Table of contents

The distribution of matter that is measured through galaxy redshift and peculiar velocity surveys can be harnessed to learn about the physics of dark matter, dark energy, and the nature of gravity. To improve our understanding of the matter of the Universe, we can reconstruct the full density and velocity fields from the galaxies that act as tracer particles. In this paper, we use the simulated halos as proxies for the galaxies. We use a convolutional neural network, a V-net, trained on numerical simulations of structure formation to reconstruct the density and velocity fields. We find that, with detailed tuning of the loss function, the V-net could produce better fits to the density field in the high-density and low-density regions, and improved predictions for the probability distribution of the amplitudes of the velocities. However, the weights will reduce the precision of the estimated β parameter. We also find that the redshift-space distortions of the halo catalogue do not significantly contaminate the reconstructed real-space density and velocity field. We estimate the velocity field β parameter by comparing the peculiar velocities of halo catalogues to the reconstructed velocity fields, and find the estimated β values agree with the fiducial value at the 68% confidence level.

To numerically evolve the full Einstein equations (or modifications thereof), simulations of cosmological spacetimes must rely on a particular formulation of the field equations combined with a specific gauge/frame choice. Yet truly physical results cannot depend on the given formulation or gauge/frame choice. In this paper, we present a resolution of the gauge problem and, as an example, numerically implement it to evaluate our previous work on contracting spacetimes.

Dark matter energy injection in the early universe modifies both the ionization history and the temperature of the intergalactic medium. In this work, we improve the CMB bounds on sub-keV dark matter and extend previous bounds from Lyman-α observations to the same mass range, resulting in new and competitive constraints on axion-like particles (ALPs) decaying into two photons. The limits depend on the underlying reionization history, here accounted self-consistently by our modified version of the publicly available DarkHistory and CLASS codes. Future measurements such as the ones from the CMB-S4 experiment may play a crucial, leading role in the search for this type of light dark matter candidates.

In loop quantum cosmology (LQC) the big bang singularity is generically resolved by a big bounce. This feature holds even when modified quantization prescriptions of the Hamiltonian constraint are used such as in mLQC-I and mLQC-II. While the later describes an effective description qualitatively similar to that of standard LQC, the former describes an asymmetric evolution with an emergent Planckian de-Sitter pre-bounce phase even in the absence of a potential. We consider the potential relation of these canonically quantized non-singular models with effective actions based on a geometric description. We find a 3-parameter family of metric-affine f() theories which accurately approximate the effective dynamics of LQC and mLQC-II in all regimes and mLQC-I in the post-bounce phase. Two of the parameters are fixed by enforcing equivalence at the bounce, and the background evolution of the relevant observables can be fitted with only one free parameter. It is seen that the non-perturbative effects of these loop cosmologies are universally encoded by a logarithmic correction that only depends on the bounce curvature of the model. In addition, we find that the best fit value of the free parameter can be very approximately written in terms of fundamental parameters of the underlying quantum description for the three models. The values of the best fits can be written in terms of the bounce density in a simple manner, and the values for each model are related to one another by a proportionality relation involving only the Barbero-Immirzi parameter.

In this paper we wish to point out the possibility of using a complex scalar field in a constant roll inflationary model, as needed for observational viability. We extend the idea of real field inflaton with constant rate of roll to a complex field, showing the feasibility of solving Einstein Klein-Gordon equations constrained by an appropriate form of constant roll definition. As compared to the well known (two-parametric class of) real field models, there is one more degree of flexibility in constant roll inflationary solutions which is represented by an arbitrary function of time, γ(t). We work with an arbitrary but constant function γ (where γ = 0 refers to the corresponding real field model) and find new inflationary class of potentials. In this class of models, the behavior of real and complex field models are similar in some aspects, for example the solutions with large constant roll parameter are not stable and should be considered as early time transients. These field solutions relax at late time on a dual attractor trajectory. However, complex fields phase space trajectories reach this stable regime after real fields. We performed the stability analysis on γ function space solutions and found that dynamically stable trajectories in phase space are stable under γ variations. We extended this study by considering multifield models of constant roll inflation with non-canonical kinetic terms. By enlarging the size of field space, we showed that a multifield constant roll model is dynamically a single field effective theory. If field space is parametrized by N non-canonical fields, there will be N free parameters in the potential that can be attributed to the interaction between the fields.

We revise primordial black holes (PBHs) production in the axion-curvaton model, in light of recent developments in the computation of their abundance accounting for non-gaussianities (NGs) in the curvature perturbation up to all orders. We find that NGs intrinsically generated in such scenarios have a relevant impact on the phenomenology associated to PBHs and, in particular, on the relation between the abundance and the signal of second-order gravitational waves. We show that this model could explain both the totality of dark matter in the asteroid mass range and the tentative signal reported by the NANOGrav and IPTA collaborations in the nano-Hz frequency range. En route, we provide a new, explicit computation of the power spectrum of curvature perturbations going beyond the sudden-decay approximation.

In this note, we present a synopsis of geometric symmetries for (spin 0) perturbations around (4D) black holes and de Sitter space. For black holes, we focus on static perturbations, for which the (exact) geometric symmetries have the group structure of SO(1,3). The generators consist of three spatial rotations, and three conformal Killing vectors obeying a special melodic condition. The static perturbation solutions form a unitary (principal series) representation of the group. The recently uncovered ladder symmetries follow from this representation structure; they explain the well-known vanishing of the black hole Love numbers. For dynamical perturbations around de Sitter space, the geometric symmetries are less surprising, following from the SO(1,4) isometry. As is known, the quasinormal solutions form a non-unitary representation of the isometry group. We provide explicit expressions for the ladder operators associated with this representation. In both cases, the ladder structures help connect the boundary condition at the horizon with that at infinity (black hole) or origin (de Sitter space), and they manifest as contiguous relations of the hypergeometric solutions.

We propose a new scenario for the formation of asteroid-mass primordial black holes (PBHs). Our mechanism is based on the annihilation of the string-wall network associated with the breaking of a U(1) global symmetry into a discrete Z_N symmetry. If the potential has multiple local minima (N > 1) the network is stable, and the annihilation is guaranteed by a bias among the different vacua. The collapse of the string-wall network is accompanied bycatastrogenesis, a large production of pseudo-Goldstone bosons (pGBs) — e.g. axions, ALPs, or majorons — gravitational waves, and PBHs. If pGBs rapidly decay into products that thermalize, as predicted e.g. in the high-quality QCD axion and heavy majoron models, they do not contribute to the dark matter population, but we show that PBHs can constitute 100% of the dark matter. The gravitational wave background produced by catastrogenesis with heavy unstable axions, ALPs, or majorons could be visible in future interferometers.

We study eccentric orbits of the Schwarzschild spacetime for extreme mass ratio system (EMRI) in modified gravity theories with additional scalar fields. Due to the additional energy and angular momentum carried away by the scalar field, the orbit of the EMRI in modified gravity decays faster than that in general relativity. The time that it takes the eccentricity e to reach the minimum is shorter and the values of the semi-latus rectum p and e at the turning point when e reaches the minimum are bigger for larger scalar charge d. In addition to the calculation of energy fluxes with numerical methods, we also use the Post-Newtonian expansion of the rate of energy carried away by the scalar field in eccentric orbits to understand the behaviors of the energy emission. By adding the scalar flux to the open code FastEMRIWaveforms of the Black Hole Perturbation Toolkit, we numerically generate fast gravitational waveforms for eccentric EMRIs with scalar fields and use the faithfulness between waveforms with and without the scalar charge to discuss the detection of scalar charge d. The detection error of the scalar charge is also estimated with the method of the Fisher information matrix.

We search for a first-order phase transition (PT) gravitational wave (GW) signal from Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo's first three observing runs. Due to the large theoretical uncertainties, four shapes of GW energy spectral from bubble and sound wave collisions widely adopted in literature are investigated, separately. Our results indicate that there is no evidence for the existence of such GW signals, and therefore we give the upper limits on the amplitude of GW energy spectrum Ω_pt(f_*) in the peak frequency range of f_* ∈ [5,500] Hz for these four theoretical models, separately. We find that Ω_pt(f_* ≃ 40 Hz) < 1.3 × 10^-8 at 95% credible level, and roughly H_*/β ≲ 0.1 and α ≲ 1 at 68% credible level in the peak frequency range of 20 ≲ f_* ≲ 100 Hz corresponding to the most sensitive frequency band of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo's first three observing runs, where H_* is the Hubble parameter when PT happens, β is the bubble nucleation rate and α is the normalized latent heat.

In the next decades, it is necessary to forge new late-universe cosmological probes to precisely measure the Hubble constant and the equation of state of dark energy simultaneously. In this work, we show that the four novel late-universe cosmological probes, 21 cm intensity mapping (IM), fast radio burst (FRB), gravitational wave (GW) standard siren, and strong gravitational lensing (SGL), are expected to be forged into useful tools in solving the Hubble tension and exploring dark energy. We propose that the synergy of them is rather important in cosmology. We simulate the 21 cm IM, FRB, GW, and SGL data based on the hypothetical observations of the Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis eXperiment, the Square Kilometre Array, the Einstein Telescope, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, respectively. We find that the four probes have different parameter dependencies in cosmological constraints, so any combination of them can break the degeneracies and thus significantly improve the constraint precision. The joint 21 cm IM+FRB+GW+SGL data can provide the constraint errors of σ(Ω_m) = 0.0022 and σ(H₀) = 0.16 km s^-1 Mpc^-1 in the ΛCDM model, which meet the standard of precision cosmology, i.e., the constraint precision of parameters is better than 1%. In addition, the joint data give σ(w) = 0.020 in the wCDM model, and σ(w₀) = 0.066 and σ(w_a) = 0.25 in the w₀w_aCDM model, which are better than the constraints obtained by the CMB+BAO+SN data. We show that the synergy between the four late-universe cosmological probes has magnificent prospects.

We investigate how the constraints on the density parameter (Ω_m), the power spectrum amplitude (σ₈) and the supernova feedback parameters (A_SN1 and A_SN2) vary when exploiting information from multiple fields in cosmology. We make use of a convolutional neural network to retrieve the salient features from different combinations of field maps from IllustrisTNG in the CAMELS project. The fields considered are neutral hydrogen (HI), gas density (Mgas), magnetic fields (B) and gas metallicity (Z). We estimate the predictive uncertainty — sum of the squares of aleatoric and epistemic uncertainties — of the parameters inferred by our model by using Monte Carlo dropout, a Bayesian approximation. Results show that in general, the performance of the model improves as the number of channels of its input is increased. In the best setup which includes all fields (four channel input, Mgas-HI-B-Z) the model achieves R² > 0.96 on all parameters. Similarly, we find that the predictive uncertainty, which is dominated by the aleatoric uncertainty, decreases as more fields are used to train the model in general. The uncertainties obtained by dropout variational inference are overestimated on all parameters in our case, in that the predictive uncertainty is much larger than the actual squared error, which is the square of the difference between the ground truth and prediction. After calibration, which consists of a simple σ scaling method, the average deviation of the predictive uncertainty from the actual error goes down to 25% at most (on A_SN1).

We investigate the synergy of upcoming galaxy surveys and gravitational wave (GW) experiments in constraining late-time cosmology, examining the cross-correlations between the weak lensing of gravitational waves (GW-WL) and the galaxy fields. Without focusing on any specific GW detector configuration, we benchmark the requirements for the high precision measurement of cosmological parameters by considering several scenarios, varying the number of detected GW events and the uncertainty on the inference of the source luminosity distance and redshift. We focus on ΛCDM and scalar-tensor cosmologies, using the Effective Field Theory formalism as a unifying language. We find that, in some of the explored setups, GW-WL contributes to the galaxy signal by doubling the accuracy on non-ΛCDM parameters, allowing in the most favourable scenarios to reach even percent and sub-percent level bounds. Though the most extreme cases presented here are likely beyond the observational capabilities of currently planned individual GW detectors, we show nonetheless that — provided that enough statistics of events can be accumulated — GW-WL offers the potential to become a cosmological probe complementary to LSS surveys, particularly for those parameters that cannot be constrained by other GW probes such as standard sirens.

Axions are candidates for dark matter in the universe.We develop an accurate Boltzmann code to calculate the linear growth of the plasma. As an interesting example, we investigate a mixed dark matter model consisting of cold dark matter (CDM) and two-axion dark matter. We analyze the growth of the structure numerically and analytically. We find that an effective single axion with an effective mass and an effective abundance is useful to characterize the two-axion cosmology. Moreover, we generalize the effective single axion description to multi-axion dark matter cosmology. We also compare the results with those of warm dark matter (WDM) model. Moreover, we calculate halo mass functions for the mixed model by using the Press-Schechter model and linear perturbations and then determine the mass function as a function of masses and axion abundance.

We propose a general model where quintessence couples to electromagnetism via its kinetic term. This novelty generalizes the linear dependence of the gauge kinetic function on ϕ, commonly adopted in the literature. The interaction naturally induces a time variation of the fine-structure constant that can be formulated within a disformally coupled framework, akin to a Gordon metric. Through a suitable parametrization of the scalar field and the coupling function, we test the model against observations sensitive to the variation of α. We undertake a Bayesian analysis to infer the free parameters with data from Earth based, astrophysical and early Universe experiments. We find that the evolution of α is specific to each cosmological era and slows down at late times when dark energy accelerates the Universe. While the most stringent bound on the interaction is obtained from atomic clocks measurements, the quasars provide a constraint consistent with weak equivalence principle tests. This promising model is to be further tested with upcoming and more precise astrophysical measurements, such as those of the ESPRESSO spectrograph.

Right-handed neutrinos (RHNs) provide a natural portal to a dark sector accommodating dark matter (DM). In this work, we consider that the dark sector is connected to the standard model only via RHNs and ask how DM can be produced from RHNs. Our framework concentrates on a rather simple and generic interaction that couples RHNs to a pair of dark particles. Depending on whether RHNs are light or heavy in comparison to the dark sector and also on whether one or both of them are in the freeze-in/out regime, there are many distinct scenarios resulting in rather different results. We conduct a comprehensive and systematic study of all possible scenarios in this paper. For illustration, we apply our generic results to the type-I seesaw model with the dark sector extension, addressing whether and when DM in this model can be in the freeze-in or freeze-out regime. Some observational consequences in this framework are also discussed.

Reconstructing the initial conditions of the Universe from late-time observations has the potential to optimally extract cosmological information. Due to the high dimensionality of the parameter space, a differentiable forward model is needed for convergence, and recent advances have made it possible to perform reconstruction with nonlinear models based on galaxy (or halo) positions. In addition to positions, future surveys will provide measurements of galaxies' peculiar velocities through the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (kSZ), type Ia supernovae, the fundamental plane relation, and the Tully-Fisher relation. Here we develop the formalism for including halo velocities, in addition to halo positions, to enhance the reconstruction of the initial conditions. We show that using velocity information can significantly improve the reconstruction accuracy compared to using only the halo density field. We study this improvement as a function of shot noise, velocity measurement noise, and angle to the line of sight. We also show how halo velocity data can be used to improve the reconstruction of the final nonlinear matter overdensity and velocity fields. We have built our pipeline into the differentiable Particle-Mesh FlowPM package, paving the way to perform field-level cosmological inference with joint velocity and density reconstruction. This is especially useful given the increased ability to measure peculiar velocities in the near future.

We revisit a method to incorporate the Vainshtein screening mechanism in N-body simulations proposed by R. Scoccimarro in [1]. We further extend this method to cover a subset of Horndeski theories that evade the bound on the speed of gravitational waves set by the binary neutron star merger GW170817. The procedure consists of the computation of an effective gravitational coupling that is time and scale dependent, G_eff (k,z), where the scale dependence will incorporate the screening of the fifth-force. This is a fast procedure that when contrasted to the alternative of solving the full equation of motion for the scalar field inside N-body codes, reduces considerably the computational time and complexity required to run simulations. To test the validity of this approach in the non-linear regime, we have implemented it in a COmoving Lagrangian Approximation (COLA) N-body code, and ran simulations for two gravity models that have full N-body simulation outputs available in the literature, nDGP and Cubic Galileon. We validate the combination of the COLA method with this implementation of the Vainshtein mechanism with full N-body simulations for predicting the boost function: the ratio between the modified gravity non-linear matter power spectrum and its General Relativity counterpart. This quantity is of great importance for building emulators in beyond-ΛCDM models, and we find that the method described in this work has an agreement of below 2% for scales down to k ≈ 3h/Mpc with respect to full N-body simulations.

In the context of the standard model of particles, the weak interaction of cosmic microwave background (CMB) and cosmic neutrino background (CνB), can generate non-vanishing TB and EB power spectra in the order of one loop forward scattering, in the presence of scalar perturbation, which is in contrast with the standard scenario cosmology. Comparing our results with the current experimental data may provide, significant information about the nature of CνB, including CMB-CνB forward scattering for TB, TE, and EB power spectra. To this end, different cases were studied, including Majorana CνB and Dirac CνB. On the other hand, it was shown that the mean opacity due to cosmic neutrino background could behave as an anisotropic birefringent medium and change the linear polarization rotation angle. Considering the contributions from neutrino and anti-neutrino forward scattering with CMB photons (in the case of Dirac neutrino), we introduce relative neutrino and anti-neutrino density asymmetry (δ_ν = Δn_ν/n_ν = n_ν-n_ν̅/n_ν). Then, using the cosmic birefringence angle reported by the Planck data release β = 0.30° ± 0.11° (68%C.L.), some constraints can be put on δ_ν. Also, the value of cosmic birefringence due to Majorana CνB medium is estimated at about β|_ν ≃ 0.2 rad. In this respect, since Majorana neutrino and anti-neutrino are exactly the same, both CB contributions will be added together. However, this value is at least two orders larger than the cosmic birefringence angle reported by the Planck data release, β = 0.30° ± 0.11° (68%C.L.). Finally, we shortly discussed this big inconsistency. It is noteworthy that to calculate the contribution of photon-neutrino forward scattering for cosmic birefringence, we just consider the standard model of particles and the standard scenario of cosmology.

Axion-like particles (ALPs) are often considered as good candidates for dark matter. Several mechanisms generating relic abundance of ALP dark matter have been proposed. They may involve processes which take place before, during or after cosmic inflation. In all cases an important role is played by the potential of the corresponding Peccei-Quinn (PQ) field. Quite often this potential is assumed to be dominated by a quartic term with a very small coupling. We show that in such situation it is crucial to take into account different kinds of corrections especially in models in which the PQ field evolves during and after inflation. We investigate how such evolution changes due to radiative, thermal and geometric corrections. In many cases those changes are very important and result in strong modifications of the predictions of a model. They may strongly influence the amount of ALP contributions to cold and warm components of dark matter as well as the power spectrum of associated isocurvature perturbations. Models with a quasi-supersymmetric spectrum of particles to which the PQ field couples seem to be especially interesting. Qualitative features of such models are discussed with the help of approximate analytical formulae. However, the dynamics of the PQ field with the considered corrections taken into account is more complicated than in the case without corrections so dedicated numerical calculations are necessary to obtain precise predictions. We present such results for some characteristic benchmark points in the parameter space.

Our local motion with respect to the cosmic frame of rest is believed to be dominantly responsible for the observed dipole anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR). We study the effect of this motion on the sky distribution of gravitational wave (GW) sources. We determine the resulting dipole anisotropy in GW source number counts, mass weighted number counts, which we refer to as mass intensity, and mean mass per source. The mass M dependence of the number density n(M) distribution of BBH is taken directly from the data. We also test the anisotropy in the observable mean mass per source along the direction of the CMB dipole. The current data sample is relatively small and consistent with isotropy. The number of sources required for this test is likely to become available in near future.

This year the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP) celebrates its 20th anniversary. "A journal by scientists for scientists" is the motto that has driven JCAP since its inception, which epitomises its philosophy of being an innovative and community-driven journal. Over the past two decades, JCAP has become one of the premier outlets for high-quality research, now publishing circa 800 papers per year, almost all of which are Open Access (either green or gold route), and with submissions originating from more than 60 countries around the world. JCAP encompasses theoretical, observational, and experimental areas as well as computation and simulation, and this special issue represents a testament to the role of the journal and its impact within the fields of cosmology and astroparticle physics. Over the years, JCAP has published influential papers on topics ranging from the early universe and dark matter to large-scale structure, gravitational waves and high-energy astrophysics, all of which are presented in this celebratory collection of the journal's 20th year of publication.

The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies are thought to be statistically isotropic and Gaussian. However, several anomalies are observed, including the CMB Cold Spot, an unexpected cold ∼ 10° region with p-value ≲ 0.01 in standard ΛCDM. One of the proposed origins of the Cold Spot is an unusually large void on the line of sight, that would generate a cold region through the combination of integrated Sachs-Wolfe and Rees-Sciama effects. In the past decade extensive searches were conducted in large scale structure surveys, both in optical and infrared, in the same area for z ≲ 1 and did find evidence of large voids, but of depth and size able to account for only a fraction of the anomaly. Here we analyze the lensing signal in the Planck CMB data and rule out the hypothesis that the Cold Spot could be due to a large void located anywhere between us and the surface of last scattering. In particular, computing the evidence ratio we find that a model with a large void is disfavored compared to ΛCDM, with odds 1 : 13 (1 : 20) for SMICA (NILC) maps, compared to the original odds 56 : 1 (21 : 1) using temperature data alone.

We establish constraints on f(T) gravity by considering the possibility of a scenario that supports a phantom crossing of the equation of state parameter ω_DE. After determining the viable parameter space of the model, while checking the impact on the background dynamics, we perform an analysis to obtain constraints on cosmological parameters and determine the viability of this scenario. To this end, we use combined data sets from cosmic chronometers (CC), baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO), redshift space distortion (RSD) and Type Ia supernovae (SN) measurements from the latest Pantheon+ set, in which the impact on the absolute magnitude due to the change of the effective gravitational constant is also considered. It is found that a state where a phantom crossing of ω_DE happens is favored by data, and the f(T) model is competitive with the ΛCDM one by statistical criteria, such as AIC and BIC. Additionally, we find evidence of the Hubble tension being alleviated within the f(T)  model, at the same time that it does not worsen the growth one, indicating a possibility of the present scenario as an option to address the current cosmic tensions.

We carry out an in-depth analysis of the capability of the upcoming space-based gravitational wave mission eLISA in addressing the Hubble tension, with a primary focus on observations at intermediate redshifts (3 < z < 8). We consider six different parametrizations representing different classes of cosmological models, which we constrain using the latest datasets of cosmic microwave background (CMB), baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), and type Ia supernovae (SNIa) observations, in order to find out the up-to-date tensions with direct measurement data. Subsequently, these constraints are used as fiducials to construct mock catalogs for eLISA. We then employ Fisher analysis to forecast the future performance of each model in the context of eLISA. We further implement traditional Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to estimate the parameters from the simulated catalogs. Finally, we utilize Gaussian Processes (GP), a machine learning algorithm, for reconstructing the Hubble parameter directly from simulated data. Based on our analysis, we present a thorough comparison of the three methods as forecasting tools. Our Fisher analysis confirms that eLISA would constrain the Hubble constant (H₀) at the sub-percent level. MCMC/GP results predict reduced tensions for models/fiducials which are currently harder to reconcile with direct measurements of H₀, whereas no significant change occurs for models/fiducials at lesser tensions with the latter. This feature warrants further investigation in this direction.

It is known that the construction of a completely stable solution in Horndeski theory is restricted very strongly by the so-called no-go theorem. Previously, various techniques have been used to avoid the conditions of the theorem. In this paper a new way of constructing stable solutions are shown in the general Horndeski theory. We considered the situation in which the unitary gauge studied earlier turns out to be singular. On this basis we construct a spatially flat, stable bouncing and genesis Universe solutions which are described by General Relativity with non-conventional scalar field.

Cosmological relaxation of the electroweak scale via Higgs-axion interplay, named as relaxion mechanism, provides a dynamical solution to the Higgs mass hierarchy. In the original proposal by Graham, Kaplan and Rajendran, the relaxion abundance today is too small to explain the dark matter of the universe because of the high suppression of the misalignment angle after inflation. It was then realised by Banerjee, Kim and Perez that reheating effects can displace the relaxion, thus enabling it to account for the dark matter abundance from the misalignment mechanism. However, this scenario is realised in a limited region of parameter space to avoid runaway. We show that in the regime where inflationary fluctuations dominate over the classical slow-roll, the "stochastic misalignment" of the field due to fluctuations can be large. We study the evolution of the relaxion after inflation, including the high-temperature scenario, in which the barriers of the potential shrink and destabilise temporarily the local minimum. We open new regions of parameter space where the relaxion can naturally explain the observed dark matter density in the universe, towards larger coupling, larger mass, larger mixing angle, smaller decay constant, as well as larger scale of inflation.

The measurement of the absolute neutrino mass scale from cosmological large-scale clustering data is one of the key science goals of the Euclid mission. Such a measurement relies on precise modelling of the impact of neutrinos on structure formation, which can be studied with N-body simulations. Here we present the results from a major code comparison effort to establish the maturity and reliability of numerical methods for treating massive neutrinos. The comparison includes eleven full N-body implementations (not all of them independent), two N-body schemes with approximate time integration, and four additional codes that directly predict or emulate the matter power spectrum. Using a common set of initial data we quantify the relative agreement on the nonlinear power spectrum of cold dark matter and baryons and, for the N-body codes, also the relative agreement on the bispectrum, halo mass function, and halo bias. We find that the different numerical implementations produce fully consistent results. We can therefore be confident that we can model the impact of massive neutrinos at the sub-percent level in the most common summary statistics. We also provide a code validation pipeline for future reference.

PICO is a concept for a NASA probe-scale mission aiming to detect or constrain the tensor to scalar ratio r, a parameter that quantifies the amplitude of inflationary gravity waves. We carry out map-based component separation on simulations with five foreground models and input r values r_in = 0 and r_in = 0.003. We forecast r determinations using a Gaussian likelihood assuming either no delensing or a residual lensing factor A_lens = 27%. By implementing the first full-sky, post component-separation, map-domain delensing, we show that PICO should be able to achieve A_lens = 22% – 24%. For four of the five foreground models we find that PICO would be able to set the constraints r < 1.3 × 10^-4 to r < 2.7 × 10^-4 (95%) if r_in = 0, the strongest constraints of any foreseeable instrument. For these models, r = 0.003 is recovered with confidence levels between 18σ and 27σ. We find weaker, and in some cases significantly biased, upper limits when removing few low or high frequency bands. The fifth model gives a 3σ detection when r_in = 0 and a 3σ bias with r_in = 0.003. However, by correlating r determinations from many small 2.5% sky areas with the mission's 555 GHz data we identify and mitigate the bias. This analysis underscores the importance of large sky coverage. We show that when only low multipoles ℓ ≤ 12 are used, the non-Gaussian shape of the true likelihood gives uncertainties that are on average 30% larger than a Gaussian approximation.

Quasars observed at redshifts z ∼ 6–7.5 are powered by supermassive black holes which are too large to have grown from early stellar remnants without efficient super-Eddington accretion. A proposal for alleviating this tension is for dust and metal-free gas clouds to have undergone a process of direct collapse, producing black hole seeds of mass  M_seed ∼ 10⁵ M_⊙ around redshift z ∼ 17. For direct collapse to occur, a large flux of UV photons must exist to photodissociate molecular hydrogen, allowing the gas to cool slowly and avoid fragmentation. We investigate the possibility of sub-keV mass dark matter decaying or annihilating to produce the UV flux needed to cause direct collapse. To do so, we calculate the produced UV flux from dark matter annihilations and decays within the gas cloud's halo and compare these to the requirements of the UV spectrum found by previous hydrodynamical simulations. We find that annihilating dark matter with a mass in the range of 13.6 eV ≤ m_dm ≤ 20 eV can produce the required flux while avoiding existing constraints. A non-thermally produced dark matter particle which comprises the entire dark matter abundance requires a thermally averaged cross section of 〈σv〉 ∼  10^-35 cm³/s. Alternatively, the flux could originate from a thermal relic which comprises only a fraction ∼ 10^-9 of the total dark matter density. Decaying dark matter models which are unconstrained by independent astrophysical observations are unable to sufficiently suppress molecular hydrogen, except in gas clouds embedded in dark matter halos which are larger, cuspier, or more concentrated than current simulations predict. Lastly, we explore how our results could change with the inclusion of full three-dimensional effects. Notably, we demonstrate that if the H₂ self-shielding is less than the conservative estimate used in this work, the range of both annihilating and decaying dark matter models which can cause direct collapse is significantly increased.

Although the spectrum of primordial fluctuations has been accurately measured on scales above ∼ 0.1 Mpc, only upper limits exist on smaller scales. In this study, we investigate generic monochromatic enhancements to the ΛCDM spectrum that trigger the collapse of ultracompact minihalos (UCMHs) well before standard structure formation. We refine previous treatments by considering a mixed population of halos with different density profiles, that should realistically arise as a consequence of late-time accretion and mergers. Assuming that dark matter (DM) can self-annihilate, we find, as expected, that UCMHs can greatly enhance the annihilation rate around recombination, significantly imprinting the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies. However, we provide additional insight on the theoretical uncertainties that currently impact that boost and which may affect late-time probes such as the 21 cm line or  γ-ray signals. We derive constraints on the primordial power spectrum on small scales using the ExoCLASS/HYREC codes and the Planck legacy data. We account for the velocity dependence of the DM annihilation cross-section (s- or p-wave), annihilation channel, the DM particle mass and the inclusion of late-time halo mergers. Our s-wave constraints are competitive with previous literature, excluding primordial amplitudes _*≳  10^-6.5 at wavenumbers k ∼ 10⁴ - 10⁷ Mpc^-1. For the first time, we highlight that even p-wave processes have constraining power on the primordial spectrum for cross-sections still allowed by currently the strongest astrophysical constraints. Finally, we provide an up-to-date compilation of the most stringent limits on the primordial power spectrum across a wide range of scales.

The origin and nature of dark energy is one of the most significant challenges in modern science. This research aims to investigate dark energy on astrophysical scales and provide a cosmology-independent method to measure its equation-of-state parameter w. To accomplish this, we introduce the concept of a perfect fluid in any static, curved spacetime, and express the energy-momentum tensor of the perfect fluid in a general isotropic form, namely Weinberg's isotropic form. This enables us to define an equation-of-state parameter in a physical and global manner. Within this theoretical framework, we demonstrate that the energy-momentum tensor of dark energy on different scales can take the general isotropic form. Furthermore, we explore the SdS_w spacetime and establish its connection with dark energy in cosmology through the equation-of-state parameter w. In the SdS_w spacetime, a repulsive dark force can be induced by dark energy locally. We then apply the concept of the dark force to realistic astrophysical systems using the Poisson equation. Finally, we find that an anomaly in the Milky Way rotation curve can be quantitatively interpreted by the dark force. By fitting the galactic curve, we are able to obtain the value of the equation-of-state parameter of dark energy, independently of specific dark energy models.

Non-singular bouncing cosmologies are well-motivated models for the early universe. Recent observational data are consistent with positive spatial curvature and allow for a natural collapsing and bouncing phase in the very early universe. Additionally, bouncing cosmologies have the potential to rectify conceptual shortcomings identified in the theory of inflation, such as the singularity problem. In this paper we present a classical bouncing model in the context of modified gravity, including an R²-term in the action. We show that after the bounce, the universe enters naturally a period of inflation, driven by the R²-term. We analyse the stability of the model and find that the scalaron assists the stability of the model.

Primordial black holes (PBH) may form from large cosmological perturbations, produced during inflation when the inflaton's velocity is sufficiently slowed down. This usually requires very flat regions in the inflationary potential. In this paper we investigate another possibility, namely that the inflaton climbs up its potential. When it turns back, its velocity crosses zero, which triggers a short phase of "uphill inflation" during which cosmological perturbations grow at a very fast rate. This naturally occurs in double-well potentials if the width of the well is close to the Planck scale. We include the effect of quantum diffusion in this scenario, which plays a crucial role, by means of the stochastic-δN formalism. We find that ultra-light black holes are produced with very high abundances, which do not depend on the energy scale at which uphill inflation occurs, and which suffer from substantially less fine tuning than in alternative PBH-production models. They are such that PBHs later drive a phase of PBH domination.

We consider equilibrium models of spherical boson stars in Palatini f() = + ξ² gravity and study their collapse when perturbed. The Einstein-Klein-Gordon system is solved using a recently established correspondence in an Einstein frame representation. We find that, in that frame, the endpoint is a nonrotating black hole surrounded by a quasi-stationary cloud of scalar field. However, the dynamics in the f() frame is dramatically different. The innermost region of the collapsing object exhibits the formation of a finite-size, exponentially-expanding baby universe connected with the outer (parent) universe via a minimal area surface (a throat or umbilical cord). Our simulations indicate that this surface is at all times hidden inside a horizon, causally disconnecting the baby universe from observers above the horizon. The implications of our findings in other areas of gravitational physics are also discussed.

The Littlest Seesaw model is a very well motivated dark matter model. Here we consider an extension of that model with an additional scalar and an additional fermionic particle under the freeze-in scenario. Formation of black hole of a certain mass range at primordial times can act as an alternate production mechanism for the dark matter particles as it evaporates via Hawking radiation. Furthermore, the presence of primordial black holes with substantial energy density gives rise to non-standard cosmology which also modifies the freeze-in production. In this paper, we have investigated the extended Littlest Seesaw model under the freeze-in scenario in the presence of a primordial black hole for various interesting cases and constrained the parameter space accordingly. If the universe is primordial black hole dominated at any point in the evolution of the universe, we find that the final relic in that case is dominated mostly by the evaporation component for a high dark matter mass and by the freeze-in component for a low dark matter mass.

We revise the expansion history of the scalar field theories known as Kinetic Gravity Braiding. These theories are well-known for the possibility of driving the expansion of the cosmos towards a future self-tuning de Sitter state when the corresponding Lagrangian is invariant under constant shifts in the scalar field. Nevertheless, this is not the only possible future fate of these shift-symmetric models. Using a dynamical system formulation we show that future cosmological singularities can also appear in this framework. Moreover, we present explicit examples where the future attractor in the configuration space of the theory corresponds to a big rip singularity.

We study the propagation of cosmological gravitational wave (GW) backgrounds from the early radiation era until the present day in modified theories of gravity. Comparing to general relativity (GR), we study the effects that modified gravity parameters, such as the GW friction  α_M and the tensor speed excess α_T, have on the present-day GW spectrum. We use both the WKB estimate, which provides an analytical description but fails at superhorizon scales, and numerical simulations that allow us to go beyond the WKB approximation. We show that a constant α_T makes relatively insignificant changes to the GR solution, especially taking into account the constraints on its value from GW observations by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration, while α_M can introduce modifications to the spectral slopes of the GW energy spectrum in the low-frequency regime depending on the considered time evolution of α_M. The latter effect is additional to the damping or growth occurring equally at all scales that can be predicted by the WKB approximation. In light of the recent observations by pulsar timing array (PTA) collaborations, and the potential observations by future detectors such as SKA, LISA, DECIGO, BBO, or ET, we show that, in most of the cases, constraints cannot be placed on the effects of α_M and the initial GW energy density  ^*_GW separately, but only on the combined effects of the two, unless the signal is observed at different frequency ranges. In particular, we provide some constraints on the combined effects from the reported PTA observations.

The simplest single-field inflation models capture all the relevant contributions to the patterns in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observed today. A key assumption in these models is that the quantum inflationary fluctuations that source such patterns are generated by a particular quantum state — the Bunch-Davies (BD) state. While this is a well-motivated choice from a theoretical perspective, the question arises of whether current data can rule out other, also well motivated, choices of states. In particular, as we previously demonstrated in [1], entanglement is naturally and inevitably dynamically generated during inflation given the presence of a "rolling" spectator scalar field — and the resulting entangled state will yield a primordial power spectrum with potentially measurable deviations compared to the canonical BD result. For this work we developed a perturbative framework to allow a systematic exploration of constraints on (or detection of) entangled states with Planck CMB data using Monte Carlo techniques. We have found that most entangled states accessible with our framework are consistent with the data. One would have to expand the framework to allow a greater variety of entangled states in order to saturate the Planck constraints and more systematically explore any preferences the data may have among the different possibilities.

We search for ultra-light axions as dark matter (DM) and dark energy particle candidates, for axion masses 10^-32 eV ≤ m_a ≤ 10^-24 eV, by a joint analysis of cosmic microwave background (CMB) and galaxy clustering data — and consider if axions can resolve the tension in inferred values of the matter clustering parameter S₈. We give legacy constraints from Planck 2018 CMB data, improving 2015 limits on the axion density Ω_ah² by up to a factor of three; CMB data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and the South Pole Telescope marginally weaken Planck bounds at m_a = 10^-25 eV, owing to lower (and theoretically-consistent) gravitational lensing signals. We jointly infer, from Planck CMB and full-shape galaxy power spectrum and bispectrum data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), that axions are, today, < 10% of the DM for m_a ≤ 10^-26 eV and < 1% for 10^-30 eV ≤ m_a ≤ 10^-28 eV. BOSS data strengthen limits, in particular at higher m_a by probing high-wavenumber modes (k < 0.4h Mpc^-1). BOSS alone finds a preference for axions at 2.7σ, for m_a = 10^-26 eV, but Planck disfavours this result. Nonetheless, axions in a window 10^-28 eV ≤ m_a ≤ 10^-25 eV can improve consistency between CMB and galaxy clustering data, e.g., reducing the S₈ discrepancy from 2.7σ to 1.6σ, since these axions suppress structure growth at the 8h^-1 Mpc scales to which S₈ is sensitive. We expect improved constraints with upcoming high-resolution CMB and galaxy lensing and future galaxy clustering data, where we will further assess if axions can restore cosmic concordance.

In this paper, a modified factor μ, which characterizes modified gravity in the linear matter density perturbation theory, is reconstructed in a data-driven and almost model-independent way via Gaussian process by using currently available cosmic observations. Utilizing the Pantheon+ SNe Ia samples, the observed Hubble parameter H(z) and the redshift space distortion  fσ₈(z) data points, one finds out a time varying μ at low redshifts. The reconstructed  μ implies that more complicated modified gravity beyond the simplest general relativity and the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati braneworld model is required.

We study the prospect to detect the cosmic background of sterile neutrinos in the tritium β-decay, such as the PTOLEMY-like experiments. The sterile neutrino with mass between 1 eV–10 keV may contribute to the local density as warm or cold dark matter component. In this study, we investigate the possibility for searching them in the models with different production in the early Universe, without assuming sterile neutrino as full dark matter component. In these models, especially with low-reheating temperature and late-time phase transition, the capture rate per year can be greatly enhanced to be (10) around the mass range 10–100 eV without violating other astrophysical and cosmological observations.

Extreme mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs) are excellent sources for space-based observatories to explore the properties of black holes and test no-hair theorems. We consider EMRIs with a charged compact object inspiralling onto a Kerr black hole in quasi-circular orbits. Using the Teukolsky and generalized Sasaki-Nakamura formalisms for the gravitational and vector perturbations about a Kerr black hole, we numerically calculate the energy fluxes for both gravitational and vector perturbations induced by a charged particle moving in equatorial circular orbits. With one-year observations of EMRIs, we apply the Fisher information matrix method to estimate the charge uncertainty detected by space-based gravitational wave detectors such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, TianQin, and Taiji, and we find that it is possible to detect vector charges as small as q ∼ 0.0049. The results show that EMRIs composed of a Kerr black hole with a higher spin a and lighter mass M, and a secondary charged object with more vector charge give smaller relative error on the charge, thus constrain the charge better. The positive spin of the Kerr black hole can decrease the charge uncertainty by about one or two orders of magnitude.

What is the highest energy at which gravitons can be observed? We address this question by studying graviton-to-photon conversion — the inverse-Gertsenshtein effect — in the magnetic field of the Milky Way. We find that above ∼ 1 PeV the effective photon mass grows large enough to quench the conversion rate. For sub-PeV energies, the induced photon flux is comparable to the sensitivity of LHAASO to a diffuse γ-ray background, but only for graviton abundances of order Ω_gwh²₀ ∼ 1. In the future, owing to a better understanding of γ-ray backgrounds, larger effective areas and longer observation times, sub-PeV shimmering gravitons with a realistic abundance of Ω_gwh²₀ ∼ 0.01 could be detected. We show how such a large abundance is achieved in a cosmologically-motivated scenario of post-recombination superheavy dark matter decay. Therefore, the sub-PeV range might be the ultimate energy frontier at which gravitons can be observed.

We study the power spectrum of the comoving curvature perturbation in the model that glues two linear potentials of different slopes, originally proposed by Starobinsky. We find that the enhanced power spectrum reaches its maximum at the wavenumber which is π  times the junction scale. The peak is ∼ 2.61 times larger than the ultraviolet plateau. We also show that its near-peak behavior can be well approximated by a constant-roll model, once we define the effective ultra-slow-roll e-folding number appropriately by considering the contribution from non-single-clock phase only. Such an abrupt transition to non-attractor phase can leave some interesting characteristic features in the energy spectrum of the scalar-induced gravitational waves, which are detectable in the space-borne interferometers if the primordial black holes generated at such a high peak are all the dark matter.

The collision of a primordial black hole with a neutron star results in the black hole eventually consuming the entire neutron star. However, if the black hole is magnetically charged, and therefore stable against decay by Hawking radiation, the consequences can be quite different. Upon colliding with a neutron star, a magnetic black hole very rapidly comes to a stop. For large enough magnetic charge, we show that this collision can be detected as a sudden change in the rotation period of the neutron star, a glitch or anti-glitch.We argue that the magnetic primordial black hole, which then settles to the core of the neutron star, does not necessarily devour the entire neutron star; the system can instead reach a long-lived, quasi-stable equilibrium. Because the black hole is microscopic compared to the neutron star, most stellar properties remain unchanged compared to before the collision. However, the neutron star will heat up and its surface magnetic field could potentially change, both effects potentially observable.

Ultra-light particles, such as axions, form a macroscopic condensate around a highly spinning black hole by the superradiant instability. Due to its macroscopic nature, the condensate opens the possibility of detecting the axion through gravitational wave observations. However, the precise evolution of the condensate must be known for the actual detection. For future observation, we numerically study the influence of the self-interaction, especially interaction between different modes, on the evolution of the condensate in detail. First, we focus on the case when condensate starts with the smallest possible angular quantum number. For this case, we perform the non-linear calculation and show that the dissipation induced by the mode interaction is strong enough to saturate the superradiant instability, even if the secondary cloud starts with quantum fluctuations. Our result indicates that explosive phenomena such as bosenova do not occur in this case. We also show that the condensate settles to a quasi-stationary state mainly composed of two modes, one with the smallest angular quantum number for which the superradiant instability occurs and the other with the adjacent higher angular quantum number. We also study the case when the condensate starts with the dominance of the higher angular quantum number. We show that the dissipation process induced by the mode coupling does not occur for small gravitational coupling. Therefore, bosenova might occur in this case.

We derive the expressions on the observed light-cone for some relevant cosmological gauge invariant variables, such as the Mukhanov-Sasaki variable and E- and B- modes of the tensor perturbations. Since the structure of the light-cone does not reflect in a direct way the FLRW symmetries, we develop a formalism which is coordinate independent and classifies the perturbations according to their helicities. Even though we work with linear perturbations, our formalism can be readily extended to non-linear theory and put the basis to study the evolution of cosmological perturbations, since the early- until the late-time Universe, directly along the observed light-cone.

Digital radio detection of cosmic-ray air showers has emerged as an alternative technique in high-energy astroparticle physics. Estimation of the detection efficiency of cosmic-ray radio arrays is one of the few remaining challenges regarding this technique. To address this problem, we developed a new approach to model the efficiency based on the explicit probabilistic treatment of key elements of the radio technique for air showers: the footprint of the radio signal on ground, the detection of the signal in an individual antenna, and the detection criterion on the level of the entire array. The model allows for estimation of sky regions of full efficiency and can be used to compute the aperture of the array, which is essential to measure the absolute flux of cosmic rays. We also present a semi-analytical method that we apply to the generic model, to calculate the efficiency and aperture with high accuracy and reasonable calculation time. The model in this paper is applied to the Tunka-Rex array as example instrument and validated against Monte Carlo simulations. The validation shows that the model performs well, in particular, in the prediction of regions with full efficiency. It can thus be applied to other antenna arrays to facilitate the measurement of absolute cosmic-ray fluxes and to minimize a selection bias in cosmic-ray studies.

The Galactic Center Excess (GCE) in GeV gamma rays has been debated for over a decade, with the possibility that it might be due to dark matter annihilation or undetected point sources such as millisecond pulsars (MSPs). This study investigates how the gamma-ray emission model (γEM) used in Galactic center analyses affects the interpretation of the GCE's nature. To address this issue, we construct an ultra-fast and powerful inference pipeline based on convolutional Deep Ensemble Networks. We explore the two main competing hypotheses for the GCE using a set of γEMs with increasing parametric freedom. We calculate the fractional contribution (f_src) of a dim population of MSPs to the total luminosity of the GCE and analyze its dependence on the complexity of the γEM. For the simplest γEM, we obtain f_src = 0.10 ± 0.07, while the most complex model yields f_src = 0.79 ± 0.24. In conclusion, we find that the statement about the nature of the GCE (dark matter or not) strongly depends on the assumed γEM. The quoted results for f_src do not account for the additional uncertainty arising from the fact that the observed gamma-ray sky is out-of-distribution concerning the investigated γEM iterations. We quantify the reality gap between our γEMs using deep-learning-based One-Class Deep Support Vector Data Description networks, revealing that all employed γEMs have gaps to reality. Our study casts doubt on the validity of previous conclusions regarding the GCE and dark matter, and underscores the urgent need to account for the reality gap and consider previously overlooked "out of domain" uncertainties in future interpretations.

The primordial black hole (PBH) productions from the inflationary potential with an inflection point usually rely heavily on the fine-tuning of the model parameters. We propose in this work a new kind of the α-attractor inflation with asymmetric double poles that naturally and easily lead to a period of non-attractor inflation, during which the PBH productions are guaranteed with less fine-tuning the model parameters. This double-pole inflation can be tested against the observational data in the future with rich phenomenological signatures: (1) the enhanced curvature perturbations at small scales admit a distinctive feature of ultraviolet oscillations in the power spectrum; (2) the quasi-monochromatic mass function of the produced PBHs can be made compatible to the asteroid-mass PBHs as the dominant dark matter component, the planet-mass PBHs as the OGLE ultrashort-timescale microlensing events, and the solar-mass PBHs as the LIGO-Virgo events; (3) the induced gravitational waves can be detected by the gravitational-wave detectors in space and Pulsar Timing Array/Square Kilometer Array.

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the next-generation stereoscopic system of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs). In IACTs, the atmosphere is used as a calorimeter to measure the energy of extensive air showers induced by cosmic gamma rays, which brings along a series of constraints on the precision to which energy can be reconstructed. The presence of clouds during observations can severely affect Cherenkov light yield, contributing to the systematic uncertainty in energy scale calibration. To minimize these systematic uncertainties, a calibration of telescopes is of great importance. For this purpose, the influence of cloud transmission and altitude on CTA-N performance degradation was investigated using detailed Monte Carlo simulations for the case where no action is taken to correct for the effects of clouds. Variations of instrument response functions in the presence of clouds are presented. In the presence of clouds with low transmission (≤ 80%) the energy resolution is aggravated by 30% at energies below 1 TeV, and by 10% at higher energies. For higher transmissions, the energy resolution is worse by less than 10% in the whole energy range. The angular resolution varies up to 10% depending both on the transmission and altitude of the cloud. The sensitivity of the array is most severely reduced at lower energies, even by 60% at 40 GeV, depending on the clouds' properties. A simple semi-analytical model of sensitivity degradation has been introduced to summarize the influence of clouds on sensitivity and provide useful scaling relations.

In this paper, we wish to investigate the weak cosmic censorship conjecture (WCCC) for the non black hole object, Buchdahl star and test its validity. It turns out that the extremal limit for the star is over-extremal for black hole, Q²/M² ≤ 9/8 > 1; i.e., it could have 9/8 ≥  Q²/M² > 1. By carrying out both linear and non-linear perturbations, we establish the same result for the Buchdahl star as well. That is, as for black hole it could be overcharged at the linear perturbation while the result is overturned when the non-linear perturbations are included. Thus WCCC is always obeyed by the Buchdahl star.

In this work we consider a class of interacting vacuum corresponding to a generalised Chaplygin gas (gCg) cosmology. In particular we analyse two different scenarios at perturbation level for the same background interaction characterised by the parameter α: (i) matter that follows geodesics, corresponding to homogeneous vacuum, and (ii) a covariant ansatz for vacuum density perturbations. In the latter case, we show that the vacuum perturbations are very tiny as compared to matter perturbations on sub-horizon scales. In spite of that, depending on the value of the Chaplygin gas parameter α, vacuum perturbations suppress or enhance the matter growth rate as compared to the case (i). We use Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), type Ia supernovae (SNe) and Redshift Space Distortion (RSD) measurements to test the observational viability of the model. We found that the mean value of our joint analysis clearly favours a positive interaction, i.e., an energy flux from dark matter to dark energy, with α ≈ 0.143 in both cases, while the cosmological standard model, recovered for α = 0, is ruled out by 3σ confidence level. Noteworthy, the positive value of interaction can alleviate both the H₀ and S₈ tension for the dataset considered here.

Primordial black holes (PBHs) are predicted in many models via different formation mechanisms. Identifying the origin of PBHs is of the same importance as probing their existence. We propose to probe the asteroid-mass PBHs [(10¹⁷)  g ≲ M ≲ (10²²) g] with gamma-rays from Hawking radiation and the stochastic gravitational waves (GWs) from the early Universe. We consider four concrete formation mechanisms, including collapse from primordial curvature perturbations, first-order phase transitions, or cosmic strings, and derive the extended PBH mass functions of each mechanism for phenomenological study. The results demonstrate that by combining gamma-rays and GW signals we can probe PBHs up to (10¹⁹) g and identify their physical origins.

This is the first in a series of papers where we study the dynamics of a bubble wall beyond usual approximations, such as the assumptions of spherical bubbles and infinitely thin walls. In this paper, we consider a vacuum phase transition. Thus, we describe a bubble as a configuration of a scalar field whose equation of motion depends only on the effective potential. The thin-wall approximation allows obtaining both an effective equation of motion for the wall position and a simplified equation for the field profile inside the wall. Several different assumptions are involved in this approximation. We discuss the conditions for the validity of each of them. In particular, the minima of the effective potential must have approximately the same energy, and we discuss the correct implementation of this approximation. We consider different improvements to the basic thin-wall approximation, such as an iterative method for finding the wall profile and a perturbative calculation in powers of the wall width. We calculate the leading-order corrections. Besides, we derive an equation of motion for the wall without any assumptions about its shape. We present a suitable method to describe arbitrarily deformed walls from the spherical shape. We consider concrete examples and compare our approximations with numerical solutions. In subsequent papers, we shall consider higher-order finite-width corrections, and we shall take into account the presence of the fluid.

General relativity manifests very similar equations in different regimes, notably in large scale cosmological perturbation theory, non-linear cosmological structure formation, and in weak field galactic dynamics. The same is not necessarily true in alternative gravity theories, in particular those that possess MONDian behaviour ("relativistic extensions" of MOND). In these theories different regimes are typically studied quite separately, sometimes even with the freedom in the theories chosen differently in different regimes. If we wish to properly and fully test complete cosmologies containing MOND against the ΛCDM paradigm then we need to understand cosmological structure formation on all scales, and do so in a coherent and consistent manner. We propose a method for doing so and apply it to generalised Einstein-Aether theories as a case study. We derive the equations that govern cosmological structure formation on all scales in these theories and show that the same free function (which may contain both Newtonian and MONDian branches) appears in the cosmological background, linear perturbations, and non-linear cosmological structure formation. We show that MONDian behaviour on galactic scales does not necessarily result in MONDian behaviour on cosmological scales, and for MONDian behaviour to arise cosmologically, there will be no modification to the Friedmann equations governing the evolution of the homogeneous cosmological background. We comment on how existing N-body simulations relate to complete and consistent generalised Einstein-Aether cosmologies. The equations derived in this work allow consistent cosmological N-body simulations to be run in these theories whether or not MONDian behaviour manifests on cosmological scales.

The growth of large-scale structure, as revealed in the anisotropic of clustering of galaxies in the low redshift Universe at z < 2, provides a stringent test of our cosmological model. The strongest current constraints come from the BOSS and eBOSS surveys, with uncertainties on σ₈, the amplitude of clustering on an 8 h^-1Mpc scale, of less than 10 per cent. A number of different approaches have been taken to fitting this signal, leading to discrepancies of up to 1σ in the measurements of the amplitude of fluctuations at late times. We compare in some detail two of the leading approaches, one based on fitting a template cosmology whose amplitude and length scales are allowed to float with one based on varying the underlying parameters of a cosmological model directly, when fitting to the BOSS DR12 data. Holding the input data, scale cuts, window functions and modeling framework fixed we are able to isolate the cause of the differences and discuss the implications for future surveys.

The IceCube collaboration has observed the first steady-state point source of high-energy neutrinos, coming from the active galaxy NGC 1068. If neutrinos interacted strongly enough with dark matter, the emitted neutrinos would have been impeded by the dense spike of dark matter surrounding the supermassive black hole at the galactic center, which powers the emission. We derive a stringent upper limit on the scattering cross section between neutrinos and dark matter based on the observed events and theoretical models of the dark matter spike. The bound can be stronger than that obtained by the single IceCube neutrino event from the blazar TXS 0506+056 for some spike models.

Neutrino mass constraints are a primary focus of current and future large-scale structure (LSS) surveys. Non-linear LSS models rely heavily on cosmological simulations — the impact of massive neutrinos should therefore be included in these simulations in a realistic, computationally tractable, and controlled manner. A recent proposal to reduce the related computational cost employs a symmetric neutrino momentum sampling strategy in the initial conditions. We implement a modified version of this strategy into the Hardware/Hybrid Accelerated Cosmology Code (HACC) and perform convergence tests on its internal parameters. We illustrate that this method can impart (1%) numerical artifacts on the total matter field on small scales, similar to previous findings, and present a method to remove these artifacts using Fourier-space filtering of the neutrino density field. Moreover, we show that the converged neutrino power spectrum does not follow linear theory predictions on relatively large scales at early times at the 15% level, prompting a more careful study of systematics in particle-based neutrino simulations. We also present an improved method for backscaling linear transfer functions for initial conditions in massive neutrino cosmologies that is based on achieving the same relative neutrino growth as computed with Boltzmann solvers. Our self-consistent backscaling method yields sub-percent accuracy in the total matter growth function. Comparisons for the non-linear power spectrum with the Mira-Titan emulator at a neutrino mass of  m_ν = 0.15 eV are in very good agreement with the expected level of errors in the emulator and in the direct N-body simulation.

In this paper, we generalize the Weinberg's procedure to determine the comoving curvature perturbation to non-attractor inflationary regimes. We show that both modes of   are related to a symmetry of the perturbative equations in the Newtonian gauge. As a byproduct, we clarify that adiabaticity does not generally imply constancy of , not even in the  k ⟶ 0 limit. We then show that there exist non-equivalent definitions of δN  that would reproduce or the uniform density curvature perturbation ζ at linear order. We have then shown that the perturbative δN definition in terms of difference between the number of e-foldings of different gauges, can be extended non-perturbatively at leading order in gradient expansion. Nevertheless, the computer friendly definition in terms of the difference of e-foldings obtained from the evolution of a local FRW Universe, respectively with perturbed and un-perturbed initial conditions, might only give information about the linear order curvature perturbations, contrary to what is stated in the literature.

There has been increasing interest in investigating the possible parity violating features in the gravity theory and on the cosmological scales. In this work, we consider a class of scalar-nonmetricity theory, of which the Lagrangian is polynomial built of the nonmetricity tensor and a scalar field. The nonmetricity tensor is coupled with the scalar field through its first order derivative. Besides the monomials that are quadratic order in the nonmetricity tensor, we also construct monomials that are cubic order in the nonmetricity tensor in both the parity preserving and violating cases. These monomials act as the non-canonical (i.e., non-quadratic) kinetic terms for the spacetime metric, and will change the behavior in the propagation of the gravitational waves. We find that the gravitational waves are generally polarized, which present both the amplitude and velocity birefringence features due to the parity violation of the theory. Due to the term proportional to 1/k in the phase velocities, one of the two polarization modes suffers from the gradient instability on large scales.