The Hubble constant from eight time-delay galaxy lenses

ABSTRACT We present a determination of the Hubble constant from the joint, free-form analysis of eight strongly, quadruply lensing systems. In the concordance cosmology, we find $H_0{} = 71.8^{+3.9}_{-3.3}\, \mathrm{km}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}\, \mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}{}{}$ with a precision of $4.97{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. This is in agreement with the latest measurements from supernovae Type Ia and Planck observations of the cosmic microwave background. Our precision is lower compared to these and other recent time-delay cosmography determinations, because our modelling strategies reflect the systematic uncertainties of lensing degeneracies. We furthermore are able to find reasonable lensed image reconstructions by constraining to either value of H0 from local and early Universe measurements. This leads us to conclude that current lensing constraints on H0 are not strong enough to break the ‘Hubble tension’ problem of cosmology.

The influence of line opacity treatment in stella on supernova light curves

ABSTRACT We systematically explore the effect of the treatment of line opacity on supernova light curves. We find that it is important to consider line opacity for both scattering and absorption (i.e. thermalization, which mimics the effect of fluorescence). We explore the impact of the degree of thermalization on three major types of supernovae: Type Ia, Type II-peculiar, and Type II-plateau. For this we use the radiative transfer code stella and analyse broad-band light curves in the context of simulations done with the spectral synthesis code artis and in the context of a few examples of observed supernovae of each type. We found that the plausible range for the ratio between absorption and scattering in the radiation hydrodynamics code stella is (0.8–1):(0.2–0), i.e. the recommended thermalization parameter is 0.9.

Does $$\varLambda $$CDM really be in tension with the Hubble diagram data?

In this article, we elaborate further on the $$\varLambda $$ΛCDM “tension”, suggested recently by the authors Lusso et al. (Astron Astrophys 628:L4, 2019) and Risaliti and Lusso (Nat Astron 3(3):272, 2019). We combine Supernovae type Ia (SNIa) with quasars (QSO) and Gamma Ray Bursts (GRB) data in order to reconstruct in a model independent way the Hubble relation to as high redshifts as possible. Specifically, in the case of either SNIa or SNIa/QSO data we find that the current values of the cosmokinetic parameters extracted from the Gaussian process are consistent with those of $$\varLambda $$ΛCDM. Including GRBs in the analysis we find a tension, which lies between $$2\sigma $$2σ and $$3\sigma $$3σ levels respectively. Finally, we find that at high redshifts ($$z>1$$z>1) the corresponding cosmokinetic parameters significantly deviate from those of $$\varLambda $$ΛCDM, hence the possibility of new Physics is not precluded by the present analysis.

Decelerating to accelerating scenario for Bianchi type-II string Universe in f(R,T)-gravity theory

In this paper, we have discussed string cosmological model within the framework of [Formula: see text] theory of gravity in homogeneous but anisotropic Bianchi Type-II space-time. We have considered cosmic string as a source of energy–momentum tensor. We get the solution of the corresponding field equations by assuming deceleration parameter [Formula: see text], which is time-dependent (here, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are arbitrary constants). This particular form of scale factor enables us to explain the two scenarios, (i) By using recent constraints ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) from supernovae type Ia union data (Cunha, Kinematic constraints to the transition redshift from supernovae type Ia union data, Phys. Rev. D 79 (2009) 047301), we find the values of arbitrary constants [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] for which we have derived a cosmological model showing accelerating expansion universe ([Formula: see text]) only throughout the evolution and (ii) By using the recent constraints ([Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text]) from SNIa data in combination with BAO and CMB observations (Giostri et al. From cosmic deceleration to acceleration: new constraints from SN Ia and BAO/CMB, J. Cosmol. Astrophys. 3 (2012) 27), we find the values of arbitrary constants for which we have derived a cosmological model with phase transition from early decelerating ([Formula: see text]) to the present accelerating ([Formula: see text]) universe. Also, for the model, we have evaluated and discussed the various physical and kinematic parameters. We have also shown the variation of these cosmological parameters graphically for specific values of the constants. The stability and physical viability are also discussed for the derived models using some recently developed diagnostic tools.

Cosmological Solutions from a Multi-Measure Model with Inflaton Field

In a recent work, we demonstrated that a modified gravity model in which a scalar “darkon” field is coupled to both the standard Riemannian metric and to another non-Riemannian volume form is compatible with observational data from Supernovae Type Ia. Here, we investigate a more complicated model with an additional “inflaton” scalar field. We demonstrate numerically that the model can qualitatively reproduce the Universe inflation epoch, matter dominated epoch, and present accelerating expansion in a seamless way. We show that such solutions occur only when the model parameters are within a very particular range. The main numerical problem we are faced with is reproducing the extremely small time of the inflation epoch. Here, we present how the variation of some parameters affects this time.

Unveiling cosmography from the dark energy equation of state

Constraining the dark energy equation of state, [Formula: see text], is one of the main issues of current and future cosmological surveys. In practice, this requires making assumptions about the evolution of [Formula: see text] with redshift [Formula: see text], which can be manifested in a choice of a specific parametric form where the number of cosmological parameters play an important role in the observed cosmic acceleration. Since any attempt to constrain the EoS requires some prior fixing in one form or the other, settling a method to constrain cosmological parameters is of great importance. In this paper, we provide a straightforward approach to show how cosmological tests can be improved via a parametric methodology based on cosmography. Using Supernovae Type IA samplers, we show how by performing a statistical analysis of a specific dark energy parametrization can give directly the cosmographic parameters values.

VLT/FLAMES high-resolution chemical abundances in Sculptor: a textbook dwarf spheroidal galaxy

We present detailed chemical abundances for 99 red-giant branch stars in the centre of the Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxy, which have been obtained from high-resolution VLT/FLAMES spectroscopy. The abundances of Li, Na, α-elements (O, Mg, Si, Ca Ti), iron-peak elements (Sc, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn), and r- and s-process elements (Ba, La, Nd, Eu) were all derived using stellar atmosphere models and semi-automated analysis techniques. The iron abundances populate the whole metallicity distribution of the galaxy with the exception of the very low metallicity tail, −2.3 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ −0.9. There is a marked decrease in [α/Fe] over our sample, from the Galactic halo plateau value at low [Fe/H] and then, after a “knee”, a decrease to sub-solar [α/Fe] at high [Fe/H]. This is consistent with products of core-collapse supernovae dominating at early times, followed by the onset of supernovae type Ia as early as ∼12 Gyr ago. The s-process products from low-mass AGB stars also participate in the chemical evolution of Sculptor on a timescale comparable to that of supernovae type Ia. However, the r-process is consistent with having no time delay relative to core-collapse supernovae, at least at the later stages of the chemical evolution in Sculptor. Using the simple and well-behaved chemical evolution of Sculptor, we further derive empirical constraints on the relative importance of massive stars and supernovae type Ia to the nucleosynthesis of individual iron-peak and α-elements. The most important contribution of supernovae type Ia is to the iron-peak elements: Fe, Cr, and Mn. There is, however, also a modest but non-negligible contribution to both the heavier α-elements: S, Ca and Ti, and some of the iron-peak elements: Sc and Co. We see only a very small or no contribution to O, Mg, Ni, and Zn from supernovae type Ia in Sculptor. The observed chemical abundances in Sculptor show no evidence of a significantly different initial mass function, compared to that of the Milky Way. With the exception of neutron-capture elements at low [Fe/H], the scatter around mean trends in Sculptor for [Fe/H] > −2.3 is extremely low, and compatible with observational errors. Combined with the small scatter in the age-elemental abundances relation, this calls for an efficient mixing of metals in the gas in the centre of Sculptor since ∼12 Gyr ago.

Effect of low anisotropy and supernova constraints on cosmological models

The 194 supernova Ia data and the effect of anisotropy are combined to reconstruct the dark energy equation of state parameter [Formula: see text] and the deceleration parameter [Formula: see text]. Using the supernovae type Ia data, we evaluate the anisotropy effects (although low) on dark energy parametrization [Formula: see text] and we compare the results with [Formula: see text]CDM model. Present supernova observations are analyzed using a standard [Formula: see text] method and the minimal [Formula: see text] values obtained for each model are compared. We confirm the difficulty of discriminating between these models using present SNIa data only. By means of the maximum likelihood method, we find that the best-fit dynamical [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] parameters [Formula: see text] are obtained from the SNIa dataset. In particular, we find the best-fit values of [Formula: see text]CDM model ([Formula: see text] = 0.013, [Formula: see text] = 197.559) for [Formula: see text] = 0.3 and ([Formula: see text] = 0.02, [Formula: see text] = 196.983) for [Formula: see text] = 0.27. Finally, we found that the presence of anisotropy is confirmed in mentioned models via SNIa dataset.