Exact cosmological solutions of models with an interacting dark sector

In this work we extend the first order formalism for cosmological models that present an interaction between a fermionic and a scalar field. Cosmological exact solutions describing universes filled with interacting dark energy and dark matter have been obtained. Viable cosmological solutions with an early period of decelerated expansion followed by late acceleration have been found, notably one which presents a dark matter component dominating in the past and a dark energy component dominating in the future. In another one, the dark energy alone is the responsible for both periods, similar to a Chaplygin gas case. Exclusively accelerating solutions have also been obtained.

New cosmic accelerating scenario without dark energy

We propose an alternative, nonsingular, cosmic scenario based on gravitationally induced particle production. The model is an attempt to evade the coincidence and cosmological constant problems of the standard model (Lambda CDM) and also to connect the early and late time accelerating stages of the Universe. Our space-time emerges from a pure initial de Sitter stage thereby providing a natural solution to the horizon problem. Subsequently, due to an instability provoked by the production of massless particles, the Universe evolves smoothly to the standard radiation dominated era thereby ending the production of radiation as required by the conformal invariance. Next, the radiation becomes subdominant with the Universe entering in the cold dark matter dominated era. Finally, the negative pressure associated with the creation of cold dark matter (CCDM model) particles accelerates the expansion and drives the Universe to a final de Sitter stage. The late time cosmic expansion history of the CCDM model is exactly like in the standard Lambda CDM model; however, there is no dark energy. The model evolves between two limiting (early and late time) de Sitter regimes. All the stages are also discussed in terms of a scalar field description. This complete scenario is fully determined by two extreme energy densities, or equivalently, the associated de Sitter Hubble scales connected by rho(I)/rho(f) = (H-I/H-f)(2) similar to 10(122), a result that has no correlation with the cosmological constant problem. We also study the linear growth of matter perturbations at the final accelerating stage. It is found that the CCDM growth index can be written as a function of the Lambda growth index, gamma(Lambda) similar or equal to 6/11. In this framework, we also compare the observed growth rate of clustering with that predicted by the current CCDM model. Performing a chi(2) statistical test we show that the CCDM model provides growth rates that match sufficiently well with the observed growth rate of structure.

Constraining H-0 in general dark energy models from Sunyaev-Zeldovich/X-ray technique and complementary probes

In accelerating dark energy models, the estimates of the Hubble constant, Ho, from Sunyaev-Zerdovich effect (SZE) and X-ray surface brightness of galaxy clusters may depend on the matter content (Omega(M)), the curvature (Omega(K)) and the equation of state parameter GO. In this article, by using a sample of 25 angular diameter distances of galaxy clusters described by the elliptical beta model obtained through the SZE/X-ray technique, we constrain Ho in the framework of a general ACDM model (arbitrary curvature) and a flat XCDM model with a constant equation of state parameter omega = p(x)/rho(x). In order to avoid the use of priors in the cosmological parameters, we apply a joint analysis involving the baryon acoustic oscillations (BA()) and the (MB Shift Parameter signature. By taking into account the statistical and systematic errors of the SZE/X-ray technique we obtain for nonflat ACDM model H-0 = 74(-4.0)(+5.0) km s(-1) Mpc(-1) (1 sigma) whereas for a fiat universe with constant equation of state parameter we find H-0 = 72(-4.0)(+5.5) km s(-1) Mpc(-1)(1 sigma). By assuming that galaxy clusters are described by a spherical beta model these results change to H-0 = 6(-7.0)(+8.0) and H-0 = 59(-6.0)(+9.0) km s(-1) Mpc(-1)(1 sigma), respectively. The results from elliptical description are in good agreement with independent studies from the Hubble Space Telescope key project and recent estimates based on the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, thereby suggesting that the combination of these three independent phenomena provides an interesting method to constrain the Bubble constant. As an extra bonus, the adoption of the elliptical description is revealed to be a quite realistic assumption. Finally, by comparing these results with a recent determination for a, flat ACDM model using only the SZE/X-ray technique and BAO, we see that the geometry has a very weak influence on H-0 estimates for this combination of data.

Further results in J and CTOD estimation procedures for SE(T) fracture specimens - Part I: Homogeneous materials

This study provides further developments of the evaluation procedure for J and CTOD in SE(T) fracture specimens based on plastic eta-factors and load separation analysis. Non-linear finite element analyses for plane-strain and 3-D models provide the relationship between plastic work and crack driving forces which define the eta-values. Further analyses based on the load separation method define alternative eta-values for the analyzed specimen configurations. Overall, the present results provide improved estimation equations for J and CTOD as a function of loading condition (pin load vs. clamp ends), crack geometry and strain hardening properties. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Consistency of the mass variation formula for black holes accreting cosmological fluids

We address the spherical accretion of generic fluids onto black holes. We show that, if the black hole metric satisfies certain conditions, in the presence of a test fluid it is possible to derive a fully relativistic prescription for the black hole mass variation. Although the resulting equation may seem obvious due to a form of it appearing as a step in the derivation of the Schwarzschild metric, this geometrical argument is necessary to fix the added degree of freedom one gets for allowing the mass to vary with time. This result has applications on cosmological accretion models and provides a derivation from first principles to serve as a basis to the accretion equations already in use in the literature.

Scalar field description for parametric models of dark energy

We investigate theoretical and observational aspects of a time-dependent parameterization for the dark energy equation of state w(z), which is a well behaved function of the redshift z over the entire cosmological evolution, i.e., z is an element of [-1, infinity). By using a theoretical algorithm of constructing the quintes-sence potential directly from the w(z) function, we derive and discuss the general features of the resulting potential for the cases in which dark energy is separately conserved and when it is coupled to dark matter. Since the parameterization here discussed allows us to divide the parametric plane in defined regions associated to distinct classes of dark energy models, we use some of the most recent observations from type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillation peak and Cosmic Microwave Background shift parameter to check which class is observationally preferred. We show that the largest portion of the confidence contours lies into the region corresponding to a possible crossing of the so-called phantom divide line at some point of the cosmic evolution.

Holographic field theory models of dark energy in interaction with dark matter

We discuss two Lagrangian interacting dark energy models in the context of the holographic principle. The potentials of the interacting fields are constructed. The models are compared with CMB distance information, baryonic acoustic oscillations, lookback time and the Constitution supernovae sample. For both models, the results are consistent with a nonvanishing interaction in the dark sector of the Universe and the sign of coupling is consistent with dark energy decaying into dark matter, alleviating the coincidence problem-with more than 3 standard deviations of confidence for one of them. However, this is because the noninteracting holographic dark energy model is a bad fit to the combination of data sets used in this work as compared to the cosmological constant with cold dark matter model, so that one needs to introduce the interaction in order to improve this model.

Influence of small-scale inhomogeneities on the cosmological consistency tests

The current cosmological dark sector (dark matter plus dark energy) is challenging our comprehension about the physical processes taking place in the Universe. Recently, some authors tried to falsify the basic underlying assumptions of such dark matterdark energy paradigm. In this Letter, we show that oversimplifications of the measurement process may produce false positives to any consistency test based on the globally homogeneous and isotropic ? cold dark matter (?CDM) model and its expansion history based on distance measurements. In particular, when local inhomogeneity effects due to clumped matter or voids are taken into account, an apparent violation of the basic assumptions (Copernican Principle) seems to be present. Conversely, the amplitude of the deviations also probes the degree of reliability underlying the phenomenological DyerRoeder procedure by confronting its predictions with the accuracy of the weak lensing approach. Finally, a new method is devised to reconstruct the effects of the inhomogeneities in a ?CDM model, and some suggestions of how to distinguish between clumpiness (or void) effects from different cosmologies are discussed.

Interacting model for the cosmological dark sector

We discuss a new interacting model for the cosmological dark sector in which the attenuated dilution of cold dark matter scales as a(-3)f(a), where f(a) is an arbitrary function of the cosmic scale factor a. From thermodynamic arguments, we show that f(a) is proportional to the entropy source of the particle creation process. In order to investigate the cosmological consequences of this kind of interacting models, we expand f(a) in a power series, and viable cosmological solutions are obtained. Finally, we use current observational data to place constraints on the interacting function f(a).

Figures of equilibrium for tidally deformed non-homogeneous celestial bodies

Abstract (2,250 Maximum Characters): Several theories of tidal evolution, since the theory developed by Darwin in the XIX century, are based on the figure of equilibrium of the tidally deformed body. Frequently the adopted figure is a Jeans prolate spheroid. In some case, however, the rotation is important and Roche ellipsoids are used. The main limitations of these models are (a) they refer to homogeneous bodies; (b) the rotation axis is perpendicular to the plane of the orbit. This communication aims at presenting several results in which these hypotheses are not done. In what concerns the non-homogeneity, the presented results concerns initially bodies formed by N homogeneous layers and we study the non sphericity of each layer and relate them to the density distribution. The result is similar to the Clairaut figure of equilibrium, often used in planetary sciences, but taking into full account the tidal deformation. The case of the rotation axis non perpendicular to the orbital plane is much more complex and the study has been restricted for the moment to the case of homogeneous bodies.