No Arabic abstract
We present a gauge-invariant formalism to study the evolution of curvature perturbations in a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe filled by multiple interacting fluids. We resolve arbitrary perturbations into adiabatic and entropy components and derive their coupled evolution equations. We demonstrate that perturbations obeying a generalised adiabatic condition remain adiabatic in the large-scale limit, even when one includes energy transfer between fluids. As a specific application we study the recently proposed curvaton model, in which the curvaton decays into radiation. We use the coupled evolution equations to show how an initial isocurvature perturbation in the curvaton gives rise to an adiabatic curvature perturbation after the curvaton decays.
The large-scale dynamics of a two-fluid system with a time dependent interaction is studied analytically and numerically. We show how a rapid transition can significantly suppress the large-scale curvature perturbation and present approximative formulae for estimating the effect. By comparing to numerical results, we study the applicability of the approximation and find good agreement with exact calculations.
We present a systematic exploration of dark energy and modified gravity models containing a single scalar field non-minimally coupled to the metric. Even though the parameter space is large, by exploiting an effective field theory (EFT) formulation and by imposing simple physical constraints such as stability conditions and (sub-)luminal propagation of perturbations, we arrive at a number of generic predictions. (1) The linear growth rate of matter density fluctuations is generally suppressed compared to $Lambda$CDM at intermediate redshifts ($0.5 lesssim z lesssim 1$), despite the introduction of an attractive long-range scalar force. This is due to the fact that, in self-accelerating models, the background gravitational coupling weakens at intermediate redshifts, over-compensating the effect of the attractive scalar force. (2) At higher redshifts, the opposite happens; we identify a period of super-growth when the linear growth rate is larger than that predicted by $Lambda$CDM. (3) The gravitational slip parameter $eta$ - the ratio of the space part of the metric perturbation to the time part - is bounded from above. For Brans-Dicke-type theories $eta$ is at most unity. For more general theories, $eta$ can exceed unity at intermediate redshifts, but not more than about $1.5$ if, at the same time, the linear growth rate is to be compatible with current observational constraints. We caution against phenomenological parametrization of data that do not correspond to predictions from viable physical theories. We advocate the EFT approach as a way to constrain new physics from future large-scale-structure data.
In this Letter, we describe how a spectrum of entropic perturbations generated during a period of slow contraction can source a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of curvature perturbations on length scales larger than the Hubble radius during the transition from slow contraction to a classical non-singular bounce (the `graceful exit phase). The sourcing occurs naturally through higher-order scalar field kinetic terms common to classical (non-singular) bounce mechanisms. We present a concrete example in which, by the end of the graceful exit phase, the initial entropic fluctuations have become negligible and the curvature fluctuations have a nearly scale-invariant spectrum with an amplitude consistent with observations.
We consider an interacting field theory model that describes the interaction between dark energy - dark matter interaction. Only for a specific interaction term, this interacting field theory description has an equivalent interacting fluid description. For inverse power law potentials and linear interaction function, we show that the interacting dark sector model is consistent with $textit{four cosmological data sets}$ -- Hubble parameter measurements (Hz), Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation data (BAO), Supernova Type Ia data (SN), and High redshift HII galaxy measurements (HIIG). More specifically, these data sets prefer a negative value of interaction strength in the dark sector and lead to the best-fit value of Hubble constant $H_0 = 69.9^{0.46}_{1.02}$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$. Thus, the interacting field theory model $textit{alleviates the Hubble tension}$ between Planck and these four cosmological probes. Having established that this interacting field theory model is consistent with cosmological observations, we obtain quantifying tools to distinguish between the interacting and non-interacting dark sector scenarios. We focus on the variation of the scalar metric perturbed quantities as a function of redshift related to structure formation, weak gravitational lensing, and the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect. We show that the difference in the evolution becomes significant for $z < 20$, for all length scales, and the difference peaks at smaller redshift values $z < 5$. We then discuss the implications of our results for the upcoming missions.
The delta N formula for the primordial curvature perturbation zeta is extended to include vector as well as scalar fields. Formulas for the tree-level contributions to the spectrum and bispectrum of zeta are given, exhibiting statistical anisotropy. The one-loop contribution to the spectrum of zeta is also worked out. We then consider the generation of vector field perturbations from the vacuum, including the longitudinal component that will be present if there is no gauge invariance. Finally, the delta N formula is applied to the vector curvaton and vector inflation models with the tensor perturbation also evaluated in the latter case.