We introduce an emulator-based method to model the cross-correlation between cosmological voids and galaxies. This allows us to model the effect of cosmology on void finding and on the shape of the void-galaxy cross-correlation function, improving on previous template-based methods. We train a neural network using the AbacusSummit simulation suite and fit to data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Baryon

We develop a framework for Large Scale Structure (LSS) perturbation theory, that solves the Vlasov-Poisson system of equations for the distribution function in full phase space. This approach relaxes the usual apriori assumption of negligible velocity dispersion underlying the Standard Perturbation Theory (SPT). We apply the new method to rederive the usual SPT kernels up to third order in the perturbative

The high redshift 21-cm signal promises to be a crucial probe of the state of the intergalactic medium (IGM). Understanding the connection between the observed 21-cm power spectrum and the physical quantities intricately associated with the IGM is crucial to fully understand the evolution of our Universe. In this study, we develop an emulator using artificial neural network (ANN) to predict the 21-cm

A plethora of inflationary models have been shown to produce interesting small-scale phenomenology, such as enhanced scalar fluctuations leading to primordial black hole (PBH) production and large scalar-induced gravitational waves (GW). Nevertheless, good models must simultaneously explain current observations on all scales. In this work, we showcase our methodology to establish the small-scale phenomenology

We study axial perturbations of static black holes with primary hair in a family of degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor (DHOST) theories. These solutions possess a scalar charge, fully independent of the mass, leading to a continuous one-parameter deformation of the standard Schwarzschild black hole. Starting from these solutions, we also construct new black holes, solutions of other DHOST theories

We study the evolution of the progenitors of the present-day Green Valley (GV) galaxies across redshift z = 10 - 0 using data from the EAGLE simulations. We identify the present-day green valley galaxies using entropic thresholding and track the evolution of the physical properties of their progenitors up to z = 10. Our study identifies three distinct phases in their evolution: (i) an early growth

Axion-like particles (ALPs) can account for the observed dark matter (DM) of the Universe and if their masses are at the eV scale, they can decay into infrared, optical and ultraviolet photons with a decay lifetime larger than the age of the Universe. We analyze multi-wavelength data obtained from the central region of Messier 87 (M87) galaxy by several telescopes, such as, Swift, Astrosat, Kanata

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are likely sources of hadronic particle acceleration within our galaxy, contributing to the galactic cosmic ray flux. Next-generation instruments, such as the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO), will be of crucial importance in identifying new candidate SNRs. SWGO will observe two-thirds of the gamma-ray sky, covering the energy range between a few hundreds of

We study linear scalar perturbations in single-field models of inflation featuring a non-attractor phase. These models lead to a peak in the curvature power spectrum that may result in the formation of primordial black holes. We develop a transfer-matrix formalism, analogous to the S-matrix program in quantum-field theory, that maps perturbations throughout the transitory phase. At scales smaller than

Given the remarkable success of the ΛCDM model in fitting various cosmological observations, a pertinent question in assessing the phenomenological viability of modified gravity theories is whether they can reproduce an exactly ΛCDM-like cosmic background evolution. In this paper, we address this question in the context of f(Q) gravity, where Q denotes the nonmetricity scalar. It is known that there

We present the Lyssa suite of high-resolution cosmological simulations of the Lyman-α forest designed for cosmological analyses. These 18 simulations have been run using the Nyx code with 40963 hydrodynamical cells in a 120 Mpc (∼ 81 Mpc/h) comoving box and individually provide sub-percent level convergence of the Lyman-α forest 1d flux power spectrum. We build a Gaussian process emulator for the Lyssa

The standard cosmological model is sufficiently well constrained that precise estimates can be provided for the redshift of various physically defined times in the chronology of the Universe. For example, it is well known that matter-radiation equality, recombination and reionisation happen at redshifts of around 3000, 1000 and 10, respectively, and these can be specified more precisely by fitting

Quadratic gravity is a fourth-order (in derivatives) theory that can serve as an attractive upgrade to the standard description of gravity provided by General Relativity, thanks to its renormalizability and its built-in description of primordial inflation. We bring quadratic gravity into a second-order form by introducing an auxiliary tensor field and we consider the primordial tensor fluctuations

The precision of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments, specifically its lensing reconstruction, has reached the limit where non-linear corrections cannot be ignored. Neglecting these corrections results in biased constraints on cosmological parameters. In this work, we use lensing data from Planck and the South Pole Telescope third generation camera (SPT-3G) taken in 2018 to highlight the

Ultra-low-frequency gravitational waves (GWs) generated by individual inspiraling supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) at the centers of galaxies may be detected by pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) in the future. These GW signals, which encode absolute cosmic distances, can serve as bright and dark sirens, potentially evolving into a precise cosmological probe. Here, we show that a PTA in the era of

Despite being neutral particles, neutrinos can acquire non-zero electromagnetic properties from radiative corrections that can be induced by the presence of new physics. Electromagnetic neutrino processes induce spectral distortions in neutrino scattering data, which are especially visible at experiments characterized by low recoil thresholds. We investigate how neutrino electromagnetic properties

We propose new versions of the slow-roll approximation for inflationary models with nonminimally coupled scalar fields. We derive more precise expressions for the standard slow-roll parameters as functions of the scalar field. To verify the accuracy of the proposed approximations, we consider inflationary models with the induced gravity term and the fourth-order monomial potential. For specific values

We present a novel way of probing non-gravitational dark matter interactions: dark astronomy, which leverages the dark radiation emitted by dissipative dark sectors. If the mediator of the dark matter self interactions is a dark photon with a small mass that kinetically mixes with the visible photon, the dark radiation flux becomes accessible to underground experiments. We argue that the emission may

Light rings (LRs) — closed circular orbits of null geodesics — are key features of both black holes and horizonless ultracompact objects. While unstable LRs are relevant for the observation of black hole images, stable LRs have been suspected to trigger instabilities, namely in exotic compact objects that could mimic black holes. The underlying mechanism behind this instability remains poorly understood

We study linear even-parity perturbations of static and spherically symmetric black holes with a timelike scalar profile by use of the effective field theory (EFT) approach. For illustrative purposes, we consider a simple subclass of the EFT that accommodates ghost condensate, namely the k-essence model along with the so-called scordatura term, and focus on the spherical (monopole) perturbations about

Black holes, one of the greatest enigmas of our Universe, are challenging to decipher. This work is dedicated to observing the changes in the mass of a non-singular black hole with the evolution of the Universe in the generalized Rastall gravity framework, considering the effects of parameter constraining. We examine two recently developed dynamical dark-energy equation of state parameterization models:

We study the orbits of a spinning particle in the Reissner-Nordström black hole exterior through the spin-curvature coupling to leading order in its spin. The dynamics is governed by the Mathisson-Papapetrou equations in the pole-dipole approximation. The equations of motion can be derived and show in particular that in the polar coordinate, the orbits can be restricted to the plane for an aligned

We explore interacting dark matter (DM) models that allow DM and baryons to scatter off of each other with a cross section that scales with relative particle velocity. Using the effective field theory of large-scale structure, we perform the first analysis of BOSS full-shape galaxy clustering data for velocity-dependent DM-baryon interactions. We determine that while the addition of BOSS full-shape

We investigate the strong coupling problem in modified teleparallel gravity theories using the effective field theory (EFT) approach, demonstrating that it is possible to shift the emergence of new degrees of freedom (DoFs) to lower orders in perturbation theory. We first focus on the case of f(T) gravity, and we show that in its conformally equivalent form the scalar perturbations are non-dynamical

To date, no observational confirmation of dark matter particles has been found. In this paper, we put forward an alternative approach to inferring evidence for dark matter through modified gravity, without invoking fundamental dark matter particles. Specifically, we explore the possibility of extracting signatures of Kaluza-Klein gravity through the gravitational Aharonov-Bohm effect. Kaluza-Klein

We present an analytical model for density-split correlation functions, that probe galaxy clustering in different density environments. Specifically, we focus on the cross-correlation between density-split regions and the tracer density field. We show that these correlation functions can be expressed in terms of the two-point probability density function (PDF) of the density field. We derive analytical

We introduce new analytical methods for treating black-hole thermodynamic topology, and thus depart from the usual treatment known in the literature. As application we investigate the universal thermodynamic topological classes of a family of black holes with NUT-charge. A charge-dependent thermodynamic topological transition from one class to another class is discussed.

Diffuse photons of energy above 0.1 PeV, produced through the interactions between cosmic rays and either interstellar matter or background radiation fields, are powerful tracers of the distribution of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. Furthermore, the measurement of a diffuse photon flux would be an important probe to test models of super-heavy dark matter decaying into gamma-rays. In this work, we search

Many early universe scenarios predict an enhancement of scalar perturbations at scales currently unconstrained by cosmological probes. These perturbations source gravitational waves (GWs) at second order in perturbation theory, leading to a scalar-induced gravitational wave (SIGW) background. The LISA detector, sensitive to mHz GWs, will be able to constrain curvature perturbations in a new window

In cosmologies with hidden sector dark matter, the lightest hidden sector species can come to dominate the energy budget of the universe and cause an early matter-dominated era (EMDE). EMDEs amplify the matter power spectrum on small scales, leading to dense, early-forming microhalos which massively boost the dark matter annihilation signal. We use the Fermi-LAT measurement of the isotropic gamma-ray

For the first time, we develop a simulation-based model for the Minkowski functionals (MFs) of large-scale structure, which allows us to extract the full information available from the MFs (including both the Gaussian and non-Gaussian part), and apply it to the BOSS DR12 CMASS galaxy sample. Our model is based on high-fidelity mock galaxy catalogs constructed from the Abacus Summit simulations using

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) provide precise measurements of the cosmic expansion history through the comoving acoustic scale. The CMB angular scale measurement θ * is particularly robust, constraining the ratio of the sound horizon to the angular diameter distance to last scattering independently of the late-time cosmological model. For models with standard

Recently, the model of the Einstein-Bardeen theory minimally coupled to a complex, massive, free scalar field was investigated in arXiv:2305.19057. The introduction of a scalar field disrupts the formation of an event horizon, leaving only a type of solution referred to as a Bardeen-boson star. When the magnetic charge q exceeds a certain critical value, the frozen Bardeen-boson star can be obtained

Cosmological perturbations in warm inflation are conventionally described by an EFT. It consists of the inflaton field coupled to a radiation fluid and applies to energy scales of order Hubble H and inflaton decay width γ, but well below temperature T. This EFT lacks a proper treatment of inflatons produced with energy ∼T. While the direct contribution of these “UV inflatons” to the super-horizon curvature

Additional elementary species and primordial black holes are common candidates for dark matter. Their co-existence in the early Universe leads to accretion if particles are heavy. We solve equation of motion affected by expansion which enhances black hole growth rates. They depend upon particles freeze-out time rather than their mass. Taking into account friction we study recently suggested baryogenesis

We investigate the revised Deser-Woodard model of nonlocal gravity involving four auxiliary scalar fields, introduced to explain the standard cosmological background expansion history without fine-tuning issues. In particular, we simplify the complex field equations within a proper tetrad frame, thereby recasting the original system into a more tractable equivalent differential problem. We show that

Axion-like particles (ALPs) can decay into two photons with a rest-frame frequency given by half of the ALP mass. This implies that ultra-violet searches can be used to investigate ALPs in the multi-eV mass range. We use archival data from the Hubble Space Telescope between 110 and 170 nm to constrain ALPs with mass between 14.4-22.2 eV. We consider observations of a set of dwarf spheroidal galaxies

We examine the classical and quantum evolution of inflationary cosmological perturbations from quantum initial conditions, using the on-shell and off-shell contributions to correlators to investigate the signatures of interactions. In particular, we calculate the Keldysh contributions to the leading order bispectrum from past infinity, showing that the squeezed limit is dominated by the on-shell evolution

We study symmetry-breaking inflation within the framework of metric-affine gravity. By introducing a non-minimal coupling, β(ϕ)ℛ̃, between the Holst invariant and the inflaton, both small-field and large-field inflationary predictions can be brought into agreement with the latest observational constraints. Remarkably, even for sub-Planckian vacuum expectation values, appropriately chosen values of

We probe the spectrum of primordial gravitational waves (GWs) produced during the eras of hyperkination, kination, and reheating in a non-minimally coupled, ℒ ∝ (1 + ξχ/M Pl) t (R + αR 2), modified gravity model using the Palatini formulation under a runaway inflaton potential. The coupling order t is varied to examine a large class of theories up to χ2 R 2. For models with t > 0, reheating is not

We use the perturbative method to study the influence of the magnetic field on the weak deflection angle of charged signals in magnetized stationary and axisymmetric spacetimes within general electromagnetic potentials. The deflection angle is expressed as a series expansion of the inverse of the impact parameter b, with coefficients determined by the asymptotic expansions of the metric functions and

Gravitational waves (GWs) can alter the neutrino propagation distance and thus affect neutrino oscillations. This can result in a complete disappearance of the oscillatory behavior that competes with other sources of neutrino decoherence. We develop a set of criteria that determines under which conditions neutrino oscillations are sensitive to this effect. We find that current or near future neutrino

We study the energy-momentum tensor of a bubble wall beyond the approximation of an infinitely thin wall. To this end, we discuss the proper decomposition into wall and bulk contributions, and we use a systematic method to calculate the energy-momentum tensor at any order in the wall width. We consider the specific examples of spherical bubbles with different initial configurations, and we compare

Cosmology and astrophysics provide various ways to study the properties of dark matter even if they have negligible non-gravitational interactions with the Standard Model particles and remain hidden. We study a type of hidden dark matter model in which the dark matter is completely decoupled from the Standard Model sector except gravitationally, and consists of a single species with conserved comoving

Further bright sirens — gravitational wave events with electromagnetic counterparts — are keenly awaited, but proving elusive. The exceptional event GW170817 had a profound impact on the landscape of viable cosmological extensions of General Relativity (GR); can we expect this kind of shift to be repeated in the next decade? In this work we will assess the potential constraints from bright sirens in

We numerically study axion-U(1) inflation, focusing on the regime where the coupling between axions and gauge fields results in significant backreaction from the amplified gauge fields during inflation. These amplified gauge fields not only generate high-frequency gravitational waves (GWs), but also enhance spatial inhomogeneities in the axion field. GWs serve as key probe for constraining the coupling

We examine the effects of thermal conduction on relativistic, magnetized, viscous, advective accretion flows around rotating black holes considering bremsstrahlung and synchrotron cooling processes. Assuming the toroidal component of magnetic fields as the dominant one, we self-consistently solve the steady-state fluid equations to derive the global transonic accretion solutions for a black hole of

We study the cosmology and astrophysics of axion-like particles (ALPs) with CP-violating Yukawa couplings to nucleons. At finite nucleon density, the ALP's dynamics is governed by an effective potential which is the sum of the bare periodic potential and a linear potential whose strength depends on the nucleon density. We identify a critical nucleon density ρc controlling the dynamics. At densities

The kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect induces a non-zero density-density-temperature bispectrum, which we can use to reconstruct the large-scale velocity field from a combination of cosmic microwave background (CMB) and galaxy density measurements, in a procedure known as “kSZ velocity reconstruction”. This method has been forecast to constrain large-scale modes with future galaxy and CMB surveys

To study the early Universe, it is essential to estimate cosmological parameters with high accuracy, which depends on the optimal reconstruction of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) maps and the measurement of their power spectrum. In this paper, we generalize the neural network developed for applying the Wiener Filter, initially presented for temperature maps in previous work, to polarization maps

Primordial oscillatory features in the power spectrum of curvature perturbations are sensitive probes of the dynamics of the early Universe and can provide insights beyond the standard inflationary scenario. While these features have been the focus of extensive studies using cosmic microwave background anisotropy data, large-scale structure surveys now provide competitive constraints with the opportunity

We investigate the gravitational production of superheavy scalar fields with nonminimal coupling during and after inflation. Using the mode function solution in a de Sitter background, we derive analytical approximations and apply the steepest descent method. We study both positive and negative nonminimal couplings, demonstrating that their comoving number density spectra behave differently in the

The large number of strong lenses discoverable in future astronomical surveys will likely enhance the value of strong gravitational lensing as a cosmic probe of dark energy and dark matter. However, leveraging the increased statistical power of such large samples will require further development of automated lens modeling techniques. We show that deep learning and simulation-based inference (SBI) methods

Interaction rates of neutrinos and antineutrinos within a QED plasma determine the dynamics of their decoupling in the early universe. We show how to define the relevant double-differential production, annihilation, and scattering rates at NLO. Integrating over these rates with specific weights, other quantities from the literature can be obtained, such as energy transfer rates, or a neutrino interaction

The motion of a rapidly rotating object in curved spacetime is affected by the spin-curvature force, an effect captured in the motion of spinning test particles. Recently, Cardoso et al. [Phys. Rev. D 105, L061501 (2022)] found an exact solution describing a black hole immersed in a Hernquist distribution of dark matter. In this work, we investigate the motion of spinning particles around this black

In this paper, we investigate the motion of spinning particles in the background of covariant loop quantum gravity black holes, focusing on two distinct effective metric solutions. Both metrics incorporate a quantum parameter ζ, which quantifies the corrections from loop quantum gravity. When ζ approaches zero, the spacetime reduces to the classical Schwarzschild solution. Using the pole-dipole approximation

Multi-band gravitational-wave (GW) standard siren observations are poised to herald a new era in the study of cosmic evolution. These observations offer higher signal-to-noise ratios and improved localizations compared to those achieved with single-band GW detection, which are crucial for the cosmological applications of dark sirens. In this work, we explore the role multi-band GW synergetic observations

The observations from pulsar timing arrays (PTAs), led by the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav), have provided opportunities to constrain primordial gravitational waves at low frequencies. In this paper, we analyze the best-fit parameter values for different Gauss-Bonnet Inflationary Gravitational Wave (GB-IGW) models with the PTArcade program, and we compare the

We conduct a comprehensive study into the impact of pixelization on cosmic shear, uncovering several sources of bias in standard pseudo-C ℓ estimators based on discrete catalogues. We derive models that can bring residual biases to the percent level on small scales. We elucidate the impact of aliasing and the varying shape of HEALPix pixels on power spectra and show how the HEALPix pixel window function

We demonstrate that in the presence of a light scalar spectator field, vacuum transitions taking place during inflation can produce large, potentially detectable non-Gaussian signatures in the primordial curvature perturbation. Such transitions are common in theories with multiple scalar fields when the potential has several minima. Our computation proceeds by numerically finding the instanton solution