Search

We apply kinetic field theory to non-linear cosmic structure formation. Kinetic field theory decomposes the cosmic density field into particles and follows their trajectories through phase space. We assume that initial particle momenta are drawn from a Gaussian random field. We place particular emphasis on the late-time, asymptotic behaviour on small spatial scales of low-order statistical measures for the distribution of particles in configuration and velocity space. Our main result is that the power spectra for density and velocity fluctuations in ensembles of particles freely streaming along Zel'dovich trajectories asymptotically fall off with wave number $k$ like $k^{-3}$ for $k\to\infty$, irrespective of the cosmological model and the type of dark matter assumed, with the exponent set only by the number of spatial dimensions. This conclusion remains valid for density-fluctuation power spectra if particle interactions are taken into account in a mean-field approximation. We also show that the bispectrum of freely-streaming particles falls off asymptotically like $k^{-11/2}$ under the same general conditions., Comment: 64 pages, 25 figures, draft prepared for submission to La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento

In 1933, Fritz Zwicky's famous investigations of the mass of the Coma cluster led him to infer the existence of dark matter \cite{1933AcHPh...6..110Z}. His fundamental discoveries have proven to be foundational to modern cosmology; as we now know such dark matter makes up 85\% of the matter and 25\% of the mass-energy content in the universe. Galaxy clusters like Coma are massive, complex systems of dark matter in addition to hot ionized gas and thousands of galaxies, and serve as excellent probes of the dark matter distribution. However, empirical studies show that the total mass of such systems remains elusive and difficult to precisely constrain. Here, we present new estimates for the dynamical mass of the Coma cluster based on Bayesian deep learning methodologies developed in recent years. Using our novel data-driven approach, we predict Coma's $\mthc$ mass to be $10^{15.10 \pm 0.15}\ \hmsun$ within a radius of $1.78 \pm 0.03\ h^{-1}\mathrm{Mpc}$ of its center. We show that our predictions are rigorous across multiple training datasets and statistically consistent with historical estimates of Coma's mass. This measurement reinforces our understanding of the dynamical state of the Coma cluster and advances rigorous analyses and verification methods for empirical applications of machine learning in astronomy., Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication at Nature Astronomy, see https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-022-01711-1

We present details of the design, simulation, and initial test results of prototype detectors for the fourth-generation receiver of the South Pole Telescope (SPT). Optimized for the detection of key secondary anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), SPT-3G+ will measure the temperature and polarization of the mm/sub-mm sky at 220, 285, and 345 GHz, beyond the peak of the CMB blackbody spectrum. The SPT-3G+ focal plane will be populated with microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs), allowing for significantly increased detector density with reduced cryogenic complexity. We present simulation-backed designs for single-color dual-polarization MKID pixels at each SPT-3G+ observation frequency. We further describe design choices made to promote resonator quality and uniformity, enabling us to maximize the available readout bandwidth. We also discuss aspects of the fabrication process that enable rapid production of these devices and present an initial dark characterization of a series of prototype devices., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to the 19th International Workshop on Low Temperature Detectors (LTD19) Proceedings

Rastall introduced a stress-energy tensor whose divergence is proportional to the gradient of the Ricci scalar. This proposal leads to a change in the form of the field equations of General Relativity, but it preserves the number of degrees of freedom. Rastall's field equations can be either interpreted as GR with a redefined SET, or it can imply different physical consequences inside the matter sector. We investigate limits under which the Rastall field equations can be directly derived from an action, in particular from two $f(R)$-gravity extensions: $f(R,\mathcal L_m)$ and $f(R,T)$. We show that there are similarities between these theories, but the Rastall SET cannot be fully recovered from them, apart from certain particular cases here discussed. It is remarkable that a simple, covariant and invertible redefinition of the SET, as the one proposed by Rastall, is hard to be directly implemented in the action., Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication in the European Physical Journal Plus

Cosmological evolution of axion field in the early universe might be significantly affected by a thermal friction induced by the axion coupling to thermalized hidden sector. We examine the effects of such a thermal friction on axion dark matter density and its perturbation when the thermal friction dominates over the Hubble friction until when the axion field begins to oscillate around the potential minimum. We show that in the presence of sizable thermal friction there can be an exponential decay phase of the axion field before the oscillation phase, during which the axion energy density is efficiently dissipated into hidden thermal bath. Consequently, the previously excluded parameter region due to overclosing relic axion density becomes cosmologically viable with thermal friction. In particular, a QCD axion much lighter than $\mu$eV is viable without tuning the initial misalignment angle. We also find that thermal friction can affect the density perturbation of axion dark matter in various ways. For instance, it can alleviate the large-scale isocurvature bound on axion dark matter in the pre-inflationary PQ breaking scenario, which would make the pre-inflationary axion dark matter compatible with high scale inflation over a wide range of model parameters. In the post-inflationary PQ breaking scenario, thermal friction can also significantly change the scaling behavior of axionic strings, and therefore the typical size of the resultant axion miniclusters., Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures; v3: references updated, minor clarifications added, matches the published version

We here propose a mechanism that predicts, at early times, both baryon asymmetry and dark matter origin and that recovers the spontaneous baryogenesis during the reheating. Working with $U(1)$-invariant quark $Q$ and lepton $L$ effective fields, with an interacting term that couples the evolution of Universe's environment field $\psi$, we require a spontaneous symmetry breaking and get a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson $\theta$. The pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson speeds the Universe up during inflation, playing the role of inflaton, enabling baryogenesis to occur. Thus, in a quasi-static approximation over $\psi$, we impressively find both baryon and dark matter quasi-particle production rates, unifying \emph{de facto} the two scenarios. Moreover, we outline particle mixing and demonstrate dark matter takes over baryons. Presupposing that $\theta$ field energy density dominates as baryogenesis stops and employing recent limits on reheating temperature, we get numerical bounds over dark matter constituent, showing that the most likely dark matter boson would be consistent with MeV-scale mass candidates. Finally, we briefly underline our predictions are suitable to explain the the low-energy electron recoil event excess between $1$ and $7$~keV found by the \texttt{XENON1T} collaboration., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure

We propose the intensity mapping of the redshifted HI 21-cm signal from the post-reionization epoch as a cosmological probe of $f(R)$ gravity. We consider the Hu-Sawicki class of $f(R)$ gravity models characterized by a single parameter $f_{,R0}$. The $f(R)$ modification to gravity affects the post-reionization $21$-cm power spectrum through the change in the growth rate of density fluctuations. We find that a radio interferometric observation with a SKA1-Mid like radio telescope in both auto-correlation and cross-correlation with galaxy weak-lensing and Ly-$\alpha$ forest may distinguish $f(R)$ models from $LCDM$ cosmology at a precision which is competitive with other probes of $f(R)$ gravity., Comment: Accepted for publication in Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy SKA special issue

Dwarf galaxies are ideal laboratories to test dark matter models and alternative theories because their dynamical mass (from observed kinematics) largely outweighs their baryonic mass (from gas and stars). In most star-forming dwarfs, cold atomic gas forms regularly rotating disks extending beyond the stellar component, thus probing the gravitational potential out to the outermost regions. Here I review several aspects of gas dynamics in dwarf galaxies, such as rotation curves, mass models, and noncircular motions. Star-forming dwarfs extend the dynamical laws of spiral galaxies to lower masses, surface densities, and accelerations. The three main dynamical laws of rotation-supported galaxies point to three distinct acceleration scales, which play different physical roles but display the same value, within uncertainties. The small scatter around these dynamical laws implies a tight coupling between baryons and dark matter in galaxies, which will be better understood with next-generation surveys that will enlarge current sample sizes by orders of magnitude., Invited Review for Nature Astronomy (25 pages, 5 figures, 2 boxes). Published read-only version available at https://rdcu.be/cFrZP

Recent studies of quantum field theory in FLRW spacetime suggest that the cause of the speeding up of the universe is the running vacuum (RV). Appropriate renormalization of the energy-momentum tensor shows that the vacuum energy density is a smooth function of the Hubble rate and its derivatives: $\rho_{\rm vac}=\rho_{\rm vac}(H, \dot{H},\ddot{H},...)$. This is because in QFT the quantum scaling of $\rho_{\rm vac}$ with the renormalization point turns into cosmic evolution with $H$. As a result, any two nearby points of the cosmic expansion during the standard FLRW epoch are smoothly related through $\delta\rho_{\rm vac}\sim {\cal O}(H^2)$. In our approach, what we call the `cosmological constant' $\Lambda$ is just the nearly sustained value of $8\pi G(H)\rho_{\rm vac}(H)$ around (any) given epoch, where $G(H)$ is the running gravitational coupling. In the present study, after summarizing the main QFT calculations supporting the RV approach, we focus on the calculation of the equation of state (EoS) of the RV for the entire cosmic history within such a QFT framework. In particular, in the very early universe, where higher (even) powers $\rho_{\rm vac}\sim{\cal O}(H^N)$ ($N=4,6,\dots$) triggered inflation during a short period in which $H=$const, the vacuum EoS is very close to $w_{\rm vac}=-1$. This ceases to be true during the FLRW era, where it adopts the EoS of matter during the relativistic ($w_{\rm vac}=1/3$) and non-relativistic ($w_{\rm vac}=0$) epochs. Interestingly enough, we find that in the late universe the EoS becomes mildly dynamical and mimics quintessence, $w_{\rm vac}\gtrsim-1$. It finally asymptotes to $-1$ in the remote future, but in the transit the RV helps alleviating the $H_0$ and $\sigma_8$ tensions., Comment: Slightly changed title. Extended discussion, references added. Accepted for publication in Eur.Phys.J. C

Gravitational production of massive particles due to cosmic expansion can be significant during the inflationary and reheating period of the Universe. If the particle also has non-gravitational interactions that do not significantly affect its production, numerous observational probes open up, including cosmological probes. In this work, we focus on the gravitational production of light vector bosons that couple feebly to the Standard Model (SM) particles. Due to the very feeble coupling, the light vector bosons never reach thermal equilibrium, and if the Hubble scale at the end of inflation is above $10^8$ GeV, the gravitational production can overwhelm the thermal production via the freeze-in mechanism by many orders of magnitude. As a result, much stronger constraints from the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) can be placed on the lifetime and mass of the vector bosons compared to the scenario where only thermal production is considered. As an example, we study the sub-GeV scale dark photons, which couple to the SM only through kinetic mixing, and derive constraints on the mass and kinetic mixing parameter of the dark photon from the photodisintegration effects on the light element abundances relevant at the end of the BBN when the cosmic age was around $10^4$ s., 26 pages + references, 8 figures, minor changes from previous version, matches published version in JHEP

When the light from a distant object passes very near to a foreground galaxy or cluster, gravitational lensing can cause it to appear as multiple images on the sky. If the source is variable, it can be used to constrain the cosmic expansion rate and dark energy models. Achieving these cosmological goals requires many lensed transients with precise time delay measurements. Lensed supernovae (SN) are attractive for this purpose because they have relatively simple photometric behavior, with well-understood light curve shapes and colours $-$ in contrast to the stochastic variation of quasars. Here we report the discovery of a multiply-imaged supernova, AT2016jka ("SN Requiem"). It appeared in an evolved galaxy at $z=1.95$, gravitationally lensed by a foreground galaxy cluster. It is likely a Type Ia supernova $-$ the explosion of a low-mass stellar remnant, whose light curve can be used to measure cosmic distances. In archival Hubble Space Telescope imaging, three lensed images of the supernova are detected with relative time delays of $, Comment: Accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Main text = 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; Full document = 28 pages, 12 figures with Methods, Supplemental Info and references. v2: reformatted; minor corrections in SI

We numerically study the movement of two colliding fuzzy dark matter solitons without explicit self-interaction and find the effective cross section of dissipative change in velocity. The cross section turns out to be inversely proportional to the velocity cubed, and we present its analytic interpretation. Using the result we roughly estimate spatial offsets during head-on collisions of two fuzzy dark matter halos, which can be related to the spatial offsets between stars and dark matter in collisions of some galaxy clusters. We also show that the gravitational cooling plays an important role during the collisions., To be published in JKPS

In this paper we show that a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson (PNGB) quintessence of spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) is responsible for an epoch of the late time cosmic acceleration. We suggest that an N=2 PNGB quintessence with SSB can give rise to the fast-roll cosmic acceleration in evolution of the Universe. In the N=2 PNGB quintessence model, the standard slow-roll condition in which the absolute value of the tachyonic mass squared $|m_q^2|$ of this model is much less than the square of the Hubble constant $H^2$, is broken down to the fast-roll condition, $|m_q^2|=O(H^2)$. However, it is shown that the fast-rolling associated with the N=2 PNGB quintessence of SSB can be led to the epoch of the late time cosmic acceleration. Indeed, in our PNGB model, this epoch can be quite long lasting since the mass of the N=2 PNGB quintessence field is extremely small as $m_q \approx 10^{-33} \rm{eV}$., 7 pages, 2 figures, minor revision, to be published in JKPS

The idea of a negative-pressure dark energy component in the Universe which causes an accelerated expansion in the late Universe has deep implications in models of field theory and general relativity. In this article, we survey the evidence for dark energy from cosmological observations which started from the compilation of distance-luminosity plots of Type Ia supernovae. This turned out to be consistent with the dark energy inferred from the CMB observations and large scale surveys and gave rise to the concordance $\Lambda$CDM model of cosmology. In this article, we discuss the observational evidence for dark energy from Type Ia supernovae, CMB, galaxy surveys, observations of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect from clusters, and lensing by clusters. We also discuss the observational discrepancy in the values of $H_0$ and $\sigma_8$ between CMB and large scale structures and discuss if varying dark energy models are able to resolve these tensions between different observations., Comment: A mini review to apear in EPJST (18 pages, 4 figures)

Despite their relative sparseness, during the recent years it has become more and more clear that extragalactic radio sources (both AGN and star-forming galaxies) constitute an extremely interesting mix of populations, not only because of their intrinsic value, but also for their fundamental role in shaping our Universe the way we see it today. Indeed, radio-active AGN are now thought to be the main players involved in the evolution of massive galaxies and clusters. At the same time, thanks to the possibility of being observed up to very high redshifts, radio galaxies can also provide crucial information on both the star-formation history of our Universe and on its Large-Scale Structure properties and their evolution. In the light of present and forthcoming facilities such as LOFAR, MeerKAT and SKA that will probe the radio sky to unprecedented depths and widths, this review aims at providing the current state of the art on our knowledge of extragalactic radio sources in connection with their hosts, large-scale environments and cosmological context., Comment: 101 pages, 29 figures. Invited review to appear in Astronomy and Astrophysics Review

Rotations of an axion field in field space provide a natural origin for an era of kination domination, where the energy density is dominated by the kinetic term of the axion field, preceded by an early era of matter domination. Remarkably, no entropy is produced at the end of matter domination and hence these eras of matter and kination domination may occur even after Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. We derive constraints on these eras from both the cosmic microwave background and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. We investigate how this cosmological scenario affects the spectrum of possible primordial gravitational waves and find that the spectrum features a triangular peak. We discuss how future observations of gravitational waves can probe the viable parameter space, including regions that produce axion dark matter by the kinetic misalignment mechanism or the baryon asymmetry by axiogenesis. For QCD axion dark matter produced by the kinetic misalignment mechanism, a modification to the inflationary gravitational wave spectrum occurs above 0.01 Hz and, for high values of the energy scale of inflation, the prospects for discovery are good. We briefly comment on implications for structure formation of the universe., Comment: 57 pages, 17 figures; v2: references and discussions added

We study the stability of the electroweak vacuum during and after the Starobinsky inflation, assuming the existence of the non-minimal Higgs coupling to the Ricci scalar. In the Starobinsky inflation, there exists $R^2$ term (with $R$ being the Ricci scalar), which modifies the evolution equation of the Higgs field. We consider the case that the non-minimal coupling is sizable so that the quantum fluctuation of the Higgs field is suppressed and that the Higgs amplitude is settled near the origin during the inflation. In such a case, the Higgs amplitude may be amplified in the preheating epoch after inflation because of the parametric resonance due to the non-minimal coupling. We perform a detailed analysis of the evolution of the Higgs field in the preheating epoch by a numerical lattice simulation and derive an upper bound on the non-minimal coupling constant $\xi$ in order to realize the electroweak vacuum in the present universe. We find that the upper bound on $\xi$ in the Starobinsky inflation model is more stringent than that in conventional inflation models without the $R^2$ term., Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures

The Gaussian linear model provides a unique way to obtain the posterior probability distribution as well as the Bayesian evidence analytically. Considering the expansion rate data, the Gaussian linear model can be applied for $\Lambda$CDM, wCDM, and a non-flat $\Lambda$CDM. In this paper, we simulate the expansion data with various precision and obtain the Bayesian evidence, then it has been used to discriminate the models. The data uncertainty is in the range $\sigma\in(0.5,10)\%$ and two different sampling rates have been considered. Our results indicate that it is possible to discriminate $w=-1.02$ (or $w=-0.98$) model from the $\Lambda$CDM $(w=-1)$ with $\sigma=0.5\%$ uncertainty in expansion rate data. Finally, we perform a parameters inference in both the MCMC and Gaussian linear model, using currently available expansion rate data, and compare the results., Comment: Comments are welcome

The exact properties of dark matter remain largely unknown despite the accumulating evidence. If dark matter is composed of weakly interacting massive particles, it would be accreted by the black hole in the galactic center and form a dense, cuspy spike. Dynamical friction from this spike may have observable effects in a binary system. We consider extreme-mass-ratio inspiral (EMRI) binaries comprising massive black holes harbored in dark matter spikes and stellar mass objects in elliptic orbits. We find that the gravitational-wave waveforms in the frequency domain can be substantially modified. In particular, we show that dark matter can suppress the characteristic strain of a gravitational wave at low frequency but enhance it at a higher domain. These effects are more dramatic as the dark matter density increases. The results indicate that the signal-to-noise ratio of EMRIs can be strongly reduced near $10^{-3}\sim 0.3$~Hz but enhanced near $1.0$~Hz with a higher sensitivity, which can be probed via the future space-borne gravitational-wave (GW) detectors, LISA and TAIJI. The findings will have important impacts on the detection and parameter inference of EMRIs., 8 pages, 4 figures; Published version

We propose a new mechanism to simultaneously explain the observed dark matter abundance and the baryon asymmetry of the Universe. The mechanism is based on the Filtered Dark Matter scenario, where dark matter particles acquire a large mass during a first-order phase transition. This implies that only a small fraction of them are energetic enough to enter the advancing true vacuum bubbles and survive until today, while the rest are reflected and annihilate away quickly. We supplement this scenario with a CP-violating interaction, which creates a chiral asymmetry in the population of dark matter particles. In the false vacuum phase, a portal interaction quickly converts the dark sector chiral asymmetry into a Standard Model lepton asymmetry. The lepton asymmetry is then partially converted to a baryon asymmetry by standard electroweak sphaleron processes. We discuss the dependence of the generated asymmetry on the parameters of the model for two different portal interactions and demonstrate successful baryogenesis for both. For one of the portals, it is also possible to simultaneously explain the observed dark matter abundance, over many orders of magnitude in the dark matter mass., Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures, 1 table; v2: mistake in the source term corrected, which leads to larger allowed parameter region in v2; added citations

The existence of magnetic fields in the universe is unmistakable. They are observed at all scales from stars to galaxy clusters. However, the origin of these fields remains enigmatic. It is believed that magnetic field seeds may have emerged from inflation, under certain conditions. This possibility is analised in the context of an alternative theory of gravity with non-minimal coupling between curvature and matter. We find, through the solution of the generalised Maxwell equations in the context of non-minimal models, that for general slow-roll inflationary scenarios with low reheating temperatures, $T_{RH}\simeq10^{10}$GeV, the generated magnetic fields can be made compatible with observations at large scales, $\lambda \sim 1 Mpc$., Comment: 12 pages; corrections in section 3; conclusions unchanged

The dark axion portal is a coupling of an axion-like particle to a dark photon kinetically mixed with the visible photon. We show how this portal, when applied to the relaxion, can lead to cosmological relaxation of the weak scale using dark photon production. The key backreaction mechanism involves the Schwinger effect: As long as electroweak symmetry is unbroken, Schwinger production of massless Standard Model fermions, which carry dark millicharges, suppresses the dark photon production. Once the electroweak symmetry is broken, the fermions acquire mass and the suppression is lifted. An enhanced dark photon dissipation then traps the relaxion at a naturally small weak scale. Our model thus provides a novel link between the phenomenological dark axion portal, dark photons, and the hierarchy problem of the Higgs mass., Comment: 36 pages, 9 figures. Matches published version

The current cosmic time evolution of the Universe is described by the General Relativity theory when a cosmological principle is considered under a flat space time landscape. The set of known as Friedmann equations, contain the principles that lead to the construction of the standard $\Lambda$CDM model. However, the current state-of-art regarding these equations, even if it is a fundamental method, is based in solving analytically the differential equations by considering several forms of matter/energy components or evaluating them in specific cosmic times where two or more components contribute at the same rate. This latter can be carry out through the approach of piecewice solutions, whose reduce the numerical integrals. In this paper we discuss new solutions through special analytical functions and constraint them with an updated compilation of observational Hubble observations in order to deal with the local $H_0$ tension reported., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures. Accepted in The European Physical Journal Plus (2022)

Cosmic microwave background radiation can supply us some most significant parts of the information on the universe. Some researchers believe that the gravitational system cannot be decribed by the standard statistical mechanics. In this article we apply Tsallis nonextensive statistical mechanics to investigate CMB spectrum and related cosmological processes. Based on recent observational data we find that the nonextensive statistical mechanics can modify the values of related physical quantities. Since the value of physical quantites have changed, some processes, such as recombination, can be affected. We have investigated the anisotropy of the CMB for two effects: the dipole anisotropy of CMB and the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect. We find that the dipole anisotropy of CMB cannot be modified by the nonextensive statistical mechanics. However, the standard result of the Sunyaev-Zel’sdovich effect should be modified by nonextensive statistical mechanics. In principle, future work can distinguish these effects.

In the late 1990's, observations of 93 Type Ia supernovae were analysed in the framework of the FLRW cosmology assuming these to be `standard(isable) candles'. It was thus inferred that the Hubble expansion rate is accelerating as if driven by a positive Cosmological Constant $\Lambda$. This is still the only direct evidence for the `dark energy' that is the dominant component of the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model. Other data such as BAO, CMB anisotropies, stellar ages, the rate of structure growth, etc are all `concordant' with this model but do not provide independent evidence for accelerated expansion. Analysis of a larger sample of 740 SNe Ia shows that these are not quite standard candles, and highlights the "corrections" applied to analyse the data in the FLRW framework. The latter holds in the reference frame in which the CMB is isotropic, whereas observations are made in our heliocentric frame in which the CMB has a large dipole anisotropy. This is assumed to be of kinematic origin i.e. due to our non-Hubble motion driven by local inhomogeneity in the matter distribution. The $\Lambda$CDM model predicts how this peculiar velocity should fall off as the averaging scale is raised and the universe becomes sensibly homogeneous. However observations of the local `bulk flow' are inconsistent with this expectation and convergence to the CMB frame is not seen. Moreover the kinematic interpretation implies a corresponding dipole in the sky distribution of high redshift quasars, which is rejected by observations at 4.9$\sigma$. The acceleration of the Hubble expansion rate is also anisotropic at 3.9$\sigma$ and aligned with the bulk flow. Thus dark energy may be an artefact of analysing data assuming that we are idealised observers in an FLRW universe, when in fact the real universe is inhomogeneous and anisotropic out to distances large enough to impact on cosmological analyses., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables

In previous works we have derived a Running Vacuum Model (RVM) for a string Universe, which provides an effective description of the evolution of 4-dimensional string-inspired cosmologies from inflation till the present epoch. In the context of this "stringy RVM" version, it is assumed that the early Universe is characterised by purely gravitational degrees of freedom, from the massless gravitational string multiplet, including the antisymmetric tensor field. The latter plays an important role, since its dual gives rise to a `stiff' gravitational-axion "matter", which in turn couples to the gravitational anomaly terms, assumed to be non-trivial at early epochs. In the presence of primordial gravitational wave (GW) perturbations, such anomalous couplings lead to an RVM-like dynamical inflation, without external inflatons. We review here this framework and discuss potential scenarios for the generation of such primordial GW, among which the formation of unstable domain walls, which eventually collapse in a non-spherical-symmetric manner, giving rise to GW. We also remark that the same type of "stiff" axionic matter could provide, upon the generation of appropriate potentials during the post-inflationary eras, (part of) the Dark Matter (DM) in the Universe, which could well be ultralight, depending on the parameters of the string-inspired model. All in all, the new (stringy) mechanism for RVM-inflation preserves the basic structure of the original (and more phenomenological) RVM, as well as its main advantages: namely, a mechanism for graceful exit and for generating a huge amount of entropy capable of explaining the horizon problem. It also predicts axionic DM and the existence of mild dynamical Dark Energy (DE) of quintessence type in the present universe, both being "living fossils" of the inflationary stages of the cosmic evolution., Comment: 75 pages revtex, 6 pdf figures incorporated

This paper outlines the science case for line-intensity mapping with a space-borne instrument targeting the sub-millimeter (microwaves) to the far-infrared (FIR) wavelength range. Our goal is to observe and characterize the large-scale structure in the Universe from present times to the high redshift Epoch of Reionization. This is essential to constrain the cosmology of our Universe and form a better understanding of various mechanisms that drive galaxy formation and evolution. We argue that the proposed frequency range would make it possible to probe important metal cooling lines such as [CII] up to very high redshift as well as a large number of rotational lines of the CO molecule. These can be used to trace molecular gas and dust evolution and constrain the buildup in both the cosmic star formation rate density and the cosmic infrared background (CIB). Moreover, surveys at the highest frequencies will detect FIR lines which are used as diagnostics of galaxies and AGN. Tomography of these lines over a wide redshift range will enable invaluable measurements of the cosmic expansion history at epochs inaccessible to other methods, competitive constraints on the parameters of the standard model of cosmology, and numerous tests of dark matter, dark energy, modified gravity and inflation. To reach these goals, large-scale structure must be mapped over a wide range in frequency to trace its time evolution over a reasonable fraction of the volume of the observable Universe. In addition, the surveyed area needs to be very large to beat cosmic variance and to probe the largest scales where its easier to separate the astrophysical and cosmological contributions to the observed signal. Only, a space-borne mission can properly meet these requirements., 25 pages, 6 figures, ESA Voyage-2050 White Paper

We investigate both the null energy condition (NEC) violating scenario and the $c_T$-diminishing scenario for generating enhanced power spectrum of primordial gravitational waves (GWs) during inflation, where $c_T$ is the propagating speed of primordial GWs. Both of these two scenarios can be realized stably with theories beyond Horndeski, hence can be uniformly implemented within the framework of the effective field theory. We calculate the power spectrum of primordial GWs by assuming that the inflationary Universe undergoes three phases, where the violation of NEC or the diminishment of $c_T$ occurs in the intermediate phase. A template of the spectrum is given for the NEC-violating scenario. We also discuss the underlying relation and discrepancy between these two scenarios with a disformal transformation., Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures; more details and new references added; updated to match the published version

The generic scale-invariant theory of an axion and a dilaton coupled to gravity in $d$-dimensions is generalized to a `universal' one-axion model with two dilatons that reproduces itself under consistent dimensional-reduction/truncation. Flat FLRW cosmologies are shown to correspond to trajectories of a three-dimensional autonomous dynamical system, which we analyse with a focus on accelerated cosmic expansion, deriving the precise swampland bounds that exclude eternal acceleration. We also show that for two sets of values of its three independent parameters, the model is a consistent truncation of maximal `massive' supergravity theories arising from string/M-theory; for these maximal-supergravity parameter values the FLRW cosmologies include some with a transient de Sitter-like phase, but not the recurring de Sitter-like phase or eternal cosmic acceleration that is possible for other parameter values., 35 pages, 5 figures

We formulate power-law holographic dark energy, which is a modified holographic dark energy model based on the extended entropy relation arising from the consideration of state mixing between the ground and the excited ones in the calculation of the entanglement entropy. We construct two cases of the scenario, imposing the usual future event horizon choice, as well as the Hubble one. Thus, the former model is a one-parameter extension of standard holographic dark energy, recovering it in the limit where power-law extended entropy recovers Bekenstein-Hawking one, while the latter belongs to the class of running vacuum models, a feature that may reveal the connection between holography and the renormalization group running. For both models we extract the differential equation that determines the evolution of the dark-energy density parameter and we provide the expression for the corresponding equation-of-state parameter. We find that the scenario can describe the sequence of epochs in the Universe evolution, namely the domination of matter followed by the domination of dark energy. Moreover, the dark-energy equation of state presents a rich behavior, lying in the quintessence regime or passing into the phantom one too, depending on the values of the two model parameters, a behavior that is richer than the one of standard holographic dark energy., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

Gravitational interferometers and cosmological observations of the cosmic microwave background offer us the prospect to probe the laws of gravity in the primordial universe. To study and interpret these datasets we need to know the possible graviton non-Gaussianities. To this end, we derive the most general tree-level three-point functions (bispectra) for a massless graviton to all orders in derivatives, assuming scale invariance. Instead of working with explicit Lagrangians, we take a bootstrap approach and obtain our results using the recently derived constraints from unitarity, locality and the choice of vacuum. Since we make no assumptions about de Sitter boosts, our results capture the phenomenology of large classes of models such as the effective field theory of inflation and solid inflation. We present formulae for the infinite number of parity-even bispectra. Remarkably, for parity-odd bispectra, we show that unitarity allows for only a handful of possible shapes: three for graviton-graviton-graviton, three for scalar-graviton-graviton and one for scalar-scalar-graviton, which we bootstrap explicitly. These parity-odd non-Gaussianities can be large, for example in solid inflation, and therefore constitute a concrete and well-motivated target for future observations., 58 pages, 2 tables, 5 figures, added section on "Perturbativity, naturalness and strong coupling", matches JHEP version

We put forward a novel class of exotic celestial objects that can be produced through phase transitions occurred in the primordial Universe. These objects appear as bubbles of stellar sizes and can be dominated by primordial black holes (PBHs). We report that, due to the processes of Hawking radiation and binary evolution of PBHs inside these stellar bubbles, both electromagnetic and gravitational radiations can be emitted that are featured on the gamma-ray spectra and stochastic gravitational waves (GWs). Our results reveal that, depending on the mass distribution, the exotic stellar bubbles consisting of PBHs provide not only a decent fit for the ultrahigh-energy gamma-ray spectrum reported by the recent LHAASO experiment, but also predict GW signals that are expected to be tested by the forthcoming GW surveys., 12 pages, 9 figures

We explore and compare the capabilities of the recent observations of standard cosmological probes and the future observations of gravitational-wave (GW) standard sirens on constraining cosmological parameters. It is carried out in the frameworks of two typical dynamical models of cosmology, i.e., the $\omega_0\omega_a$CDM model with $\omega(z) = \omega_0 +\omega_a*z/(1+z)$, and the $\xi$-index model with $\rho_X\propto\rho_ma^{\xi}$, where $\omega(z)$ is the dark energy equation of state, and $\rho_X$ and $\rho_m$ are the energy densities of dark energy and matter, respectively. In the cosmological analysis, the employed data sets include the recent observations of the standard cosmological probes, i.e., Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) and cosmic microwave background (CMB), and also the mock GW standard siren sample with 1000 merging neutron star events anticipated from the third-generation detectors. In the scenarios of both $\omega_0\omega_a$CDM and $\xi$-index models, it turns out that the mock GW sample can reduce the uncertainty of the Hubble constant $H_0$ by about 50\% relative to that from the joint SNe+BAO+CMB sample; nevertheless, the SNe+BAO+CMB sample demonstrates better performance on limiting other parameters. Furthermore, the Bayesian evidence is applied to compare the dynamical models with the $\Lambda$CDM model. The Bayesian evidences computed from the SNe+BAO+CMB sample reveal that the $\Lambda$CDM model is the most supported one; moreover, the $\omega_0\omega_a$CDM model is more competitive than the $\xi$-index model., Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in the European Physical Journal - Plus (EPJ Plus). arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2107.08916; The manuscript arXiv:2107.08916 will not be submitted to or published in any journal

A cosmological model in an Einstein-Cartan framework endowed with torsion is studied. For a torsion function assumed to be proportional to Hubble expansion function, namely $\phi=-\alpha H$, the contribution of torsion function as a dark matter component is studied in two different approaches. In the first one, the total matter energy density is altered by torsion coupling $\alpha$, giving rise to an effective dark matter and cosmological constant terms that reproduce quite well the flat cosmic concordance model. In the second approach, starting with just standard baryonic matter plus a cosmological constant term, it is obtained that the coupling of torsion with baryons and cosmological constant term naturally gives rise to a dark matter contribution, together a modified cosmological term. In this model the dark matter sector can be interpreted as an effective coupling of the torsion function with the ordinary baryonic matter and cosmological constant. Finally, it is shown that both models are totally compatible with recent cosmological data from Supernovae and Hubble parameter measurements., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures

We review the recent progress in Higgs inflation focusing on Higgs-$R^2$ inflation, primordial black hole production and the $R^3$ term., 9 pages, 4 figures, version published in JKPS. An invited review for the Korean Physical Society

The missing baryon problem may now be resolved, but the exact location and physical properties of the diffuse component remains unclear. This problem could be tractable, but requires the combination of new galaxy redshift surveys with new X-ray and radio facilities., Published as a Comment in Nature Astronomy, August 2021, see also supporting article in Nature Portfolio: https://astronomycommunity.nature.com/videos/waves-deep

We present the first fully automated pipeline for making images from the interferometric data obtained from the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) called CAsa Pipeline-cum-Toolkit for Upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope data REduction - CAPTURE. It is a python program that uses tasks from the NRAO Common Astronomy Software Applications (CASA) to perform the steps of flagging of bad data, calibration, imaging and self-calibration. The salient features of the pipeline are: i) a fully automatic mode to go from the raw data to a self-calibrated continuum image, ii) specialized flagging strategies for short and long baselines that ensure minimal loss of extended structure, iii) flagging of persistent narrow band radio frequency interference (RFI), iv) flexibility for the user to configure the pipeline for step-by-step analysis or special cases and v) analysis of data from the legacy GMRT. CAPTURE is available publicly on github (https://github.com/ruta-k/uGMRT-pipeline, release v1.0.0). The primary beam correction for the uGMRT images produced with CAPTURE is made separately available at https://github.com/ruta-k/uGMRTprimarybeam. We show examples of using CAPTURE on uGMRT and legacy GMRT data. In principle, CAPTURE can be tailored for use with radio interferometric data from other telescopes., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, Accepted for publication in Experimental Astronomy

We study the main cosmological properties of the Generalized Chaplygin Gas (GCG) dark energy model at the background and perturbation levels. By using the latest cosmological data in both the background and perturbation levels, we implement a joint likelihood analysis to constrain the cosmological parameters of the model. Using the available expansion and growth rate data, we place constraints on the free parameters of the GCG model based on the statistical Markov chain Monte Carlo method. Then, the best-fit values of cosmological parameters and those of confidence regions are found. We obtain the best-fit value of the current expansion rate of the universe in the GCG model and show that it is in good agreement with the $\Lambda$CDM model. Moreover, the growth rate of matter perturbations is investigated in the context of a unified GCG model. It is shown that in this model, the dark energy component, like the $\Lambda$ sector in the $\Lambda$CDM model, can suppress the amplitude of matter perturbations. We show that the growth rate of perturbations in GCG parametrization is consistent with cluster-scale observations similar to the case of the concordance $\Lambda$CDM model. Our results show that the tension on $\sigma_{8}$ appeared in concordance model can be alleviated in GCG cosmology., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures and 3 Tables. Accepted in Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy

The purpose of this paper is to study the Tsallis agegraphic dark energy with an interaction term between dark energy and dark matter in the DGP brane-world scenario. For this, we assume some initial conditions to obtain the dark energy density, deceleration, dark energy EoS, and total EoS parameters. Then, we analyze the statefinder parameters, $\omega'{}_{DE}-\omega_{DE}$ plots, and classical stability features of the model. The results state that the deceleration parameter provides the phase transition from decelerated to accelerated phase. The $\omega_{DE}$ graphs show the phantom behavior, while the $\omega_{tot}$ exhibits the quintessence and phantom during the evolution of the Universe. Following the graphs, the Statefinder analysis shows the quintessence behavior of the model for the past and present. However, it tends to the $\Lambda CDM$ in the following era. The $\omega'{}_{DE}-\omega_{DE}$ plot indicates the thawing or freezing area depending on the type of era and different values of $b^{2}$, $\delta$, and $m$. By the square of the sound speed, we see the model is stable in the past, stable or unstable at the current time, and unstable in the future for selected values of $b^{2}$, $\delta$, and $m$. To test the model, we use the recent Hubble data. We also employ Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) to compare the model with the $\Lambda CDM$ as the reference model. In addition, we test the model using the $H-z$ plot, and we see a turning point in the future time. The results from the best fit values for the $\omega_{tot}$ plot emphasize that the Universe is in the quintessence region in the current time. It will enter the phantom phase, and then it will approach the $\Lambda$ state in the future. But, the $\omega_{DE}$ always stays on the phantom region. The model is unstable in the present and progressive era., Comment: 32 pager, 15 figures accepted in Astrophysics and Space Science

Gravitational wave signal from the inspiral of stellar-mass binary black hole can be used as standard sirens to perform cosmological inference. This inspiral covers a wide range of frequency bands, from the millihertz band to the audio-band, allowing for detections by both space-borne and ground-based gravitational wave detectors. In this work, we conduct a comprehensive study on the ability to constrain the Hubble constant using the dark standard sirens, or gravitational wave events that lack electromagnetic counterparts. To acquire the redshift information, we weight the galaxies within the localization error box with photometric information from several bands and use them as a proxy for the binary black hole redshift. We discover that TianQin is expected to constrain the Hubble constant to a precision of roughly $30\%$ through detections of $10$ gravitational wave events; in the most optimistic case, the Hubble constant can be constrained to a precision of $< 10 \%$, assuming TianQin I+II. In the optimistic case, the multi-detector network of TianQin and LISA is capable of constraining the Hubble constant to within $5\%$ precision. It is worth highlighting that the multi-band network of TianQin and Einstein Telescope is capable of constraining the Hubble constant to a precision of about $1\%$. We conclude that inferring the Hubble constant without bias from photo-z galaxy catalog is achievable, and we also demonstrate self-consistency using the P$-$P plot. On the other hand, high-quality spectroscopic redshift information is crucial for improving the estimation precision of Hubble constant., 29 pages, 14 figures, update to match published version

If the refractive index of the relic gravitons increases during a conventional stage of inflationary evolution the spectral energy density is blue at intermediate frequencies above the fHz and then flattens out after a knee that is typically smaller than the mHz. We investigate here the conditions leading to a sufficiently large spectral energy density in the nHz range where some peculiar signatures observed with the pulsar timing arrays have been recently attributed to cosmic gravitons. If these potential evidences are combined with the most recent bounds provided by wide-band interferometers in the audio range (i.e. between few Hz and the kHz) the allowed regions of the parameter space are compatible with both determinations and also with all the other constraints associated with the background of relic gravitons produced during inflation. The present analysis suggests that the pulsar timing arrays are sensitive to the evolution of the refractive index during the early stages of the inflationary evolution. This physical interpretation of the preliminary empirical evidence is distinguishable from other perspectives since the high-frequency normalization, the blue spectral index and the tensor to scalar ratio cannot be independently assigned but are all related to the frequency of the knee that is ultimately determined by the competition between the rate of evolution of the refractive index and the slow-roll corrections., 11 pages, 3 figures

We investigate the generation of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) with the aid of gravitationally increased friction mechanism originated from the NonMinimal field Derivative Coupling (NMDC) to gravity framework, with the quartic potential. Applying the coupling parameter as a two-parted function of inflaton field and fine-tuning of five parameter assortments we can acquire ultra slow-roll phase to slow down the inflaton field due to high friction. This enables us to achieve enough enhancement in the amplitude of curvature perturbations power spectra to generate PBHs with different masses. The reheating stage is considered to obtain criteria for PBHs generation during radiation dominated era. We demonstrate that three cases of asteroid mass PBHs ($10^{-12}M_{\odot}$, $10^{-13}M_{\odot}$, and $10^{-15}M_{\odot})$ can be very interesting candidates for comprising $100\%$ , $98.3\%$ and $99.1\%$ of the total Dark Matter (DM) content of the universe. Moreover, we analyse the production of induced Gravitational Waves (GWs), and illustrate that their spectra of current density parameter $(\Omega_{\rm GW_0})$ for all parameter Cases foretold by our model have climaxes which cut the sensitivity curves of GWs detectors, ergo the veracity of our outcomes can be tested in light of these detectors. At last, our numerical results exhibit that the spectra of $\Omega_{\rm GW_0}$ behave as a power-law function with respect to frequency, $\Omega_{\rm GW_0} (f) \sim (f/f_c)^{n} $, in the vicinity of climaxes. Also, in the infrared regime $f\ll f_{c}$, the power index satisfies the relation $n=3-2/\ln(f_c/f)$., Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures

Cosmological correlation functions contain valuable information about the primordial Universe, with possible signatures of new massive particles at very high energies. Recent developments, including the cosmological bootstrap, bring new perspectives and powerful tools to study these observables. In this paper, we systematically classify inflationary three-point correlators of scalar perturbations using the bootstrap method. For the first time, we derive a complete set of single-exchange cosmological collider bispectra with new shapes and potentially detectable signals. Specifically, we focus on the primordial scalar bispectra generated from the exchange of massive particles with all possible boost-breaking interactions during inflation. We introduce three-point "seed" functions, from which we bootstrap the inflationary bispectra of scalar and spinning exchanges using weight-shifting and spin-raising operators. The computation of the seed function requires solving an ordinary differential equation in comoving momenta, a boundary version of the equation of motion satisfied by a propagator that linearly mixes a massive particle with the external light scalars. The resulting correlators are presented in analytic form, for any kinematics. These shapes are of interest for near-future cosmological surveys, as the primordial non-Gaussianity in boost-breaking theories can be large. We also identify new features in these shapes, which are phenomenologically distinct from the de Sitter invariant cases. For example, the oscillatory shapes around the squeezed limit have different phases. Furthermore, when the massive particle has much lower speed of sound than the inflaton, oscillatory features appear around the equilateral configuration., 63 pages, 8 figures; v2: published version with minor revisions and references added

The Hubble tension arises from different observations between the late-time and early Universe. We explore a new model with dark fluid, called the exponential acoustic dark energy (eADE) model, to relieve the Hubble tension. The eADE model gives an exponential form of the equation of state (EoS) in the acoustic dark energy, which is the first time to explore an exponential form for the EoS. In this model, the gravitational effects from the acoustic oscillations of the model can impact the CMB phenomena at the matter radiation equally epoch. We give the constraints of the eADE model by the current cosmological dataset. The comparison of the phenomena with the standard model can be shown through CMB and matter power spectra. The fitting results of our model have $$H_0 = 70.06^{+1.13}_{-1.09}$$ H 0 = 70 . 06 - 1.09 + 1.13 in 95$$\%$$ % C.L. and a smaller best-fit value than $$\Lambda $$ Λ CDM.

In this letter, we implement a test of the standard law for the dark matter density evolution. For this purpose, only a flat universe and the validity of the FRW metric are assumed. A deformed dark matter density evolution law is considered, given by $\rho_c(z) \propto (1+z)^{3+\epsilon}$, and constraints on $\epsilon$ are obtained by using galaxy cluster gas mass fractions, and cosmic chronometers measurements. We find that $\epsilon =0$ within 2$\sigma$ c.l., in full agreement with other recent analyses., Comment: 7 Pages, 3 figures, and Accepted for publication in EPJC

The emergence of one and two-dimensional configurations -- Zeldovich pancakes -- progenitors of the observed filaments and clusters and groups of galaxies, is predicted by means of a developed kinetic approach in analyzing the evolution of initial density perturbations. The self-consistent gravitational interaction described by Vlasov-Poisson set of equations with branching conditions is shown to predict two-dimensional structures as of layers of increased density and voids between them, i.e. the cellular macro-structure of the Universe. The modified potential of weak-field General Relativity is involved, which enables one to explain the Hubble tension, revealing the conceptual discrepancy in the local galactic flows and the cosmological expansion. This demonstrates the possible essential role of self-consistent gravity in the formation of the cosmic web., Comment: 8 pages, 1 fig., Eur.Phys.J.Plus (in press), to match the published version

GroundBIRD is a ground-based experiment for the precise observation of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). To achieve high sensitivity at large angular scale, we adopt three features in this experiment: fast rotation scanning, microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) and cold optics. The rotation scanning strategy has the advantage to suppress $1/f$ noise. It also provides a large sky coverage of 40\%, which corresponds to the large angular scales of $l \sim 6$. This allows us to constrain the tensor-to-scalar ratio by using low $l$ B-mode spectrum. The focal plane consists of 7 MKID arrays for two target frequencies, 145 GHz and 220 GHz band. There are 161 pixels in total, of which 138 are for 144 GHz and 23 are for 220 GHz. This array is currently under development and the prototype will soon be evaluated in telescope. The GroundBIRD telescope will observe the CMB at the Teide observatory. The telescope was moved from Japan to Tenerife and is now under test. We present the status and plan of the GroundBIRD experiment., 7 pages, 5 figures, LTD18 proceeding, Published in JLTP

Galaxy clusters are the most massive collapsed structures in the universe whose potential wells are filled with hot, X-ray emitting intracluster medium. Observations however show that a significant number of clusters (the so-called cool-core clusters) also contain large amounts of cold gas in their centres, some of which is in the form of spatially extended filaments spanning scales of tens of kiloparsecs. These findings have raised questions about the origin of the cold gas, as well as its relationship with the central active galactic nucleus (AGN), whose feedback has been established as a ubiquitous feature in such galaxy clusters. Here we report a radiation hydrodynamic simulation of AGN feedback in a galaxy cluster, in which cold filaments form from the warm, AGN-driven outflows with temperatures between $10^4$ and $10^7$ K as they rise in the cluster core. Our analysis reveals a new mechanism, which, through the combination of radiative cooling and ram pressure, naturally promotes outflows whose cooling time is shorter than their rising time, giving birth to spatially extended cold gas filaments. Our results strongly suggest that the formation of cold gas and AGN feedback in galaxy clusters are inextricably linked and shed light on how AGN feedback couples to the intracluster medium., 24 pages, 8 figures. This is the authors' final accepted version including the supplementary information and references therein. The published version is available at http://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1090-7

The Large Scale Polarization Explorer (LSPE) is a cosmology program for the measurement of large scale curl-like features (B-modes) in the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background. Its goal is to constrain the background of inflationary gravity waves traveling through the universe at the time of matter-radiation decoupling. The two instruments of LSPE are meant to synergically operate by covering a large portion of the northern microwave sky. LSPE/STRIP is a coherent array of receivers planned to be operated from the Teide Observatory in Tenerife, for the control and characterization of the low-frequency polarized signals of galactic origin; LSPE/SWIPE is a balloon-borne bolometric polarimeter based on 330 large throughput multi-moded detectors, designed to measure the CMB polarization at 150 GHz and to monitor the polarized emission by galactic dust above 200 GHz. The combined performance and the expected level of systematics mitigation will allow LSPE to constrain primordial B-modes down to a tensor/scalar ratio of $10^{-2}$. We here report the status of the STRIP pre-commissioning phase and the progress in the characterization of the key subsystems of the SWIPE payload (namely the cryogenic polarization modulation unit and the multi-moded TES pixels) prior to receiver integration., 8 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Journal of Low Temperature Physics

Over recent decades, cosmological simulations of galaxy formation have been instrumental in advancing our understanding of structure and galaxy formation in the Universe. These simulations follow the nonlinear evolution of galaxies, modelling a variety of physical processes over an enormous range of time and length scales. A better understanding of the relevant physical processes, improved numerical methods and increased computing power have led to simulations that can reproduce a large number of the observed galaxy properties. Modern simulations model dark matter, dark energy and ordinary matter in an expanding space-time starting from well-defined initial conditions. The modelling of ordinary matter is most challenging due to the large array of physical processes affecting this component. Cosmological simulations have also proven useful to study alternative cosmological models and their impact on the galaxy population. This Technical Review presents a concise overview of the methodology of cosmological simulations of galaxy formation and their different applications. ©2020, Springer Nature Limited., NASA ATP grant (NNX17AG29G), NSF grant (AST-1814053), NSF grant (AST-1814259)