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.
88503448
Towards a fully consistent parameterization of modified gravity
There is a distinct possibility that current and future cosmological data can be used to constrain Einstein's theory of gravity on the very largest scales. To be able to do this in a model-independent way, it makes sense to work with a general parameterization of modified gravity. Such an approach would be analogous to the Parameterized Post-Newtonian (PPN) approach which is used on the scale of the Solar System. A few such parameterizations have been proposed and preliminary constraints have been obtained. We show that the majority of such parameterizations are only exactly applicable in the quasistatic regime. On larger scales they fail to encapsulate the full behaviour of typical models currently under consideration. We suggest that it may be possible to capture the additions to the `Parameterized Post-Friedmann' (PPF) formalism by treating them akin to fluid perturbations.
15523235
Archipelagian cosmology: Dynamics and observables in a universe with discretized matter content
We consider a model of the Universe in which the matter content is in the form of discrete islands, rather than a continuous fluid. In the appropriate limits the resulting large-scale dynamics approach those of a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe. The optical properties of such a space-time, however, do not. This illustrates the fact that the optical and "average" dynamical properties of a relativistic universe are not equivalent, and do not specify each other uniquely. We find the angular diameter distance, luminosity distance, and redshifts that would be measured by observers in these space-times, using both analytic approximations and numerical simulations. While different from their counterparts in FRW, the effects found do not look like promising candidates to explain the observations usually attributed to the existence of dark energy. This incongruity with standard FRW cosmology is not due to the existence of any unexpectedly large structures or voids in the Universe, but only to the fact that the matter content of the Universe is not a continuous fluid.
16724611
A Bayesian Estimate of the Skewness of the Cosmic Microwave Background
We propose a formalism for estimating the skewness and angular power spectrum of a general cosmic microwave background data set. We use the Edgeworth expansion to define a non-Gaussian likelihood function that takes into account the anisotropic nature of the noise and the incompleteness of the sky coverage. The formalism is then applied to estimate the skewness of the publicly available 4 yr COBE Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) data. We find that the data is consistent with a Gaussian skewness, and with isotropy. Inclusion of non-Gaussian degrees of freedom has essentially no effect on estimates of the power spectrum, if each Cl is regarded as a separate parameter or if the angular power spectrum is parametrized in terms of an amplitude (Q) and spectral index (n). Fixing the value of the angular power spectrum at its maximum-likelihood estimate, the best-fit skewness is S = 6.5 ± 6.0 × 104 μK3; marginalizing over Q, the estimate of the skewness is S = 6.5 ± 8.4 × 104 μK3, and marginalizing over n one has S = 6.5 ± 8.5 × 104 μK3.
119497739
Conservative estimates of the mass of the neutrino from cosmology
A range of experimental results point to the existence of a massive neutrino. The recent high precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background and the large scale surveys of galaxies can be used to place an upper bound on this mass. In this paper we perform a thorough analysis of all assumptions that go into obtaining a credible limit on . In particular we explore the impact of extending parameter space beyond the current standard cosmological model, the importance of priors and the uncertainties due to biasing in large scale structure. We find that the mass constraints are independent of the choice of parametrization as well as the inclusion of spatial curvature. The results of including the possibility of dark energy and tensor perturbations are shown to depend critically on the datasets used. The difference between an upper bound of 2.2 eV, assuming generic initial conditions, and an upper bound of 0.63 eV, assuming adiabaticity and a galaxy bias of 1, demonstrate the dependence of such a constraint on the assumptions in the analysis.
119264670
Ultralight axions: degeneracies with massive neutrinos and forecasts for future cosmological observations
A generic prediction of string theory is the existence of many axion fields. It has recently been argued that many of these fields should be light and, like the well known QCD axion, lead to observable cosmological consequences. In this paper we study in detail the effect of the so-called string axiverse on large scale structure, focusing on the morphology and evolution of density perturbations, anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background and weak gravitational lensing of distant galaxies. We quantify specific effects that will arise from the presence of the axionic fields and highlight possible degeneracies that may arise in the presence of massive neutrinos. We take particular care understanding the different physical effects and scales that come into play. We then forecast how the string axiverse may be constrained and show that with a combination of different observations, it should be possible to detect a fraction of ultralight axions to dark matter of a few percent.
118526359
Abelian symmetries in the two-Higgs-doublet model with fermions
We classify all possible implementations of an abelian symmetry in the two-Higgs-doublet model with fermions. We identify those symmetries which are consistent with non-vanishing quark masses and a CKM matrix which is not block-diagonal. Our analysis takes us from a plethora of possibilities down to 246 relevant cases, requiring only 34 distinct matrix forms. We show that applying Z_n with n \geq 4 to the scalar sector leads to a continuous U(1) symmetry in the whole Lagrangian. Finally, we address the possibilities of spontaneous CP violation and of natural suppression of the flavour changing neutral currents. We explain why our work is relevant even for non-abelian symmetries.
18964730
Probing wrong-sign Yukawa couplings at the LHC and a future linear collider
We consider the two-Higgs-doublet model as a framework in which to evaluate the viability of scenarios in which the sign of the coupling of the observed Higgs boson to down-type fermions (in particular, b-quark pairs) is opposite to that of the Standard Model (SM), while at the same time all other tree-level couplings are close to the SM values. We show that, whereas such a scenario is consistent with current LHC observations, both future running at the LHC and a future e +e − linear collider could determine the sign of the Higgs coupling to b-quark pairs. Discrimination is possible for two reasons. First, the interference between the b-quark and the t-quark loop contributions to the ggh coupling changes sign. Second, the charged-Higgs loop contribution to the γγh coupling is large and fairly constant up to the largest charged-Higgs mass allowed by tree-level unitarity bounds when the b-quark Yukawa coupling has the opposite sign from that of the SM (the change in sign of the interference terms between the b-quark loop and the W and t loops having negligible impact).
118570507
Tree-level metastability bounds in two-Higgs doublet models
IFPA, Universite de Liege, Allee du 6 Aout^ 17, b^atiment B5a, 4000 Liege, Belgium andSobolev Institute of Mathematics, Koptyug avenue 4, 630090, Novosibirsk, RussiaThe two Higgs doublet model has a rich vacuum structure, including the possibility of existenceof two Standard Model-like minima at tree-level. It is therefore possible that the universe’s vacuumis metastable, and a deeper minimum exists. We present the analytical conditions one must demandof the potential’s parameters to prevent that possibility, and analyse what the current LHC datatells us about the eventual existence of that second minimum.I. INTRODUCTION
122214245
A two-Higgs doublet model with remarkable CP properties
We analyze generalized CP symmetries of two-Higgs doublet models, extending them from the scalar to the fermion sector of the theory. We show that, other than the usual CP transformation, there is only one of those symmetries which does not imply massless charged fermions. That single model which accommodates a fermionic mass spectrum compatible with experimental data possesses a remarkable feature. Through a soft breaking of the symmetry it displays a new type of spontaneous CP violation, which does not occur in the scalar sector responsible for the symmetry breaking mechanism but, rather, in the fermion sector.
118483819
Probing the scalar-pseudoscalar mixing in the 125 GeV Higgs particle with current data
Centro de Fsica Teorica de Partculas (CFTP), Instituto Superior Tecnico,Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal(Dated: May 22, 2012)LHC has found hints for a Higgs particle of 125 GeV. We investigate the possibility that such aparticle is a mixture of scalar and pseudoscalar states. For de niteness, we concentrate on a twoHiggs doublet model with explicit CP violation and soft Z