Rm Eff Research Articles

Covalency-driven collapse of strong spin-orbit coupling in face-sharing iridium octahedra

We report $\textit{ab-initio}$ density functional theory calculation and Raman scattering results to explore the electronic structure of Ba$_5$CuIr$_3$O$_{12}$ single crystals. This insulating iridate, consisting of face-sharing IrO$_6$ octahedra forming quasi-one-dimensional chains, cannot be described by the local $j_{\rm eff}$=1/2 moment picture commonly adopted for discussing electronic and magnetic properties of iridate compounds with IrO$_6$ octahedra. The shorter Ir-Ir distance in the face-sharing geometry, compared to corner- or edge-sharing structures, leads to strong covalency between neighboring Ir. Then this strong covalency results in the formation of molecular orbitals (MO) at each Ir trimers as the low-energy electronic degree of freedom. The theoretically predicted three-peak structure in the joint density of states, a distinct indication of deviation from the $j_{\rm eff}$=1/2 picture, is verified by observing the three-peak structure in the electronic excitation spectrum by Raman scattering.

The Impact of White Dwarf Luminosity Profiles on Oscillation Frequencies

Abstract KIC 08626021 is a pulsating DB white dwarf (WD) of considerable recent interest, and the first of its class to be extensively monitored by Kepler for its pulsation properties. Fitting the observed oscillation frequencies of KIC 08626021 to a model can yield insights into its otherwise-hidden internal structure. Template-based WD models choose a luminosity profile where the luminosity is proportional to the enclosed mass, , independent of the effective temperature T eff. Evolutionary models of young WDs with T eff ≳ 25,000 K suggest that neutrino emission gives rise to luminosity profiles with L r M r . We explore this contrast by comparing the oscillation frequencies between two nearly identical WD models: one with an enforced luminosity profile, and the other with a luminosity profile determined by the star’s previous evolution history. We find that the low-order g-mode frequencies differ by up to ≃70 μHz over the range of Kepler observations for KIC 08626021. This suggests that by neglecting the proper thermal structure of the star (e.g., accounting for the effect of plasmon neutrino losses), the model frequencies calculated by using an profile may have uncorrected, effectively random errors at the level of tens of μHz. A mean frequency difference of 30 μHz, based on linearly extrapolating published results, suggests a template model uncertainty in the fit precision of ≃12% in WD mass, ≃9% in the radius, and ≃3% in the central oxygen mass fraction.

Searches for electron interactions induced by new physics in the EDELWEISS-III germanium bolometers

We make use of the EDELWEISS-III array of germanium bolometers to search for electron interactions at the keV scale induced by phenomena beyond the Standard Model. A 90% C.L. lower limit is set on the electron lifetime decaying to invisibles, $\tau > 1.2\times 10^{24}$ years. We investigate the emission of axions or axionlike particles (ALPs) by the Sun, constraining the coupling parameters $g_{ae}<1.1\times 10^{-11}$ and $g_{ae}\times g_{aN}^{\rm eff} < 3.5\times 10^{-17}$ at 90% C.L. in the massless limit. We also directly search for the absorption of bosonic dark matter particles that would constitute our local galactic halo. Limits are placed on the couplings of ALPs or hidden photon dark matter in the mass range $0.8 - 500$ keV/c$^2$. Prospects for searching for dark matter particles with masses down to 150 eV/c$^2$ using improved detectors are presented.

Cosmic acceleration and stars in an asymptotically Ricci flat universe

We analyze the evolution of a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetime within the framework of $f(R)$ metric gravity using an exponential model. We show that $f(R)$ gravity may lead to a vanishing effective cosmological constant in the far future (i.e. $R\rightarrow 0$) and yet produce a transient accelerated expansion at present time with a potentially viable cosmological history. This is in contrast with several $f(R)$ models which, while viable, produce in general a non-vanishing effective cosmological constant asymptotically in time ($R\rightarrow 4\Lambda_{\rm eff}$). We also show that relativistic {stars in asymptotically flat spacetimes can be supported within this framework without encountering any singularity, notably in the Ricci scalar $R$.

The clustering of the SDSS-IV extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey DR14 quasar sample: a tomographic measurement of cosmic structure growth and expansion rate based on optimal redshift weights

We develop a new method, which is based on the optimal redshift weighting scheme, to extract the maximal tomographic information of baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO) and redshift space distortions (RSD) from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) Data Release 14 quasar (DR14Q) survey. We validate our method using the EZ mocks, and apply our pipeline to the eBOSS DR14Q sample in the redshift range of $0.8<z<2.2$. We report a joint measurement of $f\sigma_8$ and two-dimensional BAO parameters $D_{\rm A}$ and $H$ at four effective redshifts of $z_{\rm eff}=0.98, 1.23, 1.52$ and $1.94$, and provide the full data covariance matrix. Using our measurement combined with BOSS DR12, MGS and 6dFGS BAO measurements, we find that the existence of dark energy is supported by observations at a $7.4\sigma$ significance level. Combining our measurement with BOSS DR12 and Planck observations, we constrain the gravitational growth index to be $\gamma=0.580\pm0.082$, which is fully consistent with the prediction of general relativity. This paper is part of a set that analyses the eBOSS DR14 quasar sample.

The time evolution of the Milky Way’s oxygen abundance gradient

We study the evolution of oxygen abundance radial gradients as a function of time for the Milky Way Galaxy obtained with our {\sc Mulchem} chemical evolution model. We review the recent data of abundances for different objects observed in our Galactic disc. We analyse with our models the role of the growth of the stellar disc, as well as the effect of infall rate and star formation prescriptions, or the pre-enrichment of the infall gas, on the time evolution of the oxygen abundance radial distribution. We compute the radial gradient of abundances within the {\sl disk}, and its corresponding evolution, taking into account the disk growth along time. We compare our predictions with the data compilation, showing a good agreement. Our models predict a very smooth evolution when the radial gradient is measured within the optical disc with a slight flattening of the gradient from $\sim -0.057$\,dex\,kpc$^{-1}$ at $z=4$ until values around $\sim -0.015$\,dex\,kpc$^{-1}$ at $z=1$ and basically the same gradient until the present, with small differences between models. Moreover, some models show a steepening at the last times, from $z=1$ until $z=0$ in agreement with data which give a variation of the gradient in a range from $-0.02$ to $-0.04$\,de\,kpc$^{-1}$ from $t=10$\,Gyr until now. The gradient measured as a function of the normalized radius $R/R_{\rm eff}$ is in good agreement with findings by CALIFA and MUSE, and its evolution with redshift falls within the error bars of cosmological simulations.

Spin orientations of merging black holes formed from the evolution of stellar binaries

We study the expected spin misalignments of merging binary black holes (BHs) formed in isolation by combining state-of-the-art population-synthesis models with efficient post-Newtonian evolutions, thus tracking sources from stellar formation to gravitational-wave detection. We present extensive predictions of the properties of sources detectable by both current and future interferometers. We account for the fact that detectors are more sensitive to spinning BH binaries with suitable spin orientations and find that this significantly impacts the population of sources detectable by LIGO, while this is not the case for 3rd-generation detectors. We find that three formation pathways, differentiated by the order of core collapse and common-envelope phases, dominate the observed population, and that their relative importance critically depends on the recoils imparted to BHs at birth. Our models suggest that measurements of the "effective-spin" parameter $\chi_{\rm eff}$ will allow for powerful constraints. For instance, we find that the role of spin magnitudes and spin directions in $\chi_{\rm eff}$ can be largely disentangled, and that the symmetry of the effective-spin distribution is a robust indicator of the binary's formation history. Our predictions for individual spin directions and their precessional morphologies confirm and extend early toy models, while exploring substantially more realistic and broader sets of initial conditions. Our main conclusion is that specific subpopulations of BH binaries will exhibit distinctive precessional dynamics: these classes include (but are not limited to) sources where stellar tidal interactions act on sufficiently short timescales, and massive binaries produced in pulsational pair-instability supernovae. Measurements of BH spin orientations have enormous potential to constrain specific evolutionary processes in the lives of massive binary stars.

Detection and characterization of spin-orbit resonances in the advanced gravitational wave detectors era

In this paper, we test the performance of templates in detection and characterization of Spin-orbit resonant (SOR) binaries. We use precessing SEOBNRv3 waveforms as well as {\it four} numerical relativity (NR) waveforms to model GWs from SOR binaries and filter them through IMRPhenomD, SEOBNRv4 (non-precessing) and IMRPhenomPv2 (precessing) approximants. We find that IMRPhenomD and SEOBNRv4 recover only $\sim70\%$ of injections with fitting factor (FF) higher than 0.97 (or 90\% of injections with ${\rm FF} >0.9$).However, using the sky-maxed statistic, IMRPhenomPv2 performs magnificently better than their non-precessing counterparts with recovering $99\%$ of the injections with FFs higher than 0.97. Interestingly, injections with $\Delta \phi = 180^{\circ}$ have higher FFs ($\Delta \phi$ is the angle between the components of the black hole spins in the plane orthogonal to the orbital angular momentum) as compared to their $\Delta \phi =0^{\circ}$ and generic counterparts. This implies that we will have a slight observation bias towards $\Delta \phi=180^{\circ}$ SORs while using non-precessing templates for searches. All template approximants are able to recover most of the injected NR waveforms with FFs $>0.95$. For all the injections including NR, the error in estimating chirp mass remains below $<10\%$ with minimum error for $\Delta \phi = 180^{\circ}$ resonant binaries. The symmetric mass ratio can be estimated with errors below $15\%$. The effective spin parameter $\chi_{\rm eff}$ is measured with maximum absolute error of 0.13. The in-plane spin parameter $\chi_p$ is mostly underestimated indicating that a precessing signal will be recovered as a relatively less precessing signal. Based on our findings, we conclude that we not only need improvements in waveform models towards precession and non-quadrupole modes but also better search strategies for precessing GW signals.

Limitations of the pseudo-Newtonian approach in studying the accretion flow around a Kerr black hole

We study the relativistic accretion flow around a generic stationary axisymmetric space-time and obtain an effective potential ($\Phi^{\rm eff}$) that accurately mimics the general relativistic features of Kerr black hole having spin $0\le a_k <1$. Considering the accretion disc confined around the equatorial plane of a rotating black hole and using the relativistic equation of state, we examine the properties of the relativistic accretion flow and compare it with the same obtained form semi-relativistic as well as non-relativistic accretion flows. Towards this, we first investigate the transonic properties of the accretion flow around the rotating black hole where good agreement is observed for relativistic and semi-relativistic flows. Further, we study the non-linearities such as shock waves in accretion flow. Here also we find that the shock properties are in agreement for both relativistic and semi-relativistic flows irrespective of the black hole spin ($a_k$), although it deviates significantly for non-relativistic flow. In fact, when the particular shocked solutions are compared for flows with identical outer boundary conditions, the positions of shock transition in relativistic and semi-relativistic flows agree well with deviation of $6-12\%$ for $0 \le a_k \le 0.99$, but vast disagreement is observed for non-relativistic flow. In addition, we compare the parameter space for shock to establish the fact that relativistic as well as semi-relativistic accretion flow dynamics do show close agreement irrespective of $a_k$ values, whereas non-relativistic flow fails to do so. With these findings, we point out that semi-relativistic flow including $\Phi^{\rm eff}$ satisfactorily mimics the relativistic accretion flows around Kerr black hole. Finally, we discuss the possible implications of this work in the context of dissipative advective accretion flow around Kerr black holes.

X-ray and multi-epoch optical/UV investigations of BAL to non-BAL quasar transformations

We report on an X-ray and optical/UV study of eight Broad Absorption Line (BAL) to non-BAL transforming quasars at $z\,\approx\,$1.7-2.2 over 0.29-4.95 rest-frame years with at least three spectroscopic epochs for each quasar from the SDSS, BOSS, $Gemini$, and ARC 3.5-m telescopes. New $Chandra$ observations obtained for these objects show their values of $\alpha_{\rm ox}$ and $\Delta{\alpha}_{\rm ox}$, as well as their spectral energy distributions, are consistent with those of non-BAL quasars. Moreover, our targets have X-ray spectral shapes that are, on average, consistent with weakened absorption with an effective power-law photon index of $\Gamma_{\rm eff}\,=\,1.69^{+0.25}_{-0.25}$. The newer $Gemini$ and ARC 3.5-m spectra reveal that the BAL troughs have remained absent since the BOSS observations where the BAL disappearance was discovered. The X-ray and optical/UV results in tandem are consistent with at least the X-ray absorbing material moving out of the line-of-sight, leaving an X-ray unabsorbed non-BAL quasar. The UV absorber might have become more highly ionized (in a shielding-gas scenario) or also moved out of the line-of-sight (in a wind-clumping scenario).

Influence of backreaction of electric fields and Schwinger effect on inflationary magnetogenesis

We study the generation of electromagnetic fields during inflation when the conformal invariance of Maxwell's action is broken by the kinetic coupling $f^{2}(\phi)F_{\mu\nu}F^{\mu\nu}$ of the electromagnetic field to the inflaton field $\phi$. We consider the case where the coupling function $f(\phi)$ decreases in time during inflation and, as a result, the electric component of the energy density dominates over the magnetic one. The system of equations which governs the joint evolution of the scale factor, inflaton field, and electric energy density is derived. The backreaction occurs when the electric energy density becomes as large as the product of the slow-roll parameter $\epsilon$ and inflaton energy density, $\rho_{E}\sim \epsilon \rho_{\rm inf}$. It affects the inflaton field evolution and leads to the scale-invariant electric power spectrum and the magnetic one which is blue with the spectral index $n_{B}=2$ for any decreasing coupling function. This gives an upper limit on the present-day value of observed magnetic fields below $10^{-22}\,{\rm G}$. It is worth emphasizing that since the effective electric charge of particles $e_{\rm eff}=e/f$ is suppressed by the coupling function, the Schwinger effect becomes important only at the late stages of inflation when the inflaton field is close to the minimum of its potential. The Schwinger effect abruptly decreases the value of the electric field, helping to finish the inflation stage and enter the stage of preheating. It effectively produces the charged particles, implementing the Schwinger reheating scenario even before the fast oscillations of the inflaton. The numerical analysis is carried out in the Starobinsky model of inflation for the powerlike $f\propto a^{\alpha}$ and Ratra-type $f=\exp(\beta\phi/M_{p})$ coupling functions.

NGTS-2b: an inflated hot-Jupiter transiting a bright F-dwarf

We report the discovery of NGTS-2b, an inflated hot-Jupiter transiting a bright F5V star (2MASS J14202949-3112074; $T_{\rm eff}$=$6478^{+94}_{-89}$ K), discovered as part of the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS). The planet is in a P=4.51 day orbit with mass $0.74^{+0.13}_{-0.12}$ M$_{J}$, radius $1.595^{+0.047}_{-0.045}$ R$_{J}$ and density $0.226^{+0.040}_{-0.038}$ g cm$^{-3}$; therefore one of the lowest density exoplanets currently known. With a relatively deep 1.0% transit around a bright V=10.96 host star, NGTS-2b is a prime target for probing giant planet composition via atmospheric transmission spectroscopy. The rapid rotation ($vsin$i=$15.2\pm0.8$ km s$^{-1}$) also makes this system an excellent candidate for Rossiter-McLaughlin follow-up observations, to measure the sky-projected stellar obliquity. NGTS-2b was confirmed without the need for follow-up photometry, due to the high precision of the NGTS photometry.

The blue straggler V106 in NGC 6791: a prototype progenitor of old single giants masquerading as young

We determine the properties of the binary star V106 in the old open cluster NGC6791. We identify the system to be a blue straggler cluster member by using a combination of ground-based and Kepler photometry and multi-epoch spectroscopy. The properties of the primary component are found to be $M_{\rm p}\sim1.67 \rm M_{\odot}$, more massive than the cluster turn-off, with $R_{\rm p}\sim1.91 \rm R_{\odot}$ and $T_{\rm eff}=7110\pm100$ K. The secondary component is highly oversized and overluminous for its low mass with $M_{\rm s}\sim0.182 \rm M_{\odot}$, $R_{\rm s}\sim0.864 \rm R_{\odot}$ and $T_{\rm eff}=6875\pm200$ K. We identify this secondary star as a bloated (proto) extremely low-mass helium white dwarf. These properties of V106 suggest that it represents a typical Algol-paradox system and that it evolved through a mass-transfer phase which provides insight into its past evolution. We present a detailed binary stellar evolution model for the formation of V106 using the MESA code and find that the mass-transfer phase only ceased about 40 Myr ago. Due to the short orbital period (P=1.4463 d) another mass-transfer phase is unavoidable once the current primary star evolves towards the red giant phase. We argue that V106 will evolve through a common-envelope phase within the next 100 Myr and merge to become a single over-massive giant. The high mass will make it appear young for its true age, which is revealed by the cluster properties. Therefore, V106 is potentially a prototype progenitor of old field giants masquerading as young.

X-ray limits on the progenitor system of the Type Ia supernova 2017ejb

We present deep X-ray limits on the presence of a pre-explosion counterpart to the low-luminosity Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2017ejb. SN 2017ejb was discovered in NGC 4696, a well-studied elliptical galaxy in the Centaurus cluster with 894 ks of Chandra imaging between 14 and 3 years before SN 2017ejb was discovered. Using post-explosion photometry and spectroscopy of SN 2017ejb, we demonstrate that SN 2017ejb is most consistent with low-luminosity SNe Ia such as SN 1986G and SN 1991bg. Analyzing the location of SN 2017ejb in pre-explosion images, we do not detect a pre-explosion X-ray source. We use these data to place upper limits on the presence of any unobscured supersoft X-ray source (SSS). SSS systems are known to consist of white dwarfs accreting from a non-degenerate companion star. We rule out any source similar to known SSS systems with $kT_{\rm eff} > 85$ eV and $L_{\rm bol} > 4\times10^{38}~\text{erg s}^{-1}$ as well as models of stably-accreting Chandrasekhar-mass WDs with accretion rates $\dot{M}>3\times10^{-8}~M_{\odot}~\text{yr}^{-1}$. These findings suggest that low-luminosity SNe Ia similar to SN 2017ejb explode from WDs that are low-mass, have low pre-explosion accretion rates, or accrete very soon before explosion. Based on the limits from SN 2017ejb and other nearby SNe Ia, we infer that $<$47% of SNe Ia explode in stably-accreting Chandrasekhar-mass SSS systems.

Bayesian evidence against the Harrison-Zel’dovich spectrum in tensions with cosmological data sets

Current cosmological constraints on the scalar spectral index of primordial fluctuations $n_{\rm s}$ in the $\Lambda$CDM model have excluded the minimal scale-invariant Harrison-Zel'dovich model ($n_{\rm s}=1$; hereafter HZ) at high significance, providing support for inflation. In recent years, however, some tensions have emerged between different cosmological datasets that, if not due to systematics, could indicate the presence of new physics beyond the $\Lambda$CDM model. In the light of these developments, we evaluate the Bayesian evidence against HZ in different data combinations and model extensions. Considering only the Planck temperature data, we find inconclusive evidence against HZ when including variations in the neutrino number $N_{\rm eff}$ and/or the Helium abundance $Y_{\rm He}$. Adding the Planck polarization data, on the other hand, yields strong evidence against HZ in the extensions we considered. Perhaps most interestingly, Planck temperature data combined with local measurements of the Hubble constant give as the most probable model an HZ spectrum, with additional neutrinos. However, with the inclusion of polarisation, standard $\Lambda$CDM is once again preferred, but the HZ model with extra neutrinos is not strongly disfavored. The possibility of fully ruling out the HZ spectrum is therefore ultimately connected with the solution to current tensions between cosmological datasets. If these tensions are confirmed by future data, then new physical mechanisms could be at work and an HZ spectrum could still offer a valid alternative.

Gravitational waves from gauge preheating

We study gravitational wave production during Abelian gauge-field preheating following inflation. We consider both scalar and pseudoscalar inflaton models coupled directly to Abelian gauge fields via either a dilatonic coupling to the gauge-field kinetic term or an axial coupling to a Chern-Simons term. In both cases gravitational waves are produced efficiently during the preheating phase, with a signature louder than most cosmological signals. These gravitational waves can contribute to the radiation energy budget of Universe at a level which will be probed by upcoming cosmic microwave background experiments through $N_{\rm eff}$. For axially coupled fields the resulting gravitational wave spectrum is helically polarized---a unique feature that can be used to differentiate it from other stochastic gravitational wave backgrounds. We compute the gravitational topological charge and demonstrate that gauge preheating following axion inflation may be responsible for the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe via gravitational leptogenesis.

Cosmological bounds on dark matter-photon coupling

We investigate an extension of the $\Lambda$CDM model where the dark matter (DM) is coupled to photons, inducing a nonconservation of the numbers of particles for both species, where the DM particles are allowed to dilute throughout the cosmic history with a small deviation from the standard evolution decaying into photons, while the associated scattering processes are assumed to be negligible. In addition, we consider the presence of massive neutrinos with the effective number of species $N_{\rm eff}$ as a free parameter. The effects of the DM-photon coupling on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and matter power spectra are analyzed. We derive the observational constraints on the model parameters by using the data from CMB, baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements, the recently measured new local value of the Hubble constant from the Hubble Space Telescope, and large scale structure (LSS) information from the abundance of galaxy clusters. The DM-photon coupling parameter $\Gamma_{\gamma }$ is constrained to $\Gamma_{\gamma } \leq 1.3 \times10^{-5}$ (at 95\% C.L.) from the joint analysis carried out by using all the mentioned data sets. The neutrino mass scale $\sum m_{\nu}$ upper bounds at 95\% C.L. are obtained as $\sum m_{\nu} \sim 0.9$ eV and $\sum m_{\nu} \sim 0.4$ eV with and without the LSS data, respectively. We observe that the DM-photon coupling cause significant changes in the best fit value of $N_{\rm eff}$ but yields statistical ranges of $N_{\rm eff}$ compatible with the standard predictions, and we do not find any evidence of dark radiation. Due to nonconservation of photons in our model, we also evaluate and analyze the effects on the BAO acoustic scale at the drag epoch. The DM-photon coupling model yields high values of Hubble constant consistent with the local measurement, and thus alleviates the tension on this parameter.

Inflation in an effective gravitational model and asymptotic safety

We consider an inflationary model motivated by quantum effects of gravitational and matter fields near the Planck scale. Our Lagrangian is a re-summed version of the effective Lagrangian recently obtained by Demmel, Saueressig and Zanusso~\cite{Demmel:2015oqa} in the context of gravity as an asymptotically safe theory. It represents a refined Starobinsky model, ${\cal L}_{\rm eff}=M_{\rm P}^2 R/2 + (a/2)R^2/[1+b\ln(R/\mu^2)]$, where $R$ is the Ricci scalar, $a$ and $b$ are constants and $\mu$ is an energy scale. By implementing the COBE normalisation and the Planck constraint on the scalar spectrum, we show that increasing $b$ leads to an increased value of both the scalar spectral index $n_s$ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$. Requiring $n_s$ to be consistent with the Planck collaboration upper limit, we find that $r$ can be as large as $r\simeq 0.01$, the value possibly measurable by Stage IV CMB ground experiments and certainly from future dedicated space missions. The predicted running of the scalar spectral index $\alpha=d n_s/d\ln(k)$ is still of the order $-5\times 10^{-4}$ (as in the Starobinsky model), about one order of magnitude smaller than the current observational bound.

Efficient computation of galaxy bias with neutrinos and other relics

Cosmological data can be used to search for---and characterize---light particles in the standard model, if these populate our Universe. In addition to the well-known effect of these light relics in the background cosmology, usually parametrized through a change in the effective number $N_{\rm eff}$ of neutrino species, these particles can become nonrelativistic at later times, affecting the growth of matter fluctuations due to their thermal velocities. An extensively studied example is that of massive neutrinos, which are known to produce a suppression in the matter power spectrum due to their free streaming. Galaxies, as biased traces of matter fluctuations, can therefore provide us with a wealth of information about both known and unknown degrees of freedom in the standard model. To harness this information, however, the galaxy bias has to be determined in the presence of massive relics, which is expected to vary with scale. Here we present the code RelicFast, which efficiently computes the scale-dependent bias induced by relics of different masses, spins, and temperatures, through spherical collapse and the peak-background split. Using this code, we find that, in general, the bias induced by light relics partially compensates the suppression of power, and should be accounted for in any search for relics with galaxy data. In particular, for the case of neutrinos, we find that both the normal and inverted hierarchies present a percent-level step in the Lagrangian bias, with a size scaling linearly with the neutrino-mass sum, in agreement with recent simulations. RelicFast can compute halo bias in under a second, allowing for this effect to be properly included for different cosmologies, and light relics, at little computational cost.

Nonequilibrium mean-field theory of resistive phase transitions

We investigate the quantum mechanical origin of resistive phase transitions in solids driven by a constant electric field in the vicinity of a metal-insulator transition. We perform a nonequilibrium mean-field analysis of a driven-dissipative anti-ferromagnet, which we solve analytically for the most part. We find that the insulator-to-metal transition (IMT) and the metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) proceed by two distinct electronic mechanisms: Landau-Zener processes, and the destabilization of metallic state by Joule heating, respectively. However, we show that both regimes can be unified in a common effective thermal description, where the effective temperature $T_{\rm eff}$ depends on the state of the system. This explains recent experimental measurements in which the hot-electron temperature at the IMT was found to match the equilibrium transition temperature. Our analytic approach enables us to formulate testable predictions on the non-analytic behavior of $I$-$V$ relation near the insulator-to-metal transition. Building on these successes, we propose an effective Ginzburg-Landau theory which paves the way to incorporating spatial fluctuations, and to bringing the theory closer to a realistic description of the resistive switchings in correlated materials.