arXiv subjects

P. Fosalba

Publications and source records attributed to P. Fosalba.

At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Clustering of Luminous Red Galaxies III: Detection of the Baryon Acoustic Peak in the 3-point Correlation Function

We present the 3-point function ξ_3 and Q_3=ξ_3/ξ_2^2 for a spectroscopic sample of luminous red galaxies (LRG) from SDSS DR6 & DR7. We find a strong (S/N$>$6) detection of $Q_3$ on scales of 55-125 Mpc/h, with a well defined peak around 105 Mpc/h in all ξ_2, ξ_3 and Q_3, in excellent agreement with the predicted shape and location of the imprint of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). We use very large simulations to asses and test the significance of our measurement. Models without the BAO peak are ruled out by the $Q_3$ data with 99% confidence. Our measurements show the expected shape for Q_3 as a function of the triangular configuration. This provides a first direct measurement of the non-linear mode coupling coefficients of density and velocity fluctuations which, on these large scales, are independent of cosmic time, the amplitude of fluctuations or cosmological parameters. The location of the BAO peak in the data indicates Ω_m =0.28 \pm 0.05 and Ω_B=0.079 \pm 0.025 (h=0.70) after marginalization over spectral index (n_s=0.8-1.2) linear b_1 and quadratic c_2 bias,which are found to be in the range: b_1=1.7-2.2 and c_2=0.75-3.55. The data allows a hierarchical contribution from primordial non-Gaussianities in the range Q_3=0.55-3.35. These constraints are independent and complementary to the ones that can be obtained using the 2-point function, which are presented in a separate paper. This is the first detection of the shape of $Q_3$ on BAO scales, but our errors are shot-noise dominated and the SDSS volume is still relatively small, so there is ample room for future improvement in this type of measurements.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2009

Measuring Baryon Acoustic Oscillations along the line of sight with photometric redshifs: the PAU survey

Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) provide a standard ruler of known physical length, making it a promising probe of the nature of dark energy. The detection of BAO requires measuring galaxy positions and redshifts. "Transversal" (angular distance) BAO measure the angular size of this scale, while "line-of-sight" (or "radial") BAO require precise redshifts, but provide a direct measurement of the Hubble parameter at different redshifts, a more sensitive probe of dark energy. The main goal of this paper is to show that a precision of sigma_z ~0.003(1 + z) is sufficient to measure BAO in the radial direction. This precision can be achieved for bright, red galaxies, by using a filter system comprising about 40 filters, each with a width of ~100 A, from ~ 4000 A to ~ 8000 A, supplemented by two broad-band filters. We describe a practical implementation, a new galaxy survey, PAU, to be carried out with a telescope/camera combination with an etendue of about 20 m^2deg^2, and covering 8000 sq. deg. in the sky in four years. We expect to measure positions and redshifts for over 14 million red, early-type galaxies with L > L* and i_AB < 22.5 in the interval 0.1 < z < 0.9, with sigma_z < 0.003(1 + z). This population has a number density n > 10^-3 Mpc^-3 h^3 within the 9 (Gpc/h)^3 volume of the survey, ensuring that the error in the determination of the BAO scale is not limited by shot-noise. By itself, such a survey will deliver precisions of order 5% in the dark-energy equation of state parameter w, if assumed constant, and can determine its time derivative when combined with future CMB measurements. In addition, PAU will yield high-quality redshift and low-resolution spectroscopy for hundreds of millions of other galaxies.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2009

The Origin of the Universe as Revealed Through the Polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background

Modern cosmology has sharpened questions posed for millennia about the origin of our cosmic habitat. The age-old questions have been transformed into two pressing issues primed for attack in the coming decade: How did the Universe begin? and What physical laws govern the Universe at the highest energies? The clearest window onto these questions is the pattern of polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which is uniquely sensitive to primordial gravity waves. A detection of the special pattern produced by gravity waves would be not only an unprecedented discovery, but also a direct probe of physics at the earliest observable instants of our Universe. Experiments which map CMB polarization over the coming decade will lead us on our first steps towards answering these age-old questions.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

The onion universe: all sky lightcone simulations in spherical shells

Galaxy surveys provide a large-scale view of the universe that typically has a limited line-of-sight or redshift resolution. The lack of radial accuracy in these surveys can be modelled by picturing the universe as a set of concentric radial shells of finite width around the observer, i.e, an onion-like structure. We present a new N-body simulation with 2048^3 particles developed at the Marenostrum supercomputer with the GADGET-2 code. Using the lightcone output we build a set of angular maps that mimic this onion-like representation of the universe. The onion maps are a highly compressed version of the raw data (i.e. a factor >1000 smaller size for arcminute resolution maps) and they provide a new and powerful tool to exploit large scale structure observations. We introduce two basic applications of these maps that are especially useful for constraning dark energy properties: the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the galaxy power spectrum and all-sky maps of the weak lensing distortion. Using the weak lensing maps, we measure the convergence power spectra and compare it to halo fit predictions. As a further application, we compute the variance and higher-order moments of the maps. We show that sampling variance on scales of few degrees is quite large, resulting in a significant (25% at 10 arminute scales) bias in the variance. We caution that current lensing surveys such as the COSMOS HST should take into account this bias and extra sampling error in their clustering analyses and inferred cosmological parameter constraints. Finally, we test the importance of projection effects in the weak lensing mass reconstruction. On the mean, the mass calibration works well but it exhibits a large non-Gaussian scatter what could induce a large bias in the recovered mass function.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Cross-correlation of WMAP 3rd year and the SDSS DR4 galaxy survey: new evidence for Dark Energy

We cross-correlate the third-year WMAP data with galaxy samples extracted from the SDSS DR4 (SDSS4) covering 13% of the sky, increasing by a factor of 3.7 the volume sampled in previous analyses. The new measurements confirm a positive cross-correlation with higher significance (total signal-to-noise of about 4.7). The correlation as a function of angular scale is well fitted by the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect for LCDM flat FRW models with a cosmological constant. The combined analysis of different samples gives Omega_L=0.80-0.85$ (68% Confidence Level, CL) or $0.77-0.86$ (95% CL). We find similar best fit values for Omega_L for different galaxy samples with median redshifts of z ~0.3 and z ~0.5, indicating that the data scale with redshift as predicted by the LCDM cosmology (with equation of state parameter w=-1). This agreement is not trivial, but can not yet be used to break the degeneracy constraints in the w versus Omega_L plane using only the ISW data.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Archeops In-flight Performance, Data Processing and Map Making

Archeops is a balloon--borne experiment widely inspired by the Planck satellite and by its High Frequency Instrument (HFI). It is mainly dedicated to measure the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropies at high angular resolution (about 12 arcminutes) over a large fraction of the sky (around 30 %) in the millimetre and submillimetre range at 143, 217, 353 and 545 GHz. Further, the Archeops 353 GHz channel consists of three pairs of polarized sensitive bolometers designed to detect the polarized diffuse emission of Galactic dust. We present in this paper the update of the instrumental setup as well as the inflight performance for the last Archeops flight campaign in February 2002 from Kiruna (Sweden). We also describe the processing and analysis of the Archeops time ordered data for that campaign which lead to the measurement of the CMB anisotropies power spectrum in the multipole range l=10-700 (Benoit et al. 2003a, Tristram et al. 2005) and to the first measurement of the dust polarized emission at large angular scales and its polarized. We present maps of 30 % of the sky of the Galactic emission, including the Galactic plane, in the four Archeops channels at 143, 217, 353 and 545 GHz and maps of the CMB anisotropies at 143 and 217 GHz. These are the firstever available sub--degree resolution maps in the millimetre and submillimetre range of the large angular-scales Galactic dust diffuse emission and CMB temperature anisotropies respectively.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

The CMB temperature power spectrum from an improved analysis of the Archeops data

We present improved results on the measurement of the angular power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropies using the data from the last Archeops flight. This refined analysis is obtained by using the 6 most sensitive photometric pixels in the CMB bands centered at 143 and 217 GHz and 20% of the sky, mostly clear of foregrounds. Using two different cross-correlation methods, we obtain very similar results for the angular power spectrum. Consistency checks are performed to test the robustness of these results paying particular attention to the foreground contamination level which remains well below the statistical uncertainties. The multipole range from l=10 to l=700 is covered with 25 bins, confirming strong evidence for a plateau at large angular scales (the Sachs-Wolfe plateau) followed by two acoustic peaks centered around l=220 and l=550 respectively. These data provide an independent confirmation, obtained at different frequencies, of the WMAP first year results.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

CMB Polarization as complementary information to anisotropies

The origin of CMB polarization is reviewed. Special emphasis is placed on the cosmological information encoded in it: the nature of primordial fluctuations, the connection with the inflation paradigm. Insights into more recent epochs are also discussed: early reionization and high redshift matter distribution from CMB lensing.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Temperature and polarization angular power spectra of Galactic dust radiation at 353 GHz as measured by Archeops

We present the first measurement of temperature and polarization angular power spectra of the diffuse emission of Galactic dust at 353 GHz as seen by Archeops on 20% of the sky. The temperature angular power spectrum is compatible with that provided by the extrapolation to 353 GHz of IRAS and DIRBE maps using \cite{fds} model number 8. For Galactic latitudes $|b| \geq 5$ deg we report a 4 sigma detection of large scale ($3\leq \ell \leq 8$) temperature-polarization cross-correlation $(\ell+1)C_\ell^{TE}/2π= 76\pm 21 μ\rm{K_{RJ}}^2$ and set upper limits to the $E$ and $B$ modes at $11 μ\rm{K_{RJ}}^2$. For Galactic latitudes $|b| \geq 10$ deg, on the same angular scales, we report a 2 sigma detection of temperature-polarization cross-correlation $(\ell+1)C_\ell^{TE}/2π= 24\pm 13 μ\rm{K_{RJ}}^2$. These results are then extrapolated to 100 GHz to estimate the contamination in CMB measurements by polarized diffuse Galactic dust emission. The $TE$ signal is then $1.7\pm0.5$ and $0.5\pm0.3 μ\rm{K^2_{CMB}}$ for $|b| \geq 5$ and 10 deg. respectively. The upper limit on $E$ and $B$ becomes $0.2 μ\rm{K^2_{CMB}} (2σ)$. If polarized dust emission at higher Galactic latitude cuts is similar to the one we report here, then dust polarized radiation will be a major foreground for determining the polarization power spectra of the CMB at high frequencies above 100 GHz.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

First Detection of Polarization of the Submillimetre Diffuse Galactic Dust Emission by Archeops

We present the first determination of the Galactic polarized emission at 353 GHz by Archeops. The data were taken during the Arctic night of February 7, 2002 after the balloon--borne instrument was launched by CNES from the Swedish Esrange base near Kiruna. In addition to the 143 GHz and 217 GHz frequency bands dedicated to CMB studies, Archeops had one 545 GHz and six 353 GHz bolometers mounted in three polarization sensitive pairs that were used for Galactic foreground studies. We present maps of the I, Q, U Stokes parameters over 17% of the sky and with a 13 arcmin resolution at 353 GHz (850 microns). They show a significant Galactic large scale polarized emission coherent on the longitude ranges [100, 120] and [180, 200] deg. with a degree of polarization at the level of 4-5%, in agreement with expectations from starlight polarization measurements. Some regions in the Galactic plane (Gem OB1, Cassiopeia) show an even stronger degree of polarization in the range 10-20%. Those findings provide strong evidence for a powerful grain alignment mechanism throughout the interstellar medium and a coherent magnetic field coplanar to the Galactic plane. This magnetic field pervades even some dense clouds. Extrapolated to high Galactic latitude, these results indicate that interstellar dust polarized emission is the major foreground for PLANCK-HFI CMB polarization measurement.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

Systematic effects in the measurement of polarization by the PLANCK telescope

We present estimates of the response to polarized signals by the PLANCK telescope. These estimates are based on a set of simulations, using a physical optics code (GRASP8), for linearly polarized detectors at different frequencies and located in different positions of an early design of the PLANCK focal plane. We show how the optical aberration introduced by the studied focal plane configuration affects absolute and relative orientation of the sky signals polarization planes. In addition, we compute the spurious signal introduced by the telescope optics into a PLANCK-type measurement of the sky polarization. Our analysis shows that the spurious polarization expected in a PLANCK-like experiment is typically of the order of 0.2 % of the unpolarized intensity.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

Cosmological constraints from Archeops

We analyze the cosmological constraints that Archeops places on adiabatic cold dark matter models with passive power-law initial fluctuations. Because its angular power spectrum has small bins in l and large l coverage down to COBE scales, Archeops provides a precise determination of the first acoustic peak in terms of position at multipole l_peak=220 +- 6, height and width. An analysis of Archeops data in combination with other CMB datasets constrains the baryon content of the Universe, Omega(b)h^2 = 0.022 (+0.003,-0.004), compatible with Big-Bang nucleosynthesis and with a similar accuracy. Using cosmological priors obtainedfrom recent non-CMB data leads to yet tighter constraints on the total density, e.g. Omega(tot)=1.00 (+0.03,-0.02) using the HST determination of the Hubble constant. An excellent absolute calibration consistency is found between Archeops and other CMB experiments, as well as with the previously quoted best fit model.The spectral index n is measured to be 1.04 (+0.10,-0.12) when the optical depth to reionization, tau, is allowed to vary as a free parameter, and 0.96 (+0.03,-0.04) when tau is fixed to zero, both in good agreement with inflation.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

The Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy Power Spectrum measured by Archeops

We present a determination by the Archeops experiment of the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy in 16 bins over the multipole range l=15-350. Archeops was conceived as a precursor of the Planck HFI instrument by using the same optical design and the same technology for the detectors and their cooling. Archeops is a balloon-borne instrument consisting of a 1.5 m aperture diameter telescope and an array of 21 photometers maintained at ~100 mK that are operating in 4 frequency bands centered at 143, 217, 353 and 545 GHz. The data were taken during the Arctic night of February 7, 2002 after the instrument was launched by CNES from Esrange base (Sweden). The entire data cover ~ 30% of the sky.This first analysis was obtained with a small subset of the dataset using the most sensitive photometer in each CMB band (143 and 217 GHz) and 12.6% of the sky at galactic latitudes above 30 degrees where the foreground contamination is measured to be negligible. The large sky coverage and medium resolution (better than 15 arcminutes) provide for the first time a high signal-to-noise ratio determination of the power spectrum over angular scales that include both the first acoustic peak and scales probed by COBE/DMR. With a binning of Delta(l)=7 to 25 the error bars are dominated by sample variance for l below 200. A companion paper details the cosmological implications.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

Elliptical Beams in CMB Temperature and Polarization Anisotropy Experiments: An Analytic Approach

We present an analytic approach to the estimation of beam asymmetry effects in CMB temperature and linear polarization anisotropy experiments. We derive via perturbative expansions simple and accurate results for the case of an elliptical Gaussian window. Our results are applied to investigate the effect of beam ellipticity in the estimation of full-sky polarization correlation functions and the covariance matrix of power spectra. The relevance of this effect is also discussed by forecasting errors including beam asymmetry for current and future CMB experiments.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

2-Point Moments in Cosmological Large Scale Structure: I. Theory and Comparison with Simulations

We present new perturbation theory (PT) predictions in the Spherical Collapse (SC) model for the 2-point moments of the large-scale distribution of dark matter density in the universe. We assume that these fluctuations grow under gravity from small Gaussian initial conditions. These predictions are compared with numerical simulations and with previous PT results to assess their domain of validity. We find that the SC model provides in practice a more accurate description of 2-point moments than previous tree-level PT calculations. The agreement with simulations is excellent for a wide range of scales (5-50 Mpc/h) and fluctuations amplitudes (0.02-2 variance). When normalized to unit variance these results are independent of the cosmological parameters and of the initial amplitude of fluctuations. The 2-point moments provide a convenient tool to study the statistical properties of gravitational clustering for fairly non-linear scales and complicated survey geometries, such as those probing the clustering of the Ly-alpha forest. In this context, the perturbative SC predictions presented here, provide a simple and novel way to test the gravitational instability paradigm.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

The angular power spectrum of radio emission at 2.3 GHz

We have analysed the Rhodes/HartRAO survey at 2326 MHz and derived the global angular power spectrum of Galactic continuum emission. In order to measure the angular power spectrum of the diffuse component, point sources were removed from the map by median filtering. A least-square fit to the angular power spectrum of the entire survey with a power law spectrum C_l proportional to l^{-alpha}, gives alpha = 2.43 +/- 0.01 for l = 2-100. The angular power spectrum of radio emission appears to steepen at high Galactic latitudes and for observed regions with |b| > 20 deg, the fitted spectral index is alpha = 2.92 +/- 0.07. We have extrapolated this result to 30 GHz (the lowest frequency channel of Planck) and estimate that no significant contribution to the sky temperature fluctuation is likely to come from synchrotron at degree-angular scales

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

Analysis of CMB foregrounds using a database for Planck

Within the scope of the Planck IDIS (Integrated Data Information System) project we have started to develop the data model for time-ordered data and full-sky maps. The data model is part of the Data Management Component (DMC), a software system designed according to a three-tier architecture which allows complete separation between data storage and processing. The DMC is already being used for simulation activities and the modeling of some foreground components. We have ingested several Galactic surveys into the database and used the science data-access interface to process the data. The data structure for full-sky maps utilises the HEALPix tessellation of the sphere. We have been able to obtain consistent measures of the angular power spectrum of the Galactic radio continuum emission between 408 MHz and 2417 MHz.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

Gravitational Evolution of the Large-Scale Density Distribution: The Edgeworth & Gamma Expansions

The gravitational evolution of the cosmic one-point Probability Distribution Function (PDF) can be estimated using an analytic approximation that combines gravitational Perturbation Theory (PT) with the Edgeworth expansion around a Gaussian PDF. We present an alternative to the Edgeworth series based on an expansion around the Gamma PDF, which is more appropriate to describe a realistic PDF. The Gamma expansion converges when the PDF exhibits exponential tails, which are predicted by PT and N-body simulations in the weakly non-linear regime (i.e, when the variance, $σ^2$, is small). We compare both expansions to N-body simulations and find that the Gamma expansion yields a better overall match to the numerical results.

astro-ph↗