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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Constraints on early dark energy from the axion weak gravity conjecture

A popular proposal for resolving the Hubble tension involves an early phase of dark energy, driven by an axion field with a periodic potential. Here, in this paper, we argue that these models are tightly constrained by the axion weak gravity conjecture: for typical parameter values, the axion decay constant must satisfy f < 0.008,M Pl , which is smaller than the axion decay constants appearing in the vast majority of early dark energy models to date. We discuss possible ways to evade or loosen this constraint, arguing that its loopholes are small and difficult to thread. This suggests that it may prove challenging to realize early dark energy models in a UV complete theory of quantum gravity.

string theory and cosmology↗
DOE OSTI2022

Why are we still using 3D masses for cluster cosmology?

ABSTRACT The abundance of clusters of galaxies is highly sensitive to the late-time evolution of the matter distribution, since clusters form at the highest density peaks. However, the 3D cluster mass cannot be inferred without deprojecting the observations, introducing model-dependent biases and uncertainties due to the mismatch between the assumed and the true cluster density profile and the neglected matter along the sightline. Since projected aperture masses can be measured directly in simulations and observationally through weak lensing, we argue that they are better suited for cluster cosmology. Using the Mira–Titan suite of gravity-only simulations, we show that aperture masses correlate strongly with 3D halo masses, albeit with large intrinsic scatter due to the varying matter distribution along the sightline. Nonetheless, aperture masses can be measured ≈2–3 times more precisely from observations, since they do not require assumptions about the density profile and are only affected by the shape noise in the weak lensing measurements. We emulate the cosmology dependence of the aperture mass function directly with a Gaussian process. Comparing the cosmology sensitivity of the aperture mass function and the 3D halo mass function for a fixed survey solid angle and redshift interval, we find the aperture mass sensitivity is higher for Ωm and $w_a$, similar for σ8, ns, and $w_0$, and slightly lower for h. With a carefully calibrated aperture mass function emulator, cluster cosmology analyses can use cluster aperture masses directly, reducing the sensitivity to model-dependent mass calibration biases and uncertainties.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Modified gravity constraints from the full shape modeling of clustering measurements from DESI 2024

We present cosmological constraints on deviations from general relativity (GR) from the first-year of clustering observations from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) in combination with other available datasets including the CMB data from Planck with CMB-lensing from Planck and ACT, BBN constraints on the physical baryon density, the galaxy weak lensing and clustering from DESY3 and supernova data from DESY5. We first consider the μ(a,k)–Σ(a,k) modified gravity (MG) parameterization (as well as η(a,k)) in a ΛCDM and a w 0 w a CDM cosmological backgrounds. Using a functional form for time-only evolution gives μ 0 = 0.11 +0.44 -0.54 from DESI(FS+BAO)+BBN and a wide prior on n s . Using DESI(FS+BAO)+CMB+DESY3+DESY5-SN, we obtain μ 0 = 0.05 ± 0.22 and Σ 0 = 0.008 ± 0.045 and similarly μ 0 = 0.02 +0.19 -0.24 and η 0 = 0.09 +0.36 -0.60 , in an ΛCDM background. In w 0 w a CDM we obtain μ 0 = -0.24 +0.32 -0.28 and Σ 0 = 0.006 ± 0.043, consistent with GR, and we still find a preference of the data for a dynamical dark energy with w 0 > -1 and w a < 0. Using functional dependencies in both time and scale gives μ 0 and Σ 0 with a same level of precision as above but other scale MG parameters remain hard to constrain. We then move to binned parameterizations in a ΛCDM background starting with two bins in redshift and obtain, μ 1 = 1.02 ± 0.13, μ 2 = 1.04 ± 0.11, Σ 1 = 1.021 ± 0.029 and Σ 2 = 1.022 +0.027 -0.023 , all consistent with the unity value of GR in the binning formalism. We then extend the analysis to combine two bins in redshift and two in scale giving 8 MG parameters that we find all consistent with GR. We note that we find here that the tension reported in previous studies about Σ 0 being inconsistent with GR when using Planck PR3 data goes away when we use the recent LoLLiPoP+HiLLiPoP likelihoods. As noted in previous studies, this seems to indicate that the tension is indeed related to the CMB lensing anomaly in PR3 which is also resolved when using the recent likelihoods. We then constrain the class of Horndeski theory in the effective field theory of dark energy approach. We consider both EFT-basis and α-basis in the analysis. Assuming a power law parameterization for the EFT function Ω, which controls non-minimal coupling, we obtain Ω 0 = 0.012 +0.001 -0.012 and s 0 = 0.996 +0.54 -0.20 from the combination of DESI(FS+BAO)+DESY5SN+CMB in a ΛCDM background, which are consistent with GR. Similar results are obtained when using the α-basis and assuming no-braiding (α B = 0) giving c M < 1.14 at 95% CL in a ΛCDM background, also in agreement with GR. However, we see a mild yet consistent indication for c B > 0 when α B is allowed to vary which will require further study to determine whether this is due to systematics or new physics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

hi_class background evolution, initial conditions and approximation schemes

Cosmological datasets have great potential to elucidate the nature of dark energy and test gravity on the largest scales available to observation. Theoretical predictions can be computed with hi_class (www.hiclass-code.net), an accurate, fast and flexible code for linear cosmology, incorporating a wide range of dark energy theories and modifications to general relativity. We introduce three new functionalities into hi_class: (1) Support for models based on covariant Lagrangians, including a constraint-preserving integration scheme for the background evolution and a series of worked-out examples: Galileon, nKGB, quintessence (monomial, tracker) and Brans-Dicke. (2) Consistent initial conditions for the scalar-field perturbations in the deep radiation era, identifying the conditions under which modified-gravity isocurvature perturbations may grow faster than adiabatic modes leading to a loss of predictivity. (3) An automated quasistatic approximation scheme allowing order-of-magnitude improvement in computing performance without sacrificing accuracy for wide classes of models. These enhancements bring the treatment of dark energy and modified gravity models to the level of detail comparable to software tools restricted to standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmologies. Finally, the hi_class code is publicly available (https://github.com/miguelzuma/hi_class_public), ready to explore current data and prepare for next-generation experiments.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dust stars in the minimal exponential measure model

Here, we report the existence of horizonless compact object solutions supported by dust in the minimal exponential measure (MEMe) model, a theory which modifies the couplings between gravity and matter without introducing dynamical degrees of freedom. For a perfect fluid source, the field equations for the MEMe model can be rewritten as the Einstein field equations sourced by a perfect fluid with a transformed equation of state, which can endow a sufficiently dense cloud of dust with an effective pressure. The resulting dust-supported horizonless compact objects can have masses below ∼10 −11 ⁢𝑀 ⊙ , making them suitable as massive compact halo objects comprising a significant mass fraction for dark matter. A necessary condition for the existence of these compact object solutions is that the single free parameter in the MEMe model is positive valued. Additionally, we find that this positive sign for the parameter can provide a mechanism for suppressing the formation of (primordial) black holes from the gravitational collapse of matter below a certain mass scale.

alternative gravity theories↗
DOE OSTI2022

Searching for ultra-light bosons and constraining black hole spin distributions with stellar tidal disruption events

Stars that pass close to the supermassive black holes located in the center of galaxies can be disrupted by tidal forces, leading to flares that are observed as bright transient events in sky surveys. The rate for these events to occur depends on the black hole spins, which in turn can be affected by ultra-light bosons due to superradiance. We perform a detailed analysis of these effects and show that searches for stellar tidal disruptions have the potential to uncover the existence of ultra-light bosons. In particular, we find that upcoming stellar tidal disruption rate measurements by the Vera Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time can be used to either discover or rule out bosons with masses ranging from 10 –20 to 10 –18 eV. Our analysis also indicates that these measurements may be used to constrain a variety of supermassive black hole spin distributions and determine if close-to maximal spins are preferred.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Sharpening the Distance Conjecture in diverse dimensions

The Distance Conjecture holds that any infinite-distance limit in the scalar field moduli space of a consistent theory of quantum gravity must be accompanied by a tower of light particles whose masses scale exponentially with proper field distance ||$\phi$|| as m ~ exp(–λ||$\phi$||), where λ is order-one in Planck units. While the evidence for this conjecture is formidable, there is at present no consensus on which values of λ are allowed. In this paper, we propose a sharp lower bound for the lightest tower in a given infinite-distance limit in d dimensions: λ ≥ $1/\sqrt{d-2}$. In support of this proposal, we show that (1) it is exactly preserved under dimensional reduction, (2) it is saturated in many examples of string/M-theory compactifications, including maximal supergravity in d = 4 – 10 dimensions, and (3) it is saturated in many examples of minimal supergravity in d = 4 – 10 dimensions, assuming appropriate versions of the Weak Gravity Conjecture. We argue that towers with λ < $1/\sqrt{d-2}$ discussed previously in the literature are always accompanied by even lighter towers with λ ≥ $1/\sqrt{d-2}$, thereby satisfying our proposed bound. We discuss connections with and implications for the Emergent String Conjecture, the Scalar Weak Gravity Conjecture, the Repulsive Force Conjecture, large-field inflation, and scalar field potentials in quantum gravity. In particular, we argue that if our proposed bound applies beyond massless moduli spaces to scalar fields with potentials, then accelerated cosmological expansion cannot occur in asymptotic regimes of scalar field space in quantum gravity.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Gravitational production of completely dark photons with nonminimal couplings to gravity

Dark photons are a theorized massive spin-1 particle which can be produced via various mechanisms, including cosmological gravitational particle production (GPP) in the early universe. In this work, we extend previous results for GPP of dark photons to include nonminimal couplings to gravity. We find that nonminimal couplings can induce a ghost instability or lead to runaway particle production at high momentum and discuss the constraints on the parameter space such that the theory is free of instabilities. Within the instability-free regime we numerically calculate the particle production and find that the inclusion of nonminimal couplings can lead to an enhancement of the particle number. As a result, GPP of nonminimally coupled dark photons can open the parameter space for production of a cosmological relevant relic density (constituting all or part of the dark matter) as compared to the minimally-coupled theory. These results are independent of the choice of inflation model, which we demonstrate by repeating the analysis for a class of rapid-turn multi-field inflation models.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

A species scale-driven breakdown of effective field theory in time-dependent string backgrounds

We present a novel way in which effective field theory (EFT) can break down in cosmological string backgrounds depending on the behavior of the quantum gravity cutoff in infinite distance limits, known as the species scale $Λ_s$. Namely, EFT can break down if the species scale $Λ_s$ falls off so rapidly as the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) scale factor grows from some initial value $a_i$ to some final value $a_f$ that the physical momentum of an initial Hubble-sized perturbation $\sim H_i^{-1}$ grows to exceed the species scale. For EFT to remain valid, a new condition $H_i \frac{a_i}{a_f} \ll Λ_{s,f}$ must hold, which is distinct from Trans-Planckian conditions discussed in the literature. Using the universal relation $\frac{\nabla m}{m} \cdot \frac{\nabla Λ_s}{Λ_s} = \frac{1}{d-2}$ in the infinite distance limits of moduli space where $m$ is the mass scale of the lightest tower and $\nabla$ measures variations with respect to the canonical metric on moduli space, we show that spatially flat FRW solutions in the string landscape violate this condition or at best marginally satisfy it. However, we find that sufficiently large negative spatial curvature always avoids a breakdown. To avoid EFT breakdown, we derive an upper bound on the duration of quasi-de Sitter expansion that classically evolves to decelerated expansion. Our bound is proportional to the Trans-Planckian Censorship Conjecture (TCC) bound, with the advantage that it applies to any FRW solution in the string landscape. Finally, we distinguish EFT breakdown from TCC violation, the latter being a quantum gravity constraint rather than an EFT limitation. Perhaps our most surprising finding is that in any flat FRW solution that develops a weakly coupled string at future infinity the EFT inevitably breaks down.

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.C↗
DOE OSTI2023

DEMNUni: the imprint of massive neutrinos on the cross-correlation between cosmic voids and CMB lensing

Cosmic voids are a powerful probe of cosmology and are one of the core observables of upcoming galaxy surveys. The cross-correlations between voids and other large-scale structure tracers such as galaxy clustering and galaxy lensing have been shown to be very sensitive probes of cosmology and among the most promising to probe the nature of gravity and the neutrino mass. However, recent measurements of the void imprint on the lensed Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) have been shown to be in tension with expectations based on LCDM simulations, hinting to a possibility of non-standard cosmological signatures due to massive neutrinos. In this work we use the DEMNUni cosmological simulations with massive neutrino cosmologies to study the neutrino impact on voids selected in photometric surveys, as well as on the void-CMB lensing cross-correlation. We show how the void properties observed in this way (size function, profiles) are affected by the presence of massive neutrinos compared to the neutrino massless case, and show how these can vary as a function of the selection method of the void sample. Further, we comment on the possibility for massive neutrinos to be the source of the aforementioned tension. Finally, we identify the most promising setup to detect signatures of massive neutrinos in the voids-CMB lensing cross-correlation and define a new quantity useful to distinguish among different neutrino masses by comparing future observations against predictions from simulations including massive neutrinos.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Axion wormholes with massive dilaton

Abstract If Euclidean wormholes contribute meaningfully to the path integral of quantum gravity they can have important implications for particle physics and cosmology. The dominant effects arise from wormholes whose sizes are comparable to the cut-off scale of effective field theory, for which ultraviolet corrections become relevant. We study corrections to classical axion wormhole solutions in string motivated scenarios in which the dilaton partner of the axion becomes massive. We find corrections near the neck region which are consistent with a recent version of the weak gravity conjecture for axions.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Tomographic constraints on gravity from angular redshift fluctuations in the late Universe

Fluctuations in sky maps of galaxy redshifts, dubbed angular redshift fluctuations (ARF), contain precise information about the growth rate of structures and the nature of gravity in the Universe. Specifically, ARFs constrain the combination of cosmological parameters H/H 0 fσ 8 (z), while being an intrinsically tomographic probe and largely insensitive to many observational systematic errors, all without requiring the assumption of any redshift-to-distance relation under a given fiducial cosmology. We present the first cosmological constraints derived from ARF by using Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) LOWZ(Low redshift(Z))+CMASS(Constant MASS) DR12(Data Release 12) galaxy samples, obtaining 7 per cent accurate constraints on H/H 0 fσ 8 (z) at more than 20 redshifts over the range z ϵ [0.26, 0.72]. Our best-fitting value is 10 per cent larger, but compatible at the 1.4σ level, than the ΛCDM expectation set by Planck observations of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. In conclusion, our tomographic measurements, combined with these CMB data, provide one of the strongest constraints on the gravity index γ, $\gamma =0.44^{+0.09}_{-0.07}$, which lies within 2σ of the prediction of General Relativity (γGR ≃ 0.55).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Interpreting internal consistency of DES measurements

ABSTRACT Bayesian evidence ratios are widely used to quantify the statistical consistency between different experiments. However, since the evidence ratio is prior dependent, the precise translation between its value and the degree of concordance/discordance requires additional information. The most commonly adopted metric, the Jeffreys scale, can falsely suggest agreement between data sets when priors are chosen to be sufficiently wide. This work examines evidence ratios in a DES-Y1 simulated analysis, focusing on the internal consistency between weak lensing and galaxy clustering. We study two scenarios using simulated data in controlled experiments. First, we calibrate the expected evidence ratio distribution given noise realizations around the best-fitting DES-Y1 ΛCDM cosmology. Secondly, we show the behaviour of evidence ratios for noiseless fiducial data vectors simulated using a modified gravity model, which generates internal tension in the LCDM analysis. We find that the evidence ratio of noise realizations generated at all confidence levels was biased towards agreement and show, with a modified gravity model, that the choice of prior could conceal the discrepancies between weak lensing and galaxy clustering induced by prior effects in unlike cosmological models, concluding that the evidence ratio in a DES-Y1 study is, indeed, biased towards agreement. Boundary effects can also influence conclusions about the inconsistency induced by modified gravity, even in a noiseless data vector simulation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cosmic Growth Rate as Probe of Dark Matter and Gravity. Final Report

Some 95% of the energy content of the universe lies outside the standard model of particle physics, with approximately 70% arising from physics that accelerates cosmic expansion in opposition to normal gravity and about 25% dark matter that clusters under gravity but does not interact directly with light. This project made significant advances in developing methods to extract information on the former – dark energy or modified gravity – and latter – dark matter through their effects on the expansion history of the universe and the cosmic growth of large scale structures under the influence of gravity and dark energy. These results directly benefit experimental/observational cosmic surveys of large scale structure imaging hundreds of millions of galaxies and mapping spectroscopically the 3D positions of tens of millions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Compressed baryon acoustic oscillation analysis is robust to modified-gravity models

Abstract We study the robustness of the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) analysis to the underlying cosmological model. We focus on testing the standard BAO analysis that relies on the use of a template. These templates are constructed assuming a fixed fiducial cosmological model and used to extract the location of the acoustic peaks. Such “compressed analysis” had been shown to be unbiased when applied to the ΛCDM model and some of its extensions. However, it has not been known whether this type of analysis introduces biases in a wider range of cosmological models where the template may not fully capture relevant features in the BAO signal. In this study, we apply the compressed analysis to noiseless mock power spectra that are based on Horndeski models, a broad class of modified-gravity theories specified with eight additional free parameters. We study the precision and accuracy of the BAO peak-location extraction assuming DESI, DESI II, and MegaMapper survey specifications. We find that the bias in the extracted peak locations is negligible; for example, it is less than 10% of the statistical error for even the proposed future MegaMapper survey. Our findings indicate that the compressed BAO analysis is remarkably robust to the underlying cosmological model.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2021

Probing gravity and growth of structure with gravitational waves and galaxies’ peculiar velocity

The low-redshift velocity field is a unique probe of the growth of cosmic structure and gravity. Here, we propose to use distances from gravitational wave (GW) detections, in conjunction with the redshifts of their host galaxies from wide field spectroscopic surveys (e.g., DESI, 4MOST, TAIPAN), to measure peculiar motions within the local Universe. Such measurement has the potential to constrain the growth rate f σ 8 and test gravity through determination of the gravitational growth index γ , complementing constraints from other peculiar velocity measurements. We find that binary neutron star mergers with associated counterpart at z ≲ 0.2 that will be detected by the Einstein Telescope (ET) will be able to constrain f σ 8 to ~ 3 % precision after 10 years of operations when combined with galaxy overdensities from DESI and TAIPAN. If a larger network of third generation GW detectors is available (e.g., including the Cosmic Explorer), the same constraints can be reached over a shorter timescale ( ~ 5 years for a 3 detectors network). The same events (plus information from their hosts’ redshifts) can constrain γ to σ γ ≲ 0.04 . This constraint is precise enough to discern general relativity from other popular gravity models at 3 σ . This constraint is improved to σ γ ~ 0.02 – 0.03 when combined with galaxy overdensities. The potential of combining galaxies’ peculiar velocities with gravitational wave detections for cosmology highlights the need for extensive optical to near-infrared follow-up of nearby gravitational wave events, or exquisite GW localization, in the next decade.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cross-correlation of Planck CMB lensing with DESI-like LRGs

ABSTRACT Cross-correlations between the lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and other tracers of large-scale structure provide a unique way to reconstruct the growth of dark matter, break degeneracies between cosmology and galaxy physics, and test theories of modified gravity. We detect a cross-correlation between Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI)-like luminous red galaxies (LRGs) selected from DECam Legacy Survey imaging and CMB lensing maps reconstructed with the Planck satellite at a significance of S/N = 27.2 over scales ℓmin = 30, ℓmax = 1000. To correct for magnification bias, we determine the slope of the LRG cumulative magnitude function at the faint limit as s = 0.999 ± 0.015, and find corresponding corrections of the order of a few per cent for $C^{\kappa g}_{\ell }, C^{gg}_{\ell }$ across the scales of interest. We fit the large-scale galaxy bias at the effective redshift of the cross-correlation zeff ≈ 0.68 using two different bias evolution agnostic models: a HaloFit times linear bias model where the bias evolution is folded into the clustering-based estimation of the redshift kernel, and a Lagrangian perturbation theory model of the clustering evaluated at zeff. We also determine the error on the bias from uncertainty in the redshift distribution; within this error, the two methods show excellent agreement with each other and with DESI survey expectations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Absolute entropy and the observer’s no-boundary state

We investigate the no-boundary proposal for closed universes with an observer. We argue that the observer’s no-boundary state is the identity operator on the physical Hilbert space, i.e., the maximum entropy state and show this explicitly in Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity. Geometrically, the no-boundary state is a bra-ket wormhole. Expectation values in the no-boundary state provide a trace for the observer’s algebra, which allows one to define von Neumann entropy for observers in different universes as the relative entropy with respect to the no-boundary state. This result is consistent with all previously discussed cases of traces for invariantly defined regions.

Cosmological models↗