arXiv subjects

Stefano Camera

Publications and source records attributed to Stefano Camera.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2026

Beyond power spectrum to unveil systematics on HI intensity maps

HI intensity mapping is a promising technique to probe large-scale structure, traditionally analyzed via two-point statistics such as the angular power spectrum. This technique has proven very powerful but may miss key non-Gaussian information present in the signal. We extend the starlet l1-norm, a multi-scale higher-order statistic previously applied to weak lensing maps, to the brightness temperature fluctuations of the HI density field. The HI signal is highly non-Gaussian at late times (z < 1) due to nonlinear structure growth, motivating the use of advanced summary statistics. We simulated full-sky HI lognormal brightness temperature maps using CAMB and GLASS, generating 10,000 realizations with associated cosmological parameters. We extracted both the starlet l1-norm and angular power spectrum from these maps. Using the JaxILI framework, we performed neural density estimation for implicit likelihood inference. The analysis considered simulated maps incorporating realistic noise and telescope beam, capturing the impact of observational effects on parameter inference. In this work, we focus on the redshift range 0.4 < z < 0.45, chosen to match the interval already targeted by existing MeerKLASS observations. The starlet l1-norm significantly outperforms the angular power spectrum in constraining cosmological parameters, achieving almost a 3x improvement in the figure of merit relative to the angular power spectrum by capturing non-Gaussian features missed by two-point statistics. Moreover, our results suggest that the starlet l1-norm is robust to several of the systematic effects included in our simulations. Our findings highlight the potential of multi-scale higher-order statistics such as the starlet l1-norm to enhance cosmological inference from future HI intensity mapping surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

Dark Matter and Galaxy Cross-Correlations with the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory

The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) will be a ground-based Cherenkov telescope performing wide-sky surveys, ideal for anisotropy studies such as cross-correlations with tracers of the cosmic large-scale structure. Cross-correlations can shed light on high-energy $γ$-ray sources and potentially reveal exotic signals from particle dark matter. In this work, we investigate CTAO sensitivity to cross-correlation signals between $γ$-ray emission and galaxy distributions. We find that by using dense, low-redshift catalogs like 2MASS, and for integration times around 50 hours, this technique achieves sensitivities to both annihilating and decaying dark matter signals that are competitive with those from dwarf galaxy and cluster analyses.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Halving and Doubling: Boosting the Detection of Relativistic Effects in the Galaxy Bispectrum with Optimal Subsample Selection

On the scale of the cosmic horizon, signatures that are unique to general relativity are concealed within the statistics of the large scale distribution of galaxies. These were thought to be beyond the reach of all but the most ambitious galaxy surveys, as they are substantially suppressed relative to standard redshift-space distortions. We show that the detectability of these higher-order relativistic effects can be dramatically enhanced by a sampling strategy that splits a galaxy catalogue into faint and bright subsamples and then combines their auto-bispectra. For current surveys such as DESI, this implies that this new signal will be detectable for the first time using our new strategy.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

Revealing cosmological fluctuations in 21cm intensity maps with MeerKLASS: from maps to power spectra

Mapping the integrated 21cm emission line from dark matter-tracing neutral hydrogen gas is the primary science goal for MeerKLASS (MeerKAT's Large Area Synoptic Survey). Prior to the arrival of MeerKAT, this intensity mapping technique had only been tested on a couple of pre-existing single-dish radio telescopes with a handful of observational hours with which to make early pioneering detections. The 64-dish MeerKAT array, precursor to the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), can scan the sky in auto-correlation mode and perform intensity mapping across large sky areas, presenting the exciting potential for a wide-sky (${\gtrsim}\,10{,}000\,{\rm deg}^2$) spectroscopic survey across redshift $0.4\,{<}\,z\,{<}\,1.45$. Validating the auto-correlation (or single-dish) mode of observation for a multi-dish array and developing the analysis pipeline with which to make unbiased measurements has presented major challenges to this endeavour. In this work, we overview the advances in the field that have facilitated a robust analysis framework for single-dish intensity mapping, and review some results that showcase its success using early MeerKLASS surveys. We demonstrate our control of foreground cleaning, signal loss and map regridding to deliver detections of cosmological clustering within the intensity maps through cross-correlation power spectrum measurements with overlapping galaxy surveys. Finally, we discuss the prospects for future MeerKLASS observations and forecast its potential, making our code publicly available: https://github.com/meerklass/MeerFish.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

Needlets and foreground removal for SKAO hydrogen intensity maps

Intensity Mapping (IM) of the 21-cm line of the neutral hydrogen (\textsc{Hi}) has become a compelling new technique to map the large-scale structure of the Universe. One of the main challenges is the presence of strong foreground emissions of several orders of magnitude larger than the \textsc{Hi}~signal. Here, we implement a version of the Principal Component Analysis, a blind component-separation technique, based on a kind of spherical wavelets called needlets. These functions exploit double localization both in real and in harmonic space. We test Need-PCA performances on a set of maps that simulates the SKA MID radio telescope in the AA4 configuration. We compare our results with other component separation methods such as Generalised Morphological Component Analysis (GMCA) and Generalized Needlet Internal Linear Combination (GNILC). All the methods have comparable results, recovering the \textsc{Hi}~signal within 10\% accuracy across the frequency channels, in the multipole range 30 $\lesssim \ell \lesssim$ 136. We also test our pipeline in the presence of systematics such as polarization leakage. We find that the cleaning methods are insensitive to the presence of such systematic, yielding the same results as in the leakage-free case. Finally, under the assumption of a realistic telescope beam with sidelobes, we find that standard PCA and GMCA fails to recover the \textsc{Hi}~signal at larger scales, while the Need-PCA and Need-GMCA are less affected. GNILC tends to over-clean, yielding to a loss of the signal.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2026

Probing General Relativity on Cosmological Scales in the 2040s

General relativity is exquisitely tested in strong-field regimes, yet its validity on cosmological scales remains largely unexplored. Upcoming wide and deep large-scale structure surveys will access the ultra-large, linear scales where relativistic effects - Doppler terms, gravitational redshift, lensing magnification, and potential evolution - leave significant imprints in the clustering of galaxies. These signatures represent unique probes of spacetime that are inaccessible to standard Newtonian analyses but increasingly important as survey volumes grow. We outline the scientific potential of next-generation facilities, such as those envisioned within ESO's Expanding Horizons programme, to deliver the first robust measurements of relativistic effects in large-scale structure through multi-tracer power spectra and the single-tracer bispectrum of high-redshift Lyman-break galaxies. Detecting these contributions would open a new window on gravity, enabling precision tests of general relativity and its alternatives on cosmological scales in the 2040s.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

Kinematic lensing with high-resolution spectroscopic surveys. A unique opportunity for transformative cosmology at high redshifts in the 2040s

We present a science case to perform high-redshift cosmic shear surveys for cosmology with next-generation spectroscopic instruments, such as the proposed MegaMapper and Wide-field Spectroscopic Telescope. We argue that by using the novel technique called 'kinematic lensing' (KL) it will be possible to obtain shear catalogues at redshifts between 2 and 5. We show that the signal-to-noise ratio of KL at such high redshifts is on average twice as much that expected from current weak lensing (WL) surveys such as Euclid or LSST, and several times that of the previous generation of WL surveys like DES and KiDS, even with very conservative assumptions about the fraction of spectroscopically-detected sources for which KL shear estimates will be available. This will allow cosmologists to perform joint galaxy clustering-cosmic shear analyses over unprecedented cosmic volumes and to probe the growth of structures deep in the matter-dominated era and across the onset of dark-energy domination, offering a unique opportunity to unveil the mystery of cosmic acceleration.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Detecting Local and Integrated Relativistic Effects by Multi-Tracing a Single Galaxy Population in Harmonic Space

Measuring relativistic effects on cosmological scales would provide further confirmation of the validity of general relativity in the still poorly tested condition of weak gravity. Despite their relevance, relativistic imprints in the distribution of galaxies on large scales have so far eluded detection, mainly because they are stronger on the largest cosmic scales, which are plagued by cosmic variance. Expanding on previous works, we study galaxy clustering by subdividing a galaxy population into two sub-samples -- bright and faint -- and we here focus on their two-point correlation function in harmonic space, i.e. via the angular power spectrum. Thanks to such a split in magnitude and by exploiting the multi-tracer technique, we are able to boost the impact of the relativistic contributions. We first focus on the leading relativistic contribution given by the Doppler effect and show that, with a carefully tailored luminosity cut, it can be detected. Then, we look at the sub-dominant effects predicted by general relativity and quantify how their statistical significance, as yet undetectable, varies with redshift binning and survey specifications. As case studies, we consider in our forecasts a bright galaxy sample at low redshift, an H$α$ emission-line galaxy survey at intermediate redshifts, and high-redshift Lyman-break galaxies at high redshift.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Wiener filtering and multi-tracer techniques for dark matter cross-correlations between gamma-ray emission and galaxy catalogs

Cross-correlations between a gravitational tracer of dark matter and the contribution to the unresolved gamma-ray background (UGRB) from the radiation produced by the annihilation of the particles responsible for the dark matter, have been established as a powerful tool to investigate the particle physics nature of dark matter. Cross-correlations of the UGRB with galaxy catalogs, cluster catalogs and weak lensing have indeed been measured. In this paper we study statistical techniques that could improve the sensitivity of the cross-correlation techniques on the bounds that can be set to the particle dark matter physical properties. The two methods that we investigate are the application of a Wiener filter and the exploitation of the full multi-tracer information. After identifying the optimal strategies, we show that the adoption of a Wiener filter in the cross-correlation analysis can improve the sensitivity to the dark matter annihilation rate by a factor of 2/2.5 as compared to the standard analysis where no filter is applied. The inclusion of the full multi-tracer information can improve the sensitivity up to a factor of 5 for dark matter masses below about 50 GeV, the Wiener filter remaining the best option for heavier dark matter.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Decoupling Local Primordial non-Gaussianity from Relativistic Effects in the Galaxy Bispectrum

Upcoming galaxy surveys aim to map the Universe with unprecedented precision, depth and sky coverage. The galaxy bispectrum is a prime source of information as it allows us to probe primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG), a key factor in differentiating various models of inflation. On the scales where local PNG is strongest, Doppler and other relativistic effects become important and need to be included. We investigate the detectability of relativistic and local PNG contributions in the galaxy bispectrum. We compute the signal-to-noise ratio for the detection of the bispectrum including such effects. Furthermore, we perform information matrix forecasts on the local PNG parameter $f_{\rm NL}$ and on the parametrised amplitudes of the relativistic corrections. Finally, we quantify the bias on the measurement of $f_{\rm NL}$ that arises from neglecting relativistic effects. Our results show that detections of both first- and second-order relativistic effects are promising with forthcoming spectroscopic survey specifications -- and are largely unaffected by the uncertainty in $f_{\rm NL}$. Conversely, we show for the first time that neglecting relativistic corrections in the galaxy bispectrum can lead to $>\!1.5σ(f_{\rm NL})$ shift on the detected value of $f_{\rm NL}$, highlighting the importance of including relativistic effects in our modelling.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Squeezing information from radio surveys to probe the primordial Universe

A major goal of cosmology is to understand the nature of the field(s) which drove primordial Inflation. Through future observations, the statistics of large-scale structure will allow us to probe primordial non-Gaussianity of the curvature perturbation at the end of Inflation. We show how a new correlation statistic can significantly improve these constraints over conventional methods. Next-generation radio telescope arrays are under construction which will map the density field of neutral hydrogen to high redshifts. These telescopes can operate as an interferometer, able to probe small scales, or as a collection of single dishes, combining signals to map the large scales. We show how to fuse these these operating modes in order to measure the squeezed bispectrum with higher precision and greater economy. This leads to constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity that will improve on measurements by Planck, and out-perform other surveys such as Euclid. We forecast that $σ(f_{\mathrm{NL}}^{\mathrm{loc}})\sim 3$, achieved by using a small subset, $\mathcal{O}(10^2-10^3)$, of the total number of accessible triangles. The proposed method can be used for any signal that peaks in squeezed configurations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

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

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

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Cosmology from LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Data Release 2: Cross-correlations with luminous red galaxies from eBOSS

We cross-correlated galaxies from the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) second data release (DR2) radio source with the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) luminous red galaxy (LRG) sample to extract the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) signal and constrain the linear clustering bias of radio sources in LoTSS DR2. In the LoTSS DR2 catalogue, employing a flux density limit of $1.5$ mJy at the central LoTSS frequency of 144 MHz and a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of $7.5$, additionally considering eBOSS LRGs with redshifts between 0.6 and 1, we measured both the angular LoTSS-eBOSS cross-power spectrum and the angular eBOSS auto-power spectrum. These measurements were performed across various eBOSS redshift tomographic bins with a width of $Δz=0.06$. By marginalising over the broadband shape of the angular power spectra, we searched for a BAO signal in cross-correlation with radio galaxies, and determine the linear clustering bias of LoTSS radio sources for a constant-bias and an evolving-bias model. Using the cross-correlation, we measured the isotropic BAO dilation parameter as $α=1.01\pm 0.11$ at $z_{\rm eff}=0.63$. By combining four redshift slices at $z_{\rm eff}=0.63, 0.69, 0.75$, and $0.81$, we determined a more constrained value of $α= 0.968^{+0.060}_{-0.095}$. For the entire redshift range of $z_{\rm eff}=0.715$, we measured $b_C = 2.64 \pm 0.20$ for the constant-bias model, $b(z)=b_C$, and then $b_D = 1.80 \pm 0.13$ for the evolving-bias model, $b(z) = b_D / D(z)$, with $D(z)$ denoting the growth rate of linear structures. Additionally, we measured the clustering bias for individual redshift bins.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Detecting Relativistic Doppler by Multi-Tracing a Single Galaxy Population

New data from ongoing galaxy surveys, such as the $Euclid$ satellite and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), are expected to unveil physics on the largest scales of our universe. Dramatically affected by cosmic variance, these scales are of interest to large-scale structure studies as they exhibit relevant corrections due to general relativity (GR) in the $n$-point statistics of cosmological random fields. We focus on the relativistic, sample-dependent Doppler contribution to the observed clustering of galaxies, whose detection will further confirm the validity of GR in cosmological regimes. Sample- and scale-dependent, the Doppler term is more likely to be detected via cross-correlation measurements, where it acts as an imaginary correction to the power spectrum of fluctuations in galaxy number counts. We present a method allowing us to exploit multi-tracer benefits from a single data set, by subdividing a galaxy population into two sub-samples, according to galaxies' luminosity/magnitude. To overcome cosmic variance we rely on a multi-tracer approach, and to maximise the detectability of the relativistic Doppler contribution in the data, we optimise sample selection. As a result, we find the optimal split and forecast the relativistic Doppler detection significance for both a DESI-like Bright Galaxy Sample and a $Euclid$-like H$α$ galaxy population.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Cosmology with ESO-SKAO Synergies

We discuss the possible synergies for cosmology between SKAO and ESO facilities, focusing on the combinations SKA-Mid with the Multi-Object Spectrograph Telescope (4MOST) instrument built for ESO's Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA), and SKA-Low with ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) multi-object spectrograph MOSAIC. Combining multiple tracers allows for tackling systematics and lifting parameter degeneracies. It will play a crucial role in the pursuit of precision cosmology.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

MeerKLASS L-band deep-field intensity maps: entering the HI dominated regime

We present results from MeerKAT single-dish HI intensity maps, the final observations to be performed in L-band in the MeerKAT Large Area Synoptic Survey (MeerKLASS) campaign. The observations represent the deepest single-dish HI intensity maps to date, produced from 41 repeated scans over $236\,{\rm deg}^2$, providing 62 hours of observational data for each of the 64 dishes before flagging. By introducing an iterative self-calibration process, the estimated thermal noise of the reconstructed maps is limited to ${\sim}\,1.21\,$mK ($1.2\,\times$ the theoretical noise level). This thermal noise will be sub-dominant relative to the HI fluctuations on large scales ($k\,{\lesssim}\,0.15\,h\,\text{Mpc}^{-1}$), which demands upgrades to power spectrum analysis techniques, particularly for covariance estimation. In this work, we present the improved MeerKLASS analysis pipeline, validating it on both a suite of mock simulations and a small sample of overlapping spectroscopic galaxies from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. Despite only overlapping with ${\sim}\,25\%$ of the MeerKLASS deep field, and a conservative approach to covariance estimation, we still obtain a ${>}\,4\,σ$ detection of the cross-power spectrum between the intensity maps and the 2269 galaxies at the narrow redshift range $0.39\,{<}\,z\,{<}\,0.46$. We briefly discuss the HI auto-power spectrum from this data, the detection of which will be the focus of follow-up work. For the first time with MeerKAT single-dish intensity maps, we also present evidence of HI emission from stacking the maps onto the positions of the GAMA galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Relativistic and wide-angle corrections to galaxy power spectra

Galaxy surveys contain information on the largest scales via wide-angle and relativistic contributions. By combining two different galaxy populations, we can suppress the strong cosmic variance on ultra-large scales and thus enhance the detectability of the signals. The relativistic Doppler and Sachs-Wolfe effects are of a similar magnitude to the leading wide-angle corrections, so that it is important to treat them together, especially since they can partially cancel. The power spectra depend on the choice of line of sight for each galaxy pair and we present results for a general line of sight. Then we estimate the detection significance of the auto- and cross-power spectra for a variety of cases. We use two futuristic galaxy samples based on a `beyond-DESI' survey and a SKA Phase 2 survey, covering 15,000\,deg$^2$ up to $z=1$. We find a detection significance for the total relativistic wide-angle effects that ranges from $\sim 5σ$ to $>15σ$, depending on the line-of-sight configuration.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Detecting Relativistic Doppler in Galaxy Clustering with Tailored Galaxy Samples

We present a method to obtain a high-significance detection of relativistic effects on cosmological scales. Measurements of such effects would be instrumental for our understanding of the Universe, as they would provide a further confirmation of the validity of general relativity as the correct description of the gravitational interaction, in a regime very far from that of strong gravity, where it has been tested to exquisite accuracy. Despite its relevance, the detection of relativistic effects has hitherto eluded us, mainly because they are stronger on the largest cosmic scales, plagued by cosmic variance. Our work focuses on the cosmological probe of galaxy clustering, describing the excess probability of finding pairs of galaxies at a given separation due to them being part of the same underlying cosmic large-scale structure. We focus on the two-point correlation function of the distribution of galaxies in Fourier space -- the power spectrum -- where relativistic effects appear as an imaginary contribution to the real power spectrum. By carefully tailoring cuts in magnitude/luminosity, we are able to obtain two samples (bright and faint) of the same galaxy population, whose cross-correlation power spectrum allows for a detection of the relativistic contribution. In particular, we optimise the definition of the samples to maximise the detection significance of the relativistic Doppler term for both a low-$z$ Bright Galaxy Sample and a high-$z$ H$α$ emission line galaxy population.

astro-ph.CO↗