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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS2013

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Likelihood for Small-Scale CMB Data

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope has measured the angular power spectra of microwave fluctuations to arcminute scales at frequencies of 148 and 218 GHz, from three seasons of data. At small scales the fluctuations in the primordial Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) become increasingly obscured by extragalactic foregounds and secondary CMB signals. We present results from a nine-parameter model describing these secondary effects, including the thermal and kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ and kSZ) power; the clustered and Poisson-like power from Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB) sources, and their frequency scaling; the tSZ-CIB correlation coefficient; the extragalactic radio source power; and thermal dust emission from Galactic cirrus in two different regions of the sky. In order to extract cosmological parameters, we describe a likelihood function for the ACT data, fitting this model to the multi-frequency spectra in the multipole range 500 < l < 10000. We extend the likelihood to include spectra from the South Pole Telescope at frequencies of 95, 150, and 220 GHz. Accounting for different radio source levels and Galactic cirrus emission, the same model provides an excellent fit to both datasets simultaneously, with χ2/dof= 675/697 for ACT, and 96/107 for SPT. We then use the multi-frequency likelihood to estimate the CMB power spectrum from ACT in bandpowers, marginalizing over the secondary parameters. This provides a simplified 'CMB-only' likelihood in the range 500 < l < 3500 for use in cosmological parameter estimation

Cosmology↗
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 OSTI2022

A Hydro-particle-mesh Code for Efficient and Rapid Simulations of the Intracluster Medium

We introduce the cosmological HYPER code based on an innovative hydro-particle-mesh (HPM) algorithm for efficient and rapid simulations of gas and dark matter. For the HPM algorithm, we update the approach of Gnedin & Hui to expand the scope of its application from the lower-density intergalactic medium (IGM) to the higher-density intracluster medium (ICM). While the original algorithm tracks only one effective particle species, the updated version separately tracks the gas and dark matter particles, as they do not exactly trace each other on small scales. For the approximate hydrodynamics solver, the pressure term in the gas equations of motion is calculated using robust physical models. In particular, we use a dark matter halo model, ICM pressure profile, and IGM temperature–density relation, all of which can be systematically varied for parameter-space studies. We show that the HYPER simulation results are in good agreement with the halo model expectations for the density, temperature, and pressure radial profiles. Simulated galaxy cluster scaling relations for Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) and X-ray observables are also in good agreement with mean predictions, with scatter comparable to that found in hydrodynamic simulations. HYPER also produces lightcone catalogs of dark matter halos and full-sky tomographic maps of the lensing convergence, SZ effect, and X-ray emission. These simulation products are useful for testing data analysis pipelines, generating training data for machine learning, understanding selection and systematic effects, and for interpreting astrophysical and cosmological constraints.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Multiprobe cosmology with unWISE galaxies and ACT DR6 CMB lensing

We present a joint analysis of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing power spectra measured from the Data Release 6 of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and Planck PR4, cross-correlations between the ACT and Planck lensing reconstruction and galaxy clustering from unWISE, and the unWISE clustering auto-spectrum. We obtain 1.5% constraints on the matter density fluctuations at late times parametrized by the best constrained parameter combination 𝑆$^{3⁢x⁢2⁢pt}_{8}$ ≡ 𝜎 8 ⁢(Ω 𝑚 /0.3) 0.4 = 0.815 ± 0.012. The commonly used 𝑆 8 ≡ 𝜎 8⁢ (Ω 𝑚 /0.3) 0.5 parameter is constrained to 𝑆 8 = 0.816 ± 0.015. In combination with baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements we find 𝜎 8 = 0.815 ± 0.012. We also present sound-horizon-independent estimates of the present day Hubble rate of 𝐻 0 = 66.4$^{+3.2}_{−3.7}$ km s −1 Mpc −1 from our large scale structure data alone and 𝐻 0 = 64.3$^{+2.1}_{−2.4}$ km s −1 Mpc −1 in combination with uncalibrated supernovae from Pantheon+. Using parametric estimates of the evolution of matter density fluctuations, we place constraints on cosmic structure in a range of high redshifts typically inaccessible with cross-correlation analyses. Combining lensing cross- and autocorrelations, we derive a 3.3% constraint on the integrated matter density fluctuations above 𝑧 = 2.4, one of the tightest constraints in this redshift range and fully consistent with a Λ cold dark matter (Λ⁢CDM) model fit to the primary CMB from Planck. Finally, combining with primary CMB observations and using the extended low redshift coverage of these combined datasets we derive constraints on a variety of extensions to the Λ⁢CDM model including massive neutrinos, spatial curvature, and dark energy. We find in flat Λ⁢CDM⁢ ∑𝑚 𝜈 < 0.12 eV at 95% confidence using the large scale structure data, BAO measurements from Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and primary CMB observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

High-accuracy emulators for observables in ΛCDM, N eff, Σ m ν, and w cosmologies

ABSTRACT We use the emulation framework CosmoPower to construct and publicly release neural network emulators of cosmological observables, including the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization power spectra, matter power spectrum, distance-redshift relation, baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) and redshift-space distortion (RSD) observables, and derived parameters. We train our emulators on Einstein–Boltzmann calculations obtained with high-precision numerical convergence settings, for a wide range of cosmological models including ΛCDM, wCDM, ΛCDM + Neff, and ΛCDM + Σmν. Our CMB emulators are accurate to better than 0.5 per cent out to ℓ = 104, which is sufficient for Stage-IV data analysis, and our P(k) emulators reach the same accuracy level out to $k=50 \, \, \mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$, which is sufficient for Stage-III data analysis. We release the emulators via an online repository (CosmoPower Organisation), which will be continually updated with additional extended cosmological models. Our emulators accelerate cosmological data analysis by orders of magnitude, enabling cosmological parameter extraction analyses, using current survey data, to be performed on a laptop. We validate our emulators by comparing them to class and camb and by reproducing cosmological parameter constraints derived from Planck TT, TE, EE, and CMB lensing data, as well as from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Data Release 4 CMB data, Dark Energy Survey Year-1 galaxy lensing and clustering data, and Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Data Release 12 BAO and RSD data.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Moving lens effect: Simulations, forecasts, and foreground mitigation

The peculiar motion of massive objects across the line of sight imprints a dipolar temperature anisotropy pattern on the cosmic microwave background known as the moving lens effect. This effect provides a unique probe of the transverse components of the peculiar velocity field, but has not yet been detected due to its small size. We implement and validate a stacking estimator for the moving lens signal using a galaxy catalog as a tracer of massive haloes combined with reconstructed velocities from the galaxy number density field. Using simulations, we forecast detection prospects for the moving lens signal from current and upcoming microwave background and galaxy surveys. Here, we demonstrate a new foreground mitigation strategy likely sufficient for current datasets, and discuss various sources of systematic error and noise. Upcoming galaxy surveys will provide high-significance statistical detections of the moving lens effect.

Astrophysical & cosmological simulations↗
DOE OSTI2026

Multiprobe constraints on early and late time dark energy

We perform a multiprobe analysis combining cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from Planck and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), ACT CMB lensing, and large-scale structure (LSS) measurements from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), including DESI Legacy Imaging Survey (LS) galaxies and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs). We present the first 5×2 pt analysis of ACT DR6 lensing, DESI LS, and Planck Integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW). Within Λ⁢CDM, this yields 𝑆 8 =𝜎 8 ⁢(Ω 𝑚 /0.3) 0.5 =0.819 ±0.016, in good agreement with primary CMB inferences and provides a sound-horizon-free Hubble constant constraint of 𝐻 0 =70.0±4.4 km s −1 Mpc −1 . Then, combining with CMB primary and BAO, we reconfirm a CMB–BAO discrepancy in the Ω 𝑚 –$\frac{𝐷𝑣}{𝑟𝑑}$ plane, which is heightened when combining BAO with the 5 ×2 pt data vector. We explore two dark-energy extensions that may reconcile this: an early-time modification, early dark energy (EDE), and late-time dynamical dark energy (DDE) parametrized by 𝑤 0 ⁢𝑤 𝑎 . For CMB primary +BAO +5 ×2 pt, we find a 3.3⁢𝜎 preference for DDE over Λ⁢CDM, while EDE is modestly favored at 2.3⁢𝜎. The models address different shortcomings of Λ⁢CDM: DDE relaxes the neutrino mass bound (𝑀 𝜈 <0.17 eV vs <0.050 eV under Λ⁢CDM), making it compatible with neutrino oscillation measurements, while EDE raises the Hubble constant to 𝐻 0 =70.5±1.2 km s −1 Mpc −1 , easing the discrepancy with SH0ES. However, neither model resolves both issues simultaneously. Our analysis indicates that both DDE and EDE remain viable extensions of Λ⁢CDM within current uncertainties and demonstrates the capacity of combined probes to place increasingly stringent constraints on cosmological parameters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Using SPT polarization, Planck 2015, and non-CMB data to constrain tilted spatially-flat and untilted nonflat ΛCDM, XCDM, and ΦCDM dark energy inflation cosmologies

We use six tilted spatially-flat and untilted non-flat dark energy cosmological models in analyses of South Pole Telescope polarization (SPTpol) cosmic microwave background (CMB) data, alone and in combination with Planck 2015 CMB data and non-CMB data, namely, the Pantheon Type Ia supernovae apparent magnitudes, a collection of baryon acoustic oscillation data points, Hubble parameter measurements, and growth rates. Although the cosmological models that best-fit the Planck CMB and non-CMB data do not provide good fits to the SPTpol data, with the χ2's exceeding the expected value, given the uncertainties, in each model the cosmological parameter constraints from the SPTpol data and from the Planck CMB and non-CMB data are largely mutually consistent. Furthermore, when the smaller angular scale SPTpol data are used jointly with either the Planck data alone or with the Planck CMB and the non-CMB data to constrain untilted non-flat models, spatially-closed models remain favored over their corresponding flat limits. When used in conjunction with Planck data, non-CMB data (baryon acoustic oscillation measurements in particular, from six experiments) have significantly more constraining power than the SPTpol data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

CMB-S4: Foreground-cleaning Pipeline Comparison for Measuring Primordial Gravitational Waves

We compare multiple foreground-cleaning pipelines for estimating the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, using simulated maps of the planned CMB-S4 experiment within the context of the South Pole Deep Patch. To evaluate robustness, we analyze bias and uncertainty on r across various foreground suites using map-based simulations. The foreground-cleaning methods include: a parametric maximum likelihood approach applied to auto- and cross-power spectra between frequency maps; a map-based parametric maximum-likelihood method; and a harmonic-space internal linear combination using frequency maps. We summarize the conceptual basis of each method to highlight their similarities and differences. To better probe the impact of foreground residuals, we implement an iterative internal delensing step, leveraging a map-based pipeline to generate a lensing B-mode template from the large aperture telescope frequency maps. Our results show that the performance of the three approaches is comparable for simple and intermediate-complexity foregrounds, with σ(r) ranging from 3–5 ×10 −4 . However, biases at the 1σ–2σ level appear when analyzing more complex forms of foreground emission. By extending the baseline pipelines to marginalize over foreground residuals, we demonstrate that contamination can be reduced to within statistical uncertainties, albeit with a pipeline-dependent impact on σ(r), which translates to a detection significance between 2σ and 4σ for an input value of r = 0.003. These findings suggest varying levels of maturity among the tested pipelines, with the auto- and cross-spectra-based approach demonstrating the best stability and overall performance. Moreover, given the extremely low noise levels, mutual validation of independent foreground-cleaning pipelines is essential to ensure the robustness of any potential detection.

astronomy data analysis↗
DOE OSTI2023

Optimizing foreground mitigation for CMB lensing with combined multifrequency and geometric methods

Here, a key challenge for current and upcoming cosmic microwave background lensing measurements is their sensitivity to biases from extragalactic foregrounds, such as Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signals or cosmic infrared background emission. Several methods have been developed to mitigate these lensing foreground biases, dividing broadly into multifrequency cleaning approaches and modifications to the estimator geometry, but how to optimally combine these methods has not yet been explored in detail. In this paper, we examine which combination of lensing foreground mitigation strategies is best able to reduce the impact of foreground contamination for a Simons Observatory-like experiment while preserving maximal signal-to-noise. Although the optimal combination obtained depends on whether bias reduction or variance reduction is prioritized and on whether polarization data is used, generally, we find that combinations involving both geometric (profile hardening, source hardening, or shear) and multifrequency (symmetric cleaning) methods perform best. For lensing power spectrum measurements from temperature (polarization and temperature), our combined estimator methods are able to reduce the bias below σ/4 or 0.3% (0.1%), a factor of 16 (30) lower than the standard quadratic estimator bias, at a modest signal-to-noise cost of only 18% (12%). In contrast, single-method foreground-mitigation approaches struggle to reduce the bias to a negligible level below σ/2 without incurring a large noise penalty. For upcoming and current experiments, our combined methods therefore represent a promising approach for making lensing measurements with negligible foreground bias.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2013

Inflation Physics from the Cosmic Microwave Background and Large Scale Structure

Fluctuations in the intensity and polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the large-scale distribution of matter in the universe each contain clues about the nature of the earliest moments of time. The next generation of CMB and large-scale structure (LSS) experiments are poised to test the leading paradigm for these earliest moments---the theory of cosmic inflation---and to detect the imprints of the inflationary epoch, thereby dramatically increasing our understanding of fundamental physics and the early universe. A future CMB experiment with sufficient angular resolution and frequency coverage that surveys at least 1 of the sky to a depth of 1 uK-arcmin can deliver a constraint on the tensor-to-scalar ratio that will either result in a 5-sigma measurement of the energy scale of inflation or rule out all large-field inflation models, even in the presence of foregrounds and the gravitational lensing B-mode signal. LSS experiments, particularly spectroscopic surveys such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, will complement the CMB effort by improving current constraints on running of the spectral index by up to a factor of four, improving constraints on curvature by a factor of ten, and providing non-Gaussianity constraints that are competitive with the current CMB bounds.

theoretical paradigm↗
DOE OSTI2023

BEYONDPLANCK IV. On end-to-end simulations in CMB analysis — Bayesian versus frequentist statistics

End-to-end simulations play a key role in the analysis of any high-sensitivity cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment, providing high-fidelity systematic error propagation capabilities that are unmatched by any other means. In this paper, we address an important issue regarding such simulations, namely, how to define the inputs in terms of sky model and instrument parameters. These may either be taken as a constrained realization derived from the data or as a random realization independent from the data. We refer to these as posterior and prior simulations, respectively. We show that the two options lead to significantly different correlation structures, as prior simulations (contrary to posterior simulations) effectively include cosmic variance, but they exclude realization-specific correlations from non-linear degeneracies. Consequently, they quantify fundamentally different types of uncertainties. We argue that as a result, they also have different and complementary scientific uses, even if this dichotomy is not absolute. In particular, posterior simulations are in general more convenient for parameter estimation studies, while prior simulations are generally more convenient for model testing. Before BEYONDPLANCK, most pipelines used a mix of constrained and random inputs and applied the same hybrid simulations for all applications, even though the statistical justification for this is not always evident. BEYONDPLANCK represents the first end-to-end CMB simulation framework that is able to generate both types of simulations and these new capabilities have brought this topic to the forefront. The BEYONDPLANCK posterior simulations and their uses are described extensively in a suite of companion papers. In this work, we consider one important applications of the corresponding prior simulations, namely, code validation. Specifically, we generated a set of one-year LFI 30 GHz prior simulations with known inputs and we used these to validate the core low-level BEYONDPLANCK algorithms dealing with gain estimation, correlated noise estimation, and mapmaking.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Summary of DR4 and DR5 Data Products and Data Access

Two recent large data releases for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), called DR4 and DR5, are available for public access. These data include temperature and polarization maps that cover nearly half the sky at arcminute resolution in three frequency bands; lensing maps and component-separated maps covering ~ 2,100 deg 2 of sky; derived power spectra and cosmological likelihoods; a catalog of over 4,000 galaxy clusters; and supporting ancillary products including beam functions and masks. The data and products are described in a suite of ACT papers; here we provide a summary. In order to facilitate ease of access to these data we present a set of Jupyter IPython notebooks developed to introduce users to DR4, DR5, and the tools needed to analyze these data. The data products (excluding simulations) and the set of notebooks are publicly available on the NASA Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis (LAMBDA); simulation products are available on the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Clustering of DESI galaxies split by thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect

The thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect is associated with galaxy clusters - extremely large and dense structures tracing the dark matter with a higher bias than isolated galaxies. We propose to use the tSZ data to separate galaxies from redshift surveys into distinct subpopulations corresponding to different densities and biases independently of the redshift survey systematics. Leveraging the information from different environments, as in density-split and density-marked clustering, is known to tighten the constraints on cosmological parameters, like $\Omega_m$, $\sigma_8$ and neutrino mass. We use data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) in their region of overlap to demonstrate informative tSZ splitting of Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs). We discover a significant increase in the large-scale clustering of DESI LRGs corresponding to detections starting from 1-2 sigma in the ACT DR6 + Planck tSZ Compton-$y$ map, below the cluster candidate threshold (4 sigma). We also find that such galaxies have higher line-of-sight coordinate (and velocity) dispersions and a higher number of close neighbors than both the full sample and near-zero tSZ regions. We produce simple simulations of tSZ maps that are intrinsically consistent with galaxy catalogs and do not include systematic effects, and find a similar pattern of large-scale clustering enhancement with tSZ effect significance. Moreover, we observe that this relative bias pattern remains largely unchanged with variations in the galaxy-halo connection model in our simulations. This is promising for future cosmological inference from tSZ-split clustering with semi-analytical models. Thus, we demonstrate that valuable cosmological information is present in the lower signal-to-noise regions of the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich map, extending far beyond the individual cluster candidates.

Astronomy data analysis↗
DOE OSTI2023

BeyondPlanck X. Bandpass and beam leakage corrections

We discuss the treatment of bandpass and beam leakage corrections in the Bayesian BeyondPlanck CMB analysis pipeline as applied to the Planck LFI measurements. As a preparatory step, we first apply three corrections to the nominal LFI bandpass profiles including removal of a known systematic effect in the ground measuring equipment at 61 GHz; smoothing of standing wave ripples; and edge regularization. The main net impact of these modifications is an overall shift in the 70 GHz bandpass of +0.6 GHz; we argue that any analysis of LFI data products, either from Planck or BeyondPlanck, should use these new bandpasses. In addition, we fit a single free bandpass parameter for each radiometer of the form Δ i = Δ 0 + $δ$ i , where Δ 0 represents an absolute frequency shift per frequency band and $δ$i is a relative shift per detector. The absolute correction is only fitted at 30 GHz with a full $\chi$ 2 -based likelihood, resulting in a correction of Δ 30 = 0.24 ± 0.03 GHz. The relative corrections are fitted using a spurious map approach, fundamentally similar to the method pioneered by the WMAP team, but without introducing many additional degrees of freedom. All bandpass parameters are sampled using a standard Metropolis sampler within the main BeyondPlanck Gibbs chain, and bandpass uncertainties are thus propagated to all other data products in the analysis. In total, we find that our bandpass model significantly reduces leakage effects. For beam leakage corrections, we adopt the official Planck LFI beam estimates without additional degrees of freedom, and only marginalize over the underlying sky model. We note that this is the first-time leakage from beam mismatch has been included for Planck LFI maps.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

BEYONDPLANCK VI. Noise characterization and modeling

We present a Bayesian method for estimating instrumental noise parameters and propagating noise uncertainties within the global BeyondPlanck Gibbs sampling framework, and apply this to Planck Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) time-ordered data. Following previous literature, we initially adopt a 1/ f model for the noise power spectral density (PSD), but find the need for an additional lognormal component in the noise model for the 30 and 44 GHz bands. We implement an optimal Wiener-filter (or constrained realization) gap-filling procedure to account for masked data. We then use this procedure to both estimate the gapless correlated noise in the time-domain, n corr , and to sample the noise PSD parameters, ξ n = {σ 0 , f knee , α, A p }. In contrast to previous Planck analyses, we assume piecewise stationary noise only within each pointing period (PID), not throughout the full mission, but we adopt the LFI Data Processing Center (DPC) results as priors on α and f knee . On average, we find best-fit correlated noise parameters that are mostly consistent with previous results, with a few notable exceptions. However, a detailed inspection of the time-dependent results reveals many important findings. First and foremost, we find strong evidence for statistically significant temporal variations in all noise PSD parameters, many of which are directly correlated with satellite housekeeping data. Second, while the simple 1/ f model appears to be an excellent fit for the LFI 70 GHz channel, there is evidence for additional correlated noise not described by a 1/ f model in the 30 and 44 GHz channels, including within the primary science frequency range of 0.1–1 Hz. In general, most 30 and 44 GHz channels exhibit deviations from 1/ f at the 2–3σ level in each one hour pointing period, motivating the addition of the lognormal noise component for these bands. For some periods of time, we also find evidence of strong common mode noise fluctuations across the entire focal plane. Overall, we conclude that a simple 1/ f profile is not adequate to fully characterize the Planck LFI noise, even when fitted hour-by-hour, and a more general model is required. These findings have important implications for large-scale CMB polarization reconstruction with the Planck LFI data, and the current work is a first attempt at understanding and mitigating these issues.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Large scale structure reconstruction with short-wavelength modes

Large scale density modes are difficult to measure because they are sensitive to systematic observational errors in galaxy surveys, but we can study them indirectly by observing their impact on small scale perturbations. Cosmological perturbation theory predicts that second-order density inhomogeneities are a convolution of a short- and a long-wavelength mode. This arises physically because small scale structures grow at different rates depending on the large scale environment in which they reside. This induces an off-diagonal term in the two-point statistics in Fourier space that we use as the basis for a quadratic estimator for the large scale field. Here, we demonstrate that this quadratic estimator works well on an N-body simulation of size (2.5 h -1 Gpc) 3 . In particular, the quadratic estimator successfully reconstructs the long-wavelength modes using only small-scale information. This opens up novel opportunities to study structure on the largest observable scales.

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↗