Cosmology without general relativity
Physical nature of cosmological equations, general relativity for idealized universe, and Newtonian cosmology
COSMOLOGY↗
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The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Temperature and Gravitational Lensing Power Spectrum Measurements from Three Seasons of Data
We present the temperature power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) derived from the three seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) at 148 GHz and 218 GHz, as well as the cross-frequency spectrum between the two channels. We detect and correct for contamination due to the Galactic cirrus in our equatorial maps. We present the results of a number of tests for possible systematic error and conclude that any effects are not significant compared to the statistical errors we quote. Where they overlap, we cross-correlate the ACT and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) maps and show they are consistent. The measurements of higher-order peaks in the CMB power spectrum provide an additional test of the ΛCDM cosmological model, and help constrain extensions beyond the standard model. The small angular scale power spectrum also provides constraining power on the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects and extragalactic foregrounds. We also present a measurement of the CMB gravitational lensing convergence power spectrum at 4.6σ detection significance.
Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT)↗
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A CMB lensing mass map over 2100 square degrees of sky and its cross-correlation with BOSS-CMASS galaxies
We construct cosmic microwave background lensing mass maps using data from the 2014 and 2015 seasons of observations with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). These maps cover 2100 square degrees of sky and overlap with a wide variety of optical surveys. The maps are signal dominated on large scales and have fidelity such that their correlation with the cosmic infrared background is clearly visible by eye. We also create lensing maps with thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich contamination removed using a novel cleaning procedure that only slightly degrades the lensing signal-to-noise ratio. The cross-spectrum between the cleaned lensing map and the BOSS CMASS galaxy sample is detected at 10-σ significance, with an amplitude of A = 1.02±0.10 relative to the Planck best-fit LCDM cosmological model with fiducial linear galaxy bias. Our measurement lays the foundation for lensing cross-correlation science with current ACT data and beyond.
gravitational lensing↗
Clockwork Axions in Cosmology. Is Chromonatural Inflation Chrononatural?
Many cosmological models rely on large couplings of axions to gauge fields. Examples include theories of magnetogenesis, inflation on a steep potential, chiral gravitational waves, and chromonatural inflation. Such theories require a mismatch between the axion field range and the mass scale appearing in the aFF~ coupling. This mismatch suggests an underlying monodromy, with the axion winding around its fundamental period a large number of times. We investigate the extent to which this integer can be explained as a product of smaller integers in a UV completion: in the parlance of our times, can the theory be “clockworked”? We argue that a clockwork construction producing a potential μ4cos(ajFa) for an axion of fundamental period Fa will obey the constraint μ < Fa. For a some applications, including chromonatural inflation with sub-Planckian field range, this constraint obstructs a clockwork UV completion. Alternative routes to a large coupling include fields of large charge (an approach limited by strong coupling) or kinetic mixing (requiring a lighter axion). Our results suggest that completions of axion cosmologies that explain the large parameter in the theory potentially alter the phenomenological predictions of the model.
Cosmology of Theories beyond the SM↗
The aluminium-26 distribution in a cosmological simulation of a Milky Way-type Galaxy
Context . The 1.8 MeV γ -rays corresponding to the decay of the radioactive isotope 26 Al (with a half-life of 0.72 Myr ) have been observed by the SPI detector on the INTEGRAL spacecraft and extensively used as a tracer of star formation and current nucleosynthetic activity in the Milky Way Galaxy. Further information is encoded in the observation related to the higher 26 Al content found in regions of the Galaxy with the highest line-of-sight (LoS) velocity relative to an observer located in the Solar System. However, this feature remains unexplained. Aims . We ran a cosmological “zoom-in” chemodynamical simulation of a Milky Way-type galaxy, including the production and decays of radioactive nuclei in a fully self-consistent way. We then analyzed the results to follow the evolution of 26 Al throughout the lifetime of the simulated galaxy to provide a new method for interpreting the 26 Al observations. Methods . We included the massive star sources of 26 Al in the Galaxy and its radioactive decay into a state-of-the-art galactic chemical evolution model, coupled with cosmological growth and hydrodynamics. This approach allowed us to follow the spatial and temporal evolution of the 26 Al content in the simulated galaxy. Results . Our results are in agreement with the observations with respect to the fact that gas particles in the simulation with relatively higher 26 Al content also have the highest LoS velocities. On the other hand, gas particles with relatively lower 26 Al content (i.e., not bright enough to be observed) generally display the lowest LoS velocities. However, this result is not conclusive because the overall rotational velocity of our simulated galaxy is higher than that observed for cold CO gas in the Milky Way Galaxy. Furthermore, we found no significant correlation between gas temperature, rotational velocity, and 26 Al content at any given radius. We also found the presence of transient 26 Al-rich spots at low LoS velocities and we show that one such spot had been captured by the INTEGRAL/SPI data. Based on our model, we present a prediction for the detection of 1.8 MeV γ -rays by the future COSI mission. We find that according to our model, the new instrument will be able to observe similar 26 Al-emission patterns to those seen by INTEGRAL/SPI.
Wehmeyer, B. (ORCID:0009000254149292)↗
Cosmology with persistent homology: a Fisher forecast
Abstract Persistent homology naturally addresses the multi-scale topological characteristics of the large-scale structure as a distribution of clusters, loops, and voids. We apply this tool to the dark matter halo catalogs from theQuijotesimulations, and build a summary statistic for comparison with the joint power spectrum and bispectrum statistic regarding their information content on cosmological parameters and primordial non-Gaussianity. Through a Fisher analysis, we find that constraints from persistent homology are tighter for 8 out of the 10 parameters by margins of 13–50%. The complementarity of the two statistics breaks parameter degeneracies, allowing for a further gain in constraining power when combined. We run a series of consistency checks to consolidate our results, and conclude that our findings motivate incorporating persistent homology into inference pipelines for cosmological survey data.
Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DESI 2024 VII: cosmological constraints from the full-shape modeling of clustering measurements
We present cosmological results from the measurement of clustering of galaxy, quasar and Lyman-α forest tracers from the first year of observations with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI Data Release 1). We adopt the full-shape (FS) modeling of the power spectrum, including the effects of redshift-space distortions, in an analysis which has been thoroughly validated in a series of supporting papers as summarised in [1]. We combine the full-shape information with DESI's DR1 constraints from the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) of these tracers. In the flat ΛCDM cosmological model, DESI (FS+BAO), combined with a baryon density prior from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and a weak prior on the scalar spectral index, determines matter density to Ω m = 0.2962 ± 0.0095, and the amplitude of mass fluctuations to σ 8 = 0.842 ± 0.034. The addition of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data tightens these constraints to Ω m = 0.3056 ± 0.0049 and σ 8 = 0.8121 ± 0.0053, while further addition of the joint clustering and lensing analysis from the Dark Energy Survey Year-3 (DESY3) data further improves these measurements, and leads to a 0.4% determination of the Hubble constant, H 0 = (68.40 ± 0.27) km s -1 Mpc -1 . In models with a time-varying dark energy equation of state parametrised by w 0 and w a , combinations of DESI (FS+BAO) with CMB and type Ia supernovae continue to show the preference, previously found in the DESI DR1 BAO analysis, for w 0 > -1 and w a < 0 with similar levels of significance. DESI data, in combination with the CMB, improve the upper limits on the sum of the neutrino masses relative to the case when only the DR1 BAO was available, giving ∑m ν < 0.071 eV at 95% confidence. We finally constrain deviations from general relativity represented by two modified gravity parameters. DESI (FS+BAO) data alone measure the parameter that controls the clustering of massive particles, μ 0 = 0.11 +0.45 -0.54 , in agreement with the zero value predicted by general relativity. The combination of DESI with the CMB and the clustering and lensing analysis from DESY3 constrains both modified-gravity parameters, giving μ 0 = 0.04 ± 0.22 and Σ 0 = 0.044 ± 0.047, again in agreement with general relativity.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
guppy i : a code for reducing the storage requirements of cosmological simulations
ABSTRACT As cosmological simulations have grown in size, the permanent storage requirements of their particle data have also grown. Even modest simulations present a major logistical challenge for the groups which run these boxes and researchers without access to high performance computing facilities often need to restrict their analysis to lower quality data. In this paper, we present guppy, a compression algorithm and code base tailored to reduce the sizes of dark matter-only cosmological simulations by approximately an order of magnitude. guppy is a ‘lossy’ algorithm, meaning that it injects a small amount of controlled and uncorrelated noise into particle properties. We perform extensive tests on the impact that this noise has on the internal structure of dark matter haloes, and identify conservative accuracy limits which ensure that compression has no practical impact on single-snapshot halo properties, profiles, and abundances. We also release functional prototype libraries in C, Python, and Go for reading and creating guppy data.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: $w$CDM cosmology from simulation-based inference with persistent homology on the sphere
We present cosmological constraints from Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES Y3) weak lensing data using persistent homology, a topological data analysis technique that tracks how features like clusters and voids evolve across density thresholds. For the first time, we apply spherical persistent homology to galaxy survey data through the algorithm TopoS2, which is optimized for curved-sky analyses and HEALPix compatibility. Employing a simulation-based inference framework with the Gower Street simulation suite, specifically designed to mimic DES Y3 data properties, we extract topological summary statistics from convergence maps across multiple smoothing scales and redshift bins. After neural network compression of these statistics, we estimate the likelihood function and validate our analysis against baryonic feedback effects, finding minimal biases (under $0.3σ$) in the $Ω_\mathrm{m}-S_8$ plane. Assuming the $w$CDM model, our combined Betti numbers and second moments analysis yields $S_8 = 0.821 \pm 0.018$ and $Ω_\mathrm{m} = 0.304\pm0.037$-constraints 70% tighter than those from cosmic shear two-point statistics in the same parameter plane. Our results demonstrate that topological methods provide a powerful and robust framework for extracting cosmological information, with our spherical methodology readily applicable to upcoming Stage IV wide-field galaxy surveys.
Prat, J. [Nordita; Royal Inst. Tech., Sodertalje; ↗
SPT-3G D1: CMB temperature and polarization power spectra and cosmology from 2019 and 2020 observations of the SPT-3G main field
Here, we present measurements of the temperature and E-mode polarization angular power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from observations of 4% of the sky with SPT-3G, the current camera on the South Pole Telescope (SPT). The maps used in this analysis are the deepest used in a CMB TT / TE / EE analysis to date. The maps and resulting power spectra have been validated through blind and unblind tests. The measurements of the lensed EE and TE spectra are the most precise to date at ℓ = 1800 – 4000 and ℓ = 2200 – 4000 , respectively. Combining our TT / TE / EE spectra with previously published SPT-3G CMB lensing results, we find parameters for the standard Λ cold dark matter ( Λ CDM ) model consistent with Planck and ACT DR6 with comparable constraining power. We report a Hubble constant of H 0 = 66.66 ± 0.60 km s - 1 Mpc - 1 from SPT-3G alone, 6.2 σ away from local measurements from SH0ES. For the first time, combined ground-based ( SPT + ACT ) CMB primary and lensing data have reached Planck’s constraining power on some parameters, a milestone for CMB cosmology. The combination of these three CMB experiments yields the tightest CMB constraints to date, with H 0 = 67.19 ± 0.38 km s - 1 Mpc - 1 , and the amplitude of clustering σ 8 = 0.8137 ± 0.0037 . CMB data alone show no evidence for physics beyond Λ CDM , however, we observe a 2.8 σ difference in Λ CDM between CMB and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) results from DESI-DR2, which is relaxed in extended models. The combination of CMB and BAO yields 2 − 3 σ shifts from Λ CDM in the curvature of the Universe, the amplitude of CMB lensing, or the dark energy equation of state. It also drives mild preferences for models that address the Hubble tension through modified recombination or variations in the electron mass in a nonflat Universe. This work highlights the growing power of ground-based CMB experiments and lays a foundation for further cosmological analyses with SPT-3G.
Camphuis, Etienne [Sorbonne Université; CNRS; Inst↗
Cosmology of dark energy radiation
In this work, we quantify the cosmological signatures of dark energy radiation—a novel description of dark energy, which proposes that the dynamical component of dark energy is comprised of a thermal bath of relativistic particles sourced by thermal friction from a slowly rolling scalar field. For a minimal model with particle production emerging from first principles, we find that the abundance of radiation sourced by dark energy can be as large as Ω DER = 0.03, exceeding the bounds on relic dark radiation by three orders of magnitude. Although the background and perturbative evolution of dark energy radiation are distinct from Quintessence, we find that current and near-future cosmic microwave background and supernova data will not distinguish these models of dark energy. We also find that our constraints on all models are dominated by their impact on the expansion rate of the Universe. Considering extensions that allow the dark radiation to populate neutrinos, axions, and dark photons, we evaluate the direct detection prospects of a thermal background comprised of these candidates consistent with cosmological constraints on dark energy radiation. Our study indicates that a resolution of ~6 meV is required to achieve sensitivity to relativistic neutrinos compatible with dark energy radiation in a neutrino capture experiment on tritium. We also find that dark matter axion experiments lack sensitivity to a relativistic thermal axion background, even if enhanced by dark energy radiation, and dedicated search strategies are required to probe new parameter space. We derive constraints arising from a dark photon background from oscillations into visible photons, and find that viable parameter space can be explored with the late dark energy radiation experiment.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Mechanical cosmology: Simulating scalar fluctuations in expanding universes using synthetic mechanical lattices
Inspired by recent advances in observational astrophysics and continued explorations in the field of analog gravity, we discuss the prospect of simulating models of cosmology within the context of synthetic mechanical lattice experiments. We focus on the physics of expanding universe scenarios described by the Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) metric. Specifically, quantizing scalar fluctuations in a background FLRW spacetime leads to a quadratic bosonic Hamiltonian with temporally varying pair production terms. Here we present a mapping that provides a one-to-one correspondence between these classes of cosmology models and feedback-coupled mechanical oscillators. As proof of principle, we then perform experiments on a synthetic mechanical lattice composed of such oscillators. We simulate two different FLRW expansion scenarios with universes dominated by vacuum energy and matter and discuss our experimental results. Published by the American Physical Society 2025
Rhyno, Brendan (ORCID:0000000235266998)↗
Large-scale white noise and cosmology
The generation of white noise on large scales is a generic property of the dynamics of physical systems described by local nonlinear partial differential equations. Nonlinearities prevent the small-scale dynamics from being erased by smoothing. Unresolved small-scale dynamics act as an uncorrelated (white or Poissonian) noise (seemingly stochastic but actually deterministic) contribution to large-scale dynamics. This white noise exists even when the dynamics is very nearly linear. In cases where the power spectrum is sub-Poissonian on large scales, this noise will dominate on the largest scale power no matter the amplitude of the inhomogeneities. Such is the case in the standard model of cosmology, where the primordial density power spectrum is expected to have an almost Harrison-Zel’dovich, P [ k ] ∼ k , spectrum on a much broader range of scales than can be observed. Even though linear gravitational evolution dominates nonlinear corrections by a factor of ∼ 10 5 , the nonobservation of white noise on the Hubble scale precludes the extrapolation of this power law below the comoving 1 pc scale. More generally, observation or nonobservation of large-scale white noise provides a powerful probe of the Universe on very small scales in the early Universe. Gravitational radiation, phase transitions, vorticity, and running of the spectral index are all phenomena that can be probed with large-scale white noise. Large-scale white noise is a nonoptional feature of all cosmological models but one which has not heretofore been appreciated.
Barenboim, Gabriela [Valencia U., IFIC; Valencia U↗
Dark Energy Survey: Implications for cosmological expansion models from the final DES baryon acoustic oscillation and supernova data
The Dark Energy Survey (DES) recently released the final results of its two principal probes of the expansion history: Type Ia supernovae (SNe) and baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO). In this paper, we explore the cosmological implications of these data in combination with external cosmic microwave background (CMB), big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), and age-of-the-Universe information. The BAO measurement, which is ∼ 2 σ away from Planck ’s Λ CDM predictions, pushes for low values of Ω m compared to Planck, in contrast to SN which prefers a higher value than Planck. We identify several tensions among datasets in the Λ CDM model that cannot be resolved by including either curvature ( k Λ CDM ) or a constant dark energy equation of state ( w CDM ). By combining BAO + SN + CMB despite these mild tensions, we obtain Ω k = - 5.5 - 4.2 + 4.6 × 10 - 3 in k Λ CDM , and w = - 0.94 8 - 0.027 + 0.028 in w CDM . In w CDM , BAO and SN push again in different directions of parameter space, favoring, respectively, w < - 1 and w > - 1 . If we open the parameter space to w 0 w a CDM [where the equation of state of dark energy varies as w ( a ) = w 0 + ( 1 - a ) w a ], all the datasets are mutually more compatible, and we find concordance in the [ w 0 > - 1 , w a < 0 ] quadrant, with BAO pushing for w a < 0 and SN for [ w 0 > - 1 , w a < 0 ] . For DES BAO and SN in combination with Planck -CMB, we find a 3.2 σ deviation from Λ CDM , with w 0 = - 0.67 3 - 0.097 + 0.098 , w a = - 1.3 7 - 0.50 + 0.51 , a Hubble constant of H 0 = 67.8 1 - 0.86 + 0.96 km s - 1 Mpc - 1 , and an abundance of matter of Ω m = 0.310 9 - 0.0099 + 0.0086 . For the combination of all the background cosmological probes considered (including CMB’s angular acoustic scale θ ⋆ ), we still find a deviation of 2.8 σ from Λ CDM in the w 0 - w a plane. Assuming a minimal neutrino mass, this work provides tentative evidence for non- Λ CDM physics, which is consistent with recent claims in support of evolving dark energy, or a source of unknown systematics.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Atacama Cosmology Telescope: B-mode delensing with DR6 data and external tracers of large-scale structure
Large-scale -mode polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a prime target for current and future experiments in search of primordial gravitational waves. With increasingly sensitive instruments being deployed, secondary -modes induced by the weak gravitational lensing of CMB photons are becoming an important limitation and need to be removed, a process known as delensing. In this work, we combine internally reconstructed CMB lensing maps from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) data release 6 (DR6) with galaxy samples from unWISE and a map of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) fluctuations from Planck to produce a well-correlated tracer of the CMB lensing field. Our coadded tracer, shown to be 55%–85% correlated with the true lensing convergence at multipoles , is then convolved with ACT DR6 -mode polarization to yield a template of the lensing -modes. We assess its performance on a wide range of scales by using it to delens ACT DR6 and Planck -modes over 23% of the sky, removing around 39% of the lensing power at and 47% at , respectively. Our template achieves the highest delensing efficiency to date and will be useful for the analysis of early polarization maps from the Simons Observatory. We finally outline prospects for further improvements by including additional large-scale structure tracers from upcoming cosmological surveys.
Hertig, Emilie↗
GP Cosmology Surrogate v1.0
GP Cosmology Surrogate is a Python library for building and training a generalized multi-output Gaussian process (GP) framework of @takhtaganov2021cosmic. In this approach, the surrogate is constructed sequentially, guided by a Bayesian optimization acquisition function that targets reduction of emulation error in the regions most consistent with the observational data. This adaptive design concentrates computational resources where they have the greatest impact on inference accuracy. The library supports efficient training for separable GP kernels, which allows the use of Kronecker algebra to handle high-dimensional input spaces and large numbers of correlated outputs. This makes it well suited for applications such as modeling cosmological power spectra, large-scale physical simulations, and multi-output hyperparameter tuning. By combining scalable multi-output GP modeling with data-driven adaptive sampling, GPsurrogate enables parameter inference and optimization with substantially fewer simulations than conventional space-filling designs.
Lukic, Zarija [Lawrence Berkeley National Laborato↗
Cosmological Constraints from Combining Photometric Galaxy Surveys and Gravitational Wave Observatories
Spatial variations in survey properties due to selection effects generate substantial systematic errors in large-scale structure measurements in optical galaxy surveys on very large scales. On such scales, the statistical sensitivity of optical surveys is also limited by their finite sky coverage. By contrast, gravitational wave (GW) sources appear to be relatively free of these issues, provided the angular sensitivity of GW experiments can be accurately characterized. We quantify the expected cosmological information gain from combining the forecast LSST 3$\times$2pt analysis (combination of three 2-point correlations of galaxy density and weak lensing shear fields) with the large-scale auto-correlation of GW sources from proposed next-generation GW experiments. We find that in $\Lambda$CDM and $w$CDM models, there is no significant improvement in cosmological constraints from combining GW with LSST 3$\times$2pt over LSST alone, due to the large shot noise for the former; however, this combination does enable a $\sim6\%$ constraint on the linear galaxy bias of GW sources. More interestingly, the optical-GW data combination provides tight constraints on models with primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG), due to the predicted scale-dependent bias in PNG models on large scales. Assuming that the largest angular scales that LSST will probe are comparable to those in Stage III surveys ($\ell_{\rm min}\sim50$), the inclusion of next-generation GW measurements could improve constraints on the PNG parameter $f_{\rm NL}$ by up to a factor of $\simeq6.6$ compared to LSST alone, yielding $\sigma(f_{\rm NL})=8.5$. These results assume the expected capability of a network of Einstein Telescope-like GW observatories, with a detection rate of $10^6$ events/year. We investigate the sensitivity of our results to different assumptions about future GW detectors as well as different LSST analysis choices.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR6 Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Selected Galaxy Clusters Catalog
We present the results of a search for galaxy clusters in the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 6 (DR6) microwave sky maps covering 16293 square degrees in three frequency bands, using data obtained over the lifetime of the project (2008-2022). We report redshifts and mass estimates for 10040 clusters detected via their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect with signal-to-noise greater than 4 at a 2.4 arcminute filter scale. The catalog includes 1180 clusters at redshifts greater than 1, and 124 clusters at redshifts greater than 1.5. Using a relation between cluster SZ signal and mass that is consistent with recent weak-lensing measurements, we estimate that clusters detected with signal-to-noise greater than 5 form a sample which is 90% complete for clusters with masses greater than $5 \times 10^{14}$ MSun (measured within a spherical volume with mean density 500 times the critical density). El Gordo, a cluster found in an initial ACT survey of 755 square degrees, remains the most extreme cluster in mass and redshift; we find no cluster with a mass and redshift combination high enough to falsify the standard LCDM cosmology with Gaussian initial perturbations. We make public a variety of data products, including the full cluster candidate list, noise maps, and sky masks, along with our software for cluster detection and instructions for reproducing our cluster catalogs from the public ACT maps.
Aguena, M. [Trieste Observ.; LIneA, Rio de Janeiro↗