Search

[Departement_IRSTEA]Territoires [TR1_IRSTEA]SEDYVIN [ADD1_IRSTEA]Dynamique et fonctionnement des écosystèmes; International audience; Aim: Seasonally dry tropical forest (SDTF) of the Caribbean Islands (primarily West Indies) is floristically distinct from Neotropical SDTF in Central and South America. We evaluate whether tree species composition was associated with climatic gradients or geographical distance. Turnover (dissimilarity) in species composition of different islands or among more distant sites would suggest communities structured by speciation and dispersal limitations. A nested pattern would be consistent with a steep resource gradient. Correlation of species composition with climatic variation would suggest communities structured by broad‐scale environmental filtering.Location: The West Indies (The Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Lucia), Providencia (Colombia), south Florida (USA) and Florida Keys (USA).Taxon: Seed plants—woody taxa (primarily trees).Methods: We compiled 572 plots from 23 surveys conducted between 1969 and 2016. Hierarchical clustering of species in plots, and indicator species analysis for the resulting groups of sites, identified geographical patterns of turnover in species composition. Nonparametric analysis of variance, applied to principal components of bioclimatic variables, determined the degree of covariation in climate with location. Nestedness versus turnover in species composition was evaluated using beta diversity partitioning. Generalized dissimilarity modelling partitioned the effect of climate versus geographical distance on species composition.Results: Despite a set of commonly occurring species, SDTF tree community composition was distinct among islands and was characterized by spatial turnover on climatic gradients that covaried with geographical gradients. Greater Antillean islands were characterized by endemic indicator species. Northern subtropical areas supported distinct, rather than nested, SDTF communities in spite of low levels of endemism.Main conclusions: The SDTF species composition was correlated with climatic variation. SDTF on large Greater Antillean islands (Hispaniola, Jamaica and Cuba) was characterized by endemic species, consistent with their geological history and the biogeography of plant lineages. These results suggest that both environmental filtering and speciation shape Caribbean SDTF tree communities.

Warm Dark Matter(WDM), considerably clarifies and simplifies galaxies and galaxy formation in agreement with observations. WDM essentially works, naturally reproducing the astronomical observations over all scales, small (galactic) as well as large and cosmological scales.Evidence that CDM, CDM+baryons and proposed tailored cures do not work in galaxies is staggering, The Chalonge Meudon Workshop 2012 approached DM in a fourfold coherent way: astronomical observations (galaxy and cluster properties, haloes, rotation curves, density profiles, surface density), LambdaWDM N-body simulations, WDM theory (Boltzmann-Vlasov evolution, halo mass functions, halo models, improved perturbative approachs), quantum WDM fermions forming the observed cores, WDM particle and nuclear physics (sterile neutrinos) and its experimental search. N Amorisco, P Biermann, S Das, H J de Vega, A Kamada, E Ferri(MARE),I D Karanchetsev, W Liao, M Lovell, M Papastergis, N G Sanchez, P Valageas,C Watson, J Zavala,He Zhang present their Highlights.Inside galaxy cores, N-body classical physics simulations are incorrect for WDM because of important quantum effects at such scales.Quantum WDM calculations (Thomas-Fermi) provide galaxy cores, galaxy masses, velocity dispersions and density profiles in agreement with observations.Baryons (16% of DM) are expected to give a correction to pure WDM results. The summary and conclusions by H. J. de Vega and N. G. Sanchez stress that all evidences point to a DM particle mass around 2 keV. Peter Biermann in his live minutes concludes that a few keV sterile neutrino is the most serious DM candidate. MARE -and hopefully KATRIN- could provide a sterile neutrino signal.There is a formidable WDM work to perform ahead of us, these highlights point research directions worthwhile to pursue.Photos of the Workshop are included (Abridged)., Comment: 61 pages, 19 figures, latex typos corrected

13 pages, 4 figures. Based on Lectures by H J de V at NuMass 2013, Milano-Bicocca, Feb 2013; at Cosmic Frontiers, SLAC, March 2013 and by H J de V and N G S at the Chalonge Torino Colloquium 2013, Apr 2013; Warm dark matter (WDM) means DM particles with mass m in the keV scale. For large scales, for structures beyond 100 kpc, WDM and CDM yield identical results which agree with observations. For intermediate scales, WDM gives the correct abundance of substructures. Inside galaxy cores, below 100 pc, N-body classical physics simulations are incorrect for WDM because at such scales quantum effects are important for WDM. Quantum calculations (Thomas-Fermi approach) provide galaxy cores, galaxy masses, velocity dispersions and density profiles in agreement with the observations. All evidences point to a dark matter particle mass around 2 keV. Baryons, which represent 16% of DM, are expected to give a correction to pure WDM results. The detection of the DM particle depends upon the particle physics model. Sterile neutrinos with keV scale mass (the main WDM candidate) can be detected in beta decay for Tritium and Renium and in the electron capture in Holmiun. The sterile neutrino decay into X rays can be detected observing DM dominated galaxies and through the distortion of the black-body CMB spectrum. The effective number of neutrinos, N_{eff} measured by WMAP9 and Planck satellites is compatible with two Majorana sterile neutrinos with mass much smaller than the electron mass. One of them can be a WDM sterile neutrino. So far, not a single valid objection arose against WDM.

LWDM (Warm Dark Matter) is progressing impressively.The galactic scale crisis and decline of LCDM+baryons are staggering. The 16th Paris Chalonge Colloquium 2012 combined real cosmological/astrophysical data and hard theory predictive approach in the LWDM Standard Model. News and reviews from ACT,WMAP,SPT,QUIET,Planck,Herschel,JWST,UFFO,KATRIN and MARE experiments; astrophysics, particle and nuclear physics WDM searches, galactic observations, related theory and simulations, with the aim of synthesis and clarification. Here highlights by P Biermann, C Burigana, C Conselice, A Cooray, H de Vega, C Giunti & M Laveder, J Kormendi & K Freeman, E Ma, J Mather, L Page, G Smoot, N Sanchez. Summary and conclusions by de Vega, Falvella and Sanchez. Data confirm primordial CMB gaussianity. Effective (Ginsburg-Landau) Inflation theory predicts r about 0.04-0.05, negligeable running of ns, the inflation energy scale (GUT scale) and the set of CMB observables in agreement with the data. WMAP9 and Planck measurements are compatible with one or two Majorana sterile neutrinos in the eV mass scale. Cored (non cusped) DM halos and keV WDM are strongly favored by theory and observations, Wimps are strongly disfavoured. LambdaCDM with baryons do not work at small scales. Inside galaxy cores, quantum WDM effects are important. Quantum WDM calculations (Thomas-Fermi) provide galaxy masses, velocity dispersions and cored profiles and their sizes in agreement with observations. A WDM fermion of about 2 keV naturally reproduces galaxy, large scale and cosmological observations. WDM keV particles deserve dedicated astronomical and laboratory searches, theoretical work and numerical simulations. KATRIN can be adapted to look to keV scale sterile neutrinos. It will be a fantastic discovery to detect dark matter in beta decay. Photos of the Colloquium are included, 58 pages, 15 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1203.3562, arXiv:1305.7452, arXiv:1009.3494, arXiv:1304.0759

The Chalonge 14th Paris Cosmology Colloquium was held on 22-24 July 2010 in Paris Observatory on the Standard Model of the Universe: News from WMAP7, BICEP, QUAD, SPT, AMI, ACT, Planck, QUIJOTE and Herschel; dark matter (DM) searches and galactic observations; related theory and simulations. %aiming synthesis, progress and clarification. P Biermann, D Boyanovsky, A Cooray, C Destri, H de Vega, G Gilmore, S Gottlober, E Komatsu, S McGaugh, A Lasenby, R Rebolo, P Salucci, N Sanchez and A Tikhonov present here their highlights of the Colloquium. Inflection points emerged: LambdaWDM (Warm DM) emerges impressively over LambdaCDM whose galactic scale problems are ever-increasing. Summary and conclusions by H. J. de Vega, M. C. Falvella and N. G. Sanchez stress among other points: (i) Primordial CMB gaussianity is confirmed. Inflation effective theory predicts a tensor to scalar ratio 0.05-0.04 at reach/border line of next CMB observations, early fast-roll inflation provides lowest multipoles depression. SZ amplitudes are smaller than expected: CMB and X-ray data agree but intracluster models need revision and relaxed/non-relaxed clusters distinction. (ii) cosmic ray positron excess is explained naturally by astrophysical processes, annihilating/decaying dark matter needs growing tailoring. (iii) Cored (non cusped) DM halos and warm (keV scale mass) DM are increasingly favored from theory and observations, naturally producing observed small scale structures, wimps turn strongly disfavoured. LambdaWDM 1 keV simulations well reproduce observations. Evidence that LambdaCDM does not work at small scales is staggering. P Biermann presents his live minutes of the Colloquium and concludes that a keV sterile neutrino is the most interesting DM candidate. Photos of the Colloquium are included., Comment: 58 pages, 20 figures. Three contributions added: G. Gilmore, S. Gottlober and E. Komatsu

14 pages, 13 figures; We combine observed properties of galaxies as the core density and radius with the theoretical linear evolution of density fluctuations computed from first principles since the end of inflation till today. The halo radius r_0 is computed in terms of cosmological parameters. The theoretical density profiles rho(r)/rho(0) have an universal shape as a function of r/r_0 which reproduces the observations. We show that the linear approximation to the Boltzmann-Vlasov equation is valid for very large galaxies and correctly provides universal quantities which are common to all galaxies, as the surface density and density profile. By matching the theoretically computed surface density to its observed value we obtain (i) the decreasing of the phase-space density during the MD era (ii) the mass of the dark matter particle which turns to be between 1 and 2 keV and the decoupling temperature T_d which turns to be above 100 GeV (iii) the core vs. cusp discrimination: keV dark matter particles produce cored density profiles while wimps (m \sim 100 GeV, T_d \sim 5 GeV) produce cusped profiles at scales about 0.03 pc. These results are independent of the particle model and vary very little with the statistics of the dark matter particle. Non-universal galaxy quantities (which need to include non-linear effects as mergers and baryons) are reproduced in the linear approximation up to a factor of order one for the halo radius r_0, galaxy mass M_{gal}, halo central density rho_{0} and velocity dispersion sqrt{{\overline {v^2}}_{halo}} in the limiting case of large galaxies (both r_0 and M_{gal} large). This shows the power of the linear approximation scheme: although it cannot capture the whole content of the structure formation, it correctly provides universal quantities which as well as the main non-universal galaxy properties.

The 13th Chalonge Paris Cosmology Colloquium was held at the historic Perrault building of Observatoire de Paris on 23-25 July 2009. The Colloquium was held in the spirit of the Chalonge School, putting together real cosmological and astrophysical data and hard theory predictive approach in the framework of the Standard Model of the Universe. Peter Biermann, James Bullock, Claudio Destri, Hector de Vega, Massimo Giovannini, Sasha Kashlinsky, Eiichiro Komatsu, Anthony Lasenby and Norma G. Sanchez present here their highlights of the Colloquium. The summary and conclusions by H. J. de Vega, M. C. Falvella and N. G. Sanchez stress among other points: (i) the primordial CMB fluctuations are almost gaussian, large primordial non-gaussianity and large running index are strongly disfavored. The primordial graviton ratio r is predicted in the effective theory of inflation to be between 0.021 and 0.053, at reach of the next CMB observations. (ii) Dark energy observations are consistent with the cosmological constant. (iii) The cosmic ray positron excess recently observed is explained by natural astrophysical processes. (iv) The heavy dark matter particle candidates ( > 1 GeV, wimps) became strongly disfavored, while cored (non cusped) dark matter halos and light (keV scale mass) dark matter are being increasingly favored from theory and astrophysical observations. The Daniel Chalonge Medal 2009 was awarded to Peter Biermann during the Colloquium. Photos of the Colloquium are included., 22 pages, 3 pictures. Problem with the poster fixed

9 pages, 2 figures; Cumulative observational evidence confirm that the surface density of dark matter (DM) halos mu_{0 D} = r_0 rho_0, (r_0 and rho_0 are the halo core radius and central density, respectively), is nearly constant and independent of galaxy luminosity for a high number of galactic systems (spirals, dwarf irregular and spheroidals, elliptics). We point out that this universal relation is of the same kind as the Larson relation for the or column density mu_{0 D} of interstellar molecular clouds of size r_0. Remarkably, its numerical value mu_{0 D} = 140 M_{sun}/pc^2 = (18.6 Mev)^3 is approximately the same (up to a factor of two) in all these systems. A simple physical explanation of the constance of mu_{0 D} is given, mu_{0 D} being a dynamical scale determined by gravitational clustering. We theoretically compute mu_{0 D} and the density profile for small scales from the linearized Boltzmann-Vlasov equation for self-gravitating DM. The theoretically derived density profiles rho_{lin}(r) turn to be cored and the resulting value for mu_{0 D} is remarkably close to the observations. Our density profile rho_{lin}(r) decreases as r^{-1-n_s/2} for small scales where n_s = 0.964 is the primordial spectral index. This scaling is in remarkably agreement with the empirical behaviour recently found observationally: r^{-1.6 pm 0.4}. The value of mu_{0 D} implies that the DM particle mass is in the keV scale. Our results do not use any particle physics model and vary slightly with the statistics of the DM particle. This analysis provides further evidence for the mass scale of the (cold) dark matter particle in the keV range.

We perform a MCMC (Monte Carlo Markov Chains) analysis of the available CMB and LSS data (including the three years WMAP data) with single field slow-roll new inflation and chaotic inflation models. We do this within our approach to inflation as an effective field theory in the GinsburgLandau spirit with fourth degree trinomial potentials in the inflaton field phi.We derive explicit formu- lae and study in detail the spectral index ns of the adiabatic fluctuations the ratio r of tensor to scalar fluctuations and the running index dn_s/dln k. We use these analytic formulas as hard constraints on n_s and r in the MCMC analysis.Our analysis differs in this crucial aspect from previous MCMC studies in the literature involving the WMAP3 data. Our results are as follow: (i) The data strongly indicate the breaking (whether spontaneous or explicit) of the phi -> -phi symmetry of the inflaton potentials both for new and for chaotic inflation.(ii)Trinomial new inflation naturally satisfies this requirement and provides an excellent fit to the data.(iii)Trinomial chaotic inflation produces the best fit in a very narrow corner of the parameter space.(iv) The chaotic symmetric trinomial potential is almost certainly ruled out(at 95% CL).In tri- nomial chaotic inflation the MCMC runs go towards a potential in the boundary of the parameter space and which ressembles a spontaneously symmetry broken potential of new inflation. (v) The above results and further physical analysis here lead us to conclude that new inflation gives the best description of the data.(vi) We find a lower bound for r within trinomial new inflation potentials r > 0.016 (95% CL) and r > 0.049 (68% CL). (vii) The preferred new inflation trinomial potential is a double well, even function of the field yielding as most probable values: n_s ~ 0.958, r ~ 0.055. Such r could be observed soon., 26 pages, 9 figures. Expanded and improved version to appear in Phys. Rev. D

Slow-roll inflation can be studied as an effective field theory. The form of the inflaton potential consistent with the data is V(phi) = N M^4 w(phi/[sqrt{N} M_{Pl}]) where phi is the inflaton field, M is the inflation energy scale, and N ~ 50 the number of efolds. The dimensionless function w(chi) and field chi are O(1). This form of the potential encodes the slow-roll expansion as an expansion in 1/N.A The Hubble parameter, inflaton mass and non-linear couplings are of the see-saw form in terms of M/M_{Pl}. The quartic coupling is lambda~1/N (M/M_{Pl})^4. The smallness of the non-linear couplings is not a result of fine tuning but a natural consequence of the validity of the effective field theory and slow roll approximation. Quantum corrections to slow roll inflation are computed and turn to be an expansion in powers (H/M_{Pl})^2. The corrections to the inflaton effective potential and its equation of motion are computed, as well as the quantum corrections to the observable power spectra. The near scale invariance of the fluctuations introduces a strong infrared behavior naturally regularized by Delta=(n_s -1)/2+r/8. We consider scalar curvature and tensor perturbations as well as light scalars and Dirac fermions coupled to the inflaton.The subhorizon part is completely specified by the trace anomaly of the fields with different spins and is solely determined by the space-time geometry. This inflationary effective potential is strikingly different from the usual Minkowski space-time result.Quantum corrections to the power spectra are expressed in terms of the CMB observables. Trace anomalies (especially the graviton part) dominate these quantum corrections in a definite direction: they enhance the scalar curvature fluctuations and reduce the tensor fluctuations., Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure, Opening Lecture at JGRG15 Tokyo, Japan, November 2005. Lecture at Miami05, Key Biscayne, Florida, December 2005

The non-relativistic self-gravitating gas in thermal equilibrium in the presence of a positive cosmological constant Lambda (dark energy) is investigated. The dark energy introduces a force pushing outward all particles with strength proportional to their distance to the center of mass.We consider the statistical mechanics of the self-gravitating gas of N particles in a volume V at thermal equilibrium in the presence of Lambda. It is shown that the thermodynamic limit exists and is described by the mean field equations provided N, V -> inf with N/V^{1/3} fixed and Lambda V^{2/3} fixed. That is, Lambda -> 0 for N, V -> inf. The case of Lambda fixed and N, V -> inf is solved too. We solve numerically the mean field equation for spherical symmetry obtaining an isothermal sphere for Lambda>0. The particle distribution turns to flatten compared with the Lambda = 0 case.Moreover, the particle density increases with the distance when the cosmological constant dominates. There is a bordering case with uniform density.The density contrast between the center and the boundary is significatively reduced. In addition, the critical point associated to the collapse (Jeans') phase transition is pushed towards higher values of N/[T V^{1/3}] by the presence of Lambda > 0.The nature and the behaviour near the critical points is not affected by the presence of Lambda>0., LaTex, 29 pages, 15 .ps figures. Stability analysis revised and improved

17 pages, 9 figures; International audience; keV sterile neutrinos are important as extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics and as serious keV dark matter (DM) candidates (Warm DM) in agreement with both cosmological and galaxy observations. We study the possible detection of a keV sterile neutrino through its mixing with a light active neutrino in the Rhenium 187 and Tritium beta decays. The electron low energy beta spectrum 0 keV < T_e < (Q_{beta} - m_s)keV is the region where a sterile neutrino could be detected and its mass m_s measured, (m_s being expected 1 to 10 keV from cosmological and galactic observations and theoretical analysis). This region is away from the near end-point Q_{beta} region suitable to measure the mass of the light active neutrino. In order to analyze the sterile neutrino effect, we introduce the dimensionless ratio R of the sterile neutrino to the active neutrino contribution: R exhibits a constant plateau that starts at momentum p_e = 0 and sharply drops for p_e near its maximum value; R increases with the mixing angle and decreases for increasing sterile neutrino mass m_s. The Kurie function is expressed in terms of R and reflects its properties. For Re 187 the p-wave electrons dominate the decay by a factor 10^4 over the s-wave electrons while the Tritium decays exclusively through the s-wave electrons. Two very important experiments are running at present: MARE and KATRIN for Rhenium 187 and Tritium beta decays respectively; (KATRIN concentrates on the end-point electron region but if appropriately modified could look for the keV sterile neutrino as well). The carefully computed decay rates and spectra support that the largest realistic ratio R is about 10^{-8} for current sterile neutrino models, and the number of sterile neutrino events [for typical 10 years of MARE data acquisition] is about 10^{5}-10^{7}, which is not negligible.

We present a model independent analysis of dark matter (DM) both decoupling ultra relativistic (UR) and non-relativistic (NR) based in the phase-space density D = rho_{DM}/sigma^3_{DM}. We derive explicit formulas for the DM particle mass m and for the number of ultra relativistic degrees of freedom g_d at decoupling. We find that for DM particles decoupling UR both at local thermal equilibrium (LTE) and out of LTE, m turns to be at the keV scale. For example, for DM Majorana fermions decoupling at LTE the mass results m ~ 0.85 keV. For DM particles decoupling NR, sqrt{m T_d} results in the keV scale (T_d is the decoupling temperature) and the m value is consistent with the keV scale. In all cases, DM turns to be cold DM (CDM). Also, lower and upper bounds on the DM annihilation cross-section for NR decoupling are derived. We evaluate the free-streaming (Jeans') length and Jeans' mass: they result independent of the type of DM except for the DM self-gravity dynamics. The free-streaming length today results in the kpc range. These results are based on our theoretical analysis, astronomical observations of dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies in the Milky Way and N-body numerical simulations. We analyze and discuss the results on D from analytic approximate formulas both for linear fluctuations and the (non-linear) spherical model and from N-body simulations results. We obtain in this way upper bounds for the DM particle mass which all result below the 100 keV range., Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. Expanded version to be published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

We study the Landau pole in the lambda phi^4 field theory at non-zero and large temperatures. We show that the position of the thermal Landau pole Lambda_L(T) is shifted to higher energies with respect to the zero temperature Landau pole Lambda_L(0). We find for high temperatures T > Lambda_L(0), Lambda_L(T) simeq pi^2 T / log (T / Lambda_L(0)). Therefore, the range of applicability in energy of the lambda phi^4 field theory increases with the temperature., LaTex, 6 pages, 2 .ps figures. Improved version. To appear in Phys. Rev. D, Rapid Communications

Analytic formulas reproducing the warm dark matter (WDM) primordial spectra are obtained for WDM particles decoupling in and out of thermal equilibrium which provide the initial data for WDM non-linear structure formation. We compute and analyze the corresponding WDM overdensities and compare them to the CDM case. We consider the ratio of the WDM to CDM primordial spectrum and the WDM to CDM overdensities: they turn to be self-similar functions of k/k_{1/2} and R/R_{1/2} respectively, k_{1/2} and R_{1/2} being the wavenumber and length where the WDM spectrum and overdensity are 1/2 of the respective CDM magnitudes. Both k_{1/2} and R_{1/2} show scaling as powers of the WDM particle mass m while the self-similar functions are independent of m. The WDM primordial spectrum sharply decreases around k_{1/2} with respect to the CDM spectrum, while the WDM overdensity slowly decreases around R_{1/2}. The nonlinear regions where WDM structure formation takes place are shown and compared to those in CDM: the WDM non-linear structures start to form later than in CDM, and as a general trend, decreasing the DM particle mass delays the onset of the non-linear regime. The non-linear regime starts earlier for smaller objects than for larger ones; smaller objects can form earlier both in WDM and CDM. We compute and analyze the differential mass function dN/dM for WDM at redshift z in the Press-Schechter approach. The WDM suppression effect of small scale structure increases with the redshift z. Our results for dN/dM are useful to be contrasted with observations, in particular for 4 < z < 12. We perfom all these studies for the most popular WDM particle physics models. Contrasting them to observations should point out the precise value of the WDM particle mass in the keV scale, and help to single out the best WDM particle physics model (Abridged)., 18 pages, 8 figures. To appear in Phys Rev D

The MCMC analysis of the CMB+LSS data in the context of the Ginsburg-Landau approach to inflation indicated that the fourth degree double--well inflaton potential best fits the present CMB and LSS data. This provided a lower bound for the ratio r of the tensor to scalar fluctuations and as most probable value r = 0.05, within reach of the forthcoming CMB observations. We systematically analyze here the effects of arbitrary higher order terms in the inflaton potential on the CMB observables: spectral index ns and ratio r. Furthermore, we compute in close form the inflaton potential dynamically generated when the inflaton field is a fermion condensate in the inflationary universe. This inflaton potential turns to belong to the Ginsburg-Landau class too. The theoretical values in the (ns,r) plane for all double well inflaton potentials in the Ginsburg-Landau approach (including the potential generated by fermions) turn to be inside a universal banana-shaped region B. The upper border of the banana-shaped region B is given by the fourth order double--well potential and provides an upper bound for the ratio r.The lower border of B is defined by the quadratic plus an infinite barrier inflaton potential and provides a lower bound for the ratio r. For example, the current best value of the spectral index ns = 0.964, implies r is in the interval: 0.021 < r < 0.053. Interestingly enough, this range is within reach of forthcoming CMB observations., 24 pages, 10 figures. Presentation improved. To appear in Annals of Physics

Inflation is part of the Standard Model of the Universe supported by CMB and large scale structure LSS datasets. This review presents new developments of inflation in three main chapters. (I): The effective theory of inflation a la Ginsburg-Landau (GL): the inflaton potential is a polynomial with universal form making explicit the inflation energy scale M, the Planck mass and the inflation e-folds number N ~ 60. The slow-roll expansion becomes a systematic 1/N expansion and the inflaton couplings are naturally small as powers of (M/M_{Pl})^2. The spectral index (n_s - 1) and the ratio of tensor/scalar fluctuations r are O(1/N), the running index is O(1/N^2). M ~ 0.7 10^{16} GeV is completely determined by the scalar adiabatic fluctuations amplitude. (II): A Monte Carlo Markov Chains (MCMC) analysis of the CMB+LSS data (including WMAP5) with our analytic theoretical results yields: a lower bound for r (new inflation): r > 0.023 (95%CL), r > 0.046 (68%CL); the preferred inflation potential is a double well, even function of the field yielding as most probable values n_s ~ 0.964, r ~ 0.051. This value for r is within reach of forthcoming CMB observations. Slow-roll inflation is generically preceded by a short fast-roll stage which leads to a suppression of the CMB quadrupoles. MCMC analysis of the WMAP+SDSS data shows that fast-roll fits the TT, TE and EE modes well reproducing the quadrupole suppression and fixes the total number of efolds of inflation to be N_{total} ~ 64. (III) Quantum loop corrections are very small and controlled by powers of (H /M_{Pl})^2 ~ 10^{-9} which validates the effective theory of inflation. We show how powerful is the GL theory of inflation in predicting observables., Review article, 134 pages, 41 figures. Int. J. Mod. Phys. A24, 3669-3864 (2009). A few last improvements

The self-gravitating gas in thermal equilibrium is studied using a Newtonian potential regularized at short distances. This short distance cutoff permits us to obtain a complete description of the gas including its collapsed phase. We give a field theory description of the N-body regularized self-gravitating gas in the canonical ensemble.The corresponding functional integral is dominated in the N -> infty limit by saddle points which provide a mean field description. The well-known dilute solutions (isothermal spheres) are recovered. We find new solutions which are regular in the regularized theory but become singular in the zero cutoff limit. They describe collapsed configurations where the particles are densely concentrated in a region of the size of the cutoff. These collapsed solutions provide the absolute minimum of the free energy. We find further new solutions which interpolate between the collapsed and the dilute configurations and describe tunneling processes where the gas collapses. The transition proba- bility for such collapse processes turns out to be extremely small for large N. That is, the dilute solutions are in practice stable in the regime where they are locally stable., 17 pages, 7 color figures. Some comments and references added. To appear in Nucl. Phys. B

The Thomas-Fermi approach to galaxy structure determines selfconsistently and nonlinearly the gravitational potential of the fermionic WDM particles given their quantum distribution function f(E). Galaxy magnitudes as the halo radius r_h, mass M_h, velocity dispersion and phase space density are obtained. We derive the general equation of state for galaxies (relation between the pressure and the density), and provide an analytic expression. This clearly exhibits two regimes: (i) Large diluted galaxies for M_h > 2.3 10^6 Msun corresponding to temperatures T_0 > 0.017 K, described by the classical self gravitating WDM Boltzman regime and (ii) Compact dwarf galaxies for 1.6 10^6 Msun > M_h>M_{h,min}=30000 (2keV/m)^{16/5} Msun, T_0 10^6 Msun) reflects the WDM perfect gas behaviour. These theoretical results contrasted to robust and independent sets of galaxy data remarkably reproduce the observations. For the small galaxies, 10^6>M_h>M_{h,min} corresponding to effective temperatures T_0 < 0.017 K, the equation of state is galaxy dependent and the profiles are no more universal. These non-universal properties in small galaxies account to the quantum physics of the WDM fermions in the compact regime. Our results are independent of any WDM particle physics model, they only follow from the gravitational interaction of the WDM particles and their fermionic quantum nature., 21 pages, 9 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1309.2290

We derive the main physical galaxy properties: mass, halo radius, phase space density and velocity dispersion from a semiclassical gravitational approach in which fermionic WDM is treated quantum mechanically. They turn out to be compatible with observations. Pauli Principle implies for the fermionic DM phase-space density Q(r) = rho(r)/sigma^3(r) the quantum bound Q(r) < K m^4/hbar^3, where m is the DM particle mass, sigma(r) is the DM velocity dispersion and K is a pure number of order one which we estimate. N-body galaxy simulations produce a divergent Q(r) at r = 0 violating this quantum bound. Combining this bound with the behaviour of Q(r) from simulations, the virial and galaxy data on Q implies lower bounds on the halo radius and a minimal distance r_{min} at which classical dynamics for DM fermions breaks down. This quantum bound rules out the presence of galaxy cusps for fermionic WDM, in agreement with astronomical observations, which show that the DM halos are cored. We show that compact dwarf galaxies are quantum objects supported against gravity by the fermionic WDM quantum pressure. Quantum mechanical calculations become necessary to compute galaxy structures at kpc scales and below. Classical N-body simulations are not valid at scales below r_{min}. We apply the Thomas-Fermi semiclassical approach to fermionic WDM galaxies and find the physical magnitudes: mass, halo radius, phase-space density, velocity dispersion, consistent with observations especially for compact dwarf galaxies. Namely, fermionic WDM treated quantum mechanically, as it must be, reproduces the sizes of the observed cores. The lightest known galaxy Willman I implies a lower bound for the WDM particle mass m > 0.96 keV. These results and the observed galaxies with halo radius > 30 pc and halo mass > 4 10^5 M_sun provide further indication that the WDM particle mass m is in the range 1-2 keV., 25 pages, 2 figures. To appear in New Astronomy

The transfer function $T(k)$ of dark matter (DM) perturbations during matter domination is obtained by solving the collisionless Boltzmann-Vlasov equation. We find an \emph{exact} expression for $T(k)$ for \emph{arbitrary} distribution functions of decoupled particles and initial conditions}. We find a remarkably accurate and simple approximation valid on all scales of cosmological relevance for structure formation in the linear regime. The natural scale of suppression is the free streaming wavevector at matter-radiation equality, $ k_{fs}(t_{eq}) = [{4����_{0M}}/{[< \vec{V}^2> (1+z_{eq})]} ]^\frac12 $. An important ingredient is a non-local kernel determined by the distribution functions of the decoupled particles which describes the \emph{memory of the initial conditions and gravitational clustering} and yields a correction to the fluid description. Distribution functions that favor the small momentum region lead to an \emph{enhancement of power at small scales} $ k > k_{fs}(t_{eq}) $. For DM thermal relics that decoupled while ultrarelativistic we find $ k_{fs}(t_{eq}) \simeq 0.003 (g_d/2)^\frac13 (m/\mathrm{keV}) [\mathrm{kpc}]^{-1} $, where $ g_d $ is the number of degrees of freedom at decoupling. For WIMPS we obtain $ k_{fs}(t_{eq}) = 5.88 (g_d/2)^\frac13 (m/100 \mathrm{GeV})^\frac12 (T_d/10 \mathrm{MeV})^\frac12 [\mathrm{pc}]^{-1} $. For $k\ll k_{fs}(t_{eq})$, $T(k) \sim 1-\mathrm{C}[k/k_{fs}(t_{eq})]^2 $ where $C =\mathrm{O}(1)$ for all cases considered and simple and accurate fits for \emph{small} scales., 33 pages, 10 figures. Version to appear in PRD

Quantum fast-roll initial conditions for the inflaton which are different from the classical fast-roll conditions and from the quantum slow-roll conditions can lead to inflation that last long enough. These quantum fast-roll initial conditions for the inflaton allow for kinetic energies of the same order of the potential energies and nonperturbative inflaton modes with nonzero wavenumbers. Their evolution starts with a transitory epoch where the redshift due to the expansion succeeds to assemble the quantum excited modes of the inflaton in a homogeneous (zero mode) condensate, and the large value of the Hubble parameter succeeds to overdamp the fast-roll of the redshifted inflaton modes. After this transitory stage the effective classical slow-roll epoch is reached. Most of the efolds are produced during the slow-roll epoch and we recover the classical slow-roll results for the scalar and tensor metric perturbations plus corrections. These corrections are important, both for scalar and for tensor perturbations, if scales which are horizon-size today exited the horizon by the end of the transitory stage and as a consequence the lower CMB multipoles get suppressed (fast-roll) or enhanced (precondensate). These two types of corrections can compete and combine in a scale dependent manner. They arise as natural consequences of the quantum nonperturbative inflaton dynamics, and provide a consistent and contrastable model for the origin of the suppression of the quadrupole and for other departures of the low CMB multipoles from the slow-roll inflation-LambdaCMB model which are to be contrasted to the TE and EE multipoles and to the forthcoming and future CMB data., Comment: LaTeX, 14 pages, 3 figures

Mass bounds on dark matter (DM) candidates are obtained for particles decoupling in or out of equilibrium with {\bf arbitrary} isotropic and homogeneous distribution functions. A coarse grained Liouville invariant primordial phase space density $ \mathcal D $ is introduced. Combining its value with recent photometric and kinematic data on dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies in the Milky Way (dShps), the DM density today and $N$-body simulations, yields upper and lower bounds on the mass, primordial phase space densities and velocity dispersion of the DM candidates. The mass of the DM particles is bound in the few keV range. If chemical freeze out occurs before thermal decoupling, light bosonic particles can Bose-condense. Such Bose-Einstein {\it condensate} is studied as a dark matter candidate. Depending on the relation between the critical($T_c$)and decoupling($T_d$)temperatures, a BEC light relic could act as CDM but the decoupling scale must be {\it higher} than the electroweak scale. The condensate tightens the upper bound on the particle's mass. Non-equilibrium scenarios that describe particle production and partial thermalization, sterile neutrinos produced out of equilibrium and other DM models are analyzed in detail obtaining bounds on their mass, primordial phase space density and velocity dispersion. Light thermal relics with $ m \sim \mathrm{few} \mathrm{keV}$ and sterile neutrinos lead to a primordial phase space density compatible with {\bf cored} dShps and disfavor cusped satellites. Light Bose condensed DM candidates yield phase space densities consistent with {\bf cores} and if $ T_c\gg T_d $ also with cusps. Phase space density bounds from N-body simulations suggest a potential tension for WIMPS with $ m \sim 100 \mathrm{GeV},T_d \sim 10 \mathrm{MeV} $., Comment: 27 pages 8 figures. Version to appear in Phys. Rev. D

We show that the self-gravitating gas at thermal equilibrium has an infinite volume limit in the three ensembles (GCE, CE, MCE) when (N, V) -> infty, keeping N/V^{1/3} fixed, that is, with eta = G m^2 N/[ V^{1/3} T] fixed. We develop MonteCarlo simulations, analytic mean field methods (MF) and low density expansions. We compute the equation of state and find it to be locally p(r) = T rho_V(r), that is a local ideal gas equation of state. The system is in a gaseous phase for eta < eta_T = 1.51024...and collapses into a very dense object for eta > eta_T in the CE with the pressure becoming large and negative. The isothermal compressibility diverges at eta = eta_T. We compute the fluctuations around mean field for the three ensembles. We show that the particle distribution can be described by a Haussdorf dimension 1 < D < 3., 12 pages, Invited lecture at `Statistical Mechanics of Non-Extensive Systems', Observatoire de Paris, October 2005, to be published in a Special issue of `Les Comptes rendus de l'Acade'mie des sciences', Elsevier

We investigate the issue of initial conditions of curvature and tensor perturba- tions at the beginning of slow roll inflation and their effect on the power spectra. Renormalizability and small back reaction constrain the high k behavior of the Bogoliubov coefficients that define these initial conditions.We introduce a transfer function D(k) which encodes the effect of generic initial conditions on the power spectra. The constraint from renormalizability and small back reaction entails that D(k) < mu^2/k^2 for large k, implying that observable effects from initial conditions are more prominent in the low multipoles. This behavior affects the CMB quadrupole by the observed amount \~10-20% when mu is of the order of the energy scale of inflation. The effects on high l-multipoles are suppressed by a factor ~1/l^2 due to the fall off of D(k) for large wavevectors k. We show that the determination of generic initial conditions for the fluc- tuations is equivalent to the scattering problem by a potential V(eta) localized just prior to the slow roll stage. Such potential leads to a transfer function D(k) which automatically obeys the renormalizability and small backreaction constraints. We find that an attractive potential V(eta) yields a suppression of the lower CMB multipoles.Both for curvature and tensor modes, the quadrupole suppression depends only on the energy scale of V(eta) and on the time interval where V(eta) is nonzero. A suppression of the quadrupole for curvature pertur- bations consistent with the data is obtained when the scale of the potential is of the order of k^2_Q where k_Q is the wavevector whose physical wavelength is the Hubble radius today., Some comments and references added

Slow-roll inflation is studied as an effective field theory.We find as consistent form of the inflaton potential V(phi)=N M^4 w(phi/[sqrt{N}M_P]) where phi is the inflaton field, M the inflation energy scale, M_P the Planck mass, and N~50 the number of efolds since the relevant modes exited the horizon till the end of inflation. The dimensionless function w(chi) and field chi are O(1). The WMAP value for the amplitude of scalar adiabatic fluctuations |\Delta_{k ad}^(S)| fixes the inflation scale M ~ 0.77 10^16 GeV precisely at the GUT scale. This general form of the potential makes manifest that the slow roll expansion is an expansion in 1/N. Powers of 1/N count the orders in the slow roll expansion.This form of the inflaton potential suggests that the super symmetry breaking scale is at the inflation and GUT scales.A Ginzburg-Landau realization of this inflaton potential reveals that Hubble, inflaton mass and non-linear couplings are of the see-saw form in terms of the small ratio M/M_P. For example, the quartic coupling lambda ~ 1/N (M/M_P)^4.The smallness of the non-linear couplings is not a result of fine tuning but a natural consequence of the validity of the effective field theory. We clarify the Lyth bound which relates the tensor/scalar ratio and the value of phi/M_P.Effective field theory is valid for V(phi)<, Comment: 14 pages, no figures, version to appear in Phys Rev D

Within the effective field theory of inflation, an initialization of the classical dynamics of the inflaton with approximate equipartition between the kinetic and potential energy of the inflaton leads to a brief fast roll stage that precedes the slow roll regime. The fast roll stage leads to an attractive potential in the wave equations for the mode functions of curvature and tensor perturbations. The evolution of the inflationary perturbations is equivalent to the scattering by this potential and a useful dictionary between the scattering data and observables is established.Implementing methods from scattering theory we prove that this attractive potential leads to a suppression of the quadrupole moment for CMB and B-mode angular power spectra. The scale of the potential is determined by the Hubble parameter during slow roll. Within the effective field theory of inflation at the grand unification (GUT) energy scale we find that if inflation lasts a total number of efolds N_{tot} ~ 59, there is a 10-20% suppression of the CMB quadrupole and about 2-4% suppression of the tensor quadrupole. The suppression of higher multipoles is smaller, falling off as 1/l^2. The suppression is much smaller for N_{tot} > 59, therefore if the observable suppression originates in the fast roll stage, there is the upper bound N_{tot} ~ 59., Some comments and references added

We clarify inflaton models by considering them as effective field theories in the Ginzburg-Landau spirit.In this new approach, the precise form of the inflationary potential is constructed from the present WMAP data, and a useful scheme is prepared to confront with the forthcoming data. In this approach, the WMAP statement excluding the pure phi^4 potential implies the presence of an inflaton mass term at the scale m sim 10^{13}GeV. Chaotic, new and hybrid inflation is studied in an unified way. In all cases the inflaton potential takes the form V(phi) = m^2 M_{Pl}^2 v(phi/M_{Pl}), where all coefficients in the polynomial v(x) are of order one. If such potential corresponds to super symmetry breaking, the susy breaking scale is sqrt{m M_{Pl}} \sim 10^{16}GeV which turns to coincide with the GUT scale. The inflaton mass is therefore given by a see-saw formula m sim M_{GUT}^2/M_{Pl}. The observables turn to be two valued functions: one branch corresponds to new inflation and the other to chaotic inflation,the branch point being the pure quadratic potential.For red tilt spectrum, the potential which fits the best the present data and which best prepares the way for the forthcoming data is a trinomial polynomial withnegative quadratic term (new inflation).For blue tilt spectrum, hybrid inflation turns to be the best choice. In both cases we find a formula relating the inflaton mass with the ratio r of tensor/scalar perturbations and the spectral index ns of scalar perturbations: 10^6 m/M_{Pl}= 127 sqrt{r|1-n_s|} ;(the coefficient 127 follows from the WMAP amplitude.Implications for string theory are discussed., Comment: LaTeX, 33 pages, 24 .ps figures. Improved version published in Phys Rev D

We study the production of photons from a quark gluon plasma in local thermal equilibrium by introducing a non-perturbative formulation of the real time evolution of the density matrix. The main ingredient is the real time effective action for the electromagnetic field to $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_{em})$ and to all orders in $\alpha_s$. The real time evolution is completely determined by the solution of a \emph{classical stochastic} non-local Langevin equation which provides a Dyson-like resummation of the perturbative expansion. The Langevin equation is solved in closed form by Laplace transform in terms of the thermal photon polarization. A quantum kinetic description emerges directly from this formulation. We find that photons with $k \lesssim 200 ~{Mev}$ \emph{thermalize} as plasmon quasiparticles in the plasma on time scales $t \sim 10-20 ~{fm}/c$ which is of the order of the lifetime of the QGP expected at RHIC and LHC. We then obtain the direct photon yield to lowest order in $\alpha_{em}$ and to leading logarithmic order in $\alpha_s$ in a \emph{uniform} expansion valid at all time. The yield during a QGP lifetime $t \sim 10 ~{fm}/c$ is systematically larger than that obtained with the equilibrium formulation and the spectrum features a distinct flattening for $k \gtrsim 2.5 ~{Gev}$. We discuss the window of reliability of our results, the theoretical uncertainties in \emph{any} treatment of photon emission from a QGP in LTE and the shortcomings of the customary S-matrix approach., Comment: 31 pages. To appear in Nucl. Phys. A. New section (VII) with response to and criticism of hep-ph/0312222

We clarify classical inflaton models by considering them as effective field theories `a la Ginzburg-Landau. In this approach, the WMAP statement excluding the pure phi^4 potential implies the presence of an inflaton mass term at the scale m ~ 10^{13}GeV.Chaotic, new and hybrid inflation models are studied in an unified manner.In all cases the inflaton potential takes the form V(phi)=m^2 M_{Pl}^2 v(phi/M_{Pl}), where all coefficients in v(varphi) are of order one.If such potential corresponds to supersymmetry breaking, the susy scale is sqrt{m M_{Pl}}~10^{16}GeV which coincides with the GUT scale. For red tilted spectrum new inflation turns to be favoured while for blue tilted spectrum, hybrid inflation turns to be the best choice.In both cases, we find an analytic formula relating the inflaton mass with r (tensor/scalar ratio) and the scalar spectral index ns: 10^6 m/M_{Pl} = 127 sqrt{r|1-n_s|} where the numerical coefficient follows from the WMAP amplitude. We review quantum phenomena during inflation which contribute to relevant observables in the CMB anisotropies and polarization and we focus on inflaton decay.The deviation from the scale invariant power spectrum is measured by a small parameter Delta.Delta regulates the infrared divergences too.In slow roll inflation, Delta is a simple function of the slow roll parameters. The quantum fluctuations can selfdecay in the inflationary expansion through processes forbidden in Minkowski. We compute the self-decay of the inflaton quantum fluctuations during slow roll:superhorizon fluctuations decay as eta^{Gamma} in conformal time where the new scaling dimension Gamma is expressed in terms of the amplitude, n_s and r. we discuss the implications for scalar and tensor perturbations as well as for non gaussianities., 12 pages, Lecture given at `The Density Perturbation in the Universe', Demokritos Center, Athens, Grece, June 2004

The self-gravitating gas in the presence of a positive cosmological constant Lambda is studied in thermal equilibrium by Monte Carlo simulations and by the mean field approach. We find excellent agreement between both approaches already for N = 1000 particles on a volume V [The mean field is exact in the infinite N limit]. The domain of stability of the gas is found to increase when the cosmological constant increases. The particle density is shown to be an increasing (decreasing) function of the distance when the dark energy dominates over self-gravity (and vice-versa).We confirm the validity of the thermodynamic limit: N, V -> infty with N/V^{1/3} and Lambda V^{2/3} fixed. In such dilute limit extensive thermodynamic quantities like energy, free energy, entropy turn to be proportional to N. We find that the gas is stable till the isothermal compressibility diverges. Beyond this point the gas becomes a extremely dense object whose properties are studied by Monte Carlo., 17 pages, 10 figures

Neutrino oscillations in the early Universe prior to the epoch of primordial nucleosynthesis is studied by implementing real time non-equilibrium field theory methods. We focus on two flavors of Dirac neutrinos, however, the formulation is general. We obtain the equations of motion for neutrino wavepackets of either chirality and helicity in the plasma allowing for CP asymmetry. Contributions non-local in space-time to the self-energy dominate over the asymmetry for $T \gtrsim 3-5 \mathrm{MeV}$ if the lepton and neutrino asymmetries are of the same order as the baryon asymmetry. We find a new contribution which cannot be interpreted as the usual effective potential. The mixing angles and dispersion relations in the medium depend on \emph{helicity}. We find that resonant transitions are possible in the temperature range $ 10 \lesssim T \ll 100 \mathrm{MeV} $. Near a resonance in the mixing angle, the oscillation time scale in the medium as compared to the vacuum is \emph{slowed-down} substantially for small vacuum mixing angle. The time scale of oscillations \emph{speeds-up} for off resonance high energy neutrinos for which the mixing angle becomes vanishingly small. The equations of motion reduce to the familiar oscillation formulae for negative helicity ultrarelativistic neutrinos, but include consistently both the \emph{mixing angle and the oscillation frequencies in the medium}. These equations of motion also allow to study the dynamics of right handed as well as positive helicity neutrinos., 31 pages 2 figures. Version to appear in Phys. Rev. D

We study static and dynamical critical phenomena of chiral symmetry breaking in a two-flavor Nambu--Jona-Lasinio constituent quark model. We obtain the low-energy effective action for scalar and pseudoscalar degrees of freedom to lowest order in quark loops and to quadratic order in the meson fluctuations around the mean field. The \emph{static} limit of critical phenomena is shown to be described by a Ginzburg-Landau effective action including \emph{spatial} gradients. Hence \emph{static} critical phenomena is described by the universality class of the O(4) Heisenberg ferromagnet. \emph{Dynamical} critical phenomena is studied by obtaining the equations of motion for pion fluctuations. We find that for $T, Comment: 22 pages 5 figures. to appear in Nucl. Phys. A

We investigate the out of equilibrium dynamics of global chiral supersymmetry at finite energy density. We concentrate on two specific models. The first is the massive Wess-Zumino model which we study in a selfconsistent one-loop approximation. We find that for energy densities above a certain threshold, the fields are driven dynamically to a point in field space at which the fermionic component of the superfield is massless. The state, however is found to be unstable, indicating a breakdown of the one-loop approximation. To investigate further, we consider an O(N) massive chiral model which is solved exactly in the large $N$ limit. For sufficiently high energy densities, we find that for late times the fields reach a nonperturbative minimum of the effective potential degenerate with the perturbative minimum. This minimum is a true attractor for O(N) invariant states at high energy densities, and this provides a mechanism for determining which of the otherwise degenerate vacua is chosen by the dynamics. The final state for large energy density is a cloud of massless particles (both bosons and fermions) around this new nonperturbative supersymmetric minimum. By introducing boson masses which softly break the supersymmetry, we demonstrate a see-saw mechanism for generating small fermion masses. We discuss some of the cosmological implications of our results., Comment: 31 pages, 15 figures

We study the generation of magnetic fields during the stage of particle production resulting from spinodal instabilities during phase transitions out of equilibrium. The main premise is that long-wavelength instabilities that drive the phase transition lead to strong non-equilibrium charge and current fluctuations which generate electromagnetic fields. We present a formulation based on the non-equilibrium Schwinger-Dyson equations that leads to an exact expression for the spectrum of electromagnetic fields valid for general theories and cosmological backgrounds and whose main ingredient is the transverse photon polarization out of equilibrium. This formulation includes the dissipative effects of the conductivity in the medium. As a prelude to cosmology we study magnetogenesis in Minkowski space-time in a theory of N charged scalar fields to lowest order in the gauge coupling and to leading order in the large N within two scenarios of cosmological relevance. The long-wavelength power spectrum for electric and magnetic fields at the end of the phase transition is obtained explicitly. It follows that equipartition between electric and magnetic fields does not hold out of equilibrium. In the case of a transition from a high temperature phase, the conductivity of the medium severely hinders the generation of magnetic fields, however the magnetic fields generated are correlated on scales of the order of the domain size, which is much larger than the magnetic diffusion length. Implications of the results to cosmological phase transitions driven by spinodal unstabilities are discussed., Comment: Preprint no. LPTHE 02-55, 30 pages, latex, 2 eps figures. Added one reference. To appear in Phys. Rev. D

We present an overview on extreme energy cosmic rays (EECR) and the fundamental physics connected with them. The top-down and bottom-up scenarii are contrasted. We summarize the essential features underlying the top-down scenarii for EECR, namely, the lifetime and the mass {\bf imposed} to the heavy relics whatever they be: topological and non-topological solitons, X-particles, cosmic defects, microscopic black-holes, fundamental strings. An unified formula for the quantum decay rate of all these objects was provided in hep-ph/0202249. The key point in the top-down scenarii is the necessity to {\bf adjust} the lifetime of the heavy object to the age of the universe. The natural lifetimes of such heavy objects are, however, microscopic times associated to the GUT energy scale (sim 10^{-28} sec. or shorter); such heavy objects could have been abundantly formed by the end of inflation and it seems natural they decayed shortly after being formed. The arguments produced to {\bf fine tune} the relics lifetime to the age of the universe are critically analyzed. The annihilation scenario (`Wimpzillas') is analyzed too. Top-down scenarii based on networks of topological defects are strongly disfavored at the light of the recent CMB anisotropy observations. We discuss the acceleration mechanisms of cosmic rays,their possible astrophysical sources and the main open physical problems and difficulties in the context of bottom-up scenarii, and we conclude by outlining the expectations from future observatories like EUSO and where the theoretical effort should be placed., LaTex, 16 pages, 2 .eps figures. The annihilation scenario (Wimpzillas) is included and the discussion on gamma ray bursts improved. Based on lectures at the Fourth International Workshop on `New Worlds in Astroparticle Physics' in Faro, Portugal, September 2002, at the 9th Course on Astrofundamental Physics of the Chalonge School, Palermo, Italia, September 2002 and at the SOWG EUSO meeting, Roma, Italia, November 2002