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The lensing effect of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a powerful tool for our study of the distribution of matter in the universe. The quadratic estimator (QE) method, which is widely used to reconstruct lensing potential, has been known to be suboptimal for the low noise level polarization data from next-generation CMB experiments. To improve the performance of the reconstruction, other methods, such as the maximum-likelihood estimator and machine-learning algorithms, have been developed. In this work, we present a deep convolutional neural network model named the Residual Dense Local Feature U-net (RDLFUnet) for reconstructing the CMB lensing convergence field. By simulating lensed CMB data with different noise levels to train and test network models, we find that for noise levels less than 5 μ K-arcmin, RDLFUnet can recover the input gravitational potential with a higher signal-to-noise ratio than the previous deep-learning and traditional QE methods at almost the entire observation scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose to estimate the spatial curvature of the universe and the cosmic opacity in a model-independent way with expansion rate measurements, H(z), and type Ia supernova (SNe Ia). On the one hand, using a nonparametric smoothing method Gaussian process, we reconstruct a function H(z) from opacity-free expansion rate measurements. Then, we integrate the H(z) to obtain distance modulus μH, which is dependent on the cosmic curvature. On the other hand, distances of SNe Ia can be determined by their photometric observations and thus are opacity-dependent. In our analysis, by confronting distance moduli μH with those obtained from SNe Ia, we achieve estimations for both the spatial curvature and the cosmic opacity without any assumptions for the cosmological model. Here, it should be noted that light curve fitting parameters, accounting for the distance estimation of SNe Ia, are determined in a global fit together with the cosmic opacity and spatial curvature to get rid of the dependence of these parameters on cosmology. In addition, we also investigate whether the inclusion of different priors for the present expansion rate (H0: global estimation, 67.74 ± 0.46 km s−1 Mpc−1, and local measurement, 73.24 ± 1.74 km s−1 Mpc−1) exert influence on the reconstructed H(z) and the following estimations of the spatial curvature and cosmic opacity. Results show that, in general, a spatially flat and transparent universe is preferred by the observations. Moreover, it is suggested that priors for H0 matter a lot. Finally, we find that there is a strong degeneracy between the curvature and the opacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luminosity correlations of long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are extensively proposed as an effective complementarity to trace the Hubble diagram of the universe at high redshifts, which is of great importance to explore properties of dark energy. Recently, several empirical luminosity correlations have been statistically proposed from GRB observations. However, to treat a GRB as the distance indicator, there are two key issues: the redshift evolution of luminosity correlations and their calibrations. In this paper, we choose the Amati relation, the correlation between the peak spectra energy and the equivalent isotropic energy of GRBs () as an example and find that the current GRB data set implies that there could be a evolution of the luminosity correlation with respect to the redshift. Therefore, we propose an extended Amati relation with two extra redshift-dependent terms to correct the redshift evolution of the GRB relation. Second, we carefully check the reliability of the calibration method using the low-redshift GRB data. Importantly, we find that the low-redshift calibration method does not take whole correlations between and coefficients into account. Neglecting this correlation information can break the degeneracies and obtain the biased constraint on , which is very sensitive to values of parameters for the calibration. A small shift in the parameters of the “calibrated” relation could significantly change the final constraint on in the low-redshift calibration method. Finally, we simulate several GRB samples with different statistical errors and find that, in order to correctly recover the fiducial value of , using the low-redshift calibration method, we need a large number of GRB samples with high precisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use a recently compiled data set, which comprises 118 galactic-scale strong gravitational lensing (SGL) systems to constrain the statistical property of the SGL system as well as the curvature of the universe without assuming any fiducial cosmological model. Based on the singular isothermal ellipsoid (SIE) model of the SGL system, we obtain that the constrained curvature parameter is close to zero from the SGL data, which is consistent with the latest result of Planck measurement. More interestingly, we find that the parameter f in the SIE model is strongly correlated with the curvature . Neglecting this correlation in the analysis will significantly overestimate the constraining power of SGL data on the curvature. Furthermore, the obtained constraint on f is different from previous results: (68% confidence level [C.L.]), which means that the standard singular isothermal sphere (SIS) model (f = 1) is disfavored by the current SGL data at more than a C.L. We also divide all of the SGL data into two parts according to the centric stellar velocity dispersion and find that the larger the value of for the subsample, the more favored the standard SIS model is. Finally, we extend the SIE model by assuming the power-law density profiles for the total mass density, , and luminosity density, , and obtain the constraints on the power-law indices: and at a 68% C.L. When assuming the power-law index , this scenario is totally disfavored by the current SGL data, . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model-independent estimations for the spatial curvature of the universe not only provide a test for the fundamental assumption of the Copernican principle, but also can effectively break the degeneracy between curvature and dark-energy properties. In this paper, we propose to achieve model-independent constraints on the spatial curvature from observations of standard candles and standard clocks, without assuming any fiducial cosmology or other priors. We find that, for the popular Union2.1 observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), the spatial curvature is constrained to be . For the latest joint light-curve analysis of SNe Ia observations, we obtain . It is suggested that these results are in excellent agreement with a spatially flat universe. Moreover, compared to other approaches aiming for model-independent estimations of spatial curvature, this method also achieves constraints with competitive precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-scale magnetic fields are not only the fundamental element of the solar magnetism but also closely related to the structure of the solar atmosphere. The observations have shown that there is a ubiquitous tangled small-scale magnetic field with a strength of 60–130 G in the canopy-forming layer of the quiet solar photosphere. On the other hand, the multidimensional MHD simulations show that the convective overshooting expels the magnetic field to form the magnetic canopies at a height of about 500 km in the upper photosphere. However, the distribution of such small-scale "canopies" in the solar photosphere cannot be rigorously constrained by either observations or numerical simulations. Based on stellar standard models, we identify that these magnetic canopies can act as a global magnetic arch splicing layer, and we find that the reflections of the solar p-mode oscillations at this magnetic arch splicing layer result in significant improvement on the discrepancy between the observed and calculated p-mode frequencies. The location of the magnetic arch splicing layer is determined at a height of about 630 km, and the inferred strength of the magnetic field is about 90 G. These features of the magnetic arch splicing layer derived independently in the present study are quantitatively in agreement with the presence of small-scale magnetic canopies such as those obtained by the observations and 3D MHD simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model-independent constraints on the spatial curvature are not only closely related to important problems, such as the evolution of the universe and properties of dark energy, but also provide a test of the validity of the fundamental Copernican principle. In this paper, with the distance sum rule in the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric, we achieve model-independent measurements of the spatial curvature from the latest type Ia supernovae and strong gravitational lensing (SGL) observations. We find that a spatially closed universe is preferred. Moreover, by considering different kinds of velocity dispersion and subsamples, we study possible factors that might affect model-independent estimations for the spatial curvature from SGL observations. It is suggested that the combination of observational data from different surveys might cause a systematic bias, and the tension between the spatially flat universe and SGL observations is alleviated when the subsample only from the Sloan Lens ACS Survey is used or a more complex treatment for the density profile of lenses is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new model-independent strategy for testing the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) metric and constraining cosmic curvature, based on future time-delay measurements of strongly lensed quasar-elliptical galaxy systems from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and supernova observations from the Dark Energy Survey. The test only relies on geometric optics. It is independent of the energy contents of the universe and the validity of the Einstein equation on cosmological scales. The study comprises two levels: testing the FLRW metric through the distance sum rule (DSR) and determining/constraining cosmic curvature. We propose an effective and efficient (redshift) evolution model for performing the former test, which allows us to concretely specify the violation criterion for the FLRW DSR. If the FLRW metric is consistent with the observations, then on the second level the cosmic curvature parameter will be constrained to ∼0.057 or ∼0.041 (1σ), depending on the availability of high-redshift supernovae, which is much more stringent than current model-independent techniques. We also show that the bias in the time-delay method might be well controlled, leading to robust results. The proposed method is a new independent tool for both testing the fundamental assumptions of homogeneity and isotropy in cosmology and for determining cosmic curvature. It is complementary to cosmic microwave background plus baryon acoustic oscillation analyses, which normally assume a cosmological model with dark energy domination in the late-time universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]