22898933
Constraining Lorentz violation with cosmology.
The Einstein-aether theory provides a simple, dynamical mechanism for breaking Lorentz invariance. It does so within a generally covariant context and may emerge from quantum effects in more fundamental theories. The theory leads to a preferred frame and can have distinct experimental signatures. In this Letter, we perform a comprehensive study of the cosmological effects of the Einstein-aether theory and use observational data to constrain it. Allied to previously determined consistency and experimental constraints, we find that an Einstein-aether universe can fit experimental data over a wide range of its parameter space, but requires a specific rescaling of the other cosmological densities.
118316369
The Parameterized Post-Friedmann Framework for Theories of Modified Gravity: Concepts, Formalism and Examples.
A unified framework for theories of modified gravity will be an essential tool for interpreting the forthcoming deluge of cosmological data. We present such a formalism, the Parameterized Post-Friedmann framework (PPF), which parameterizes the cosmological perturbation theory of a wide variety of modified gravity models. PPF is able to handle spin-0 degrees of freedom from new scalar, vector and tensor fields, meaning that it is not restricted to simple models based solely on cosmological scalar fields. A direct correspondence is maintained between the parameterization and the underlying space of theories, which allows us to build up a `dictionary' of modified gravity theories and their PPF correspondences. In this paper we describe the construction of the parameterization and demonstrate its use through a number of worked examples relevant to the current literature. We indicate how the formalism will be implemented numerically, so that the dictionary of modified gravity can be pitted against forthcoming observations.
11014726
Initial conditions of the universe: how much isocurvature is allowed?
We investigate the constraints imposed by current data on correlated mixtures of adiabatic and nonadiabatic primordial perturbations. We discover subtle flat directions in parameter space that tolerate large (approximately 60%) fractions of nonadiabatic fluctuations. In particular, larger values of the baryon density and a spectral tilt are allowed. The cancellations in the degenerate directions are explored and the role of priors is elucidated.
122687802
Imaging the early universe with the BOOMERanG Experiment
The BOOMERanG experiment has recently detected temperature fluctuations the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the otherwise isotropic radiation coming from the early Universe. These anisotropies have a low contrast (about 30 ppm) and feature a peculiar angular power spectrum at angles corresponding to sub-horizon scales at recombination. In the current cosmological model, these structures result from acoustic oscillations in the primeval plasma. In the framework of the Hot Big Bang theory with the inflationary hypothesis, the statistical properties of the image of the CMB allow us to measure most of the cosmological parameters.
17421918
Living in a void: testing the Copernican principle with distant supernovae.
We show that the local redshift dependence of the luminosity distance can be used to test the Copernican principle that we are not in a central or otherwise special region of the Universe. Future surveys of type Ia supernovae that focus on a redshift range of approximately 0.1-0.4 will be ideally suited to observationally determine the validity of the Copernican principle on new scales, as well as probing the degree to which dark energy must be considered a necessary ingredient in the Universe.
9420614
The Trispectrum of the 4 Year COBE DMR Data
We propose an estimator for the trispectrum of a scalar random field on a sphere, discuss its geometrical and statistical properties, and outline its implementation. By estimating the trispectrum of the 4 yr COBE Differential Microwave Radiometer experiment data (in HEALPix pixelization), we find new evidence of a non-Gaussian signal associated with a known systematic effect. We find that by removing data from the sky maps for those periods of time perturbed by this effect, the amplitudes of the trispectrum coefficients become completely consistent with predictions for a Gaussian sky. These results reinforce the importance of statistical methods based in harmonic space for quantifying non-Gaussianity.
15105689
Effective Electric and Magnetic Local Actions for Electromagnetism with two Gauge Fields
A simple mechanism of dynamical symmetry breaking of electromagnetism with two gauge fields (U(1) × U(1)) is considered. By considering the action variations with respect to the gauge connections F = dA and G = dC we obtain an electric and a magnetic effective actions (U(1)) that have an extra coupling to the magnetic and electric currents (respectivelly) that decouple from the classical theory, meaning that it does not contribute to the standard equations of motion obtained by varying A and C, i.e. Maxwell equations. The extra gauge field C(or A) effectivelly is fixed by the physical effective field A(or C) constituting a non-trivial configuration C = C(A) (or A = A(C)) such that the field discontinuities (Dirac string or WuYang non-trivial fiber-bundle) are encoded in the extra gauge field C (or A). Our construction is only compactible with local current densities. work supported by SFRH/BPD/17683/2004 and POCTI P-FIS-57547/2004; also at Centra
117960699
The CP-conserving 2HDM after the 8 TeV run
We confront the most common CP-conserving 2HDM with the LHC data analysed so far while taking into account all previously available experimental data. A special allowed corner of the parameter space is analysed - the so-called wrong-sign scenario where the Higgs coupling to down-type quarks changes sign relative to the Standard Model while the coupling to the massive vector bosons does not.
6355453
Rotating Electric Classical Solutions of 2+1 D U(1) Einstein Maxwell Chern-Simons
We study electric stationary radial symmetric classical solutions of the U(1) Einstein Maxwell Chern-Simons theory coupled to a gravitational massless scalar field with a cosmological constant in 2+1 dimensions. Generic aspects of the theory are discussed at an introductory level. We study solutions for both negative sign (standard) and positive sign (ghost) of the gauge sector concluding that although the expressions for the solutions are the same, the constants as well as the physics change significantly. It is found a rotating electric point particle. For the standard sign and specific values of the parameters corresponding to solutions with positive mass the singularity is dressed (in the sense that itself constitutes an horizon). The space-time curvatures can be both positive or negative depending on the dominance of the scalar or topologically massive matter. The Chern-Simons term is responsible for interesting features, besides only allowing for rotating solutions, it imposes restrictive bounds on the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ such that it belongs to a positive interval and is switch on and off by the topological mass $m^2$. Furthermore the charge, angular momentum and mass of the particle solution are expressed uniquely as functions of the ratio between the cosmological constant and the topological mass squared $x=\Lambda/m^2$. The main drawback of our particle solution is that the mass is divergent. Our background is a rotating flat space without angular deficit. We briefly discuss parity and time-inversion violation by the Chern-Simons term which is explicit in the solutions obtained, their angular momentum only depends on the relative sign between the Chern-Simons term and the Maxwell term. Trivial solutions are briefly studied holding non-singular extended configurations.
17957763
Mass-degenerate Higgs bosons at 125 GeV in the two-Higgs-doublet model
The analysis of the Higgs boson data by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations appears to exhibit an excess of h! events above the Standard Model (SM) expectations; whereas no signicant excess is observed in h! ZZ ! four lepton events, albeit with large statistical uncertainty due to the small data sample. These results (assuming they persist with further data) could be explained by a pair of nearly mass-degenerate scalars, one of which is a SM-like Higgs boson and the other is a scalar with suppressed couplings to W + W and ZZ. In the two Higgs doublet model, the observed and ZZ ! four lepton data can be reproduced by an approximately degenerate CPeven (h) and CP-odd (A) Higgs boson for values of sin( ) near unity and 0:7 < tan < 1. An enhanced signal can also arise in cases where mh’ mH, mH’ mA, or mh’ mH’ mA. Since the ZZ ! four lepton signal derives primarily from a SM-like Higgs boson whereas the signal receives contributions from two (or more) nearly mass-degenerate states, one would expect a slightly dierent invariant mass peak in the ZZ ! four lepton and channels. The phenomenological consequences of such models can be tested with additional Higgs data that will be collected at the LHC in the near future.
119502389
D-branes in topological membranes
Abstract It is shown how two-dimensional states corresponding to D-branes arise in orbifolds of topologically massive gauge and gravity theories. Brane vertex operators naturally appear in induced worldsheet actions when the three-dimensional gauge theory is minimally coupled to external charged matter and the orbifold relations are carefully taken into account. Boundary states corresponding to D-branes are given by vacuum wavefunctionals of the gauge theory in the presence of the matter, and their various constraints, such as the Cardy condition, are shown to arise through compatibility relations between the orbifold charges and bulk gauge invariance. We show that with a further conformally-invariant coupling to a dynamical massless scalar field theory in three dimensions, the brane tension is naturally set by the bulk mass scales and arises through dynamical mechanisms. As an auxilliary result, we show how to describe string descendent states in the three-dimensional theory through the construction of gauge-invariant excited wavefunctionals.