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Jean-Baptiste Melin

Publications and source records attributed to Jean-Baptiste Melin.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Calibrating the Planck Cluster Mass Scale with Cluster Velocity Dispersions

We measure the Planck cluster mass bias using dynamical mass measurements based on velocity dispersions of a subsample of 17 Planck-detected clusters. The velocity dispersions were calculated using redshifts determined from spectra obtained at Gemini observatory with the GMOS multi-object spectrograph. We correct our estimates for effects due to finite aperture, Eddington bias and correlated scatter between velocity dispersion and the Planck mass proxy. The result for the mass bias parameter, $(1-b)$, depends on the value of the galaxy velocity bias $b_v$ adopted from simulations: $(1-b)=(0.51\pm0.09) b_v^3$. Using a velocity bias of $b_v=1.08$ from Munari et al., we obtain $(1-b)=0.64\pm 0.11$, i.e, an error of 17% on the mass bias measurement with 17 clusters. This mass bias value is consistent with most previous weak lensing determinations. It lies within $1σ$ of the value needed to reconcile the Planck cluster counts with the Planck primary CMB constraints. We emphasize that uncertainty in the velocity bias severely hampers precision measurements of the mass bias using velocity dispersions. On the other hand, when we fix the Planck mass bias using the constraints from Penna-Lima et al., based on weak lensing measurements, we obtain a positive velocity bias $b_v \gtrsim 0.9$ at $3σ$.

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Exploring Cosmic Origins with CORE: Inflation

We forecast the scientific capabilities to improve our understanding of cosmic inflation of CORE, a proposed CMB space satellite submitted in response to the ESA fifth call for a medium-size mission opportunity. The CORE satellite will map the CMB anisotropies in temperature and polarization in 19 frequency channels spanning the range 60-600 GHz. CORE will have an aggregate noise sensitivity of $1.7 μ$K$\cdot \,$arcmin and an angular resolution of 5' at 200 GHz. We explore the impact of telescope size and noise sensitivity on the inflation science return by making forecasts for several instrumental configurations. This study assumes that the lower and higher frequency channels suffice to remove foreground contaminations and complements other related studies of component separation and systematic effects, which will be reported in other papers of the series "Exploring Cosmic Origins with CORE." We forecast the capability to determine key inflationary parameters, to lower the detection limit for the tensor-to-scalar ratio down to the $10^{-3}$ level, to chart the landscape of single field slow-roll inflationary models, to constrain the epoch of reheating, thus connecting inflation to the standard radiation-matter dominated Big Bang era, to reconstruct the primordial power spectrum, to constrain the contribution from isocurvature perturbations to the $10^{-3}$ level, to improve constraints on the cosmic string tension to a level below the presumptive GUT scale, and to improve the current measurements of primordial non-Gaussianities down to the $f_{NL}^{\rm local} < 1$ level. For all the models explored, CORE alone will improve significantly on the present constraints on the physics of inflation. Its capabilities will be further enhanced by combining with complementary future cosmological observations.

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Exploring Cosmic Origins with CORE: Cosmological Parameters

We forecast the main cosmological parameter constraints achievable with the CORE space mission which is dedicated to mapping the polarisation of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). CORE was recently submitted in response to ESA's fifth call for medium-sized mission proposals (M5). Here we report the results from our pre-submission study of the impact of various instrumental options, in particular the telescope size and sensitivity level, and review the great, transformative potential of the mission as proposed. Specifically, we assess the impact on a broad range of fundamental parameters of our Universe as a function of the expected CMB characteristics, with other papers in the series focusing on controlling astrophysical and instrumental residual systematics. In this paper, we assume that only a few central CORE frequency channels are usable for our purpose, all others being devoted to the cleaning of astrophysical contaminants. On the theoretical side, we assume LCDM as our general framework and quantify the improvement provided by CORE over the current constraints from the Planck 2015 release. We also study the joint sensitivity of CORE and of future Baryon Acoustic Oscillation and Large Scale Structure experiments like DESI and Euclid. Specific constraints on the physics of inflation are presented in another paper of the series. In addition to the six parameters of the base LCDM, which describe the matter content of a spatially flat universe with adiabatic and scalar primordial fluctuations from inflation, we derive the precision achievable on parameters like those describing curvature, neutrino physics, extra light relics, primordial helium abundance, dark matter annihilation, recombination physics, variation of fundamental constants, dark energy, modified gravity, reionization and cosmic birefringence. (ABRIDGED)

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Joint signal extraction from galaxy clusters in X-ray and SZ surveys: A matched-filter approach

The hot ionized gas of the intra-cluster medium emits thermal radiation in the X-ray band and also distorts the cosmic microwave radiation through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. Combining these two complementary sources of information through innovative techniques can therefore potentially improve the cluster detection rate when compared to using only one of the probes. Our aim is to build such a joint X-ray-SZ analysis tool, which will allow us to detect fainter or more distant clusters while maintaining high catalogue purity. We present a method based on matched multifrequency filters (MMF) for extracting cluster catalogues from SZ and X-ray surveys. We first designed an X-ray matched-filter method, analogous to the classical MMF developed for SZ observations. Then, we built our joint X-ray-SZ algorithm by combining our X-ray matched filter with the classical SZ-MMF, for which we used the physical relation between SZ and X-ray observations. We show that the proposed X-ray matched filter provides correct photometry results, and that the joint matched filter also provides correct photometry when the $F_{\rm X}/Y_{500}$ relation of the clusters is known. Moreover, the proposed joint algorithm provides a better signal-to-noise ratio than single-map extractions, which improves the detection rate even if we do not exactly know the $F_{\rm X}/Y_{500}$ relation. The proposed methods were tested using data from the ROSAT all-sky survey and from the Planck survey.

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Quasar Host Environments: The view from Planck

We measure the far-infrared emission of the general quasar (QSO) population using Planck observations of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey QSO sample. By applying multi-component matched multi-filters to the seven highest Planck frequencies, we extract the amplitudes of dust, synchrotron and thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) signals for nearly 300,000 QSOs over the redshift range $0.1<z<5$. We bin these individually low signal-to-noise measurements to obtain the mean emission properties of the QSO population as a function of redshift. The emission is dominated by dust at all redshifts, with a peak at $z \sim 2$, the same location as the peak in the general cosmic star formation rate. Restricting analysis to radio-loud QSOs, we find synchrotron emission with a monochromatic luminosity at $100\,\rm{GHz}$ (rest-frame) rising from $\overline{L_{\rm synch}}=0$ to $0.2 \, {\rm L_\odot} {\rm Hz}^{-1}$ between $z=0$ and 3. The radio-quiet subsample does not show any synchrotron emission, but we detect thermal SZ between $z=2.5$ and 4; no significant SZ emission is seen at lower redshifts. Depending on the supposed mass for the halos hosting the QSOs, this may or may not leave room for heating of the halo gas by feedback from the QSO.

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Testing Sunyaev-Zel'dovich measurements of the hot gas content of dark matter haloes using synthetic skies

The thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect offers a means of probing the hot gas in and around massive galaxies and galaxy groups and clusters, which is thought to constitute a large fraction of the baryon content of the Universe. The Planck collaboration recently performed a stacking analysis of a large sample of `locally brightest galaxies' (LBGs) and, surprisingly, inferred an approximately self-similar relation between the tSZ flux and halo mass. At face value, this implies that the hot gas mass fraction is independent of halo mass, a result which is in apparent conflict with resolved X-ray observations. We test the robustness of the inferred trend using synthetic tSZ maps generated from cosmological hydrodynamical simulations and using the same tools and assumptions applied in the Planck study. We show that, while the detection and the estimate of the `total' flux (within $5 r_{500}$) is reasonably robust, the inferred flux originating from within $r_{500}$ (i.e. the limiting radius to which X-ray observations typically probe) is highly sensitive to the assumed pressure distribution of the gas. Using our most realistic simulations with AGN feedback, that reproduce a wide variety of X-ray and optical properties of groups and clusters, we estimate that the derived tSZ flux within $r_{500}$ is biased high by up to to an order of magnitude for haloes with masses $M_{500} \sim 10^{13}$ M$_{\odot}$. Moreover, we show that the AGN simulations are consistent with the total tSZ flux-mass relation observed with Planck, whereas a self-similar model is ruled out.

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Measuring cluster masses with CMB lensing: a statistical approach

We present a method for measuring the masses of galaxy clusters using the imprint of their gravitational lensing signal on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies. The method first reconstructs the projected gravitational potential with a quadratic estimator and then applies a matched filter to extract cluster mass. The approach is well-suited for statistical analyses that bin clusters according to other mass proxies. We find that current experiments, such as Planck, the South Pole Telescope and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, can practically implement such a statistical methodology, and that future experiments will reach sensitivities sufficient for individual measurements of massive systems. As illustration, we use simulations of Planck observations to demonstrate that it is possible to constrain the mass scale of a set of 62 massive clusters with prior information from X-ray observations, similar to the published Planck ESZ-XMM sample. We examine the effect of the thermal (tSZ) and kinetic (kSZ) Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) signals, finding that the impact of the kSZ remains small in this context. The stronger tSZ signal, however, must be actively removed from the CMB maps by component separation techniques prior to reconstruction of the gravitational potential. Our study of two such methods highlights the importance of broad frequency coverage for this purpose. A companion paper presents application to the Planck data on the ESZ-XMM sample.

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Chandra and XMM-Newton Observations of the Bimodal Planck SZ-detected Cluster PLCKG345.40-39.34 (A3716) with High and Low Entropy Subcluster Cores

We present results from Chandra, XMM-Newton, and ROSAT observations of the Planck SZ-detected cluster A3716 (PLCKG345.40-39.34 - G345). We show that G345 is, in fact, two subclusters separated on the sky by 400 kpc. We measure the subclusters' gas temperatures (~ 2-3 keV), total (~ 1-2 x 10^14 solar masses) and gas (~ 1-2 x 10^13 solar masses) masses, gas mass fraction within r500, entropy profiles, and X-ray luminosities (~ 10^43 erg/s). Using the gas density and temperature profiles for both subclusters, we show that there is good (0.8 sigma) agreement between the expected Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signal predicted from the X-ray data and that measured from the Planck mission, and better agreement within 0.6 sigma when we re-computed the Planck value assuming a two component cluster model, with relative amplitudes fixed based on the X-ray data. Dynamical analysis shows that the two galaxy subclusters are very likely (> 97% probability) gravitationally bound, and in the most likely scenario, the subclusters will undergo core passage in 500 +- 200 Myr. The northern subcluster is centrally peaked and has a low entropy core, while the southern subcluster has a high central entropy. The high central entropy in the southern subcluster can be explained either by the mergers of several groups, as suggested by the presence of five giant ellipticals or by AGN energy injection, as suggested by the presence of a strong radio source in one of its massive elliptical galaxies, or by a combination of both processes.

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PRISM (Polarized Radiation Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission): An Extended White Paper

PRISM (Polarized Radiation Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) was proposed to ESA in May 2013 as a large-class mission for investigating within the framework of the ESA Cosmic Vision program a set of important scientific questions that require high resolution, high sensitivity, full-sky observations of the sky emission at wavelengths ranging from millimeter-wave to the far-infrared. PRISM's main objective is to explore the distant universe, probing cosmic history from very early times until now as well as the structures, distribution of matter, and velocity flows throughout our Hubble volume. PRISM will survey the full sky in a large number of frequency bands in both intensity and polarization and will measure the absolute spectrum of sky emission more than three orders of magnitude better than COBE FIRAS. The aim of this Extended White Paper is to provide a more detailed overview of the highlights of the new science that will be made possible by PRISM

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PRISM (Polarized Radiation Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission): A White Paper on the Ultimate Polarimetric Spectro-Imaging of the Microwave and Far-Infrared Sky

PRISM (Polarized Radiation Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) was proposed to ESA in response to the Call for White Papers for the definition of the L2 and L3 Missions in the ESA Science Programme. PRISM would have two instruments: (1) an imager with a 3.5m mirror (cooled to 4K for high performance in the far-infrared---that is, in the Wien part of the CMB blackbody spectrum), and (2) an Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) somewhat like the COBE FIRAS instrument but over three orders of magnitude more sensitive. Highlights of the new science (beyond the obvious target of B-modes from gravity waves generated during inflation) made possible by these two instruments working in tandem include: (1) the ultimate galaxy cluster survey gathering 10e6 clusters extending to large redshift and measuring their peculiar velocities and temperatures (through the kSZ effect and relativistic corrections to the classic y-distortion spectrum, respectively) (2) a detailed investigation into the nature of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) consisting of at present unresolved dusty high-z galaxies, where most of the star formation in the universe took place, (3) searching for distortions from the perfect CMB blackbody spectrum, which will probe a large number of otherwise inaccessible effects (e.g., energy release through decaying dark matter, the primordial power spectrum on very small scales where measurements today are impossible due to erasure from Silk damping and contamination from non-linear cascading of power from larger length scales). These are but a few of the highlights of the new science that will be made possible with PRISM.

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Point Source Confusion in SZ Cluster Surveys

We examine the effect of point source confusion on cluster detection in Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) surveys. A filter matched to the spatial and spectral characteristics of the SZ signal optimally extracts clusters from the astrophysical backgrounds. We calculate the expected confusion (point source and primary cosmic microwave background [CMB]) noise through this filter and quantify its effect on the detection threshold for both single and multiple frequency surveys. Extrapolating current radio counts, we estimate that confusion from sources below 100 microJy limits single-frequency surveys to 1-sigma detection thresholds of Y 3.10^{-6} arcmin^2 at 30 GHz and Y 10^{-5} arcmin^2 at 15 GHz (for unresolved clusters in a 2 arcmin beam); these numbers are highly uncertain, and an extrapolation with flatter counts leads to much lower confusion limits. Bolometer surveys must contend with an important population of infrared point sources. We find that a three-band matched filter with 1 arcminute resolution (in each band) efficiently reduces confusion, but does not eliminate it: residual point source and CMB fluctuations contribute significantly the total filter noise. In this light, we find that a 3-band filter with a low-frequency channel (e.g, 90+150+220 GHz) extracts clusters more effectively than one with a high frequency channel (e.g, 150+220+300 GHz).

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