Beecroft Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology

Abstract:

We investigate the effects of large inhomogeneities in both the inflaton field and its momentum. We find that in general, large kinetic perturbations reduce the number of e-folds of inflation. In particular, we observe that inflationary models with sub-Planckian characteristic scales are not robust even to kinetic energy densities that are sub-dominant to the potential energy density, unless the initial field configuration is sufficiently far from the minimum. This strengthens the results of our previous work. In inflationary models with super-Planckian characteristic scales, despite a reduction in the number of e-folds, inflation is robust even when the potential energy density is initially sub-dominant. For the cases we study, the robustness of inflation strongly depends on whether the inflaton field is driven into the reheating phase by the inhomogeneous scalar dynamics.

Abstract:

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>We present a formalism to extract the angular power spectrum of fields sampled at a finite number of points with arbitrary positions — a common situation for several catalog-based astrophysical probes — through a simple extension of the standard pseudo-<jats:italic>C<jats:sub>ℓ</jats:sub> </jats:italic> algorithm. A key complication in this case is the need to handle the shot noise component of the associated discrete angular mask which, for sparse catalogs, can lead to strong coupling between very different angular scales. We show that this problem can be solved easily by estimating this contribution analytically and subtracting it. The resulting estimator is immune to small-scale pixelization effects and aliasing, and, most notably, unbiased against the contribution from measurement noise uncorrelated between different sources. We demonstrate the validity of the method in the context of cosmic shear datasets, and showcase its usage in the case of other spin-0 and spin-1 astrophysical fields of interest. We incorporate the method in the public <jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://github.com/LSSTDESC/NaMaster" xlink:type="simple">&lt;monospace&gt;NaMaster&lt;/monospace&gt;</jats:ext-link> code.</jats:p>

Abstract:

Modern cosmology is built on the assumption that the Universe is homogeneous and isotropic on large scales — but this is challenged by results of the Ellis–Baldwin test that show an unexplained anomaly in the distribution of distant galaxies and quasars.

Abstract:

Galaxy proto-clusters are receiving increased interest since most of the processes shaping the structure of clusters of galaxies and their galaxy population happen at the early stages of their formation. The Euclid Survey will provide a unique opportunity to discover a large number of proto-clusters over a large fraction of the sky (14 500 deg2). In this paper, we explore the expected observational properties of proto-clusters in the Euclid Wide Survey by means of theoretical models and simulations. We provide an overview of the predicted proto-cluster extent, galaxy density profiles, mass-richness relations, abundance, and sky-filling as a function of redshift. Useful analytical approximations for the functions of these properties are provided. The focus is on the redshift range z = 1.5-4. In particular we discuss the density contrast with which proto-clusters can be observed against the background in the galaxy distribution if photometric galaxy redshifts are used as supplied by the ESA Euclid mission together with the ground-based photometric surveys. We show that the obtainable detection significance is sufficient to find large numbers of interesting proto-cluster candidates. For quantitative studies, additional spectroscopic follow-up is required to confirm the proto-clusters and establish their richness.

Abstract:

Context. The Euclid mission of the European Space Agency will deliver weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering surveys that can be used to constrain the standard cosmological model and extensions thereof. Aims. We present forecasts from the combination of the Euclid photometric galaxy surveys (weak lensing, galaxy clustering, and their cross-correlations) and its spectroscopic redshift survey with respect to their sensitivity to cosmological parameters. We include the summed neutrino mass, Σmν, and the effective number of relativistic species, Neff, in the standard Λ CDM scenario and in the dynamical dark energy (w0waCDM) scenario. Methods. We compared the accuracy of different algorithms predicting the non-linear matter power spectrum for such models. We then validated several pipelines for Fisher matrix and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) forecasts, using different theory codes, algorithms for numerical derivatives, and assumptions on the non-linear cut-off scale. Results. The Euclid primary probes alone will reach a sensitivity of σ (Σmν = 60 meV) = 56 meV in the Λ CDM+Σmν model, whereas the combination with cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from Planck is expected to achieve σ (Σmν) = 23 meV, offering evidence of a non-zero neutrino mass to at least the 2.6 σ level. This could be pushed to a 4 σ detection if future CMB data from LiteBIRD and CMB Stage-IV were included. In combination with Planck, Euclid will also deliver tight constraints on Δ Neff < 0.144 (95%CL) in the Λ CDM+Σmν+Neff model or even Δ Neff < 0.063 when future CMB data are included. When floating the dark energy parameters, we find that the sensitivity to Neff remains stable, but for Σmν, it gets degraded by up to a factor of 2, at most. Conclusions. This work illustrates the complementarity among the Euclid spectroscopic and photometric surveys and among Euclid and CMB constraints. Euclid will offer great potential in measuring the neutrino mass and excluding well-motivated scenarios with additional relativistic particles.