Zong-Hong Zhu

Although various cosmological observations congruously suggest that our universe is dominated by two dark components, the cold dark matter without pressure and the dark energy with negative pressure, the nature and origin of these components is yet unknow. The generalized Chaplygin gas (gCg), parametrized by an equation of state, $p = -A/\rho_{\rm gCg}^{\alpha}$, was recently proposed to be a candidate of the unified dark matter/energy (UDME) scenarios. In this work, we investigate some observational constraints on it. We mainly focus our attention on the constraints from recent measurements of the X-ray gas mass fractions in clusters of galaxies published by Allen et al. (2002,2003) and the dimensionless coordinate distances to type Ia supernovae and Fanaroff-Riley type IIb radio galaxies compiled by Daly and Djorgovski (2003). We obtain the confidence region on the two parameters fully characterizing gCg, $A_s \equiv A/\rho_{{\rm gCg}0}^{(1+\alpha)}$ and $\alpha$, from a combined analysis of these databases, where $\rho_{{\rm gCg}0}$ is the energy density of gCg at present. It is found that $A_s=0.70^{+0.16}_{-0.17}$ and $\alpha=-0.09^{+0.54}_{-0.33}$, at a 95% confidence level, which is consistent within the errors with the standard dark matter + dark energy model, i.e., the case of $\alpha = 0$. Particularly, the standard Chaplygin gas ($\alpha=1$) is ruled out as a feasible UDME by the data at a 99% confidence level.

Japanese laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors, TAMA300 and LISM, performed a coincident observation during 2001. We perform a coincidence analysis to search for inspiraling compact binaries. The length of data used for the coincidence analysis is 275 hours when both TAMA300 and LISM detectors are operated simultaneously. TAMA300 and LISM data are analyzed by matched filtering, and candidates for gravitational wave events are obtained. If there is a true gravitational wave signal, it should appear in both data of detectors with consistent waveforms characterized by masses of stars, amplitude of the signal, the coalescence time and so on. We introduce a set of coincidence conditions of the parameters, and search for coincident events. This procedure reduces the number of fake events considerably, by a factor $\sim {10}^{-4}$ compared with the number of fake events in single detector analysis. We find that the number of events after imposing the coincidence conditions is consistent with the number of accidental coincidences produced purely by noise. We thus find no evidence of gravitational wave signals. We obtain an upper limit of 0.046 [1/h] $(\mathrm{C}.\mathrm{L}.\mathrm{}=90\%)$ to the galactic event rate within 1 kpc from the Earth. The method used in this paper can be applied straightforwardly to the case of coincidence observations with more than two detectors with arbitrary arm directions.

Recent measurements of type Ia supernovae as well as other concordant observations suggest that the expansion of our universe is accelerating. A dark energy component has usually been invoked as the most feasible mechanism for the acceleration. However, the effects arising from possible extra dimensions can mimic well the role of a dark energy through a modified Friedmann equation. In this work, we investigate some observational constraints on a scenario in which this modification is given by $H^2 = {8\pi G \over 3} (\rho +C\rho^n)$. We mainly focus our attention on the constraints from recent measurements of the dimensionless coordinate distances to type Ia supernovae and Fanaroff-Riley type IIb radio galaxies compiled by Daly and Djorgovski (2003) and the X-ray gas mass fractions in clusters of galaxies published by Allen et al. (2002,2003). We obtain the confidence region on the power index $n$ of the modificative term and the density parameter $\Omega_m$ of the universe from a combined analysis of these databases. It is found that $n=0.06^{+0.22}_{-0.18}$ and $\Omega_m=0.30^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$, at the 95.4% confidence level, which is consistent within the errors with the standard $\Lambda$CDM model. These parameter ranges give a universe whose expansion swithes from deceleration to acceleration at a redshift between 0.52 to 0.73.

The distant type Ia supernovae data compiled by Perlmutter et al. (1999) are used to analyze the Cardassian expansion scenario, which was recently proposed by Freese and Lewis (2002) as an alternative to a cosmological constant (or more generally a dark energy component) in explaining the currently accelerating universe. We show that the allowed intervals for $n$ and $z_{eq}$, the two parameters of the Cardassian model, will give rise to a universe with a very low matter density, which can hardly be reconciled with the current value derived from the measurements of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy and galaxy clusters (cluster baryon fraction). As a result, this Cardassian expansion proposal does not seem to survive the magnitude-redshift test for the present type Ia supernovae data, unless the universe contains primarily baryonic matter.

The distant type Ia supernovae data compiled by Perlmutter et al. (1999) are used to analyze the Cardassian expansion scenario, which was recently proposed by Freese and Lewis (2002) as an alternative to a cosmological constant (or more generally a dark energy component) in explaining the currently accelerating universe. We show that the allowed intervals for $n$ and $z_{eq}$, the two parameters of the Cardassian model, will give rise to a universe with a very low matter density, which can hardly be reconciled with the current value derived from the measurements of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy and galaxy clusters (cluster baryon fraction). As a result, this Cardassian expansion proposal does not seem to survive the magnitude-redshift test for the present type Ia supernovae data, unless the universe contains primarily baryonic matter.Comment: 3 figures, 1 table, uses aaste

The ``Cardassian Expansion Scenario'' was recently proposed by Freese and Lewis (2002) as an alternative to a cosmological constant in explaining the current accelerating universe. In this paper we investigate observational constraints on this scenario from recent measurements of the angular size of high-$z$ compact radio sources compiled by Gurvits et al. (1999). We show that the allowed intervals for $n$ and $z_{eq}$, the two parameters of the Cardassian model, are heavily dependent on the value of the mean projected linear size $l$. However, the best fit to the current angular size data prefers the conventional flat $Lambda$CDM model to this Cardassian expansion proposal, though the latter is cosmologically credible and compatible with the $Theta - z$ diagram for some values of $l$.Comment: 2 figures, 1 table, uses aaste

The ``Cardassian Expansion Scenario'' was recently proposed by Freese and Lewis (2002) as an alternative to a cosmological constant in explaining the current accelerating universe. In this paper we investigate observational constraints on this scenario from recent measurements of the angular size of high-$z$ compact radio sources compiled by Gurvits et al. (1999). We show that the allowed intervals for $n$ and $z_{eq}$, the two parameters of the Cardassian model, are heavily dependent on the value of the mean projected linear size $l$. However, the best fit to the current angular size data prefers the conventional flat $\Lambda$CDM model to this Cardassian expansion proposal, though the latter is cosmologically credible and compatible with the $\Theta - z$ diagram for some values of $l$.

Pulsars can be used to search for stochastic backgrounds of gravitational waves of cosmological origin within the very low frequency band (VLF), $10^{-7}$ to $10^{-9}$ Hz. We propose to construct a special 50 m radio telescope. Regular timing measurements of about 10 strong millisecond pulsars will perhaps allow the detection of gravitational waves within VLF or at least will give a more stringent upper limits.