Survey Requirements for Accurate and Precise Photometric Redshifts for Type Ia Supernovae
In this paper we advance the simple analytic photometric redshift estimator for Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) proposed by Wang, and use it to study simulated SN Ia data. We find that better than 0.5 per cent accuracy in z phot {with σ[(z phot - Z spec )/(1+ Z spec )] < 0.005} is possible for SNe Ia with well-sampled light curves in three observed passbands (riz) with a signal-to-noise ratio of 25 at peak brightness, if the extinction by dust is negligible. The corresponding bias in Z phot (the mean of Z phot -Z spec ) is 5.4 x 10 -4 . If dust extinction is taken into consideration in the riz observer-frame light curves, the accuracy in Z phot deteriorates to 4.4 per cent, with a bias in Z phot of 8.0 x 10 -3 . Adding the g-band light curve improves the accuracy in Z phot to 2.5 per cent, and reduces the bias in Z phot to - 1.5 x 10 -3 . Our results have significant implications for the design of future photometric surveys of SNe Ia from both ground and space telescopes. Accurate and precise photometric redshifts boost the cosmological utility of such surveys.

title: Constraints on generalized extended inflationary models.
abstract: We study the physical constraints on generalized extended inflationary theories, in which the Brans-Dicke field {Phi} couples to the inflaton sector in the form of two arbitrary power-law functions of {Phi}. We find that the most stringent constraints arise from the need to suppress large bubbles and from considerations of the density perturbations generated during extended inflation. We find that there are sizable portions of the parameter spaces in which all the constraints are satisfied.

title: Dark Energy Constraints from Baryon Acoustic Oscillations
abstract: Baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) in the galaxy power spectrum allow us to extract the scale of the comoving sound horizon at recombination, a cosmological standard ruler accurately determined by the cosmic microwave background anisotropy data. We examine various issues important in the use of BAOs to probe dark energy. We find that if we assume a flat universe and priors on ?m, ?mh2, and ?bh2 as expected from the Planck mission, the constraints on dark energy parameters (w0, w') scale much less steeply with survey area than (area)-1/2 for a given redshift range. The constraints on the dark energy density ?X(z), however, do scale roughly with (area)-1/2 due to the strong correlation between H(z) and ?m (which reduces the effect of priors on ?m). Dark energy constraints from BAOs are very sensitive to the assumed linear scale of matter clustering and the redshift accuracy of the survey. For a BAO survey with 0.5 ? z ? 2, ? (R) = 0.4 [corresponding to kmax (z = 0) = 0.086 h Mpc-1], and ?z/ (1 + z) = 0.001, we find = (0.115,0.183) and (0.069, 0.104) for survey areas of 1000 and 10,000 deg2, respectively. We find that it is critical to minimize the bias in the scale estimates in order to derive reliable dark energy constraints. For a 1000 (10,000) deg2 BAO survey, a 1 ? bias in ln H (z) leads to a 2 ? (3 ?) bias in w'. The bias in w' due to the same scale bias from ln DA (z) is slightly smaller and opposite in sign. The results from this paper will be useful in assessing different proposed BAO surveys and guiding the design of optimal dark energy detection strategies.

title: Wavelets and WMAP non-Gaussianity
abstract: We study the statistical properties of the first-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data on different scales using the spherical Mexican hat wavelet transform. Consistent with the 2004 results of Vielva et al., we find a deviation from Gaussianity in the form of kurtosis of wavelet coefficients on 3-4 scales in the southern Galactic hemisphere. This paper extends the work of Vielva et al. as follows: We find that the non-Gaussian signal shows up more strongly in the form of a larger than expected number of cold pixels and also in the form of scale-scale correlations among wavelet coefficients. We establish the robustness of the non-Gaussian signal under more wide-ranging assumptions regarding the Galactic mask applied to the data and the noise statistics. This signal is unlikely to be due to the usual quadratic term parameterized by the nonlinearity parameter fNL. We use the skewness of the spherical Mexican hat wavelet coefficients to constrain fNL with the first-year WMAP data. Our results constrain fNL to be 50+/-80 at 68% confidence and less than 280 at 99% confidence.

title: Dark Energy Search with Supernovae
abstract: To determine the nature of dark energy from observational data, it is important that we use model-independent and optimal methods. We should probe dark energy using its density (allowed to be a free function of cosmic time) instead of its equation of state. We should minimize gravitational lensing effect on supernovae by flux-averaging. We need to include complementary data (for example, from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large scale structure (LSS)) in a consistent manner to help break the degeneracy between the dark energy density and the matter density fraction. We should push for ambitious future supernova surveys that can observe a large number of supernovae at the highest possible redshifts. I discuss these and other issues that will be important in our quest to unravel the mystery of the nature of dark energy. Current supernova, CMB, and LSS data already rule out dark energy models with dark energy densities that vary greatly with time; with the cosmological constant model providing an excellent fit to the data. A precise measurement of dark energy density as a free function of cosmic time will have a fundamental impact on particle physics and cosmology.

title: A robust distance measurement and dark energy constraints from the spherically averaged correlation function of Sloan Digital Sky Survey luminous red Galaxies
abstract: We measure the effective distance to z = 0.26, DV (0.26), and mh 2 from the overall shape of the spherically-averaged two-point correlati on function of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 (DR7) volume-limited luminous red galaxy (LRG) sample, without assuming a dark energy model or a flat Universe. We giv e the mean and covariance matrix of DV (0.26), mh 2 , bh 2 , and ns. We show that these provide an efficient and accurate summary of the volume-limited LRG data. With flat priors on bh 2 and ns (7σWMAP7), we find mh 2 = 0.131 ± 0.020, and rs/DV (0.26) = 0.1466 +0.0068 0.0073 (the ratio of the sound horizon at the drag epoch to the effective distance to z = 0.26). We find that measurements of mh 2 or m are biased low if flux-limited (instead of volume-limited) L RG sample is used. By scaling the spherically-averaged correlation fun ction, we find the Hubble parameter H(0.26) = 79 +12 13 km s 1 Mpc 1 and the angular diameter distance DA(0.26) = 848 +86 88 Mpc. Combining our results with the cosmic microwave background and supernova data, we obtain k = 0.0059 +0.0092 0.0093 andw = 1.023 +0.054 0.053 (assuming a constant dark energy equation of state). We use LasDamas SDSS mock catalogs to compute the covariance matrix of the correlation function, and investigate the use of lognormal catal ogs as an alternative. We find that the input correlation function can be accurately recovered from lognormal catalogs, although they give larger errors on all scales (especially on small sc ales) compared to the mock catalogs derived from cosmological N-body simulations.

title: Black hole energy release to the Gaseous Universe
abstract: We estimate the energy release of black hole formation to the intra-cluster medium of the Coma cluster and find that this is comparable to the present day energy content. Therefore an energetic and maybe hydrostatic influence is possible. Our calculations rely on the assumption of an universal black hole to galaxy mass ratio (more exactly: spheroidal mass component of the stellar population), for which there is growing evidence. On a cosmological scale, there is also an energy release of black hole formation comparable to what is expected to be present within the thermal gas, caused by the process of structure formation. This indicates an important dynamical influence, neglected by present day structure formation simulations. This estimate of cosmological black hole energy release is independent of the black hole to galaxy mass ratio, but consistent with its value.

title: SPACE: the spectroscopic all-sky cosmic explorer
abstract: We describe the scientific motivations, the mission concept and the instrumentation of SPACE, a class-M mission proposed for concept study at the first call of the ESA Cosmic-Vision 2015–2025 planning cycle. SPACE aims to produce the largest three-dimensional evolutionary map of the Universe over the past 10 billion years by taking near-IR spectra and measuring redshifts for more than half a billion galaxies at 0 < z < 2 down to AB~23 over 3π sr of the sky. In addition, SPACE will also target a smaller sky field, performing a deep spectroscopic survey of millions of galaxies to AB~26 and at 2 < z < 10 +. These goals are unreachable with ground-based observations due to the ≈500 times higher sky background (see e.g. Aldering, LBNL report number LBNL-51157, 2001). To achieve the main science objectives, SPACE will use a 1.5 m diameter Ritchey-Chretien telescope equipped with a set of arrays of Digital Micro-mirror Devices covering a total field of view of 0.4 deg2, and will perform large-multiplexing multi-object spectroscopy (e.g. ≈6000 targets per pointing) at a spectral resolution of R~400 as well as diffraction-limited imaging with continuous coverage from 0.8 to 1.8 μm. Owing to the depth, redshift range, volume coverage and quality of its spectra, SPACE will reveal with unique sensitivity most of the fundamental cosmological signatures, including the power spectrum of density fluctuations and its turnover. SPACE will also place high accuracy constraints on the dark energy equation of state parameter and its evolution by measuring the baryonic acoustic oscillations imprinted when matter and radiation decoupled, the distance-luminosity relation of cosmological supernovae, the evolution of the cosmic expansion rate, the growth rate of cosmic large-scale structure, and high-z galaxy clusters. The datasets from the SPACE mission will represent a long lasting legacy for the whole astronomical community whose data will be mined for many years to come.

title: Testing the consistency of Gamma Ray Burst data-set and Supernovae Union2
abstract: In this paper, we test the consistency of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) Data-set and Supernovae Union2 (SNU2) via the so-called multi-dimensional consistency test under the assumption that ΛCDM model is a potentially correct cosmological model. We find that the probes are inconsistent with 1.456σ and 85.47% in terms of probability. With this observation, it is concluded that GRBs can be combined with SNU2 to constrain cosmological models.

title: Asymmetric Hopf bifurcation for proton beams with electron cooling
abstract: We observed maintained longitudinal limiting cycle oscillations, which grew rapidly once a critical threshold in the relative velocity between the proton beam and the cooling electrons was exceeded. The threshold for the bifurcation of a fixed point into a limit cycle, also known as a Hopf bifurcation, was found to be asymmetric with respect to the relative velocity. This asymmetry of Hopf bifurcation was found to be related to the electron beam alignment with respect to the stored proton beam.

title: Contribution of starburst mergers at z ∼ 1 to the strong evolution of infrared and submillimeter deep surveys
abstract: Recent far-infrared and submillimetre waveband observations revealed a large number of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIGs) with infrared luminosities >10 L . These sources are proposed to lie at redshifts above one, and in normally interacting systems with very dusty environments. We discussed in a previous paper that a population with a fast evolving infrared burst phase triggered by gas-rich mergers at z ∼ 1 predicted successfully the steep slope of faint IRAS 60 μm source counts within the flux range of 100 mJy ∼ 1 Jy, still leaving the infrared background level at this wavelength compatible with the upper limit from recent high energy TeV γ ray detection of Mrk 501. To extend the model to mid and far infrared wavelengths, we adopt a reasonable template spectral energy distribution typical for nearby-infrared-bright starburst galaxies (Lir <= 10 12 L ), such as Arp 220. We construct the SED for the dusty starburst mergers at z ∼ 1 by a simple dust extinction law and a thermal continuum assumption for the far-infrared emission. Since the radiation process at mid-infrared for these starburst merging systems is still uncertain, we assume it is similar to the MIR continuum of Arp 220, but modify it by the observed flux correlation of ULIGs from IRAS and ISOCAM deep surveys. We show in this paper that the strong evolution of the European Large Area ISO Survey (ELAIS) at 90μm, ISO 170μm and the Submillimeter deep survey at 850μm could be sufficiently accounted for by such an evolutionary scenario, especially the hump of the ISOCAM 15μm source count around 0.4 mJy. From current best fit results, we find that the dust temperature of those extremely bright starburst merging system at z ∼ 1 would be higher than that of Arp 220 for a reconciliation of the multi-wavelength infrared deep surveys. We thus propose that the infrared burst phase of dusty starburst galaxies or AGNs from gas-rich mergers at z ∼ 1 could contribute significantly to the strong evolution of the IRAS 60μm, the ISO 15μm, 90μm, 170μm, as well as the SCUBA 850μm number counts, while being compatible with the current observational limits of the cosmic infrared background and the redshift distributions. The major difference of our current model prediction is that we see a fast convergence of the differential number counts at 60μm below 50 mJy, which is about a factor of two brighter than other model predictions. Future infrared satellites like Astro-F or SIRTF would give strong constraints to the models.