arXiv subjects

Yin-Zhe Ma

Publications and source records attributed to Yin-Zhe Ma.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Measurement of the pairwise kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect with Planck and BOSS data

We present a new measurement of the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (kSZ) using Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) and Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) data. Using the `LowZ North/South' galaxy catalogue from BOSS DR12, and the group catalogue from BOSS DR13, we evaluate the mean pairwise kSZ temperature associated with BOSS galaxies. We construct a `Central Galaxies Catalogue' (CGC) which consists of isolated galaxies from the original BOSS data set, and apply the aperture photometry (AP) filter to suppress the primary CMB contribution. By constructing a halo model to fit the pairwise kSZ function, we constrain the mean optical depth to be $\barτ=(0.53\pm0.32)\times10^{-4}(1.65\,σ)$ for `LowZ North CGC', $\barτ=(0.30\pm0.57)\times10^{-4}(0.53\,σ)$ for `LowZ South CGC', and $\barτ=(0.43\pm0.28)\times10^{-4}(1.53\,σ)$ for `DR13 Group'. In addition, we vary the radius of the AP filter and find that the AP size of $7\,{\rm arcmin}$ gives the maximum detection for $\barτ$. We also investigate the dependence of the signal with halo mass and find $\barτ=(0.32\pm0.36)\times10^{-4}(0.8\,σ)$ and $\barτ=(0.67\pm0.46)\times10^{-4}(1.4\,σ)$ for `DR13 Group' with halo mass restricted to, respectively, less and greater than its median halo mass, $10^{12}\, h^{-1}{\rm M}_{\odot}$. For the `LowZ North CGC' sample restricted to $M_{\rm h} \gtrsim 10^{14}\, h^{-1}{\rm M}_\odot$ there is no detection of the kSZ signal because these high mass halos are associated with the high-redshift galaxies of the LowZ North catalogue, which have limited contribution to the pairwise kSZ signals.

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arXiv2017

Constraining the optical depth of galaxies and velocity bias with cross-correlation between kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect and peculiar velocity field

We calculate the cross-correlation function $\langle (ΔT/T)(\mathbf{v}\cdot \mathbf{n}/σ_{v}) \rangle$ between the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect and the reconstructed peculiar velocity field using linear perturbation theory, to constrain the optical depth $τ$ and peculiar velocity bias of central galaxies with Planck data. We vary the optical depth $τ$ and the velocity bias function $b_{v}(k)=1+b(k/k_{0})^{n}$, and fit the model to the data, with and without varying the calibration parameter $y_{0}$ that controls the vertical shift of the correlation function. By constructing a likelihood function and constraining $τ$, $b$ and $n$ parameters, we find that the quadratic power-law model of velocity bias $b_{v}(k)=1+b(k/k_{0})^{2}$ provides the best-fit to the data. The best-fit values are $τ=(1.18 \pm 0.24) \times 10^{-4}$, $b=-0.84^{+0.16}_{-0.20}$ and $y_{0}=(12.39^{+3.65}_{-3.66})\times 10^{-9}$ ($68\%$ confidence level). The probability of $b>0$ is only $3.12 \times 10^{-8}$ for the parameter $b$, which clearly suggests a detection of scale-dependent velocity bias. The fitting results indicate that the large-scale ($k \leq 0.1\,h\,{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$) velocity bias is unity, while on small scales the bias tends to become negative. The value of $τ$ is consistent with the stellar mass--halo mass and optical depth relation proposed in the previous literatures, and the negative velocity bias on small scales is consistent with the peak background-split theory. Our method provides a direct tool to study the gaseous and kinematic properties of galaxies.

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arXiv2017

Impact of Simulated 1/f Noise for HI Intensity Mapping Experiments

Cosmology has entered an era where the experimental limitations are not due to instrumental sensitivity but instead due to inherent systematic uncertainties in the instrumentation and data analysis methods. The field of HI intensity mapping (IM) is still maturing, however early attempts are already systematics limited. One such systematic limitation is 1/f noise, which largely originates within the instrumentation and manifests as multiplicative gain fluctuations. To date there has been little discussion about the possible impact of 1/f noise on upcoming single-dish HI IM experiments such as BINGO, FAST or SKA. Presented in this work are Monte-Carlo end-to-end simulations of a 30 day HI IM survey using the SKA-MID array covering a bandwidth of 950 and 1410 MHz. These simulations extend 1/f noise models to include not just temporal fluctuations but also correlated gain fluctuations across the receiver bandpass. The power spectral density of the spectral gain fluctuations are modelled as a power-law, and characterised by a parameter $β$. It is found that the degree of 1/f noise frequency correlation will be critical to the success of HI IM experiments. Small values of $β$ ($β$ < 0.25) or high correlation is preferred as this is more easily removed using current component separation techniques. The spectral index of temporal fluctuations ($α$) is also found to have a large impact on signal-to-noise. Telescope slew speed has a smaller impact, and a scan speed of 1 deg s$^{-1}$ should be sufficient for a HI IM survey with the SKA.

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arXiv2017

Gas contents of galaxy groups from thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects

A matched filter technique is applied to the Planck all-sky Compton y-parameter map to measure the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect produced by galaxy groups of different halo masses selected from large redshift surveys in the low-z Universe. Reliable halo mass estimates are available for all the groups, which allows us to bin groups of similar halo masses to investigate how the tSZ effect depends on halo mass over a large mass range. Filters are simultaneously matched for all groups to minimize projection effects. We find that the integrated y-parameter and the hot gas content it implies are consistent with the predictions of the universal pressure profile model only for massive groups above $10^{14}\,{\rm M}_\odot$, but much lower than the model prediction for low-mass groups. The halo mass dependence found is in good agreement with the predictions of a set of simulations that include strong AGN feedback, but simulations including only supernova feedback significantly over predict the hot gas contents in galaxy groups. Our results suggest that hot gas in galaxy groups is either effectively ejected or in phases much below the virial temperatures of the host halos.

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arXiv2017

Constraints on Primordial non-Gaussianity from Future HI Intensity Mapping Experiments

The primordial non-Gaussianity induces scale-dependent bias of the \hi with respect to the underlying dark matter, which exhibits features on the very large scales of the 21-cm power spectrum potentially observable with \hi intensity mapping observations. We forecast the prospective constraints on the four fundamental shapes of primordial non-Gaussianity (local, equilateral, orthogonal, and enfolded), with the current and future \hi intensity mapping experiments, BINGO, FAST, and SKA-I. With the current configuration of the experiments and assumed one-year observation time, we find that the SKA-I will provide tighter constraints on the local shape of primoridal non-Gaussianity than Planck. The results are $(σ_{f^{\rm local}_{\rm NL}},σ_{f^{\rm equil}_{\rm NL}},σ_{f^{\rm orth}_{\rm NL}},σ_{f^{\rm enfold}_{\rm NL}})_{\rm SKA-I}=(0.54, 86, 25, 43)$, $(σ_{f^{\rm local}_{\rm NL}},σ_{f^{\rm equil}_{\rm NL}},σ_{f^{\rm orth}_{\rm NL}},σ_{f^{\rm enfold}_{\rm NL}})_{\rm BINGO}=(17, 100, 128, 164)$, $(σ_{f^{\rm local}_{\rm NL}},σ_{f^{\rm equil}_{\rm NL}},σ_{f^{\rm orth}_{\rm NL}},σ_{f^{\rm enfold}_{\rm NL}})_{\rm FAST}=(9.5, 44, 75, 94)$. If the lower frequency band of FAST can be used, the constraint on local-type primordial non-Gaussianity will be $σ_{f_\mathrm{NL}}\sim1.62$ which is better than Planck. In addition, if the observation time for FAST could be extended to two years, the constraint on the equilateral shape of primordial non-Gaussianity would be improved to $σ_{f_\mathrm{NL}}\sim32$. Similarly, if the observational time of SKA-I could be extended to two years, the constraint on local and orthogonal shapes could be improved to $0.43$ and $20$, respectively, achieving better constraints than Planck.

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arXiv2017

MeerKLASS: MeerKAT Large Area Synoptic Survey

We discuss the ground-breaking science that will be possible with a wide area survey, using the MeerKAT telescope, known as MeerKLASS (MeerKAT Large Area Synoptic Survey). The current specifications of MeerKAT make it a great fit for science applications that require large survey speeds but not necessarily high angular resolutions. In particular, for cosmology, a large survey over $\sim 4,000 \, {\rm deg}^2$ for $\sim 4,000$ hours will potentially provide the first ever measurements of the baryon acoustic oscillations using the 21cm intensity mapping technique, with enough accuracy to impose constraints on the nature of dark energy. The combination with multi-wavelength data will give unique additional information, such as exquisite constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity using the multi-tracer technique, as well as a better handle on foregrounds and systematics. Such a wide survey with MeerKAT is also a great match for HI galaxy studies, providing unrivalled statistics in the pre-SKA era for galaxies resolved in the HI emission line beyond local structures at z > 0.01. It will also produce a large continuum galaxy sample down to a depth of about 5\,$μ$Jy in L-band, which is quite unique over such large areas and will allow studies of the large-scale structure of the Universe out to high redshifts, complementing the galaxy HI survey to form a transformational multi-wavelength approach to study galaxy dynamics and evolution. Finally, the same survey will supply unique information for a range of other science applications, including a large statistical investigation of galaxy clusters as well as produce a rotation measure map across a huge swathe of the sky. The MeerKLASS survey will be a crucial step on the road to using SKA1-MID for cosmological applications and other commensal surveys, as described in the top priority SKA key science projects (abridged).

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arXiv2017

Constraining the ionized gas evolution with CMB-spectroscopic survey cross-correlation

We forecast the prospective constraints on the ionized gas model $f_{\rm gas}(z)$ at different evolutionary epochs via the tomographic cross-correlation between kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect and the reconstructed momentum field at different redshifts. The experiments we consider are the Planck and CMB Stage-4 survey for CMB and the SDSS-III for the galaxy spectroscopic survey. We calculate the tomographic cross-correlation power spectrum, and use the Fisher matrix to forecast the detectability of different $f_{\rm gas}(z)$ models. We find that for constant $f_{\rm gas}$ model, Planck can constrain the error of $f_{\rm gas}$ ($σ_{f_{\rm gas}}$) at each redshift bin to $\sim 0.2$, whereas four cases of CMB-S4 can achieve $σ_{f_{\rm gas}} \sim 10^{-3}$. For $f_{\rm gas}(z)=f_{\rm gas,0}/(1+z)$ model the error budget will be slightly broadened. We also investigate the model $f_{\rm gas}(z)=f_{\rm gas,0}/(1+z)^α$. Planck is unable to constrain the index of redshift evolution, but the CMB-S4 experiments can constrain the index $α$ to the level of $σ_α \sim 0.01$--$0.1$. The tomographic cross-correlation method will provide an accurate measurement of the ionized gas evolution at different epochs of the Universe.

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arXiv2016

Update on the BINGO 21cm intensity mapping experiment

21cm intensity mapping is a novel approach aimed at measuring the power spectrum of density fluctuations and deducing cosmological information, notably from the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations (BAO). We give an update on the progress of BAO from Integrated Neutral Gas Observations (BINGO) which is a single dish intensity mapping project. First we explain the basic ideas behind intensity mapping concept before updating the instrument design for BINGO. We also outline the survey we plan to make and its projected science output including estimates of cosmological parameters.

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arXiv2016

Cross-correlating Planck tSZ with RCSLenS weak lensing: Implications for cosmology and AGN feedback

We present measurements of the spatial mapping between (hot) baryons and the total matter in the Universe, via the cross-correlation between the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) map from Planck and the weak gravitational lensing maps from the Red Sequence Cluster Survey (RCSLenS). The cross-correlations are performed on the map level where all the sources (including diffuse intergalactic gas) contribute to the signal. We consider two configuration-space correlation function estimators, $ξ^{ y-κ}$ and $ξ^ {y-γ_{t}}$, and a Fourier space estimator, $C_{\ell}^{y-κ}$, in our analysis. We detect a significant correlation out to three degrees of angular separation on the sky. Based on statistical noise only, we can report 13$σ$ and 17$σ$ detections of the cross-correlation using the configuration-space $y-κ$ and $y-γ_{t}$ estimators, respectively. Including a heuristic estimate of the sampling variance yields a detection significance of 6$σ$ and 8$σ$, respectively. A similar level of detection is obtained from the Fourier-space estimator, $C_{\ell}^{y-κ}$. As each estimator probes different dynamical ranges, their combination improves the significance of the detection. We compare our measurements with predictions from the cosmo-OWLS suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, where different galactic feedback models are implemented. We find that a model with considerable AGN feedback that removes large quantities of hot gas from galaxy groups and WMAP-7yr best-fit cosmological parameters provides the best match to the measurements. All baryonic models in the context of a Planck cosmology over-predict the observed signal. Similar cosmological conclusions are drawn when we employ a halo model with the observed `universal' pressure profile.

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arXiv2016

The information content of cosmic microwave background anisotropies

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) contains perturbations that are close to Gaussian and isotropic. This means that its information content, in the sense of the ability to constrain cosmological models, is closely related to the number of modes probed in CMB power spectra. Rather than making forecasts for specific experimental setups, here we take a more pedagogical approach and ask how much information we can extract from the CMB if we are only limited by sample variance. We show that, compared with temperature measurements, the addition of E-mode polarization doubles the number of modes available out to a fixed maximum multipole, provided that all of the TT, TE, and EE power spectra are measured. However, the situation in terms of constraints on particular parameters is more complicated, as we explain and illustrate graphically. We also discuss the enhancements in information that can come from adding B-mode polarization and gravitational lensing. We show how well one could ever determine the basic cosmological parameters from CMB data compared with what has been achieved with Planck, which has already probed a substantial fraction of the TT information. Lastly, we look at constraints on neutrino mass as a specific example of how lensing information improves future prospects beyond the current 6-parameter model.

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arXiv2016

How much cosmological information can be measured?

It has become common to call this the "era of precision cosmology," and hence one rarely hears about the finiteness of the amount of information that is available for constraining cosmological parameters. Under the assumption that the perturbations are purely Gaussian, the amount of extractable information (in terms of total signal-to-noise ratio for power spectrum measurements) is the same (up to a small numerical factor) as an accounting of the number of observable modes. For studies of the microwave sky, we are probably within a factor of a few of the amount of accessible information. To dramatically reduce the uncertainties on parameters will require three-dimensional probes, such as ambitious future redshifted 21-cm surveys. However, even there the available information is still finite, with the total effective signal-to-noise ratio on parameters probably not exceeding $10^7$. The amount of observable information will increase with time (but very slowly) into the extremely distant future.

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arXiv2016

Dissecting the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich-gravitational lensing cross-correlation with hydrodynamical simulations

We use the cosmo-OWLS suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, which includes different galactic feedback models, to predict the cross-correlation signal between weak gravitational lensing and the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) $y$-parameter. The predictions are compared to the recent detection reported by van Waerbeke and collaborators. The simulations reproduce the weak lensing-tSZ cross-correlation, $ξ_{yκ}(θ)$, well. The uncertainty arising from different possible feedback models appears to be important on small scales only ($θ\lesssim 10$ arcmin), while the amplitude of the correlation on all scales is sensitive to cosmological parameters that control the growth rate of structure (such as $σ_8$, $Ω_m$ and $Ω_b$). This study confirms our previous claim (in Ma et al.) that a significant proportion of the signal originates from the diffuse gas component in low-mass ($M_{\rm{halo}} \lesssim 10^{14} M_{\odot}$) clusters as well as from the region beyond the virial radius. We estimate that approximately 20$\%$ of the detected signal comes from low-mass clusters, which corresponds to about 30$\%$ of the baryon density of the Universe. The simulations also suggest that more than half of the baryons in the Universe are in the form of diffuse gas outside halos ($\gtrsim 5$ times the virial radius) which is not hot or dense enough to produce a significant tSZ signal or be observed by X-ray experiments. Finally, we show that future high-resolution tSZ-lensing cross-correlation observations will serve as a powerful tool for discriminating between different galactic feedback models.

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arXiv2016

CMB Cold Spot from Inflationary Feature Scattering

We propose a "feature-scattering" mechanism to explain the cosmic microwave background cold spot seen from WMAP and Planck maps. If there are hidden features in the potential of multi-field inflation, the inflationary trajectory can be scattered by such features. The scattering is controlled by the amount of isocurvature fluctuations, and thus can be considered as a mechanism to convert isocurvature fluctuations into curvature fluctuations. This mechanism predicts localized cold spots (instead of hot ones) on the CMB. In addition, it may also bridge a connection between the cold spot and a dip on the CMB power spectrum at $\ell \sim 20$.

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arXiv2015

The 6dF Galaxy Survey: Bulk Flows on $50-70 h^{-1}$ Mpc scales

We measure the bulk flow of the local Universe using the 6dF Galaxy Survey peculiar velocity sample (6dFGSv), the largest and most homogeneous peculiar velocity sample to date. 6dFGSv is a Fundamental Plane sample of $\sim10^4$ peculiar velocities covering the whole southern hemisphere for galactic latitude $|b| > 10^\circ$, out to redshift ${z=0.0537}$. We apply the `Minimum Variance' bulk flow weighting method, which allows us to make a robust measurement of the bulk flow on scales of $50$ and $70\,h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$. We investigate and correct for potential bias due to the lognormal velocity uncertainties, and verify our method by constructing $Λ{\rm CDM}$ 6dFGSv mock catalogues incorporating the survey selection function. For a hemisphere of radius $50\,h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$ we find a bulk flow amplitude of $U=248\pm58\,{\rm km}\,{\rm s}^{-1}$ in the direction $(l,b) = (318^\circ\pm20^\circ,40^\circ\pm13^\circ)$, and for $70\,h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$ we find $U=243\pm58\,{\rm km}\,{\rm s}^{-1}$, in the same direction. Our measurement gives us a constraint on $σ_8$ of $1.01^{+1.07}_{-0.58}$. Our results are in agreement with other recent measurements of the direction of the bulk flow, and our measured amplitude is consistent with a $Λ{\rm CDM}$ prediction.

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arXiv2015

HI intensity mapping with FAST

We discuss the detectability of large-scale HI intensity fluctuations using the FAST telescope. We present forecasts for the accuracy of measuring the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations and constraining the properties of dark energy. The FAST $19$-beam L-band receivers ($1.05$--$1.45$ GHz) can provide constraints on the matter power spectrum and dark energy equation of state parameters ($w_{0},w_{a}$) that are comparable to the BINGO and CHIME experiments. For one year of integration time we find that the optimal survey area is $6000\,{\rm deg}^2$. However, observing with larger frequency coverage at higher redshift ($0.95$--$1.35$ GHz) improves the projected errorbars on the HI power spectrum by more than $2~σ$ confidence level. The combined constraints from FAST, CHIME, BINGO and Planck CMB observations can provide reliable, stringent constraints on the dark energy equation of state.

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arXiv2015

Constraining cosmology with pairwise velocity estimator

In this paper, we develop a full statistical method for the pairwise velocity estimator previously proposed, and apply Cosmicflows-2 catalogue to this method to constrain cosmology. We first calculate the covariance matrix for line-of-sight velocities for a given catalogue, and then simulate the mock full-sky surveys from it, and then calculate the variance for the pairwise velocity field. By applying the $8315$ independent galaxy samples and compressed $5224$ group samples from Cosmicflows-2 catalogue to this statistical method, we find that the joint constraint on $Ω^{0.6}_{\rm m}h$ and $σ_{8}$ is completely consistent with the WMAP 9-year and Planck 2015 best-fitting cosmology. Currently, there is no evidence for the modified gravity models or any dynamic dark energy models from this practice, and the error-bars need to be reduced in order to provide any concrete evidence against/to support $Λ$CDM cosmology.

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arXiv2015

A timing constraint on the (total) mass of the Large Magellanic Cloud

This paper explores the effect of the LMC on the mass estimates obtained from the timing argument. We show that accounting for the presence of the LMC systematically lowers the Local Group mass ($M_{\rm LG}$) derived from the relative motion of the Milky Way--Andromeda pair. Motivated by this result we apply a Bayesian technique devised by Peñarrubia et al. (2014) to simultaneously fit (i) distances and velocities of galaxies within 3~Mpc and (ii) the relative motion between the Milky Way and Andromeda derived from HST observations, with the LMC mass ($M_{\rm LMC}$) as a free parameter. Our analysis returns a Local Group mass $M_{\rm LG}=2.64^{+0.42}_{-0.38}\times 10^{12}M_\odot$ at a 68\% confidence level. The masses of the Milky Way, $M_{\rm MW}=1.04_{-0.23}^{+0.26}\times 10^{12}M_\odot$, and Andromeda, $M_{\rm M31}=1.33_{-0.33}^{+0.39}\times 10^{12}M_\odot$, are consistent with previous estimates that neglect the impact of the LMC on the observed Hubble flow. We find a (total) LMC mass $M_{\rm LMC}=0.25_{-0.08}^{+0.09}\times 10^{12}M_\odot$, which is indicative of an extended dark matter halo and supports the scenario where this galaxy is just past its first pericentric approach. Consequently, these results suggest that the LMC may induce significant perturbations on the Galactic potential.

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arXiv2015

Probing the diffuse baryon distribution with the lensing-tSZ cross-correlation

Approximately half of the Universe's baryons are in a form that has been hard to detect directly. However, the missing component can be traced through the cross-correlation of the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect with weak gravitational lensing. We build a model for this correlation and use it to constrain the extended baryon component, employing data from the Canada France Hawaii Lensing Survey and the {\it Planck\/} satellite. The measured correlation function is consistent with an isothermal $β$-model for the halo gas pressure profile, and the 1- and 2-halo terms are both detected at the 4$σ$ level. In addition, we measure the hydrostatic mass bias $(1-b)=0.79^{+0.07}_{-0.10}$, which is consistent with numerical simulation results and the constraints from X-ray observations. The effective temperature of the gas is found to be in the range ($7\times10^{5}$--$3 \times10^{8}$)\,K, with approximately $50\%$ of the baryons appearing to lie beyond the virial radius of the halos, consistent with current expectations for the warm-hot intergalactic medium.

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