New constraint of the Hubble constant by proper motions of radio components observed in AGN twin-jets

As the advent of precision cosmology, the Hubble constant (H 0) inferred from the Lambda Cold Dark Matter fit to the Cosmic Microwave Background data is increasingly in tension with the measurements from the local distance ladder. To approach its real value, we need more independent methods to measure, or to make constraint of, the Hubble constant. In this paper, we apply a plain method, which is merely based on the Friedman-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker cosmology together with geometrical relations, to constrain the Hubble constant by proper motions of radio components observed in AGN twin-jets. Under the assumption that the ultimate ejection strengths in both sides of the twin-jet concerned are intrinsically the same, we obtain a lower limit of H 0,min = 51.5 ± 2.3 km s−1 Mpc−1 from the measured maximum proper motions of the radio components observed in the twin-jet of NGC 1052.

Planck 2018 results

The European Space Agency’s Planck satellite, which was dedicated to studying the early Universe and its subsequent evolution, was launched on 14 May 2009. It scanned the microwave and submillimetre sky continuously between 12 August 2009 and 23 October 2013, producing deep, high-resolution, all-sky maps in nine frequency bands from 30 to 857 GHz. This paper presents the cosmological legacy of Planck, which currently provides our strongest constraints on the parameters of the standard cosmological model and some of the tightest limits available on deviations from that model. The 6-parameter ΛCDM model continues to provide an excellent fit to the cosmic microwave background data at high and low redshift, describing the cosmological information in over a billion map pixels with just six parameters. With 18 peaks in the temperature and polarization angular power spectra constrained well, Planck measures five of the six parameters to better than 1% (simultaneously), with the best-determined parameter (θ*) now known to 0.03%. We describe the multi-component sky as seen by Planck, the success of the ΛCDM model, and the connection to lower-redshift probes of structure formation. We also give a comprehensive summary of the major changes introduced in this 2018 release. The Planck data, alone and in combination with other probes, provide stringent constraints on our models of the early Universe and the large-scale structure within which all astrophysical objects form and evolve. We discuss some lessons learned from the Planck mission, and highlight areas ripe for further experimental advances.

Boosting Monte Carlo sampling with a non-Gaussian fit

ABSTRACT We propose a new method, called Monte Carlo Posterior Fit, to boost the Monte Carlo sampling of likelihood (posterior) functions. The idea is to approximate the posterior function by an analytical multidimensional non-Gaussian fit. The many free parameters of this fit can be obtained by a smaller sampling than is needed to derive the full numerical posterior. In the examples that we consider, based on supernovae and cosmic microwave background data, we find that one needs an order of magnitude smaller sampling than in the standard algorithms to achieve comparable precision. This method can be applied to a variety of situations and is expected to significantly improve the performance of the Monte Carlo routines in all the cases in which sampling is very time consuming. Finally, it can also be applied to Fisher matrix forecasts and can help solve various limitations of the standard approach.

Accelerating linear system solvers for time-domain component separation of cosmic microwave background data

Component separation is one of the key stages of any modern cosmic microwave background data analysis pipeline. It is an inherently nonlinear procedure and typically involves a series of sequential solutions of linear systems with similar but not identical system matrices, derived for different data models of the same data set. Sequences of this type arise, for instance, in the maximization of the data likelihood with respect to foreground parameters or sampling of their posterior distribution. However, they are also common in many other contexts. In this work we consider solving the component separation problem directly in the measurement (time-) domain. This can have a number of important benefits over the more standard pixel-based methods, in particular if non-negligible time-domain noise correlations are present, as is commonly the case. The approach based on the time-domain, however, implies significant computational effort because the full volume of the time-domain data set needs to be manipulated. To address this challenge, we propose and study efficient solvers adapted to solving time-domain-based component separation systems and their sequences, and which are capable of capitalizing on information derived from the previous solutions. This is achieved either by adapting the initial guess of the subsequent system or through a so-called subspace recycling, which allows constructing progressively more efficient two-level preconditioners. We report an overall speed-up over solving the systems independently of a factor of nearly 7, or 5, in our numerical experiments, which are inspired by the likelihood maximization and likelihood sampling procedures, respectively.

ΛCDM periodic cosmology

ABSTRACT We examine the possibility that Universe expansion be made of some Λ-cold dark matter (ΛCDM) expansions repeating periodically, separated by some inflation- and radiation-dominated phases. This so-called ΛCDM periodic cosmology is motivated by the possibility that inflation and the present phase of accelerated expansion be due to the same dark energy. Then, in a phase space showing the variation of matter density parameter Ωm with respect to this of the radiation Ωr, the curve Ωm(Ωr) looks like a closed trajectory that Universe could run through forever. In this case, the end of the expansion acceleration of the ΛCDM phase is the beginning of a new inflation phase. We show that such a scenario implies the coupling of matter and/or radiation to dark energy. We consider the simplest of these ΛCDM periodic models i.e. a vacuum energy coupled to radiation. From matter domination phase to today, it behaves like a ΛCDM model, then followed by an inflation phase. But a sudden and fast decay of the dark energy into radiation periodically ends the expansion acceleration. This leads to a radiation-dominated Universe preceding a new ΛCDM type expansion. The model is constrained with Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulations using supernovae, Hubble expansion, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), and cosmic microwave background data and fits the data as well as the ΛCDM one.

Constraining chameleon field driven warm inflation with Planck 2018 data

We investigate warm inflationary scenario in which the accelerated expansion of the early Universe is driven by chameleon-like scalar fields. Due to the non-minimal coupling between the scalar field and the matter sector, the energy-momentum tensor of each fluid component is not conserved anymore, and the generalized balance equation is obtained. The new source term in the energy equation can be used to model warm inflation. On the other hand, if the coupling function varies slowly, the model reduces to the standard model used for the description of cold inflation. To test the validity of the warm chameleon inflation model, the results for warm inflationary scenarios are compared with the observational Planck2018 Cosmic Microwave Background data. In this regard, the perturbation parameters such as the amplitude of scalar perturbations, the scalar spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio are derived at the horizon crossing in two approximations, corresponding to the weak and strong dissipative regimes. As a general result it turns out that the theoretical predictions of the chameleon warm inflationary scenario are consistent with the Planck 2018 observations.

Cosmic microwave background constraints in light of priors over reionization histories

Non-parametric reconstruction or marginalization over the history of reionization using cosmic microwave background data necessarily assumes a prior over possible histories. We show that different but reasonable choices of priors can shift current and future constraints on the reionization optical depth, τ, or correlated parameters such as the neutrino mass sum, Σmν, at the level of 0.3–0.4 σ, meaning that this analysis is somewhat prior dependent. We point out some prior-related problems with the commonly used principal component reconstruction, concluding that the significance of some recent hints of early reionization in Planck 2015 data has been overestimated. We also present the first non-parametric reconstruction applied to newer Planck intermediate (2016) data and find that the hints of early reionization disappear entirely in this more precise dataset. These results limit possible explanations of the EDGES 21cm signal which would have also significantly reionized the universe at z > 15. Our findings about the dependence on priors motivate the pursuit of improved data or searches for physical reionization models which can reduce the prior volume. The discussion here of priors is of general applicability to other non-parametric reconstructions, for example of the primordial power spectrum, of the recombination history, or of the expansion rate.

Tachyon warm inflation with the effects of loop quantum cosmology in the light of Planck 2015

We investigate the observational signatures of quantum cosmology in the Cosmic Microwave Background data provided by Planck collaboration. We apply the warm inflationary paradigm with a tachyon scalar field to the loop quantum cosmology. In this context, we first provide the basic cosmological functions in terms of the tachyon field. We then obtain the slow-roll parameters and the power spectrum of scalar and tensor fluctuations, respectively. Finally, we study the performance of various warm inflationary scenarios against the latest Planck data and we find a family of models which are in agreement with the observations.