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Huanyuan Shan

Publications and source records attributed to Huanyuan Shan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Gravitational Lensing Effects by Galaxy Clusters on Ionised Bubble Size Distribution during the Epoch of Reionisation

The statistical properties of ionisation structures during the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR) provide valuable insights into the formation of the first stars and galaxies. However, size distributions of ionisation structures can be affected by gravitational lensing from foreground massive structures such as galaxy clusters. To quantify the impact of cluster lensing on the ionised Bubble Size Distribution (BSD), we performed a series of multiple-lens-plane simulations combining light cones of clusters with source light cones based on different ionisation models. The deflector population is generated with a Monte Carlo method guided by the halo mass function and empirical scaling relations, and the deflectors are modelled with truncated Navarro-Frenk-White (TNFW) profiles. Source light cones are produced semi-numerically or taken directly from the Evolution of 21 cm Structure (EOS) project. Using the Mean Free Path method, we measure both unlensed and lensed BSDs. We find that gravitational lensing increases the apparent abundance of large bubbles while leaving small bubbles nearly unchanged across all source models considered. In particular, for the EOS faint-galaxies model, the apparent number of bubbles with R > 15 cMpc increases by 219% at z = 14; for the EOS bright-galaxies model, it increases by 832% under the same conditions. Moreover, a directional projection test shows only minor lensing-induced changes in line-of-sight direction, suggesting a possible route to recovering unlensed bubble statistics. Above all, lensing introduces unavoidable systematics into BSD measurements that should be carefully taken into account for relevant studies in the SKA era.

astro-ph.CO

Executable verification through formalized expert reasoning in astronomical spectroscopy

Artificial intelligence has reshaped scientific prediction, but scientific verification remains a human bottleneck. Automated systems can map observations to labels, parameters or hypotheses, yet scientific conclusions require evidence, must satisfy physical consistency, and need explicit testing of alternatives before a decision is made. Here we introduce FORMA (Formalized Observational Reasoning with Auditable Decisions), an executable verification protocol that reconstructs expert reasoning into a workflow: it extracts evidence, generates hypotheses under physical constraints, tests alternatives, and performs auditable consistency checks. Unlike prediction or post-hoc interpretability, executable verification records and tests the evidential path leading to a decision. Astronomical spectroscopy provides a natural testbed, because ambiguous survey spectra are still adjudicated by expert visual inspection. Applied to the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) visual inspection catalogue, FORMA combines template-fitting candidate redshifts, spectral evidence extraction and physical audit into an auditable credibility score. A medium-or-higher credibility threshold identifies $331$ definite predictions with $95.5\%$ binary agreement with expert-adjudicated classes, while increasing credibility is associated with improved redshift consistency and higher classification reliability. These results show that automated inference can be coupled to explicit verification, allowing candidate outputs to be evaluated before they enter scientific use.

astro-ph.CO

Joint constraints on gravity and stellar orbital anisotropy in massive galaxies

Strong gravitational lensing combined with stellar dynamics provides a complementary route for testing gravity on kiloparsec scales and probing the internal structure of massive galaxies. However, such studies remain limited by degeneracies among the mass-density profile, stellar orbital anisotropy and external convergence, and by modelling assumptions, especially when only single-aperture velocity dispersions are available. Here we develop a hierarchical Bayesian framework to disentangle gravity and stellar orbital anisotropy from other effects at the population level. By reconstructing the lens mass distribution with a flexible broken power-law model and propagating its posterior uncertainty into the predicted velocity dispersion, we obtain a likelihood for each lens in the plane of stellar orbital anisotropy and an effective mismatch parameter. This parameter encapsulates projection bias, external convergence, cosmological distance ratios and deviations from general relativity via the post-Newtonian parameter $γ_{\rm PPN}$. Applying this framework to 121 galaxy-scale lenses, we find $γ_{\rm PPN}=1.027^{+0.099}_{-0.095}$, consistent with general relativity, and obtain $2σ$ evidence that the stellar orbits of massive galaxies have become more radially biased over the past $\sim6$ Gyr. Forecasts show that future samples of order $10^5$ lenses could enable sub-percent tests of gravity, precise measurements of orbital-structure evolution and complementary constraints on the cosmological matter-density parameter.

astro-ph.GA

Foreground Characterization and Mitigation in the Observations of the CD/EoR with the SKA

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA), with its unprecedented sensitivity, frequency coverage, and large collecting area, is poised to revolutionize our understanding of the Cosmic Dawn (CD) and Epoch of Reionization (EoR) epochs marking the formation of the first luminous sources and the subsequent reionization of the intergalactic medium (IGM). However, detecting the faint redshifted 21-cm signal from neutral hydrogen remains one of the foremost challenges in observational cosmology, as it is buried beneath bright foregrounds from Galactic synchrotron radiation, free-free emission, and extragalactic point sources that are 4-5 orders of magnitude stronger than the cosmological signal. In this chapter, we highlight the key components and characteristics of these foregrounds and review ongoing efforts to model, characterize, and mitigate them. We emphasize how the SKA-Low AA* configuration, through its optimized array design, wide field of view, and improved calibration accuracy, enhances our capacity to suppress foreground contamination and recover the cosmological signal. The SKA Observatory Foreground Challenge plays a pivotal role in this effort by bringing together the global EoR/CD community to develop, compare, and validate foreground removal pipelines using realistic simulated datasets. Building on the experience of existing pathfinders such as LOFAR, MWA, and HERA, these collaborative initiatives are helping refine statistical and machine learning-based approaches for signal recovery. Together, these advancements are laying the groundwork for the SKA to probe the thermal and ionization history of the early Universe with unprecedented precision.

astro-ph.CO

A hidden reionization prior biases cosmological inference

Precision cosmology assumes that cosmic reionization was a single smooth transition. We show that this assumption is in tension with current observations: the Planck optical depth, patchy kinetic Sunyaev--Zel'dovich (PkSZ)limits from SPT and ACT, and the Ly$α$ forest endpoint cannot be simultaneously reproduced by any viable monotonic ionization history. Non-parametric reconstructions and Planck EE polarization provide independent support for an additional ionization component at $z \gtrsim 12$. Incorporating this early phase relaxes the upper bound on the summed neutrino mass to $\sum m_ν< 0.39$~eV ($95\%$ CL) and shifts $σ_8$ toward values preferred by weak-lensing surveys, both consequences of the standard $A_s$--$τ_e$ degeneracy. These shifts arise from relaxing a hidden prior on reionization shape rather than from new physics, and identify reionization shape as an implicit prior in cosmological inference. Next generation of CMB and 21~cm experiments will be able to test this directly,which will convert what has been an unflagged systematic on $σ_8$ and $\sum m_ν$ into a quantified statistical uncertainty.

astro-ph.CO

First Observational Evidence for Split Infall Flow of Cosmic Filaments into Clusters

Velocity fields in the cosmic web are fundamental to structure formation but remain difficult to observe directly beyond the linear regime. Here we present observational evidence that galaxy filaments connecting pairs of galaxy clusters undergo a split infall, with opposite velocity flows toward the two clusters. Using spectroscopic galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we isolate the internal filament velocity field by subtracting its rigid-body background motion and Hubble flow, and detect this effect at greater than $5σ$ significance across a wide range of cluster and filament selections. The measured velocity profile exhibits a sign reversal near the filament midpoint and a maximum infall amplitude of $\sim30$ km/s ($\sim20$ km/s projected onto the line-of-sight) for clusters of mass $\sim10^{14.3}M_\odot$, substantially lower than expected for infall from an average cosmic environment. Multiple results on density-velocity correlation, mass-dependency, and validation with simulation indicate that filaments dynamically respond to competing gravitational potentials rather than acting as passive mass transport channels. Our results establish a new observational window on quasi-linear velocity fields in the cosmic web and provide a promising probe of mass measurement, testing gravity and velocity reconstruction with upcoming wide-field spectroscopic surveys.

astro-ph.CO

Steep Redshift Evolution of the Ionizing Escape Fraction at $z = 5$--$12$: Empirical Constraints and Comparison with Simulations

The ionizing photon escape fraction $f_{\rm esc}$ governs cosmic reionization yet remains observationally unconstrained as a function of halo mass. We present the first empirical constraints on $f_{\rm esc}(M_{\rm h},z)$ across the epoch of reionization, using a three-parameter power-law model $f_{\rm esc} = f_0\,(M/10^{10}M_\odot)^{α_M}\,[(1{+}z)/10]^{α_z}$, conditioned on HST and JWST UV luminosity functions at $z=5$--12, the Planck Thomson optical depth, seven neutral-fraction measurements, and one high-redshift prior. Using Schechter fits to the latest HST and JWST UV luminosity functions, abundance matching to link $M_{\rm UV}$ to halo mass, and a reionization ODE solver validated against Planck, we constrain the model via a dense grid scan and ensemble MCMC. The profile likelihood yields tight constraints: $f_0=0.061_{-0.023}^{+0.018}$, $α_M=0.18_{-0.30}^{+0.22}$, $α_z=1.98_{-0.42}^{+0.48}$. In contrast, the full marginal posterior is substantially broadened by a strong $f_0$--$α_M$--$α_z$ degeneracy ($α_z = 1.93_{-2.00}^{+2.09}$, $α_M = -0.52_{-0.69}^{+0.69}$). The population-averaged $\langle f_{\rm esc} \rangle(z)$ rises from $\sim$2\% at $z=5$ to $\sim$9\% at $z=12$, with sub-threshold halos contributing $>80\%$ of the ionizing budget at $z\geq10$. Comparing with THESAN, we find that the per-halo median $f_{\rm esc}$ shows steep evolution consistent with our profile result, while luminosity-weighted averaging systematically flattens the trend because massive halos dominate the ionizing budget at $z\lesssim7$. Robustness checks confirm $α_z>1.0$ at $>95\%$ confidence; the steep-evolution model predicts $τ_e=0.047$, consistent with Planck at $0.7σ$. We provide tabulated $f_{\rm esc}(M_{\rm h},z)$ posteriors as empirical inputs for reionization simulations.

astro-ph.CO

Constraining Neutrino Mass with the Void Weak Lensing Effect

Cosmic voids, the underdense regions of the Large Scale Structure (LSS), provide cosmological information highly complementary to that obtained from overdense regions. In this work, we investigate the constraining power of the void-shear cross-correlation (void lensing effect) on the total neutrino mass. Based on cosmological $N$-body simulations with varying neutrino masses, we populate BOSS LOW-Z-like galaxies at $0.2<z<0.4$ using HOD fitting, identify voids with the DIVE void finder and obtain their density profiles from the underlying dark matter and neutrino distributions. We then generate mock shear catalogues through ray-tracing and measure the corresponding void lensing signals, assuming a source number density of $10/{\rm arcmin}^{2}$ and sky area of around $8400\,{\rm deg}^2$. Under this setup, void lensing independently yields a constraint on total neutrino mass as $σ(M_ν)=0.096\,{\rm eV}$ ($M_ν<0.232\,{\rm eV}$, 95% C.L.) in the absence of shape noise, and $σ(M_ν)=0.340\,{\rm eV}$ ($M_ν<0.707\,{\rm eV}$, 95% C.L.) when adopting a Stage-III-like shape noise. Moreover, we find a clear linear relationship between the void lensing signal and neutrino mass. We further validate the forward modelling of the void lensing signal from the void density profiles across different cosmologies, demonstrating its accuracy and potential for future applications. These findings highlight void lensing as a promising probe of massive neutrinos and motivate its applications to galaxy survey data as well as the combination with other cosmological observables.

astro-ph.CO

The Shear-to-Cosmology Paradigm I. Hybrid Field-Level and Simulation-Based Framework for Weak Lensing Surveys

Precise cosmological inference from next-generation weak lensing surveys requires extracting non-Gaussian information beyond standard two-point statistics. We present a hybrid machine-learning (ML) framework that integrates field-level inference (FLI) with simulation-based inference (SBI) to map observed shear fields directly to cosmological parameters, eliminating the need for convergence reconstruction. The FLI network extracts rich non-Gaussian information from the shear field to produce informative features, which are then used by SBI to model the resulting complex posteriors. To mitigate noise from intrinsic galaxy shapes, we develop a blind, training-free, PCA-based shear denoising method. Tests on CSST-like mock catalogs reveal significant performance gains. The shear-based inference achieves approximately twice the cosmological constraining power in Figure of Merit (FoM) compared to the conventional convergence-based approach. Moreover, the combination of PCA denoising and ML compression can deliver a 36.4% improvement in FoM over standard shear two-point statistics. This work establishes a scalable and robust pathway for cosmological inference, unlocking the full potential of Stage-IV weak-lensing surveys.

astro-ph.CO

MUltiplexed Survey Telescope (MUST) Science White Paper I: Overview of Large-Scale Structure Cosmology in the Era of Stage-V Spectroscopic Surveys

The MUltiplexed Survey Telescope (MUST) is a 6.5-meter telescope under development. Dedicated to highly-multiplexed, wide-field spectroscopic surveys, MUST observes over 20,000 targets simultaneously using 6.2-mm pitch positioning robots within a ~5 deg$^2$ field of view. MUST aims to conduct the first Stage-V spectroscopic survey in the 2030s, mapping the 3D Universe with over 100 million galaxies and quasars, spanning from the nearby Universe to a redshift of z ~ 5.5, corresponding to approximately 1 billion years after the Big Bang. To cover this extensive redshift range, we present an initial conceptual target selection algorithm for different types of galaxies, ranging from local bright galaxies and luminous red galaxies to emission-line galaxies, and high-redshift (2 < z < 5.5) Lyman-break galaxies. Using Fisher forecasts, we demonstrate that MUST can address fundamental questions in cosmology, including the nature of dark energy, tests of gravity theories, and investigations into primordial physics. This is the first paper in the series of science white papers for MUST, with subsequent developments focusing on additional scientific cases such as galaxy and quasar evolution, Milky Way physics, and dynamic phenomena in the time-domain Universe.

astro-ph.CO

The JWST early galaxy crisis resolved by a reionization degeneracy

JWST's discovery of unexpectedly bright $z>10$ galaxies has triggered claims that standard $Λ$CDM cannot reproduce their abundances, while estimates of the ionizing escape fraction $f_{\rm esc}$ at $z>6$ have spanned a factor of four for over a decade. Here we show that both tensions arise from a structural degeneracy in reionization equations: global observables constrain only the product $f_{\rm esc}\times f_{\star,0}$ (peak star formation efficiency), not individual parameters. We demonstrate that this degeneracy, previously considered a limitation, provides a precise diagnostic framework. By leveraging JWST UV luminosity function shapes to independently constrain $f_{\star,0}$, we derive robust bounds on $f_{\rm esc}$. Joint profile-likelihood analysis across Gaussian, log-normal, and duty-cycle burst scatter models excludes the proposed crisis threshold ($\varepsilon > 3.5\%$) at $4.5σ$ confidence, with stochastic star formation histories strengthening rather than weakening the result. Combining these constraints with constant and evolving $f_{\star,0}$ measurements yields the first empirical reconstruction of $f_{\rm esc}(z)$ across $z=7$--$12$. A constant-efficiency scenario ($f_{\rm esc}\approx 10$--$16\%$) connects smoothly to low-redshift direct detections, whereas an evolving scenario ($f_{\rm esc} \approx 6\%$ at $z=12$) conflicts with low-metallicity ISM porosity expectations. JWST Cycle 3--4 will distinguish these pathways at $>2σ$, transforming a long-standing fundamental inference barrier into a powerful quantitative probe of early-universe physics.

astro-ph.CO

A structural degeneracy explains reionization tensions and limits dark matter constraints

Over the past decade, reionization studies have yielded persistent factor-of-two-to-five disagreements in the inferred ionizing escape fraction $f_{\mathrm{esc}}$ and peak star formation efficiency $f_{*,0}$, compounded by JWST's discovery of unexpectedly bright $z>10$ galaxies. We show that this discrepancy arises from an algebraically exact structural degeneracy: the ionizing photon rate $\dot{n}_{\mathrm{ion}} \propto f_{\mathrm{esc}} \times f_{*,0}$ renders all reionization-history probes, including Thomson optical depth, neutral hydrogen fraction, UV luminosity function, and quasar proximity zones, sensitive only to their product, leading to an intrinsically non-invertible mapping between model parameters and observations. We demonstrate the robustness of this degeneracy using a large suite of N-body simulations of self-interacting dark matter haloes spanning $10^9$-$10^{11} M_\odot$. Despite substantial changes to galaxy-scale structure, observables remain indistinguishable once the effective ionizing emissivity is matched, severely limiting reionization-based dark matter probes. We identify that only observables sensitive to the spatial topology of ionized regions can break this degeneracy. Our results provide a unified explanation for the scatter among published constraints and establish a framework for interpreting reionization observations and their implications for early galaxy formation and dark matter.

astro-ph.CO

Breaking the UV Luminosity Function Degeneracy:Self-Interacting Dark Matter Constraints from Reionization Topology

Self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) is the leading framework resolving small-scale cold dark matter (CDM) crises, yet high-redshift SIDM constraints are fundamentally limited by degeneracies between dark matter microphysics and galaxy formation astrophysics. We demonstrate that the UV luminosity function alone cannot constrain SIDM: star formation suppression from SIDM halo core formation is fully absorbed by modest adjustments to standard astrophysical parameters. We show that 21 cm reionization topology breaks this degeneracy completely, providing a nuisance-immune probe: the SIDM-enhanced duty cycle of ionizing photon escape leaves a morphological signature fully independent of star formation efficiency. Combining JWST UVLF measurements with SKA1-Low forecasts, constant-cross-section SIDM with $σ/m \gtrsim 1$--$2\ \mathrm{cm^2/g}$ is either excluded or detectable across all physically motivated star formation coupling strengths. Our results establish a robust new avenue to probe dark matter microphysics in the early Universe.

astro-ph.CO

Reproducing Abell 2744 with the HyperMillennium Simulation

We present the Hyper Millennium (HM) simulation, an extremely large cosmological simulation designed to support next-generation galaxy surveys. The simulation follows 4.2 trillion dark matter particles in a comoving box of $2.5\ h^{-1}{\rm Gpc}$, with a mass resolution of $3.2 \times 10^8\, {h^{-1}\rm M_{\odot}}$ and a force resolution of $3.0\ h^{-1}{\rm kpc}$. Its combination of scale and resolution is ideal for studying large-scale structures and rare cosmic objects. In this first paper of the HM project, we explore whether the massive galaxy cluster Abell~2744 (A2744) can be reproduced in detail in the simulation. Pixel-based statistics of galaxy number density $N_{\rm gal}$, luminosity density $L_{\rm gal}$, and projected mass density $κ$ show excellent agreement between A2744 and its analogues down to $\sim 50$ kpc, once field-selection biases toward high galaxy surface density are accounted for. This concordance, achieved in one of the most extreme known galaxy environments, is a validation of the underlying $Λ{\rm CDM}$ model in the extreme regime of A2744. It also showcases the robustness and accuracy of the HM simulation, which, when coupled with a sophisticated semi-analytic galaxy formation model, is capable of producing galaxy and mass catalogues of comparable quality out to high redshift across its full comoving volume of 50.4 ${\rm Gpc^3}$.

astro-ph.CO

CFHT MegaCam Two Deep Fields Imaging Survey (2DFIS) II: Decoding the Lensing Profile of a "Rotating" Cluster with Deep CFHT Imaging

We present a multi-wavelength analysis of the galaxy cluster RXCJ0110.0+1358 ($z=0.058$), a rotating cluster candidate, combining deep CFHT imaging, SDSS photometry, spectroscopic redshifts, and XMM-Newton X-ray observations. We find a notable discrepancy between the optical and X-ray views: while optical data reveal a pronounced bimodal galaxy distribution with significant kinematic substructure signatures, the X-ray emission exhibits a single, smoothly extended component centered on the BCG. Our weak lensing analysis resolves this discrepancy by revealing that the mass is predominantly concentrated in the southeast ($\log M_{200}/M_\odot = 14.04_{-0.40}^{+0.24}$), while the northwestern substructure has a negligible mass ($\sim 10^{13} M_\odot$). This immense mass disparity rules out the dynamical possibility of a rotating system. We demonstrate that the apparent optical bimodality arises from the projection of a filament, which led optical group-finding algorithms to misclassify these galaxies as cluster members. This contamination creates a spurious substructure that mimics a rotation signal and leads to an overestimation of the luminosity-based halo mass, resolving the observed inconsistencies.

astro-ph.GA

Low-redshift 3D Lyman-α Forest Correlations with China Space Station Telescope

While the Lyman-$α$ (Ly$α$) forest traces the large-scale matter distribution over a wide range of redshift, its three-dimensional (3D) clustering at $z < 2$ has not yet been measured. We investigate the prospects for measuring low-redshift Ly$α$ correlations with the UV slitless spectroscopic instrument of the China Space Station Telescope (CSST). We construct mock CSST quasar spectra that reproduce the expected survey depth, spectral resolution and noise properties, and derive Ly$α$ auto-correlation functions and cross-correlations with quasars (QSO) and emission-line galaxies (ELG) in the range $1.1 < z < 2.0$. We then interpret these three-dimensional correlation functions with a standard anisotropic redshift-space clustering model and obtain forecast constraints on the Ly$α$ and tracer parameters. At an effective redshift $z_{\rm eff}=1.59$ (1.58 for ELGs), the Ly$α$ bias parameters will be measured with a 10-30\% precision, depending on priors on other tracer's biases. We also forecast a marginal $2.5σ$ ($3.7σ$) detection of the BAO feature, corresponding to a $\sim$10\% (7\%) constraint on the isotropic BAO scale, from the combination of Ly$α$ auto- and Ly$α$-QSO (ELG) cross-correlations. These results show that CSST can provide the first three-dimensional characterization of the low-redshift Ly$α$ forest and a complementary Ly$α$-based BAO measurement at $z < 2$, helping to link galaxy clustering surveys with high-redshift Ly$α$ forest studies.

astro-ph.CO

MCI: Multi-Channel Imager on the Chinese Space Station Survey Telescope

The Multi-Channel Imager (MCI) is a powerful near-ultraviolet (NUV) and visible imager onboard the Chinese Space Station Survey Telescope (CSST). The MCI provides three imaging channels, which are the NUV channel, the Blue channel and the Red channel, with the wavelength range of 255-430 nm, 430-700 nm, and 700-1000 nm, respectively. MCI's three channels can target the same field simultaneously, which is unique compared to other imagers onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) or the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Each channel employs a CCD focal plane of 9216 x 9232 pixels and $\sim$7\arcmin.5 x 7\arcmin.5 field of view (FOV), which are about $\gtrsim 4$ times greater than the FOVs of HST imagers. The MCI's three channels feature unprecedented sensitivities and field of views complement the NUV and visible capabilities of the CSST for high-precision photometry and weak-signal detection, which would help build a new standard-star system and the deepest UV-Optical exposures for CSST. Rich filter sets of MCI would help explore other sciences such as local emission line mapping, high-z Ly$α$ emitters searching, etc. Here we present key design features, results of current ground tests, and suggested observing strategies of the MCI.

astro-ph.IM

AI Agent for Source Finding by SoFiA-2 for SKA-SDC2

Source extraction is crucial in analyzing data from next-generation, large-scale sky surveys in radio bands, such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Several source extraction programs, including SoFiA and Aegean, have been developed to address this challenge. However, finding optimal parameter configurations when applying these programs to real observations is non-trivial. For example, the outcomes of SoFiA intensely depend on several key parameters across its preconditioning, source-finding, and reliability-filtering modules. To address this issue, we propose a framework to automatically optimize these parameters using an AI agent based on a state-of-the-art reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm, i.e., Soft Actor-Critic (SAC). The SKA Science Data Challenge 2 (SDC2) dataset is utilized to assess the feasibility and reliability of this framework. The AI agent interacts with the environment by adjusting parameters based on the feedback from the SDC2 score defined by the SDC2 Team, progressively learning to select parameter sets that yield improved performance. After sufficient training, the AI agent can automatically identify an optimal parameter configuration that outperform the benchmark set by Team SoFiA within only 100 evaluation steps and with reduced time consumption. Our approach could address similar problems requiring complex parameter tuning, beyond radio band surveys and source extraction. Yet, high-quality training sets containing representative observations and catalogs of ground truth are essential.

cs.LG