arXiv subjects

K. M. Górski

Publications and source records attributed to K. M. Górski.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Planck 2018 results. VIII. Gravitational lensing

We present measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing potential using the final $\textit{Planck}$ 2018 temperature and polarization data. We increase the significance of the detection of lensing in the polarization maps from $5\,σ$ to $9\,σ$. Combined with temperature, lensing is detected at $40\,σ$. We present an extensive set of tests of the robustness of the lensing-potential power spectrum, and construct a minimum-variance estimator likelihood over lensing multipoles $8 \le L \le 400$. We find good consistency between lensing constraints and the results from the $\textit{Planck}$ CMB power spectra within the $\rm{ΛCDM}$ model. Combined with baryon density and other weak priors, the lensing analysis alone constrains $σ_8 Ω_{\rm m}^{0.25}=0.589\pm 0.020$ ($1\,σ$ errors). Also combining with baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) data, we find tight individual parameter constraints, $σ_8=0.811\pm0.019$, $H_0=67.9_{-1.3}^{+1.2}\,\text{km}\,\text{s}^{-1}\,\rm{Mpc}^{-1}$, and $Ω_{\rm m}=0.303^{+0.016}_{-0.018}$. Combining with $\textit{Planck}$ CMB power spectrum data, we measure $σ_8$ to better than $1\,\%$ precision, finding $σ_8=0.811\pm 0.006$. We find consistency with the lensing results from the Dark Energy Survey, and give combined lensing-only parameter constraints that are tighter than joint results using galaxy clustering. Using $\textit{Planck}$ cosmic infrared background (CIB) maps we make a combined estimate of the lensing potential over $60\,\%$ of the sky with considerably more small-scale signal. We demonstrate delensing of the $\textit{Planck}$ power spectra, detecting a maximum removal of $40\,\%$ of the lensing-induced power in all spectra. The improvement in the sharpening of the acoustic peaks by including both CIB and the quadratic lensing reconstruction is detected at high significance (abridged).

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arXiv2019

Planck 2018 results. IX. Constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity

We analyse the Planck full-mission cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and E-mode polarization maps to obtain constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity (NG). We compare estimates obtained from separable template-fitting, binned, and modal bispectrum estimators, finding consistent values for the local, equilateral, and orthogonal bispectrum amplitudes. Our combined temperature and polarization analysis produces the following results: f_NL^local = -0.9 +\- 5.1; f_NL^equil = -26 +\- 47; and f_NL^ortho = - 38 +\- 24 (68%CL, statistical). These results include the low-multipole (4 <= l < 40) polarization data, not included in our previous analysis, pass an extensive battery of tests, and are stable with respect to our 2015 measurements. Polarization bispectra display a significant improvement in robustness; they can now be used independently to set NG constraints. We consider a large number of additional cases, e.g. scale-dependent feature and resonance bispectra, isocurvature primordial NG, and parity-breaking models, where we also place tight constraints but do not detect any signal. The non-primordial lensing bispectrum is detected with an improved significance compared to 2015, excluding the null hypothesis at 3.5 sigma. We present model-independent reconstructions and analyses of the CMB bispectrum. Our final constraint on the local trispectrum shape is g_NLl^local = (-5.8 +\-6.5) x 10^4 (68%CL, statistical), while constraints for other trispectra are also determined. We constrain the parameter space of different early-Universe scenarios, including general single-field models of inflation, multi-field and axion field parity-breaking models. Our results provide a high-precision test for structure-formation scenarios, in complete agreement with the basic picture of the LambdaCDM cosmology regarding the statistics of the initial conditions (abridged).

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arXiv2019

Isotropic non-Gaussian $g_\mathrm{NL}$-like toy models that reproduce the cosmic microwave background anomalies

Based on recent observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), claims of statistical anomalies in the properties of the CMB fluctuations have been made. Although the statistical significance of the anomalies remains only at the $\sim2-3σ$ significance level, the fact that there are many different anomalies, several of which support a possible deviation from statistical isotropy, has motivated a search for models that provide a common mechanism to generate them. The goal of this paper is to investigate whether these anomalies could originate from non-Gaussian cosmological models, and to determine what properties these models should have. We present a simple isotropic, non-Gaussian class of toy models that can reproduce six of the most extensively studied anomalies. We compare the presence of anomalies found in simulated maps generated from the toy models and from a standard model with Gaussian fluctuations. We show that the following anomalies, as found in the Planck data, commonly occur in the toy model maps: (1) large-scale hemispherical asymmetry (large-scale dipolar modulation), (2) small-scale hemispherical asymmetry (alignment of the spatial distribution of CMB power over all scales $\ell=[2,1500]$) , (3) a strongly non-Gaussian hot or cold spot, (4) a low power spectrum amplitude for $\ell<30$, including specifically (5) a low quadrupole and an unusual alignment between the quadrupole and the octopole, and (6) parity asymmetry of the lowest multipoles. We note that this class of toy model resembles models of primordial non-Gaussianity characterised by strongly scale-dependent $g_{NL}$-like trispectra.

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arXiv2019

Planck 2018 results. XII. Galactic astrophysics using polarized dust emission

We present 353 GHz full-sky maps of the polarization fraction $p$, angle $ψ$, and dispersion of angles $S$ of Galactic dust thermal emission produced from the 2018 release of Planck data. We confirm that the mean and maximum of $p$ decrease with increasing $N_H$. The uncertainty on the maximum polarization fraction, $p_\mathrm{max}=22.0$% at 80 arcmin resolution, is dominated by the uncertainty on the zero level in total intensity. The observed inverse behaviour between $p$ and $S$ is interpreted with models of the polarized sky that include effects from only the topology of the turbulent Galactic magnetic field. Thus, the statistical properties of $p$, $ψ$, and $S$ mostly reflect the structure of the magnetic field. Nevertheless, we search for potential signatures of varying grain alignment and dust properties. First, we analyse the product map $S \times p$, looking for residual trends. While $p$ decreases by a factor of 3--4 between $N_H=10^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$ and $N_H=2\times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$, $S \times p$ decreases by only about 25%, a systematic trend observed in both the diffuse ISM and molecular clouds. Second, we find no systematic trend of $S \times p$ with the dust temperature, even though in the diffuse ISM lines of sight with high $p$ and low $S$ tend to have colder dust. We also compare Planck data with starlight polarization in the visible at high latitudes. The agreement in polarization angles is remarkable. Two polarization emission-to-extinction ratios that characterize dust optical properties depend only weakly on $N_H$ and converge towards the values previously determined for translucent lines of sight. We determine an upper limit for the polarization fraction in extinction of 13%, compatible with the $p_\mathrm{max}$ observed in emission. These results provide strong constraints for models of Galactic dust in diffuse gas.

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arXiv2018

Planck 2018 results. XI. Polarized dust foregrounds

The study of polarized dust emission has become entwined with the analysis of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization. We use new Planck maps to characterize Galactic dust emission as a foreground to the CMB polarization. We present Planck EE, BB, and TE power spectra of dust polarization at 353 GHz for six nested sky regions covering from 24 to 71 % of the sky. We present power-law fits to the angular power spectra, yielding evidence for statistically significant variations of the exponents over sky regions and a difference between the values for the EE and BB spectra. The TE correlation and E/B power asymmetry extend to low multipoles that were not included in earlier Planck polarization papers. We also report evidence for a positive TB dust signal. Combining data from Planck and WMAP, we determine the amplitudes and spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of polarized foregrounds, including the correlation between dust and synchrotron polarized emission, for the six sky regions as a function of multipole. This quantifies the challenge of the component separation procedure required for detecting the reionization and recombination peaks of primordial CMB B modes. The SED of polarized dust emission is fit well by a single-temperature modified blackbody emission law from 353 GHz to below 70 GHz. For a dust temperature of 19.6 K, the mean spectral index for dust polarization is $β_{\rm d}^{P} = 1.53\pm0.02 $. By fitting multi-frequency cross-spectra, we examine the correlation of the dust polarization maps across frequency. We find no evidence for decorrelation. If the Planck limit for the largest sky region applies to the smaller sky regions observed by sub-orbital experiments, then decorrelation might not be a problem for CMB experiments aiming at a primordial B-mode detection limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r\simeq0.01$ at the recombination peak.

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arXiv2018

Planck intermediate results. LIV. The Planck Multi-frequency Catalogue of Non-thermal Sources

This paper presents the Planck Multi-frequency Catalogue of Non-thermal (i.e. synchrotron-dominated) Sources (PCNT) observed between 30 and 857 GHz by the ESA Planck mission. This catalogue was constructed by selecting objects detected in the full mission all-sky temperature maps at 30 and 143 GHz, with a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N)>3 in at least one of the two channels after filtering with a particular Mexican hat wavelet. As a result, 29400 source candidates were selected. Then, a multi-frequency analysis was performed using the Matrix Filters methodology at the position of these objects, and flux densities and errors were calculated for all of them in the nine Planck channels. The present catalogue is the first unbiased, full-sky catalogue of synchrotron-dominated sources published at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths and constitutes a powerful database for statistical studies of non-thermal extragalactic sources, whose emission is dominated by the central active galactic nucleus. Together with the full multi-frequency catalogue, we also define the Bright Planck Multi-frequency Catalogue of Non-thermal Sources PCNTb, where only those objects with a S/N>4 at both 30 and 143 GHz were selected. In this catalogue 1146 compact sources are detected outside the adopted Planck GAL070 mask; thus, these sources constitute a highly reliable sample of extragalactic radio sources. We also flag the high-significance subsample PCNThs, a subset of 151 sources that are detected with S/N>4 in all nine Planck channels, 75 of which are found outside the Planck mask adopted here. The remaining 76 sources inside the Galactic mask are very likely Galactic objects.

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arXiv2018

Planck 2018 results. II. Low Frequency Instrument data processing

We present a final description of the data-processing pipeline for the Planck, Low Frequency Instrument (LFI), implemented for the 2018 data release. Several improvements have been made with respect to the previous release, especially in the calibration process and in the correction of instrumental features such as the effects of nonlinearity in the response of the analogue-to-digital converters. We provide a brief pedagogical introduction to the complete pipeline, as well as a detailed description of the important changes implemented. Self-consistency of the pipeline is demonstrated using dedicated simulations and null tests. We present the final version of the LFI full sky maps at 30, 44, and 70 GHz, both in temperature and polarization, together with a refined estimate of the Solar dipole and a final assessment of the main LFI instrumental parameters.

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arXiv2018

Planck intermediate results. LIII. Detection of velocity dispersion from the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect

Using the ${\it Planck}$ full-mission data, we present a detection of the temperature (and therefore velocity) dispersion due to the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect from clusters of galaxies. To suppress the primary CMB and instrumental noise we derive a matched filter and then convolve it with the ${\it Planck}$ foreground-cleaned `${\tt 2D-ILC\,}$' maps. By using the Meta Catalogue of X-ray detected Clusters of galaxies (MCXC), we determine the normalized ${\it rms}$ dispersion of the temperature fluctuations at the positions of clusters, finding that this shows excess variance compared with the noise expectation. We then build an unbiased statistical estimator of the signal, determining that the normalized mean temperature dispersion of $1526$ clusters is $\langle \left(ΔT/T \right)^{2} \rangle = (1.64 \pm 0.48) \times 10^{-11}$. However, comparison with analytic calculations and simulations suggest that around $0.7\,σ$ of this result is due to cluster lensing rather than the kSZ effect. By correcting this, the temperature dispersion is measured to be $\langle \left(ΔT/T \right)^{2} \rangle = (1.35 \pm 0.48) \times 10^{-11}$, which gives a detection at the $2.8\,σ$ level. We further convert uniform-weight temperature dispersion into a measurement of the line-of-sight velocity dispersion, by using estimates of the optical depth of each cluster (which introduces additional uncertainty into the estimate). We find that the velocity dispersion is $\langle v^{2} \rangle =(123\,000 \pm 71\,000)\,({\rm km}\,{\rm s}^{-1})^{2}$, which is consistent with findings from other large-scale structure studies, and provides direct evidence of statistical homogeneity on scales of $600\,h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$. Our study shows the promise of using cross-correlations of the kSZ effect with large-scale structure in order to constrain the growth of structure.

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arXiv2018

Planck 2018 results. III. High Frequency Instrument data processing and frequency maps

This paper presents the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) data processing procedures for the Planck 2018 release. Major improvements in mapmaking have been achieved since the previous 2015 release. They enabled the first significant measurement of the reionization optical depth parameter using HFI data. This paper presents an extensive analysis of systematic effects, including the use of simulations to facilitate their removal and characterize the residuals. The polarized data, which presented a number of known problems in the 2015 Planck release, are very significantly improved. Calibration, based on the CMB dipole, is now extremely accurate and in the frequency range 100 to 353 GHz reduces intensity-to-polarization leakage caused by calibration mismatch. The Solar dipole direction has been determined in the three lowest HFI frequency channels to within one arc minute, and its amplitude has an absolute uncertainty smaller than $0.35μ$K, an accuracy of order $10^{-4}$. This is a major legacy from the HFI for future CMB experiments. The removal of bandpass leakage has been improved by extracting the bandpass-mismatch coefficients for each detector as part of the mapmaking process; these values in turn improve the intensity maps. This is a major change in the philosophy of "frequency maps", which are now computed from single detector data, all adjusted to the same average bandpass response for the main foregrounds. Simulations reproduce very well the relative gain calibration of detectors, as well as drifts within a frequency induced by the residuals of the main systematic effect. Using these simulations, we measure and correct the small frequency calibration bias induced by this systematic effect at the $10^{-4}$ level. There is no detectable sign of a residual calibration bias between the first and second acoustic peaks in the CMB channels, at the $10^{-3}$ level.

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arXiv2018

Planck 2015 results. XXIV. Cosmology from Sunyaev-Zeldovich cluster counts

We present cluster counts and corresponding cosmological constraints from the Planck full mission data set. Our catalogue consists of 439 clusters detected via their Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) signal down to a signal-to-noise ratio of 6, and is more than a factor of 2 larger than the 2013 Planck cluster cosmology sample. The counts are consistent with those from 2013 and yield compatible constraints under the same modelling assumptions. Taking advantage of the larger catalogue, we extend our analysis to the two-dimensional distribution in redshift and signal-to-noise. We use mass estimates from two recent studies of gravitational lensing of background galaxies by Planck clusters to provide priors on the hydrostatic bias parameter, $(1-b)$. In addition, we use lensing of cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature fluctuations by Planck clusters as an independent constraint on this parameter. These various calibrations imply constraints on the present-day amplitude of matter fluctuations in varying degrees of tension with those from the Planck analysis of primary fluctuations in the CMB; for the lowest estimated values of $(1-b)$ the tension is mild, only a little over one standard deviation, while it remains substantial ($3.7\,σ$) for the largest estimated value. We also examine constraints on extensions to the base flat $Λ$CDM model by combining the cluster and CMB constraints. The combination appears to favour non-minimal neutrino masses, but this possibility does little to relieve the overall tension because it simultaneously lowers the implied value of the Hubble parameter, thereby exacerbating the discrepancy with most current astrophysical estimates. Improving the precision of cluster mass calibrations from the current 10%-level to 1% would significantly strengthen these combined analyses and provide a stringent test of the base $Λ$CDM model.

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arXiv2018

Testing physical models for dipolar asymmetry with CMB polarization

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies exhibit a large-scale dipolar power asymmetry. To determine whether this is due to a real, physical modulation or is simply a large statistical fluctuation requires the measurement of new modes. Here we forecast how well CMB polarization data from \Planck\ and future experiments will be able to confirm or constrain physical models for modulation. Fitting several such models to the \Planck\ temperature data allows us to provide predictions for polarization asymmetry. While for some models and parameters \Planck\ polarization will decrease error bars on the modulation amplitude by only a small percentage, we show, importantly, that cosmic-variance-limited (and in some cases even \Planck) polarization data can decrease the errors by considerably better than the expectation of $\sqrt 2$ based on simple $\ell$-space arguments. We project that if the primordial fluctuations are truly modulated (with parameters as indicated by \Planck\ temperature data) then \Planck\ will be able to make a 2$σ$ detection of the modulation model with 20--75\% probability, increasing to 45--99\% when cosmic-variance-limited polarization is considered. We stress that these results are quite model dependent. Cosmic variance in temperature is important: combining statistically isotropic polarization with temperature data will spuriously increase the significance of the temperature signal with 30\% probability for \Planck.

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arXiv2017

Planck intermediate results. LI. Features in the cosmic microwave background temperature power spectrum and shifts in cosmological parameters

The six parameters of the standard $Λ$CDM model have best-fit values derived from the Planck temperature power spectrum that are shifted somewhat from the best-fit values derived from WMAP data. These shifts are driven by features in the Planck temperature power spectrum at angular scales that had never before been measured to cosmic-variance level precision. We investigate these shifts to determine whether they are within the range of expectation and to understand their origin in the data. Taking our parameter set to be the optical depth of the reionized intergalactic medium $τ$, the baryon density $ω_{\rm b}$, the matter density $ω_{\rm m}$, the angular size of the sound horizon $θ_*$, the spectral index of the primordial power spectrum, $n_{\rm s}$, and $A_{\rm s}e^{-2τ}$ (where $A_{\rm s}$ is the amplitude of the primordial power spectrum), we examine the change in best-fit values between a WMAP-like large angular-scale data set (with multipole moment $\ell<800$ in the Planck temperature power spectrum) and an all angular-scale data set ($\ell<2500$ Planck temperature power spectrum), each with a prior on $τ$ of $0.07\pm0.02$. We find that the shifts, in units of the 1$σ$ expected dispersion for each parameter, are $\{Δτ, ΔA_{\rm s} e^{-2τ}, Δn_{\rm s}, Δω_{\rm m}, Δω_{\rm b}, Δθ_*\} = \{-1.7, -2.2, 1.2, -2.0, 1.1, 0.9\}$, with a $χ^2$ value of 8.0. We find that this $χ^2$ value is exceeded in 15% of our simulated data sets, and that a parameter deviates by more than 2.2$σ$ in 9% of simulated data sets, meaning that the shifts are not unusually large. Comparing $\ell<800$ instead to $\ell>800$, or splitting at a different multipole, yields similar results. We examine the $\ell<800$ model residuals in the $\ell>800$ power spectrum data and find that the features there... [abridged]

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arXiv2016

Planck intermediate results. LII. Planet flux densities

Measurements of flux density are described for five planets, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, across the six Planck High Frequency Instrument frequency bands (100-857 GHz) and these are then compared with models and existing data. In our analysis, we have also included estimates of the brightness of Jupiter and Saturn at the three frequencies of the Planck Low Frequency Instrument (30, 44, and 70 GHz). The results provide constraints on the intrinsic brightness and the brightness time-variability of these planets. The majority of the planet flux density estimates are limited by systematic errors, but still yield better than 1% measurements in many cases. Applying data from Planck HFI, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) to a model that incorporates contributions from Saturn's rings to the planet's total flux density suggests a best fit value for the spectral index of Saturn's ring system of $β_\mathrm{ring} = 2.30\pm0.03$ over the 30-1000 GHz frequency range. The average ratio between the Planck-HFI measurements and the adopted model predictions for all five planets (excluding Jupiter observations for 353 GHz) is 0.997, 0.997, 1.018, and 1.032 for 100, 143, 217, and 353 GHz, respectively. Model predictions for planet thermodynamic temperatures are therefore consistent with the absolute calibration of Planck-HFI detectors at about the three-percent-level. We compare our measurements with published results from recent cosmic microwave background experiments. In particular, we observe that the flux densities measured by Planck HFI and WMAP agree to within 2%. These results allow experiments operating in the mm-wavelength range to cross-calibrate against Planck and improve models of radiative transport used in planetary science.

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arXiv2016

Planck intermediate results. XLI. A map of lensing-induced B-modes

The secondary cosmic microwave background (CMB) $B$-modes stem from the post-decoupling distortion of the polarization $E$-modes due to the gravitational lensing effect of large-scale structures. These lensing-induced $B$-modes constitute both a valuable probe of the dark matter distribution and an important contaminant for the extraction of the primary CMB $B$-modes from inflation. Planck provides accurate nearly all-sky measurements of both the polarization $E$-modes and the integrated mass distribution via the reconstruction of the CMB lensing potential. By combining these two data products, we have produced an all-sky template map of the lensing-induced $B$-modes using a real-space algorithm that minimizes the impact of sky masks. The cross-correlation of this template with an observed (primordial and secondary) $B$-mode map can be used to measure the lensing $B$-mode power spectrum at multipoles up to $2000$. In particular, when cross-correlating with the $B$-mode contribution directly derived from the Planck polarization maps, we obtain lensing-induced $B$-mode power spectrum measurement at a significance level of $12\,σ$, which agrees with the theoretical expectation derived from the Planck best-fit $Λ$CDM model. This unique nearly all-sky secondary $B$-mode template, which includes the lensing-induced information from intermediate to small ($10\lesssim \ell\lesssim 1000$) angular scales, is delivered as part of the Planck 2015 public data release. It will be particularly useful for experiments searching for primordial $B$-modes, such as BICEP2/Keck Array or LiteBIRD, since it will enable an estimate to be made of the lensing-induced contribution to the measured total CMB $B$-modes.

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arXiv2016

Planck 2015 results. XV. Gravitational lensing

We present the most significant measurement of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing potential to date (at a level of 40 sigma), using temperature and polarization data from the Planck 2015 full-mission release. Using a polarization-only estimator we detect lensing at a significance of 5 sigma. We cross-check the accuracy of our measurement using the wide frequency coverage and complementarity of the temperature and polarization measurements. Public products based on this measurement include an estimate of the lensing potential over approximately 70% of the sky, an estimate of the lensing potential power spectrum in bandpowers for the multipole range 40<L<400 and an associated likelihood for cosmological parameter constraints. We find good agreement between our measurement of the lensing potential power spectrum and that found in the best-fitting LCDM model based on the Planck temperature and polarization power spectra. Using the lensing likelihood alone we obtain a percent-level measurement of the parameter combination $σ_8 Ω_m^{0.25} = 0.591\pm 0.021$. We combine our determination of the lensing potential with the E-mode polarization also measured by Planck to generate an estimate of the lensing B-mode. We show that this lensing B-mode estimate is correlated with the B-modes observed directly by Planck at the expected level and with a statistical significance of 10 sigma, confirming Planck's sensitivity to this known sky signal. We also correlate our lensing potential estimate with the large-scale temperature anisotropies, detecting a cross-correlation at the 3 sigma level, as expected due to dark energy in the concordance LCDM model.

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arXiv2016

Planck intermediate results. XLVII. Planck constraints on reionization history

We investigate constraints on cosmic reionization extracted from the Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. We combine the Planck CMB anisotropy data in temperature with the low-multipole polarization data to fit LCDM models with various parameterizations of the reionization history. We obtain a Thomson optical depth tau=0.058 +/- 0.012 for the commonly adopted instantaneous reionization model. This confirms, with only data from CMB anisotropies, the low value suggested by combining Planck 2015 results with other data sets and also reduces the uncertainties. We reconstruct the history of the ionization fraction using either a symmetric or an asymmetric model for the transition between the neutral and ionized phases. To determine better constraints on the duration of the reionization process, we also make use of measurements of the amplitude of the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect using additional information from the high resolution Atacama Cosmology Telescope and South Pole Telescope experiments. The average redshift at which reionization occurs is found to lie between z=7.8 and 8.8, depending on the model of reionization adopted. Using kSZ constraints and a redshift-symmetric reionization model, we find an upper limit to the width of the reionization period of Dz < 2.8. In all cases, we find that the Universe is ionized at less than the 10% level at redshifts above z~10. This suggests that an early onset of reionization is strongly disfavoured by the Planck data. We show that this result also reduces the tension between CMB-based analyses and constraints from other astrophysical sources.

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arXiv2016

Planck intermediate results. XLVIII. Disentangling Galactic dust emission and cosmic infrared background anisotropies

Using the Planck 2015 data release (PR2) temperature maps, we separate Galactic thermal dust emission from cosmic infrared background (CIB) anisotropies. For this purpose, we implement a specifically tailored component-separation method, the so-called generalized needlet internal linear combination (GNILC) method, which uses spatial information (the angular power spectra) to disentangle the Galactic dust emission and CIB anisotropies. We produce significantly improved all-sky maps of Planck thermal dust emission, with reduced CIB contamination, at 353, 545, and 857 GHz. By reducing the CIB contamination of the thermal dust maps, we provide more accurate estimates of the local dust temperature and dust spectral index over the sky with reduced dispersion, especially at high Galactic latitudes above $b = \pm 20°$. We find that the dust temperature is $T = (19.4 \pm 1.3)$ K and the dust spectral index is $β= 1.6 \pm 0.1$ averaged over the whole sky, while $T = (19.4 \pm 1.5)$ K and $β= 1.6 \pm 0.2$ on 21 % of the sky at high latitudes. Moreover, subtracting the new CIB-removed thermal dust maps from the CMB-removed Planck maps gives access to the CIB anisotropies over 60 % of the sky at Galactic latitudes $|b| > 20°$. Because they are a significant improvement over previous Planck products, the GNILC maps are recommended for thermal dust science. The new CIB maps can be regarded as indirect tracers of the dark matter and they are recommended for exploring cross-correlations with lensing and large-scale structure optical surveys. The reconstructed GNILC thermal dust and CIB maps are delivered as Planck products.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Planck intermediate results. XLIX. Parity-violation constraints from polarization data

Parity violating extensions of the standard electromagnetic theory cause in vacuo rotation of the plane of polarization of propagating photons. This effect, also known as cosmic birefringence, impacts the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy angular power spectra, producing non-vanishing $T$--$B$ and $E$--$B$ correlations that are otherwise null when parity is a symmetry. Here we present new constraints on an isotropic rotation, parametrized by the angle $α$, derived from Planck 2015 CMB polarization data. To increase the robustness of our analyses, we employ two complementary approaches, in harmonic space and in map space, the latter based on a peak stacking technique. The two approaches provide estimates for $α$ that are in agreement within statistical uncertainties and very stable against several consistency tests. Considering the $T$--$B$ and $E$--$B$ information jointly, we find $α= 0.31^{\circ} \pm 0.05^{\circ} \, ({\rm stat.})\, \pm 0.28^{\circ} \, ({\rm syst.})$ from the harmonic analysis and $α= 0.35^{\circ} \pm 0.05^{\circ} \, ({\rm stat.})\, \pm 0.28^{\circ} \, ({\rm syst.})$ from the stacking approach. These constraints are compatible with no parity violation and are dominated by the systematic uncertainty in the orientation of Planck's polarization-sensitive bolometers.

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