Prof. David Alonso

Abstract:

Context. The upcoming Simons Observatory Small Aperture Telescopes aim at achieving a constraint on the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio r at the level of σ (r = 0)≤0.003, observing the polarized CMB in the presence of partial sky coverage, cosmic variance, inhomogeneous non-white noise, and Galactic foregrounds. Aims. We present three different analysis pipelines able to constrain r given the latest available instrument performance, and compare their predictions on a set of sky simulations that allow us to explore a number of Galactic foreground models and elements of instrumental noise, relevant for the Simons Observatory. Methods. The three pipelines employ different combinations of parametric and non-parametric component separation at the map and power spectrum levels, and use B-mode purification to estimate the CMB B-mode power spectrum. We applied them to a common set of simulated realistic frequency maps, and compared and validated them with focus on their ability to extract robust constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio r. We evaluated their performance in terms of bias and statistical uncertainty on this parameter. Results. In most of the scenarios the three methodologies achieve similar performance. Nevertheless, several simulations with complex foreground signals lead to a > 2σ bias on r if analyzed with the default versions of these pipelines, highlighting the need for more sophisticated pipeline components that marginalize over foreground residuals. We show two such extensions, using power-spectrum-based and map-based methods, that are able to fully reduce the bias on r below the statistical uncertainties in all foreground models explored, at a moderate cost in terms of σ (r).

Abstract:

We study the cross-correlation between maps of the unresolved 𝛾-ray background constructed from the 12-year data release of the Fermi Large-Area Telescope, and the overdensity of galaxies in the redshift range 𝑧≲0.4 as measured by the 2MASS photometric redshift survey and the WISE-SuperCOSMOS photometric survey. A signal is detected at the 8−10⁢𝜎 level, which we interpret in terms of both astrophysical 𝛾-ray sources, and weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP) dark matter decay and annihilation. The sensitivity achieved allows us to characterise the energy and redshift dependence of the signal, and we show that the latter is incompatible with a pure dark matter origin. We thus use our measurement to place an upper bound on the WIMP decay rate and the annihilation cross section, finding constraints that are competitive with those found in other analyses. Our analysis is based on the extraction of clean model-independent observables that can then be used to constrain arbitrary astrophysical and particle physics models. In this sense we produce measurements of the 𝛾-ray emissivity as a function of redshift and rest-frame energy 𝜖, and of a quantity 𝐹⁡(𝜖) encapsulating all WIMP parameters relevant for dark matter decay or annihilation. We make these measurements, together with a full account of their statistical uncertainties, publicly available.

Abstract:

<jats:p>We study the cross-correlation between maps of the unresolved <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mi>γ</a:mi></a:math>-ray background constructed from the 12-year data release of the Large-Area Telescope, and the overdensity of galaxies in the redshift range <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><c:mi>z</c:mi><c:mo>≲</c:mo><c:mn>0.4</c:mn></c:math> as measured by the 2MASS photometric redshift survey and the WISE-SuperCOSMOS photometric survey. A signal is detected at the <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><e:mn>8</e:mn><e:mo>−</e:mo><e:mn>10</e:mn><e:mi>σ</e:mi></e:math> level, which we interpret in terms of both astrophysical <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><g:mi>γ</g:mi></g:math>-ray sources, and weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP) dark matter decay and annihilation. The sensitivity achieved allows us to characterise the energy and redshift dependence of the signal, and we show that the latter is incompatible with a pure dark matter origin. We thus use our measurement to place an upper bound on the WIMP decay rate and the annihilation cross section, finding constraints that are competitive with those found in other analyses. Our analysis is based on the extraction of clean model-independent observables that can then be used to constrain arbitrary astrophysical and particle physics models. In this sense we produce measurements of the <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><i:mi>γ</i:mi></i:math>-ray emissivity as a function of redshift and rest-frame energy <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><k:mi>ϵ</k:mi></k:math>, and of a quantity <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><m:mi>F</m:mi><m:mo stretchy="false">(</m:mo><m:mi>ϵ</m:mi><m:mo stretchy="false">)</m:mo></m:math> encapsulating all WIMP parameters relevant for dark matter decay or annihilation. We make these measurements, together with a full account of their statistical uncertainties, publicly available.</jats:p> <jats:sec> <jats:title/> <jats:supplementary-material> <jats:permissions> <jats:copyright-statement>Published by the American Physical Society</jats:copyright-statement> <jats:copyright-year>2024</jats:copyright-year> </jats:permissions> </jats:supplementary-material> </jats:sec>

Abstract:

In the context of cosmological weak lensing studies, intrinsic alignments (IAs) are one of the most In the context of cosmological weak lensing studies, intrinsic alignments (IAs) are one of the most complicated astrophysical systematic\rev{s} to model, given the poor understanding of the physical processes that cause them. A number of modelling frameworks for IAs have been proposed in the literature, both purely phenomenological or grounded on a perturbative treatment of symmetry-based arguments. However, the accuracy with which any of these approaches is able to describe the impact of IAs on cosmic shear data, particularly on the comparatively small scales ([Math Processing Error]) to which this observable is sensitive, is not clear. Here we quantify the level of disagreement between the true underlying intrinsic alignments and the theoretical model used to describe them that can be allowed in the context of cosmic shear analyses with future Stage-IV surveys. We consider various models describing this "IA residual’', covering both physics-based approaches, as well as completely agnostic prescriptions. The same qualitative results are recovered in all cases explored: for a Stage-IV cosmic shear survey, a mis-modelling of the IA contribution at the [Math Processing Error] level produces shifts of [Math Processing Error] on the final cosmological parameter constraints. Current and future IA models should therefore aim to achieve this level of accuracy, a prospect that is not unfeasible for models with sufficient flexibility.