Relict Radiation of the Universe and Population of Rotation Levels of Interstellar Molecules
Relict radiation effect on rotational temperature of interstellar molecules
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Ultrahigh Energy Gamma-rays
An analysis is made of the interactions of very high energy cosmic ray protons with the relict radiation in extragalactic space. Two situations are examined: gamma rays derived from neutral pions -mesons produced in collisions in a nonevolutionary situation and gamma rays from electron pairs produced at early epochs. It is shown that the ultrahigh energy gamma rays could conceivably be of high enough intensity to be detected. The flux of gamma rays from the second process is not far from the diffuse background that was reported.
Strong, A. W.↗
Chemical composition of new Acapulcoites and Lodranites
The bulk compositions of two Antarctic Lodranites, MAC 88177 and FRO 90011, and two Acapulcoites, ALH 81261 and Monument Draw, were determined with instrumental neutron activation analysis. Acapulcoites have essentially chondritic major and trace element abundances but achondritic texture. They consist of entirely recrystallized, fine grained mineral assemblages. Chondrules are extremely rare; one relict radiating pyroxene chondrule was described in Monument Draw (MD). The coarse grained Lodranites also have achondritic textures, but they are different compositionally with depletions in Al, Na, and incompatible elements probably a result of separation of partial, feldspar-rich melt. MAC 88177 is significantly more depleted in incompatible elements than FRO 90011 suggesting a higher degree of partial melting for the MAC-Lodranite. The chemical data support a genetic relationship between Lodranites and Acapulcoites inferred earlier from oxygen isotopes, petrology, and mineral composition.
Zipfel, J.↗
Quintessential inflation with α-attractors
A novel approach to quintessential inflation model building is studied, within the framework of α-attractors, motivated by supergravity theories. Inflationary observables are in excellent agreement with the latest CMB observations, while quintessence explains the dark energy observations without any fine-tuning. The model is kept intentionally minimal, avoiding the introduction of many degrees of freedom, couplings and mass scales. In stark contrast to ΛCDM, for natural values of the parameters, the model attains transient accelerated expansion, which avoids the future horizon problem, while it maintains the field displacement mildly sub-Planckian such that the flatness of the quintessential tail is not lifted by radiative corrections and violations of the equivalence principle (fifth force) are under control. In particular, the required value of the cosmological constant is near the eletroweak scale. Attention is paid to the reheating of the Universe, which avoids gravitino overproduction and respects nucleosynthesis constraints. Kination is treated in a model independent way. A spike in gravitational waves, due to kination, is found not to disturb nucleosynthesis as well.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Single field double inflation and primordial black holes
Within the framework of scalar-tensor theories, we study the conditions that allow single field inflation dynamics on small cosmological scales to significantly differ from that of the large scales probed by the observations of cosmic microwave background. The resulting single field double inflation scenario is characterised by two consequent inflation eras, usually separated by a period where the slow-roll approximation fails. At large field values the dynamics of the inflaton is dominated by the interplay between its non-minimal coupling to gravity and the radiative corrections to the inflaton self-coupling. For small field values the potential is, instead, dominated by a polynomial that results in a hilltop inflation. Without relying on the slow-roll approximation, which is invalidated by the appearance of the intermediate stage, we propose a concrete model that matches the current measurements of inflationary observables and employs the freedom granted by the framework on small cosmological scales to give rise to a sizeable population of primordial black holes generated by large curvature fluctuations. We find that these features generally require a potential with a local minimum. We show that the associated primordial black hole mass function is only approximately lognormal.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Cosmological implications of primordial black holes
The possibility that a relevant fraction of the dark matter might be comprised of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) has been seriously reconsidered after LIGO's detection of a ∼ 30 M {sub ⊙} binary black holes merger. Despite the strong interest in the model, there is a lack of studies on possible cosmological implications and effects on cosmological parameters inference. We investigate correlations with the other standard cosmological parameters using cosmic microwave background observations, finding significant degeneracies, especially with the tilt of the primordial power spectrum and the sound horizon at radiation drag. However, these degeneracies can be greatly reduced with the inclusion of small scale polarization data. We also explore if PBHs as dark matter in simple extensions of the standard ΛCDM cosmological model induces extra degeneracies, especially between the additional parameters and the PBH's ones. Finally, we present cosmic microwave background constraints on the fraction of dark matter in PBHs, not only for monochromatic PBH mass distributions but also for popular extended mass distributions. Our results show that extended mass distribution's constraints are tighter, but also that a considerable amount of constraining power comes from the high-ℓ polarization data. Moreover, we constrain the shape of such mass distributions in terms of the correspondent constraints on the PBH mass fraction.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
The ALP miracle: unified inflaton and dark matter
We propose a scenario where both inflation and dark matter are described by a single axion-like particle (ALP) in a unified manner. In a class of the minimal axion hilltop inflation, the effective masses at the maximum and mimimum of the potential have equal magnitude but opposite sign, so that the ALP inflaton is light both during inflation and in the true vacuum. After inflation, most of the ALPs decay and evaporate into plasma through a coupling to photons, and the remaining ones become dark matter. We find that the observed CMB and matter power spectrum as well as the dark matter abundance point to an ALP of mass m {sub φ} = O(0.01) eV and the axion-photon coupling g {sub φ} {sub γ} {sub γ} = O(10{sup −11}) GeV{sup −1}: the ALP miracle . The suggested parameter region is within the reach of the next generation axion helioscope, IAXO, and high-intensity laser experiments in the future. Furthermore, thermalized ALPs contribute to hot dark matter and its abundance is given in terms of the effective number of extra neutrino species, Δ N {sub eff} ≅ 0.03, which can be tested by the future CMB and BAO observations. We also discuss a case with multiple ALPs, where the coupling to photons can be enhanced in the early Universe by an order of magnitude or more, which enlarges the parameter space for the ALP miracle. The heavy ALP plays a role of the waterfall field in hybrid inflation, and reheats the Universe, and it can be searched for in various experiments such as SHiP.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Far-infrared Spectroscopic Characterization of Anti-vinyl Alcohol
We report a detailed analysis of the high-resolution far-infrared spectrum of anti-vinyl alcohol, which has been previously identified toward Sagittarius B2(N). The ν {sub 15} OH torsional fundamental investigated here is more than 200 cm{sup −1} removed from the next nearest vibration, making it practically unperturbed and ideal to help refine the ground state rotational constants that were previously determined from 25 microwave lines. We assigned 1335 lines within the ν {sub 15} fundamental centered at 261.5512 cm{sup −1}, with J and K {sub a} ranges of 1–59 and 0–16, respectively. The microwave and far-infrared line positions were fit with Watson-type A- and S-reduced Hamiltonians, with the inclusion of quartic and select sextic distortion terms. This resulted in a significant refinement of the ground state constants, in addition to the determination of the ν{sub 15}=1 state constants for the first time. The spectroscopic parameters are in good agreement with the results from anharmonic coupled-cluster calculations, and should be useful in searches for rotationally and/or vibrationally warm anti-vinyl alcohol in interstellar molecular clouds.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Constraints on a Proton Synchrotron Origin of VHE Gamma Rays from the Extended Jet of AP Librae
The multiwavelength photon spectrum from the BL Lac object AP Librae extends from radio to TeV gamma rays. The X-ray to very high-energy gamma-ray emission from the extended jet of this source has been modeled with inverse Compton (IC) scattering of relativistic electrons off the cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons. The IC/CMB model requires the kpc-scale extended jet to be highly collimated with a bulk Lorentz factor close to 10. Here we discuss the possibility of a proton synchrotron origin of X-rays and gamma rays from the extended jet with a bulk Lorentz factor of 3. This scenario requires an extreme proton energy of 3.98 × 10{sup 21} eV and a high magnetic field of 1 mG of the extended jet with jet power ∼5 × 10{sup 48} erg s{sup −1} in particles and the magnetic field (which is more than 100 times the Eddington luminosity of AP Librae) to explain the very high-energy gamma-ray emission. Moreover, we have shown that X-ray emission from the extended jets of 3C 273 and PKS 0637-752 could be possible by proton synchrotron emission with jet power comparable to the Eddington luminosities.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Constraints on running vacuum model with H ( z ) and f σ{sub 8}
We examine the running vacuum model with Λ ( H ) = 3 ν H {sup 2} + Λ{sub 0}, where ν is the model parameter and Λ{sub 0} is the cosmological constant. From the data of the cosmic microwave background radiation, weak lensing and baryon acoustic oscillation along with the time dependent Hubble parameter H ( z ) and weighted linear growth f ( z )σ{sub 8}( z ) measurements, we find that ν=(1.37{sup +0.72}{sub −0.95})× 10{sup −4} with the best fitted χ{sup 2} value slightly smaller than that in the ΛCDM model.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Modeling the Radio Foreground for Detection of CMB Spectral Distortions from the Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization
Cosmic baryon evolution during the Cosmic Dawn and Reionization results in redshifted 21-cm spectral distortions in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). These encode information about the nature and timing of first sources over redshifts 30–6 and appear at meter wavelengths as a tiny CMB distortion along with the Galactic and extragalactic radio sky, which is orders of magnitude brighter. Therefore, detection requires precise methods to model foregrounds. We present a method of foreground fitting using maximally smooth (MS) functions. We demonstrate the usefulness of MS functions over traditionally used polynomials to separate foregrounds from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) signal. We also examine the level of spectral complexity in plausible foregrounds using GMOSS, a physically motivated model of the radio sky, and find that they are indeed smooth and can be modeled by MS functions to levels sufficient to discern the vanilla model of the EoR signal. We show that MS functions are loss resistant and robustly preserve EoR signal strength and turning points in the residuals. Finally, we demonstrate that in using a well-calibrated spectral radiometer and modeling foregrounds with MS functions, the global EoR signal can be detected with a Bayesian approach with 90% confidence in 10 minutes’ integration.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
VICS82: The VISTA–CFHT Stripe 82 Near-infrared Survey
We present the VISTA–CFHT Stripe 82 (VICS82) survey: a near-infrared (J+K {sub s}) survey covering 150 square degrees of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) equatorial Stripe 82 to an average depth of J = 21.9 AB mag and K {sub s} = 21.4 AB mag (80% completeness limits; 5σ point-source depths are approximately 0.5 mag brighter). VICS82 contributes to the growing legacy of multiwavelength data in the Stripe 82 footprint. The addition of near-infrared photometry to the existing SDSS Stripe 82 coadd ugriz photometry reduces the scatter in stellar mass estimates to δlog(M{sub ⋆})≈0.3 dex for galaxies with M{sub ⋆}>10{sup 9} M{sub ⊙} at z≈0.5, and offers improvement compared to optical-only estimates out to z≈1, with stellar masses constrained within a factor of approximately 2.5. When combined with other multiwavelength imaging of the Stripe, including moderate-to-deep ultraviolet (GALEX), optical and mid-infrared (Spitzer-IRAC) coverage, as well as tens of thousands of spectroscopic redshifts, VICS82 gives access to approximately 0.5 Gpc{sup 3} of comoving volume. Some of the main science drivers of VICS82 include (a) measuring the stellar mass function of L{sup ⋆} galaxies out to z∼1; (b) detecting intermediate-redshift quasars at 2≲z≲3.5; (c) measuring the stellar mass function and baryon census of clusters of galaxies, and (d) performing cross-correlation experiments of cosmic microwave background lensing in the optical/near-infrared that link stellar mass to large-scale dark matter structure. Here we define and describe the survey, highlight some early science results, and present the first public data release, which includes an SDSS-matched catalog as well as the calibrated pixel data themselves.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Improved Diffuse Foreground Subtraction with the ILC Method: CMB Map and Angular Power Spectrum Using Planck and WMAP Observations
We report an improved technique for diffuse foreground minimization from Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) maps using a new multiphase iterative harmonic space internal-linear-combination (HILC) approach. Our method nullifies a foreground leakage that was present in the old and usual iterative HILC method. In phase 1 of the multiphase technique, we obtain an initial cleaned map using the single iteration HILC approach over the desired portion of the sky. In phase 2, we obtain a final CMB map using the iterative HILC approach; however, now, to nullify the leakage, during each iteration, some of the regions of the sky that are not being cleaned in the current iteration are replaced by the corresponding cleaned portions of the phase 1 map. We bring all input frequency maps to a common and maximum possible beam and pixel resolution at the beginning of the analysis, which significantly reduces data redundancy, memory usage, and computational cost, and avoids, during the HILC weight calculation, the deconvolution of partial sky harmonic coefficients by the azimuthally symmetric beam and pixel window functions, which in a strict mathematical sense, are not well defined. Using WMAP 9 year and Planck 2015 frequency maps, we obtain foreground-cleaned CMB maps and a CMB angular power spectrum for the multipole range 2⩽ℓ⩽2500. Our power spectrum matches the published Planck results with some differences at different multipole ranges. We validate our method by performing Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, we show that the weights for HILC foreground minimization have the intrinsic characteristic that they also tend to produce a statistically isotropic CMB map.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Primordial gravitational waves and the blackbody radiation anisotropy
If relict gravitational waves deriving from a chaotic initial singularity contain a nonisotropic component, then this radiation can produce a frame dragging; effect which will induce a dipole anisotropy in the observed temperature distribution of the 3 K electromagnetic radiation background. The measured dipole and quadrupole distributions of the electromagnetic background can thus be used to bound the effective wave parameters of the nonisotropic part of the gravitational background. Using available data, the dimensionless amplitude of this nonisotropic part is found to be less than 0.0005 for wavelengths less than the Hubble radius. The effective energy density of this nonisotropic component of the gravitational radiation background is less than 2 x 10 to the -8th times the critical density.
Adams, P. J.↗
Properties of the Intergalactic Magnetic Field Constrained by Gamma-Ray Observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts
The magnetic field in intergalactic space gives important information about magnetogenesis in the early universe. The properties of this field can be probed by searching for radiation of secondary e {sup +} e {sup −} pairs created by TeV photons that produce GeV range radiation by Compton-scattering cosmic microwave background photons. The arrival times of the GeV “echo” photons depend strongly on the magnetic field strength and coherence length. A Monte Carlo code that accurately treats pair creation is developed to simulate the spectrum and time-dependence of the echo radiation. The extrapolation of the spectrum of powerful gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) like GRB 130427A to TeV energies is used to demonstrate how the intergalactic magnetic field can be constrained if it falls in the 10{sup −21}–10{sup −17} G range for a 1 Mpc coherence length.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
The Role of the CMB in Redshift Related Departures from the Gao–Solomon Relation
A strong correlation between the far-IR and HCN(1−0) line luminosities, known as the Gao–Solomon relation, has been observed to hold over more than 10 orders of magnitude in the local universe. Departures from this relation at redshifts ≳1.5 have been interpreted as evidence for increased dense gas star formation efficiency in luminous galaxies during the period of peak of star formation in the history of the universe. We examine whether the offsets from the relation can be explained by the hotter Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at high redshift, which, due to a loss of contrast against the hotter background, reduces the observable molecular-line flux far more significantly than the far-IR continuum bands. Simple line-of-sight modeling argues for highly significant departures from the Gao–Solomon relation at high redshift for kinetic temperatures ∼15 K, while more complex toy-galaxy models based on NGC 1068 suggest a much weaker effect with the galaxy integrated HCN line flux falling by only 10% at z = 3, within the intrinsic scatter of the relation. We conclude that, while the CMB is unlikely to explain the deviations reported in the literature, it may introduce a second-order effect on the relation by raising the low-luminosity end of the Gao–Solomon relation in cooler galaxies. A similar examination of the CO-IR relation finds tantalizing signs of the CMB having a measurable effect on the integrated CO emission in high-redshift galaxies, but these signs cannot be confirmed with the current data.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Dust-polarization Maps and Interstellar Turbulence
Perhaps the most intriguing result of Planck’s dust-polarization measurements is the observation that the power in the E-mode polarization is twice that in the B mode, as opposed to pre-Planck expectations of roughly equal dust powers in the E and B modes. Here we show how the E- and B-mode powers depend on the detailed properties of the fluctuations in the magnetized interstellar medium (ISM). These fluctuations can be decomposed into slow, fast, and Alfvén magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves, which comprise a complete basis that can be used to describe linear fluctuations of a magnetized fluid. They can alternatively be decomposed in terms of one longitudinal and two transverse components of a fluid-displacement field. The intensity (T) and E- and B-mode amplitudes induced by each of the three types of waves, in both decompositions, are then calculated. To illustrate how these tools can be applied, we consider a toy model of the ISM in which dust traces a single component of plasma, and obtain the EE/BB ratio and TE correlation for several ansatzes for the power in slow/fast/Alfvén waves and in longitudinal/transverse waves. Although our model may be too simplistic to properly describe the nonlinear structure of interstellar magnetic fields, we find that the observed EE/BB ratio (and its scale invariance) and positive TE correlation—as well as the observed power-law index for the angular spectrum of these fluctuations—are not easily accommodated in terms of simple MHD turbulence prescriptions for the expected powers in slow, fast, and Alfvén waves. We speculate that the ∼0.1–30 pc length scales probed by these dust-polarization measurements are not described by MHD turbulence, but rather probe the large-scale physics that drives ISM turbulence. We find that a slightly anisotropic spectrum of random fluid displacements produces EE/BB≃2 and a positive TE cross-correlation. Furthermore, we find that large EE/BB and positive TE are due primarily to longitudinal, rather than transverse, modes in the random-displacement field, providing, perhaps, some clue to the mechanism that stirs the ISM. Future investigations involving the spatial dependence of the EE/BB ratio, TE correlation, and local departures from statistical isotropy in dust-polarization maps, as well as further tests of some of the assumptions in this analysis, are outlined. This work may also aid in the improvement of foreground-separation techniques for studies of cosmic microwave background polarization.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Dark Matter's secret liaisons: phenomenology of a dark U(1) sector with bound states
Dark matter (DM) charged under a dark U(1) force appears in many extensions of the Standard Model, and has been invoked to explain anomalies in cosmic-ray data, as well as a self-interacting DM candidate. In this paper, we perform a comprehensive phenomenological analysis of such a model, assuming that the DM abundance arises from the thermal freeze-out of the dark interactions. We include, for the first time, bound-state effects both in the DM production and in the indirect detection signals, and quantify their importance for FERMI, AMS-02, and CMB experiments. We find that DM in the mass range 1 GeV to 100 TeV, annihilating into dark photons of MeV to GeV mass, is in conflict with observations. Instead, DM annihilation into heavier dark photons is viable. We point out that the late decays of multi-GeV dark photons can produce significant entropy and thus dilute the DM density. This can lower considerably the dark coupling needed to obtain the DM abundance, and in turn relax the existing constraints.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗