Standardizing Dainotti-correlated gamma-ray bursts, and using them with standardized Amati-correlated gamma-ray bursts to constrain cosmological model parameters

We show that each of the three Dainotti-correlated gamma-ray burst (GRB) data sets recently compiled by Wang et al. and Hu et al., that together probe the redshift range 0.35 ≤ z ≤ 5.91, obey cosmological-model-independent Dainotti correlations and so are standardizable. We use these GRB data in conjunction with the best currently-available Amati-correlated GRB data, that probe 0.3399 ≤ z ≤ 8.2, to constrain cosmological model parameters. The resulting cosmological constraints are weak, providing lower limits on the non-relativistic matter density parameter, mildly favoring non-zero spatial curvature, and largely consistent with currently accelerated cosmological expansion as well as with constraints determined from better-established data.

Cosmological constraints from unWISE and Planck CMB lensing tomography

A number of recent, low-redshift, lensing measurements hint at a universe in which the amplitude of lensing is lower than that predicted from the ΛCDM model fit to the data of the Planck CMB mission. Here we use the auto- and cross-correlation signal of unWISE galaxies and Planck CMB lensing maps to infer cosmological parameters at low redshift. In particular, we consider three unWISE samples (denoted as "blue", "green" and "red") at median redshifts z ∼ 0.6, 1.1 and 1.5, which fully cover the Dark Energy dominated era. Our cross-correlation measurements, with combined significance S/N ∼ 80, are used to infer the amplitude of low-redshift fluctuations, σ8; the fraction of matter in the Universe, Ω m ; and the combination S8 ≡ σ8 (Ω m /0.3)0.5 to which these low-redshift lensing measurements are most sensitive. The combination of blue, green and red samples gives a value S m = 0.784 ± 0.015, that is fully consistent with other low-redshift lensing measurements and in 2.4σ tension with the CMB predictions from Planck. This is noteworthy, because CMB lensing probes the same physics as previous galaxy lensing measurements, but with very different systematics, thus providing an excellent complement to previous measurements.

Cosmology of the Twin Higgs without explicit ℤ2 breaking

The cosmology of the Twin Higgs requires the breaking of the ℤ2 symmetry, but it is still an open question whether this breaking needs to be explicit. In this paper, we study how the Mirror Twin Higgs could be modified to be compatible with current cosmological constraints without explicit ℤ2 breaking. We first present a simple toy model that can realize baryogenesis without explicit ℤ2 breaking or reaching temperatures that would lead to domain walls. The model can also either solve the Neff problem and bring the abundance of mirror atoms to an allowed level or provide the correct dark matter abundance. We then present another simple model that leads to mirror neutron dark matter and thus acceptable dark matter self-interactions. We also include in appendix a series of results on energy exchange between different sectors that might prove useful for other cosmological problems.