)$ cosmology.

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arXiv2007

The Sersic Virial Hyperplane

Early-type galaxies (ETGs) are known to possess a number of quite useful scaling relations among their photometric and/or kinematical quantities. We propose a unified picture reducing both the fundamental plane and the photometric plane to suitable projections of a single relation. Modelling the ETG as a two component system, made out of a luminous Sersic profile and a NFW dark halo, and applying the virial theorem, we are able to express the velocity dispersion σ_0 as a function of the effective intensity I_e, the effective radius R_e and the Sersic index n. In a log-log plot, this relation reduces to a hyperplane (i.e., a plane in a four dimensional configuration space) which we dubbed the {\it Sersic Virial Hyperplane} (SVH). The tilt of the SVH can be fully explained in terms of a power-law scaling of the stellar (rather than the global) mass-to-light ratio Upsilon with the total luminosity L_T, while the scatter is determined by those on the c-M_{vir} relation between the concentration c and the virial mass M_{vir} of the dark halo component. In order to test whether such the observed SVH is consistent with the theoretical assumptions, we perform a detailed simulation of a large ETGs sample reproducing the same photometric properties of a SDSS low redshift ETGs catalog. It turns out that the simulated SVH is fully consistent with the observed one thus validating our theoretical approach.

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arXiv2006

Low surface brightness galaxies rotation curves in the low energy limit of $R^n$ gravity : no need for dark matter?

We investigate the possibility that the observed flatness of the rotation curves of spiral galaxies is not an evidence for the existence of dark matter haloes, but rather a signal of the breakdown of General Relativity. To this aim, we consider power - law fourth order theories of gravity obtained by replacing the scalar curvature $R$ with $f(R) = f_0 R^n$ in the gravity Lagrangian. We show that, in the low energy limit, the gravitational potential generated by a pointlike source may be written as $Φ(r) \propto r^{-1} \left [ 1 + (r/r_c)^β \right ]$ with $β$ a function of the slope $n$ of the gravity Lagrangian and $r_c$ a scalelength depending on the gravitating system properties. In order to apply the model to realistic systems, we compute the modified potential and the rotation curve for spherically symmetric and for thin disk mass distributions. It turns out that the potential is still asymptotically decreasing, but the corrected rotation curve, although not flat, is higher than the Newtonian one thus offering the possibility to fit rotation curves without dark matter. To test the viability of the model, we consider a sample of 15 low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies with combined HI and H$α$ measurements of the rotation curve extending in the putative dark matter dominated region. We find a very good agreement between the theoretical rotation curve and the data using only stellar disk and interstellar gas.

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arXiv2006

Dynamical and gravitational lensing properties of a new phenomenological model of elliptical galaxies

Recent observations of the line of sight velocity profile of elliptical galaxies have furnished controversial results with some works favouring the presence of a large amount of dark matter in the outer regions and others arguing in favour of no dark matter at all. In order to shed new light on this controversy, we propose here a new phenomenological description of the total mass profile of galaxies. Under the hypothesis of spherical symmetry, we assume a double power-law expression for the global M/L ratio Upsilon(r)= Upsilon_0(r/r_0) ^{alpha}(1+r/r_0)^{beta}. In particular, Upsilon propto r^{alpha} for r/r_0<<1 so that alpha=0 mimics a constant M/L ratio in the inner regions, while, for (r/r_0>>1), Upsilon propto r^{alpha+beta} thus showing that models with alpha+beta=0 have an asymptotically constant M/L ratio. A wide range of possibilities is obtained by varying the slope parameters in the range we determine on the basis of physical considerations. Choosing a general expression for the luminosity density profile j(r), we work out an effective galaxy model that accounts for all the phenomenology observed in real elliptical galaxies. We derive the main dynamics and lensing properties of such an effective model. We analyze a general class of models, able to take into account different dynamical trends. We are able to obtain analytical expressions for the main dynamical and lensing quantities. We show that constraining the values of alpha+beta makes it possible to analyze the problem of the dark matter in elliptical galaxies. Indeed, positive values of alpha+beta would be a strong evidence for dark matter. Finally we indicate possible future approaches in order to face the observational data, in particular using velocity dispersion profiles and lensed quasar events.

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arXiv2006

Structure formation and CMBR anisotropy spectrum in the inflessence model

The inflessence model has recently been proposed in an attempt to explain both early inflation and present day accelerated expansion within a single mechanism. The model has been successfully tested against the Hubble diagram of Type Ia Supernovae, the shift parameter, and the acoustic peak parameter. As a further mandatory test, we investigate here structure formation in the inflessence model determining the evolution of matter density contrast $δ\equiv δρ_M/ρ_M$ in the linear regime. We compare the growth factor $D(a) \equiv δ/a$ and the growth index $f(z) \equiv d\lnδ/d\ln{a}$ to these same quantities for the successful concordance $Λ$CDM model with a particular emphasis on the role of the inflessence parameters $(γ, z_Q)$. We also evaluate the anisotropy spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) to check whether the inflessence model may be in agreement with the observations. We find that, for large values of $(γ, z_Q)$, structure formation proceeds in a similar way to that in the $Λ$CDM scenario, and it is also possible to nicely fit the CMBR spectrum.

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arXiv2006

Gravitational lensing in fourth order gravity

Gravitational lensing is investigated in the weak field limit of fourth order gravity in which the Lagrangian of the gravitational field is modified by replacing the Ricci scalar curvature R with an analytical expression $f(R)$. Considering the case of a pointlike lens, we study the behaviour of the deflection angle in the case of power law Lagrangians, i.e. with f(R) = f_0 R^n. In order to investigate possible detectable signatures, the position of the Einstein ring and the solutions of the lens equation are evaluated considering the change with respect to the standard case. Effects on the amplification of the images and the Paczynski curve in microlensing experiments are also estimated.

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arXiv2006

Dark energy and dark matter as curvature effects

Astrophysical observations are pointing out huge amounts of dark matter and dark energy needed to explain the observed large scale structures and cosmic accelerating expansion. Up to now, no experimental evidence has been found, at fundamental level, to explain such mysterious components. The problem could be completely reversed considering dark matter and dark energy as shortcomings of General Relativity and claiming for the correct theory of gravity as that derived by matching the largest number of observational data. As a result, accelerating behavior of cosmic fluid and rotation curves of spiral galaxies are reproduced by means of curvature effects.

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arXiv2006

Observational constraints on dark energy with generalized equations of state

We investigate the effects of viscosity terms depending on the Hubble parameter and its derivatives in the dark energy equation of state. Such terms are possible if dark energy is a fictitious fluid originating from corrections to the Einstein general relativity as is the case for some braneworld inspired models or fourth order gravity. We consider two classes of models whose singularities in the early and late time universe have been studied by testing the models against the dimensionless coordinate distance to Type Ia Supernovae and radio-galaxies also including priors on the shift and the acoustic peak parameters. It turns out that both models are able to explain the observed cosmic speed up without the need of phantom (w < -1) dark energy.

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arXiv2006

A fluid os strings as a viable candidate to the dark side of the universe

We investigate the possibility that part of the dark matter is not made out of the usual cold dark matter (CDM) dustlike particles, but is under the form of a fluid of strings with barotropic factor $w_s = -1/3$ of cosmic origin. To this aim, we split the dark matter density parameter in two terms and investigate the dynamics of a spatially flat universe filled with baryons, CDM, fluid of strings and dark energy, modeling this latter as a cosmological constant or a negative pressure fluid with a constant equation of state $w < 0$. To test the viability of the models and to constrain their parameters, we use the Type Ia Supernovae Hubble diagram and the data on the gas mass fraction in galaxy clusters. We also discuss the weak field limit of a model comprising a significant fraction of dark matter in the form of a fluid of strings and show that this mechanism makes it possible to reduce the need for the elusive and up to now undetected CDM. We finally find that a model comprising both a cosmological constant and a fluid of strings fits very well the data and eliminates the need of phantom dark energy thus representing a viable candidate to alleviate some of the problems plaguing the dark side of the universe.

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arXiv2005

Beyond the perfect fluid hypothesis for dark energy equation of state

Abandoning the perfect fluid hypothesis, we investigate here the possibility that the dark energy equation of state (EoS) $w$ is a nonlinear function of the energy density $ρ$. To this aim, we consider four different EoS describing classical fluids near thermodynamical critical points and discuss the main features of cosmological models made out of dust matter and a dark energy term with the given EoS. Each model is tested against the data on the dimensionless coordinate distance to Type Ia Supernovae and radio galaxies, the shift and the acoustic peak parameters and the positions of the first three peaks in the anisotropy spectrum of the comic microwave background radation. We propose a possible interpretation of each model in the framework of scalar field quintessence determining the shape of the self interaction potential $V(ϕ)$ that gives rise to each one of the considered thermodynamical EoS. As a general result, we demonstrate that replacing the perfect fluid EoS with more generar expressions gives both the possibility of successfully solving the problem of cosmic acceleration escaping the resort to phantom models.

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arXiv2005

Dark energy exponential potential models as curvature quintessence

It has been recently shown that, under some general conditions, it is always possible to find a fourth order gravity theory capable of reproducing the same dynamics of a given dark energy model. Here, we discuss this approach for a dark energy model with a scalar field evolving under the action of an exponential potential. In absence of matter, such a potential can be recovered from a fourth order theory via a conformal transformation. Including the matter term, the function f(R) entering the generalized gravity Lagrangian can be reconstructed according to the dark energy model.

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arXiv2005

Inflessence: a phenomenological model for inflationary quintessence

We present a phenomenologically motivated model which is able to give rise both to an inflationary epoch and to the present day cosmic acceleration. We introduce an approach where the energy density depends on the scale factor $a$ in such a way that a smooth transition from the inflation to the matter dominated era and then to the nowadays accelerated expansion is achieved. We use the dimensionless coordinate distance $y(z)$ to the Gold Type Ia Supernovae dataset and to a sample comprising 20 radio galaxies, the shift parameter ${\cal{R}}$ and the acoustic peak parameter ${\cal{A}}$ to test whether the model is in agreement with observations and to constrain its main parameters. As an independent cross check, we also compare model predictions with the lookback time to galaxy clusters and the age of the universe. Although phenomenologically inspired, the model may be theoretically motivated either resorting to a scenario with a scalar and phantom fields (eventually interacting) or as an effective description arising from higher order gravity theories.

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arXiv2005

Constraining Van der Waals quintessence by observations

We discuss an alternative approach to quintessence modifying the usual equation of state of the cosmological fluid in order to see if going further than the approximation of perfect fluid allows to better reproduce the available data. We consider a cosmological model comprising only two fluids, namely baryons (modelled as dust) and dark matter with a Van der Waals equation of state. First, the general features of the model are presented and then the evolution of the energy density, the Hubble parameter and the scale factor are determined showing that it is possible to obtain accelerated expansion choosing suitably the model parameters. We use the estimated age of the universe and the data on the dimensionless coordinate distances to Type Ia supernovae and distant radio galaxies to see whether Van der Waals quintessence is viable to explain dark energy and to constrain its parameters.

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arXiv2005

Modelling the Milky Way through adiabatic compression of cold dark matter halo

We use the adiabatic compression theory to build a physically well - motivated Milky Way mass model in agreement with the observational data. The visible mass of the Galaxy is distributed in a spheroidal bulge and a multi - components disc parametrized by three galactic parameters, the Sun distance to the galactic centre, R_0, the total bulge mass, M_{bulge}, and the local disc surface density, Σ_{\odot}. To model the dark matter component, we adiabatically compress a Navarro, Frenk and White (NFW) halo (with concentration $c$ and total mass M_{vir}) for fixed values of the spin parameter, λ, the fraction of the mass in baryons, $m_b$, and the thin disc contribution to total angular momentum, j_d. An iterative selection procedure is used to explore in very detail the wide space of parameters only selecting those combinations of {R_0, M_{bulge}, Σ_{\odot}, λ, m_b, j_b, c, M_{vir}} that give rise to a Milky Way model in agreement with the observational constraints. This analysis leads us to conclude that only models with R_0 = 8.5 kpc, $0.8 x 10^{10} M_{\odot} < M_{bulge} < 1.6 x 10^{10} M_{\odot}$ and $49 M_{\odot} pc^{-2} \le Σ_{\odot} \le 56 M_{\odot} pc^{-2}$ can be reconciled with the set of observational constraints. As regard the parameters entering the adiabatic compression, we find $0.03 \le λ\le 0.10$ and $0.04 \le m_b \le 0.10$, while the final estimates of the parameters describing the initial halo profile turn out to be $5 \stackrel{<}{\sim} c \stackrel{<}{\sim} 12$ and $7 x 10^{11} M_{\odot} \stackrel{<}{\sim} M_\mathrm{vir} \stackrel{<}{\sim} 17 x 10^{11} M_{\odot}$ (all at 95.7% CL).

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arXiv2005

Reconciling dark energy models with f(R) theories

Higher order theories of gravity have recently attracted a lot of interest as alternative candidates to explain the observed cosmic acceleration without the need of introducing any scalar field. A critical ingredient is the choice of the function f(R) of the Ricci scalar curvature entering the gravity Lagrangian and determining the dynamics of the universe. We describe an efficient procedure to reconstruct f(R) from the Hubble parameter $H$ depending on the redshift z. Using the metric formulation of f(R) theories, we derive a third order linear differential equation for f(R(z)) which can be numerically solved after setting the boundary conditions on the basis of physical considerations. Since H(z) can be reconstructed from the astrophysical data, the method we present makes it possible to determine, in principle, what is the f(R) theory which best reproduces the observed cosmological dynamics. Moreover, the method allows to reconcile dark energy models with f(R) theories finding out what is the expression of f(R) which leads to the same H(z) of the given quintessence model. As interesting examples, we consider "quiessence" (dark energy with constant equation of state) and the Chaplygin gas.

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arXiv2005

Spherical galaxy models with power law logarithmic slope

We present a new family of spherically symmetric models for the luminous components of elliptical and spiral galaxies and their dark matter haloes. Our starting point is a general expression for the logarithmic slope $α(r) = d\logρ/d\log{r}$ from which most of the cuspy models yet available in literature may be derived. We then dedicate our attention to a particular set of models whose logarithmic slope is a power law function of the radius $r$ investigating in detail their dynamics assuming isotropy in the velocity space. While the basic properties (such as the density profile and the gravitational potential) may be expressed analytically, both the distribution function and the observable quantities (surface brightness and line of sight velocity dispersion) have to be evaluated numerically. We also consider the extension to anisotropic models trying two different parameterization. Since the model recently proposed by Navarro et al. (2004) as the best fit to their sample of numerically simulated haloes belongs to the family we present here, analytical approximations are given for the most useful quantities.

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arXiv2004

Higher Order Curvature Theories of Gravity Matched with Observations: a Bridge Between Dark Energy and Dark Matter Problems

Higher order curvature gravity has recently received a lot of attention due to the fact that it gives rise to cosmological models which seem capable of solving dark energy and quintessence issues without using "ad hoc" scalar fields. Such an approach is naturally related to fundamental theories of quantum gravity which predict higher order terms for loop expansions of quantum fields in curved spacetimes. In this framework, we obtain a class of cosmological solutions which are fitted against cosmological data. We reproduce reliable models able to fit high redshift supernovae and WMAP observations. The age of the universe and other cosmological parameters are recovered in this context. Furthermore, in the weak field limit, we obtain gravitational potentials which differ from the Newtonian one because of repulsive corrections increasing with distance. We evaluate the rotation curve of our Galaxy and compare it with the observed data in order to test the viability of these theories and to estimate the scale-length of the correction. It is remarkable that the Milky Way rotation curve is well fitted without the need of any dark matter halo and similar results hold also for other galaxies.

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arXiv2004

Constraining dark energy models using the lookback time to galaxy clusters and the age of the universe

An impressive amount of different astrophysical data converges towards the picture of a spatially flat universe undergoing a today phase of accelerated expansion. The nature of the dark energy dominating the energy content of the universe is still unknown and a lot of different scenarios are viable candidates to explain cosmic acceleration. Most of the methods employed to test these cosmological models are essentially based on distance measurements to a particular class of objects. A different method, based on the lookback time to galaxy clusters and the age of the universe, is used here. In particular, we constrain the characterizing parameters of three classes of dark energy cosmological models to see whether they are in agreement with this kind of data, based on time measurements rather than distance observations.

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