Engineering topics

Hoyle, B. (ORCID:0000000225711357)

Publications and source records attributed to Hoyle, B. (ORCID:0000000225711357).

4 records

DOE OSTI2022

Dwarf AGNs from Optical Variability for the Origins of Seeds (DAVOS): insights from the dark energy survey deep fields

ABSTRACT We present a sample of 706, z < 1.5 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) selected from optical photometric variability in three of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) deep fields (E2, C3, and X3) over an area of 4.64 deg2. We construct light curves using difference imaging aperture photometry for resolved sources and non-difference imaging PSF photometry for unresolved sources, respectively, and characterize the variability significance. Our DES light curves have a mean cadence of 7 d, a 6-yr baseline, and a single-epoch imaging depth of up to g ∼ 24.5. Using spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, we find 26 out of total 706 variable galaxies are consistent with dwarf galaxies with a reliable stellar mass estimate ($M_{\ast }\lt 10^{9.5}\, {\rm M}_\odot$; median photometric redshift of 0.9). We were able to constrain rapid characteristic variability time-scales (∼ weeks) using the DES light curves in 15 dwarf AGN candidates (a subset of our variable AGN candidates) at a median photometric redshift of 0.4. This rapid variability is consistent with their low black hole (BH) masses. We confirm the low-mass AGN nature of one source with a high S/N optical spectrum. We publish our catalogue, optical light curves, and supplementary data, such as X-ray properties and optical spectra, when available. We measure a variable AGN fraction versus stellar mass and compare to results from a forward model. This work demonstrates the feasibility of optical variability to identify AGNs with lower BH masses in deep fields, which may be more ‘pristine’ analogues of supermassive BH seeds.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Superclustering with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and Dark Energy Survey. I. Evidence for Thermal Energy Anisotropy Using Oriented Stacking

The cosmic web contains filamentary structure on a wide range of scales. On the largest scales, superclustering aligns multiple galaxy clusters along intercluster bridges, visible through their thermal Sunyaev–Zel'dovich signal in the cosmic microwave background. We demonstrate a new, flexible method to analyze the hot gas signal from multiscale extended structures. We use a Compton y-map from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) stacked on redMaPPer cluster positions from the optical Dark Energy Survey (DES). Cutout images from the y-map are oriented with large-scale structure information from DES galaxy data such that the superclustering signal is aligned before being overlaid. We find evidence of an extended quadrupole moment of the stacked y signal at the 3.5σ level, demonstrating that the large-scale thermal energy surrounding galaxy clusters is anisotropically distributed. We compare our ACT × DES results with the Buzzard simulations, finding broad agreement. Using simulations, we highlight the promise of this novel technique for constraining the evolution of anisotropic, non-Gaussian structure using future combinations of microwave and optical surveys.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: marginalization over redshift distribution uncertainties using ranking of discrete realizations

ABSTRACT Cosmological information from weak lensing surveys is maximized by sorting source galaxies into tomographic redshift subsamples. Any uncertainties on these redshift distributions must be correctly propagated into the cosmological results. We present hyperrank, a new method for marginalizing over redshift distribution uncertainties, using discrete samples from the space of all possible redshift distributions, improving over simple parametrized models. In hyperrank, the set of proposed redshift distributions is ranked according to a small (between one and four) number of summary values, which are then sampled, along with other nuisance parameters and cosmological parameters in the Monte Carlo chain used for inference. This approach can be regarded as a general method for marginalizing over discrete realizations of data vector variation with nuisance parameters, which can consequently be sampled separately from the main parameters of interest, allowing for increased computational efficiency. We focus on the case of weak lensing cosmic shear analyses and demonstrate our method using simulations made for the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We show that the method can correctly and efficiently marginalize over a wide range of models for the redshift distribution uncertainty. Finally, we compare hyperrank to the common mean-shifting method of marginalizing over redshift uncertainty, validating that this simpler model is sufficient for use in the DES Year 3 cosmology results presented in companion papers.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2021

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Catalog of >4000 Sunyaev–Zel’dovich Galaxy Clusters

Here, we present a catalog of 4195 optically confirmed Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) selected galaxy clusters detected with signal-to-noise ratio >4 in 13,211 deg 2 of sky surveyed by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). Cluster candidates were selected by applying a multifrequency matched filter to 98 and 150 GHz maps constructed from ACT observations obtained from 2008 to 2018 and confirmed using deep, wide-area optical surveys. The clusters span the redshift range 0.04 < z < 1.91 (median z = 0.52). The catalog contains 222 z > 1 clusters, and a total of 868 systems are new discoveries. Assuming an SZ signal versus mass-scaling relation calibrated from X-ray observations, the sample has a 90% completeness mass limit of M 500 c > 3.8 × 10 14 M ⊙ , evaluated at z = 0.5, for clusters detected at signal-to-noise ratio >5 in maps filtered at an angular scale of 2.'4. The survey has a large overlap with deep optical weak-lensing surveys that are being used to calibrate the SZ signal mass-scaling relation, such as the Dark Energy Survey (4566 deg 2 ), the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (469 deg 2 ), and the Kilo Degree Survey (825 deg 2 ). We highlight some noteworthy objects in the sample, including potentially projected systems, clusters with strong lensing features, clusters with active central galaxies or star formation, and systems of multiple clusters that may be physically associated. The cluster catalog will be a useful resource for future cosmological analyses and studying the evolution of the intracluster medium and galaxies in massive clusters over the past 10 Gyr.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗