arXiv subjects

Weiqiang Yang

Publications and source records attributed to Weiqiang Yang.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Emergent Dark Energy, neutrinos and cosmological tensions

The Phenomenologically Emergent Dark Energy model, a dark energy model with the same number of free parameters as the flat $Λ$CDM, has been proposed as a working example of a minimal model which can avoid the current cosmological tensions. A straightforward question is whether or not the inclusion of massive neutrinos and extra relativistic species may spoil such an appealing phenomenological alternative. We present the bounds on $M_ν$ and $N_{\rm eff}$ and comment on the long standing $H_0$ and $σ_8$ tensions within this cosmological framework with a wealth of cosmological observations. Interestingly, we find, at $95\%$ confidence level, and with the most complete set of cosmological observations, $M_ν\sim 0.21^{+0.15}_{-0.14}$ eV and $N_{\rm eff}= 3.03\pm 0.32$ i.e. an indication for a non-zero neutrino mass with a significance above $2σ$. The well known Hubble constant tension is considerably easened, with a significance always below the $2σ$ level.

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arXiv2021

Dynamical dark energy after Planck CMB final release and $H_0$ tension

In this article we compare a variety of well known dynamical dark energy models using the cosmic microwave background measurements from the 2018 Planck legacy and 2015 Planck data releases, the baryon acoustic oscillations measurements and the local measurements of $H_0$ obtained by the SH0ES (Supernovae, $H_0$, for the Equation of State of Dark energy) collaboration analysing the Hubble Space Telescope data. We discuss the alleviation of $H_0$ tension, that is obtained at the price of a phantom-like dark energy equation of state. We perform a Bayesian evidence analysis to quantify the improvement of the fit, finding that all the dark energy models considered in this work are preferred against the $Λ$CDM scenario. Finally, among all the possibilities analyzed, the CPL model is the best one in fitting the data and solving the $H_0$ tension at the same time. However, unfortunately, this dynamical dark energy solution is not supported by the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) data, and the tension is restored when BAO data are included for all the models.

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arXiv2020

Interacting Dark Energy in a closed universe

Recent measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Anisotropies power spectra measured by the Planck satellite show a preference for a closed universe at more than $99 \%$ Confidence Level. Such a scenario is however in disagreement with several low redshift observables, including luminosity distances of Type Ia Supernovae. Here we show that Interacting Dark Energy (IDE) models can ease the discrepancies between Planck and Supernovae Ia data in a closed Universe. Therefore IDE cosmologies remain as very appealing scenarios, as they can provide the solution to a number of observational tensions in different fiducial cosmologies. The results presented here strongly favour broader analyses of cosmological data, and suggest that relaxing the usual flatness and vacuum energy assumptions can lead to a much better agreement among theory and observations.

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arXiv2020

Cosmology Intertwined III: $f σ_8$ and $S_8$

The standard $Λ$ Cold Dark Matter cosmological model provides a wonderful fit to current cosmological data, but a few tensions and anomalies became statistically significant with the latest data analyses. While these anomalies could be due to the presence of systematic errors in the experiments, they could also indicate the need for new physics beyond the standard model. In this Letter of Interest we focus on the tension of the Planck data with weak lensing measurements and redshift surveys, about the value of the matter energy density $Ω_m$, and the amplitude or rate of the growth of structure ($σ_8,fσ_8$). We list a few interesting models for solving this tension, and we discuss the importance of trying to fit with a single model a full array of data and not just one parameter at a time.

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arXiv2020

Cosmology Intertwined II: The Hubble Constant Tension

The current cosmological probes have provided a fantastic confirmation of the standard $Λ$ Cold Dark Matter cosmological model, that has been constrained with unprecedented accuracy. However, with the increase of the experimental sensitivity a few statistically significant tensions between different independent cosmological datasets emerged. While these tensions can be in portion the result of systematic errors, the persistence after several years of accurate analysis strongly hints at cracks in the standard cosmological scenario and the need for new physics. In this Letter of Interest we will focus on the $4.4σ$ tension between the Planck estimate of the Hubble constant $H_0$ and the SH0ES collaboration measurements. After showing the $H_0$ evaluations made from different teams using different methods and geometric calibrations, we will list a few interesting new physics models that could solve this tension and discuss how the next decade experiments will be crucial.

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arXiv2020

Cosmology Intertwined I: Perspectives for the Next Decade

The standard $Λ$ Cold Dark Matter cosmological model provides an amazing description of a wide range of astrophysical and astronomical data. However, there are a few big open questions, that make the standard model look like a first-order approximation to a more realistic scenario that still needs to be fully understood. In this Letter of Interest we will list a few important goals that need to be addressed in the next decade, also taking into account the current discordances present between the different cosmological probes, as the Hubble constant $H_0$ value, the $σ_8 - S_8$ tension, and the anomalies present in the Planck results. Finally, we will give an overview of upgraded experiments and next-generation space-missions and facilities on Earth, that will be of crucial importance to address all these questions.

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arXiv2020

Cosmology Intertwined IV: The Age of the Universe and its Curvature

A precise measurement of the curvature of the Universe is of primeval importance for cosmology since it could not only confirm the paradigm of primordial inflation but also help in discriminating between different early Universe scenarios. The recent observations, while broadly consistent with a spatially flat standard $Λ$ Cold Dark Matter ($Λ$CDM) model, are showing tensions that still allow (and, in some cases, even suggest) a few percent deviations from a flat universe. In particular, the Planck Cosmic Microwave Background power spectra, assuming the nominal likelihood, prefer a closed universe at more than 99\% confidence level. While new physics could be in action, this anomaly may be the result of an unresolved systematic error or just a statistical fluctuation. However, since a positive curvature allows a larger age of the Universe, an accurate determination of the age of the oldest objects provides a smoking gun in confirming or falsifying the current flat $Λ$CDM model.

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arXiv2020

Modified Emergent Dark Energy and its Astronomical Constraints

We introduce a modified form of the Phenomenologically Emergent Dark Energy (PEDE) model by showing a very elegant approach. The model is named as Modified Emergent Dark Energy (MEDE) to distinguish from PEDE model and it includes $Λ$CDM, PEDE model, Chevallier-Polarski-Linder model and other cosmological models of interest. We show that the present article offers a very fantastic route to construct other PEDE models in a simple but very elegant way. The model has seven free parameters where the six parameters are the same as in $Λ$CDM or PEDE model and the remaining one parameter `$α$' quantifies the generalization. The present model predicts that dark energy equation of state at present assumes, $w_{\rm DE}\; (z=0) = -1 - \fracα{3 \ln (10)}$ and in the far future (i.e., for $z \longrightarrow -1$), it will evolve asymptotically to $w_{\rm DE} \longrightarrow -1$. We perform a very robust observational analysis of the model using various observational datasets including cosmic microwave background radiation, baryon acoustic oscillations distance measurements, a local value of the Hubble constant and the pantheon sample of Supernovae Type Ia. We find that the $H_0$ tension here is alleviated but not solved, while the only free parameter, $α$ could recover the $Λ$CDM or PEDE for different datasets. In summary, the present article describes a novel route to construct other modified versions of the PEDE model in a very simplified manner.

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arXiv2020

Metastable dark energy models in light of Planck 2018: Alleviating the $H_0$ tension

We investigate the recently introduced metastable dark energy (DE) models after the final Planck 2018 legacy release. The essence of the present work is to analyze their evolution at the level of perturbations. Our analyses show that both the metastable dark energy models considered in this article, are excellent candidates to alleviate the $H_0$ tension. In particular, for the present models, Planck 2018 alone can alleviate the $H_0$ tension within 68\% CL. Along with the final cosmic microwave background data from the Planck 2018 legacy release, we also include external cosmological datasets in order to asses the robustness of our findings.

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arXiv2020

Dynamical Dark sectors and Neutrino masses and abundances

We investigate generalized interacting dark matter-dark energy scenarios with a time-dependent coupling parameter, allowing also for freedom in the neutrino sector. The models are tested in the phantom and quintessence regimes, characterized by an equation of state $w_x<-1$ and $w_x>-1$, respectively. Our analyses show that for some of the scenarios the existing tensions on the Hubble constant $H_0$ and on the clustering parameter $S_8$ can be significantly alleviated. The relief is either due to \textit{(a)} a dark energy component which lies within the phantom region; or \textit{(b)} the presence of a dynamical coupling in quintessence scenarios. The inclusion of massive neutrinos into the interaction schemes does not affect neither the constraints on the cosmological parameters nor the bounds on the total number or relativistic degrees of freedom $N_{\rm eff}$, which are found to be extremely robust and, in general, strongly consistent with the canonical prediction $N_{\rm eff}=3.045$. The most stringent bound on the total neutrino mass $M_ν$ is $M_ν<0.116$ eV and it is obtained within a quintessence scenario in which the matter mass-energy density is only mildly affected by the presence of a dynamical dark sector coupling.

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arXiv2020

Forecast constraints on Anisotropic Stress in Dark Energy using gravitational-waves

It is always interesting to investigate how well can a future experiment perform with respect to others (present or future ones). Cosmology is really an exciting field where a lot of puzzles are still unknown. In this article we consider a generalized dark energy (DE) scenario where anisotropic stress is present. We constrain this generalized cosmic scenario with an aim to investigate how gravitational waves standard sirens (GWSS) may constrain the anisotropic stress, which according to the standard cosmological probes, remains unconstrained. In order to do this, we generate the luminosity distance measurements from $\mathcal{O} (10^3)$ mock GW events which match the expected sensitivity of the Einstein Telescope. Our analyses report that, first of all, GWSS can give better constraints on various cosmological parameters compared to the usual cosmological probes, but the viscous sound speed appearing due to the dark energy anisotropic stress, is totally unconstrained even after the inclusion of GWSS.

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arXiv2020

Reconciling $H_0$ tension in a six parameter space?

Consistent observations indicate that some of the important cosmological parameters measured through the local observations are in huge tension with their measurements from the global observations (within the minimal $Λ$CDM cosmology). The tensions in those cosmological parameters have been found to be either weakened or reconciled with the introduction of new degrees of freedom that effectively increases the underlying parameter space compared to the minimal $Λ$CDM cosmology. It might be interesting to investigate the above tensions within the context of an emergent dark energy scenario proposed recently by Li and Shafieloo~\cite{Li:2019yem}. We find that the tension on $H_0$ is clearly alleviated within 68\% confidence level with an improvement of the $χ^2$ for CMB, for the above emergent dark energy model having only six free parameters similar to the spatially flat $Λ$CDM model. The tension on $H_0$ is still alleviated for every combined datasets considered in the work, however, such alleviation occurs by worsening the $χ^2$ compared to the $χ^2$ for $Λ$CDM model obtained for the same combined dataset.

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arXiv2020

Understanding the phenomenology of interacting dark energy scenarios and their theoretical bounds

Non-gravitational interaction between dark matter and dark energy has been considered in a spatially flat Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) universe. The interaction rate is assumed to be linear in the energy densities of dark matter and dark energy and it is also proportional to the Hubble rate of the FLRW universe. This kind of interaction model leads to an autonomous linear dynamical system, and depending on the coupling parameters, could be solved analytically by calculating the exponential of the matrix, defining the system. We show here that such interaction rate has a very deep connection with some well known cosmological theories. We then investigate the theoretical bounds on the coupling parameters of the interaction rate in order that the energy densities of the dark sector remain positive throughout the evolution of the universe and asymptotically converge to zero at very late times. Our analyses also point out that such linear interacting model may encounter with finite time future singularities depending on the coupling parameters as well as the dark energy state parameter.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Field theoretic interpretations of interacting dark energy scenarios and recent observations

Cosmological models describing the non-gravitational interaction between dark matter and dark energy are based on some phenomenological choices of the interaction rates between dark matter and dark energy. There is no such guiding rule to select such rates of interaction. {\it In the present work we show that various phenomenological models of the interaction rates might have a strong field theoretical ground.} We explicitly derive several well known interaction functions between dark matter and dark energy under some special conditions and finally constrain them using the latest cosmic microwave background observations from final Planck legacy release together with baryon acoustic oscillations distance measurements. Our analyses report that one of the interacting functions is able to alleviate the $H_0$ tension. We also perform a Bayesian evidence analyses for all the models with reference to the $Λ$CDM model. From the Bayesian evidence analyses, although the reference scenario is preferred over the interacting scenarios, however, we found that two interacting models are close to the reference $Λ$CDM model.

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arXiv2020

Forecasting Interacting Vacuum-Energy Models using Gravitational Waves

The physics of the dark sector has remained one of the controversial areas of modern cosmology at present and hence it naturally attracts massive attention to the scientific community. With the developments of the astronomical data, the physics of the dark sector is becoming much more transparent than it was some twenty years back. The detection of gravitational waves (GWs) has now opened a cluster of possibilities in the cosmological regime. Being motivated by the detection of GWs and its possible impact on the physics of dark matter and dark energy, in this work we focus on the interacting dark energy models. Assuming the simplest possibility in which the vacuum energy with equation-of-state $w_x =-1$ is allowed to interact with the pressureless dark matter, we have extracted the constraints of the cosmological parameters. We find that the addition of the GWs data to the CMB measurements significantly improves up to a factor 4 of the parameters space, and up to a factor 2 for the full combination of current cosmological datasets, namely CMB+BAO+Pantheon+RSD+R16+CC+WL. The most affected parameters by the inclusion of the GWs are $Ω_ch^2$, $θ_{MC}$, $ξ$, and the derived parameters $Ω_{m0}$, $σ_8$ and $H_0$.

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arXiv2020

All-inclusive interacting dark sector cosmologies

In this paper we explore possible extensions of Interacting Dark Energy cosmologies, where Dark Energy and Dark Matter interact non-gravitationally with one another. In particular, we focus on the neutrino sector, analyzing the effect of both neutrino masses and the effective number of neutrino species. We consider the Planck 2018 legacy release data combined with several other cosmological probes, finding no evidence for new physics in the dark radiation sector. The current neutrino constraints from cosmology should be therefore regarded as robust, as they are not strongly dependent on the dark sector physics, once all the available observations are combined. Namely, we find a total neutrino mass $M_ν<0.15$ eV and a number of effective relativistic degrees of freedom of $N_{\rm eff}=3.03^{+0.33}_{-0.33}$, both at 95\% CL, which are close to those obtained within the $Λ$CDM cosmology, $M_ν<0.12$ eV and $N_{\rm eff}=3.00^{+0.36}_{-0.35}$ for the same data combination.

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arXiv2020

Dark calling Dark: Interaction in the dark sector in presence of neutrino properties after Planck CMB final release

We investigate a well known scenario of interaction in the dark sector where the vacuum energy is interacting with cold dark matter throughout the cosmic evolution in light of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from final Planck 2018 release. In addition to this minimal scenario, we generalize the model baseline by including the properties of neutrinos, such as the neutrino mass scale ($M_ν$) and the effective number of neutrino species ($N_{\rm eff}$) as free parameters, in order to verify the possible effects that such parameters might generate on the coupling parameter, and vice versa. As already known, we again confirm that in light of the Planck 2018 data, such dark coupling can successfully solve the $H_0$ tension (with and without the presence of neutrinos). Concerning the properties of neutrinos, we find that $M_ν$ may be wider than expected within the $Λ$CDM model and $N_{\rm eff}$ is fully compatible with three neutrino species (similar to $Λ$CDM prevision). The parameters characterizing the properties of neutrinos do not correlate with the coupling parameter of the interaction model. When considering the joint analysis of CMB from Planck 2018 and an estimate of $H_0$ from Hubble Space Telescope 2019 data, {\it we find an evidence for a non-null value of the coupling parameter at more than 3$σ$ confidence-level.} We also discuss the possible effects on the interacting scenario due to the inclusion of baryon acoustic oscillations data with Planck 2018. Our main results updating the dark sectors' interaction and neutrino properties in the model baseline, represent a new perspective in this direction. Clearly, a possible new physics in light of some dark interaction between dark energy and dark matter can serve as an alternative to $Λ$CDM scenario to explain the observable Universe, mainly in light of the current tension on $H_0$.

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arXiv2020

Imprints of an extended Chevallier-Polarski-Linder parametrization on the large scale of our universe

In the present work we perform a systematic analysis of a new dark energy parametrization and its various corrections at first and higher orders around the presence epoch $z=0$, where the first order correction of this dark energy parametrization recovers the known Chevallier-Polarski-Linder model. We have considered up to the third order corrections of this parametrization and investigate the models at the level of background and perturbations. The models have been constrained using the latest astronomical datasets from a series of potential astronomical data, such as the cosmic microwave background observations, baryon acoustic oscillations measurements, recent Pantheon sample of the supernova type Ia and the Hubble parameter measurements. From the analyses we found that all parametrization favor the quintessential character of the dark energy equation of state where the phantom crossing is marginally allowed (within 68\% CL). Finally, we perform the Bayesian analysis using \texttt{MCEvidence} to quantify the statistical deviations of the parametrizations compared to the standard $Λ$CDM cosmology. The Bayesian analysis reports that $Λ$CDM is favored over all the DE parametrizations.

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