Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Tzu-Ching Chang

Publications and source records attributed to Tzu-Ching Chang.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Cosmology with the Highly Redshifted 21cm Line

In addition to being a probe of Cosmic Dawn and Epoch of Reionization astrophysics, the 21cm line at $z>6$ is also a powerful way to constrain cosmology. Its power derives from several unique capabilities. First, the 21cm line is sensitive to energy injections into the intergalactic medium at high redshifts. It also increases the number of measurable modes compared to existing cosmological probes by orders of magnitude. Many of these modes are on smaller scales than are accessible via the CMB, and moreover have the advantage of being firmly in the linear regime (making them easy to model theoretically). Finally, the 21cm line provides access to redshifts prior to the formation of luminous objects. Together, these features of 21cm cosmology at $z>6$ provide multiple pathways toward precise cosmological constraints. These include the "marginalizing out" of astrophysical effects, the utilization of redshift space distortions, the breaking of CMB degeneracies, the identification of signatures of relative velocities between baryons and dark matter, and the discovery of unexpected signs of physics beyond the $Λ$CDM paradigm at high redshifts.

astro-ph.CO↗

Astrophysics and Cosmology with Line-Intensity Mapping

Line-Intensity Mapping is an emerging technique which promises new insights into the evolution of the Universe, from star formation at low redshifts to the epoch of reionization and cosmic dawn. It measures the integrated emission of atomic and molecular spectral lines from galaxies and the intergalactic medium over a broad range of frequencies, using instruments with aperture requirements that are greatly relaxed relative to surveys for single objects. A coordinated, comprehensive, multi-line intensity-mapping experimental effort can efficiently probe over 80% of the volume of the observable Universe - a feat beyond the reach of other methods. Line-intensity mapping will uniquely address a wide array of pressing mysteries in galaxy evolution, cosmology, and fundamental physics. Among them are the cosmic history of star formation and galaxy evolution, the compositions of the interstellar and intergalactic media, the physical processes that take place during the epoch of reionization, cosmological inflation, the validity of Einstein's gravity theory on the largest scales, the nature of dark energy and the origin of dark matter.

astro-ph.CO↗

Mapping Cosmic Dawn and Reionization: Challenges and Synergies

Cosmic dawn and the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) are among the least explored observational eras in cosmology: a time at which the first galaxies and supermassive black holes formed and reionized the cold, neutral Universe of the post-recombination era. With current instruments, only a handful of the brightest galaxies and quasars from that time are detectable as individual objects, due to their extreme distances. Fortunately, a multitude of multi-wavelength intensity mapping measurements, ranging from the redshifted 21 cm background in the radio to the unresolved X-ray background, contain a plethora of synergistic information about this elusive era. The coming decade will likely see direct detections of inhomogenous reionization with CMB and 21 cm observations, and a slew of other probes covering overlapping areas and complementary physical processes will provide crucial additional information and cross-validation. To maximize scientific discovery and return on investment, coordinated survey planning and joint data analysis should be a high priority, closely coupled to computational models and theoretical predictions.

astro-ph.CO↗

Cosmic Dawn and Reionization: Astrophysics in the Final Frontier

The cosmic dawn and epoch of reionization mark the time period in the universe when stars, galaxies, and blackhole seeds first formed and the intergalactic medium changed from neutral to an ionized one. Despite substantial progress with multi-wavelength observations, astrophysical process during this time period remain some of the least understood with large uncertainties on our existing models of galaxy, blackhole, and structure formation. This white paper outlines the current state of knowledge and anticipated scientific outcomes with ground and space-based astronomical facilities in the 2020s. We then propose a number of scientific goals and objectives for new facilities in late 2020s to mid 2030s that will lead to definitive measurements of key astrophysical processes in the epoch of reionization and cosmic dawn.

astro-ph.GA↗

Ensemble photometric redshifts

Upcoming imaging surveys, such as LSST, will provide an unprecedented view of the Universe, but with limited resolution along the line-of-sight. Common ways to increase resolution in the third dimension, and reduce misclassifications, include observing a wider wavelength range and/or combining the broad-band imaging with higher spectral resolution data. The challenge with these approaches is matching the depth of these ancillary data with the original imaging survey. However, while a full 3D map is required for some science, there are many situations where only the statistical distribution of objects (dN/dz) in the line-of-sight direction is needed. In such situations, there is no need to measure the fluxes of individual objects in all of the surveys. Rather a stacking procedure can be used to perform an `ensemble photo-z'. We show how a shallow, higher spectral resolution survey can be used to measure dN/dz for stacks of galaxies which coincide in a deeper, lower resolution survey. The galaxies in the deeper survey do not even need to appear individually in the shallow survey. We give a toy model example to illustrate tradeoffs and considerations for applying this method. This approach will allow deep imaging surveys to leverage the high resolution of spectroscopic and narrow/medium band surveys underway, even when the latter do not have the same reach to high redshift.

astro-ph.GA↗

Multi-Component Decomposition of Cosmic Infrared Background Fluctuations

The near-infrared background between 0.5 $μ$m to 2 $μ$m contains a wealth of information related to radiative processes in the universe. Infrared background anisotropies encode the redshift-weighted total emission over cosmic history, including any spatially diffuse and extended contributions. The anisotropy power spectrum is dominated by undetected galaxies at small angular scales and diffuse background of Galactic emission at large angular scales. In addition to these known sources, the infrared background also arises from intra-halo light (IHL) at $z < 3$ associated with tidally-stripped stars during galaxy mergers. Moreover, it contains information on the very first galaxies from the epoch of reionization (EoR). The EoR signal has a spectral energy distribution (SED) that goes to zero near optical wavelengths due to Lyman absorption, while other signals have spectra that vary smoothly with frequency. Due to differences in SEDs and spatial clustering, these components may be separated in a multi-wavelength-fluctuation experiment. To study the extent to which EoR fluctuations can be separated in the presence of IHL, extra-galactic and Galactic foregrounds, we develop a maximum likelihood technique that incorporates a full covariance matrix among all the frequencies at different angular scales. We apply this technique to simulated deep imaging data over a 2$\times$100 deg$^2$ sky area from 0.75 $μ$m to 5 $μ$m in 9 bands and find that such a "frequency tomography" can successfully reconstruct both the amplitude and spectral shape for representative EoR, IHL and the foreground signals.

astro-ph.CO↗

Search for CII Emission on Cosmological Scales at Redshift Z~2.6

We present a search for CII emission over cosmological scales at high-redshifts. The CII line is a prime candidate to be a tracer of star formation over large-scale structure since it is one of the brightest emission lines from galaxies. Redshifted CII emission appears in the submillimeter regime, meaning it could potentially be present in the higher frequency intensity data from the Planck satellite used to measure the cosmic infrared background (CIB). We search for CII emission over redshifts z=2-3.2 in the Planck 545 GHz intensity map by cross-correlating the 3 highest frequency Planck maps with spectroscopic quasars and CMASS galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III), which we then use to jointly fit for CII intensity, CIB parameters, and thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) emission. We report a measurement of an anomalous emission $\mathrm{I_ν}=6.6^{+5.0}_{-4.8}\times10^4$ Jy/sr at 95% confidence, which could be explained by CII emission, favoring collisional excitation models of CII emission that tend to be more optimistic than models based on CII luminosity scaling relations from local measurements; however, a comparison of Bayesian information criteria reveal that this model and the CIB & SZ only model are equally plausible. Thus, more sensitive measurements will be needed to confirm the existence of large-scale CII emission at high redshifts. Finally, we forecast that intensity maps from Planck cross-correlated with quasars from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) would increase our sensitivity to CII emission by a factor of 5, while the proposed Primordial Inflation Explorer (PIXIE) could increase the sensitivity further.

astro-ph.CO↗

Cosmological distance indicators

We review three distance measurement techniques beyond the local universe: (1) gravitational lens time delays, (2) baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO), and (3) HI intensity mapping. We describe the principles and theory behind each method, the ingredients needed for measuring such distances, the current observational results, and future prospects. Time delays from strongly lensed quasars currently provide constraints on $H_0$ with < 4% uncertainty, and with 1% within reach from ongoing surveys and efforts. Recent exciting discoveries of strongly lensed supernovae hold great promise for time-delay cosmography. BAO features have been detected in redshift surveys up to z <~ 0.8 with galaxies and z ~ 2 with Ly-$α$ forest, providing precise distance measurements and $H_0$ with < 2% uncertainty in flat $Λ$CDM. Future BAO surveys will probe the distance scale with percent-level precision. HI intensity mapping has great potential to map BAO distances at z ~ 0.8 and beyond with precisions of a few percent. The next years ahead will be exciting as various cosmological probes reach 1% uncertainty in determining $H_0$, to assess the current tension in $H_0$ measurements that could indicate new physics.

astro-ph.CO↗

Science Impacts of the SPHEREx All-Sky Optical to Near-Infrared Spectral Survey II: Report of a Community Workshop on the Scientific Synergies Between the SPHEREx Survey and Other Astronomy Observatories

SPHEREx is a proposed NASA MIDEX mission selected for Phase A study. SPHEREx would carry out the first all-sky spectral survey in the near infrared. At the end of its two-year mission, SPHEREx would obtain 0.75-to-5$μ$m spectra of every 6.2 arcsec pixel on the sky, with spectral resolution R>35 and a 5-$σ$ sensitivity AB$>$19 per spectral/spatial resolution element. More details concerning SPHEREx are available at http://spherex.caltech.edu. The SPHEREx team has proposed three specific science investigations to be carried out with this unique data set: cosmic inflation, interstellar and circumstellar ices, and the extra-galactic background light. Though these three themes are undoubtedly compelling, they are far from exhausting the scientific output of SPHEREx. Indeed, SPHEREx would create a unique all-sky spectral database including spectra of very large numbers of astronomical and solar system targets, including both extended and diffuse sources. These spectra would enable a wide variety of investigations, and the SPHEREx team is dedicated to making the data available to the community to enable these investigations, which we refer to as Legacy Science. To that end, we have sponsored two workshops for the general scientific community to identify the most interesting Legacy Science themes and to ensure that the SPHEREx data products are responsive to their needs. In February of 2016, some 50 scientists from all fields met in Pasadena to develop these themes and to understand their implications for the SPHEREx mission. The 2016 workshop highlighted many synergies between SPHEREx and other contemporaneous astronomical missions, facilities, and databases. Consequently, in January 2018 we convened a second workshop at the Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge to focus specifically on these synergies. This white paper reports on the results of the 2018 SPHEREx workshop.

astro-ph.IM↗

A Foreground Masking Strategy for [CII] Intensity Mapping Experiments Using Galaxies Selected by Stellar Mass and Redshift

Intensity mapping provides a unique means to probe the epoch of reionization (EoR), when the neutral intergalactic medium was ionized by the energetic photons emitted from the first galaxies. The [CII] 158$μ$m fine-structure line is typically one of the brightest emission lines of star-forming galaxies and thus a promising tracer of the global EoR star-formation activity. However, [CII] intensity maps at $6 \lesssim z \lesssim 8$ are contaminated by interloping CO rotational line emission ($3 \leq J_{\rm upp} \leq 6$) from lower-redshift galaxies. Here we present a strategy to remove the foreground contamination in upcoming [CII] intensity mapping experiments, guided by a model of CO emission from foreground galaxies. The model is based on empirical measurements of the mean and scatter of the total infrared luminosities of galaxies at $z < 3$ and with stellar masses $M_{*} > 10^{8}\,\rm M_{\rm \odot}$ selected in $K$-band from the COSMOS/UltraVISTA survey, which can be converted to CO line strengths. For a mock field of the Tomographic Ionized-carbon Mapping Experiment (TIME), we find that masking out the "voxels" (spectral-spatial elements) containing foreground galaxies identified using an optimized CO flux threshold results in a $z$-dependent criterion $m^{\rm AB}_{\rm K} \lesssim 22$ (or $M_{*} \gtrsim 10^{9} \,\rm M_{\rm \odot}$) at $z < 1$ and makes a [CII]/CO$_{\rm tot}$ power ratio of $\gtrsim 10$ at $k=0.1$ $h$/Mpc achievable, at the cost of a moderate $\lesssim 8\%$ loss of total survey volume.

astro-ph.GA↗

Line-Intensity Mapping: 2017 Status Report

Following the first two annual intensity mapping workshops at Stanford in March 2016 and Johns Hopkins in June 2017, we report on the recent advances in theory, instrumentation and observation that were presented in these meetings and some of the opportunities and challenges that were identified looking forward. With preliminary detections of CO, [CII], Lya and low-redshift 21cm, and a host of experiments set to go online in the next few years, the field is rapidly progressing on all fronts, with great anticipation for a flood of new exciting results. This current snapshot provides an efficient reference for experts in related fields and a useful resource for nonspecialists. We begin by introducing the concept of line-intensity mapping and then discuss the broad array of science goals that will be enabled, ranging from the history of star formation, reionization and galaxy evolution to measuring baryon acoustic oscillations at high redshift and constraining theories of dark matter, modified gravity and dark energy. After reviewing the first detections reported to date, we survey the experimental landscape, presenting the parameters and capabilities of relevant instruments such as COMAP, mmIMe, AIM-CO, CCAT-p, TIME, CONCERTO, CHIME, HIRAX, HERA, STARFIRE, MeerKAT/SKA and SPHEREx. Finally, we describe recent theoretical advances: different approaches to modeling line luminosity functions, several techniques to separate the desired signal from foregrounds, statistical methods to analyze the data, and frameworks to generate realistic intensity map simulations.

astro-ph.CO↗

Accurate Polarization Calibration at 800 MHz with the Green Bank Telescope

Polarization leakage of foreground synchrotron emission is a critical issue in HI intensity mapping experiments. While the sought-after HI emission is unpolarized, polarized foregrounds such as Galactic and extragalactic synchrotron radiation, if coupled with instrumental impurity, can mimic or overwhelm the HI signals. In this paper we present the methodology for polarization calibration at 700-900 MHz, applied on data obtained from the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). We use astrophysical sources, both polarized and unpolarized sources including quasars and pulsars, as calibrators to characterize the polarization leakage and control systematic effects in our GBT HI intensity mapping project. The resulting fractional errors on polarization measurements on boresight are well controlled to within 0.6%-0.8% of their total intensity. The polarized beam patterns are measured by performing spider scans across both polarized quasars and pulsars. A dominant Stokes I to V leakage feature and secondary features of Stokes I to Q and I to U leakages in the 700-900 MHz frequency range are identified. These characterizations are important for separating foreground polarization leakage from the HI 21 cm signal.

astro-ph.IM↗

Spectral Line De-confusion in an Intensity Mapping Survey

Spectral line intensity mapping has been proposed as a promising tool to efficiently probe the cosmic reionization and the large-scale structure. Without detecting individual sources, line intensity mapping makes use of all available photons and measures the integrated light in the source confusion limit, to efficiently map the three-dimensional matter distribution on large scales as traced by a given emission line. One particular challenge is the separation of desired signals from astrophysical continuum foregrounds and line interlopers. Here we present a technique to extract large-scale structure information traced by emission lines from different redshifts, embedded in a three-dimensional intensity mapping data cube. The line redshifts are distinguished by the anisotropic shape of the power spectra when projected onto a common coordinate frame. We consider the case where high-redshift [CII] lines are confused with multiple low-redshift CO rotational lines. We present a semi-analytic model for [CII] and CO line estimates based on the cosmic infrared background measurements, and show that with a modest instrumental noise level and survey geometry, the large-scale [CII] and CO power spectrum amplitudes can be successfully extracted from a confusion-limited data set, without external information. We discuss the implications and limits of this technique for possible line intensity mapping experiments.

astro-ph.CO↗

A practical theorem on using interferometry to measure the global 21-cm signal

The sky-averaged, or global, background of redshifted $21$ cm radiation is expected to be a rich source of information on cosmological reheating and reionizaton. However, measuring the signal is technically challenging: one must extract a small, frequency-dependent signal from under much brighter spectrally smooth foregrounds. Traditional approaches to study the global signal have used single antennas, which require one to calibrate out the frequency-dependent structure in the overall system gain (due to internal reflections, for example) as well as remove the noise bias from auto-correlating a single amplifier output. This has motivated proposals to measure the signal using cross-correlations in interferometric setups, where additional calibration techniques are available. In this paper we focus on the general principles driving the sensitivity of the interferometric setups to the global signal. We prove that this sensitivity is directly related to two characteristics of the setup: the cross-talk between readout channels (i.e. the signal picked up at one antenna when the other one is driven) and the correlated noise due to thermal fluctuations of lossy elements (e.g. absorbers or the ground) radiating into both channels. Thus in an interferometric setup, one cannot suppress cross-talk and correlated thermal noise without reducing sensitivity to the global signal by the same factor -- instead, the challenge is to characterize these effects and their frequency dependence. We illustrate our general theorem by explicit calculations within toy setups consisting of two short dipole antennas in free space and above a perfectly reflecting ground surface, as well as two well-separated identical lossless antennas arranged to achieve zero cross-talk.

astro-ph.IM↗

Science Impacts of the SPHEREx All-Sky Optical to Near-Infrared Spectral Survey: Report of a Community Workshop Examining Extragalactic, Galactic, Stellar and Planetary Science

SPHEREx is a proposed SMEX mission selected for Phase A. SPHEREx will carry out the first all-sky spectral survey and provide for every 6.2" pixel a spectra between 0.75 and 4.18 $μ$m [with R$\sim$41.4] and 4.18 and 5.00 $μ$m [with R$\sim$135]. The SPHEREx team has proposed three specific science investigations to be carried out with this unique data set: cosmic inflation, interstellar and circumstellar ices, and the extra-galactic background light. It is readily apparent, however, that many other questions in astrophysics and planetary sciences could be addressed with the SPHEREx data. The SPHEREx team convened a community workshop in February 2016, with the intent of enlisting the aid of a larger group of scientists in defining these questions. This paper summarizes the rich and varied menu of investigations that was laid out. It includes studies of the composition of main belt and Trojan/Greek asteroids; mapping the zodiacal light with unprecedented spatial and spectral resolution; identifying and studying very low-metallicity stars; improving stellar parameters in order to better characterize transiting exoplanets; studying aliphatic and aromatic carbon-bearing molecules in the interstellar medium; mapping star formation rates in nearby galaxies; determining the redshift of clusters of galaxies; identifying high redshift quasars over the full sky; and providing a NIR spectrum for most eROSITA X-ray sources. All of these investigations, and others not listed here, can be carried out with the nominal all-sky spectra to be produced by SPHEREx. In addition, the workshop defined enhanced data products and user tools which would facilitate some of these scientific studies. Finally, the workshop noted the high degrees of synergy between SPHEREx and a number of other current or forthcoming programs, including JWST, WFIRST, Euclid, GAIA, K2/Kepler, TESS, eROSITA and LSST.

astro-ph.CO↗

Interpreting the unresolved intensity of cosmologically redshifted line radiation

Intensity mapping experiments survey the spectrum of diffuse line radiation rather than detect individual objects at high signal-to-noise. Spectral maps of unresolved atomic and molecular line radiation contain three-dimensional information about the density and environments of emitting gas, and efficiently probe cosmological volumes out to high redshift. Intensity mapping survey volumes also contain all other sources of radiation at the frequencies of interest. Continuum foregrounds are typically ~10^2-10^3 times brighter than the cosmological signal. The instrumental response to bright foregrounds will produce new spectral degrees of freedom that are not known in advance, nor necessarily spectrally smooth. The intrinsic spectra of foregrounds may also not be well-known in advance. We describe a general class of quadratic estimators to analyze data from single-dish intensity mapping experiments, and determine contaminated spectral modes from the data itself. The key attribute of foregrounds is not that they are spectrally smooth, but instead that they have fewer bright spectral degrees of freedom than the cosmological signal. Spurious correlations between the signal and foregrounds produce additional bias. Compensation for signal attenuation must estimate and correct this bias. A successful intensity mapping experiment will control instrumental systematics that spread variance into new modes, and it must observe a large enough volume that contaminant modes can be determined independently from the signal on scales of interest.

astro-ph.CO↗

Cosmic Dawn Intensity Mapper

Cosmic Dawn Intensity Mapper is a "Probe Class" mission concept for reionization studies of the universe. It will be capable of spectroscopic imaging observations between 0.7 to 6-7 microns in the near-Infrared. The primary observational objective is pioneering observations of spectral emission lines of interest throughout the cosmic history, but especially from the first generation of distant, faint galaxies when the universe was less than 800 million years old. With spectro-imaging capabilities, using a set of linear variable filters (LVFs), CDIM will produce a three-dimensional tomographic view of the epoch of reionization (EoR). CDIM will also study galaxy formation over more than 90% of the cosmic history and will move the astronomical community from broad-band astronomical imaging to low-resolution (R=200-300) spectro-imaging of the universe.

astro-ph.CO↗

Combining galaxy and 21cm surveys

Acoustic waves traveling through the early Universe imprint a characteristic scale in the clustering of galaxies, QSOs and inter-galactic gas. This scale can be used as a standard ruler to map the expansion history of the Universe, a technique known as Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO). BAO offer a high-precision, low-systematics means of constraining our cosmological model. The statistical power of BAO measurements can be improved if the `smearing' of the acoustic feature by non-linear structure formation is undone in a process known as reconstruction. In this paper we use low-order Lagrangian perturbation theory to study the ability of $21\,$cm experiments to perform reconstruction and how augmenting these surveys with galaxy redshift surveys at relatively low number densities can improve performance. We find that the critical number density which must be achieved in order to benefit $21\,$cm surveys is set by the linear theory power spectrum near its peak, and corresponds to densities achievable by upcoming surveys of emission line galaxies such as eBOSS and DESI. As part of this work we analyze reconstruction within the framework of Lagrangian perturbation theory with local Lagrangian bias, redshift-space distortions, ${\bf k}$-dependent noise and anisotropic filtering schemes.

astro-ph.CO↗