Mauricio O. Calvao

Dark interactions and cosmological fine-tuning

Cosmological models involving an interaction between dark matter and dark energy have been proposed in order to solve the so-called coincidence problem. Different forms of coupling have been studied, but there have been claims that observational data seem to narrow (some of) them down to something annoyingly close to the

From cosmic deceleration to acceleration: new constraints from SN Ia and BAO/CMB

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Entropy perturbations in quartessence Chaplygin models

CDM model, thus greatly reducing their ability to deal with the problem in the first place. The smallness problem of the initial energy density of dark energy has also been a target of cosmological models in recent years. Making use of a moderately general coupling scheme, this paper aims to unite these different approaches and shed some light as to whether this class of models has any true perspective in suppressing the aforementioned issues that plague our current understanding of the universe, in a quantitative and unambiguous way.

Type Ia supernova parameter estimation: a comparison of two approaches using current datasets

We use type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) data in combination with recent baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations to constrain a kink-like parametrization of the deceleration parameter (q). This q-parametrization can be written in terms of the initial (qi) and present (q0) values of the deceleration parameter, the redshift of the cosmic transition from deceleration to acceleration (zt) and the redshift width of such transition (τ). By assuming a flat space geometry, qi = 1/2 and adopting a likelihood approach to deal with the SN Ia data we obtain, at the 68% confidence level (C.L.), that: zt = 0.56+0.13−0.10, τ = 0.47+0.16−0.20 and q0 = −0.31+0.11−0.11 when we combine BAO/CMB observations with SN Ia data processed with the MLCS2k2 light-curve fitter. When in this combination we use the SALT2 fitter we get instead, at the same C.L.: zt = 0.64+0.13−0.07, τ = 0.36+0.11−0.17 and q0 = −0.53+0.17−0.13. Our results indicate, with a quite general and model independent approach, that MLCS2k2 favors Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati-like cosmological models, while SALT2 favors ΛCDM-like ones. Progress in determining the transition redshift and/or the present value of the deceleration parameter depends crucially on solving the issue of the difference obtained when using these two light-curve fitters.

Probing the dark energy with quasar clustering.

We show that entropy perturbations can eliminate instabilities and oscillations in the mass power spectrum of the quartessence Chaplygin models. Our results enlarge the current parameter space of models compatible with large-scale structure and cosmic microwave background observations.

Compact charged stars

We compare the traditional χ 2 and complete-likelihood approaches for determining parameter constraints from type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) when the magnitude dispersion is to be estimated as well. The dataset we used was sample combination “e” from Kessler (2009, ApJS, 185, 32), comprising the first-year SDSS-II Supernova Survey together with ESSENCE, SNLS, HST, and a compilation of nearby SNe Ia. We considered cosmological constant + cold dark matter (ΛCDM) and spatially flat, constant w dark energy + cold dark matter (FwCDM) cosmological models and show that, for current data, there is a small difference in the best-fit values and a difference of about 30% in confidence contour areas if the MLCS2k2 light-curve fitter is adopted. For the SALT2 light-curve fitter the differences in area are less significant (<13%). In both cases the likelihood approach gives more restrictive constraints. We argue for using the complete likelihood instead of the χ 2 approach when dealing with parameters in the expression for the variance.

Standardization of type Ia supernovae

We show through Monte Carlo simulations that the Alcock-Paczyński test, as applied to quasar clustering, is a powerful tool to probe the cosmological density and equation of state parameters Omega(m0), Omega(x0), and w. By taking into account the effect of peculiar velocities upon the correlation function we obtain for the Two-Degree Field QSO Redshift Survey the predicted confidence contours for the cosmological constant (w = -1) and spatially flat (Omega(m0)+Omega(x0) = 1) cases. For w = -1, the test is especially sensitive to the difference Omega(m0)-Omega(Lambda0), thus being ideal to combine with cosmic microwave background results. For the flat case, it is competitive with future supernova and galaxy number count tests, besides being complementary to them.

On Local Approximations to the Nonlinear Evolution of Large-Scale Structure

We investigate the possibility that charged compact objects could be the accelerators of high energy cosmic rays. In order to do so, we choose to first solve numerically a system of differential equations describing the structure of charged compact objects, including the generalization of the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation for this class of objects. We assume a polytropic equation of state for the fluid and, for simplicity, a linear relation between charge density and the fluid energy density. We obtain upper limits for the charge such objects can acquire and study the stability of these equilibrium configurations.

Photometric Type Ia supernova surveys in narrow-band filters

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) have been intensively investigated due to its great homogeneity and high luminosity, which make it possible to use them as standardizable candles for the determination of cosmological parameters. In 2011, the physics Nobel prize was awarded for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae. This is a pedagogical article, aimed at those starting their study of that subject, in which we dwell on some topics related to the analysis of SNe Ia and their use in luminosity distance estimators. Here we investigate their spectral properties and light curve standardization, paying careful attention to the fundamental quantities directly related to the SNe Ia observables. Finally, we describe our own step-by-step implementation of a classical light curve fi?tter, the stretch, applying it to real data from the Carnegie Supernova Project.

Investigating the transition from cosmic deceleration to acceleration

We present a comparative analysis of several methods, known as local Lagrangian approximations, which are aimed to the description of the nonlinear evolution of large-scale structure. We have investigated various aspects of these approximations, such as the evolution of a homogeneous ellipsoid, collapse time as a function of initial conditions, and asymptotic behavior. As one of the common features of the local approximations, we found that the calculated collapse time decreases asymptotically with the inverse of the initial shear. Using these approximations, we have computed the cosmological mass function, finding reasonable agreement with N-body simulations and the Press-Schechter formula.