15793231
STATISTICS IN ASTROPHYSICS AND COSMOLOGY: PHYSTAT05
According to the invention, a structure is provided for driving a bus line that is both fast and small. Instead of a plurality of tristate buffers, one for each input signal, a plurality of multiplexers is connected into a chain. The tristate enable line of the tristate buffer becomes the control line for enabling the multiplexer to place its own input signal into the chain instead of propagating the signal already in the chain. A buffer element then drives the resulting signal onto an output line of the chain. One embodiment of the invention includes lookahead logic similar to a lookahead carry chain. This allows large numbers of input lines to be connected to a bus line while retaining high speed. An embodiment implements the lookahead feature using AND gates and OR gates and thereby further increases speed and reduces size.
119408227
CMB likelihood functions for beginners and experts
Although the broad outlines of the appropriate pipeline for cosmological likelihood analysis with CMB data has been known for several years, only recently have we had to contend with the full, large-scale, computationally challenging problem involving both highly-correlated noise and extremely large datasets (N>1000). In this talk we concentrate on the beginning and end of this process. First, we discuss estimating the noise covariance from the data itself in a rigorous and unbiased way; this is essentially an iterated minimum-variance mapmaking approach. We also discuss the unbiased determination of cosmological parameters from estimates of the power spectrum or experimental bandpowers.
15621530
Constraining large–scale structure theories with the cosmic background radiation
The case is strong that cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large scale structure (LSS) observations can be combined to determine the theory of structure formation and the cosmological parameters that define it. We review: the relevant (10+) parameters associated with the inflation model of fluctuation generation and the matter content of the universe; the relation between LSS and primary and secondary CMB anisotropy probes as a function of wavenumber; how COBE constraints on energy injection rule out explosions as a dominant source of LSS; and how current anisotropy band–powers in multipole–space, at levels ca. 10−5)2, strongly support the gravitational instability theory and suggest the universe could not have reionized too early. We use Bayesian analysis methods to determine what current CMB and CMB+LSS data imply for inflation–based Gaussian fluctuations in tilted &Lgr;CDM, &Lgr;hCDM and oCDM model sequences with cosmological age 11 – 15 Gyr, consisting of mixtures of baryons, cold ‘c’ (and possibly hot ‘h’) dark matter, vacuum energy &Lgr;, and curvature energy ‘o’ in open cosmologies. For example, we find the slope of the initial spectrum is within about 5% of the (preferred) scale–invariant form when just the CMB data are used, and for &Lgr;CDM when LSS data are combined with CMB; with both, a non–zero value of Ω&Lgr; is strongly preferred (ca. ⅔ for a 13 Gyr sequence, similar to the value from SNIa). The oCDM sequence prefers Ωtot < 1, but is overall much less likely than the flat Ω&Lgr; ≠ 0 sequence with CMB+LSS. We also review the rosy forecasts of angular power spectra and parameter estimates from future balloon and satellite experiments when foreground and systematic effects are ignored to show where cosmic parameter determination can go with CMB information alone.
119468667
Gravitational Waves Probe the Coalescence Rate of Massive Black Hole Binaries
We calculate the expected nHz-μHz gravitational wave (GW) spectrum from coalescing massive black hole (MBH) binaries resulting from mergers of their host galaxies. We consider detection of this spectrum by precision pulsar timing and a future pulsar timing array. The spectrum depends on the merger rate of massive galaxies, the demographics of MBHs at low and high redshift, and the dynamics of MBH binaries. We apply recent theoretical and observational work on all of these fronts. The spectrum has a characteristic strain hc(f) ~ 10-15(f/yr-1)-2/3, just below the detection limit from recent analysis of precision pulsar timing measurements. However, the amplitude of the spectrum is still very uncertain owing to approximations in the theoretical formulation of the model, to our lack of knowledge of the merger rate and MBH population at high redshift, and to the dynamical problem of removing enough angular momentum from the MBH binary to reach a GW-dominated regime.
17460509
Simultaneous Estimation of Noise and Signal in Cosmic Microwave Background Experiments
To correctly analyse data sets from current microwave detection technology, one is forced to estimate the sky signal and experimental noise simultaneously. Given a time-ordered data set we propose a formalism and method for estimating the signal and associated errors without prior knowledge of the noise power spectrum. We derive the method using a Bayesian formalism and relate it to the standard methods; in particular we show how this leads to a change in the estimate of the noise covariance matrix of the sky signal. We study the convergence and accuracy of the method on two mock observational strategies and discuss its application to a currently-favoured calibration procedure.
122687802
Imaging the early universe with the BOOMERanG Experiment
The BOOMERanG experiment has recently detected temperature fluctuations the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the otherwise isotropic radiation coming from the early Universe. These anisotropies have a low contrast (about 30 ppm) and feature a peculiar angular power spectrum at angles corresponding to sub-horizon scales at recombination. In the current cosmological model, these structures result from acoustic oscillations in the primeval plasma. In the framework of the Hot Big Bang theory with the inflationary hypothesis, the statistical properties of the image of the CMB allow us to measure most of the cosmological parameters.
124867759
The Particle Structure of the Weakly Coupled P(φ)2 Model and Other Applications of High Temperature Expansions: Part I. Physics of Quantum Field Models
14089951
The Elliptic Genus and Hidden Symmetry
Abstract: We study the elliptic genus (a partition function) in certain interacting, twist quantum field theories. Without twists, these theories have N=2 supersymmetry. The twists provide a regularization, and also partially break the supersymmetry. In spite of the regularization, one can establish a homotopy of the elliptic genus in a coupling parameter. Our construction relies on a priori estimates and other methods from constructive quantum field theory; this mathematical underpinning allows us to justify evaluating the elliptic genus at one endpoint of the homotopy. We obtain a version of Witten's proposed formula for the elliptic genus in terms of classical theta functions. As a consequence, the elliptic genus has a hidden SL(2, ℤ) symmetry characteristic of conformal theory, even though the underlying theory is not conformal.
117975725
Particles and bound states and progress toward unitarity and scaling
117964956
Critical Problems in Quantum Fields
The connections between the problem of constructing non trivial quantum fields in four dimensions and the problem of critical point behaviour in four dimensions are explained.
121627004
The resummation of one particle lines
We propose a partial resummation for a weak coupling cluster expansion. The resummation gives one particle lines with in/out field propagators. We give a Bethe-Salpeter equation in which one particle subtractions are defined using physical one particle states. By these methods, we show thatP(φ)2 quantum fields in the weak coupling region have only isolated bound state spectrum below the 2m threshold. HereP is not restricted to be even.