arXiv subjects

Mario G. Santos

Publications and source records attributed to Mario G. Santos.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Intensity mapping of H-alpha, H-beta, [OII] and [OIII] lines at z<5

Intensity mapping is now becoming a useful tool to study the large-scale structure of the universe through spatial variations in the integrated emission from galaxies and the intergalactic medium. We study intensity mapping of the H-alpha 6563AA, [OIII]5007AA, [OII]3727AA and H-beta 4861AA lines at 0.8<z<5.2. The mean intensities of these four emission lines are estimated using the observed luminosity functions (LFs), cosmological simulations, and the star formation rate density (SFRD) derived from observations at z<5. We calculate the intensity power spectra and consider the foreground contamination of other lines at lower redshifts. We use the proposed NASA small explorer SPHEREx (the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) as a case study for the detectability of the intensity power spectra of the four emission lines. We also investigate the cross correlation with the 21-cm line probed by CHIME (the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment), Tianlai experiment and SKA (the Square Kilometer Array) at 0.8<z<2.4. We find both the auto and cross power spectra can be well measured for the H-alpha, [OIII] and [OII] lines at z<3, while it is more challenging for the H-beta line. Finally, we estimate the constraint on the SFRD from intensity mapping, and find we can reach accuracy higher than 7% at z<4, which is better than usual measurements using the LFs of galaxies.

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arXiv2016

Probing primordial non-Gaussianity with SKA galaxy redshift surveys: a fully relativistic analysis

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will produce spectroscopic surveys of tens to hundreds of millions of HI galaxies, eventually covering 30,000 sq. deg. and reaching out to redshift z~2. The huge volumes probed by the SKA will allow for some of the best constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity, based on measurements of the large-scale power spectrum. We investigate various observational set-ups for HI galaxy redshift surveys, compatible with the SKA Phase 1 and Phase 2 (full SKA) configurations. We use the corresponding number counts and bias for each survey from realistic simulations and derive the magnification bias and the evolution of source counts directly from these. For the first time, we produce forecasts that fully include the general relativistic effects on the galaxy number counts. These corrections to the standard analysis become important on very large scales, where the signal of primordial non-Gaussianity grows strongest. Our results show that, for the full survey, the non-Gaussianity parameter fNL can be constrained down to an accuracy of 1.54. This improves the current limit set by the Planck satellite by a factor of five, using a completely different approach.

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arXiv2016

Simulating the 21-cm signal from reionisation including non-linear ionisations and inhomogeneous recombinations

We explore the impact of incorporating physically motivated ionisation and recombination rates on the history and topology of cosmic reionisation, by incorporating inputs from small-volume hydrodynamic simulations into a semi-numerical code, SimFast21, that evolves reionisation on large scales. We employ radiative hydrodynamic simulations to parameterize the ionisation rate Rion and recombination rate Rrec as functions of halo mass, overdensity and redshift. We find that Rion is super-linearly dependent on halo mass (Rion ~ Mh^1.41), in contrast to previous assumptions. We implement these scalings into SimFast21 to identify the ionized regions. We tune our models to be consistent with recent observations of the optical depth, ionizing emissivity, and neutral fraction by the end of reionisation. We require an average photon escape fraction fesc=0.04 within ~ 0.5 cMpc cells, independent of halo mass or redshift, to simultaneously match these data. We present predictions for the 21cm power spectrum, and show that it is converged with respect to simulation volume. We find that introducing superlinearly mass-dependent ionisations increases the duration of reionisation and boosts the small-scale 21cm power by ~ 2-3 at intermediate phases of reionisation. Introducing inhomogeneous recombinations reduces ionised bubble sizes and suppresses large-scale 21cm power by ~ 2-3. Moreover, gas clumping on sub-cell scales has a minimal effect on the 21cm power, indicating that robust predictions do not depend on the behaviour of kpc-scale structures. The superlinear ionisations significantly increase the median halo mass scale for ionising photon output to >10^10 Mo, giving greater hope for detecting most of ionising sources with next-generation facilities. These results highlight the importance of more accurately treating ionising sources and recombinations for modeling reionisation and its 21cm signal.

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arXiv2015

Cross-correlating 21cm intensity maps with Lyman Break Galaxies in the post-reionization era

We investigate the cross-correlation between the spatial distribution of Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) and the 21cm intensity mapping signal at $z\sim[3-5]$. At these redshifts, galactic feedback is supposed to only marginally affect the matter power spectrum, and the neutral hydrogen distribution is independently constrained by quasar spectra. Using a high resolution N-body simulation, populated with neutral hydrogen a posteriori, we forecast for the expected LBG-21cm cross-spectrum and its error for a 21cm field observed by the Square Kilometre Array (SKA1-LOW and SKA1-MID), combined with a spectroscopic LBG survey with the same volume. The cross power can be detected with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) up to ~10 times higher (and down to ~4 times smaller scales) than the 21cm auto-spectrum for this set-up, with the SNR depending only very weakly on redshift and the LBG population. We also show that while both the 21cm auto- and LBG-21cm cross-spectra can be reliably recovered after the cleaning of smooth-spectrum foreground contamination, only the cross-power is robust to problematic non-smooth foregrounds like polarized synchrotron emission.

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arXiv2015

Ultra large-scale cosmology in next-generation experiments with single tracers

Future surveys of large-scale structure will be able to measure perturbations on the scale of the cosmological horizon, and so could potentially probe a number of novel relativistic effects that are negligibly small on sub-horizon scales. These effects leave distinctive signatures in the power spectra of clustering observables and, if measurable, would open a new window on relativistic cosmology. We quantify the size and detectability of the effects for the most relevant future large-scale structure experiments: spectroscopic and photometric galaxy redshift surveys, intensity mapping surveys of neutral hydrogen, and radio continuum surveys. Our forecasts show that next-generation experiments, reaching out to redshifts $z\simeq 4$, will not be able to detect previously-undetected general-relativistic effects by using individual tracers of the density field, although the contribution of weak lensing magnification on large scales should be clearly detectable. We also perform a rigorous joint forecast for the detection of primordial non-Gaussianity through the excess power it produces in the clustering of biased tracers on large scales, finding that uncertainties of $σ(f_{\rm NL})\sim 1-2$ should be achievable. We study the level of degeneracy of these large-scale effects with several tracer-dependent nuisance parameters, quantifying the minimal priors on the latter that are needed for an optimal measurement of the former. Finally, we discuss the systematic effects that must be mitigated to achieve this level of sensitivity, and some alternative approaches that should help to improve the constraints. The computational tools developed to carry out this study, which requires the full-sky computation of the theoretical angular power spectra for $\mathcal{O}(100)$ redshift bins, as well as realistic models of the luminosity function, are publicly available.

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arXiv2015

Einstein's legacy in galaxy surveys

Non-Gaussianity in the primordial fluctuations that seeded structure formation produces a signal in the galaxy power spectrum on very large scales. This signal contains vital information about the primordial Universe, but it is very challenging to extract, because of cosmic variance and large-scale systematics - especially after the Planck experiment has already ruled out a large amplitude for the signal. Cosmic variance and experimental systematics can be alleviated by the multi-tracer method. Here we address another systematic - introduced by not using the correct relativistic analysis of the power spectrum on very large scales. In order to reduce the errors on fNL, we need to include measurements on the largest possible scales. Failure to include the relativistic effects on these scales can introduce significant bias in the best-fit value of fNL from future galaxy surveys.

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arXiv2015

Late-time cosmology with 21cm intensity mapping experiments

We present a framework for forecasting cosmological constraints from future neutral hydrogen intensity mapping experiments at low to intermediate redshifts. In the process, we establish a simple way of comparing such surveys with optical galaxy redshift surveys. We explore a wide range of experimental configurations and assess how well a number of cosmological observables (the expansion rate, growth rate, and angular diameter distance) and parameters (the densities of dark energy and dark matter, spatial curvature, the dark energy equation of state, etc.) will be measured by an extensive roster of upcoming experiments. A number of potential contaminants and systematic effects are also studied in detail. The overall picture is encouraging -- if autocorrelation calibration can be controlled to a sufficient level, Phase I of the SKA should be able to constrain the dark energy equation of state about as well as a DETF Stage IV galaxy redshift survey like Euclid, in roughly the same timeframe.

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arXiv2015

Probing primordial non-Gaussianity via iSW measurements with SKA continuum surveys

The Planck CMB experiment has delivered the best constraints so far on primordial non-Gaussianity, ruling out early-Universe models of inflation that generate large non-Gaussianity. Although small improvements in the CMB constraints are expected, the next frontier of precision will come from future large-scale surveys of the galaxy distribution. The advantage of such surveys is that they can measure many more modes than the CMB -- in particular, forthcoming radio surveys with the SKA will cover huge volumes. Radio continuum surveys deliver the largest volumes, but with the disadvantage of no redshift information. In order to mitigate this, we use two additional observables. First, the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect -- the cross-correlation of the radio number counts with the CMB temperature anisotropies -- helps to reduce systematics on the large scales that are sensitive to non-Gaussianity. Second, optical data allows for cross-identification in order to gain some redshift information. We show that, while the single redshift bin case can provide a sigma(fNL) ~ 20, and is therefore not competitive with current and future constraints on non-Gaussianity, a tomographic analysis could improve the constraints by an order of magnitude, even with only two redshift bins. A huge improvement is provided by the addition of high-redshift sources, so having cross-ID for high-z galaxies and an even higher-z radio tail is key to enabling very precise measurements of fNL. Our results show that SKA continuum surveys could provide constraints competitive with CMB and forthcoming optical surveys, potentially allowing a measurement of sigma(fNL) ~ 1 to be made. Moreover, these measurements would act as a useful check of results obtained with other probes at other redshift ranges with other methods.

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arXiv2015

Epoch of Reionization modelling and simulations for SKA

In this chapter we provide an overview of the current status of the simulations and modelling of the Cosmic Dawn and Epoch of Reionization. We discuss the modelling requirements as dictated by the characteristic scales of the problem and the SKA instrumental properties and the planned survey parameters. Current simulations include most of the relevant physical processes. They can follow the full nonlinear dynamics and are now reaching the required scale and dynamic range, although small-scale physics still needs to be included at sub-grid level. However, despite a significant progress in developing novel numerical methods for efficient utilization of current hardware they remain quite computationally expensive. In response, a number of alternative approaches, particularly semi-analytical/semi-numerical methods, have been developed. While necessarily more approximate, if appropriately constructed and calibrated on simulations they could be used to quickly explore the vast parameter space available. Further work is still required on including some physical processes in both simulations and semi-analytical modelling. This hybrid approach of fast, approximate modelling calibrated on numerical simulations can then be used to construct large libraries of reionization models for reliable interpretation of the observational data.

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arXiv2015

Cosmology with a SKA HI intensity mapping survey

HI intensity mapping (IM) is a novel technique capable of mapping the large-scale structure of the Universe in three dimensions and delivering exquisite constraints on cosmology, by using HI as a biased tracer of the dark matter density field. This is achieved by measuring the intensity of the redshifted 21cm line over the sky in a range of redshifts without the requirement to resolve individual galaxies. In this chapter, we investigate the potential of SKA1 to deliver HI intensity maps over a broad range of frequencies and a substantial fraction of the sky. By pinning down the baryon acoustic oscillation and redshift space distortion features in the matter power spectrum -- thus determining the expansion and growth history of the Universe -- these surveys can provide powerful tests of dark energy models and modifications to General Relativity. They can also be used to probe physics on extremely large scales, where precise measurements of spatial curvature and primordial non-Gaussianity can be used to test inflation; on small scales, by measuring the sum of neutrino masses; and at high redshifts where non-standard evolution models can be probed. We discuss the impact of foregrounds as well as various instrumental and survey design parameters on the achievable constraints. In particular we analyse the feasibility of using the SKA1 autocorrelations to probe the large-scale signal.

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arXiv2015

HI galaxy simulations for the SKA: number counts and bias

This chapter describes the assumed specifications and sensitivities for HI galaxy surveys with SKA1 and SKA2. It addresses the expected galaxy number densities based on available simulations as well as the clustering bias over the underlying dark matter. It is shown that a SKA1 HI galaxy survey should be able to find around $5\times 10^6$ galaxies over 5,000 deg$^2$ (up to $z\sim 0.8$), while SKA2 should find $\sim 10^9$ galaxies over 30,000 deg$^2$ (up to $z\sim 2.5$). The numbers presented here have been used throughout the cosmology chapters for forecasting.

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arXiv2015

Cosmology from HI galaxy surveys with the SKA

The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) has the potential to produce galaxy redshift surveys which will be competitive with other state of the art cosmological experiments in the next decade. In this chapter we summarise what capabilities the first and the second phases of the SKA will be able to achieve in its current state of design. We summarise the different cosmological experiments which are outlined in further detail in other chapters of this Science Book. The SKA will be able to produce competitive Baryonic Oscillation (BAOs) measurements in both its phases. The first phase of the SKA will provide similar measurements as optical and IR experiments with completely different systematic effects whereas the second phase being transformational in terms of its statistical power. The SKA will produce very accurate Redshift Space Distortions (RSD) measurements, being superior to other experiments at lower redshifts, due to the large number of galaxies. Cross correlations of the galaxy redshift data from the SKA with radio continuum surveys and optical surveys will provide extremely good calibration of photometric redshifts as well as extremely good bounds on modifications of gravity. Basing on a Principle Component Analysis (PCA) approach, we find that the SKA will be able to provide competitive constraints on dark energy and modified gravity models. Due to the large area covered the SKA it will be a transformational experiment in measuring physics from the largest scales such as non-Gaussian signals from $\textrm{f}_{\textrm{nl}}$. Finally, the SKA might produce the first real time measurement of the redshift drift. The SKA will be a transformational machine for cosmology as it grows from an early Phase 1 to its full power.

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arXiv2015

Cosmology with the SKA -- overview

The new frontier of cosmology will be led by three-dimensional surveys of the large-scale structure of the Universe. Based on its all-sky surveys and redshift depth, the SKA is destined to revolutionize cosmology, in combination with future optical/ infrared surveys such as Euclid and LSST. Furthermore, we will not have to wait for the full deployment of the SKA in order to see transformational science. In the first phase of deployment (SKA1), all-sky HI intensity mapping surveys and all-sky continuum surveys are forecast to be at the forefront on the major questions of cosmology. We give a broad overview of the major contributions predicted for the SKA. The SKA will not only deliver precision cosmology -- it will also probe the foundations of the standard model and open the door to new discoveries on large-scale features of the Universe.

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arXiv2015

Measuring baryon acoustic oscillations with future SKA surveys

The imprint of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in large-scale structure can be used as a standard ruler for mapping out the cosmic expansion history, and hence for testing cosmological models. In this article we briefly describe the scientific background to the BAO technique, and forecast the potential of the Phase 1 and 2 SKA telescopes to perform BAO surveys using both galaxy catalogues and intensity mapping, assessing their competitiveness with current and future optical galaxy surveys. We find that a 25,000 sq. deg. intensity mapping survey on a Phase 1 array will preferentially constrain the radial BAO, providing a highly competitive 2% constraint on the expansion rate at z ~ 2. A 30,000 sq. deg. galaxy redshift survey on SKA2 will outperform all other planned experiments for z < 1.4.

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arXiv2015

Constraining the Astrophysics of the Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization with the SKA

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will offer an unprecedented view onto the early Universe, using interferometric observations of the redshifted 21cm line. The 21cm line probes the thermal and ionization state of the cosmic gas, which is governed by the birth and evolution of the first structures in our Universe. Here we show how the evolution of the 21cm signal will allow us to study when the first generations of galaxies appeared, what were their properties, and what was the structure of the intergalactic medium. We highlight qualitative trends which will offer robust insights into the early Universe.

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arXiv2014

Blind foreground subtraction for intensity mapping experiments

We make use of a large set of fast simulations of an intensity mapping experiment with characteristics similar to those expected of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in order to study the viability and limits of blind foreground subtraction techniques. In particular, we consider different approaches: polynomial fitting, principal component analysis (PCA) and independent component analysis (ICA). We review the motivations and algorithms for the three methods, and show that they can all be described, using the same mathematical framework, as different approaches to the blind source separation problem. We study the efficiency of foreground subtraction both in the angular and radial (frequency) directions, as well as the dependence of this efficiency on different instrumental and modelling parameters. For well-behaved foregrounds and instrumental effects we find that foreground subtraction can be successful to a reasonable level on most scales of interest. We also quantify the effect that the cleaning has on the recovered signal and power spectra. Interestingly, we find that the three methods yield quantitatively similar results, with PCA and ICA being almost equivalent.

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arXiv2014

Fast simulations for intensity mapping experiments

We present a code to generate mock observations of 21 cm intensity mapping experiments. The emphasis of the code is on reducing the computational cost of running a full-blown simulation, trading computational time for accuracy. The code can be used to generate independent realizations of the cosmological signal and foregrounds, which are necessary, for instance, in order to obtain realistic forecasts for future intensity mapping experiments. The code is able to reproduce the correct angular and radial clustering pattern for the cosmological signal, including redshift-space distortions, lightcone evolution and bias. Furthermore, it is possible to simulate a variety of foregrounds, including the potentially problematic polarized synchrotron emission.

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arXiv2014

Foreground contamination in Ly-alpha intensity mapping during the epoch of reionization

The intensity mapping of Ly-alpha emission during the epoch of reionization (EoR) will be contaminated by foreground emission lines from lower redshifts. We calculate the mean intensity and power spectrum of Ly-alpha emission at z~7, and estimate the uncertainties according to the relevant astrophysical processes. We find that the low-redshift emission lines from 6563 A H-alpha, 5007 A [OIII] and 3727 A [OII] will be the strong contaminants on the observed Ly-alpha power spectrum. We make use of both the star formation rate (SFR) and luminosity functions (LF) to estimate the mean intensity and power spectra of the three foreground lines at z~0.5 for H-alpha, z~0.9 for [OIII] and z~1.6 for [OII], as they will contaminate the Ly-alpha emission at z~7. The [OII] line is found to be the strongest. We analyze the masking of the bright survey pixels with a foreground line above some line intensity threshold as a way to reduce the contamination in the intensity mapping survey. We find that the foreground contamination can be neglected if we remove the pixels with fluxes above 1.4x10^-20 W/m^2.

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