arXiv subjects

A. Tilquin

Publications and source records attributed to A. Tilquin.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Low noise flux estimate and data quality control monitoring in EUCLID-NISP cosmological survey

Euclid mission is designed to understand the dark sector of the universe. Precise redshift measurements are provided by H2RG detectors. We propose an unbiased method of fitting the flux with Poisson distributed and correlated data, which has an analytic solution and provides a reliable quality factor - fundamental features to ensure the goals of the mission. We compare our method to other techniques of signal estimation and illustrate the anomaly detection on the flight like detectors. Although our discussion is focused on Euclid NISP instrument, much of what is discussed will be of interest to any mission using similar near-infrared sensors

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Multivariate analysis of cosmic void characteristics

The aim of this study is to distinguish genuine cosmic voids, found in a galaxy catalog by the void finder ZOBOV-VIDE, from under-dense regions in a Poisson distribution of objects. For this purpose, we perform two multivariate analyses using the following physical void characteristics: volume, redshift, density contrast, minimum density, contrast significance and number of member galaxies of the void. The multivariate analyses are trained on a catalog of voids obtained from a random Poisson distribution of points, used as background, and a catalog of voids identified in a mock galaxy catalog, used as signal. The classifications are then applied to voids extracted from the Data Release 12 sample of Luminous Red Galaxies in the redshift range 0.45 $\leq$ z $\leq$ 0.7 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (SDSS BOSS DR12 CMASS). Our results show that the resulting void catalog is nearly free of contamination by Poisson noise. We also study the effect of tracer sparsity and bias on the classification efficiencies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Jackknife resampling technique on mocks: an alternative method for covariance matrix estimation

We present a fast and robust alternative method to compute covariance matrix in case of cosmology studies. Our method is based on the jackknife resampling applied on simulation mock catalogues. Using a set of 600 BOSS DR11 mock catalogues as a reference, we find that the jackknife technique gives a similar galaxy clustering covariance matrix estimate by requiring a smaller number of mocks. A comparison of convergence rates show that $\sim$7 times fewer simulations are needed to get a similar accuracy on variance. We expect this technique to be applied in any analysis where the number of available N-body simulations is low.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

A metric space for type Ia supernova spectra

We develop a new framework for use in exploring Type Ia Supernova (SN Ia) spectra. Combining Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Square analysis (PLS) we are able to establish correlations between the Principal Components (PCs) and spectroscopic/photometric SNe Ia features. The technique was applied to ~120 supernova and ~800 spectra from the Nearby Supernova Factory. The ability of PCA to group together SNe Ia with similar spectral features, already explored in previous studies, is greatly enhanced by two important modifications: (1) the initial data matrix is built using derivatives of spectra over the wavelength, which increases the weight of weak lines and discards extinction, and (2) we extract time evolution information through the use of entire spectral sequences concatenated in each line of the input data matrix. These allow us to define a stable PC parameter space which can be used to characterize synthetic SN Ia spectra by means of real SN features. Using PLS, we demonstrate that the information from important previously known spectral indicators (namely the pseudo-equivalent width (pEW) of Si II 5972 / Si II 6355 and the line velocity of S II 5640 / Si II 6355) at a given epoch, is contained within the PC space and can be determined through a linear combination of the most important PCs. We also show that the PC space encompasses photometric features like B or V magnitudes, B-V color and SALT2 parameters c and x1. The observed colors and magnitudes, that are heavily affected by extinction, cannot be reconstructed using this technique alone. All the above mentioned applications allowed us to construct a metric space for comparing synthetic SN Ia spectra with observations.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

Modelling the relative velocities of isolated pairs of galaxies

We study the comoving relative velocities, v12, of model isolated galaxy pairs at z=0.5. For this purpose, we use the predictions from the GALFORM semi-analytical model of galaxy formation and evolution based on a Lambda cold dark matter cosmology consistent with the results from WMAP7. In real space, we find that isolated pairs of galaxies are predicted to form an angle t with the line-of-sight that is uniformily distributed as expected if the Universe is homogeneous and isotropic. We also find that isolated pairs of galaxies separated by a comoving distance between 1 and 3 Mpc/h are predicted to have =0. For galaxies in this regime, the distribution of the angle t is predicted to change minimally from real to redshift space, with a change smaller than 5% in . However, the distances defining the comoving regime strongly depends on the applied isolation criteria.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Spectrophotometric time series of SN 2011fe from the Nearby Supernova Factory

We present 32 epochs of optical (3300-9700 Å) spectrophotometric observations of the nearby quintessential "normal" type Ia supernova (SN Ia) SN 2011fe in the galaxy M101, extending from -15 to +97 d with respect to B-band maximum, obtained by the Nearby Supernova Factory collaboration. SN 2011fe is the closest (μ= 29.04) and brightest (Bmax = 9.94 mag) SN Ia observed since the advent of modern large scale programs for the intensive periodic followup of supernovae. Both synthetic light curve measurements and spectral feature analysis attest to the normality of SN 2011fe. There is very little evidence for reddening in its host galaxy. The homogeneous calibration, intensive time sampling, and high signal-to-noise ratio of the data set make it unique. Thus it is ideal for studying the physics of SN Ia explosions in detail, and for furthering the use of SNe Ia as standardizable candles for cosmology. Several such applications are shown, from the creation of a bolometric light curve and measurement of the 56Ni mass, to the simulation of detection thresholds for unburned carbon, direct comparisons with other SNe Ia, and existing spectral templates.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Constraining Type Ia supernova models: SN 2011fe as a test case

The nearby supernova SN 2011fe can be observed in unprecedented detail. Therefore, it is an important test case for Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) models, which may bring us closer to understanding the physical nature of these objects. Here, we explore how available and expected future observations of SN 2011fe can be used to constrain SN Ia explosion scenarios. We base our discussion on three-dimensional simulations of a delayed detonation in a Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarf and of a violent merger of two white dwarfs-realizations of explosion models appropriate for two of the most widely-discussed progenitor channels that may give rise to SNe Ia. Although both models have their shortcomings in reproducing details of the early and near-maximum spectra of SN 2011fe obtained by the Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory), the overall match with the observations is reasonable. The level of agreement is slightly better for the merger, in particular around maximum, but a clear preference for one model over the other is still not justified. Observations at late epochs, however, hold promise for discriminating the explosion scenarios in a straightforward way, as a nucleosynthesis effect leads to differences in the 55Co production. SN 2011fe is close enough to be followed sufficiently long to study this effect.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2009

Catastrophic Photo-z Errors and the Dark Energy Parameter Estimates with Cosmic Shear

We study the impact of catastrophic errors occurring in the photometric redshifts of galaxies on cosmological parameter estimates with cosmic shear tomography. We consider a fiducial survey with 9-filter set and perform photo-z measurement simulations. It is found that a fraction of 1% galaxies at z_{spec}~0.4 is misidentified to be at z_{phot}~3.5. We then employ both chi^2 fitting method and the extension of Fisher matrix formalism to evaluate the bias on the equation of state parameters of dark energy, w_0 and w_a, induced by those catastrophic outliers. By comparing the results from both methods, we verify that the estimation of w_0 and w_a from the fiducial 5-bin tomographic analyses can be significantly biased. To minimize the impact of this bias, two strategies can be followed: (A) the cosmic shear analysis is restricted to 0.5 320 and 860 respectively in order to reduce the joint bias in (w_0,w_a) to be smaller than 2σand 1σ. This spectroscopic survey (option B) will improve the Figure of Merit of option A by a factor \times 1.5 thus making such a survey strongly desirable.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

On the determination of curvature and dynamical Dark Energy

Constraining simultaneously the Dark Energy(DE) equation of state and the curvature of the Universe is difficult due to strong degeneracies. To circumvent this problem when analyzing data it is usual to assume flatness to constrain DE, or conversely, to assume that DE is a cosmological constant to constrain curvature. In this paper, we quantify the impact of such assumptions in view of future large surveys. We simulate future data for type Ia Supernovae (SNIa), Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) for a large range of fiducial cosmologies allowing a small spatial curvature. We take into account a possible time evolution of DE through a parameterized equation of state : $w(a) = w_0 + (1-a) w_a$. We then fit the simulated data with a wrong assumption on the curvature or on the DE parameters. For a fiducial $Λ$CDM cosmology, if flatness is incorrectly assumed in the fit and if the true curvature is within the ranges $0.01<Ω_k<0.03$ and $-0.07<Ω_k<-0.01$, one will conclude erroneously to the presence of an evolving DE, even with high statistics. On the other hand, models with curvature and dynamical DE can be confused with a flat $Λ$CDM model when the fit ignores a possible DE evolution. We find that, in the future, with high statistics, such risks of confusion should be limited, but they are still possible, and biases on the cosmological parameters might be important. We conclude on recalling that, in the future, it will be mandatory to perform some complete multi-probes analyses, leaving the DE parameters as well as the curvature as free parameters.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Dark gravity and cosmology

The previous version of this article was a first attempt to confront the Dark Gravity theory to cosmological data. However, more recent developments lead to the conclusion that the cosmological principle is probably not valid in Dark Gravity so that this kind of analysis is at best very premature. A more recent and living review of the Dark Gravity theory can be found in gr-qc/0610079

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Prospects for Dark Energy Evolution: a Frequentist Multi-Probe Approach

A major quest in cosmology is the understanding of the nature of dark energy. It is now well known that a combination of cosmological probes is required to break the underlying degeneracies on cosmological parameters. In this paper, we present a method, based on a frequentist approach, to combine probes without any prior constraints, taking full account of the correlations in the parameters. As an application, a combination of current SNIa and CMB data with an evolving dark energy component is first compared to other analyses. We emphasise the consequences of the implementation of the dark energy perturbations on the result for a time varying equation of state. The impact of future weak lensing surveys on the measurement of dark energy evolution is then studied in combination with future measurements of the cosmic microwave background and type Ia supernovae. We present the combined results for future mid-term and long-term surveys and confirm that the combination with weak lensing is very powerful in breaking parameter degeneracies. A second generation of experiment is however required to achieve a 0.1 error on the parameters describing the evolution of dark energy.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

On the determination of the deceleration parameter from Supernovae data

Supernovae searches have shown that a simple matter-dominated and decelerating universe should be ruled out. However a determination of the present deceleration parameter $q_0$ through a simple kinematical description is not exempt of possible drawbacks. We show that, with a time dependent equation of state for the dark energy, a bias is present for $q_0$ : models which are very far from the so-called Concordance Model can be accommodated by the data and a simple kinematical analysis can lead to wrong conclusions. We present a quantitative treatment of this bias and we present our conclusions when a possible dynamical dark energy is taken into account.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Probing Dark Energy with Supernovae : a concordant or a convergent model?

We present a revised interpretation of recent analysis of supernovae data. We evaluate the effect of the priors on the extraction of the dark energy equation of state. We find that the conclusions depend strongly on the $Ω_M$ prior value and on its uncertainty, and show that a biased fitting procedure applied on non concordant simulated data can converge to the "concordance model". Relaxing the prior on $Ω_M$ points to other sets of solutions, which are not excluded by observational data.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Probing Dark Energy with Supernovae : Bias from the time evolution of the equation of state

Observation of thousands of type Ia supernovae should offer the most direct approach to probe the dark energy content of the universe. This will be undertaken by future large ground-based surveys followed by a space mission (SNAP/JDEM). We address the problem of extracting the cosmological parameters from the future data in a model independent approach, with minimal assumptions on the prior knowledge of some parameters. We concentrate on the comparison between a fiducial model and the fitting function and adress in particular the effect of neglecting (or not) the time evolution of the equation of state. We present a quantitative analysis of the bias which can be introduced by the fitting procedure. Such bias cannot be ignored as soon as the statistical errors from present data are drastically improved.

astro-ph↗