Constraining primordial non-Gaussianity and energy injection with the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect and integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect cross-correlation

Abstract

Constraining primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG) provides key insights into the physics of cosmic inflation and the initial conditions of the Universe, which remain central topics in cosmology. In this study, we use the cross-correlation between the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect and the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect derived from Ibitoye et al. (2024) to jointly constrain PNG and early-Universe energy injection, including the standard intergalactic medium contribution. For scale-independent PNG we obtain $f_{\rm NL} = -358^{+140}_{-114}$ ($68\%$~C.L.). For a scale-dependent model ($f_{\rm NL}=f_{\rm NL}^{0}(\ell/\ell_{0})^{n_{\rm NL}}$, with $\ell_{0}=200$), we find $f^{0}_{\rm NL} = -296^{+173}_{-157}$ and $n_{\rm NL} = 0.62^{+1.02}_{-0.64}$, both consistent with Gaussian initial conditions. We also constrain the early-Universe energy injection amplitude to be $\alpha_{\rm inj} = -3.93^{+1.34}_{-0.99}$, with uncertainty reduced by a factor of $\sim\!2.6$ if Planck 2018 $f_{\rm NL}$ constraint is applied as a prior. Future surveys such as Simons Observatory and Euclid will tighten these constraints further. Complementary to conventional probes, this work provides the first ISW-tSZ constraint on exotic energy injection and enables precision tests of early-Universe physics while probing late-time gravitational potential and thermal energy perturbations.