A Tale of Two Infinities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Bertone
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
Dark Matter ◽  
Gravitational Waves ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Fundamental Physics ◽  
Modern Cosmology ◽  
Nobel Prize In Physics ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Modern Astronomy

The spectacular advances of modern astronomy have opened our horizon on an unexpected cosmos: a dark, mysterious Universe, populated by enigmatic entities we know very little about, like black holes, or nothing at all, like dark matter and dark energy. In this book, I discuss how the rise of a new discipline dubbed multimessenger astronomy is bringing about a revolution in our understanding of the cosmos, by combining the traditional approach based on the observation of light from celestial objects, with a new one based on other ‘messengers’—such as gravitational waves, neutrinos, and cosmic rays—that carry information from otherwise inaccessible corners of the Universe. Much has been written about the extraordinary potential of this new discipline, since the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded for the direct detection of gravitational waves. But here I will take a different angle and explore how gravitational waves and other messengers might help us break the stalemate that has been plaguing fundamental physics for four decades, and to consolidate the foundations of modern cosmology.

Beyond the Schwarzschild Metric

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Wittman
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
General Relativity ◽  
Gravitational Waves ◽  
Test Particle ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Relativistic Effects ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Clusters Of Galaxies ◽  
General Relativistic ◽  
The Universe

General relativity explains much more than the spacetime around static spherical masses.We briefly assess general relativity in the larger context of physical theories, then explore various general relativistic effects that have no Newtonian analog. First, source massmotion gives rise to gravitomagnetic effects on test particles.These effects also depend on the velocity of the test particle, which has substantial implications for orbits around black holes to be further explored in Chapter 20. Second, any changes in the sourcemass ripple outward as gravitational waves, and we tell the century‐long story from the prediction of gravitational waves to their first direct detection in 2015. Third, the deflection of light by galaxies and clusters of galaxies allows us to map the amount and distribution of mass in the universe in astonishing detail. Finally, general relativity enables modeling the universe as a whole, and we explore the resulting Big Bang cosmology.

scholarly journals The gravitational-wave physics

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 687-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong-Gen Cai ◽  
Zhoujian Cao ◽  
Zong-Kuan Guo ◽  
Shao-Jiang Wang ◽  
Tao Yang
Keyword(s):  
Gravitational Wave ◽  
Gravitational Waves ◽  
Laser Interferometer ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Fundamental Physics ◽  
First Order ◽  
Compact Binary ◽  
First Order Phase Transition ◽  
First Order Phase ◽  
The Universe

Abstract The direct detection of gravitational wave by Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory indicates the coming of the era of gravitational-wave astronomy and gravitational-wave cosmology. It is expected that more and more gravitational-wave events will be detected by currently existing and planned gravitational-wave detectors. The gravitational waves open a new window to explore the Universe and various mysteries will be disclosed through the gravitational-wave detection, combined with other cosmological probes. The gravitational-wave physics is not only related to gravitation theory, but also is closely tied to fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this review article, three kinds of sources of gravitational waves and relevant physics will be discussed, namely gravitational waves produced during the inflation and preheating phases of the Universe, the gravitational waves produced during the first-order phase transition as the Universe cools down and the gravitational waves from the three phases: inspiral, merger and ringdown of a compact binary system, respectively. We will also discuss the gravitational waves as a standard siren to explore the evolution of the Universe.

Dark Matter

2021 ◽  
pp. 66-78
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Bertone
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Dark Energy ◽  
Gravitational Waves ◽  
Expansion Rate ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Modern Cosmology ◽  
Large Effort ◽  
The Universe

I introduce here the problem of dark energy, a substance that appears to be pushing the Universe to expand ever faster and discuss the large effort currently in place to understand its origin. I describe the surprising recent discovery of a widening crack in the cathedral of modern cosmology arising from the measurement of the expansion rate of the Universe. And I argue that gravitational waves observations can help us to either repair that crack, or to bring down that magnificent building, in case it turns out to be fatally flawed. Before all women and all men. Before animals, plants, archaeans, bacteria. Before the Earth was formed and the stars were lit. Before everything we know, the Universe was immersed in an amorphous and oblivious darkness.

The black hole symphony: probing new physics using gravitational waves

2008 ◽  
Vol 366 (1884) ◽  
pp. 4365-4379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan R Gair
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
Gravitational Waves ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
New Physics ◽  
Relativity Theory ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Laser Interferometers ◽  
Near Future ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Universe

The next decade will very likely see the birth of a new field of astronomy as we become able to directly detect gravitational waves (GWs) for the first time. The existence of GWs is one of the key predictions of Einstein's theory of general relativity, but they have eluded direct detection for the last century. This will change thanks to a new generation of laser interferometers that are already in operation or which are planned for the near future. GW observations will allow us to probe some of the most exotic and energetic events in the Universe, the mergers of black holes. We will obtain information about the systems to a precision unprecedented in astronomy, and this will revolutionize our understanding of compact astrophysical systems. Moreover, if any of the assumptions of relativity theory are incorrect, this will lead to subtle, but potentially detectable, differences in the emitted GWs. Our observations will thus provide very precise verifications of the theory in an as yet untested regime. In this paper, I will discuss what GW observations could tell us about known and (potentially) unknown physics.

Black Holes

2021 ◽  
pp. 53-65
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Bertone
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
Dark Matter ◽  
Dark Energy ◽  
Gravitational Waves ◽  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Modern Physics ◽  
The Big Bang ◽  
The Universe

In the second part of the book, I argue that the four biggest mysteries of modern physics and astronomy—dark matter, dark energy, black holes, and the Big Bang—sink their roots into the physics of the infinitely small. And I argue that gravitational waves may shed new light on, and possibly solve, each of these four mysteries. I start here by introducing the problem of dark matter, the mysterious substance that permeates the Universe at all scales and describe the gravitational waves observations that might soon elucidate its nature. The next time you see the Sun shining in the sky, consider this: what blinds your eyes and warms your skin is an immense nuclear furnace, which transforms millions of tons of nuclear fuel into energy every second. And when you contemplate the night sky, try to visualize it for what it essentially is: an endless expanse of colossal natural reactors, forging the atoms that we, and everything that surrounds us, are made of.

scholarly journals Gravitational waves from superradiant instabilities of rotating black holes

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (33) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shrobana Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
Dark Matter ◽  
Standard Model ◽  
Gravitational Waves ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
New Era ◽  
Compact Binary ◽  
The Standard Model ◽  
Rotating Black Holes ◽  
Shed Light

Direct detection of gravitational waves from several compact binary coalescences has ushered in a new era of astronomy. It has opened up the possibility of detecting ultralight bosons, predicted by extensions of the Standard Model, from their gravitational signatures. This is of particular interest as some of these hypothetical particles could be components of dark matter that are expected to interact very weakly with Standard Model particles, if at all, but they would gravitate as usual. Ultralight bosons can trigger superradiant instabilities of rotating black holes and form bosonic clouds that would emit gravitational waves. In this paper, we present an overview of such instabilities as gravitational wave sources and assess the ability of current and future detectors to shed light on potential dark matter candidates.

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) Releases New Results on Dark Matter Detection

2015 ◽  
Vol 04 (01) ◽  
pp. 28-30
Author(s):  
Yuan-Hann Chang
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Magnetic Spectrometer ◽  
Gravitational Effects ◽  
Dark Matter Detection ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Matter Detection ◽  
Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

It is known that the majority (about 80%) of the matter in the universe is not visible, but rather a hypothetical "Dark Matter". The existence of Dark Matter has been postulated to explain the discrepancies between the estimated mass of visible matters in the galaxies, and their gravitational effects. Although it has been postulated for over 70 years, and has been commonly accepted by most scientists, the essence of the Dark Matter has not yet been understood. In particular, we still do not know what constitutes the Dark Matter. Direct detection of the Dark Matter is therefore one of the most important issues in physics.

scholarly journals DARK MATTER DYNAMICS AND INDIRECT DETECTION

2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (14) ◽  
pp. 1021-1036 ◽  
Author(s):  
GIANFRANCO BERTONE ◽  
DAVID MERRITT
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Total Mass ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Indirect Detection ◽  
Matter Distribution ◽  
Dark Matter Distribution ◽  
Particle Dark Matter ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Rule Out

Non-baryonic, or "dark", matter is believed to be a major component of the total mass budget of the Universe. We review the candidates for particle dark matter and discuss the prospects for direct detection (via interaction of dark matter particles with laboratory detectors) and indirect detection (via observations of the products of dark matter self-annihilations), focusing in particular on the Galactic center, which is among the most promising targets for indirect detection studies. The gravitational potential at the Galactic center is dominated by stars and by the supermassive black hole, and the dark matter distribution is expected to evolve on sub-parsec scales due to interaction with these components. We discuss the dominant interaction mechanisms and show how they can be used to rule out certain extreme models for the dark matter distribution, thus increasing the information that can be gleaned from indirect detection searches.

scholarly journals A dark clue to seesaw and leptogenesis in a pseudo-Dirac singlet doublet scenario with (non)standard cosmology

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Partha Konar ◽  
Ananya Mukherjee ◽  
Abhijit Kumar Saha ◽  
Sudipta Show
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Mass Term ◽  
Baryon Asymmetry ◽  
Dark Sector ◽  
Lepton Asymmetry ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Universe

Abstract We propose an appealing alternative scenario of leptogenesis assisted by dark sector which leads to the baryon asymmetry of the Universe satisfying all theoretical and experimental constraints. The dark sector carries a non minimal set up of singlet doublet fermionic dark matter extended with copies of a real singlet scalar field. A small Majorana mass term for the singlet dark fermion, in addition to the typical Dirac term, provides the more favourable dark matter of pseudo-Dirac type, capable of escaping the direct search. Such a construction also offers a formidable scope to radiative generation of active neutrino masses. In the presence of a (non)standard thermal history of the Universe, we perform the detailed dark matter phenomenology adopting the suitable benchmark scenarios, consistent with direct detection and neutrino oscillations data. Besides, we have demonstrated that the singlet scalars can go through CP-violating out of equilibrium decay, producing an ample amount of lepton asymmetry. Such an asymmetry then gets converted into the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe through the non-perturbative sphaleron processes owing to the presence of the alternative cosmological background considered here. Unconventional thermal history of the Universe can thus aspire to lend a critical role both in the context of dark matter as well as in realizing baryogenesis.

scholarly journals Primordial black holes from the QCD epoch: linking dark matter, baryogenesis, and anthropic selection

2020 ◽  
Vol 501 (1) ◽  
pp. 1426-1439
Author(s):  
Bernard Carr ◽  
Sebastien Clesse ◽  
Juan García-Bellido
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
Dark Matter ◽  
Selection Effect ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Baryon Asymmetry ◽  
Primordial Black Holes ◽  
Cosmological Horizon ◽  
Chandrasekhar Limit ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Characteristic Mass

ABSTRACT If primordial black holes (PBHs) formed at the quark-hadron epoch, their mass must be close to the Chandrasekhar limit, this also being the characteristic mass of stars. If they provide the dark matter (DM), the collapse fraction must be of order the cosmological baryon-to-photon ratio ∼10−9, which suggests a scenario in which a baryon asymmetry is produced efficiently in the outgoing shock around each PBH and then propagates to the rest of the Universe. We suggest that the temperature increase in the shock provides the ingredients for hotspot electroweak baryogenesis. This also explains why baryons and DM have comparable densities, the precise ratio depending on the size of the PBH relative to the cosmological horizon at formation. The observed value of the collapse fraction and baryon asymmetry depends on the amplitude of the curvature fluctuations that generate the PBHs and may be explained by an anthropic selection effect associated with the existence of galaxies. We propose a scenario in which the quantum fluctuations of a light stochastic spectator field during inflation generate large curvature fluctuations in some regions, with the stochasticity of this field providing the basis for the required selection. Finally, we identify several observational predictions of our scenario that should be testable within the next few years. In particular, the PBH mass function could extend to sufficiently high masses to explain the black hole coalescences observed by LIGO/Virgo.

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