A fairy tale of winter -a theory about dark energy,dark matter,and inflation

This fairy tale begins with the journey of the famous Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly: I often do not know whether I am living in a dream, dreaming of a butterfly, or is a butterfly dreaming of me? Furthermore, there is the saying that those who believe it will see it, while for those who see it, it is then too late to believe it. The first thing I believe in is the holographic principle, and the holographic dark energy brought about by the holographic principle. Not until last year, I began...     

Asymmetric dark matter abundance including non-thermal production

We investigate the relic abundance of asymmetric dark matter where the asymmetric dark matter is non–thermally produced from the decay of heavier particles in addition to the usual thermal production. We discuss the relic density of asymmetric dark matter including the decay of heavy particles in low-temperature scenarios. Here, we still assume that the Universe is radiationdominated and there is asymmetry before the decay of heavy particles. We obtain an increased abundance of asymmetric dark m...     

Can cosmic structure form without dark matter?

One of the prime pieces of evidence for dark matter is the observation of large overdense regions in the Universe. To account for this observation, perturbations had to have grown since recombination by a factor greater than (1+z*) approximately 1180 where z* is the epoch of recombination. This enhanced growth does not happen in general relativity, and so dark matter is needed in the standard theory. We show here that enhanced growth can occur in alternatives to general relativity, in particular, in Bekenstein's relativistic version of modified Newtonian dynamics.     

Can sterile neutrinos be the dark matter?

We use the Ly-alpha forest power spectrum measured by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and high-resolution spectroscopy observations in combination with cosmic microwave background and galaxy clustering constraints to place limits on a sterile neutrino as a dark matter candidate in the warm dark matter scenario. Such a neutrino would be created in the early Universe through mixing with an active neutrino and would suppress structure on scales smaller than its free-streaming scale. We ran a series of high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations with varying neutrino masses to describe the effect of a sterile neutrino on the Ly-alpha forest power spectrum. We find that the mass limit is m(s) >13 keV at 95% C.L. (9 keV at 99.9%), which is above the upper limit allowed by x-ray constraints, excluding this candidate from being all of the dark matter in this model.     

About “black holes” and dark matter

It is shown that the complete system of classical gravitational equations for an isolated centrally symmetric body yields that: (1) in terms of Galilean coordinates all metric coefficients of the Riemannian space induced by the body cannot be equal to zero or infinity anywhere; (2) they, together with the first-order derivatives, should be continuous everywhere. The equations do not contain solutions corresponding to “black holes,” but admit solutions corresponding to objects for which the surface radius (in terms of standard coordinates) is equal to the double mass of matter under this surface. These objects can make the main contribution to the dark matter of the Universe and explain observed effects, such as gravitational microlensing and other effects. Under certain conditions they can become powerful X-ray sources.     

Results from PAMELA,ATIC and FERMI: Pulsars or dark matter?

It is well known that dark matter dominates the dynamics of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Its constituents remain a mystery despite an assiduous search for them over the past three decades. Recent results from the satellite-based PAMELA experiment show an excess in the positron fraction at energies between 10 and 100 GeV in the secondary cosmic ray spectrum. Other experiments, namely ATIC, HESS and FERMI, show an excess in the total electron (e ⁺ + e ⁻) spectrum for energies greater than 100 GeV. These excesses in the positron fraction as well as the electron spectrum can arise in local astrophysical processes like pulsars, or can be attributed to the annihilation of the dark matter particles. The latter possibility gives clues to the possible candidates for the dark matter in galaxies and other astrophysical systems. In this article, we give a report of these exciting developments.     

MeV dark matter: has it been detected?

We discuss the possibility that the recent detection of 511 keV gamma rays from the galactic bulge, as observed by INTEGRAL, is a consequence of low mass (1-100 MeV) particle dark matter annihilations. We discuss the type of halo profile favored by the observations as well as the size of the annihilation cross section needed to account for the signal. We find that such a scenario is consistent with the observed dark matter relic density and other constraints from astrophysics and particle physics.     

Unifying dark energy and dark matter with the modified Ricci model

In this paper, two modified Ricci models are considered as the candidates of unified dark matter–dark energy. In model one, the energy density is given by r_MR=3M_pl(aH²+b[(H)\dot])\rho_{\mathrm{MR}}=3M_{\mathrm{pl}}(\alpha H^{2}+\beta\dot{H}), whereas, in model two, by r_MR=3M_pl(\fraca6 R+g[(H)\ddot]H^-1)\rho_{\mathrm{MR}}=3M_{\mathrm{pl}}(\frac{\alpha}{6} R+\gamma\ddot{H}H^{-1}). We find that they can explain both dark matter and dark energy successfully. A constant equation of state of dark energy is obtained in model one, which means that it gives the same background evolution as the wCDM model, while model two can give an evolutionary equation of state of dark energy with the phantom divide line crossing in the near past.     

Are halos of collisionless cold dark matter collisionless?

We study whether gravitational scattering of halo dark matter particles by subhalos can connect two seemingly independent problems: the abundance of subhalos in dark matter halos and the cuspiness of the halos' inner density profiles. Our numerical experiments indicate that subhalos can cause the collisionless dark matter particles in the centers of main halos to diffuse. Combined with tidal mass loss of the subhalos, this process introduces significant scatter in the inner density profiles and offers an explanation for the range of profiles seen in both observations and cosmological simulations.     

Was dark matter detected in India 40 years ago?

This paper is based on a paper written by M V N Murthy and G Rajasekaran, Pramana–J. Phys.82, L609 (2014); arXiv:1305.2715. The possibility of the unexplained Kolar events, recorded in the 1970s and 1980s, being due to the decay of dark matter particles of mass in the range of 5 – 10 GeV is pointed out.     

Do baryons trace dark matter in the early universe?

Baryon-density perturbations of large amplitude may exist if they are compensated by dark-matter perturbations such that the total density is unchanged. Primordial abundances and galaxy clusters allow these compensated isocurvature perturbations (CIPs) to have amplitudes as large as ~10%. CIPs will modulate the power spectrum of cosmic microwave background (CMB) fluctuations--those due to the usual adiabatic perturbations--as a function of position on the sky. This leads to correlations between different spherical-harmonic coefficients of the temperature and/or polarization maps, and induces polarization B modes. Here, the magnitude of these effects is calculated and techniques to measure them are introduced. While a CIP of this amplitude can be probed on large scales with existing data, forthcoming CMB experiments should improve the sensitivity to CIPs by at least an order of magnitude.     

Can dark matter annihilation dominate the extragalactic gamma-ray background?

Annihilating dark matter (DM) has been discussed as a possible source of gamma rays from the galactic center and as a contribution to the extragalactic gamma-ray background. Assuming universality of the density profile of DM halos, we show that it is quite unlikely that DM annihilation is a main constituent of extragalactic gamma-ray background, without exceeding the observed gamma-ray flux from the galactic center. This argument becomes stronger when we include enhancement of the density profiles by supermassive black holes or baryon cooling. The presence of a substructure may loosen the constraint, but only if a very large cross section as well as the rather flat profile are realized.     

First dark matter search results from the PandaX-Ⅰ experiment

We report on the first dark-matter(DM)search results from PandaX-I,a low threshold dual-phase xenon experiment operating at the China JinPing Underground Laboratory.In the 37-kg liquid xenon target with 17.4 live-days of exposure,no DM particle candidate event was found.This result sets a stringent limit for low-mass DM particles and disfavors the interpretation of previously-reported positive experimental results.The minimum upper limit,3.7×10-44cm2,for the spin-independent isoscalar DM-particle-nucleon scattering cross section is obtained at a DM-particle mass of 49 GeV/c2at 90%confidence level.     

On-shell mediator dark matter models and the Xenon1T excess

We present a dark matter model to explain the excess events in the electron recoil data recently reported by the Xenon1 T experiment. In our model, dark matter χ annihilates into a pair of on-shell particles Φ, which subsequently decay into the ψψ final state;ψ interacts with electrons to generate the observed excess events. Because of the mass hierarchy, the velocity of ψ can be rather large and can have an extended distribution, providing a good fit to the electron recoil energy spectrum. We estimate the flux of ψ from dark matter annihilations in the galaxy and further determine the interaction cross section, which is sizable but sufficiently small to allow ψ to penetrate the rocks to reach the underground labs.     

Constraining self-interacting dark matter with the full dataset of PandaX-Ⅱ

Self-interacting dark matter(SIDM) is a leading candidate proposed to solve discrepancies between predictions of the prevailing cold dark matter theory and observations of galaxies. Many SIDM models predict the existence of a light force carrier that mediates strong dark matter self-interactions. If the mediator couples to the standard model particles, it could produce characteristic signals in dark matter direct detection experiments. We report searches for signals of SIDM models with a light mediator using the full dataset of the PandaX-Ⅱ experiment, basing on a total exposure of 132 tonne-days. No significant excess over background is found, and our likelihood analysis leads to a strong upper limit on the dark matter-nucleon coupling strength. We further combine the PandaX-Ⅱ constraints and those from observations of the light element abundances in the early universe, and show that direct detection and cosmological probes can provide complementary constraints on dark matter models with a light mediator.     

Dark viscous fluid coupled with dark matter and future singularity

Motivated by Kerner and Man’s fermions tunneling method of dimension 4 black holes, in this paper, we further improve the analysis to investigate Hawking radiation of charged Dirac particles with spin 1/2 from general non-extremal rotating charged black holes with two parameters and a non-zero cosmological constant in minimal five-dimensional gauged supergravity. For space-times with different horizon topology and different dimensions, constructing a set of appropriate γ ^μ matrices for general covariant Dirac equation is an important technique for the fermion tunneling method. By introducing a set of appropriate matrices γ ^μ and employing the ansatz for the spin-up spinor field, we successfully recovered the tunneling probability of charged Dirac particles and the expected Hawking temperature of the black hole, which is exactly consistent with that obtained by other methods. Moreover, the fermion tunneling method can be directly applied to the other five-dimensional charged black holes, which strengthens the validity and power of the fermion tunneling method.     

Stückelino dark matter in anomalous U(1)′ models

We study a possible dark matter candidate in the framework of a minimal anomalous U(1)′ extension of the MSSM. It turns out that in a suitable decoupling limit the Stückelino, the fermionic degree of freedom of the Stückelberg multiplet, is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). We compute the relic density of this particle including coannihilations with the next to lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) and with the next to next to lightest supersymmetric particle (NNLSP), which are assumed to be almost degenerate in mass. This assumption is needed in order to satisfy the stringent limits that the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) puts on the relic density. We find that the WMAP constraints can be satisfied by different NLSP and NNLSP configurations as a function of the mass gap with the LSP. These results hold in the parameter space region where the model remains perturbative.     

Running coupling: does the coupling between dark energy and dark matter change sign during the cosmological evolution?

In this paper we put forward a running coupling scenario for describing the interaction between dark energy and dark matter. The dark sector interaction in our scenario is free of the assumption that the interaction term Q is proportional to the Hubble expansion rate and the energy densities of dark sectors. We only use a time-variable coupling b(a) (with a the scale factor of the universe) to characterize the interaction Q. We propose a parametrization form for the running coupling b(a)=b ₀ a+b _e (1−a) in which the early-time coupling is given by a constant b _e , while today the coupling is given by another constant, b ₀. For investigating the feature of the running coupling, we employ three dark energy models, namely, the cosmological constant model (w=−1), the constant w model (w=w ₀), and the time-dependent w model (w(a)=w ₀+w ₁(1−a)). We constrain the models with the current observational data, including the type Ia supernova, the baryon acoustic oscillation, the cosmic microwave background, the Hubble expansion rate, and the X-ray gas mass fraction data. The fitting results indicate that a time-varying vacuum scenario is favored, in which the coupling b(z) crosses the noninteracting line (b=0) during the cosmological evolution and the sign changes from negative to positive. The crossing of the noninteracting line happens at around z=0.2–0.3, and the crossing behavior is favored at about 1σ confidence level. Our work implies that we should pay more attention to the time-varying vacuum model and seriously consider the phenomenological construction of a sign-changeable or oscillatory interaction between dark sectors.