Cosmological constraints on the neutrino mass from CMB anisotropy and large-scale structure of the Universe

Using cosmological data on the CMB anisotropy and large-scale structure of the Universe, we have obtained new constraints on the sum of the masses of three generations of active neutrinos: Σm _ν < 1.05 eV (95% confidence level). Data of the third year of the WMAP mission served as the source of CMB anisotropy data. The mass functions of X-ray clusters of galaxies were taken as the data on the large-scale structure of the Universe. The observational properties of the clusters were obtained during the ROSAT mission and the assumption that the baryon fraction is universal in the Universe was used to determine the total cluster mass.     

Observational constraints on Λ inflation

Astronomy Reports - Observational data on the large-scale structure of the Universe and the anisotropy of the cosmic background radiation are used to derive constraints on the parameters of an...     

Cosmological tests based on the abundance of galaxy clusters

We present a new normalization for the linear density-perturbation spectrum in a multi-parameter model of the Universe. Using the differential mass function for the nearly galaxy clusters obtained from optical data, we have constructed a functional relation between the dispersion of the density contrast σ ₈ on the scale 8h ^?1 Mpc and the cosmological parameters Ω _m , Ω_Λ, h, n, f _v for each of three theoretical approximations of the mass function: Press-Schechter, Sheth-Tormen and Jenkins. An extended class of models of the Universe with general spatial curvature include four parameters for the matter components: baryons (Ω _b ), “cold” dark matter (Ω _c ), “hot” dark matter (Ω _v ), and the vacuum energy (Ω_Λ). It is shown that the most accurate normalization of the power spectrum is achieved with the Sheth-Tormen approximation.     

Isotropization by scalar field driven inflation and the cosmological quantum boundary

We derive the Wheeler-de Witt equation for the scalar field of mass m > 0 in a Bianchi-type I universe. We argue that classical trajectories become possible at h² ⩽ αt_p^-2, h being the mean Hubble value and t_p the Planck time. We feel justified to set the numerical constant α ≈︁ 1. We discuss this condition in geometrically invariant quantities and compare it with ⩽t_p^-4. The proposed quantum boundary of classical trajectories represents a 3-dimensional sphere in the 4-space of the dynamical system. Equipartition of the initial energy over field (m < m_p) and shear variables at the quantum boundary will cause inflation with a probability p of the order p = 1 - m/m_p thus, p = 1 - 10^-4 for m taken from GUT. In the course of the inflationary stage the initially arbitrarily large shear-anisotropy exponentially decays.     

A model of the cosmic infrared background produced by distant galaxies

The extragalactic background radiation produced by distant galaxies emitting in the far infrared limits the sensitivity of telescopes operating in this range due to confusion. We have constructed a model of the infrared background based on numerical simulations of the large-scale structure of the Universe and the evolution of dark matter halos. The predictions of this model agree well with the existing data on source counts. We have constructed maps of a sky field with an area of 1 deg² directly from our simulated observations and measured the confusion limit. At wavelengths 100–300 μm the confusion limit for a 10-m telescope has been shown to be at least an order of magnitude lower than that for a 3.5-m one. A spectral analysis of the simulated infrared background maps clearly reveals the large-scale structure of the Universe. The two-dimensional power spectrum of these maps has turned out to be close to that measured by space observatories in the infrared. However, the fluctuations in the number of intensity peaks observed in the simulated field show no clear correlation with superclusters of galaxies; the large-scale structure has virtually no effect on the confusion limit.     

Black Hole Shadow Observations with Space-Ground Interferometers

Astronomy Reports - The study explores black hole (BH) shadow images which can be restored by data processing and image recovery procedures during space Very Large Baseline Interferometry (VLBI)...