Robust constraints on dark energy and gravity from galaxy clustering data
Galaxy clustering data provide a powerful probe of dark energy. We examine how the constraints on the scaled expansion history of the Universe, xh(z) =H(z)s (with s denoting the sound horizon at the drag epoch), and the scaled angular diameter distance, xd(z) =DA(z)/s, depend on the methods used to analyse the galaxy clustering data. We find that using the observed galaxy power spectrum, Pobsg(k), xh(z) and xd(z) are measured more accurately and are significantly less correlated with each other, compared to using only the information from the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in Pobsg(k). Using the {xh(z), xd(z)} from Pobsg(k) gives a Dark Energy Task Force (DETF) dark energy figure of merit (FoM) approximately a factor of 2 larger than using the {xh(z), xd(z)} from BAO only; this provides a robust conservative method to go beyond BAO only in extracting dark energy information from galaxy clustering data. 
 
 
 
We find that a Stage IV galaxy redshift survey, with 0.7 < z < 2 over 15 000 (deg)2, can measure with high precision [where fg(z) and G(z) are the linear growth rate and factor of large-scale structure, respectively, and is the dimensionless normalization of Pobsg(k)], when redshift-space distortion information is included. The measurement of provides a powerful test of gravity, and significantly boosts the dark energy FoM when general relativity is assumed.

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: 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: 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: 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: Spectral measurement of electron antineutrino oscillation amplitude and frequency at Daya Bay.
abstract: A measurement of the energy dependence of antineutrino disappearance at the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment is reported. Electron antineutrinos (ν¯(e)) from six 2.9  GW(th) reactors were detected with six detectors deployed in two near (effective baselines 512 and 561 m) and one far (1579 m) underground experimental halls. Using 217 days of data, 41 589 (203 809 and 92 912) antineutrino candidates were detected in the far hall (near halls). An improved measurement of the oscillation amplitude sin(2)2θ(13)=0.090(-0.009)(+0.008) and the first direct measurement of the ν¯(e) mass-squared difference |Δm(ee)2|=(2.59(-0.20)(+0.19))×10(-3)  eV2 is obtained using the observed ν¯(e) rates and energy spectra in a three-neutrino framework. This value of |Δm(ee)2| is consistent with |Δm(μμ)2| measured by muon neutrino disappearance, supporting the three-flavor oscillation model.

title: Unified dark fluid with constant adiabatic sound speed and cosmic constraints
abstract: As is known above 90% of the energy content in Universe is made of unknown dark component. Usually this dark fluid is separated into two parts: dark matter and dark energy. However, it may be a mixture of these two energy components, or just one exotic unknown fluid. This property is dubbed as dark degeneracy. With this motivation, in this paper, a unified dark fluid having constant adiabatic sound speed $c_s^2=\alpha$, which is in the range $[0,1]$, is studied. At first, via the energy conservation equation, its energy density, $\rho_d/\rho_{d0}=(1-B_s)+B_s a^{-3(1+\alpha)}$ where $B_s$ is related to integration constant from energy conservation equation as another model parameter, is presented. Then by using Markov Chain Monte Carlo method with currently available cosmic observational data sets which include type Ia supernova Union 2, baryon acoustic oscillation and WMAP 7-year data of cosmic background radiation, we show that small values of $\alpha$ are favored in this unified dark fluid model. Furthermore, we show that smaller values of $\alpha<10^{-5}$ are required to match matter (baryon) power spectrum from SDSS DR7.

title: A GEANT4-based simulation model for the BESIII endcap time-of-flight system
abstract: A GEANT4-based full Monte-Carlo model is developed to simulate the performance of the endcap time-of-flight (TOF) system of the BESIII detector with high accuracy and sufficient speed. Experimental data of e(+)e(-) collisions collected at BESIII are used to test this model, which can also be applied to other cases for precisely simulating optical photons propagating in scintillators with an irregular geometry.

title: Modified Chaplygin gas as a unified dark matter and dark energy model and cosmic constraints
abstract: A modified Chaplygin gas model (MCG), ρMCG/ρMCG0=[Bs+(1−Bs)a−3(1+B)(1+α)]1/(1+α), as a unified dark matter model and dark energy model, is constrained by using current available cosmic observational data points which include type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillation and the 7-year full WMAP data points. As a contrast to the consideration in the literature, we do not separate the MCG into two components, i.e. dark mater and dark energy component, but we take it as a whole energy component—a unified dark sector. By using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, a tight constraint is obtained: $\alpha= 0.000727_{- 0.00140- 0.00234}^{+ 0.00142+ 0.00391}$, $B=0.000777_{- 0.000302- 0.000697}^{+ 0.000201+ 0.000915}$ and $B_{s}= 0.782_{- 0.0162- 0.0329}^{+ 0.0163+ 0.0307}$.

title: EXPERIMENTAL LIMITS ON THE PRODUCTION OF EXCITED LEPTONS AND STABLE HEAVY-LEPTONS
abstract: The results are reported of a search for excited muons (..mu..*) and electrons (e*) and for a stable charged heavy lepton by measurements of the e/sup +/e/sup -/..--> mu../sup +/..mu../sup -/, ..mu../sup +/..mu../sup -/..gamma.., ..mu../sup +/..mu../sup -/..gamma gamma.., and ..gamma gamma.. final states. Excluded are large regions of the lambda (coupling constant), M (mass) planes for spin-(1/2) ..mu..* and e*, and a new stable charged heavy lepton with mass<14 GeV.