A note on crossing the phantom divide in hybrid dark energy model

Recently a lot of attention has been given to building dark energy models in which the equation-of-state parameter w   can cross the phantom divide w=−1$w=-1$. However, to our knowledge, these models with crossing the phantom divide only provide the possibility that w can cross −1. They do not answer another question: why crossing phantom divide occurs recently? Since in many existing models whose equation-of-state parameter can cross the phantom divide, w undulates around −1 randomly, why are we living in an epoch  w<−1$w<-1$? This can be regarded as the second cosmological coincidence problem. In this Letter, we propose a possible approach to alleviate this problem within a hybrid dark energy model.     

Quintom cosmologies admitting either tracking or phantom attractors

In this Letter we investigate the evolution of a class of cosmologies fueled by quintom dark energy and dark matter. Quintom dark energy is a hybrid of quintessence and phantom which involves the participation of two real scalar fields playing the roles of those two types of dark energy. In that framework we examine, from a dynamical systems perspective, the possibility that those fields are coupled among them by considering an exponential potential with an interesting functional dependence similar but not identical to others studied before. The model we consider represents a counterexample to the typical behavior of quintom models with exponential potentials because it admits either tracking attractors (w=0$w=0$), or phantom attractors (w<−1$w<-1$).     

Exorcising w < −1

We show that the combined dimming of Type Ia supernovae induced by both a cosmological constant and the conversion of photons into axions in extra-galactic magnetic fields can impersonate dark energy with an equation of state w < −1. An observer unaware of the presence of photon-axion conversion would interpret the additional dimming as cosmic acceleration faster than that induced by a cosmological constant alone. We find that this mechanism can mimic equations of state as negative as w ? −1.5. Our model does not have any ghosts, phantoms, and the like. It is fully consistent with the conventional effective field theory in curved space, and all existing observational constraints on the axions are obeyed.     

Route to Lambda in conformally coupled phantom cosmology

In this Letter we investigate acceleration in the flat cosmological model with a conformally coupled phantom field and we show that acceleration is its generic feature. We reduce the dynamics of the model to a 3-dimensional dynamical system and analyze it on a invariant 2-dimensional submanifold. Then the concordance FRW model with the cosmological constant Λ   is a global attractor situated on a 2-dimensional invariant space. We also study the behaviour near this attractor, which can be approximated by the dynamics of the linearized part of the system. We demonstrate that trajectories of the conformally coupled phantom scalar field with a simple quadratic potential crosses the cosmological constant barrier infinitely many times in the phase space. The universal behaviour of the scalar field and its potential is also calculated. We conclude that the phantom scalar field conformally coupled to gravity gives a natural dynamical mechanism of concentration of the equation of state coefficient around the magical value weff=−1$w_{\mathrm{eff}}=-1$. We demonstrate route to Lambda through the infinite times crossing the weff=−1$w_{\mathrm{eff}}=-1$ phantom divide.     

Avoiding the big-rip jeopardy in a quintom dark energy model with higher derivatives

In the framework of a single scalar field quintom model with higher derivative, we construct in this Letter a dark energy model of which the equation of state (EOS) w   crosses over the cosmological constant boundary. Interestingly during the evolution of the universe w<−1$w<-1$ happens just for a period of time with a distinguished feature that w   starts with a value above −1, transits into w<−1$w<-1$, then comes back to w>−1$w>-1$. This avoids the big-rip jeopardy induced by w<−1$w<-1$.     

Phantom Appearance of Non-phantom Matter in Bianchi Type-I Cosmological Model

Two cosmological models with non-phantom matter having the same expansion of the universe as phantom cosmologies are constructed in Bianchi type-I universe. The exact solutions to the corresponding Einstein field equations have been obtained. The cosmological parameters have been obtained in two interesting cases (i) γ=0 and (ii) γ=1/3. We have also discussed the well-known astrophysical phenomena, namely the look-back time, luminosity distance and event horizon with redshift.     

A parametric model for dark energy

Determining the mechanism behind the current cosmic acceleration constitutes a major question nowadays in theoretical physics. If the dark energy route is taken, this problem may potentially bring to light new insights not only in cosmology but also in high energy physics theories. Following this approach, we explore in this Letter some cosmological consequences of a new time-dependent parameterization for the dark energy equation of state (EoS), which is a well behaved function of the redshift z   over the entire cosmological evolution, i.e., z∈[−1,∞)$z\in [-1,\infty )$. This parameterization allows us to divide the parametric plane (w₀,w₁)$(w_0,w_1)$ in defined regions associated to distinct classes of dark energy models that can be confirmed or excluded from a confrontation with current observational data. By assuming a flat universe, a statistical analysis involving the most recent observations from type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillation peak, Cosmic Microwave Background shift parameter and Hubble evolution H(z)$H(z)$ is performed to check the observational viability of the EoS parameterization here proposed.     

Evolution of Holographic Dark Energy in Interacting Modified Chaplygin Gas Model

We investigate the modified Chaplygin gas （MCG） with interaction between holographic dark energy proposed by Li and dark matter. In this model, evolution of the universe is described in detail, which is from deceleration to acceleration. Specifically, the evolutions of related cosmological quantities such as density parameter, the equation of state of holographic dark energy, deceleration parameter and transition redshift are discussed. Moreover, we also give their present values which are consistent with the lately observations. Furthermore, the results given by us show such a model can accommodate a transition of the dark energy from a normal state wx 〉 -1 to ωx 〈 -1 phantom regimes.     

Theoretical Constraint on Purely Kinetic κ-Essence

Purely kinetic k-essence models in which the Lagrangian contains only a kinetic factor and does not depend explicitly on the field itself are considered, and a theoretical constraint is obtained： Fx -= F0a^-3. Under this theoretical constraint, we discuss a kind of purely κ-essence with form F（X） = -（1 ＋ 2X^n）^1/2n, which can be considered as the generalized tachyon field, and find that this kind of κ-essence is not likely a candidate of dark energy to describe the present accelerated expansion of the Universe. This is contrary to a previous suggestion that κ-essence with such a form may be used to describe phantom cosmologies.     

Relativistic interactions for the meson-two-nucleon system in the clothed-particle unitary representation

The method of unitary clothing transformations put forward in relativistic quantum field theory (QFT) by Greenberg and Schweber and developed by Shirokov is applied to construct a new family of interactions in the meson-two-nucleon system. Along with a brief exposition of its basic elements we show a specific transition from the initial “bare” one-meson and one-nucleon operators and states to their physical “clothed” counterparts. We emphasize that the clothing transformations in question do not alter the original total Hamiltonian, but provides a conceptually more transparent representation of the same Hamiltonian in terms of a new set of operators for particles with physical properties and their relativistic interactions. The Hermitian and energy-independent interaction operators for the processes πN → πN, NN → NN and NN ↔ πNN are derived starting from the Yukawa-type couplings between fermions (nucleons and antinucleons) and bosons (π−, η−, ρ−, ω− mesons, etc.). These types of interaction have a distinctive off-energy-shell structure which is naturally generated by the unitary transformation that removes from the Hamiltonian the (three-leg) πNN vertex coupling.     

The nano-structural properties of hydrogenated a-Si and Si-C thin films alloys by GISAXS and vibrational spectroscopy

Amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) with high hydrogen content (10-40 at.%), and non-stehiometric silicon-carbon (Si_1−xC_x) thin films with a variation of the carbon to silicon ratio up to 0.3, were deposited by using a magnetron sputtering source. The Si_1−xC_x thin films were partially crystallised after deposition by thermal annealing up to 1050 °C.The GISAXS (Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering) spectra of all of the prepared specimens indicate the presence of “particles” in the “bulk” of the films. For the a-Si:H samples, “particles” are most probably voids agglomerates with a variation in size between 3 and 6 nm. The mean value of the size distribution of the “particles” increases while its width slightly decreases with the hydrogen content in the film. This indicates a better structural ordering which is consistent with the results of Raman spectroscopy that show a decrease of the ratio between intensities of transversal acoustic (TA) and transversal optic (TO) phonon peaks, I_TA/I_TO, and a narrowing of the TO peak with increasing hydrogen content. These results are discussed as a consequence of the beneficial influence of hydrogen bombardment during the film growth.For Si_1−xC_x thin films, the “particles” are assumed to be SiC nano-crystals with a size between 2 and 14 nm and they are larger in films with a higher carbon concentration. Inside each of the films, the crystals are larger closer to surface and they grow faster in the direction parallel to the surface than in that which is perpendicular to it.     

Systematic analysis of the Fourier transform spectrum of CH3OH between 400 and 950 cm

We have investigated a high-resolution Fourier transform (FT) absorption spectrum of the ¹³CH₃OH isotopomer of methanol from 400 to 950 cm⁻¹ with the “Ritz” program. We present the assignments of 7160 transitions, 3021 of which belong to A-symmetry, and 4139 to E-symmetry. These transitions occur between states labeled by K quantum numbers up to 14, and by torsional quantum numbers n up to 4. The “Ritz” program evaluated the energies of the 4684 involved levels with an accuracy of the order of 10⁻⁴ cm⁻¹. All of the assigned lines correspond to transitions involving torsionally excited levels within the ground small-amplitude vibrational state.     

Dark energy from quantum wave function collapse of dark matter

Dynamical wave function collapse models entail the continuous liberation of a specified rate of energy arising from the interaction of a fluctuating scalar field with the matter wave function. We consider the wave function collapse process for the constituents of dark matter in our universe. Beginning from a particular early era of the universe chosen from physical considerations, the rate of the associated energy liberation is integrated to yield the requisite magnitude of dark energy around the era of galaxy formation. Further, the equation of state for the liberated energy approaches w→−1$w\to -1$ asymptotically, providing a mechanism to generate the present acceleration of the universe.     

Two 3-branes in Randall–Sundrum setup and current acceleration of the universe

Five-dimensional spacetimes of two orbifold 3-branes are studied, by assuming that the two 3-branes are spatially homogeneous, isotropic, and independent of time  , following the so-called “bulk-based” approach. The most general form of the metric is obtained, and the corresponding field equations are divided into three groups, one is valid on each of the two 3-branes, and the third is valid in the bulk. The Einstein tensor on the 3-branes is expressed in terms of the discontinuities of the first-order derivatives of the metric coefficients. Thus, once the metric is known in the bulk, the distribution of the Einstein tensor on the two 3-branes is uniquely determined. As applications, we consider two different cases, one is in which the bulk is locally AdS₅${\mathit{AdS}}_5$, and the other is where it is vacuum. In some cases, it is shown that the universe is first decelerating and then accelerating. The global structure of the bulk as well as the 3-branes is also studied, and found that in some cases the solutions may represent the collision of two orbifold 3-branes. The applications of the formulas to the studies of the cyclic universe and the cosmological constant problem are also pointed out.     

Morphological evolution of SiGe layers

Extensive research activity has been devoted to self-assembly of very small coherent islands. However, while island formation is commonly described by a widely used S-K growth scheme, more complex mechanisms based on competitive effects of kinetics and thermodynamics take place during the epitaxy of Si_1−xGe_x on Si(0 0 1). The aim of this paper is to explain the formation and the evolution of Si_1−xGe_x islands on Si(0 0 1). The paper presents a comprehensive investigation of the different growth modes of Si_1−xGe_x films (with x varying from 0 to 1) on Si(0 0 1) and Si(1 1 1). The results are presented in the form of kinetic morphological growth diagrams of as-grown samples. Two and four growth regimes are distinguished on (1 1 1) and (0 0 1) respectively. These growth regimes correspond to different levels of relaxation. In particular the four regimes observed on Si(0 0 1) correspond to (i) no relaxation in regime I (2D layer), (ii) 15-20% relaxation in regime II (“huts” islands with (1 0 5) facets), (iii) 20% and 50% relaxation in regime III (in “huts” and “domes” respectively) and (iv) 50% and 80% relaxation in regime IV (“domes” with bimodal size distribution). Every growth regime characteristic of as-grown sample is also associated with a specific equilibrium steady state morphology which is obtained after long-term annealing of the as-grown samples. In the two first regimes (no or small strain relaxation) the equilibrium morphology of highly strained Si_1−xGe_x deposits corresponds to (1 0 5) faceted islands. We show that these islands are stabilised by the compressive stress. As soon as strain is released, (1 0 5) facets disappear at the expense of the (1 1 3) and (1 1 1) facets and first-order transition occurs between “huts” and “domes” islands.     

A new model of agegraphic dark energy

In this note, we propose a new model of agegraphic dark energy based on the Károlyházy relation, where the time scale is chosen to be the conformal time η   of the Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) universe. We find that in the radiation-dominated epoch, the equation-of-state parameter of the new agegraphic dark energy wq=−1/3$w_q=-1/3$ whereas Ωq=n²a²${\Omega }_q=n^2{a}^2$; in the matter-dominated epoch, wq=−2/3$w_q=-2/3$ whereas Ωq=n²a²/4${\Omega }_q=n^2{a}^2/4$; eventually, the new agegraphic dark energy dominates; in the late time wq→−1$w_q\to -1$ when a→∞$a\to \infty$, and the new agegraphic dark energy mimics a cosmological constant. In every stage, all things are consistent. The confusion in the original agegraphic dark energy model proposed in [R.G. Cai, Phys. Lett. B 657 (2007) 228, arXiv: 0707.4049 [hep-th]] disappears in this new model. Furthermore, Ωq?1${\Omega }_q?1$ is naturally satisfied in both radiation-dominated and matter-dominated epochs where a?1$a?1$. In addition, we further extend the new agegraphic dark energy model by including the interaction between the new agegraphic dark energy and background matter. In this case, we find that wq$w_q$ can cross the phantom divide.     

Hidden symmetry of the CKM and neutrino-mapping matrices

We propose that the smallness of the light quark masses is related to the smallness of the T (i.e. CP) violation in hadronic weak interactions. Accordingly, for each of the two quark sectors (“upper” and “lower”) we construct a 3 × 3 mass matrix in a bases of unobserved quark states, such that the “upper” and “lower” basis states correspond exactly via the W^± transitions in the weak interaction. In the zeroth approximation of our formulation, we assume T conservation by making all matrix elements real. In addition, we impose a “hidden symmetry” (invariance under simultaneous translations of all three basis quark states in each sector), which ensures a zero mass eigenstate in each sector.Next, we simultaneously break the hidden symmetry and T invariance by introducing a phase factor e^iχ in the interaction for each sector. The Jarlskog invariant J_CKM, as well as the light quark masses are evaluated in terms of the parameters of the model. Comparing formulas, we find that most unknown factors drop out, resulting in a simple relation with , to leading order in χ and m_s/m_b, with A, λ the Wolfenstein parameters. (Because of the large top quark mass, the contribution from upper quark sector can be neglected.) Setting J_CKM = 3.08 × 10⁻⁵, m_b = 4.7 GeV (1s mass), m_s = 95 MeV, A = 0.818, and λ = 0.227, we find , consistent with the accepted value m_d = 3 − 7 MeV.We make a parallel proposal for the lepton sectors. With the hidden symmetry and in the approximation of T invariance, both the masses of e and ν₁ are zero. The neutrino-mapping matrix V_ν is shown to be of the same Harrison-Perkins-Scott form which is in agreement with experiments. We also examine the correction due to T violation, and evaluate the corresponding Jarlskog invariant J_ν.