Browsing by Author "Polus, Aku"

We begin by discussing the essential concepts within the standard cosmology where the dark matter is "cold" and collisionless. We consider the structure formation in the dark matter component and present problems faced by the standard cosmology as well as some prospects for the solutions to those. The main problem considered in this work is the tension in the value of the Hubble constant measured with different procedures. We present the theories behind the procedures, and conclude the study of the tension by considering the most notable interpretations for the reason behind it. We then set up a proposal for an alternative model describing the dark sector. It is a hidden copy of the visible sector electromagnetism, allowing for a radiative cooling in virializing structures. By assuming first an asymmetric particle content, we study which scales of the dark matter halos are eligible to collapse into dense structure. Acquiring a mass function then allows to conclude how much from the total dark matter component is expected to collapse. If instead the dark matter particle content is taken to be symmetric, the collapsed fraction is assumed to annihilate into dark radiation. With certain modifications to the freely available Boltzmann code CAMB, we construct to the code a representation of the cosmology defined by our model. Lastly we use the modified cosmology to create a fit to the data defining the Hubble constant, and see for the relief of the tension. We find that our model provides a reasonable history for the energy content of the universe, and a notable relief to the Hubble tension, although the improvement is only a minor one compared to some more modest modifications to the cosmology.