scholarly journals Hemispherical variance anomaly and reionization optical depth

2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (3) ◽  
pp. 3563-3570
Author(s):  
Márcio O’Dwyer ◽  
Craig J Copi ◽  
Johanna M Nagy ◽  
C Barth Netterfield ◽  
John Ruhl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Depth ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cold Dark Matter ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Cosmological Parameters ◽  
Temperature Data ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Parameter Uncertainties ◽  
Polarization Data ◽  
Best Fitting

ABSTRACT Cosmic microwave background (CMB) full-sky temperature data show a hemispherical asymmetry in power nearly aligned with the Ecliptic, with the Northern hemisphere displaying an anomalously low variance, while the Southern hemisphere appears consistent with expectations from the best-fitting theory, Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM). The low signal-to-noise ratio in current polarization data prevents a similar comparison. Polarization realizations constrained by temperature data show that in ΛCDM the lack of variance is not expected to be present in polarization data. Therefore, a natural way of testing whether the temperature result is a fluke is to measure the variance of CMB polarization components. In anticipation of future CMB experiments that will allow for high-precision large-scale polarization measurements, we study how the variance of polarization depends on ΛCDM-parameter uncertainties by forecasting polarization maps with Planck’s Markov chain Monte Carlo chains. We show that polarization variance is sensitive to present uncertainties in cosmological parameters, mainly due to current poor constraints on the reionization optical depth τ, which drives variance at low multipoles. We demonstrate how the improvement in the τ measurement seen between Planck’s two latest data releases results in a tighter constraint on polarization variance expectations. Finally, we consider even smaller uncertainties on τ and how more precise measurements of τ can drive the expectation for polarization variance in a hemisphere close to that of the cosmic-variance-limited distribution.

scholarly journals The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: a CMB lensing mass map over 2100 square degrees of sky and its cross-correlation with BOSS-CMASS galaxies

2020 ◽  
Vol 500 (2) ◽  
pp. 2250-2263
Author(s):  
Omar Darwish ◽  
Mathew S Madhavacheril ◽  
Blake D Sherwin ◽  
Simone Aiola ◽  
Nicholas Battaglia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cold Dark Matter ◽  
Cross Correlation ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Atacama Cosmology Telescope ◽  
Infrared Background ◽  
Galaxy Sample ◽  
Best Fitting ◽  
Galaxy Bias ◽  
Using Data

ABSTRACT We construct cosmic microwave background lensing mass maps using data from the 2014 and 2015 seasons of observations with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). These maps cover 2100 square degrees of sky and overlap with a wide variety of optical surveys. The maps are signal dominated on large scales and have fidelity such that their correlation with the cosmic infrared background is clearly visible by eye. We also create lensing maps with thermal Sunyaev−Zel’dovich contamination removed using a novel cleaning procedure that only slightly degrades the lensing signal-to-noise ratio. The cross-spectrum between the cleaned lensing map and the BOSS CMASS galaxy sample is detected at 10σ significance, with an amplitude of A = 1.02 ± 0.10 relative to the Planck best-fitting Lambda cold dark matter cosmological model with fiducial linear galaxy bias. Our measurement lays the foundation for lensing cross-correlation science with current ACT data and beyond.

scholarly journals Constraining cosmology with the cosmic microwave and infrared backgrounds correlation

2019 ◽  
Vol 621 ◽  
pp. A32 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Maniyar ◽  
G. Lagache ◽  
M. Béthermin ◽  
S. Ilić
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Cross Correlation ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Cosmological Parameters ◽  
Power Spectra ◽  
Matrix Analysis ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Residual Level ◽  
Infrared Background ◽  
The Cross

We explore the use of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) as a tracer of the large scale structures for cross-correlating with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and exploit the integrated Sachs–Wolfe (ISW) effect. We used an improved linear CIB model from our previous work and derived the theoretical CIB×ISW cross-correlation for different Planck HFI frequencies (217, 353, 545 and 857 GHz) and IRAS (3000 GHz). As expected, we predict a positive cross-correlation between the CIB and the CMB whose amplitude decreases rapidly at small scales. We perform a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) analysis of the predicted cross-correlation. In the ideal case when the cross-correlation is obtained over 70% (40%) of the sky without residual contaminants (e.g. galactic dust) in maps, the S/N ranges from 4.2 to 5.6 (3.2 to 4.3); the highest S/N comes from 857 GHz. A Fisher matrix analysis shows that an ISW signal detected with a S/N this high on the 40% sky can considerably improve the constraints on the cosmological parameters; constraints on the equation of state of the dark energy especially are improved by 80%. We then performed a more realistic analysis considering the effect of residual galactic dust contamination in CIB maps. We calculated the dust power spectra for different frequencies and sky fractions that dominate the CIB power spectra at the lower multipoles we are interested in. Considering a conservative 10% residual level of galactic dust in the CIB power spectra, we observe that the S/N drops drastically, which makes it very challenging to detect the ISW. To determine the capability of current maps to detect the ISW effect through this method, we measured the cross-correlation of the CIB and the CMB Planck maps on the so-called GASS field, which covers an area of ∼11% in the southern hemisphere. We find that with such a small sky fraction and the dust residuals in the CIB maps, we do not detect any ISW signal, and the measured cross-correlation is consistent with zero. To avoid degrading the S/N for the ISW measurement by more than 10% on the 40% sky, we find that the dust needs to be cleaned up to the 0.01% level on the power spectrum.

scholarly journals Cosmological Constraints on Mirror Matter Parameters

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Paolo Ciarcelluti ◽  
Quentin Wallemacq
Keyword(s):  
Monte Carlo ◽  
Dark Matter ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cold Dark Matter ◽  
Cosmological Parameters ◽  
Linear Regime ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Cosmological Constraints ◽  
Upper Limits ◽  
Mirror Matter

Up-to-date estimates of the cosmological parameters are presented as a result of numerical simulations of cosmic microwave background and large scale structure, considering a flat Universe in which the dark matter is made entirely or partly of mirror matter, and the primordial perturbations are scalar adiabatic and in linear regime. A statistical analysis using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method allows to obtain constraints of the cosmological parameters. As a result, we show that a Universe with pure mirror dark matter is statistically equivalent to the case of an admixture with cold dark matter. The upper limits for the ratio of the temperatures of ordinary and mirror sectors are around 0.3 for both the cosmological models, which show the presence of a dominant fraction of mirror matter,0.06≲Ωmirrorh2≲0.12.

scholarly journals Can assembly bias explain the lensing amplitude of the BOSS CMASS sample in a Planck cosmology?

2020 ◽  
Vol 493 (4) ◽  
pp. 5551-5564
Author(s):  
Sihan Yuan ◽  
Daniel J Eisenstein ◽  
Alexie Leauthaud
Keyword(s):  
Cold Dark Matter ◽  
Cosmological Parameters ◽  
Bias Parameter ◽  
Projected Clustering ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Satellite Velocity ◽  
Galaxy Sample ◽  
Best Fitting ◽  
Galaxy Assembly ◽  
Halo Occupation Distribution

ABSTRACT In this paper, we investigate whether galaxy assembly bias can reconcile the 20–40 ${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ disagreement between the observed galaxy projected clustering signal and the galaxy–galaxy lensing signal in the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey CMASS galaxy sample. We use the suite of abacuscosmos lambda cold dark matter simulations at Planck best-fitting cosmology and two flexible implementations of extended halo occupation distribution (HOD) models that incorporate galaxy assembly bias to build forward models and produce joint fits of the observed galaxy clustering signal and the galaxy–galaxy lensing signal. We find that our models using the standard HODs without any assembly bias generalizations continue to show a 20–40 ${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ overprediction of the observed galaxy–galaxy lensing signal. We find that our implementations of galaxy assembly bias do not reconcile the two measurements at Planck best-fitting cosmology. In fact, despite incorporating galaxy assembly bias, the satellite distribution parameter, and the satellite velocity bias parameter into our extended HOD model, our fits still strongly suggest a $\sim \! 34{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ discrepancy between the observed projected clustering and galaxy–galaxy lensing measurements. It remains to be seen whether a combination of other galaxy assembly bias models, alternative cosmological parameters, or baryonic effects can explain the amplitude difference between the two signals.

scholarly journals Towards Understanding the Large-Scale Structure?

1987 ◽  
Vol 124 ◽  
pp. 415-432
Author(s):  
Avishai Dekel
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
First Principles ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cold Dark Matter ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Large Scale Structure ◽  
Scale Structure ◽  
Observational Constraints ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Satisfactory Theory

Although some theories, such as that of cold dark matter, are quite successful in explaining certain aspects of the formation of structure, we seem not to approach a satisfactory theory which can easily account for all the observational constraints on all scales. Most difficult to explain are the indicated clustering of clusters and bulk velocities on very large scales, when considered together with the structure on galactic scales and the isotropy of the microwave background. If these observations are correct, the only scenarios that can work are hybrids of certain sorts, which involve somewhat ad hoc choices of parameters; they are not the theories that would have emerged naturally from first principles, and they do not satisfy the criteria of simplicity and elegancy. I will discuss the currently popular scenarios and the apparent difficulties they face.

scholarly journals Fast and easy super-sample covariance of large-scale structure observables

2019 ◽  
Vol 624 ◽  
pp. A61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabien Lacasa ◽  
Julien Grain
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Cosmological Parameters ◽  
Power Spectra ◽  
Large Scale Structure ◽  
Scale Structure ◽  
Numerical Application ◽  
Sample Covariance ◽  
Non Gaussian ◽  
Fast Prediction

We present a numerically cheap approximation to super-sample covariance (SSC) of large-scale structure cosmological probes, first in the case of angular power spectra. No new elements are needed besides those used to predict the considered probes, thus relieving analysis pipelines from having to develop a full SSC modeling, and reducing the computational load. The approximation is asymptotically exact for fine redshift bins Δz → 0. We furthermore show how it can be implemented at the level of a Gaussian likelihood or a Fisher matrix forecast as a fast correction to the Gaussian case without needing to build large covariance matrices. Numerical application to a Euclid-like survey show that, compared to a full SSC computation, the approximation nicely recovers the signal-to-noise ratio and the Fisher forecasts on cosmological parameters of the wCDM cosmological model. Moreover, it allows for a fast prediction of which parameters are going to be the most affected by SSC and at what level. In the case of photometric galaxy clustering with Euclid-like specifications, we find that σ8, ns, and the dark energy equation of state w are particularly heavily affected. We finally show how to generalize the approximation for probes other than angular spectra (correlation functions, number counts, and bispectra) and at the likelihood level, allowing for the latter to be non-Gaussian if necessary. We release publicly a Python module allowing the implementation of the SSC approximation and a notebook reproducing the plots of the article.

scholarly journals Reconstructing the Primordial Power Spectrum

2005 ◽  
Vol 216 ◽  
pp. 28-34
Author(s):  
S. L. Bridle ◽  
A. M. Lewis ◽  
J. Weller ◽  
G. Efstathiou
Keyword(s):  
Power Spectrum ◽  
Spectral Index ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cosmological Parameters ◽  
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Primordial Power Spectrum ◽  
Initial Spectrum ◽  
Redshift Survey ◽  
Cosmic Microwave Background Data

We reconstruct the shape of the primordial power spectrum from the latest cosmic microwave background data, including the new results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), and large scale structure data from the two degree field galaxy redshift survey (2dFGRS). We discuss two parameterizations taking into account the uncertainties in four cosmological parameters. First we parameterize the initial spectrum by a tilt and a running spectral index, finding marginal evidence for a running spectral index only if the first three WMAP multipoles (ℓ = 2, 3, 4) are included in the analysis. Secondly, to investigate further the low CMB large scale power, we modify the conventional power-law spectrum by introducing a scale above which there is no power. We find a preferred position of the cut at kc ∼ 3 × 10--4 Mpc--1 although kc = 0 (no cut) is not ruled out.

Combining simulations and physical observations to estimate cosmological parameters

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Higdon ◽  
Katrin Heitmann ◽  
Charles Nakhleh ◽  
Salman Habib
Keyword(s):  
Cold Dark Matter ◽  
Cosmological Parameters ◽  
Sloan Digital Sky Survey ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
Statistical Framework ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
Computationally Intensive ◽  
Diverse Data ◽  
The Universe

This article focuses on the use of a Bayesian approach that combines simulations and physical observations to estimate cosmological parameters. It begins with an overview of the Λ-cold dark matter (CDM) model, the simplest cosmological model in agreement with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and largescale structure analysis. The CDM model is determined by a small number of parameters which control the composition, expansion and fluctuations of the universe. The present study aims to learn about the values of these parameters using measurements from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Computationally intensive simulation results are combined with measurements from the SDSS to infer about a subset of the parameters that control the CDM model. The article also describes a statistical framework used to determine a posterior distribution for these cosmological parameters and concludes by showing how it can be extended to include data from diverse data sources.

scholarly journals Constraints on neutrino masses from the study of the nearby large-scale structure and galaxy cluster counts

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (21) ◽  
pp. 1640008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Böhringer ◽  
Gayoung Chon
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Cosmological Parameters ◽  
Large Scale Structure ◽  
Matter Density ◽  
Density Fluctuations ◽  
Scale Structure ◽  
Neutrino Masses ◽  
Microwave Background ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Massive Neutrinos

The high precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background by the Planck survey yielded tight constraints on cosmological parameters and the statistics of the density fluctuations at the time of recombination. This provides the means for a critical study of structure formation in the Universe by comparing the microwave background results with present epoch measurements of the cosmic large-scale structure. It can reveal subtle effects such as how different forms of Dark Matter may modify structure growth. Currently most interesting is the damping effect of structure growth by massive neutrinos. Different observations of low redshift matter density fluctuations provided evidence for a signature of massive neutrinos. Here we discuss the study of the cosmic large-scale structure with a complete sample of nearby, X-ray luminous clusters from our REFLEX cluster survey. From the observed X-ray luminosity function and its reproduction for different cosmological models, we obtain tight constraints on the cosmological parameters describing the matter density, [Formula: see text], and the density fluctuation amplitude, [Formula: see text]. A comparison of these constraints with the Planck results shows a discrepancy in the framework of a pure [Formula: see text]CDM model, but the results can be reconciled, if we allow for a neutrino mass in the range of 0.17 eV to 0.7 eV. Also some others, but not all of the observations of the nearby large-scale structure provide evidence or trends for signatures of massive neutrinos. With further improvement in the systematics and future survey projects, these indications will develop into a definitive measurement of neutrino masses.

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