DOE OSTI · 2871166
Evidence for large baryonic feedback at low and intermediate redshifts from kinematic Sunyaev-Zel’dovich observations with ACT and DESI photometric galaxies
Abstract
Recent advances in cosmological observations have provided an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the distribution of baryons relative to the underlying matter. In this work, we show that the gas is more extended than the dark matter, and the amount of baryonic feedback at $z \lesssim 1$ disfavors low-feedback models such as that of state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulation IllustrisTNG compared with high-feedback models such as that of the original Illustris simulation. This has important implications for bridging the gap between theory and observations and understanding galaxy formation and evolution. Furthermore, a better grasp of the baryon-dark matter link is critical to future cosmological analyses, which are currently impeded by our limited knowledge of baryonic feedback. Here, we measure the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), stacked on the luminous red galaxy (LRG) sample of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) imaging survey. This is the first analysis to use photometric redshifts for reconstructing galaxy velocities. Due to the large number of galaxies comprising the DESI imaging survey, this is the highest signal-to-noise stacked kSZ measurement to date: we detect the signal at 13$σ$, finding strong evidence that the gas is more spread out than the dark matter, as well as a preference for larger feedback compared to some commonly used state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations. Here, our work opens up the possibility of recalibrating large hydrodynamical simulations using the kSZ effect. In addition, our findings highlight the importance of properly accounting for baryonic feedback with future surveys such as LSST through direct probes such as the kSZ, and shed light on long-standing enigmas in astrophysics, such as the “missing baryon” problem.
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Hadzhiyska, B. [University of California; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; University of California] (ORCID:0000000223123121), Ferraro, S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; University of California], Ried Guachalla, B. [Stanford University; Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology; SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory], Schaan, E. [Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology; SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory], Aguilar, J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory], Ahlen, S. [Boston University], Battaglia, N. [Cornell University], Bond, J. R. [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics], Brooks, D. [University College London], Calabrese, E. [Cardiff University], Choi, S. K. [University of California], Claybaugh, T. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory], Coulton, W. R. [Kavli Institute for Cosmology Cambridge; University of Cambridge], Dawson, K. [The University of Utah], Devlin, M. [University of Pennsylvania], Dey, B. [University of Pittsburgh], Doel, P. [University College London], Duivenvoorden, A. J. [Flatiron Institute; Princeton University], Dunkley, J. [Princeton University; Princeton University], Farren, G. S. [University of Cambridge; Kavli Institute for Cosmology Cambridge], Font-Ribera, A. [University College London; The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology], Forero-Romero, J. E. [Universidad de los Andes; Universidad de los Andes], Gallardo, P. A. [University of Chicago], Gaztañaga, E. [Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC); University of Portsmouth; Institute of Space Sciences], Gontcho Gontcho, S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory], Gralla, M. [University of Arizona], Le Guillou, L. [Sorbonne Université], Gutierrez, G. [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory], Guy, J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory], Hill, J. C. [Columbia University], Hložek, R. [University of Toronto; University of Toronto], Honscheid, K. [The Ohio State University; The Ohio State University; The Ohio State University], Juneau, S. [NSF NOIRLab], Kehoe, R. [Southern Methodist University], Kisner, T. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory], Kremin, A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory], Landriau, M. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory], Liu, R. H. [University of California], Louis, T. [Université Paris-Saclay], MacCrann, N. [University of Cambridge], de Macorra, A. [Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México], Madhavacheril, M. [University of Pennsylvania], Manera, M. [Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology], Meisner, A. [NSF NOIRLab], Miquel, R. [Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats; The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology], Moodley, K. [University of KwaZulu-Natal], Moustakas, J. [Siena College], Mroczkowski, T. [European Southern Observatory], Naess, S. [University of Oslo], Newman, J. [University of Pittsburgh], Niemack, M. D. [Cornell University; Cornell University], Niz, G. [Universidad de Guanajuato - DCI; Instituto Avanzado de Cosmología A. C.], Page, L. [Princeton University], Palanque-Delabrouille, N. [Université Paris-Saclay; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory], Partridge, B. [Haverford College], Percival, W. J. [University of Waterloo; Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics; University of Waterloo], Prada, F. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC)], Qu, F. J. [University of Cambridge; Kavli Institute for Cosmology Cambridge; Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology], Rossi, G. [Sejong University], Sanchez, E. [CIEMAT], Schlegel, D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory], Schubnell, M. [University of Michigan; University of Michigan], Sherwin, B. [University of Cambridge], Sehgal, N. [Stony Brook University], Seo, H. [Ohio University], Sifón, C. [Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso], Spergel, D. [Flatiron Institute], Sprayberry, D. [NSF NOIRLab], Staggs, S. [Princeton University], Tarlé, G. [University of Michigan], Vargas, C. [Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile], Vavagiakis, E. M. [Duke University; Cornell University], Weaver, B. A. [NSF NOIRLab], Wollack, E. J. [NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center], Zhou, R. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory], Zou, H. [Chinese Academy of Sciences]. 2025-10-06. Evidence for large baryonic feedback at low and intermediate redshifts from kinematic Sunyaev-Zel’dovich observations with ACT and DESI photometric galaxies. https://doi.org/10.1103/kclp-x5j1
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