arXiv subjects

José Luis Bernal

Publications and source records attributed to José Luis Bernal.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

Emission-line Stacking of 21cm Intensity Maps with MeerKLASS: Inference Pipeline and Application to the L-band Deep-field Data

We present a novel analysis of observational systematics through the emission-line stacking of the MeerKLASS L-band deep-field intensity maps, following the detection in arXiv:2407.21626. A stacking signal is obtained by stacking the 21cm intensity map cubelets around the galaxy positions from the GAMA survey at $0.39\lesssim z \lesssim0.46$. An extensive simulation framework is built to study the viability of the stacking detection, the covariance estimation, and the model inference, which are then applied to the data. The statistical significance of the detection is $8.66σ$ when averaged into an angular map, and $7.45σ$ when averaged into a spectrum. The stacked spectrum exhibits an oscillating component of systematics, and we provide evidence that these systematics are a convolutional effect on the map data. The oscillation frequency matches the diffraction from the secondary reflector into the primary beam of the MeerKAT telescope. Bayesian inference can be used to constrain the systematics and the average HI emission of the galaxies. The fitting of the parameters gives a constraint on the systematics frequency $ν_{\rm sys}\,[{\rm MHz}] = 17.90^{+6.53}_{-4.27}$. The posterior of the systematics amplitude reaches the wide prior and gives $A_{\rm sys}=0.50^{+0.33}_{-0.33}$. A tentative measurement of the average HI mass of the sources is achieved at $\log_{10}[\langle M_{HI}\rangle/M_\odot ]=9.84^{+0.48}_{-0.59}$, which is an underestimation limited by the narrow redshift bin, the strong degeneracy with the systematics, and the low-density galaxy sample. These shortfalls will be resolved for future MeerKLASS data to enable accurate measurements of the HI density through stacking of intensity maps.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

On the contributions of extragalactic CO emission lines to ground-based CMB observations

We investigate the potential of CO rotational lines at redshifts $z\sim 0-6$ being an appreciable source of extragalactic foreground anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. Motivated by previous investigations, we specifically focus on the frequency bands and small scales probed by ground-based surveys. Using an empirical parameterization for the relation between the infrared luminosity of galaxies and their CO line luminosity, conditioned on sub-mm observations of CO luminosity functions from $J=1$ to $J=7$ at $ν= \{100,250\}$ GHz, we explore how uncertainty in the CO luminosity function translates into uncertainty in the signature of CO emission in the CMB. We find that at $\ell = 3000$ the amplitude of the CO cross-correlation with the CIB could be detectable in an ACT-like experiment with 90, 150 and 220 GHz bands, even in the scenarios with the lowest amplitude consistent with sub-mm data. We also investigate, for the first time, the amplitude of the CO$\times$CIB correlation between different frequency bands and find that our model predicts that this signal could be the second-largest extragalactic foreground at certain wavelengths, behind the CIB cross-frequency spectrum. This implies current observations can potentially be used to constrain the bright end of CO luminosity functions, which are difficult to probe with current sub-mm telescopes due to the small volumes they survey. Our findings corroborate past results and have significant implications in template-based searches for CMB secondaries, such as the kinetic Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect, using the frequency-dependent high-$\ell$ TT power spectrum.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

SIMPLE: Simple Intensity Map Producer for Line Emission

We present the Simple Intensity Map Producer for Line Emission (SIMPLE), a public code for quickly simulating mock line-intensity maps, and an analytical framework for modeling intensity maps including observational effects. SIMPLE can be applied to any spectral line sourced by galaxies. The SIMPLE code is based on lognormal mock catalogs of galaxies including positions and velocities and assigns luminosities following the luminosity function. After applying a selection function to distinguish between detected and undetected galaxies, the code generates an intensity map, which can be modified with anisotropic smoothing, noise, a mask, and sky subtraction, and calculates the power spectrum multipoles. We show that the intensity autopower spectrum and the galaxy-intensity cross-power spectrum agree well with the analytical estimates in real space. We derive and show that the sky subtraction suppresses the intensity autopower spectrum and the cross-power spectrum on scales larger than the size of an individual observation. As an example application, we make forecasts for the sensitivity of an intensity mapping experiment similar to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) to the cross-power spectrum of Ly$α$-emitting galaxies and the Ly$α$ intensity. We predict that HETDEX will detect the galaxy-intensity cross-power spectrum on scales of $0.04\, h\,\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1} < k < 1\, h\,\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Towards alleviating the $H_0$ and $S_8$ tensions with Early Dark Energy - Dark Matter drag

Early dark energy, an additional component of dark energy active in the decade of redshift before recombination, has emerged as one of the most effective models at reducing the $H_0$ tension between direct measurement of the Hubble parameter $H_0$ in the late-universe and the $Λ$CDM prediction when calibrated on Planck. However, it requires a slight increase in the dark matter density $ω_{\rm cdm}$ and primordial tilt $n_s$ that worsens the $S_8$ tension between measurements of weak gravitational lensing at low redshifts and the Planck/$Λ$CDM prediction. Using a phenomenological fluid model, we investigate whether the inclusion of a drag term between dark matter and early dark energy can compensate for the effect of the increase in power at small-scales, such that both $H_0$ and $S_8$ tensions are simultaneously alleviated. We find that this works if the drag term is dynamically relevant in the post-recombination universe. However, a drag term active before or just around the time at which the early dark energy contribution to the energy density is maximum is significantly constrained due to its impact on the matter perturbations before recombination, and the subsequent modifications to the cosmic microwave background power spectra.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Cross Correlating the Unresolved Gamma-Ray Background with Cosmic Large-Scale Structure from DESI: Implications for Astrophysics and Dark Matter

The unresolved gamma-ray background (UGRB) is a diffuse gamma-ray emission arising from numerous extragalactic sources below the detection threshold and is an important component of the gamma-ray sky. Studying the UGRB is crucial for understanding high-energy astrophysical processes in the universe and for probing fundamental physics, such as the nature of dark matter. In this work, we forecast the cross-correlation between the UGRB and galaxy catalogs from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey. First, we study the expected astrophysical contributions to the UGRB and their cross-correlation with DESI spectroscopic galaxies. Our calculations show that the cross-correlation signal-to-noise ratio is expected to be significant, with the highest value predicted to be 20.6 for DESI luminous red galaxies due to a higher predicted overlap in the redshift distribution with the UGRB. We consider two science cases that the UGRB-spectroscopic galaxies cross-correlation can be applied to: 1) measuring the UGRB flux as a function of redshift, achieving a precision of 10\% in some redshift bins, and 2) searching for annihilating dark matter potentially up to a mass of about 300~GeV, three times higher than the currently strongest constraints. This work underscores the importance of cross correlating the UGRB with cosmic large-scale structure tracers and highlights the multiwavelength approaches to advancing our understanding of high-energy astrophysical phenomena and fundamental physics.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Unlocking New Physics with Joint Power Spectrum and Voxel Intensity Distribution Forecasts in Line-Intensity Mapping

The power spectrum and voxel intensity distribution (VID) are two summary statistics that can be applied to condense the information encoded in line-intensity maps. The information contained in both summary statistics is highly complementary, and their combination allows for a major increase in precision of parameter estimation from line-intensity mapping (LIM) surveys. Until recently, combination of these statistics required simulation-based estimations of their covariance. In this work we leverage an analytical model of covariance between these observables to run a joint Fisher forecast focusing on the CO(1-0) rotational line targeted by the COMAP survey and a wider, shallower hypothetical iteration. We consider a generalized phenomenological non-CDM model, models with axion dark matter, and local primordial non-Gaussianity, to highlight where a combined analysis of the power spectrum and VID can be most useful. Our results demonstrate improvements in sensitivity to beyond-$Λ$CDM physics over analyses using either the power spectrum or VID on their own, by factors ranging from 2 to 50, showcasing the potential of joint analyses in unlocking new insights into fundamental physics with LIM surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Towards Accurate Modeling of Line-Intensity Mapping One-Point Statistics: Including Extended Profiles

Line-intensity mapping (LIM) is quickly attracting attention as an alternative technique to probe large-scale structure and galaxy formation and evolution at high redshift. LIM one-point statistics are motivated because they provide access to the highly non-Gaussian information present in line-intensity maps and contribute to break degeneracies between cosmology and astrophysics. Now that promising surveys are underway, an accurate model for the LIM probability distribution function (PDF) is necessary to employ one-point statistics. We consider the impact of extended emission and limited experimental resolution in the LIM PDF for the first time. We find that these effects result in a lower and broader peak at low intensities and a lower tail towards high intensities. Focusing on the distribution of intensities in the observed map, we perform the first model validation of LIM one-point statistics with simulations and find good qualitative agreement. We also discuss the impact on the covariance, and demonstrate that if not accounted for, large biases in the astrophysical parameters can be expected in parameter inference. These effects are also relevant for any summary statistic estimated from the LIM PDF, and must be implemented to avoid biased results. The comparison with simulations shows, however, that there are still deviations, mostly related with the modeling of the clustering of emitters, which encourage further development of the modeling of LIM one-point statistics.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

The Sigma-8 Tension is a Drag

Measurements of weak gravitational lensing at low redshifts ($z\lesssim 0.5-1$), quantified by the parameter $S_8$, favor weaker matter clustering than that expected from the standard $Λ$CDM cosmological model with parameters determined by cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements. However, the amplitude of matter clustering at higher redshifts, as probed by lensing of the CMB, is consistent with $Λ$CDM. This apparent paradox suggests a connection between the $S_8$ tension and the transition from matter to dark-energy domination. Here we show that the tension can be resolved by introducing a friction between dark matter and dark energy without altering the tightly constrained expansion history. The low-$S_8$ measurements favor (at $\gtrsim3σ$, in this one parameter model) a non-zero drag leading to a suppression of low-redshift power right around the transition from matter to dark-energy domination. We suggest ways to further probe the scenario.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

A multi-tracer empirically-driven approach to line-intensity mapping lightcones

Line-intensity mapping (LIM) is an emerging technique to probe the large-scale structure of the Universe. By targeting the integrated intensity of specific spectral lines, it captures the emission from all sources and is sensitive to the astrophysical processes that drive galaxy evolution. Relating these processes to the underlying distribution of matter introduces observational and theoretical challenges, such as observational contamination and highly non-Gaussian fields, which motivate the use of simulations to better characterize the signal. In this work we present SkyLine, a computational framework to generate realistic mock LIM observations that include observational features and foreground contamination, as well as a variety of self-consistent tracer catalogs. We apply our framework to generate realizations of LIM maps from the MultiDark Planck 2 simulations coupled to the UniverseMachine galaxy formation model. We showcase the potential of our scheme by exploring the voxel intensity distribution and the power spectrum of emission lines such as 21 cm, CO, CII, and Lyman-$α$, their mutual cross-correlations, and cross-correlations with galaxy clustering. We additionally present cross-correlations between LIM and sub-millimeter extragalactic tracers of large-scale structure such as the cosmic infrared background and the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, as well as quantify the impact of galactic foregrounds, line interlopers and instrument noise on LIM observations. These simulated products will be crucial in quantifying the true information content of LIM surveys and their cross-correlations in the coming decade, and to develop strategies to overcome the impact of contaminants and maximize the scientific return from LIM experiments.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Seeking dark matter with $γ$-ray attenuation

The flux of high-energy astrophysical $γ$ rays is attenuated by the production of electron-positron pairs from scattering off of extragalactic background light (EBL). We use the most up-to-date information on galaxy populations to compute their contributions to the pair-production optical depth. We find that the optical depth inferred from $γ$-ray measurements exceeds that expected from galaxies at the $\sim2σ$ level. If the excess is modeled as a frequency-independent re-scaling of the standard contribution to the EBL from galaxies, then an excess (an overall $14-30\%$ increase of the EBL) over the null hypothesis of no excess at the $2.7σ$ level. If the frequency dependence of the excess is instead modeled as a two-photon decay of a dark-matter axion, then the excess is favored over the null hypothesis at the $2.1σ$ confidence level. While we find no evidence for a dark-matter signal, the analysis sets the strongest current bounds on the photon-axion coupling over the $8-25$ eV mass range. This work highlights the sensitivity of $γ$-ray optical depth measurements to ALPs, which is expected to improve with new observatories and better EBL determinations from future observations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Line-Intensity Mapping: Theory Review

Line-intensity mapping (LIM) is an emerging approach to survey the Universe, using relatively low-aperture instruments to scan large portions of the sky and collect the total spectral-line emission from galaxies and the intergalactic medium. Mapping the intensity fluctuations of an array of lines offers a unique opportunity to probe redshifts well beyond the reach of other cosmological observations, access regimes that cannot be explored otherwise, and exploit the enormous potential of cross-correlations with other measurements. This promises to deepen our understanding of various questions related to galaxy formation and evolution, cosmology, and fundamental physics. Here we focus on lines ranging from microwave to optical frequencies, the emission of which is related to star formation in galaxies across cosmic history. Over the next decade, LIM will transition from a pathfinder era of first detections to an early-science era where data from more than a dozen missions will be harvested to yield new insights and discoveries. This review discusses the primary target lines for these missions, describes the different approaches to modeling their intensities and fluctuations, surveys the scientific prospects of their measurement, presents the formalism behind the statistical methods to analyze the data, and motivates the opportunities for synergy with other observables. Our goal is to provide a pedagogical introduction to the field for non-experts, as well as to serve as a comprehensive reference for specialists.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

The cosmic optical background excess, dark matter, and line-intensity mapping

Recent studies using New Horizons LORRI images have returned the most precise measurement of the cosmic optical background to date, yielding a flux that exceeds that expected from deep galaxy counts by roughly a factor of two. We investigate whether this excess, detected at $\sim 4σ$ significance, is due to axion-like dark matter that decays to monoenergetic photons. We compute the spectral energy distribution from such decays and the contribution to the flux measured by LORRI. Assuming that axion-like particles make up all of the dark matter, the parameter space unconstrained to date that explains the measured excess spans masses and effective axion-photon couplings of 8 - 20 eV masses and 3 - 6 $\times 10^{-11}$ GeV$^{-1}$, respectively. If the excess arises from dark-matter decay to a photon line, there will be a significant signal in forthcoming line-intensity mapping measurements that will allow the discrimination of this hypothesis from other candidates.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Measurements of the Hubble Constant with a Two Rung Distance Ladder: Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

The three rung distance ladder, which calibrates Type Ia supernovae through stellar distances linked to geometric measurements, provides the highest precision direct measurement of the Hubble constant. In light of the Hubble tension, it is important to test the individual components of the distance ladder. For this purpose, we report a measurement of the Hubble constant from 35 extragalactic Cepheid hosts measured by the SH0ES team, using their distances and redshifts at cz < 3300 km /s , instead of any, more distant Type Ia supernovae, to measure the Hubble flow. The Cepheid distances are calibrated geometrically in the Milky Way, NGC 4258, and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Peculiar velocities are a significant source of systematic uncertainty at z $\sim$ 0.01, and we present a formalism for both mitigating and quantifying their effects, making use of external reconstructions of the density and velocity fields in the nearby universe. We identify a significant source of uncertainty originating from different assumptions about the selection criteria of this sample, whether distance or redshift limited, as it was assembled over three decades. Modeling these assumptions yields central values ranging from H0 = 71.8 to 77.0 km/s/Mpc. Combining the four best fitting selection models yields H0 = 73.1 (+2.6/-2.3) km/s/Mpc as a fiducial result, at $2.6σ$ tension with Planck. While Type Ia supernovae are essential for a precise measurement of H0, unknown systematics in these supernovae are unlikely to be the source of the Hubble tension

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Dark matter-baryon scattering effects on temperature perturbations and implications for cosmic dawn

The nature of dark matter remains unknown, but upcoming measurements probing the high-redshift Universe may provide invaluable insight. In the presence of dark matter-baryon scattering, the suppression in the matter power spectrum and the colder mean gas temperature are expected to modify the evolution of cosmic dawn and reionization. However, the contributions from such interactions to the baryon and dark matter temperature perturbations have been neglected thus far. In this work, we derive these contributions, evolve the cosmological perturbations until the end of the dark ages and show that they may have a significant impact in the beginning of cosmic dawn. In particular, we find that the amplitude of the temperature power spectrum at large scales can change by up to 1--2 orders of magnitude and that the matter power spectrum is further suppressed with respect to $Λ$CDM by $5$-$10\%$ at $k\sim 200\, {\rm Mpc^{-1}}$ compared to the computation ignoring these contributions for scattering cross sections at current CMB limits. As a case example, we also compute the HI power spectrum from the dark ages, finding significant differences due to the changes in the temperature and ionization fraction power spectra. We argue that these new contributions must be included in studies of this dark matter model relying on cosmic dawn and reionization observables.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Analytical covariance between voxel intensity distributions and line-intensity mapping power spectra

The power spectrum and the voxel intensity distribution (VID) are two of the main proposed summary statistics to study line-intensity maps. We reformulate the derivation of the VID in terms of the local overdensities and derive for the first time an analytic covariance between the VID and the line-intensity mapping power spectrum. We study the features of this covariance for different experimental setups and show that we can recover similar results to simulation-based covariances. With this formalism, we also compute the cosmic variance contribution the VID uncertainty, which we find to be subdominant with respect to the standard variance from Poisson sampling. Our results allow for general joint analyses of the VID and the line-intensity mapping power spectrum.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

Detecting the radiative decay of the cosmic neutrino background with line-intensity mapping

We study the possibility to use line-intensity mapping (LIM) to seek photons from the radiative decay of neutrinos in the cosmic neutrino background. The Standard Model prediction for the rate for these decays is extremely small, but it can be enhanced if new physics increases the neutrino electromagnetic moments. The decay photons will appear as an interloper of astrophysical spectral lines. We propose that the neutrino-decay line can be identified with anisotropies in LIM clustering and also with the voxel intensity distribution. Ongoing and future LIM experiments will have -- depending on the neutrino hierarchy, transition and experiment considered -- a sensitivity to an effective electromagnetic transition moment $\sim 10^{-12}\, -\,10^{-8}\, (m_ic^2/{0.1 \rm eV})^{3/2}μ_{\rm B}$, where $m_i$ is the mass of the decaying neutrino and $μ_{\rm B}$ is the Bohr magneton. This will be significantly more sensitive than cosmic microwave background spectral distortions, and it will be competitive with stellar cooling studies. As a byproduct, we also report an analytic form of the one-point probability distribution function for neutrino-density fluctuations, obtained from the Quijote simulations using symbolic regression.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

The trouble beyond $H_0$ and the new cosmic triangles

The distance ladder using supernovae yields higher values of the Hubble constant $H_0$ than those inferred from measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and galaxy surveys, a discrepancy that has come to be known as the `Hubble tension'. This has motivated the exploration of extensions to the standard cosmological model in which higher values of $H_0$ can be obtained from CMB measurements and galaxy surveys. The trouble, however, goes beyond $H_0$; such modifications affect other quantities, too. In particular, their effects on cosmic times are usually neglected. We explore here the implications that measurements of the age $t_{\rm U}$ of the Universe, such as a recent inference from the age of the oldest globular clusters, can have for potential solutions to the $H_0$ tension. The value of $H_0$ inferred from the CMB and galaxy surveys is related to the sound horizon at CMB decoupling (or at radiation drag), but it is also related to the matter density and to $t_{\rm U}$. Given this observation, we show how model-independent measurements may support or disfavor proposed new-physics solutions to the Hubble tension. Finally, we argue that cosmological measurements today provide constraints that, within a given cosmological model, represent an over-constrained system, offering a powerful diagnostic tool of consistency. We propose the use of ternary plots to simultaneously visualize independent constraints on key quantities related to $H_0$ like $t_{\rm U}$, the sound horizon at radiation drag, and the matter density parameter. We envision that this representation will help find a solution to the trouble of and beyond $H_0$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

Strategies to Detect Dark-Matter Decays with Line-Intensity Mapping

The nature of dark matter is a longstanding mystery in cosmology, which can be studied with laboratory or collider experiments, as well as astrophysical and cosmological observations. In this work, we propose realistic and efficient strategies to detect radiative products from dark-matter decays with line-intensity mapping (LIM) experiments. This radiation will behave as a line interloper for the atomic and molecular spectral lines targeted by LIM surveys. The most distinctive signatures of the contribution from dark-matter radiative decays are an extra anisotropy on the LIM power spectrum due to projection effects, as well as a narrowing and a shift towards higher intensities of the voxel intensity distribution. We forecast the minimum rate of decays into two photons that LIM surveys will be sensitive to as function of the dark-matter mass in the range $\sim 10^{-6}-10$ eV, and discuss how to reinterpret such results for dark matter that decays into a photon and another particle. We find that both the power spectrum and the voxel intensity distribution are expected to be very sensitive to the dark-matter contribution, with the voxel intensity distribution being more promising for most experiments considered. Interpreting our results in terms of the axion, we show that LIM surveys will be extremely competitive to detect its decay products, improving several orders of magnitudes (depending on the mass) the sensitivity of laboratory and astrophysical searches, especially in the mass range $\sim 1-10$ eV.

astro-ph.CO↗