Model-independent determination of the cosmic expansion rate: I. application to type-Ia supernovae

Aims: In view of the substantial uncertainties regarding the possible dynamics of the dark energy, we aim at constraining the expansion rate of the universe without reference to a specific Friedmann model and its parameters. Methods: We show that cosmological observables integrating over the cosmic...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mignone, Claudia (Author) , Bartelmann, Matthias (Author)
Format: Article (Journal) Chapter/Article
Language:English
Published: April 27, 2017
In: Arxiv

Online Access:Verlag, Volltext: http://arxiv.org/abs/0711.0370
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Author Notes:Claudia Mignone, and Matthias Bartelmann
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Summary:Aims: In view of the substantial uncertainties regarding the possible dynamics of the dark energy, we aim at constraining the expansion rate of the universe without reference to a specific Friedmann model and its parameters. Methods: We show that cosmological observables integrating over the cosmic expansion rate can be converted into a Volterra integral equation which is known to have a unique solution in terms of a Neumann series. Expanding observables such as the luminosity distances to type-Ia supernovae into a series of orthonormal functions, the integral equation can be solved and the cosmic expansion rate recovered within the limits allowed by the accuracy of the data. Results: We demonstrate the performance of the method applying it to synthetic data sets of increasing complexity, and to the first-year SNLS data. In particular, we show that the method is capable of reproducing a hypothetical expansion function containing a sudden transition.
Item Description:Gesehen am 25.09.2017
Physical Description:Online Resource