arXiv subjects

S. Doyle

Publications and source records attributed to S. Doyle.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Observing with NIKA2Pol from the IRAM 30m telescope. Early results on the commissioning phase

The NIKA2 polarization channel at 260 GHz (1.15 mm) has been proposed primarily to observe galactic star-forming regions and probe the critical scales between 0.01-0.05 pc at which magnetic field lines may channel the matter of interstellar filaments into growing dense cores. The NIKA2 polarimeter consists of a room temperature continuously rotating multi-mesh HWP and a cold polarizer that separates the two orthogonal polarizations onto two 260 GHz KIDs arrays. We describe in this paper the preliminary results obtained during the most recent commissioning campaign performed in December 2018. We concentrate here on the analysis of the extended sources, while the observation of compact sources is presented in a companion paper [12]. We present preliminary NIKA2 polarization maps of the Crab nebula. We find that the integrated polarization intensity flux measured by NIKA2 is consistent with expectations.In terms of polarization angle, we are still limited by systematic uncertainties that will be further investigated in the forthcoming commissioning campaigns.

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arXiv2019

Debris disks around stars in the NIKA2 era

The new NIKA2 camera at the IRAM 30m radiotelescope was used to observe three known debris disks in order to constrain the SED of their dust emission in the millimeter wavelength domain. We have found that the spectral index between the two NIKA2 bands (1mm and 2mm) is consistent with the Rayleigh-Jeans regime (lambda^{-2}), unlike the steeper spectra (lambda^{-3}) measured in the submillimeter-wavelength domain for two of the three disks $-$ around the stars Vega and HD107146. We provide a succesful proof of concept to model this spectral inversion in using two populations of dust grains, those smaller and those larger than a grain radius a0 of 0.5mm. This is obtained in breaking the slope of the size distribution and the functional form of the absorption coefficient of the standard model at a0. The third disk - around the star HR8799 - does not exhibit this spectral inversion but is also the youngest.

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arXiv2019

The NIKA polarimeter on science targets. Crab nebula observations at 150 GHz and dual-band polarization images of Orion Molecular Cloud OMC-1

We present here the polarization system of the NIKA camera and give a summary of the main results obtained and performed studies on Orion and the Crab nebula. The polarization system was equipped with a room temperature continuously rotating multi-mesh half wave plate and a grid polarizer facing the NIKA cryostat window. NIKA even though less sensitive than NIKA2 had polarization capability in both 1 and 2 millimiter bands. NIKA polarization observations demonstrated the ability of such a technology in detecting the polarization of different targets, compact and extended sources like the Crab nebula and Orion Molecular Cloud region OMC-1. These measurements together with the developed techniques to deal with systematics, opened the way to the current observations of NIKA2 in polarization that will provide important advances in the studies of galactic and extra-galactic emission and magnetic fields.

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arXiv2019

NIKA2 mapping and cross-instrument SED extraction of extended sources with Scanamorphos

The steps taken to tailor to NIKA2 observations the Scanamorphos algorithm (initially developed to subtract low-frequency noise from Herschel on-the-fly observations) are described, focussing on the consequences of the different instrument architecture and observation strategy. The method, making the most extensive use of the redundancy built in the multi-scan coverage with large arrays of a given region of the sky, is applicable to extended sources, while the pipeline is so far optimized for compact sources. An example of application is given. A related tool to build consistent broadband SEDs from 60 microns to 2 mm, combining Herschel and NIKA2 data, has also been developed. Its main task is to process the data least affected by low-frequency noise and coverage limitations (i.e. the Herschel data) through the same transfer function as the NIKA2 data, simulating the same scan geometry and applying the same noise and atmospheric signal as extracted from the 1 mm and 2 mm data.

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arXiv2019

A low-mass galaxy cluster as a test-case study for the NIKA2 SZ Large Program

High-resolution mapping of the hot gas in galaxy clusters is a key tool for cluster-based cosmological analyses. Taking advantage of the NIKA2 millimeter camera operated at the IRAM 30-m telescope, the NIKA2 SZ Large Program seeks to get a high-resolution follow-up of 45 galaxy clusters covering a wide mass range at high redshift in order to re-calibrate some of the tools needed for the cosmological exploitation of SZ surveys. We present the second cluster analysis of this program, targeting one of the faintest sources of the sample in order to tackle the difficulties in data reduction for such faint, low-SNR clusters. In this study, the main challenge is the precise estimation of the contamination by sub-millimetric point sources, which greatly affects the tSZ map of the cluster. We account for this contamination by performing a joint fit of the SZ signal and of the flux density of the compact sources. A prior knowledge of these fluxes is given by the adjustment of the SED of each source using data from both NIKA2 and the \textit{Herschel} satellite. The first results are very promising and demonstrate the possibility to estimate thermodynamic properties with NIKA2, even in a compact cluster heavily contaminated by point sources.

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arXiv2019

NIKA: a mm camera for Sunyaev-Zel'dovich science in clusters of galaxies

Clusters of galaxies, the largest bound objects in the Universe, constitute a cosmological probe of choice, which is sensitive to both dark matter and dark energy. Within this framework, the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect has opened a new window for the detection of clusters of galaxies and for the characterization of their physical properties such as mass, pressure and temperature. NIKA, a KID-based dual band camera installed at the IRAM 30-m telescope, was particularly well adapted in terms of frequency, angular resolution, field-of-view and sensitivity, for the mapping of the thermal and kinetic SZ effect in high-redshift clusters. In this paper, we present the NIKA cluster sample and a review of the main results obtained via the measurement of the SZ effect on those clusters: reconstruction of the cluster radial pressure profile, mass, temperature and velocity.

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arXiv2019

GASTON: Galactic Star Formation with NIKA2: A new population of cold massive sources discovered

Understanding where and when the mass of stars is determined is one of the fundamental, mostly unsolved, questions in astronomy. Here, we present the first results of GASTON, the Galactic Star Formation with NIKA2 large programme on the IRAM 30m telescope, that aims to identify new populations of low-brightness sources to tackle the question of stellar mass determination across all masses. In this paper, we focus on the high-mass star formation part of the project, for which we map a $\sim2$ deg$^2$ region of the Galactic plane around $l=24^\circ$ in both 1.2 mm and 2.0 mm continuum. Half-way through the project, we reach a sensitivity of 3.7 mJy/beam at 1.2mm. Even though larger than our target sensitivity of 2 mJy, the current sensitivity already allows the identification of a new population of cold, compact sources that remained undetected in any (sub-)mm Galactic plane survey so far. In fact, about 25% of the $\sim 1600$ compact sources identified in the 1.2 mm GASTON image are new detections. We present a preliminary analysis of the physical properties of the GASTON sources as a function of their evolutionary stage, arguing for a potential evolution of the mass distribution of these sources with time.

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arXiv2019

Mapping the gas thermodynamic properties of the massive cluster merger MOO J1142$+$1527 at z = 1.2

We present the results of the analysis of the very massive cluster MOO J1142$+$1527 at a redshift $z = 1.2$ based on high angular resolution NIKA2 Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) and $Chandra$ X-ray data. This multi-wavelength analysis enables us to estimate the shape of the temperature profile with unprecedented precision at this redshift and to obtain a map of the gas entropy distribution averaged along the line of sight. The comparison between the cluster morphological properties observed in the NIKA2 and $Chandra$ maps together with the analysis of the entropy map allows us to conclude that MOO J1142$+$1527 is an on-going merger hosting a cool-core at the position of the X-ray peak. This work demonstrates how the addition of spatially-resolved SZ observations to low signal-to-noise X-ray data can bring valuable insights on the intracluster medium thermodynamic properties at $z>1$.

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arXiv2019

Unveiling the merger dynamics of the most massive MaDCoWS cluster at $z = 1.2$ from a multi-wavelength mapping of its intracluster medium properties

The characterization of the Intra-Cluster Medium (ICM) properties of high-redshift galaxy clusters is fundamental to our understanding of large-scale structure formation processes. We present the results of a multi-wavelength analysis of the very massive cluster MOO J1142$+$1527 at a redshift $z = 1.2$ discovered as part of the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS). This analysis is based on high angular resolution $Chandra$ X-ray and NIKA2 Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) data. Although the X-ray data have only about 1700 counts, we are able to determine the ICM thermodynamic radial profiles, namely temperature, entropy, and hydrostatic mass. These have been obtained with unprecedented precision at this redshift and up to $0.7R_{500}$, thanks to the combination of high-resolution X-ray and SZ data. The comparison between the galaxy distribution mapped in infrared by $Spitzer$ and the morphological properties of the ICM derived from the combined analysis of the $Chandra$ and NIKA2 data leads us to the conclusion that the cluster is an on-going merger. We measure the hydrostatic mass profile of the cluster in four angular sectors centered on the large-scale X-ray centroid. This allows us to estimate a systematic uncertainty on the cluster total mass that characterizes both the impact of the observed deviations from spherical symmetry and of the core dynamics on the mass profile. We further combine the X-ray and SZ data at the pixel level to obtain maps of the temperature and entropy distributions averaged along the line of sight. We find a relatively low entropy core at the position of the X-ray peak and high temperature regions located on its south and west sides. The increase in ICM temperature at the location of the SZ peak is expected given the merger dynamics. (abridged)

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arXiv2018

NIKA2 Performance and Cosmology Program with Galaxy Clusters

NIKA2 is a dual-band millimetric camera of thousands of Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KID) installed at the IRAM 30-meter telescope in the Spanish Sierra Nevada. The instrument commissioning was completed in September 2017, and NIKA2 is now open to the scientific community and will operate for the next decade. NIKA2 has well-adapted instrumental design and performance to produce high-resolution maps of the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect toward intermediate and high redshift galaxy clusters. Moreover, it benefits from a guaranteed time large program dedicated to mapping a representative sample of galaxy clusters via SZ and that includes X-ray follow-ups. The main expected outputs of the SZ large program are the constraints on the redshift evolution of the pressure profile and the mass-observable relation. The first SZ mapping of a galaxy cluster with NIKA2 was produced, as part of the SZ large program. We found a sizable impact of the intracluster medium dynamics on the integrated SZ observables. This shows NIKA2 capabilities for the precise characterisation of the mass-observable relation that is required for accurate cosmology with galaxy clusters.

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arXiv2018

Development of Multi-Chroic MKIDs for Next-Generation CMB Polarization Studies

We report on the status of an ongoing effort to develop arrays of horn-coupled, polarization-sensitive microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) that are each sensitive to two spectral bands between 125 and 280 GHz. These multi-chroic MKID arrays are tailored for next-generation, large-detector-count experiments that are being designed to simultaneously characterize the polarization properties of both the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and Galactic dust emission. We present our device design and describe laboratory-based measurement results from two 23-element prototype arrays. From dark measurements of our first engineering array we demonstrated a multiplexing factor of 92, showed the resonators respond to bath temperature changes as expected, and found that the fabrication yield was 100%. From our first optically loaded array we found the MKIDs respond to millimeter-wave pulses, additional optical characterization measurements are ongoing. We end by discussing our plans for scaling up this technology to kilo-pixel arrays over the next two years.

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arXiv2018

NIKA 150 GHz polarization observations of the Crab nebula and its spectral energy distribution

The Crab nebula is a supernova remnant exhibiting a highly polarized synchrotron radiation at radio and millimeter wavelengths. It is the brightest source in the microwave sky with an extension of 7 by 5 arcminutes and commonly used as a standard candle for any experiment which aims at measuring the polarization of the sky. Though its spectral energy distribution has been well characterized in total intensity, polarization data are still lacking at millimetre wavelengths. We report in this paper high resolution (18 arcsec FWHM) observations of the Crab nebula in total intensity and linear polarization at 150 GHz with the NIKA camera. NIKA, operated at the IRAM 30 m telescope from 2012 to 2015, is a camera made of Lumped Element Kinetic Inductance Detectors (LEKIDs) observing the sky at 150 and 260 GHz. From these observations we are able to reconstruct the spatial distribution of the polarization degree and angle of the Crab nebula, which is found to be compatible with previous observations at lower and higher frequencies. Averaging across the source and using other existing data sets we find that the Crab nebula polarization angle is consistent with being constant over a wide range of frequencies with a value of -87.7$^\circ$ +- 0.3 in Galactic coordinates. We also present the first estimation of the Crab nebula spectral energy distribution polarized flux in a wide frequency range: 30-353 GHz. Assuming a single power law emission model we find that the polarization spectral index $β_{pol}$ = - 0.347 +- 0.026 is compatible with the intensity spectral index $β$ = - 0.323 +- 0.001.

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arXiv2018

First Sunyaev-Zel'dovich mapping with the NIKA2 camera: Implication of cluster substructures for the pressure profile and mass estimate

The complete characterization of the pressure profile of high-redshift galaxy clusters, from their core to their outskirts, is a major issue for the study of the formation of large-scale structures. It is essential to constrain a potential redshift evolution of both the slope and scatter of the mass-observable scaling relations used in cosmology studies based on cluster statistics. In this paper, we present the first thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) mapping of a cluster from the sample of the NIKA2 SZ large program that aims at constraining the redshift evolution of cluster pressure profiles and the tSZ-mass scaling relation. We have observed the galaxy cluster PSZ2 G144.83+25.11 at redshift $z=0.58$ with the NIKA2 camera, a dual-band (150 and 260 GHz) instrument operated at the IRAM 30-meter telescope. We identify a thermal pressure excess in the south-west region of PSZ2 G144.83+25.11 and a high redshift sub-millimeter point source that affect the intracluster medium (ICM) morphology of the cluster. The NIKA2 data are used jointly with tSZ data acquired by the MUSTANG, Bolocam and $Planck$ experiments in order to non-parametrically set the best constraints on the electronic pressure distribution from the cluster core ($\rm{R} \sim 0.02 \rm{R_{500}}$) to its outskirts ($\rm{R} \sim 3 \rm{R_{500}} $). We investigate the impact of the over-pressure region on the shape of the pressure profile and on the constraints on the integrated Compton parameter $\rm{Y_{500}}$. A hydrostatic mass analysis is also performed by combining the tSZ-constrained pressure profile with the deprojected electronic density profile from XMM-$Newton$. This allows us to conclude that the estimates of $\rm{Y_{500}}$ and $\rm{M_{500}}$ obtained from the analysis with and without masking the disturbed ICM region differ by 65 and 79% respectively. (abridged)

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arXiv2018

A NIKA view of two star-forming infrared dark clouds: Dust emissivity variations and mass concentration

The thermal emission of dust grains is a powerful tool for probing cold, dense regions of molecular gas in the ISM, and so constraining dust properties is key to obtaining accurate measurements of dust mass and temperature. By placing constraints on the dust emissivity spectral index, beta, towards two star-forming infrared dark clouds, SDC18.888 and SDC24.489, we evaluate the role of mass concentration in the associated star-formation activity. We exploit the simultaneous 1.2mm and 2.0mm imaging capability of NIKA on the IRAM 30m telescope to construct maps of beta for both clouds, and by incorporating Herschel observations, we create H2 column density maps with 13" resolution. While we find no significant systematic radial variations around the most massive clumps in either cloud on >0.1 pc scales, their mean beta values are significantly different, with beta = 2.07 +/- 0.09 (rand) +/- 0.25 (syst) for SDC18.888 and beta = 1.71 +/- 0.09 (rand) +/- 0.25 (syst) for SDC24.489. These differences could be a consequence of the very different environments in which both clouds lie, and we suggest that the proximity of SDC18.888 to the W39 HII region may raise beta on scales of 1 pc. We also find that the mass in SDC24.489 is more centrally concentrated and circularly symmetric than in SDC18.888, and is consistent with a scenario in which spherical globally-collapsing clouds concentrate a higher fraction of their mass into a single core than elongated clouds that will more easily fragment, distributing their mass into many cores. We demonstrate that beta variations towards interstellar clouds can be robustly constrained with high-SNR NIKA observations, providing more accurate estimates of their masses. The methods presented here will be applied to the Galactic Star Formation with NIKA2 (GASTON) large programme, extending our analysis to a statistically significant sample of star-forming clouds.

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arXiv2018

The NIKA2 instrument at 30-m IRAM telescope: performance and results

The New IRAM KID Arrays 2 (NIKA2) consortium has just finished installing and commissioning a millimetre camera on the IRAM 30 m telescope. It is a dual-band camera operating with three frequency multiplexed kilo-pixels arrays of Lumped Element Kinetic Inductance Detectors (LEKID) cooled at 150 mK, designed to observe the intensity and polarisation of the sky at 260 and 150 GHz (1.15 and 2 mm). NIKA2 is today an IRAM resident instrument for millimetre astronomy, such as Intra Cluster Medium from intermediate to distant clusters and so for the follow-up of Planck satellite detected clusters, high redshift sources and quasars, early stages of star formation and nearby galaxies emission. We present an overview of the instrument performance as it has been evaluated at the end of the commissioning phase.

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arXiv2018

Design and performance of the antenna coupled lumped-element kinetic inductance detector

Focal plane arrays consisting of low-noise, polarisation-sensitive detectors have made possible the pioneering advances in the study of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). To make further progress, the next generation of CMB experiments (e.g. CMB-S4) will require a substantial increase in the number of detectors compared to the current stage 3 instruments. Arrays of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) provide a possible path to realising such large format arrays owing to their intrinsic multiplexing advantage and relative cryogenic simplicity. In this proceedings, we report on the design of a novel variant of the traditional KID design; the antenna-coupled lumped-element KID. A polarisation sensitive twin-slot antenna placed behind an optimised hemispherical lens couples power onto a thin-film superconducting microstrip line. The power is then guided into the inductive section of an aluminium KID where it is absorbed and modifies both the resonant frequency and quality factor of the KID. We present the various aspects of the design and preliminary results from the first set of seven-element prototype arrays and compare to the expected modelled performance.

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arXiv2017

Sub-structure and merger detection in resolved NIKA Sunyaev-Zel'dovich images of distant clusters

Sub-structures in the hot gas of galaxy clusters are related to their formation history and to the astrophysical processes at play in the intracluster medium (ICM). The thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect is directly sensitive to the line-of-sight integrated ICM pressure, and is thus particularly adapted to study ICM sub-structures. We apply structure-enhancement filtering algorithms to high resolution tSZ observations of distant clusters, in order to search for pressure discontinuities, compressions, as well as secondary peaks in the ICM. The same filters are applied to synthetic tSZ images extracted from RHAPSODY-G hydrodynamic simulations, in order to better interpret the extracted features. We also study the noise propagation trough the filters and quantify the impact of systematic effects, point source residuals being identified as the dominant potential contaminant. In 3 of our 6 NIKA clusters we identify features at high S/N that show clear evidence for merger events. In MACSJ0717 (z=0.55), three strong pressure gradients are observed on the E, SE and W sectors, and two main peaks in the pressure distribution are identified. We observe a lack of tSZ compact structure in the cool-core cluster PSZ1G045.85 (z=0.61), and a tSZ gradient ridge dominates in the SE. In the highest z cluster, CLJ1227 (z=0.89), we detect a ~45" (360 kpc) long ridge pressure gradient associated with a secondary pressure peak in the W region. Our results show that current tSZ facilities have now reached the angular resolution and sensitivity to allow an exploration of the details of pressure sub-structures in clusters, even at high z. This opens the possibility to quantify the impact of the dynamical state on the relation between the tSZ signal and the mass of clusters, which is important when using tSZ clusters to test cosmological models. This work also marks the first NIKA cluster sample data release.

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arXiv2017

NIKA2: a mm camera for cluster cosmology

Galaxy clusters constitute a major cosmological probe. However, Planck 2015 results have shown a weak tension between CMB-derived and cluster-derived cosmological parameters. This tension might be due to poor knowledge of the cluster mass and observable relationship. As for now, arcmin resolution Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) observations ({\it e.g.} SPT, ACT and Planck) only allowed detailed studies of the intra cluster medium for low redshift clusters ($z<0.2$). For high redshift clusters ($z>0.5$) high resolution and high sensitivity SZ observations are needed. With both a wide field of view (6.5 arcmin) and a high angular resolution (17.7 and 11.2 arcsec at 150 and 260 GHz), the NIKA2 camera installed at the IRAM 30-m telescope (Pico Veleta, Spain) is particularly well adapted for these observations. The NIKA2 SZ observation program will map a large sample of clusters (50) at redshifts between 0.5 and 0.9. As a pilot study for NIKA2, several clusters of galaxies have been observed with the pathfinder, NIKA, at the IRAM 30-m telescope to cover the various configurations and observation conditions expected for NIKA2.}

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