We continue to build support for the proposal to use H II galaxies (HIIGx) and giant extragalactic H II regions (GEHR) as standard candles to construct the Hubble diagram at redshifts beyond the current reach of Type Ia supernovae. Using a sample of 25 high-redshift HIIGx, 107 local HIIGx, and 24 GEHR, we confirm that the correlation between the emission -line luminosity and ionized -gas velocity dispersion is a viable luminosity indicator, and use it to test and compare the standard model Lambda CDM and the R-h = ct universe by optimizing the parameters in each cosmology using a maximization of the likelihood function. For the flat Lambda CDM model, the best fit is obtained with Omega(m) = 0.40(-0.09)(+0.09). However, statistical tools, such as the Akaike (AIC), Kullback (KIC) and Bayes (BIC) Information Criteria favour R-h = Ct over the standard model with a likelihood of approximate to 94.8-98.8 per cent versus only per cent. For wCDM (the version of ACDM with a dark -energy equation of state wde = Pde/Pde rather than was t WA = 1), a statistically acceptable fit is realized with Omega(m) = 0.221(-0.14)(+0.16) and wde = 0.511'0'21-5" which, however, are not fully consistent with their concordance values. In this case, wCDM has two more free parameters than R-h = Ct, and is penalized more heavily by these criteria. We find that R-h = Ct is strongly favoured over wCDM with a likelihood of approximate to 92.9-99.6 per cent versus only 0.4-7.1 per cent. The current HIIGx sample is already large enough for the BIC to rule out ACDM/wCDM in favour of R-h = Ct at a confidence level approaching 3 sigma.

The growth of structure may be traced via the redshift-dependent halo mass function. This quantity probes the re-ionization history and quasar abundance in the Universe, constituting an important probe of the cosmological predictions. Halos are not directly observable, however, so their mass and evolution must be inferred indirectly. The most common approach is to presume a relationship with galaxies and halos. Studies based on the assumption of a constant halo to stellar mass ratio Mh/M (extrapolated from z less than or similar to 4) reveal significant tension with Lambda CDM - a failure known as The Impossibly Early Galaxy Problem. But whether this ratio evolves or remains constant through redshift 4 less than or similar to z less than or similar to 10 is still being debated. To eliminate the tension with Lambda CDM, it would have to change by about 0.8 dex over this range, an issue that may be settled by upcoming observations with the James Webb Space Telescope. In this paper, we explore the possibility that this major inconsistency may instead be an indication that the cosmological model is not completely correct. We study this problem in the context of another Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) model known as the Rh=ct universe, and use our previous measurement of sigma 8 from the cosmological growth rate, together with new solutions to the Einstein-Boltzmann equations, to interpret these recent halo measurements. We demonstrate that the predicted mass and redshift dependence of the halo distribution in Rh=ct is consistent with the data, even assuming a constant Mh/M throughout the observed redshift range (4 less than or similar to z less than or similar to 10), contrasting sharply with the tension in Lambda CDM. We conclude that - if Mh/M turns out to be constant - the massive galaxies and their halos must have formed earlier than is possible in Lambda CDM.

We present a detection of the splashback feature around galaxy clusters selected using the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) signal. Recent measurements of the splashback feature around optically selected galaxy clusters have found that the splashback radius, rsp, is smaller than predicted by N-body simulations. Apossible explanation for this discrepancy is that rsp inferred from the observed radial distribution of galaxies is affected by selection effects related to the optical cluster-finding algorithms. We test this possibility by measuring the splashback feature in clusters selected via the SZ effect in data from the South Pole Telescope SZ survey and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter survey. The measurement is accomplished by correlating these cluster samples with galaxies detected in the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 data. The SZ observable used to select clusters in this analysis is expected to have a tighter correlation with halo mass and to be more immune to projection effects and aperture-induced biases, potentially ameliorating causes of systematic error for optically selected clusters. We find that the measured r(sp) for SZ-selected clusters is consistent with the expectations from simulations, although the small number of SZ-selected clusters makes a precise comparison difficult. In agreement with previous work, when using optically selected redMaPPer clusters with similar mass and redshift distributions, r(sp) is similar to 2 sigma smaller than in the simulations. These results motivate detailed investigations of selection biases in optically selected cluster catalogues and exploration of the splashback feature around larger samples of SZ-selected clusters. Additionally, we investigate trends in the galaxy profile and splashback feature as a function of galaxy colour, finding that blue galaxies have profiles close to a power law with no discernible splashback feature, which is consistent with them being on their first infall into the cluster.

Events GW170817 and GRB 170817A provide the best confirmation so far that compact binary mergers where at least one of the companions is a neutron star can be the progenitors of short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs). An open question for GW170817 remains the values and impact of the initial neutron star spins. The initial spins could possibly affect the remnant black hole mass and spin, the remnant disk, and the formation and lifetime of a jet and its outgoing electromagnetic Poynting luminosity. Here we summarize our general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of spinning, neutron star binaries undergoing merger, and delayed collapse to a black hole. The binaries consist of two identical stars, modeled as Gamma = 2 polytropes, in quasicircular orbit, each with spins chi(Ns) = -0.053, 0, 0.24, or 0.36. The stars arc endowed initially with a dipolar magnetic field extending from the interior into the exterior, as in a radio pulsar. Following the merger, the redistribution of angular momentum by magnetic braking and magnetic turbulent viscosity in the hypermassive neutron star (HMNS) remnant, along with the loss of angular momentum due to gravitational radiation, induces the formation of a massive, nearly uniformly rotating inner core surrounded by a magnetized Keplerian disklike envelope. The HMNS eventually collapses to a black hole, with spin a/M-BH similar or equal to 0.78 independent of the initial spin of the neutron stars, surrounded by a magnetized accretion disk. The larger the initial neutron star spin the heavier the disk. After Delta t similar to 3000M - 4000M similar to 45(M-Ns /1.625 M-circle dot) ms - 60(M-Ns /1.625 M-circle dot) ms following merger, a mildly relativistic jet is launched. The lifetime of the jet [Delta t similar to 100(M-Ns 11.625 M-circle dot) ms - 140(M-Ns /1.625 M-circle dot) ms] and its outgoing Poynting luminosity [L-Em similar to 10(51.5 +/- 1)erg /s] are consistent with typical sGRBs, as well as with the Blandford-Znajek mechanism for launching jets and their associated Poynting luminosities.

Measurements of the Hubble constantH(z) are increasingly being used to test the expansion rate predicted by various cosmological models. But the recent application of two-point diagnostics, such as Om(zi, zj) and Omh(2)(zi, zj), has produced considerable tension between Lambda CDM's predictions and several observations, with other models faring even worse. Part of this problem is attributable to the continued mixing of truly model-independent measurements using the cosmic-chronometer approach, and model-dependent data extracted from baryon acoustic oscillations. In this paper, we advance the use of two-point diagnostics beyond their current status, and introduce new variations, which we call Delta h(zi, zj), that are more useful for model comparisons. But we restrict our analysis exclusively to cosmic-chronometer data, which are truly model independent. Even for these measurements, however, we confirm the conclusions drawn by earlier workers that the data have strongly non-Gaussian uncertainties, requiring the use of both 'median' and 'mean' statistical approaches. Our results reveal that previous analyses using two-point diagnostics greatly underestimated the errors, thereby misinterpreting the level of tension between theoretical predictions and H(z) data. Instead, we demonstrate that as of today, only Einstein-de Sitter is ruled out by the two-point diagnostics at a level of significance exceeding similar to 3s. The R-h = ct universe is slightly favoured over the remaining models, including Lambda cold dark matter and Chevalier-Polarski-Linder, though all of them (other than Einstein-de Sitter) are consistent to within 1 sigma with the measured mean of the Delta h(zi, zj) diagnostics.

A fundamental goal of satellite weather and climate observations is profiling the atmosphere with in situ-like precision and resolution with absolute accuracy and unbiased, all-weather, global coverage. While GPS radio occultation (RO) has perhaps come closest in terms of profiling the gas state from orbit, it does not provide sufficient information to simultaneously profile water vapor and temperature. We have been developing the Active Temperature, Ozone and Moisture Microwave Spectrometer (ATOMMS) RO system that probes the 22 and 183 GHz water vapor absorption lines to simultaneously profile temperature and water vapor from the lower troposphere to the mesopause. Using an ATOMMS instrument prototype between two mountaintops, we have demonstrated its ability to penetrate through water vapor, clouds and rain up to optical depths of 17 (7 orders of magnitude reduction in signal power) and still isolate the vapor absorption line spectrum to retrieve water vapor with a random uncertainty of less than 1 %. This demonstration represents a key step toward an orbiting ATOMMS system for weather, climate and constraining processes. ATOMMS water vapor retrievals from orbit will not be biased by climatological or first-guess constraints and will be capable of capturing nearly the full range of variability through the atmosphere and around the globe, in both clear and cloudy conditions, and will therefore greatly improve our understanding and analysis of water vapor. This information can be used to improve weather and climate models through constraints on and refinement of processes affecting and affected by water vapor.

A previous analysis of starburst-dominated HII galaxies and HII regions has demonstrated a statistically significant preference for the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology with zero active mass, known as the R-h = c(t) universe, over Lambda cold dark matter (Lambda CDM) and its related dark-matter parametrizations. In this paper, we employ a two-point diagnostic with these data to present a complementary statistical comparison of Rh = ct with Planck Lambda CDM. Our two-point diagnostic compares, in a pairwise fashion, the difference between the distance modulus measured at two redshifts with that predicted by each cosmology. Our results support the conclusion drawn by a previous comparative analysis demonstrating that Rh = ct is statistically preferred over Planck Lambda CDM. But we also find that the reported errors in the HII measurements may not be purely Gaussian, perhaps due to a partial contamination by non-Gaussian systematic effects. The use of HII galaxies and HII regions as standard candles may be improved even further with a better handling of the systematics in these sources.

Diffraction of orbital-angular-momentum-carrying Laguerre-Gauss vortex (LGV) beams by N-fold rotationally symmetric regular polygons is studied analytically and experimentally. The structure, symmetry, and dependence of the diffraction pattern on the angular momentum index of the LGV beam and the number of sides in the polygon are systematically investigated, and features and trends are identified. The evolution of the diffraction pattern and its symmetry with the aperture position relative to the waist is also studied, leading to a generalized Friedel's law for diffraction of LGV beams.

We examine whether a comparison between wCDM and $R_{\textrm{h}}=ct$ using merged Type-Ia SN catalogs produces results consistent with those based on a single homogeneous sample. Using the Betoule et al. (Astron. Astrophys., 568 (2014) 22). Joint Lightcurve Analysis (JLA) of a combined sample of 613 events from SNLS and SDSS-II, we estimate the parameters of the two models and compare them. We find that the improved statistics can alter the model selection in some cases, but not others. In addition, based on the model fits, we find that there appears to be a lingering systematic offset of ~0.04–0.08 mag between the SNLS and SDSS-II sources, in spite of the cross-calibration in the JLA. Treating wCDM, ΛCDM and $R_{\textrm{h}}=ct$ as separate models, we find in an unbiased pairwise statistical comparison that the Bayes Information Criterion (BIC) favors the $R_{\textrm{h}}=ct$ Universe with a likelihood of $82.8\%$ vs. $17.2\%$ for wCDM, but the ratio of likelihoods is reversed ($16.2\%$ vs. $83.8\%$ ) when $w_{\textrm{de}}=-1$ (i.e., ΛCDM) and strongly reversed ($1.0\%$ vs. $99.0\%$ ) if in addition k = 0 (i.e., flat ΛCDM). We point out, however, that the value of k is a measure of the net energy (kinetic plus gravitational) in the Universe and is not constrained theoretically, though some models of inflation would drive $k\rightarrow 0$ due to an expansion-enforced dilution. Since we here consider only the basic ΛCDM model, the value of k needs to be measured and, therefore, the pre-assumption of flatness introduces a significant bias into the BIC.

A previous analysis of starburst-dominated H II galaxies and H II regions has demonstrated a statistically significant preference for the Friedmann–Robertson–Walker cosmology with zero active mass, known as the Rh = ct universe, over cold dark matter (CDM) and its related dark-matter parametrizations. In this paper, we employ a two-point diagnostic with these data to present a complementary statistical comparison of Rh = ct with Planck CDM. Our two-point diagnostic compares, in a pairwise fashion, the difference between the distance modulus measured at two redshifts with that predicted by each cosmology. Our results support the conclusion drawn by a previous comparative analysis demonstrating that Rh = ct is statistically preferred over Planck CDM. But we also find that the reported errors in the H II measurements may not be purely Gaussian, perhaps due to a partial contamination by non-Gaussian systematic effects. The use of H II galaxies and H II regions as standard candles may be improved even further with a better handling of the systematics in these sources.