Related papers: Dark matter from cosmic defects on galactic scales…
We consider the possibility that the dark matter is coupled through its mass to a scalar field associated with the dark energy of the Universe. In order for such a field to play a role at the present cosmological distances, it must be…
Motivated by the fact that cosmological perturbations of inflationary quantum origin were born Gaussian, the search for non-Gaussianities in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies is considered as the privileged probe of…
We study disc galaxies in the framework of General Relativity to focus on the possibility that, even in the low energy limit, there are relevant corrections with respect to the purely Newtonian approach. Our analysis encompasses the model…
We point out that in the context of ``two-metric'' theories of gravity there is the possibility that cosmic defects will produce a spectrum of primordial adiabatic density perturbations. This will happen when the speed characterising the…
Motivated in part by string theory, we consider a modification of the LambdaCDM cosmological model in which the dark matter has a long-range scalar force screened by light particles. Scalar forces can have interesting effects on structure…
The distribution of the non-luminous matter in galaxies of different luminosity and Hubble type is much more than a proof of the existence of dark particles governing the structures of the Universe. Here, we will review the complex but…
We study the deflection of light in the background of a "wiggly" cosmic string, and investigate whether it is possible to detect cosmic strings by means of weak gravitational lensing. For straight strings without small-scale structure there…
The observed late-time acceleration of the cosmic expansion constitutes a fundamental problem in modern theoretical physics and cosmology. In an attempt to weight the validity of a large number of dark energy models, I use the recent…
We study the behaviour and consequences of cosmic string networks in contracting universes. They approximately behave during the collapse phase as a radiation fluids. Scaling solutions describing this are derived and tested against…
The observational evidence for dark matter on progressively larger cosmic scales is reviewed in a rather pedagogical fashion. Although the emphasis is on dark matter in galaxies and in clusters of galaxies, its cosmological evidence as well…
While galaxy rotation curves provide one of the most powerful methods for measuring dark matter profiles in the inner regions of rotation-supported galaxies, at the dwarf scale there are factors that can complicate this analysis. Given the…
We calculate the expected white dwarf luminosity functions and discovery functions in photometric passbands, if these stellar remnants provide a substantial fraction of the sought Galactic dark matter, as suggested on various observational…
In dilaton gravity theories, we consider a string-like topological defect formed during U(1) gauge symmetry-breaking phase transition in the early Universe, and far from the cosmic string we have vacuum solutions of the generalized Einstein…
We study diffuse gamma-ray emission at intermediate Galactic latitudes measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope with the aim of searching for a signal from dark matter annihilation or decay. In the absence of a robust dark matter signal,…
We obtain more straightforwardly some features of dark matter distribution in the halos of galaxies by considering the spherically symmetric space-time, which satisfies the flat rotational curve condition, and the geometric equation of…
We study cosmic strings in the complex symmetron model, a scalar-tensor theory with a spontaneously broken local $U(1)$ symmetry in low matter density regions. Using numerical simulations, we show that these strings preferentially attach to…
The dynamical evolution of superconducting cosmic strings is much more complicated than that of simple Goto-Nambu strings. For this reason, there are only a few known analytical solutions and no numerical ones. The goal of this paper is to…
In the past years a wealth of observations has unraveled the structural properties of dark and luminous mass distribution in galaxies, a benchmark for understanding dark matter and the process of galaxy formation. The study of the…
In the absence of dark matter, the dynamical and kinematical interpretations of the special relativistic spacetime have been and still are the topic of philosophic debate, which whilst fertile, is by and large of little predictive power.…
Astronomical observations indicate an accelerated cosmic expansion, the cause of which is explained by the action of `dark energy'. Here we show that in discrete expanding space-time, only a tiny fraction of the vacuum fluctuations can…