Covariance of dark energy parameters and sound speed constraints from large H i surveys

An interesting probe of the nature of dark energy is the measure of its sound speed, c _s. We review the significance for constraining sound speed models of dark energy using large neutral hydrogen (H  i ) surveys with the square kilometre array (SKA). Our analysis considers the effect on the sound speed measurement that arises from the covariance of c _s with the dark energy density, Ω_de, and a time-varying equation of state,   w ( a ) = w ₀+ (1 − a ) w _a   . We find that the approximate degeneracy between dark energy parameters that arises in power spectrum observations is lifted through redshift tomography of the H  i -galaxy angular power spectrum, resulting in sound speed constraints that are not severely degraded. The cross-correlation of the galaxy and the integrated Sachs Wolfe (ISW) effect spectra contributes approximately 10 per cent of the information that is needed to distinguish variations in the dark energy parameters, and most of the discriminating signal comes from the galaxy auto-correlation spectrum. We also find that the sound speed constraints are weakly sensitive to the H  i bias model. These constraints do not improve substantially for a significantly deeper H  i survey since most of the clustering sensitivity to sound speed variations arises from   z ≲ 1.5  . A detection of models with sound speeds close to zero,   c _s≲ 0.01,  is possible for dark energy models with   w ≳−0.9  .     

Effect of modified Chaplygin gas in anisotropic universe

In this work, we have studied the model of modified Chaplygin gas and its role in accelerating phase of the universe for anisotropic model. We have assumed that the equation of state of this modified model is valid from the radiation era to ΛCDM model. We have obtained the possible relation between the hessence and the modified Chaplygin gas. We have also use the statefinder parameters for characterize different phase of the universe diagrammatically.     

A procedure for modelling asymptotic g‐mode pulsators: The case of γ Doradus stars

Mode identification is one of the first and main problems we encounter in trying to develop the complete potential of asteroseismology. In the particular case of g‐mode pulsators, this is still an unsolved problem, from both the observational and theoretical points of view. Nevertheless, in recent years, some observational and theoretical efforts have been made to find a solution. In this work we use the latest theoretical and computational tools to understand asymptotic g‐mode pulsators: 1) the Frequency Ratio Method, and 2) Time Dependent Convection. With these tools, a self‐consistent procedure for mode identification and modelling of these g‐mode pulsators can be constructed. This procedure is illustrated using observational information available for the γ Doradus star 9Aurigae. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Forecasting the dark energy measurement with baryon acoustic oscillations: prospects for the LAMOST surveys

The Large Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) is a dedicated spectroscopic survey telescope being built in China, with an effective aperture of 4 m and equipped with 4000 fibres. Using the LAMOST telescope, one could make redshift survey of the large-scale structure (LSS). The baryon acoustic oscillation features in the LSS power spectrum provide standard rulers for measuring dark energy and other cosmological parameters. In this paper, we investigate the measurement precision achievable for a few possible surveys: (1) a magnitude-limited survey of all galaxies, (2) a survey of colour-selected luminous red galaxies (LRG) and (3) a magnitude-limited, high-density survey of   z < 2  quasars. For each survey, we use the halo model to estimate the bias of the sample, and calculate the effective volume. We then use the Fisher matrix method to forecast the error on the dark energy equation of state and other cosmological parameters for different survey parameters. In a few cases, we also use the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to make the same forecast as a comparison. The fibre time required for each of these surveys is also estimated. These results would be useful in designing the surveys for LAMOST.     

Cosmography with cluster strong lensing

By stacking an ensemble of strong lensing clusters, we demonstrate the feasibility of placing constraints on the dark energy equation of state. This is achieved by using multiple images of sources at two or more distinct redshift planes. The sample of smooth clusters in our simulations is based on observations of massive clusters and the distribution of background galaxies is constructed using the Hubble Deep Field . Our source distribution reproduces the observed redshift distribution of multiply imaged sources in Abell 1689. The cosmology recovery depends on the number of image families with known spectroscopic redshifts and the number of stacked clusters. Our simulations suggest that constraints comparable to those derived from other competing established techniques on a constant dark energy equation of state can be obtained using 10–40 clusters with five or more families of multiple images. We have also studied the observational errors in the image redshifts and positions. We find that spectroscopic redshifts and high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ) images are required to eliminate confidence contour relaxation relative to the ideal case in our simulations. This suggests that the dark energy equation of state, and other cosmological parameters, can be constrained with existing HST images of lensing clusters coupled with dedicated ground-based arc spectroscopy.     

Luminosity and surface brightness distribution of K-band galaxies from the UKIDSS Large Area Survey

We present luminosity and surface-brightness distributions of 40 111 galaxies with K -band photometry from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Large Area Survey (LAS), Data Release 3 and optical photometry from Data Release 5 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Various features and limitations of the new UKIDSS data are examined, such as a problem affecting Petrosian magnitudes of extended sources. Selection limits in K - and r -band magnitude, K -band surface brightness and K -band radius are included explicitly in the  1/ V _max  estimate of the space density and luminosity function. The bivariate brightness distribution in K -band absolute magnitude and surface brightness is presented and found to display a clear luminosity–surface brightness correlation that flattens at high luminosity and broadens at low luminosity, consistent with similar analyses at optical wavelengths. Best-fitting Schechter function parameters for the K -band luminosity function are found to be   M *− 5 log  h =−23.19 ± 0.04, α=−0.81 ± 0.04  and  φ*= (0.0166 ± 0.0008)  h ³ Mpc⁻³  , although the Schechter function provides a poor fit to the data at high and low luminosity, while the luminosity density in the K band is found to be   j = (6.305 ± 0.067) × 10⁸ L_⊙  h  Mpc⁻³  . However, we caution that there are various known sources of incompleteness and uncertainty in our results. Using mass-to-light ratios determined from the optical colours, we estimate the stellar mass function, finding good agreement with previous results. Possible improvements are discussed that could be implemented when extending this analysis to the full LAS.     

Catalogue of averaged stellar effective magnetic fields – II. Re-discussion of chemically peculiar A and B stars

This paper presents a catalogue and the method of determining averaged quadratic effective magnetic fields  〈 B _e〉  for 1212 main-sequence and giant stars, and 11 white dwarf stars. The catalogue includes stars that are members of several open clusters. We have compiled measurements of the longitudinal magnetic field for those stars, which were scattered in the existing literature. A new parameter, magnetization (MA), has been defined, and we present values of MA for stars of various spectral classes. Our sample includes a subset of 610 chemically peculiar early-type stars. We confirm the conclusion of our previous study that the number distribution of all chemically peculiar stars versus the averaged magnetic field strength is described by a decreasing exponential function. Relations of this type also hold for stars of all the analysed subclasses of chemical peculiarity. Magnetization tends to correlate with the effective temperature only at high MA, for He-weak and He-rich stars.     

Signals from the epoch of cosmological recombination – Karl Schwarzschild Award Lecture 2008

The physical ingredients to describe the epoch of cosmological recombination are amazingly simple and well‐understood. This fact allows us to take into account a very large variety of physical processes, still finding potentially measurable consequences for the energy spectrum and temperature anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). In this contribution we provide a short historical overview in connection with the cosmological recombination epoch and its connection to the CMB. Also we highlight some of the detailed physics that were studied over the past few years in the context of the cosmological recombination of hydrogen and helium. The impact of these considerations is two‐fold: (i) The associated release of photons during this epoch leads to interesting and unique deviations of the CosmicMicrowave Background (CMB) energy spectrum from a perfect blackbody, which, in particular at decimeter wavelength and the Wien part of the CMB spectrum, may become observable in the near future. Despite the fact that the abundance of helium is rather small, it still contributes a sizeable amount of photons to the full recombination spectrum, leading to additional distinct spectral features. Observing the spectral distortions from the epochs of hydrogen and helium recombination, in principle would provide an additional way to determine some of the key parameters of the Universe (e.g. the specific entropy, the CMB monopole temperature and the pre‐stellar abundance of helium). Also it permits us to confront our detailed understanding of the recombination process with direct observational evidence. In this contribution we illustrate how the theoretical spectral template of the cosmological recombination spectrum may be utilized for this purpose. We also show that because hydrogen and helium recombine at very different epochs it is possible to address questions related to the thermal history of our Universe. In particular the cosmological recombination radiation may allow us to distinguish between Compton y ‐distortions that were created by energy release before or after the recombination of the Universe finished. (ii) With the advent of high precision CMB data, e.g. as will be available using the PLANCK Surveyor or CMBPOL, a very accurate theoretical understanding of the ionization history of the Universe becomes necessary for the interpretation of the CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies. Here we show that the uncertainty in the ionization history due to several processes, which until now were not taken in to account in the standard recombination code RECFAST, reaches the percent level. In particular He II → He I recombination occurs significantly faster because of the presence of a tiny fraction of neutral hydrogen at z ∼ 2400. Also recently it was demonstrated that in the case of H I Lyman α photons the timedependence of the emission process and the asymmetry between the emission and absorption profile cannot be ignored. However, it is indeed surprising how inert the cosmological recombination history is even at percent‐level accuracy. Observing the cosmological recombination spectrum should in principle allow us to directly check this conclusion, which until now is purely theoretical. Also it may allow to reconstruct the ionization history using observational data (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)