Euclid

Abstract:

Charge-coupled device (CCD) detectors, widely used to obtain digital imaging, can be damaged by high energy radiation. Degraded images appear blurred, because of an effect known as Charge Transfer Inefficiency (CTI), which trails bright objects as the image is read out. It is often possible to correct most of the trailing during post-processing, by moving flux back to where it belongs. We compare several popular algorithms for this: quantifying the effect of their physical assumptions and tradeoffs between speed and accuracy. We combine their best elements to construct a more accurate model of damaged CCDs in the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys/Wide Field Channel, and update it using data up to early 2013. Our algorithm now corrects 98 per cent of CTI trailing in science exposures, a substantial improvement over previous work. Further progress will be fundamentally limited by the presence of read noise. Read noise is added after charge transfer so does not get trailed-but it is incorrectly untrailed during post-processing. © 2014 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Abstract:

Higher order, non-Gaussian aspects of the large-scale structure carry valuable information on structure formation and cosmology, which is complementary to second-order statistics. In this work, we measure second- and third-order weak-lensing aperture-mass moments from the Canada-France-Hawaii Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) and combine those with cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy probes. The third moment is measured with a significance of 2σ. The combined constraint on Σ8 = σ8(Ωm/0.27)α is improved by 10 per cent, in comparison to the second-order only, and the allowed ranges for Ωm and σ8 are substantially reduced. Including general triangles of the lensing bispectrum yields tighter constraints compared to probing mainly equilateral triangles. Second- and third-order CFHTLenS lensing measurements improve Planck CMB constraints on Ωm and σ8 by 26 per cent for flat Λ cold dark matter. For a model with free curvature, the joint CFHTLenS-Planck result is Ωm = 0.28 ± 0.02 (68 per cent confidence), which is an improvement of 43 per cent compared to Planck alone. We test how our results are potentially subject to three astrophysical sources of contamination: source-lens clustering, the intrinsic alignment of galaxy shapes, and baryonic effects. We explore future limitations of the cosmological use of third-order weak lensing, such as the non-linear model and the Gaussianity of the likelihood function. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Abstract:

We present a study of the relation between dark matter halo mass and the baryonic content of their host galaxies, quantified through galaxy luminosity and stellar mass. Our investigation uses 154 deg2 of Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) lensing and photometric data, obtained from the CFHT Legacy Survey. To interpret the weak lensing signal around our galaxies, we employ a galaxy-galaxy lensing halo model which allows us to constrain the halo mass and the satellite fraction. Our analysis is limited to lenses at redshifts between 0.2 and 0.4, split into a red and a blue sample. We express the relationship between dark matter halo mass and baryonic observable as a power lawwith pivot points of 1011 h -270 L and 2 × 1011 h -270 M for luminosity and stellar mass, respectively. For the luminosity-halo mass relation, we find a slope of 1.32 ± 0.06 and a normalization of 1.19+0.06 -0.07 × 1013 h -170 M for red galaxies, while for blue galaxies the best-fitting slope is 1.09+0.20-0.13 and the normalization is 0.18+0.04 -0.05 × 1013 h -170 M. Similarly, we find a best-fitting slope of 1.36+0.06-0.07 and a normalization of 1.43+0.11-0.08 × 1013 h -170 M for the stellar mass-halo mass relation of red galaxies, while for blue galaxies the corresponding values are 0.98+0.08-0.07 and 0.84+0.20-0.16 × 1013 h -170 M. All numbers convey the 68 per cent confidence limit. For red lenses, the fraction which are satellites inside a larger halo tends to decrease with luminosity and stellar mass, with the sample being nearly all satellites for a stellar mass of 2 × 109 h -270 M. The satellite fractions are generally close to zero for blue lenses, irrespective of luminosity or stellar mass. This, together with the shallower relation between halo mass and baryonic tracer, is a direct confirmation from galaxy-galaxy lensing that blue galaxies reside in less clustered environments than red galaxies.We also find that the halo model, while matching the lensing signal around red lenses well, is prone to overpredicting the large-scale signal for faint and less massive blue lenses. This could be a further indication that these galaxies tend to be more isolated than assumed. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Abstract:

We present a comparison of two Suzaku X-ray observations of the nearby (z = 0.184), luminous (L bol∼ 1047 erg s-1) type I quasar, PDS 456. A new 125 ks Suzaku observation in 2011 caught the quasar during a period of low X-ray flux and with a hard X-ray spectrum, in contrast with a previous 190 ks Suzaku observation in 2007 when the quasar appeared brighter and had a steep (Γ > 2) X-ray spectrum. The 2011 X-ray spectrum contains a pronounced trough near 9 keV in the quasar rest frame, which can be modeled with blueshifted iron K-shell absorption, most likely from the He- and H-like transitions of iron. The absorption trough is observed at a similar rest-frame energy as in the earlier 2007 observation, which appears to confirm the existence of a persistent high-velocity wind in PDS 456, at an outflow velocity of 0.25-0.30c. The spectral variability between 2007 and 2011 can be accounted for by variations in a partial covering absorber, increasing in covering fraction from the brighter 2007 observation to the hard and faint 2011 observation. Overall, the low-flux 2011 observation can be explained if PDS 456 is observed at relatively low inclination angles through a Compton-thick wind, originating from the accretion disk, which significantly attenuates the X-ray flux from the quasar. © 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Abstract:

We investigate the capabilities of various stages of the SKA to perform world-leading weak gravitational lensing surveys. We outline a way forward to develop the tools needed for pursuing weak lensing in the radio band. We identify the key analysis challenges and the key pathfinder experiments that will allow us to address them in the run up to the SKA. We identify and summarize the unique and potentially very powerful aspects of radio weak lensing surveys, facilitated by the SKA, that can solve major challenges in the field of weak lensing. These include the use of polarization and rotational velocity information to control intrinsic alignments, and the new area of weak lensing using intensity mapping experiments. We show how the SKA lensing surveys will both complement and enhance corresponding efforts in the optical wavebands through cross-correlation techniques and by way of extending the reach of weak lensing to high redshift.