Beecroft Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology

Abstract:

The near-infrared calibration unit (NI-CU) on board Euclid’s Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP) is the first astronomical calibration lamp based on light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to be operated in space. Euclid is a mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015–2025 framework to explore the dark universe and provide a next-level characterisation of the nature of gravitation, dark matter, and dark energy. Calibrating photometric and spectrometric measurements of galaxies to better than 1.5% accuracy in a survey homogeneously mapping ∼14 000 deg2 of extragalactic sky requires a very detailed characterisation of near-infrared (NIR) detector properties as well as constant monitoring of them in flight. To cover two of the main contributions – relative pixel-to-pixel sensitivity and non-linearity characteristics – and to support other calibration activities, NI-CU was designed to provide spatially approximately homogeneous (<12% variations) and temporally stable illumination (0.1–0.2% over 1200 s) over the NISP detector plane with minimal power consumption and energy dissipation. NI-CU covers the spectral range ∼[900,1900] nm – at cryo-operating temperature – at five fixed independent wavelengths to capture wavelength-dependent behaviour of the detectors, with fluence over a dynamic range of ≳100 from ∼15 ph s−1 pixel−1 to >1500 ph s−1 pixel−1. For this functionality, NI-CU is based on LEDs. We describe the rationale behind the decision and design process, the challenges in sourcing the right LEDs, and the qualification process and lessons learned. We also provide a description of the completed NI-CU, its capabilities, and performance as well as its limits. NI-CU has been integrated into NISP and the Euclid satellite, and since Euclid’s launch in July 2023, it has started supporting survey operations.

Abstract:

We use the cosmological hydrodynamical simulation NewHorizon to study the effects of the baryonic component on the inner mass profile of dark matter haloes of isolated galaxies (). Dark matter deficits (‘cores’) develop only in galaxies in a narrow range of stellar mass, . The lower stellar mass limit arises because a minimum amount of star formation is required to drive the baryonic outflows that redistribute dark matter and create a core. The upper limit roughly coincides with the total amount of dark matter initially contained within the innermost 2 kpc (), which roughly coincides with the stellar half-mass radius of these dwarfs. This enclosed mass is quite insensitive to the total virial mass of the system. The same upper limit applies to other simulations, like NIHAO and EAGLE-CHT10, despite their rather different galaxy formation efficiencies. This suggests that it is the galaxy total stellar mass that determines when a core is formed, and not the galaxy-to-dark halo mass ratio, as argued in earlier work. This is consistent with a back-of-the-envelope estimate for a SN-induced rate of orbital diffusion. Although NewHorizon dwarfs reproduce the observed diversity of rotation curves better than other simulations, there are significant differences in the gravitational importance of baryons in the inner regions of dwarfs compared to observations. These differences prevent us from concluding that cosmological simulations are currently fully able to account for the observed diversity of rotation curve shapes.

Abstract:

<jats:p>We use the projected clustering of quasars in the Gaia-unWISE quasar catalog, Quaia, and its cross-correlation with CMB lensing data from Planck, to measure the large-scale turnover of the matter power spectrum, associated with the size of the horizon at the epoch of matter-radiation equality. The turnover is detected with a significance of between <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mn>2.3</mml:mn></mml:math> and <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3.1</mml:mn><mml:mi>σ</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math>, depending on the method used to quantify it. From this measurement, the equality scale is determined at the <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mo>∼</mml:mo><mml:mn>20</mml:mn><mml:mi>%</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math> level. Using the turnover scale as a standard ruler alone (suppressing information from the large-scale curvature of the power spectrum), in combination with supernova data through an inverse distance ladder approach, we measure the current expansion rate to be . The addition of information coming from the power spectrum curvature approximately halves the standard ruler uncertainty. Our measurement in combination with calibrated supernovae from Pantheon <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:math> and SH0ES constrains the CMB temperature to be , independently of CMB data. Alternatively, assuming the value of from COBE-FIRAS, we can constrain the effective number of relativistic species in the early Universe to be .</jats:p>

Abstract:

We present a spatially resolved analysis of four star-forming galaxies at using data from the JWST Public Release Imaging for Extragalactic Research (PRIMER) and ALMA-[C II] Resolved ISm in STar-forming galaxies with ALma (CRISTAL) surveys to probe the stellar and interstellar medium properties on the sub- scale. In the JWST NIRCam imaging we find that the galaxies are composed of multiple clumps (between 2 and ∼8) separated by , with comparable morphologies and sizes in the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) and optical. Using BAGPIPES to perform pixel-by-pixel spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting to the JWST data, we show that the star formation rate (SFR) () and stellar mass ( ) derived from the resolved analysis are in close () agreement with those obtained by fitting the integrated photometry. In contrast to studies of lower mass sources, we thus find a reduced impact of outshining of the older (more massive) stellar populations in these normal galaxies. Our JWST analysis recovers bluer rest-frame UV slopes () and younger ages () than archival values. We find that the dust continuum from ALMA-CRISTAL seen in two of these galaxies correlates, as expected, with regions of redder rest-frame UV slopes and the SED-derived , as well as the peak in the stellar mass map. We compute the resolved –relation, showing that the IRX is consistent with the local starburst attenuation curve and further demonstrating the presence of an inhomogeneous dust distribution within the galaxies. A comparison of the CRISTAL sources to those from the FirstLight zoom-in simulation of galaxies with the same and SFR reveals similar age and colour gradients, suggesting that major mergers may be important in the formation of clumpy galaxies at this epoch.