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Bhattacharya, Suman

Publications and source records attributed to Bhattacharya, Suman.

THE MIRA–TITAN UNIVERSE: PRECISION PREDICTIONS FOR DARK ENERGY SURVEYS

Large-scale simulations of cosmic structure formation play an important role in interpreting cosmological observations at high precision. The simulations must cover a parameter range beyond the standard six cosmological parameters and need to be run at high mass and force resolution. A key simulation-based task is the generation of accurate theoretical predictions for observables using a finite number of simulation runs, via the method of emulation. Using a new sampling technique, we explore an eight-dimensional parameter space including massive neutrinos and a variable equation of state of dark energy. We construct trial emulators using two surrogate models (the linear power spectrum and an approximate halo mass function). The new sampling method allows us to build precision emulators from just 26 cosmological models and to systematically increase the emulator accuracy by adding new sets of simulations in a prescribed way. Emulator fidelity can now be continuously improved as new observational data sets become available and higher accuracy is required. Finally, using one ΛCDM cosmology as an example, we study the demands imposed on a simulation campaign to achieve the required statistics and accuracy when building emulators for investigations of dark energy.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The Q continuum simulation: Harnessing the power of GPU accelerated supercomputers

Modeling large-scale sky survey observations is a key driver for the continuing development of high-resolution, large-volume, cosmological simulations. We report the first results from the “Q Continuum” cosmological N-body simulation run carried out on the GPU-accelerated supercomputer Titan. The simulation encompasses a volume of (1300 Mpc){sup 3} and evolves more than half a trillion particles, leading to a particle mass resolution of m{sub p}≃1.5⋅10{sup 8} M{sub ⊙}. At this mass resolution, the Q Continuum run is currently the largest cosmology simulation available. It enables the construction of detailed synthetic sky catalogs, encompassing different modeling methodologies, including semi-analytic modeling and sub-halo abundance matching in a large, cosmological volume. Here we describe the simulation and outputs in detail and present first results for a range of cosmological statistics, such as mass power spectra, halo mass functions, and halo mass-concentration relations for different epochs. We also provide details on challenges connected to running a simulation on almost 90% of Titan, one of the fastest supercomputers in the world, including our usage of Titan’s GPU accelerators.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

COSMIC EMULATION: THE CONCENTRATION-MASS RELATION FOR wCDM UNIVERSES

The concentration-mass relation for dark matter-dominated halos is one of the essential results expected from a theory of structure formation. We present a simple prediction scheme, a cosmic emulator, for the concentration-mass (c-M) relation as a function of cosmological parameters for wCDM models. The emulator is constructed from 37 individual models, with three nested N-body gravity-only simulations carried out for each model. The mass range covered by the emulator is 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 12} M{sub Sun} < M < 10{sup 15} M{sub Sun} with a corresponding redshift range of z = 0-1. Over this range of mass and redshift, as well as the variation of cosmological parameters studied, the mean halo concentration varies from c {approx} 2 to c {approx} 8. The distribution of the concentration at fixed mass is Gaussian with a standard deviation of one-third of the mean value, almost independent of cosmology, mass, and redshift over the ranges probed by the simulations. We compare results from the emulator with previously derived heuristic analytic fits for the c-M relation, finding that they underestimate the halo concentration at high masses. Using the emulator to investigate the cosmology dependence of the c-M relation over the currently allowable range of values, we find-not surprisingly-that {sigma}{sub 8} and {omega}{sub m} influence it considerably, but also that the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w has a substantial effect. In general, the concentration of lower-mass halos is more sensitive to changes in cosmological parameters as compared to cluster mass halos. The c-M emulator is publicly available from http://www.hep.anl.gov/cosmology/CosmicEmu.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DARK MATTER HALO PROFILES OF MASSIVE CLUSTERS: THEORY VERSUS OBSERVATIONS

Dark-matter-dominated cluster-scale halos act as an important cosmological probe and provide a key testing ground for structure formation theory. Focusing on their mass profiles, we have carried out (gravity-only) simulations of the concordance {Lambda}CDM cosmology, covering a mass range of 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 12} to 2 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 15} h {sup -1} M{sub Sun} and a redshift range of z = 0-2, while satisfying the associated requirements of resolution and statistical control. When fitting to the Navarro-Frenk-White profile, our concentration-mass (c-M) relation differs in normalization and shape in comparison to previous studies that have limited statistics in the upper end of the mass range. We show that the flattening of the c-M relation with redshift is naturally expressed if c is viewed as a function of the peak height parameter, {nu}. Unlike the c-M relation, the slope of the c-{nu} relation is effectively constant over the redshift range z = 0-2, while the amplitude varies by {approx}30% for massive clusters. This relation is, however, not universal: using a simulation suite covering the allowed wCDM parameter space, we show that the c-{nu} relation varies by about {+-}20% as cosmological parameters are varied. At fixed mass, the c(M) distribution is well fit by a Gaussian with {sigma}{sub c}/(c) {approx_equal} 1/3, independent of the radius at which the concentration is defined, the halo dynamical state, and the underlying cosmology. We compare the {Lambda}CDM predictions with observations of halo concentrations from strong lensing, weak lensing, galaxy kinematics, and X-ray data, finding good agreement for massive clusters (M{sub vir} > 4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 14} h {sup -1} M{sub Sun }), but with some disagreements at lower masses. Because of uncertainty in observational systematics and modeling of baryonic physics, the significance of these discrepancies remains unclear.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

BISPECTRUM OF THE SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT

We perform a detailed study of the bispectrum of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. Using an analytical model for the pressure profiles of the intracluster medium, we demonstrate the SZ bispectrum to be a sensitive probe of the amplitude of the matter power spectrum parameter {sigma}{sub 8}. We find that the bispectrum amplitude scales as B {sub tSZ}{proportional_to}{sigma}{sup 11-12} {sub 8}, compared to that of the power spectrum, which scales as A {sub tSZ}{proportional_to}{sigma}{sup 7-9} {sub 8}. We show that the SZ bispectrum is principally sourced by massive clusters at redshifts around z {approx} 0.4, which have been well studied observationally. This is in contrast to the SZ power spectrum, which receives a significant contribution from less well understood low-mass and high-redshift groups and clusters. Therefore, the amplitude of the bispectrum at l {approx} 3000 is less sensitive to astrophysical uncertainties than the SZ power spectrum. We show that current high-resolution cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments should be able to detect the SZ bispectrum amplitude with high significance, in part due to the low contamination from extragalactic foregrounds. A combination of the SZ bispectrum and the power spectrum can sharpen the measurements of thermal and kinetic SZ components and help distinguish cosmological and astrophysical information from high-resolution CMB maps.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

MASS FUNCTION PREDICTIONS BEYOND {Lambda}CDM

The statistics of dark matter halos is an essential component of precision cosmology. The mass distribution of halos, as specified by the halo mass function, is a key input for several cosmological probes. The sizes of N-body simulations are now such that, for the most part, results need no longer be statistics-limited, but are still subject to various systematic uncertainties. Discrepancies in the results of simulation campaigns for the halo mass function remain in excess of statistical uncertainties and of roughly the same size as the error limits set by near-future observations; we investigate and discuss some of the reasons for these differences. Quantifying error sources and compensating for them as appropriate, we carry out a high-statistics study of dark matter halos from 67 N-body simulations to investigate the mass function and its evolution for a reference {Lambda}CDM cosmology and for a set of wCDM cosmologies. For the reference {Lambda}CDM cosmology (close to WMAP5), we quantify the breaking of universality in the form of the mass function as a function of redshift, finding an evolution of as much as 10% away from the universal form between redshifts z = 0 and z = 2. For cosmologies very close to this reference we provide a fitting formula to our results for the (evolving) {Lambda}CDM mass function over a mass range of 6 x 10{sup 11}-3 x 10{sup 15} M{sub sun} to an estimated accuracy of about 2%. The set of wCDM cosmologies is taken from the Coyote Universe simulation suite. The mass functions from this suite (which includes a {Lambda}CDM cosmology and others with w {approx_equal} -1) are described by the fitting formula for the reference {Lambda}CDM case at an accuracy level of 10%, but with clear systematic deviations. We argue that, as a consequence, fitting formulae based on a universal form for the mass function may have limited utility in high-precision cosmological applications.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗