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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 307 records · Page 17
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DOE OSTI2016

Inflatable Dark Matter

We describe a general scenario, dubbed “Inflatable Dark Matter”, in which the density of dark matter particles can be reduced through a short period of late-time inflation in the early universe. The overproduction of dark matter that is predicted within many otherwise well-motivated models of new physics can be elegantly remedied within this context, without the need to tune underlying parameters or to appeal to anthropic considerations. Thermal relics that would otherwise be disfavored can easily be accommodated within this class of scenarios, including dark matter candidates that are very heavy or very light. Furthermore, the non-thermal abundance of GUT or Planck scale axions can be brought to acceptable levels, without invoking anthropic tuning of initial conditions. Additionally, a period of late-time inflation could have occurred over a wide range of scales from ~ MeV to the weak scale or above, and could have been triggered by physics within a hidden sector, with small but not necessarily negligible couplings to the Standard Model.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Inflation and the Higgs Scalar

This note makes a self-contained exposition of the basic facts of big bang cosmology as they relate to inflation. The fundamental problems with that model are then explored. A simple scalar model of inflation is evaluated which provides the solution of those problems and makes predictions which will soon be definitively tested. The possibility that the recently discovered fundamental Higgs scalar field drives inflation is explored.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Gravitational Fluctuations as an Alternative to Inflation II. CMB Angular Power Spectrum

Power spectra always play an important role in the theory of inflation. In particular, the ability to reproduce the galaxy matter power spectrum P(k) and the CMB temperature angular power spectrum C l ’s to high accuracy is often considered a triumph of inflation. In our previous work, we presented an alternative explanation for the matter power spectrum based on nonperturbative quantum field-theoretical methods applied to Einstein’s gravity, instead of inflation models based on scalar fields. In this work, we review the basic concepts and provide further in-depth investigations. We first update the analysis with more recent data sets and error analysis, and then extend our predictions to the CMB angular spectrum coefficients C l , which we did not consider previously. Then we investigate further the potential freedoms and uncertainties associated with the fundamental parameters that are part of this picture, and show how recent cosmological data provides significant constraints on these quantities. Overall, we find good general consistency between theory and data, even potentially favoring the gravitationally-motivated picture at the largest scales. We summarize our results by outlining how this picture can be tested in the near future with increasingly accurate astrophysical measurements.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

KELT-12b: A P ∼ 5 day, Highly Inflated Hot Jupiter Transiting a Mildly Evolved Hot Star

We announce the discovery of KELT-12b, a highly inflated Jupiter-mass planet transiting the mildly evolved, V = 10.64 host star TYC 2619-1057-1. We followed up the initial transit signal in the KELT-North survey data with precise ground-based photometry, high-resolution spectroscopy, precise radial velocity measurements, and high-resolution adaptive optics imaging. Our preferred best-fit model indicates that the host star has T{sub eff} = 6279 ± 51 K, logg{sub ⋆} = 3.89 ± 0.05, [Fe/H] = 0.19{sub −0.09}{sup +0.08}, M{sub ∗} = 1.59{sub −0.09}{sup +0.07} M{sub ⊙}, and R{sub ∗} = 2.37 ± 0.17 R{sub ⊙}. The planetary companion has M{sub P} = 0.95 ± 0.14 M{sub J}, R{sub P} = 1.78{sub −0.16}{sup +0.17} R{sub J}, logg{sub P} = 2.87{sub −0.10}{sup +0.09}, and density ρ{sub P} = 0.21{sub −0.05}{sup +0.07} g cm{sup −3}, making it one of the most inflated giant planets known. Furthermore, for future follow-up, we report a high-precision time of inferior conjunction in BJD{sub TDB} of 2,457,083.660459 ± 0.000894 and period of P=5.0316216±0.000032 days. Despite the relatively large separation of ∼0.07 au implied by its ∼5.03-day orbital period, KELT-12b receives significant flux of 2.38{sub −0.29}{sup +0.32}×10{sup 9} erg s{sup −1} cm{sup −2} from its host. We compare the radii and insolations of transiting gas giant planets around hot (T{sub eff}⩾6250 K) and cool stars, noting that the observed paucity of known transiting giants around hot stars with low insolation is likely due to selection effects. We underscore the significance of long-term ground-based monitoring of hot stars and space-based targeting of hot stars with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to search for inflated gas giants in longer-period orbits.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Magnetic Inflation and Stellar Mass. I. Revised Parameters for the Component Stars of the Kepler Low-mass Eclipsing Binary T-Cyg1-12664

Several low-mass eclipsing binary stars show larger than expected radii for their measured mass, metallicity, and age. One proposed mechanism for this radius inflation involves inhibited internal convection and starspots caused by strong magnetic fields. One particular eclipsing binary, T-Cyg1-12664, has proven confounding to this scenario. Çakırlı et al. measured a radius for the secondary component that is twice as large as model predictions for stars with the same mass and age, but a primary mass that is consistent with predictions. Iglesias-Marzoa et al. independently measured the radii and masses of the component stars and found that the radius of the secondary is not in fact inflated with respect to models, but that the primary is, which is consistent with the inhibited convection scenario. However, in their mass determinations, Iglesias-Marzoa et al. lacked independent radial velocity measurements for the secondary component due to the star’s faintness at optical wavelengths. The secondary component is especially interesting, as its purported mass is near the transition from partially convective to a fully convective interior. In this article, we independently determined the masses and radii of the component stars of T-Cyg1-12664 using archival Kepler data and radial velocity measurements of both component stars obtained with IGRINS on the Discovery Channel Telescope and NIRSPEC and HIRES on the Keck Telescopes. We show that neither of the component stars is inflated with respect to models. Our results are broadly consistent with modern stellar evolutionary models for main-sequence M dwarf stars and do not require inhibited convection by magnetic fields to account for the stellar radii.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Primordial non-Gaussianity from the effects of the Standard Model Higgs during reheating after inflation

We propose a new way of studying the Higgs potential at extremely high energies. The Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson, as a light spectator field during inflation in the early Universe, can acquire large field values from its quantum fluctuations which vary among different causal (Hubble) patches. Such a space dependence of the Higgs after the end of inflation leads to space-dependent SM particle masses and hence variable efficiency of reheating, when the inflaton decays to Higgsed SM particles. Inhomogeneous reheating results in (observable) temperature anisotropies. Further, the resulting temperature anisotropy spectrum acquires a significant non-Gaussian component, which is constrained by Planck observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and potentially detectable in next-generation experiments. Constraints on this non-Gaussian signal largely exclude the possibility of the observed temperature anisotropies arising primarily from Higgs effects. Hence, in principle, observational searches for non-Gaussianity in the CMB can be used to constrain the dynamics of the Higgs boson at very high (inflationary) energies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Smoothing and flattening the universe through slow contraction versus inflation

In a systematic study, we use an equivalent pair of improved numerical relativity codes based on a tetrad-formulation of the classical Einstein-scalar field equations to examine whether slow contraction or inflation (or both) can resolve the homogeneity, isotropy and flatness problems. Our finding, based on a set of gauge/frame invariant diagnostics and the models considered, is that slow contraction robustly and rapidly smooths and flattens spacetime beginning from initial conditions that are outside the perturbative regime of the flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric, whereas inflation fails these tests. We present new numerical evidence supporting the conjecture that the combination of ultralocal evolution and an effective equation-of-state with pressure much greater than energy density is the key to having robust and rapid smoothing. The opposite of ultralocality occurs in expanding spacetimes, which is the leading obstruction to smoothing following a big bang.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Starobinsky inflation and dark energy and dark matter effects from quasicrystal like spacetime structures

The goal of this work on mathematical cosmology and geometric methods in modified gravity theories, MGTs, is to investigate Starobinsky-like inflation scenarios determined by gravitational and scalar field configurations mimicking quasicrystal, QC, like structures. Such spacetime aperiodic QCs are different from those discovered and studied in solid state physics but described by similar geometric methods. We prove that a inhomogeneous and locally anisotropic gravitational and matter field effective QC mixed continuous and discrete “ether” can be modelled by exact cosmological solutions in MGTs and Einstein gravity. The coefficients of corresponding generic off-diagonal metrics and generalized connections depend (in general) on all spacetime coordinates via generating and integration functions and, certain smooth and discrete parameters. Imposing additional nonholonomic constraints, prescribing symmetries for generating functions and solving the boundary conditions for integration functions and constants, we can model various nontrivial torsion QC structures or extract cosmological Levi-Civita configurations with diagonal metrics reproducing de Sitter (inflationary) like and other type homogeneous inflation and acceleration phases. Finally, we speculate how various dark energy and dark matter effects can be modelled by off-diagonal interactions and deformations of a nontrivial QC like gravitational vacuum structure and analogous scalar matter fields.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Testing α -attractor quintessential inflation against CMB and low-redshift data

Due to universality and attractor properties, α-attractor quintessential inflation establishes direct relations between inflationary observables such as the scalar tilt n s and the tensor-to-scalar ratio r, and late-time dark energy equation of state parameters w 0 and w a . In this work, we examine three different physically motivated regimes, considering complete freedom in the parameter α, models inspired by supergravity where α takes on values up to α = 7/3, and Starobinsky inflation (α = 1). We investigate the consistency and constraints imposed by Cosmic Microwave Background measurements from the Planck satellite, B-mode polarization data from the BICEP/Keck collaboration, and low-redshift observations. Additionally, we consider small-scale CMB measurements released by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, which give results approaching the Harrison– Zel’dovich spectrum (n s ≈ 1). Here α-attractors lead to an improved fit over $\Lambda$CDM. For the large-scale CMB measurements, α ≳ 2 models can provide equally good fits as $\Lambda$CDM

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Planck 2013 results. XXII. Constraints on inflation

We analyse the implications of the Planck data for cosmic inflation. The Planck nominal mission temperature anisotropy measurements, combined with the WMAP large-angle polarization, constrain the scalar spectral index to be n s = 0.9603 ± 0.0073, ruling out exact scale invariance at over 5σ. Planck establishes an upper bound on the tensor-to-scalar ratio of r< 0.11 (95% CL). The Planck data thus shrink the space of allowed standard inflationary models, preferring potentials with V "< 0. Exponential potential models, the simplest hybrid inflationary models, and monomial potential models of degree n = 2 do not provide a good fit to the data. Planck does not find statistically significant running of the scalar spectral index, obtaining d n s /dlnk =-0.0134 ± 0.0090. Here, we verify these conclusions through a numerical analysis, which makes no slow-roll approximation, and carry out a Bayesian parameter estimation and model-selection analysis for a number of inflationary models including monomial, natural, and hilltop potentials. For each model, we present the Planck constraints on the parameters of the potential and explore several possibilities for the post-inflationary entropy generation epoch, thus obtaining nontrivial data-driven constraints. We also present a direct reconstruction of the observable range of the inflaton potential. Unless a quartic term is allowed in the potential, we find results consistent with second-order slow-roll predictions. We also investigate whether the primordial power spectrum contains any features. We find that models with a parameterized oscillatory feature improve the fit by Δχ 2 eff &approx; 10 ; however, Bayesian evidence does not prefer these models. We constrain several single-field inflation models with generalized Lagrangians by combining power spectrum data with Planck bounds on f NL . Planck constrains with unprecedented accuracy the amplitude and possible correlation (with the adiabatic mode) of non-decaying isocurvature fluctuations. The fractional primordial contributions of cold dark matter (CDM) isocurvature modes of the types expected in the curvaton and axion scenarios have upper bounds of 0.25% and 3.9% (95% CL), respectively. In models with arbitrarily correlated CDM or neutrino isocurvature modes, an anticorrelated isocurvature component can improve the χ 2 eff by approximately 4 as a result of slightly lowering the theoretical prediction for the &ell; ≳ 40 multipoles relative to the higher multipoles. Nonetheless, the data are consistent with adiabatic initial conditions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Hot-jupiter inflation due to deep energy deposition

Some extrasolar giant planets in close orbits—“hot Jupiters”—exhibit larger radii than that of a passively cooling planet. The extreme irradiation L{sub eq} these hot Jupiters receive from their close in stars creates a thick isothermal layer in their envelopes, which slows down their convective cooling, allowing them to retain their inflated size for longer. This is still insufficient to explain the observed sizes of the most inflated planets. Some models invoke an additional power source, deposited deep in the planetʼs envelope. Here, we present an analytical model for the cooling of such irradiated and internally heated gas giants. We show that a power source L{sub dep}, deposited at an optical depth τ{sub dep}, creates an exterior convective region, between optical depths L{sub eq}/L{sub dep} and τ{sub dep}, beyond which a thicker isothermal layer exists, which in extreme cases may extend to the center of the planet. This convective layer, which occurs only for L{sub dep}τ{sub dep}>L{sub eq}, further delays the cooling of the planet. Such a planet is equivalent to a planet irradiated with L{sub eq}(1+L{sub dep}τ{sub dep}/L{sub eq}){sup β}, where β≈0.35 is an effective power-law index describing the radiative energy density as a function of the optical depth for a convective planet U∝τ{sup β}. Our simple analytical model reproduces the main trends found in previous numerical works and provides an intuitive understanding. We derive scaling laws for the cooling rate of the planet, its central temperature, and radius. These scaling laws can be used to estimate the effects of tidal or Ohmic dissipation, wind shocks, or any other mechanism involving energy deposition on the sizes of hot Jupiters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Relations between canonical and non-canonical inflation

We look for potential observational degeneracies between canonical and non-canonical models of inflation of a single field φ. Non-canonical inflationary models are characterized by higher than linear powers of the standard kinetic term X in the effective Lagrangian p(X,φ) and arise for instance in the context of the Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) action in string theory. An on-shell transformation is introduced that transforms non-canonical inflationary theories to theories with a canonical kinetic term. The 2-point function observables of the original non-canonical theory and its canonical transform are found to match in the case of DBI inflation.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Stability analysis of inflation with an SU(2) gauge field

We study anisotropic cosmologies of a scalar field interacting with an SU(2) gauge field via a gauge-kinetic coupling. We analyze Bianchi class A models, which include Bianchi type I, II, VI{sub 0}, VII{sub 0}, VIII and IX. The linear stability of isotropic inflationary solution with background magnetic field is shown, which generalizes the known results for U(1) gauge fields. We also study anisotropic inflationary solutions, all of which turn out to be unstable. Then nonlinear stability for the isotropic inflationary solution is examined by numerically investigating the dependence of the late-time behaviour on the initial conditions. We present a number of novel features that may well affect physical predictions and viability of the models. First, in the absence of spatial curvature, strong initial anisotropy leads to a rapid oscillation of gauge field, thwarting convergence to the inflationary attractor. Secondly, the inclusion of spatial curvature destabilizes the oscillatory attractor and the global stability of the isotropic inflation with gauge field is restored. Finally, based on the numerical evidence combined with the knowledge of the eigenvalues for various inflationary solutions, we give a generic lower-bound for the duration of transient anisotropic inflation, which is inversely proportional to the slow-roll parameter.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Universality classes of inflation

We investigate all single-field, slow-roll inflationary models whose slow-roll parameters scale as 1/N in the limit of a large number of e-folds N. We proof that all such models belong to two universality classes, characterised by a single parameter. One class contains small field models like hilltop inflation, while the other class consists of large field models like chaotic inflation. We give the leading expressions for the spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio r, which are universal for each class, plus subleading corrections for a number of models. This predicts r either to be unobservably small, r < 0.01, or close to the present observational limit, r ≈ 0.07.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reconciliation of high energy scale models of inflation with Planck

The inflationary cosmology paradigm is very successful in explaining the CMB anisotropy to the percent level. Besides the dependence on the inflationary model, the power spectra, spectral tilt and non-Gaussianity of the CMB temperature fluctuations also depend on the initial state of inflation. Here, we examine to what extent these observables are affected by our ignorance in the initial condition for inflationary perturbations, due to unknown new physics at a high scale M. For initial states that satisfy constraints from backreaction, we find that the amplitude of the power spectra could still be significantly altered, while the modification in bispectrum remains small. For such initial states, M has an upper bound of a few tens of H, with H being the Hubble parameter during inflation. We show that for M ∼ 20H, such initial states always (substantially) suppress the tensor to scalar ratio. In particular we show that such a choice of initial conditions can satisfactorily reconcile the simple ½m{sup 2}φ{sup 2} chaotic model with the Planck data [1-3].

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Supergravity inflation with broken shift symmetry and large tensor-to-scalar ratio

We propose a class of inflation models with potential V(φ) = αφ{sup n}exp(−β{sup m}φ{sup m}). We show that such kind of inflaton potentials can be realized in supergravity theory with a small shift symmetry breaking term in the K and quot;ahler potential. We find that the models with (m = 1,n = 1), (m = 1,n = 2), (m = 2,n = 1), and (m = 2,n = 3/2) can easily accommodate the Planck results. In particular, the tensor-to-scalar ratio is larger than 0.01 in the 1σ region. Thus, these models generate the typical large field inflation, and can be tested at the future Planck and QUBIC experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Planck constraints on monodromy inflation

We use data from the nominal Planck mission to constrain modulations in the primordial power spectrum associated with monodromy inflation. The largest improvement in fit relative to the unmodulated model has Δχ{sup 2} ≈ 10 and we find no evidence for a primordial signal, in contrast to a previous analysis of the WMAP9 dataset, for which Δχ{sup 2} ≈ 20. The Planck and WMAP9 results are broadly consistent on angular scales where they are expected to agree as far as best-fit values are concerned. However, even on these scales the significance of the signal is reduced in Planck relative to WMAP, and is consistent with a fit to the ''noise'' associated with cosmic variance. Our results motivate both a detailed comparison between the two experiments and a more careful study of the theoretical predictions of monodromy inflation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spectroscopy of masses and couplings during inflation

In this work, we extend the idea of Quasi Single Field inflation [1] to the case of multiple isocurvaton fields with masses of order of Hubble, which are coupled kinetically to the inflaton field and have some interactions among themselves. We consider the effects of these massive modes in both the size and the shape of the bispectrum. We show that the shape of the bispectrum in the squeezed limit is dominated by the lightest field and is the same as in Quasi Single Field inflation. This is a generic feature of multiple isocurvaton fields and is independent of the details of the interactions among the massive fields. When the isocurvaton fields have similar masses, we can potentially distinguish two different shapes in the squeezed limit so that the shape of the bispectrum can act as a particle detector. However, in the presence of hierarchy among the massive fields, the dominant effect is due to the lightest field.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗