Subdominant Effects Research Articles

Imprints of scalar NSI on the CP-violation sensitivity using synergy among DUNE, T2HK and T2HKK

The Non-Standard Interactions (NSIs) are subdominant effects, often appearing in various extensions of SM, which may impact the neutrino oscillations through matter. It is important and interesting to explore the impact of NSIs in the ongoing and upcoming precise neutrino oscillations experiments. In this work, we have studied the imprints of a scalar-mediated NSI in three upcoming long-baseline (LBL) experiments (DUNE, T2HK and T2HKK). The effects of scalar NSI appears as a medium-dependent correction to the neutrino mass term. Its contribution scales linearly with matter density, making LBL experiments a suitable candidate to probe its effects. We show that the scalar NSI may significantly impact the oscillation probabilities, event rates at the detectors and the χ2-sensitivities of δCP measurements. We present the results of a combined analysis involving the LBL experiments (DUNE+T2HK or DUNE+T2HKK) which offer a better capability of constraining the scalar NSI parameters as well as an improved sensitivity towards CP-violation.

Eccentricity or spin precession? Distinguishing subdominant effects in gravitational-wave data

ABSTRACT Eccentricity and spin precession are key observables in gravitational-wave astronomy, encoding precious information about the astrophysical formation of compact binaries together with fine details of the relativistic two-body problem. However, the two effects can mimic each other in the emitted signals, raising issues around their distinguishability. Since inferring the existence of both eccentricity and spin precession simultaneously is – at present – not possible, current state-of-the-art analyses assume that either one of the effects may be present in the data. In such a setup, what are the conditions required for a confident identification of either effect? We present simulated parameter inference studies in realistic LIGO/Virgo noise, studying events consistent with either spin precessing or eccentric binary black hole coalescences and recovering under the assumption that either of the two effects may be at play. We quantify how the distinguishability of eccentricity and spin precession increases with the number of visible orbital cycles, confirming that the signal must be sufficiently long for the two effects to be separable. The threshold depends on the injected source, with inclination, eccentricity, and effective spin playing crucial roles. In particular, for injections similar to GW190521, we find that it is impossible to confidently distinguish eccentricity from spin precession.

Identifying subdominant collective effects in a large motorway network

In a motorway network, correlations between parts or, more precisely, between the sections of (different) motorways, are of considerable interest. Knowledge of flows and velocities on individual motorways is not sufficient, rather, their correlations determine or reflect, respectively, the functionality of and the dynamics on the network. These correlations are time-dependent as the dynamics on the network is highly non-stationary. Apart from the conceptual importance, correlations are also indispensable to detect risks of failure in a traffic network. Here, we proceed with revealing a certain hierarchy of correlations in traffic networks that is due to the presence and to the extent of collectivity. In a previous study, we focused on the collectivity motion present in the entire traffic network, i.e. the collectivity of the system as a whole. Here, we manage to subtract this dominant effect from the data and identify the subdominant collectivities which affect different, large parts of the traffic network. To this end, we employ a spectral analysis of the correlation matrix for the whole system. We thereby extract information from the virtual network induced by the correlations and map it on the true topology, i.e. on the real motorway network. The uncovered subdominant collectivities provide a new characterization of the traffic network. We carry out our study for the large motorway network of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Quasinormal-mode filters: A new approach to analyze the gravitational-wave ringdown of binary black-hole mergers

We propose two frequency-domain filters to analyze ringdown signals of binary black hole mergers. The first rational filter is constructed based on a set of (arbitrary) quasi-normal modes (QNMs) of the remnant black holes, whereas the second full filter comes from the transmissivity of the remnant black holes. The two filters can remove corresponding QNMs from original time-domain ringdowns, while changing early inspiral signals in a trivial way - merely a time and phase shift. After filtering out dominant QNMs, we can visualize the existence of various subdominant effects. For example, by applying our filters to a GW150914-like numerical relativity (NR) waveform, we find second-order effects in the (l = 4, m = 4), (l = 5, m = 4) and (l = 5, m = 5) harmonics; the spherical-spheroidal mixing mode in the (l = 2,m = 2) harmonic; and a mixing mode in the (l = 2,m = 1) harmonic due to a gravitational recoil. In another NR simulation where two component spins are anti-aligned with the orbital angular momentum, we also find retrograde modes. The filters are sensitive to the remnant properties (i.e., mass and spin) and thus have a potential application to future data analyses and parameter estimations. We also investigate the stability of the full filter. Its connection to the instability of QNM spectra is discussed.

Impact of Dynamical Tides on the Reconstruction of the Neutron Star Equation of State.

Gravitational waves (GWs) from inspiraling neutron stars afford us a unique opportunity to infer the as-of-yet unknown equation of state of cold hadronic matter at supranuclear densities. During the inspiral, the dominant matter effects arise due to the star's response to their companion's tidal field, leaving a characteristic imprint in the emitted GW signal. This unique signature allows us to constrain the cold neutron star equation of state. At GW frequencies above ≳800 Hz, however, subdominant tidal effects known as dynamical tides become important. In this Letter, we demonstrate that neglecting dynamical tidal effects associated with the fundamental (f) mode leads to large systematic biases in the measured tidal deformability of the stars and hence in the inferred neutron star equation of state. Importantly, we find that f-mode dynamical tides will already be relevant for Advanced LIGO's and Virgo's fifth observing run (∼2025)-neglecting dynamical tides can lead to errors on the neutron radius of O(1 km), with dramatic implications for the measurement of the equation of state. Our results demonstrate that the accurate modeling of subdominant tidal effects beyond the adiabatic limit will be crucial to perform accurate measurements of the neutron star equation of state in upcoming GW observations.

Constraining black-hole binary spin precession and nutation with sequential prior conditioning

We investigate the detectability of subdominant spin effects in merging black-hole binaries using current gravitational-wave data. Using a phenomenological model that separates the spin dynamics into precession (azimuthal motion) and nutation (polar motion), we present constraints on the resulting amplitudes and frequencies. We also explore current constraints on the spin morphologies, indicating if binaries are trapped near spin-orbit resonances. We dissect such weak effects from the signals using a sequential prior conditioning approach, where parameters are progressively re-sampled from their posterior distribution. This allows us to investigate whether the data contain additional information beyond what is already provided by quantities that are better measured, namely the masses and the effective spin. For the current catalog of events, we find no significant measurements of weak spin effects such as nutation and spin-orbit locking. We synthesize a source with a high nutational amplitude and show that near-future detections will allow us to place powerful constraints, hinting that we may be at the cusp of detecting spin nutations in gravitational-wave data.

Covariances of density probability distribution functions. Lessons from hierarchical models

Context. Statistical properties of the cosmic density fields are to a large extent encoded in the shape of the one-point density probability distribution functions (PDF) as measured in surveys. In order to successfully exploit such observables, a detailed functional form of the covariance matrix of the one-point PDF is needed.Aims. The objectives are to model the properties of this covariance for general stochastic density fields and for stochastic fields that reproduce the properties expected in cosmology. The accuracy of the proposed forms is evaluated in specific cases.Methods. The study was conducted in a cosmological context and determined whether the density is defined absolutely or relatively to the sample mean density. Leading and subleading contributions were identified within a large class of models, the so-called hierarchical models. They come from either large or short separation contributions. The validity of the proposed forms for the covariance matrix was assessed with the help of a toy model, the minimum tree model, for which a corpus of exact results could be obtained (forms of the one- and two-point PDF, large-scale density-bias functions, and full covariance matrix of the one-point PDF).Results. It is first shown that the covariance matrix elements are directly related to the spatial average of the two-point density PDF within the sample. The dominant contribution to this average is explicitly given for hierarchical models (coming from large scale contribution), which leads to the construction of specific density-bias functions. However, this contribution alone cannot be used to construct an operational likelihood function. Subdominant large-scale effects are found to provide corrective terms, but also a priori lead to limited information on the covariance matrix. Short distance effects are found to be more important but more difficult to derive as they depend more on the details of the model. However, a simple and generic form of these contributions is proposed. Detailed comparisons in the context of the Rayleigh-Levy flight model show that the large-scale effects capture the bulk of the supersample effects and that, by adding the short-distance contributions, a qualitatively correct model of the likelihood function can be obtained.

A measurement of stellar surface gravity hidden in radial velocity differences of comoving stars

ABSTRACT The gravitational redshift induced by stellar surface gravity is notoriously difficult to measure for non-degenerate stars, since its amplitude is small in comparison with the typical Doppler shift induced by stellar radial velocity. In this study, we make use of the large observational data set of the Gaia mission to achieve a significant reduction of noise caused by these random stellar motions. By measuring the differences in velocities between the components of the pairs of comoving stars and wide binaries, we are able to statistically measure the combined effects of gravitational redshift and convective blueshifting of spectral lines, and nullify the effect of the peculiar motions of the stars. For the subset of stars considered in this study, we find a positive correlation between the observed differences in Gaia radial velocities and the differences in surface gravity and convective blueshift inferred from effective temperature and luminosity measurements. The results rule out a null signal at the 5σ level for our full data set. Additionally, we study the subdominant effects of binary motion, and possible systematic errors in radial velocity measurements within Gaia. Results from the technique presented in this study are expected to improve significantly with data from the next Gaia data release. Such improvements could be used to constrain the mass–luminosity relation and stellar models that predict the magnitude of convective blueshift.

Does Charge Matter in High-Energy Collisions of Black Holes?

We perform numerical-relativity simulations of high-energy head-on collisions of charged black holes with the same charge-to-mass ratio λ. We find that electromagnetic interactions have subdominant effects already at low Lorentz factors γ, supporting the conjecture that the details of the properties of black holes (e.g., their spin or charge) play a secondary role in these phenomena. Using this result and conservation of energy, we argue these events cannot violate cosmic censorship.

Dark Energy Survey year 3 results: covariance modelling and its impact on parameter estimation and quality of fit

ABSTRACT We describe and test the fiducial covariance matrix model for the combined two-point function analysis of the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES-Y3) data set. Using a variety of new ansatzes for covariance modelling and testing, we validate the assumptions and approximations of this model. These include the assumption of Gaussian likelihood, the trispectrum contribution to the covariance, the impact of evaluating the model at a wrong set of parameters, the impact of masking and survey geometry, deviations from Poissonian shot noise, galaxy weighting schemes, and other sub-dominant effects. We find that our covariance model is robust and that its approximations have little impact on goodness of fit and parameter estimation. The largest impact on best-fitting figure-of-merit arises from the so-called fsky approximation for dealing with finite survey area, which on average increases the χ2 between maximum posterior model and measurement by $3.7{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ (Δχ2 ≈ 18.9). Standard methods to go beyond this approximation fail for DES-Y3, but we derive an approximate scheme to deal with these features. For parameter estimation, our ignorance of the exact parameters at which to evaluate our covariance model causes the dominant effect. We find that it increases the scatter of maximum posterior values for Ωm and σ8 by about $3{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ and for the dark energy equation-of-state parameter by about $5{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$.

Including mode mixing in a higher-multipole model for gravitational waveforms from nonspinning black-hole binaries

As gravitational-wave (GW) observations of binary black holes are becoming a precision tool for physics and astronomy, several subdominant effects in the GW signals need to be accurately modeled. Previous studies have shown that neglecting subdominant modes in the GW templates causes an unacceptable loss in detection efficiency and large systematic errors in the estimated parameters for binaries with large mass ratios. Our recent work [Mehta et al., Phys. Rev. D 96, 124010 (2017)] constructed a phenomenological gravitational waveform family for nonspinning black-hole binaries that includes subdominant spherical harmonic modes $(\ensuremath{\ell}=2,m=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1)$, $(\ensuremath{\ell}=3,m=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3)$, and $(\ensuremath{\ell}=4,m=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}4)$ in addition to the dominant quadrupole mode, $(\ensuremath{\ell}=2,m=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2)$. In this article, we construct analytical models for the ($\ensuremath{\ell}=3,m=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2$) and ($\ensuremath{\ell}=4,m=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3$) modes and include them in the existing waveform family. Accurate modeling of these modes is complicated by the mixing of multiple spheroidal harmonic modes. We develop a method for accurately modeling the effect of mode mixing, thus producing an analytical waveform family that has faithfulness greater than 99.6%.

Correlations and degeneracies among the NSI parameters with tunable beams at DUNE

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a leading experiment in neutrino physics which is presently under construction. DUNE aims to measure the yet unknown parameters in the three flavour oscillation scenario which includes discovery of leptonic CP violation, determination of the mass hierarchy and determination of the octant of $\theta_{23}$. Additionally, the ancillary goals of DUNE include probing the sub-dominant effects induced by new physics. A widely studied new physics scenario is that of nonstandard neutrino interactions (NSI) in propagation which impacts the oscillations of neutrinos. We consider some of the essential NSI parameters impacting the oscillation signals at DUNE and explore the space of NSI parameters as well as study their correlations among themselves and with the yet unknown CP violating phase, $\delta$ appearing in the standard paradigm. The experiment utilizes a wide band beam and provides us with a unique opportunity to utilize different beam tunes at DUNE. We demonstrate that combining information from different beam tunes (low energy, LE and medium energy, ME) available at DUNE impacts the ability to probe some of these parameters and leads to altering the allowed regions in two-dimensional space of parameters considered.

Neutrino Oscillations and Non-standard Interactions

Current neutrino experiments are measuring the neutrino mixing parameters with an unprecedented accuracy. The upcoming generation of neutrino experiments will be sensitive to subdominant oscillation effects that can give information on the yet-unknown neutrino parameters: the Dirac CP-violating phase, the mass ordering and the octant of $\theta_{23}$. Determining the exact values of neutrino mass and mixing parameters is crucial to test neutrino models and flavor symmetries designed to predict these neutrino parameters. In the first part of this review, we summarize the current status of the neutrino oscillation parameter determination. We consider the most recent data from all solar experiments and the atmospheric data from Super-Kamiokande, IceCube and ANTARES. We also implement the data from the reactor neutrino experiments KamLAND, Daya Bay, RENO and Double Chooz as well as the long baseline neutrino data from MINOS, T2K and NOvA. If in addition to the standard interactions, neutrinos have subdominant yet-unknown Non-Standard Interactions (NSI) with matter fields, extracting the values of these parameters will suffer from new degeneracies and ambiguities. We review such effects and formulate the conditions on the NSI parameters under which the precision measurement of neutrino oscillation parameters can be distorted. Like standard weak interactions, the non-standard interaction can be categorized into two groups: Charged Current (CC) NSI and Neutral Current (NC) NSI. Our focus will be mainly on neutral current NSI because it is possible to build a class of models that give rise to sizeable NC NSI with discernible effects on neutrino oscillation. These models are based on new $U(1)$ gauge symmetry with a gauge boson of mass $\lesssim 10$~MeV. The UV complete model should be of course electroweak invariant which in general implies that along with neutrinos, charged fermions also acquire new interactions on which there are strong bounds. We enumerate the bounds that already exist on the electroweak symmetric models and demonstrate that it is possible to build viable models avoiding all these bounds. In the end, we review methods to test these models and suggest approaches to break the degeneracies in deriving neutrino mass parameters caused by NSI.

Recoiling supermassive black hole escape velocities from dark matter haloes

We simulate recoiling black hole trajectories from $z=20$ to $z=0$ in dark matter halos, quantifying how parameter choices affect escape velocities. These choices include the strength of dynamical friction, the presence of stars and gas, the accelerating expansion of the universe (Hubble acceleration), host halo accretion and motion, and seed black hole mass. $\Lambda$CDM halo accretion increases escape velocities by up to 0.6 dex and significantly shortens return timescales compared to non-accreting cases. Other parameters change orbit damping rates but have subdominant effects on escape velocities; dynamical friction is weak at halo escape velocities, even for extreme parameter values. We present formulae for black hole escape velocities as a function of host halo mass and redshift. Finally, we discuss how these findings affect black hole mass assembly as well as minimum stellar and halo masses necessary to retain supermassive black holes.

Hierarchical data-driven approach to fitting numerical relativity data for nonprecessing binary black holes with an application to final spin and radiated energy

Numerical relativity is an essential tool in studying the coalescence of binary black holes (BBHs). It is still computationally prohibitive to cover the BBH parameter space exhaustively, making phenomenological fitting formulas for BBH waveforms and final-state properties important for practical applications. We describe a general hierarchical bottom-up fitting methodology to design and calibrate fits to numerical relativity simulations for the three-dimensional parameter space of quasicircular nonprecessing merging BBHs, spanned by mass ratio and by the individual spin components orthogonal to the orbital plane. Particular attention is paid to incorporating the extreme-mass-ratio limit and to the subdominant unequal-spin effects. As an illustration of the method, we provide two applications, to the final spin and final mass (or equivalently: radiated energy) of the remnant black hole. Fitting to 427 numerical relativity simulations, we obtain results broadly consistent with previously published fits, but improving in overall accuracy and particularly in the approach to extremal limits and for unequal-spin configurations. We also discuss the importance of data quality studies when combining simulations from diverse sources, how detailed error budgets will be necessary for further improvements of these already highly accurate fits, and how this first detailed study of unequal-spin effects helps in choosing the most informative parameters for future numerical relativity runs.

Planck2015 results

We present the 8th full focal plane simulation set (FFP8), deployed in support of the Planck 2015 results. FFP8 consists of 10 fiducial mission realizations reduced to 18 144 maps, together with the most massive suite of Monte Carlo realizations of instrument noise and CMB ever generated, comprising 104 mission realizations reduced to about 106 maps. The resulting maps incorporate the dominant instrumental, scanning, and data analysis effects, and the remaining subdominant effects will be included in future updates. Generated at a cost of some 25 million CPU-hours spread across multiple high-performance-computing (HPC) platforms, FFP8 is used to validate and verify analysis algorithms and their implementations, and to remove biases from and quantify uncertainties in the results of analyses of the real data.

Atmospheric neutrinos: Status and prospects

We present an overview of the current status of neutrino oscillation studies at atmospheric neutrino experiments. While the current data gives some tantalising hints regarding the neutrino mass hierarchy, octant of θ23 and δCP, the hints are not statistically significant. We summarise the sensitivity to these sub-dominant three-generation effects from the next-generation proposed atmospheric neutrino experiments. We next present the prospects of new physics searches such as non-standard interactions, sterile neutrinos and CPT violation studies at these experiments.

Charmonium spectroscopy in strong magnetic fields by QCD sum rules:S-wave ground states

We investigate quarkonium mass spectra in external constant magnetic fields by using QCD sum rules. We first discuss a general framework of QCD sum rules necessary for properly extracting meson spectra from current correlators computed in the presence of strong magnetic fields, that is, a consistent treatment of mixing effects caused in the mesonic degrees of freedom. We then implement operator product expansions for pseudoscalar and vector heavy-quark current correlators by taking into account external constant magnetic fields as operators, and obtain mass shifts of the lowest-lying bound states $\eta_c$ and $J/\psi$ in the static limit with their vanishing spatial momenta. Comparing results from QCD sum rules with those from hadronic effective theories, we find that the dominant origin of mass shifts comes from a mixing between $\eta_c$ and $J/\psi$ with a longitudinal spin polarization, accompanied by other subdominant effects such as mixing with higher excited states and continua.

KM3NeT: An underwater multi-km3 neutrino detector

The KM3NeT consortium is studying the main technological options for the construction of a research infrastructure in the Mediterranean Sea, hosting a neutrino telescope with an instrumented volume of several km3 and an integrated platform for earth and deep sea sciences. The telescope location will allow the survey of a large part of the Galactic plane, including the Galactic Centre, thus complementing the sky coverage of the IceCube telescope located at the South Pole. A telescope deployed in deep sea water is expected to have a very good angular resolution (of the order of 0.1° for neutrinos with 100TeV energy), providing high sensitivity to point-like sources. The realization of this project will provide the scientific community with a powerful instrument to study and constrain the acceleration mechanisms of some astrophysical objects, including supernova remnants, active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursters. Neutrino telescopes can also investigate some of the most fundamental questions on HE physics beyond the standard model, including: the nature of dark matter through the indirect search for WIMPs, the study of subdominant effects on neutrino oscillations, including those possibly induced by the violation of the Lorentz invariance; the study of relic particles (magnetic monopoles, nuclearites) in cosmic radiation, the coincident neutrino emission with gravitational waves.This challenging project will require the installation of thousands of photon detectors with their related electronics and calibration systems several kilometers below sea level. This contribution presents an outline of the technological aspects of the project and a discussion of its main physics goals and expected performances, with a proposed preliminary timeline towards the completion of this instrument.

MSW Oscillations – LMA and Subdominant Effects

These notes, based on a talk given at the Neutrino 2006 conference [Neutrino 2006, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, http://neutrinosantafe06.com/ ], review the sensitivity of solar neutrinos to certain types of new physics, namely modifications of neutrino-matter interactions by the exchange of a new heavy particle and a large neutrino transition moment. Both were first proposed in the 1970ʼs as possible explanations for the solar neutrino “problem” and were actively investigated for many years. While since ruled out as the dominant mechanisms of the solar neutrino flavor conversion, they remain of great interest as subdominant effects, which, if observed, would open a window to new physics. We outline the sensitivity of the current experiments and describe progress that may be expected in the near future.