Conformal cosmological model and SNe Ia data

Now there is a huge scientific activity in astrophysical studies and cosmological ones in particular. Cosmology transforms from a pure theoretical branch of science into an observational one. All the cosmological models have to pass observational tests. The supernovae type Ia (SNe Ia) test is among the most important ones. If one applies the test to determine parameters of the standard Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmological model one can conclude that observations lead to the discovery of the dominance of the ?? term and as a result to an acceleration of the Universe. However, there are big mysteries connected with an origin and an essence of dark matter (DM) and the ?? term or dark energy (DE). Alternative theories of gravitation are treated as a possible solution of DM and DE puzzles. The conformal cosmological approach is one of possible alternatives to the standard ??CDM model. As it was noted several years ago, in the framework of the conformal cosmological approach an introduction of a rigid matter can explain observational data without ?? term (or dark energy). We confirm the claim with much larger set of observational data.     

Constraining the lattice fluid dark energy from SNe Ia,BAO and OHD

Sanchez and Lacombe have developed a lattice fluid theory based on a well-defined statistical mechanical model.Taking the lattice fluid as a candidate of dark energy,we investigate the cosmic evolution of this fluid.Using the combined observational data of Type Ia Supernova(SNe Ia) Union2.1,Baryon Acoustic Oscillations(BAO) data from 6dFGS,SDSS and WiggleZ survey,and Observational Hubble Data(OHD),we find the best fit value of the parameters:A = 0.3 ± 0.2(1σ) ± 0.4(2σ) ± 0.8(3σ) and Ω m = 0.31 ± 0.02(1σ) ± 0.05(2σ) ± 0.07(3σ).The cosmological implications of the model are presented.     

The initial and final state of SNe Ia from the single degenerate model

Although type Ia supernovae(SNe Ia) show their importance in many astrophysical fields,the nature of the progenitors of SNe Ia is still unclear.At present,the single degenerate(SD) model is presented to be a very likely progenitor model.Following the comprehensive SD model developed by Meng Yang(2010),we show the initial and final state of the progenitor systems of SNe Ia in an orbital period—the secondary mass(log Pi,M2i) plane.Our results may explain the location of some supersoft X-ray sources and recurrent novae in the(log Pi,M2i) plane,and be helpful to judge whether an SD system is the potential progenitor system of SNe Ia,as well as to simulate the interaction between SN ejecta and its companion.     

Testing the Distance-Duality Relation from Hubble,Galaxy Clusters and Type Ia Supernovae Data with Model Independent Methods

In this paper, we perform cosmological-model-independent tests for the distance-duality (DD) relation η(z)=D _L(1+z)^?2/D _A by combining the angular diameter distance D _A(or comoving distances D _c ) with the luminosity distance D _L. The D _A are provided by two galaxy clusters samples compiled by De Filippis et al. (the elliptical β model), Bonamente et al. (the spherical β model), the D _c are obtained from Hubble parameter data and D _L are given from the Union2.1 supernovae (SNe) Ia compilation. We employ two methods, i.e., method A: binning the SNe Ia data within the range Δz=|z?z _SNe|<0.005, and method B: reconstructing the D _L(z) by smoothing the noise of Union2.1 data set over redshift with the Gaussian smoothing function, to obtain D _L associated with the redshits of the observed D _A or D _c. Four parameterizations for η(z), i.e., η(z)=1+η ₀ z, η(z)=1+η ₀ z/(1+z), η(z)=1+η ₀ z/(1+z)² and η(z)=1?η ₀ ln(1+z), are adopted for the DD relation. We find that DD relation is consistent with the present observational data, and the results we obtained are not sensitive to the method and parameterization.     

Testing the cosmic conservation of photon number with type Ia supernovae and ages of old objects

In this paper, we obtain luminosity distances by using ages of 32 old passive galaxies distributed over the redshift interval \(0.11< z < 1.84\) and test the cosmic conservation of photon number by comparing them with 580 distance moduli of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from the so-called Union 2.1 compilation. Our analyses are based on the fact that the method of obtaining ages of galaxies relies on the detailed shape of galaxy spectra but not on galaxy luminosity. Possible departures from cosmic conservation of photon number is parametrized by \(\tau (z) = 2 \upvarepsilon z\) and \(\tau (z) = \upvarepsilon z/(1+z)\) (for \(\upvarepsilon =0\) the conservation of photon number is recovered). We find \(\upvarepsilon =0.016^{+0.078}_{-0.075}\) from the first parametrization and \(\upvarepsilon =-\,0.18^{+0.25}_{-0.24}\) from the second parametrization, both limits at 95% c.l. In this way, no significant departure from cosmic conservation of photon number is verified. In addition, by considering the total age as inferred from Planck (2015) analysis, we find the incubation time \(t_{inc}=1.66\pm 0.29\) Gyr and \(t_{inc}=1.23\pm 0.27\) Gyr at 68% c.l. for each parametrization, respectively.     

Generalized Chaplygin gas model: Constraints from Hubble parameter versus redshift data

We examine observational constraints on the generalized Chaplygin gas (GCG) model for dark energy from the 9 Hubble parameter data points, the 115 SNLS Sne Ia data and the size of baryonic acoustic oscillation peak at redshift, z=0.35$z=0.35$. At a 95.4% confidence level, a combination of three data sets gives 0.67?As?0.83$0.67?A_s?0.83$ and −0.21?α?0.42$-0.21?\alpha ?0.42$, which is within the allowed parameters ranges of the GCG as a candidate of the unified dark matter and dark energy. It is found that the standard Chaplygin gas model (α=1$\alpha =1$) is ruled out by these data at the 99.7% confidence level.     

Shielding from cosmic radiation for interplanetary missions: Active and passive methods

Shielding is arguably the main countermeasure for the exposure to cosmic radiation during interplanetary exploratory missions. However, shielding of cosmic rays, both of galactic or solar origin, is problematic, because of the high energy of the charged particles involved and the nuclear fragmentation occurring in shielding materials. Although computer codes can predict the shield performance in space, there is a lack of biological and physical measurements to benchmark the codes. An attractive alternative to passive, bulk material shielding is the use of electromagnetic fields to deflect the charged particles from the spacecraft target. Active shielding concepts based on electrostatic fields, plasma, or magnetic fields have been proposed in the past years, and should be revised based on recent technological improvements. To address these issues, the European Space Agency (ESA) established a Topical Team (TT) in 2002 including European experts in the field of space radiation shielding and superconducting magnets. The TT identified a number of open research questions to be addressed, including development and testing of novel shielding materials, studies on the angular distributions of energetic solar particles, and cooling systems for magnetic lenses in space. A detailed report to the ESA will be published within a few months. A summary of the TT conclusions and recommendations will be discussed in this paper, with emphasis on active shielding using superconducting magnets.     

Testing the cosmic coincidence problem and the nature of dark energy

Dark energy models which alter the relative scaling behavior of dark energy and matter could provide a natural solution to the cosmic coincidence problem-why the densities of dark energy and dark matter are comparable today. A generalized class of dark energy models is introduced which allows noncanonical scaling of the ratio of dark matter and dark energy with the Robertson-Walker scale factor a(t). We show that determining whether there is a coincidence problem, and the extent of cosmic coincidence, can be addressed by several forthcoming experiments.     

Optical birefringence and order parameter of three nematogens

Results of the measurement of refractive indices and densities of three nematic liquid crystals at different temperatures are reported. The molecular polarizabilities have been calculated from refractive indices using both the Vuks’ and the Neugebauer’s relations. The orientational order parameters are determined from the polarizability values. The variation of order parameter with temperature for these compounds shows a reasonably good agreement with Maier and Saupe theory except near the clearing points where the experimental values are less than those obtained from the theory. The possible reasons for this have been discussed.     

Cosmological constraints from radial baryon acoustic oscillation measurements and observational Hubble data

We use the Radial Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (RBAO) measurements, distant type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), the observational H(z)$H(z)$ data (OHD) and the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) shift parameter data to constrain cosmological parameters of ΛCDM$\mathrm{\Lambda }\text{CDM}$ and XCDM cosmologies and further examine the role of OHD and SNe Ia data in cosmological constraints. We marginalize the likelihood function over h   by integrating the probability density P∝e−χ²/2$P\propto e^{-{\chi }^2/2}$ to obtain the best fitting results and the confidence regions in the Ωm–ΩΛ${\Omega }_m\text{–}{\Omega }_{\Lambda }$ plane. With the combination analysis for both of the ΛCDM$\mathrm{\Lambda }\text{CDM}$ and XCDM models, we find that the confidence regions of 68.3%, 95.4% and 99.7% levels using OHD+RBAO+CMB$\text{OHD}+\text{RBAO}+\text{CMB}$ data are in good agreement with that of SNe Ia+RBAO+CMB$\text{Ia}+\text{RBAO}+\text{CMB}$ data which is consistent with the result of Lin et al.'s (2009) [24] work. With more data of OHD, we can probably constrain the cosmological parameters using OHD data instead of SNe Ia data in the future.     

Testing the correlations between ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and BL Lac-type objects with HiRes stereoscopic data

Previously suggested correlations of BL Lac-type objects with the arrival directions of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray primaries are tested by making use of the HiRes stereoscopic data. The results of the study support the conclusion that BL Lacs may be cosmic ray sources and suggest the presence of a small (a few percent) fraction of neutral primaries at E > 10¹⁹ eV.     

Gamma-Rays from magellanic clouds and origin of cosmic rays

Various calculations of the integral spectrum of γ-rays from the neutral pion decays generated in ppinteractions have been analyzed. The estimate of the integral γ-ray spectrum with allowance for the behavior of the cross section of π ⁰ production in the pp → pp + nπ ⁰ + X reaction near the threshold for each channel and the proton spectrum at low energies (<1 GeV) proved to be much lower than those obtained in earlier calculations.     

Correlated perturbations from inflation and the cosmic microwave background

We compare the latest cosmic microwave background data with theoretical predictions including correlated adiabatic and cold dark matter (CDM) isocurvature perturbations with a simple power-law dependence. We find that there is a degeneracy between the amplitude of correlated isocurvature perturbations and the spectral tilt. A negative (red) tilt is found to be compatible with a larger isocurvature contribution. Estimates of the baryon and CDM densities are found to be almost independent of the isocurvature amplitude. The main result is that current microwave background data do not exclude a dominant contribution from CDM isocurvature fluctuations on large scales.     

Preliminary results from the TUS ultra-high energy cosmic ray orbital telescope: Registration of low-energy particles passing through the photodetector

The TUS telescope, part of the scientific equipment on board the Lomonosov satellite, is the world’s first orbital detector of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. Preliminary results from analyzing unexpected powerful signals that have been detected from the first days of the telescope’s operation are presented. These signals appear simultaneously in time intervals of around 1 μs in groups of adjacent pixels of the photodetector and form linear track-like sequences. The results from computer simulations using the GEANT4 software and the observed strong latitudinal dependence of the distribution of the events favor the hypothesis that the observed signals result from protons with energies of several hundred MeV to several GeV passing through the photodetector of the TUS telescope.