arXiv subjects

Chris Clarkson

Publications and source records attributed to Chris Clarkson.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Multi-Scale Perturbation Theory I: Methodology and Leading-Order Bispectrum Corrections in the Matter-Dominated Era

Two-parameter perturbation theory is a scheme tailor-made to consistently include nonlinear density contrasts on small scales ($<100\; \mathrm{Mpc}$), whilst retaining a traditional approach to cosmological perturbations in the long-wavelength universe. In this paper we study the solutions that arise from this theory in a spatially-flat dust-filled cosmology, and what these imply for the bispectrum of matter. This is achieved by using Newtonian perturbation theory to model the gravitational fields of nonlinear structures in the quasi-linear regime, and then using the resulting solutions as source terms for the cosmological equations. We find that our approach results in the leading-order part of the cosmological gravitational potentials being identical to those that result from standard cosmological perturbation theory at second-order, while the dark matter bispectrum itself yields some differences on Hubble scales. This demonstrates that our approach is sufficient to capture most leading-order relativistic effects, but within a framework that is far easier to generalize. We expect this latter property to be particularly useful for calculating leading-order relativistic corrections to the matter power spectrum, as well as for deriving predictions for relativistic effects in alternative theories of gravity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

Probing beyond-Horndeski gravity on ultra-large scales

The beyond-Horndeski gravity has recently been reformulated in the dark energy paradigm - which has been dubbed, Unified Dark Energy (UDE). The evolution equations for the given UDE appear to correspond to a non-conservative dark energy scenario, in which the total energy-momentum tensor is not conserved. We investigate both the background cosmology and, the large-scale imprint of the UDE by probing the angular power spectrum of galaxy number counts, on ultra-large scales; taking care to include the full relativistic corrections in the observed overdensity. The background evolution shows that only an effective mass smaller than the Planck mass is needed in the early universe in order for predictions in the given theory to match current observational constraints. We found that the effective mass-evolution-rate parameter, which drives the evolution of the UDE, acts to enhance the observed power spectrum and, hence, relativistic effects (on ultra-large scales) by enlarging the UDE sound horizon. Conversely, both the (beyond) Horndeski parameter and the kineticity act to diminish the observed power spectrum, by decreasing the UDE sound horizon. Our results show that, in a universe with UDE, a multi-tracer analysis will be needed to detect the relativistic effects in the large-scale structure. In the light of a multi-tracer analysis, the various relativistic effects hold the potential to distinguish different gravity models. Moreover, while the Doppler effect will remain significant at all epochs and, thus can not be ignored, the integrated Sachs-Wolfe, the time-delay and the potential (difference) effects, respectively, will only become significant at epochs near z=3 and beyond, and may be neglected at late epochs. In the same vein, the Doppler effect alone can serve as an effective cosmological probe for the large-scale structure or gravity models, in the angular power spectrum - at all z.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Bias and scatter in the Hubble diagram from cosmological large-scale structure

An important part of cosmological model fitting relies on correlating distance indicators of objects (for example type Ia supernovae) with their redshift, often illustrated on a Hubble diagram. Comparing the observed correlation with a homogeneous model is one of the key pieces of evidence for dark energy. The presence of cosmic structures introduces a bias and scatter, mainly due to gravitational lensing and peculiar velocities, but also due to smaller non-linear relativistic contributions which are more difficult to account for. For the first time we perform ray tracing onto halos in a relativistic N-body simulation. Our simulation is the largest that takes into account all leading-order corrections from general relativity in the evolution of structure, and we present a novel methodology for working out the non-linear projection of that structure onto the observer's past light cone. We show that the mean of the bias in the Hubble diagram is indeed as small as expected from perturbation theory. However, the distribution of sources is significantly skewed with a very long tail of highly magnified objects and we illustrate that the bias of cosmological parameters strongly depends on the function of distance which we consider.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Testing General Relativity with the Doppler magnification effect

The apparent sizes and brightnesses of galaxies are correlated in a dipolar pattern around matter overdensities in redshift space, appearing larger on their near side and smaller on their far side. The opposite effect occurs for galaxies around an underdense region. These patterns of apparent magnification induce dipole and higher multipole terms in the cross-correlation of galaxy number density fluctuations with galaxy size/brightness (which is sensitive to the convergence field). This provides a means of directly measuring peculiar velocity statistics at low and intermediate redshift, with several advantages for performing cosmological tests of GR. In particular, it does not depend on empirically-calibrated scaling relations like the Tully-Fisher and Fundamental Plane methods. We show that the next generation of spectroscopic galaxy redshift surveys will be able to measure the Doppler magnification effect with sufficient signal-to-noise to test GR on large scales. We illustrate this with forecasts for the constraints that can be achieved on parametrised deviations from GR for forthcoming low-redshift galaxy surveys with DESI and SKA2. Although the cross-correlation statistic considered has a lower signal to noise than RSD, it will be a useful probe of GR since it is sensitive to different systematics.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Accurately computing weak lensing convergence

Weak lensing will play an important role in future cosmological surveys, including e.g. Euclid and SKA. Sufficiently accurate theoretical predictions are important for correctly interpreting these surveys and hence for extracting correct cosmological parameter estimations. We quantify for the first time in a relativistic setting how many post-Born and lens-lens coupling corrections are required for sub-percent accuracy of the theoretical weak lensing convergence for $z\le 2$ (the primary weak lensing range for Euclid and SKA). We do this by ray-tracing through a fully relativistic exact solution of the Einstein Field Equations which consists of randomly packed mass-compensated underdensities of realistic amplitudes. We find that including lens-lens coupling terms and post-Born corrections up to second and third order respectively is sufficient for sub-percent accuracy of the convergence along $94\%$ of the studied light rays. We also find that a significant percentage of the studied rays have post-Born corrections of size over $10\%$ of the usual gravitational convergence, $κ^{(1)}$, and several rays even have post-Born corrections several times the size of $κ^{(1)}$ at $z = 2$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

General relativistic effects in the galaxy bias at second order

The local galaxy bias formalism relies on the energy constraint equation at the formation time to relate the metric perturbation to the matter density contrast. In the Newtonian approximation, this relationship is linear, which allows us to specify the initial galaxy density as a function of local physical operators. In general relativity however, the relationship is intrinsically nonlinear and a modulation of the short-wavelength mode by the long-wavelength mode might be expected. We describe in detail how to obtain local coordinates where the coupling of the long- to the short-wavelength modes is removed through a change of coordinates (in the absence of the primordial non-Gaussianity). We derive the general-relativistic correction to the galaxy bias expansion at second order. The correction does not come from the modulation of small-scale clustering by the long-wavelength mode; instead, it arises from distortions of the volume element by the long-wavelength mode and it does not lead to new bias parameters.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

The dipole of the galaxy bispectrum

The bispectrum will play an important role in future galaxy surveys. On large scales it is a key probe for measuring primordial non-Gaussianity which can help differentiate between different inflationary models and other theories of the early universe. On these scales a variety of relativistic effects come into play once the galaxy number-count fluctuation is projected onto our past lightcone. We show for the first time that the leading relativistic correction from these distortions in the galaxy bispectrum generates a significant dipole, mainly from relativistic redshift space distortions. The amplitude of the dipole can be more than 10% of the monopole even on equality scales. Such a dipole is absent in the Newtonian approximation to the redshift space bispectrum, so it offers a clear signature of relativistic effects on cosmological scales in large scale structure.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Imprints of local lightcone projection effects on the galaxy bispectrum IV: Second-order vector and tensor contributions

The galaxy bispectrum on scales around and above the equality scale receives contributions from relativistic effects. Some of these arise from lightcone deformation effects, which come from local and line-of-sight integrated contributions. Here we calculate the local contributions from the generated vector and tensor background which is formed as scalar modes couple and enter the horizon. We show that these modes are sub-dominant when compared with other relativistic contributions.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

Safely smoothing spacetime: backreaction in relativistic cosmological simulations

A persistent theme in the study of dark energy is the question of whether it really exists or not. It is often claimed hat we are mis-calculating the cosmological model by neglecting the effects associated with averaging over large-scale structures. In the Newtonian approximation this is clear: there is no effect. Within the full relativistic picture this remains an important open question however, owing to the complex mathematics involved. We study this issue using particle numerical simulations which account for all relevant relativistic effects without any problems from shell crossing. In this context we show for the first time that the backreaction from structure can differ by many orders of magnitude depending upon the slicing of spacetime one chooses to average over. In the worst case, where smoothing is carried out in synchronous spatial surfaces, the corrections can reach ten percent and more. However, when smoothing on the constant time hypersurface of the Newtonian gauge, backreaction contributions remain 3-5 orders of magnitude smaller.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

Non-linear relativistic contributions to the cosmological weak-lensing convergence

Relativistic contributions to the dynamics of structure formation come in a variety of forms, and can potentially give corrections to the standard picture on typical scales of 100 Mpc. These corrections cannot be obtained by Newtonian numerical simulations, so it is important to accurately estimate the magnitude of these relativistic effects. Density fluctuations couple to produce a background of gravitational waves, which is larger than any primordial background. A similar interaction produces a much larger spectrum of vector modes which represent the frame-dragging rotation of spacetime. These can change the metric at the percent level in the concordance model at scales below the equality scale. Vector modes modify the lensing of background galaxies by large-scale structure. This gives in principle the exciting possibility of measuring relativistic frame dragging effects on cosmological scales. The effects of the non-linear tensor and vector modes on the cosmic convergence are computed and compared to first-order lensing contributions from density fluctuations, Doppler lensing, and smaller Sachs-Wolfe effects. The lensing from gravitational waves is negligible so we concentrate on the vector modes. We show the relative importance of this for future surveys such as Euclid and SKA. We find that these non-linear effects only marginally affect the overall weak lensing signal so they can safely be neglected in most analyses, though are still much larger than the linear Sachs-Wolfe terms. The second-order vector contribution can dominate the first-order Doppler lensing term at moderate redshifts and are actually more important for survey geometries like the SKA.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Imprints of local lightcone projection effects on the galaxy bispectrum. III Relativistic corrections from nonlinear dynamical evolution on large-scales

The galaxy bispectrum is affected on equality scales and above by relativistic observational effects, at linear and nonlinear order. These lightcone effects include local contributions from Doppler and gravitational potential terms, as well as integrated contributions like lensing, together with all the couplings at nonlinear order. We recently presented the correction to the galaxy bispectrum from all local lightcone effects up to second order in perturbations, using a plane-parallel approximation. Here we update our previous result by including the effects from relativistic nonlinear dynamical evolution. We show that these dynamical effects make a significant contribution to the projection effects.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

Model-independent curvature determination with 21cm intensity mapping experiments

Recent precision cosmological parameter constraints imply that the spatial curvature of the Universe is essentially dynamically negligible - but only if relatively strong assumptions are made about the equation of state of dark energy (DE). When these assumptions are relaxed, strong degeneracies arise that make it hard to disentangle DE and curvature, degrading the constraints. We show that forthcoming 21cm intensity mapping experiments such as HIRAX are ideally designed to carry out model-independent curvature measurements, as they can measure the clustering signal at high redshift with sufficient precision to break many of the degeneracies. We consider two different model-independent methods, based on `avoiding' the DE-dominated regime and non-parametric modelling of the DE equation of state respectively. Our forecasts show that HIRAX will be able to improve upon current model-independent constraints by around an order of magnitude, reaching percent-level accuracy even when an arbitrary DE equation of state is assumed. In the same model-independent analysis, the sample variance limit for a similar survey is another order of magnitude better.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

The kinematic dipole in galaxy redshift surveys

In the concordance model of the Universe, the matter distribution - as observed in galaxy number counts or the intensity of line emission (such as the 21cm line of neutral hydrogen) - should have a kinematic dipole due to the Sun's motion relative to the CMB rest-frame. This dipole should be aligned with the kinematic dipole in the CMB temperature. Accurate measurement of the direction of the matter dipole will become possible with future galaxy surveys, and this will be a critical test of the foundations of the concordance model. The amplitude of the matter dipole is also a potential cosmological probe. We derive formulas for the amplitude of the kinematic dipole in galaxy redshift and intensity mapping surveys, taking into account the Doppler, aberration and other relativistic effects. The amplitude of the matter dipole can be significantly larger than that of the CMB dipole. Its redshift dependence encodes information on the evolution of the Universe and on the tracers, and we discuss possible ways to determine the amplitude.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Imprints of local lightcone projection effects on the galaxy bispectrum. II

General relativistic imprints on the galaxy bispectrum arise from observational (or projection) effects. The lightcone projection effects include local contributions from Doppler and gravitational potential terms, as well as lensing and other integrated contributions. We recently presented for the first time, the correction to the galaxy bispectrum from all local lightcone projection effects up to second order in perturbations. Here we provide the details underlying this correction, together with further results and illustrations. For moderately squeezed shapes, the correction to the Newtonian prediction is ~30% on equality scales at z ~ 1. We generalise our recent results to include the contribution, up to second order, of magnification bias (which affects some of the local terms) and evolution bias.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Dipolar modulation in the size of galaxies: The effect of Doppler magnification

Objects falling into an overdensity appear larger on its near side and smaller on its far side than other objects at the same redshift. This produces a dipolar pattern of magnification, primarily as a consequence of the Doppler effect. At low redshift this Doppler magnification completely dominates the usual integrated gravitational lensing contribution to the lensing magnification. We show that one can optimally observe this pattern by extracting the dipole in the cross-correlation of number counts and galaxy sizes. This dipole allows us to almost completely remove the contribution from gravitational lensing up to redshift 0.5, and even at high redshift z~1 the dipole picks up the Doppler magnification predominantly. Doppler magnification should be easily detectable in current and upcoming optical and radio surveys; by forecasting for telescopes such as the SKA, we show that this technique is competitive with using peculiar velocities via redshift-space distortions to constrain dark energy. It produces similar yet complementary constraints on the cosmological model to those found using measurements of the cosmic shear.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

How does the cosmic large-scale structure bias the Hubble diagram?

The Hubble diagram is one of the cornerstones of observational cosmology. It is usually analysed assuming that, on average, the underlying relation between magnitude and redshift matches the prediction of a Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker model. However, the inhomogeneity of the Universe generically biases these observables, mainly due to peculiar velocities and gravitational lensing, in a way that depends on the notion of average used in theoretical calculations. In this article, we carefully derive the notion of average which corresponds to the observation of the Hubble diagram. We then calculate its bias at second-order in cosmological perturbations, and estimate the consequences on the inference of cosmological parameters, for various current and future surveys. We find that this bias deeply affects direct estimations of the evolution of the dark-energy equation of state. However, errors in the standard inference of cosmological parameters remain smaller than observational uncertainties, even though they reach percent level on some parameters; they reduce to sub-percent level if an optimal distance indicator is used.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

A general relativistic signature in the galaxy bispectrum: the local effects of observing on the lightcone

Next-generation galaxy surveys will increasingly rely on the galaxy bispectrum to improve cosmological constraints, especially on primordial non-Gaussianity. A key theoretical requirement that remains to be developed is the analysis of general relativistic effects on the bispectrum, which arise from observing galaxies on the past lightcone, {as well as from relativistic corrections to the dynamics}. {As an initial step towards a fully relativistic analysis of the galaxy bispectrum, we compute for the first time the local relativistic lightcone effects on the bispectrum,} which come from Doppler and gravitational potential contributions. For the galaxy bispectrum, the problem is much more complex than for the power spectrum, since we need the lightcone corrections at second order. Mode-coupling contributions at second order mean that relativistic corrections can be non-negligible at smaller scales than in the case of the power spectrum. In a primordial Gaussian universe, we show that the local lightcone corrections for squeezed shapes at $z\sim1$ mean that the bispectrum can differ from the Newtonian prediction by $\gtrsim 10\%$ when the short modes are $k\lesssim (50\,{\rm Mpc})^{-1}$. These relativistic projection effects, if ignored in the analysis of observations, could be mistaken for primordial non-Gaussianity. For upcoming surveys which probe equality scales and beyond, {all relativistic lightcone effects and relativistic dynamical corrections should be included} for an accurate measurement of primordial non-Gaussianity.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Roulettes: A weak lensing formalism for strong lensing - II. Derivation and analysis

We present a new extension of the weak lensing formalism capable of describing strongly lensed images. This paper accompanies Paper I, arXiv:1603.04698 where we provided a condensed overview of the approach and illustrated how it works. Here we give all the necessary details, together with some more explicit examples. We solve the non-linear geodesic deviation equation order-by-order, keeping the leading derivatives of the optical tidal matrix, giving rise to a series of maps from which a complete strongly lensed image is formed. The family of maps are decomposed by separating the trace and trace-free parts of each map. Each trace-free tensor represents an independent spin mode, which distort circles into a variety of roulettes in the screen-space. It is shown how summing this series expansion allows us to create large strongly lensed images in regions where convergence, shear and flexion are not sufficient. This paper is a detailed exposition of Paper I which presents the key elements of the subject matter in a wider context.

gr-qc↗