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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

New constraints on warm dark matter from the Lyman- α forest power spectrum

The forest of Lyman-α absorption lines detected in the spectra of distant quasars encodes information on the nature and properties of dark matter and the thermodynamics of diffuse baryonic material. Its main observable—the 1D flux power spectrum (FPS)—should exhibit a suppression on small scales and an enhancement on large scales in warm dark matter (WDM) cosmologies compared to standard Λ⁢CDM. Here, we present an unprecedented suite of 1080 high-resolution cosmological hydrodynamical simulations run with the graphics processing unit-accelerated code cholla to study the evolution of the Lyman-α forest under a wide range of physically motivated gas thermal histories along with different free-streaming lengths of WDM thermal relics in the early Universe. A statistical comparison of synthetic data with the forest FPS measured down to the smallest velocity scales ever probed at redshifts 4.0≲z≲5.2 [E. Boera et al., Revealing reionization with the thermal history of the intergalactic medium: New constraints from the Ly⁢α flux power spectrum, Astrophys. J. 872, 101 (2019)] yields a lower-limit m WDM >3.1 keV (95% C.L.) for the WDM particle mass and constrains the amplitude and spectrum of the photoheating and photoionizing background produced by star-forming galaxies and active galactic nuclei at these redshifts. Interestingly, our Bayesian inference analysis appears to weakly favor WDM models with a peak likelihood value at the thermal relic mass of m WDM =4.5 keV. In conclusion, we find that the suppression of the FPS from free-streaming saturates at k≳0.1 s km -1 because of peculiar velocity smearing, and this saturated suppression combined with a slightly lower gas temperature provides a moderately better fit to the observed small-scale FPS for WDM cosmologies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

New Probe of the High- z Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Scale: BAO Tomography with CMB × LIM -Nulling Convergence

Standard rulers such as the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) scale serve as workhorses for precision tests of cosmology, enabling distance measurements that probe the geometry and expansion history of our Universe. Aside from BAO measurements from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), most standard ruler techniques operate at relatively low redshifts and depend on biased tracers of the matter density field. In a companion paper, we explored the scientific reach of nulling estimators, where CMB lensing convergence maps are cross-correlated with linear combinations of similar maps from line intensity mapping (LIM) to precisely null out the low-redshift contributions to CMB lensing. We showed that nulling estimators can be used to constrain the high redshift matter power spectrum and showed that this spectrum exhibits discernible BAO features. Here we propose using these features as a standard ruler at high redshifts that does not rely on biased tracers. Forecasting such a measurement at z ~ 5, we find that next-generation instruments will be able to constrain the BAO scale to 7.2% precision, while our futuristic observing scenario can constrain the BAO scale to 4% precision. In conclusion, this constitutes a fundamentally new kind of BAO measurement during early epochs in our cosmic history.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Measuring the Conditional Luminosity and Stellar Mass Functions of Galaxies by Combining the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Legacy Imaging Surveys Data Release 9, Survey Validation 3, and Year 1 Data

In this investigation, we leverage the combination of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Imaging Surveys Data Release 9, Survey Validation 3, and Year 1 data sets to estimate the conditional luminosity functions and conditional stellar mass functions (CLFs and CSMFs) of galaxies across various halo mass bins and redshift ranges. To support our analysis, we utilize a realistic DESI mock galaxy redshift survey (MGRS) generated from a high-resolution Jiutian simulation. An extended halo-based group finder is applied to both MGRS catalogs and DESI observation. By comparing the r- and z-band luminosity functions (LFs) and stellar mass functions (SMFs) derived using both photometric and spectroscopic data, we quantified the impact of photometric redshift (photo-z) errors on the galaxy LFs and SMFs, especially in the low-redshift bin at the low-luminosity/mass end. By conducting prior evaluations of the group finder using MGRS, we successfully obtain a set of CLF and CSMF measurements from observational data. We find that at low redshift, the faint-end slopes of CLFs and CSMFs below ~10 9 h –2 L ⊙ (or h –2 M ⊙ ) evince a compelling concordance with the subhalo mass functions. After correcting the cosmic variance effect of our local Universe following Chen et al., the faint-end slopes of the LFs/SMFs turn out to also be in good agreement with the slope of the halo mass function.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Density weighted angular redshift fluctuations: a new cosmological observable

We propose the use of angular fluctuations in the galaxy redshift field as a new way to extract cosmological information in the Universe. This new probe $\delta z (\hat{\mathbf {n}})$ consists of the statistics of sky maps built by projecting redshifts under a Gaussian window of width σz centred upon a redshift zobs, and weighted by the galaxy density field. We compute the angular power spectrum of the $\delta z (\hat{\mathbf {n}})$ field in both numerical simulations and in linear perturbation theory. From these, we find that the $\delta z (\hat{\mathbf {n}})$ field (i) is sensitive to the underlying density and peculiar velocity fields; (ii) is highly correlated, at the $\gtrsim 60\, {{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ level, to the line-of-sight projected peculiar velocity field; (iii) for narrow windows (σz < 0.03), it is almost completely uncorrelated to the projected galaxy angular density field under the same redshift window; and (iv) it is largely unaffected by multiplicative and additive systematic errors on the observed number of galaxies that are redshift-independent over ~σz. We conclude that $\delta z (\hat{\mathbf {n}})$ is a simple and robust tomographic measure of the cosmic density and velocity fields, complementary to angular clustering, that will contribute to more complete exploitations of current and upcoming galaxy redshift surveys.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

BASS. XXXVI. Constraining the Local Supermassive Black Hole–Halo Connection with BASS DR2 AGNs

We investigate the connection between supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their host dark matter halos in the local universe using the clustering statistics and luminosity function of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the Swift/BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS DR2). By forward-modeling AGN activity into snapshot halo catalogs from N -body simulations, we test a scenario in which SMBH mass correlates with dark matter (sub)halo mass for fixed stellar mass. We compare this to a model absent of this correlation, where stellar mass alone determines the SMBH mass. We find that while both simple models are able to largely reproduce the abundance and overall clustering of AGNs, the model in which black hole mass is tightly correlated with halo mass is preferred by the data by 1.8 σ . When including an independent measurement on the black hole mass–halo mass correlation, this model is preferred by 4.6 σ . We show that the clustering trends with black hole mass can further break the degeneracies between the two scenarios and that our preferred model reproduces the measured clustering differences on one-halo scales between large and small black hole masses. These results indicate that the halo binding energy is fundamentally connected to the growth of SMBHs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Target Selection and Validation of DESI Emission Line Galaxies

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) will precisely constrain cosmic expansion and the growth of structure by collecting ~40 million extragalactic redshifts across ~80% of cosmic history and one-third of the sky. The Emission Line galaxy (ELG) sample, which will comprise about one-third of all DESI tracers, will be used to probe the universe over the 0.6 < z < 1.6 range, including the 1.1 < z < 1.6 range, which is expected to provide the tightest constraints. We present the target selection for the DESI Survey Validation (SV) and Main Survey ELG samples, which relies on the imaging of the Legacy Surveys. The Main ELG selection consists of a g-band magnitude cut and a (g – r) versus (r – z) color box, while the SV selection explores extensions of the Main selection boundaries. The Main ELG sample is composed of two disjoint subsamples, which have target densities of about 1940 deg –2 and 460 deg –2 , respectively. We first characterize their photometric properties and density variations across the footprint. We then analyze the DESI spectroscopic data that have been obtained from 2020 December to 2021 December in the SV and Main Survey. We establish a preliminary criterion for selecting reliable redshifts, based on the [O ιι] flux measurement, and assess its performance. Using this criterion, we are able to present the spectroscopic efficiency of the Main ELG selection, along with its redshift distribution. We thus demonstrate that the Main selection 1940 deg –2 subsample alone should provide 400 deg –2 and 460 deg –2 reliable redshifts in the 0.6 < z < 1.1 and the 1.1 < z < 1.6 ranges, respectively.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Continuous Filament Network of the Local Universe

Simulated galaxy distributions are suitable for developing filament detection algorithms. However, samples of observed galaxies, being of limited size, cause difficulties that lead to a discontinuous distribution of filaments. We created a new galaxy filament catalog composed of a continuous cosmic web with no lone filaments. The core of our approach is a ridge filter used within the framework of image analysis. We considered galaxies from the HyperLeda database with redshifts 0.02 ≤ z ≤ 0.1, and in the solid angle 120° ≤ R.A. ≤ 240°, 0° ≤ decl. ≤ 60°. We divided the sample into 16 two-dimensional celestial projections with redshift bin Δ z = 0.005, and compared our continuous filament network with a similar recent catalog covering the same region of the sky. We tested our catalog on two application scenarios. First, we compared the distributions of the distances to the nearest filament of various astrophysical sources (Seyfert galaxies and other active galactic nuclei, radio galaxies, low-surface-brightness galaxies, and dwarf galaxies), and found that all source types trace the filaments well, with no systematic differences. Next, among the HyperLeda galaxies, we investigated the dependence of the g - r color distribution on the distance to the nearest filament, and confirmed that early-type galaxies are located on average further from the filaments than late-type ones.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2022

Constraining Warm Dark Matter and Population III Stars with the Global 21 cm Signal

Upcoming ground- and space-based experiments may have sufficient accuracy to place significant constraints upon high-redshift star formation, Reionization, and dark matter (DM) using the global 21 cm signal of the intergalactic medium. In the early universe, when the relative abundance of low-mass DM halos was important, measuring the global signal would place constraints on the damping of structure formation caused by DM having a higher relic velocity (warm dark matter, or WDM) than in cold dark matter. Such damping, however, can be mimicked by altering the star formation efficiency (SFE) and can be difficult to detect because of the presence of Population III stars with unknown properties. We study these various cases and their degeneracies with the WDM mass parameter mX using a Fisher matrix analysis. We study the mX = 7 keV case and a star formation model that parameterizes the SFE as a strong function of halo mass and include several variations of this model along with three different input noise levels for the likelihood; we also use a minimum halo virial temperature for collapse near the molecular cooling threshold. We find that when the likelihood includes only Population II stars, mX is constrained to an uncertainty of ∼0.4 keV for all models and noise levels at the 68% confidence level. When the likelihood includes weak Population III stars, mX ∼ 0.3 keV, and if Population III star formation is relatively efficient, mX ∼ 0.1 keV uncertainty, with tight Population III star formation parameter constraints. Our results show that the global 21 cm signal is a promising test-bed for WDM models, even in the presence of strong degeneracies with astrophysical parameters.

Cosmology↗
DOE OSTI2022

A study on the clustering properties of radio-selected sources in the Lockman Hole region at 325 MHz

Studying the spatial distribution of extragalactic source populations is vital in understanding the matter distribution in the Universe. It also enables understanding the cosmological evolution of dark matter density fields and the relationship between dark matter and luminous matter. Clustering studies are also required for EoR foreground studies since it affects the relevant angular scales. This paper investigates the angular and spatial clustering properties and the bias parameter of radio-selected sources in the Lockman Hole field at 325 MHz. The data probes sources with fluxes ≳0.3 mJy within a radius of 1.8° around the phase centre of a 6° × 6° mosaic. Based on their radio luminosity, the sources are classified into Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) and Star-Forming Galaxies (SFGs). Clustering and bias parameters are determined for the combined populations and the classified sources. The spatial correlation length and the bias of AGNs are greater than SFGs- indicating that more massive haloes host the former. This study is the first reported estimate of the clustering property of sources at 325 MHz, intermediate between the pre-existing studies at high and low-frequency bands. It also probes a well-studied deep field at an unexplored frequency with moderate depth and area. Clustering studies require such observations along different lines of sight, with various fields and data sets across frequencies to avoid cosmic variance and systematics. Thus, an extragalactic deep field has been studied in this work to contribute to this knowledge.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Constraining the baryon abundance with the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect: Projected-field detection using Planck , WMAP , and unWISE

The kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect -- the Doppler boosting of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons scattering off free electrons with non-zero line-of-sight velocity -- is an excellent probe of the distribution of baryons in the Universe. In this paper, we measure the kSZ effect due to ionized gas traced by infrared-selected galaxies from the \emph{unWISE} catalog. We employ the "projected-field" kSZ estimator, which does not require spectroscopic galaxy redshifts. To suppress non-kSZ foreground signals associated with the galaxies (e.g., dust emission and thermal SZ), this estimator requires cleaned CMB maps, which we obtain from \emph{Planck} and \emph{WMAP} data. Using a new "asymmetric" estimator that combines different foreground-cleaned CMB maps to maximize the signal-to-noise, we measure the kSZ$^2$-galaxy cross-power spectrum for three subsamples of the \emph{unWISE} galaxy catalog, which peak at mean redshifts $z \approx$ 0.6, 1.1, and 1.5, have average halo mass $\sim 1$-$5\times 10^{13}$ $h^{-1} M_{\odot}$, and in total contain over 500 million galaxies. After marginalizing over CMB lensing contributions, we measure the amplitude of the kSZ signal $A_{\rm kSZ^2} = 0.42 \pm 0.31$, $5.02 \pm 1.01$, and $8.23 \pm 3.23$, for the three subsamples, where $A_{\rm kSZ^2} = 1$ corresponds to our fiducial model. The combined kSZ detection S/N $>$ 5. We discuss possible explanations for the excess kSZ signal associated with the $z \approx 1.1$ sample, and show that foreground contamination in the CMB maps is very unlikely to be the cause. Our measurements illustrate clearly that no baryons are missing on large scales at low redshifts.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Deep learning insights into cosmological structure formation

The evolution of linear initial conditions present in the early Universe into extended halos of dark matter at late times can be computed using cosmological simulations. However, a theoretical understanding of this complex process remains elusive; in particular, the role of anisotropic information in the initial conditions in establishing the final mass of dark matter halos remains a long-standing puzzle. Here, we build a deep learning framework to investigate this question. We train a three-dimensional convolutional neural network to predict the mass of dark matter halos from the initial conditions, and quantify in full generality the amounts of information in the isotropic and anisotropic aspects of the initial density field about final halo masses. We find that anisotropies add a small, albeit statistically significant amount of information over that contained within spherical averages of the density field about final halo mass. However, the overall scatter in the final mass predictions does not change qualitatively with this additional information, only decreasing from 0.9 dex to 0.7 dex. Given such a small improvement, our results demonstrate that isotropic aspects of the initial density field essentially saturate the relevant information about final halo mass. Therefore, instead of searching for information directly encoded in initial conditions anisotropies, a more promising route to accurate, fast halo mass predictions is to add approximate dynamical information based e.g. on perturbation theory. More broadly, our results indicate that deep learning frameworks can provide a powerful tool for extracting physical insight into cosmological structure formation. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Galaxy Spin Classification. I. Z-wise versus S-wise Spirals with the Chirality Equivariant Residual Network

The angular momentum of galaxies (galaxy spin) contains rich information about the initial condition of the universe, yet it is challenging to efficiently measure the spin direction for the tremendous amount of galaxies that are being mapped by ongoing and forthcoming cosmological surveys. We present a machine-learning-based classifier for the Z-wise versus S-wise spirals, which can help to break the degeneracy in the galaxy spin direction measurement. The proposed chirality equivariant residual network (CE-ResNet) is manifestly equivariant under a reflection of the input image, which guarantees that there is no inherent asymmetry between the Z-wise and S-wise probability estimators. We train the model with Sloan Digital Sky Survey images, with the training labels given by the Galaxy Zoo 1 project. A combination of data augmentation techniques is used during the training, making the model more robust to be applied to other surveys. We find an ~30% increase in both types of spirals when Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) images are used for classification, due to the better imaging quality of DESI. We verify that the ~7σ difference between the numbers of Z-wise and S-wise spirals is due to human bias, since the discrepancy drops to <1.8σ with our CE-ResNet classification results. We discuss the potential systematics relevant to future cosmological applications.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Studying dark matter with observations of small-scale structure

The standard Lambda Cold Dark Matter model provides an accurate description of our universe on large spatial scales; however, it remains poorly tested on scales smaller than our Milky Way galaxy. The smallest, faintest, and most dark-matter-dominated galaxies are exceptional laboratories for studying the fundamental properties of dark matter and galaxy formation. Our Milky Way galaxy is surrounded by dozens of ultra-faint “dwarf” galaxies, which have only recently been discovered thanks to the unprecedented sensitivity of large digital sky surveys. As telescopes grow larger and more powerful, we continue to find fainter, more distant, and more dark-matter-dominated galaxies. In addition, we are now able to study faint galaxies beyond the Local Volume. I will describe recent observational programs to study faint galaxies, and how observations of faint galaxies can help address some of the foremost open questions in physics.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Constraining gravity with a new precision 𝐸 𝐺 estimator using Planck + SDSS BOSS data

The 𝐸 𝐺 statistic is a discriminating probe of gravity developed to test the prediction of general relativity (GR) for the relation between gravitational potential and clustering on the largest scales in the observable Universe. We present a novel high-precision estimator for the 𝐸 𝐺 statistic using CMB lensing and galaxy clustering correlations that carefully matches the effective redshifts across the different measurement components to minimize corrections. A suite of detailed tests is performed to characterize the estimator’s accuracy, its sensitivity to assumptions and analysis choices, and the non-Gaussianity of the estimator’s uncertainty is characterized. After finalization of the estimator, it is applied to Planck CMB lensing and SDSS CMASS and LOWZ galaxy data. We report the first harmonic space measurement of 𝐸 𝐺 using the LOWZ sample and CMB lensing and also updated constraints using the final CMASS sample and the latest Planck CMB lensing map. We find $\hat{𝐸}$$^{Planck+CMASS}_{𝐺}$ = 0.3⁢6$^{+0.06}_{−0.05}$⁢(68.27%) and $\hat{𝐸}$$^{Planck+LOWZ}_{𝐺}$ = 0.4⁢0$^{+0.11}_{−0.09}$⁢(68.27%), with additional subdominant systematic error budget estimates of 2% and 3%, respectively. Using Ω m,0 constraints from Planck and SDSS BAO observations, Λ⁢CDM-GR predicts 𝐸$^{GR}_ {𝐺}$⁡(𝑧 =0.555) = 0.401 ± 0.005 and 𝐸$^{GR}_{𝐺}$⁡(𝑧 =0.316) = 0.452 ± 0.005 at the effective redshifts of the CMASS and LOWZ based measurements. We report the measurement to be in good statistical agreement with the Λ⁢CDM-GR prediction and report that the measurement is also consistent with the more general GR prediction of scale independence for 𝐸 𝐺 . Furthermore, this work provides a carefully constructed and calibrated statistic with which 𝐸 𝐺 measurements can be confidently and accurately obtained with upcoming survey data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR6 Gravitational Lensing Map and Cosmological Parameters

We present cosmological constraints from a gravitational lensing mass map covering 9400 deg2 reconstructed from measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) from 2017 to 2021. In combination with measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations and big bang nucleosynthesis, we obtain the clustering amplitude σ8 = 0.819 ± 0.015 at 1.8% precision, S 8 ≡ σ 8 (Ω m /0.3) 0.5 = 0.840 ± 0.028, and the Hubble constant H 0 = (68.3 ± 1.1) km s -1 Mpc -1 at 1.6% precision. A joint constraint with Planck CMB lensing yields σ 8 = 0.812 ± 0.013, S 8 ≡ σ 8 (Ω m /0.3) 0.5 = 0.831 ± 0.023 , and H0 = (68.1 ± 1.0) km s -1 Mpc -1 . These measurements agree with ΛCDM extrapolations from the CMB anisotropies measured by Planck. We revisit constraints from the KiDS, DES, and HSC galaxy surveys with a uniform set of assumptions and find that S8 from all three are lower than that from ACT+Planck lensing by levels ranging from 1.7σ to 2.1σ. This motivates further measurements and comparison, not just between the CMB anisotropies and galaxy lensing but also between CMB lensing probing z ~ 0.5–5 on mostly linear scales and galaxy lensing at z 0.5 on smaller scales. We combine with CMB anisotropies to constrain extensions of ΛCDM, limiting neutrino masses to Σm ν < 0.13 eV (95% c.l.), for example. We describe the mass map and related data products that will enable a wide array of cross-correlation science. Our results provide independent confirmation that the universe is spatially flat, conforms with general relativity, and is described remarkably well by the ΛCDM model, while paving a promising path for neutrino physics with lensing from upcoming ground-based CMB surveys.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cosmological constraints from DES Y1 cluster abundances and SPT multiwavelength data

We perform a joint analysis of the counts of redMaPPer clusters selected from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) year 1 data and multiwavelength follow-up data collected within the 2500 deg2 South Pole Telescope (SPT) Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZ) survey. The SPT follow-up data, calibrating the richness-mass relation of the optically selected redMaPPer catalog, enable the cosmological exploitation of the DES cluster abundance data. To explore possible systematics related to the modeling of projection effects, we consider two calibrations of the observational scatter on richness estimates: a simple Gaussian model which account only for the background contamination (BKG), and a model which further includes contamination and incompleteness due to projection effects (PRJ). Assuming either a ΛCDM+∑mν or wCDM+∑mν cosmology, and for both scatter models, we derive cosmological constraints consistent with multiple cosmological probes of the low and high redshift Universe, and in particular with the SPT cluster abundance data. This result demonstrates that the DES Y1 and SPT cluster counts provide consistent cosmological constraints, if the same mass calibration data set is adopted. It thus supports the conclusion of the DES Y1 cluster cosmology analysis which interprets the tension observed with other cosmological probes in terms of systematics affecting the stacked weak lensing analysis of optically selected low–richness clusters. Finally, we analyze the first combined optically SZ selected cluster catalog obtained by including the SPT sample above the maximum redshift probed by the DES Y1 redMaPPer sample (z=0.65). Besides providing a mild improvement of the cosmological constraints, this data combination serves as a stricter test of our scatter models: the PRJ model, providing scaling relations consistent between the two abundance and multiwavelength follow-up data, is favored over the BKG model.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Association between optically identified galaxy clusters and the underlying dark matter halos

Clusters of galaxies trace massive dark matter halos in the Universe, but they can include multiple halos projected along lines of sight. Here, we study the halos contributing to clusters using the Cardinal simulation, which mimics the Dark Energy Survey data. We use the red-sequence-based cluster finding algorithm redMaPPer as a case study. For each cluster, we identify the halos hosting its member galaxies, and we define the main halo as the one contributing the most to the cluster's richness ($λ$, the estimated number of member galaxies). At $z=0.3$, for clusters with $λ> 60$, the main halo typically contributes to $92\%$ of the richness, and this fraction drops to $67\%$ for $λ\approx 20$. Defining "clean" clusters as those with $\geq50\%$ of the richness contributed by the main halo, we find that $100\%$ of the $λ> 60$ clusters are clean, while $73\%$ of the $λ\approx 20$ clusters are clean. Three halos can usually account for more than $80\%$ of the richness of a cluster. The main halos associated with redMaPPer clusters have a completeness ranging from $98\%$ at virial mass $10^{14.6}~h^{-1}M_{\odot}$ to $64\%$ at $10^{14}~h^{-1}M_{\odot}$. In addition, we compare the inferred cluster centers with true halo centers, finding that $30\%$ of the clusters are miscentered with a mean offset $40\%$ of the cluster radii, in agreement with recent X-ray studies. These systematics worsen as redshift increases, but we expect that upcoming surveys extending to longer wavelengths will improve the cluster finding at high redshifts. Our results affirm the robustness of the redMaPPer algorithm and provide a framework for benchmarking other cluster-finding strategies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Galaxy Clusters Discovered via the Thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich Effect in the 500-square-degree SPTpol Survey

We present a catalog of 689 galaxy cluster candidates detected at significance ξ > 4 via their thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZ) effect signature in 95 and 150 GHz data from the 500-square-degree SPTpol survey. We use optical and infrared data from the Dark Energy Camera and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Spitzer satellites, to confirm 544 of these candidates as clusters with ~ 94% purity. The sample has an approximately redshift-independent mass threshold at redshift z > 0.25. The confirmed sample spans 1.5 × 10 14 < M 500 c < 9 × 10 14 M ⊙ /h 70 and 0.03 < z ≲ 1.6 in mass and redshift, respectively, with a median mass of 2.5×10 14 M ⊙ /h 70 and median redshift z = 0.7; 21% of the confirmed clusters are at z > 1. We use external radio data from the Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey (SUMSS) to estimate contamination to the SZ signal from synchrotron sources. The contamination reduces the recovered ξ by a median value of 0.032, or ~ 0.8% of the ξ = 4 threshold value, and ~ 7% of candidates have a predicted contamination greater than Δξ = 1. With the exception of a small number of systems (< 1%), an analysis of clusters detected in single-frequency 95 and 150 GHz data shows no significant contamination of the SZ signal by emission from dusty or synchrotron sources. This cluster sample, representing the deepest SZ-selected cluster sample to date, will be a key component in upcoming astrophysical and cosmological analyses of clusters. In addition to the cluster catalog, we also release the millimeter-wave maps and associated data products used to produce this sample. These maps have depths of 5.3 (11.7) µK CMB -arcmin at 150 (95) GHz and an effective angular resolution of 1. '2 (1. '7). The SPTpol products are available at https:// pole.uchicago.edu/public/data/sptpol_500d_clusters/index.html, and the NASA LAMBDA website. An interactive sky server with the SPTpol maps and Dark Energy Survey data release 2 images is also available at NCSA https://skyviewer.ncsa.illinois.edu.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗