arXiv subjects

Emiliano Sefusatti

Publications and source records attributed to Emiliano Sefusatti.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Bias deconstructed: Unravelling the scale dependence of halo bias using real space measurements

We explore the scale dependence of halo bias using real space cross-correlation measurements in N-body simulations and in Pinocchio, an algorithm based on Lagrangian Perturbation Theory. Recent work has shown how to interpret such real space measurements in terms of k-dependent bias in Fourier space, and how to remove the k-dependence to reconstruct the k-independent peak-background split halo bias parameters. We compare our reconstruction of the linear bias, which requires no free parameters, with previous estimates from N-body simulations which were obtained directly in Fourier space at large scales, and find very good agreement. Our reconstruction of the quadratic bias is similarly parameter-free, although in this case there are no previous Fourier space measurements to compare with. Our analysis of N-body simulations explicitly tests the predictions of the excursion set peaks (ESP) formalism of Paranjape et al. (2013) for the scale dependence of bias; we find that the ESP predictions accurately describe our measurements. In addition, our measurements in Pinocchio serve as a useful, successful consistency check between Pinocchio and N-body simulations that is not accessible to traditional measurements.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Effects and Detectability of Quasi-Single Field Inflation in the Large-Scale Structure and Cosmic Microwave Background

Quasi-single field inflation predicts a peculiar momentum dependence in the squeezed limit of the primordial bispectrum which smoothly interpolates between the local and equilateral models. This dependence is directly related to the mass of the isocurvatons in the theory which is determined by the supersymmetry. Therefore, in the event of detection of a non-zero primordial bispectrum, additional constraints on the parameter controlling the momentum-dependence in the squeezed limit becomes an important question. We explore the effects of these non-Gaussian initial conditions on large-scale structure and the cosmic microwave background, with particular attention to the galaxy power spectrum at large scales and scale-dependence corrections to galaxy bias. We determine the simultaneous constraints on the two parameters describing the QSF bispectrum that we can expect from upcoming large-scale structure and cosmic microwave background observations. We find that for relatively large values of the non-Gaussian amplitude parameters, but still well within current uncertainties, galaxy power spectrum measurements will be able to distinguish the QSF scenario from the predictions of the local model. A CMB likelihood analysis, as well as Fisher matrix analysis, shows that there is also a range of parameter values for which Planck data may be able distinguish between QSF models and the related local and equilateral shapes. Given the different observational weightings of the CMB and LSS results, degeneracies can be significantly reduced in a joint analysis.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Extragalactic gamma-ray signal from Dark Matter annihilation: a power spectrum based computation

We revisit the computation of the extragalactic gamma-ray signal from cosmological dark matter annihilations. The prediction of this signal is notoriously model dependent, due to different descriptions of the clumpiness of the dark matter distribution at small scales, responsible for an enhancement with respect to the smoothly distributed case. We show how a direct computation of this "flux multiplier" in terms of the nonlinear power spectrum offers a conceptually simpler approach and may ease some problems, such as the extrapolation issue. In fact very simple analytical recipes to construct the power spectrum yield results similar to the popular Halo Model expectations, with a straightforward alternative estimate of errors. For this specific application, one also obviates to the need of identifying (often literature-dependent) concepts entering the Halo Model, to compare different simulations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

The Halo Bispectrum in N-body Simulations with non-Gaussian Initial Conditions

We present measurements of the bispectrum of dark matter halos in numerical simulations with non-Gaussian initial conditions of the local type. We show, in the first place, that the overall effect of primordial non-Gaussianity on the halo bispectrum is larger than on the halo power spectrum when all measurable configurations are taken into account. We then compare our measurements with a tree-level perturbative prediction finding good agreement at large scale when the constant Gaussian bias parameter, both linear and quadratic, and their constant non-Gaussian corrections are fitted for. The best-fit values of the Gaussian bias factors and their non-Gaussian, scale-independent corrections are in qualitative agreement with the peak-background split expectations. In particular, we show that the effect of non-Gaussian initial conditions on squeezed configurations is fairly large (up to 30% for f_NL=100 at redshift z=0.5) and results from contributions of similar amplitude induced by the initial matter bispectrum, scale-dependent bias corrections as well as from nonlinear matter bispectrum corrections. We show, in addition, that effects at second order in f_NL are irrelevant for the range of values allowed by CMB and galaxy power spectrum measurements, at least on the scales probed by our simulations. Finally, we present a Fisher matrix analysis to assess the possibility of constraining primordial non-Gaussianity with future measurements of the galaxy bispectrum. We find that a survey with a volume of about 10 cubic Gpc at mean redshift z ~ 1 could provide an error on f_NL of the order of a few. This shows the relevance of a joint analysis of galaxy power spectrum and bispectrum in future redshift surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

The nonlinear power spectrum in clustering quintessence cosmologies

We study the nonlinear evolution of density perturbations in cosmologies where the late-time accelerated expansion is driven by a quintessence field with vanishing speed of sound. For these models matter and quintessence perturbations are comoving and it is possible to write a single continuity equation for the total density fluctuations given by a weighted sum of the two components. Including the Euler equation for the common velocity field we solve the evolution equations for the nonlinear, total density power spectrum in the Time-Renormalization Group approach. In fact any cosmological observable is directly related by gravity only to the total density perturbations, with the two components being individually unobservable. We show that the clustering of quintessence perturbations induces small corrections with respect to the nonlinear evolution of power spectrum in smooth quintessence models described by the same equation of state. Such small corrections, however, contrast with the large effect of a vanishing speed of sound on the linear growth function at low redshift. For this reason, models with the same normalization of the linear density power spectrum can present significantly different nonlinear corrections depending on the value of the sound speed. Although such differences vanish in the w \rightarrow -1, ΛCDM limit, we argue that the relation between linear and nonlinear growth of structures should be properly taken into account in constraining models with inhomogeneous dark energy.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Primordial Non-Gaussianity and the Statistics of Weak Lensing and other Projected Density Fields

Estimators for weak lensing observables such as shear and convergence generally have non-linear corrections, which, in principle, make weak lensing power spectra sensitive to primordial non-Gaussianity. In this paper, we quantitatively evaluate these contributions for weak lensing auto- and cross-correlation power spectra, and show that they are strongly suppressed by projection effects. This is a consequence of the central limit theorem, which suppresses departures from Gaussianity when the projection reaches over several correlation lengths of the density field, L_P~55 [Mpc/h]. Furthermore, the typical scales that contribute to projected bispectra are generally smaller than those that contribute to projected power spectra. Both of these effects are not specific to lensing, and thus affect the statistics of non-linear tracers (e.g., peaks) of any projected density field. Thus, the clustering of biased tracers of the three-dimensional density field is generically more sensitive to non-Gaussianity than observables constructed from projected density fields.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Cosmological structure formation with clustering quintessence

We study large-scale structure formation in the presence of a quintessence component with zero speed of sound in the framework of Eulerian Perturbation Theory. Due to the absence of pressure gradients, quintessence and dark matter are comoving and can be studied as a unique fluid in terms of the total energy density contrast and the common velocity. In this description the clustering of quintessence enhances the linear term proportional to the velocity divergence in the continuity equation by a factor (1+w) Omega_Q / Omega_m. This is responsible for a rapid evolution of the growth rate at low redshifts, and modifies the standard relation between the velocity divergence and the growth factor. For the total fluid, the solutions for the linear growth function and growth rate can be written in integral forms and admit simple fitting formulae, as in the LambdaCDM case. At second order in perturbation theory, we derive an explicit expression for the kernels F_2 and G_2. They receive modifications of the order of the ratio between quintessence and total energy density perturbations, which affect the corresponding tree-level bispectra. We finally compute the cumulative signal-to-noise in the power spectrum, bispectrum and reduced bispectrum, expected for departures from a LambdaCDM cosmology both in the clustering and smooth quintessence scenarios. The reduced bispectrum, in particular, receives sensible modifications only in the clustering case and can potentially be used to detect or rule out the model.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Multi-Point Propagators for Non-Gaussian Initial Conditions

We show here how Renormalized Perturbation Theory (RPT) calculations applied to the quasi-linear growth of the large-scale structure can be carried on in presence of primordial non-Gaussian (PNG) initial conditions. It is explicitly demonstrated that the series reordering scheme proposed in Bernardeau, Crocce and Scoccimarro (2008) is preserved for non-Gaussian initial conditions. This scheme applies to the power spectrum and higher order spectra and is based on a reorganization of the contributing terms into sum of products of multi-point propagators. In case of PNG new contributing terms appear, the importance of which is discussed in the context of current PNG models. The properties of the building blocks of such resummation schemes, the multi-point propagators, are then investigated. It is first remarked that their expressions are left unchanged at one-loop order irrespectively of statistical properties of the initial field. We furthermore show that the high-momemtum limit of each of these propagators can be explicitly computed even for arbitrary initial conditions. They are found to be damped by an exponential cutoff whose expression is directly related to the moment generating function of the one-dimensional displacement field. This extends what had been established for multi-point propagators for Gaussian initial conditions. Numerical forms of the cut-off are shown for the so-called local model of PNG.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

The Matter Bispectrum in N-body Simulations with non-Gaussian Initial Conditions

We present measurements of the dark matter bispectrum in N-body simulations with non-Gaussian initial conditions of the local kind for a large variety of triangular configurations and compare them with predictions from Eulerian Perturbation Theory up to one-loop corrections. We find that the effects of primordial non-Gaussianity at large scales, when compared to Perturbation Theory, are well described by the initial component of the matter bispectrum, linearly extrapolated at the redshift of interest. In addition, we find that, for f_NL=100, the nonlinear corrections due to non-Gaussian initial conditions are of the order of ~3, 4% for generic triangles up to ~20% for squeezed configurations, at any redshift. We show that the predictions of Perturbation Theory at tree-level fail to describe the simulation results at redshift z=0 already at scales corresponding to k ~ 0.02 - 0.08 h/Mpc, depending on the triangle, while one-loop corrections can significantly extend their validity to smaller scales. At higher redshift, one-loop Perturbation Theory provides indeed quite accurate predictions, particularly with respect to the relative correction due to primordial non-Gaussianity.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

1-loop Perturbative Corrections to the Matter and Galaxy Bispectrum with non-Gaussian Initial Conditions

We derive the expressions for the 1-loop corrections in cosmological, Eulerian, perturbation theory to the matter bispectrum and to the galaxy bispectrum, assuming local galaxy bias, in presence of non-Gaussian initial conditions. We compute them explicitly for the particular case of non-vanishing initial bispectrum and trispectrum in the local model and for a non-vanishing initial bispectrum alone for the equilateral model of primordial non-Gaussianity. While the primordial contribution to the matter bispectrum for values compatible with CMB observations is dominant over the component due to gravitational instability at large scales, 1-loop perturbative corrections due to non-Gaussian initial conditions correspond to just a few percent of the gravity-induced bispectrum at mildly non-linear scales, similarly to what happens for the matter power spectrum. However, in the perturbative expansion for the galaxy bispectrum, 1-loop diagrams arising from non-linear bias are responsible for significant large-scale contributions, indeed exceeding the primordial component, both for the local and equilateral model. We study the peculiar dependence on scale and on the shape of the triangular configurations of such additional terms, similar in their origin to the large-scale corrections to the halo and galaxy power spectra that raised significant interest in the recent literature.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Constraining Running Non-Gaussianity

The primordial non-Gaussian parameter fNL has been shown to be scale-dependent in several models of inflation with a variable speed of sound. Starting from a simple ansatz for a scale-dependent amplitude of the primordial curvature bispectrum for two common phenomenological models of primordial non-Gaussianity, we perform a Fisher matrix analysis of the bispectra of the temperature and polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation and derive the expected constraints on the parameter nNG that quantifies the running of fNL(k) for current and future CMB missions such as WMAP, Planck and CMBPol. We find that CMB information alone, in the event of a significant detection of the non-Gaussian component, corresponding to fNL = 50 for the local model and fNL = 100 for the equilateral model of non-Gaussianity, is able to determine nNG with a 1-sigma uncertainty of Delta nNG = 0.1 and Delta nNG = 0.3, respectively, for the Planck mission. In addition, we consider a Fisher matrix analysis of the galaxy power spectrum to determine the expected constraints on the running parameter nNG for the local model and of the galaxy bispectrum for the equilateral model from future photometric and spectroscopic surveys. We find that, in both cases, large-scale structure observations should achieve results comparable to or even better than those from the CMB, while showing some complementarity due to the different distribution of the non-Gaussian signal over the relevant range of scales. Finally, we compare our findings to the predictions on the amplitude and running of non-Gaussianity of DBI inflation, showing how the constraints on a scale-dependent fNL(k) translate into constraints on the parameter space of the theory.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

The Correlation Function of Optically Selected Galaxy Clusters in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We measure the two-point spatial correlation function for clusters selected from the photometric MaxBCG galaxy cluster catalog for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We evaluate the correlation function for several cluster samples using different cuts in cluster richness. Fitting the results to power-laws, $ξ_{cc}(r) = (r/R_0)^{-γ}$, the estimated correlation length $R_0$ as a function of richness is broadly consistent with previous cluster observations and with expectations from N-body simulations. We study how the linear bias parameter scales with richness and compare our results to theoretical predictions. Since these measurements extend to very large scales, we also compare them to models that include the baryon acoustic oscillation feature and that account for the smoothing effects induced by errors in the cluster photometric redshift estimates. For the largest cluster sample, corresponding to a richness threshold of $\Ng\ge 10$, we find only weak evidence, of about $1.4-1.7σ$ significance, for the baryonic acoustic oscillation signature in the cluster correlation function.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Weak Lensing Effects on the Galaxy Three-Point Correlation Function

We study the corrections to the galaxy three-point correlation function (3PCF) induced by weak lensing magnification due to the matter distribution along the line of sight. We consistently derive all the correction terms arising up to second order in perturbation theory and provide analytic expressions as well as order of magnitude estimates for their relative importance. The magnification contributions depend on the geometry of the projected triangle on the sky plane, and scale with different powers of the number count slope and redshift of the galaxy sample considered. We evaluate all terms numerically and show that, depending on the triangle configuration as well as the galaxy sample considered, weak lensing can in general significantly contribute to and alter the three-point correlation function observed through galaxy and quasar catalogs.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

The bispectrum of galaxies from high-redshift galaxy surveys: primordial non-Gaussianity and non-linear galaxy bias

The greatest challenge in the interpretation of galaxy clustering data from any surveys is galaxy bias. Using a simple Fisher matrix analysis, we show that the bispectrum provides an excellent determination of linear and non-linear bias parameters of intermediate and high-z galaxies, when all measurable triangle configurations down to mildly non-linear scales, where perturbation theory is still valid, are included. The bispectrum is also a powerful probe of primordial non-Gaussianity. The planned galaxy surveys at z>2 should yield constraints on non-Gaussian parameters, f_{NL}^{loc.} and f_{NL}^{eq.}, that are comparable to, or even better than, those from CMB experiments. We study how these constraints improve with volume, redshift range, as well as the number density of galaxies. Finally, we show that a halo occupation distribution may be used to improve these constraints further by lifting degeneracies between gravity, bias, and primordial non-Gaussianity.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Primordial non-Gaussianity and Dark Energy constraints from Cluster Surveys

Galaxy cluster surveys will be a powerful probe of dark energy. At the same time, cluster abundance is sensitive to any non-Gaussianity of the primordial density field. It is therefore possible that non-Gaussian initial conditions might be misinterpreted as a sign of dark energy or at least degrade the expected constraints on dark energy parameters. To address this issue, we perform a likelihood analysis of an ideal cluster survey similar in size and depth to the upcoming South Pole Telescope/Dark Energy Survey (SPT-DES). We analyze a model in which the strength of the non-Gaussianity is parameterized by the constant fNL; this model has been used extensively to derive Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy constraints on non-Gaussianity, allowing us to make contact with those works. We find that the constraining power of the cluster survey on dark energy observables is not significantly diminished by non-Gaussianity provided that cluster redshift information is included in the analysis. We also find that even an ideal cluster survey is unlikely to improve significantly current and future CMB constraints on non-Gaussianity. However, when all systematics are under control, it could constitute a valuable cross check to CMB observations.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Cosmology and the Bispectrum

The present spatial distribution of galaxies in the Universe is non-Gaussian, with 40% skewness in 50 Mpc/h spheres, and remarkably little is known about the information encoded in it about cosmological parameters beyond the power spectrum. In this work we present an attempt to bridge this gap by studying the bispectrum, paying particular attention to a joint analysis with the power spectrum and their combination with CMB data. We address the covariance properties of the power spectrum and bispectrum including the effects of beat coupling that lead to interesting cross-correlations, and discuss how baryon acoustic oscillations break degeneracies. We show that the bispectrum has significant information on cosmological parameters well beyond its power in constraining galaxy bias, and when combined with the power spectrum is more complementary than combining power spectra of different samples of galaxies, since non-Gaussianity provides a somewhat different direction in parameter space. In the framework of flat cosmological models we show that most of the improvement of adding bispectrum information corresponds to parameters related to the amplitude and effective spectral index of perturbations, which can be improved by almost a factor of two. Moreover, we demonstrate that the expected statistical uncertainties in sigma8 of a few percent are robust to relaxing the dark energy beyond a cosmological constant.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Galaxy Bias and Halo-Occupation Numbers from Large-Scale Clustering

We show that current surveys have at least as much signal to noise in higher-order statistics as in the power spectrum at weakly nonlinear scales. We discuss how one can use this information to determine the mean of the galaxy halo occupation distribution (HOD) using only large-scale information, through galaxy bias parameters determined from the galaxy bispectrum and trispectrum. After introducing an averaged, reasonably fast to evaluate, trispectrum estimator, we show that the expected errors on linear and quadratic bias parameters can be reduced by at least 20-40%. Also, the inclusion of the trispectrum information, which is sensitive to "three-dimensionality" of structures, helps significantly in constraining the mass dependence of the HOD mean. Our approach depends only on adequate modeling of the abundance and large-scale clustering of halos and thus is independent of details of how galaxies are distributed within halos. This provides a consistency check on the traditional approach of using two-point statistics down to small scales, which necessarily makes more assumptions. We present a detailed forecast of how well our approach can be carried out in the case of the SDSS.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

Probing Primordial Non-Gaussianity with Large-Scale Structure

We consider primordial non-Gaussianity due to quadratic corrections in the gravitational potential parametrized by a non-linear coupling parameter fnl. We study constraints on fnl from measurements of the galaxy bispectrum in redshift surveys. Using estimates for idealized survey geometries of the 2dF and SDSS surveys and realistic ones from SDSS mock catalogs, we show that it is possible to probe |fnl|~100, after marginalization over bias parameters. We apply our methods to the galaxy bispectrum measured from the PSCz survey, and obtain a 2sigma-constraint |fnl|< 1800. We estimate that an all sky redshift survey up to z~1 can probe |fnl|~1. We also consider the use of cluster abundance to constrain fnl and find that in order to be sensitive to |fnl|~100, cluster masses need to be determined with an accuracy of a few percent, assuming perfect knowledge of the mass function and cosmological parameters.

astro-ph↗