Reconstructing spatially-varying multiplicative bias for Stage IV weak lensing galaxy surveys with a quadratic estimator

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) (2026) stag537

Authors:

Konstantinos Tanidis, David Alonso, Lance Miller, Joachim Harnois-Déraps

Abstract:

Abstract We present a quadratic estimator that detects and reconstructs spatially-varying multiplicative (m −) bias in weak lensing shear measurements, by exploiting the EB mode coupling that it generates. The method combines E and B modes with inverse-variance weights, to yield an unbiased reconstruction of $m(\boldsymbol{\theta })$ to first order. We study the ability of future Stage IV surveys to obtain an unbiased reconstruction of the m-bias in differing scenarios, considering differing bias morphologies, and characteristic scales, as well as differing metrics to quantify the signal-to-noise ratio of the reconstructed map. We consider an m pattern repeating on ~1○ × 1○ sky patches, as might be the case for an m field caused by focal-plane systematics. With a Euclid-like redshift distribution, we find that ~5 % rms variations in m-bias may be detected at the 20σ level, after stacking between ~400 and ~1000 patches (rising to between ~2800 and ~7600 for 1 % rms variations, data volumes that are becoming available with upcoming surveys), depending on the morphology of the m pattern. We show that these results are robust against the cosmological model assumed in the reconstruction, as well as the presence of intrinsic alignments or baryonic effects, and that the method shows no spurious response to additive (c −) bias. These results demonstrate that percent-level, spatially-varying m −bias can be detected at high significance, enabling diagnosis and mitigation in the Stage IV weak lensing era.

MIGHTEE-H I: Mass Models and Dark Matter properties

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2026) stag531

Authors:

Anastasia A Ponomareva, PE Mancera Piña, AA Vărăşteanu, M Glowacki, H Desmond, MJ Jarvis, T Yasin, I Heywood, N Maddox, EAK Adams, M Baes, A Gebek, S Kurapati, M Maksymowicz-Maciata, KA Oman, H Pan, I Prandoni, SHA Rajohnson, I Ruffa, K Spekkens

Abstract:

Measuring galaxy rotation curves is critical for inferring the properties of dark-matter haloes in the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) paradigm. We present H i rotation curves and mass models for 20 galaxies from the MIGHTEE survey. Using extended H i kinematics, we construct resolved mass models that include stellar, gaseous, and dark-matter components. Stellar masses are derived using 3.6 μm imaging under fixed mass-to-light ratio (ϒ* = M/L) assumptions and are complemented, for the first time for a H I-selected sample, by spatially resolved M/L, obtained from multi-wavelength SED fitting. We examine the ratio of baryonic to observed rotation velocity (Vbar/Vobs) at the characteristic radius R2.2. Adopting a fixed ϒ⋆ = 0.5 M⊙/L⊙ yields a clear dependence of V2.2/Vobs on galaxy luminosity, while adopting ϒ⋆ = 0.2 M⊙/L⊙ substantially weakens this trend. In contrast, the resolved M/L analysis preserves the luminosity dependence while modifying the stellar contribution on a galaxy-by-galaxy basis, providing a more accurate representation of the underlying relation. We model the dark-matter haloes using Navarro–Frenk–White profiles and find that the different assumptions for a fixed a M/L systematically shift galaxies relative to the theoretical stellar-to-halo mass and baryonic-to-halo mass relations, while the spatially varying M/L yields the closest agreement with theoretical benchmarks within ΛCDM. We therefore demonstrate that future investigations of the dark matter properties of galaxies using rotation curves need to account for varying M/L across individual galaxy profiles and between galaxies in order to obtain accurate measurements of the dark matter, and therefore test ΛCDM.

Data-driven core-collapse supernova multilateration with first neutrino events

Physical Review D American Physical Society (APS) 113:6 (2026) 063005

Authors:

Farrukh Azfar, Jeff Tseng, Marta Colomer Molla, Kate Scholberg, Alec Habig, Segev BenZvi, Melih Kara, James Kneller, Jost Migenda, Dan Milisavljevic, Evan O’Connor

Abstract:

A Galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) is likely to be observed in neutrino detectors around the world minutes to hours before the electromagnetic radiation arrives. The SuperNova Early Warning System (SNEWS2.0) network of neutrino and dark matter detectors aims to use the relative arrival times of the neutrinos at the different experiments to point back to the supernova so as to facilitate follow-up observation. One of the simplest methods to estimate the CCSN direction is to use the first neutrino events detected through the inverse β decay (IBD) process, ν ¯ e p e + n . We will consider neutrino detectors sensitive to IBD interactions with low backgrounds. The difference in signal arrival times between a large and a small detector will be biased, however, with the first event at the smaller detector, on average, arriving later than that at the larger detector. This bias can be mitigated by using these first events in a data-driven approach without recourse to simulations or models. The resulting method requires, at minimum, only the times of the first events at most detectors, along with a longer time series of events from one larger detector to act as a reference lightcurve. In this article, we demonstrate this method and its uncertainty estimate using pairs of detectors of different sizes and with different supernova distances. Finally, we use this method to calculate probability skymaps using four detectors currently in operation, Super-Kamiokande, Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), Large Volume Detector (LVD), and SNO + , and show that the calculated probabilities yield appropriate confidence intervals for all supernova directions. The area of the 68% confidence interval varies by distance and direction, but is expected to be a few thousand square degrees. The resulting skymaps should be useful for the multimessenger community as a rapid, initial pointing to follow up on the SNEWS2.0 Galactic CCSN neutrino alert.

MIGHTEE/COSMOS-3D: The discovery of three spectroscopically confirmed radio-selected star-forming galaxies at z = 4.9-5.6

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) (2026) stag473

Authors:

RG Varadaraj, A Saxena, S Fakiolas, IH Whittam, MJ Jarvis, RA Meyer, CL Hale, K Kakiichi, M Li, JB Champagne, B Jin, ZJ Li, M Shuntov

Abstract:

Abstract Radio observations offer a dust-independent probe of star formation and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity, but sufficiently deep data are required to access the crossover luminosity between these processes at high redshift (z > 4.5). We present three spectroscopically confirmed high-redshift radio sources (HzRSs) detected at 1.3 GHz at z = 4.9–5.6, with radio luminosities spanning L1.3 GHz ≈ 2–$5\times 10^{24} \, \rm W \, Hz^{-1}$. These sources were first identified as high-redshift candidates through spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting of archival Hubble, JWST NIRCam+MIRI, and ground-based photometry, and then spectroscopically confirmed via the H α emission line using wide-field slitless spectroscopy from JWST COSMOS-3D. The star formation rates (SFRs) measured from SED fitting, the H α flux, and the 1.3 GHz luminosity, span ~100–$1800\, \rm M_{\odot } \, yr^{-1}$, demonstrating broad agreement between these SFR tracers. We find that these three sources lie either on or 0.5–1.0 dex above the star-forming main sequence at z = 4–6 and have undergone a recent burst of star formation. The sources have extended rest-UV/optical morphologies with no evidence for a dominant point source component, indicating that an AGN is unlikely to dominate their rest-UV and optical emission. Two of the sources have complex, multi-component rest-frame UV/optical morphologies, suggesting that their starbursts may be triggered by merging activity. These HzRSs open up a new window towards probing radio emission powered by star formation alone at z > 4.5, representing a remarkable opportunity to begin tracing star formation, independent of dust, in the early Universe.

MIGHTEE: The dark matter haloes, duty cycle and mechanical feedback from radio-AGN up to z ~ 2.5

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (OUP) (2026) stag468

Authors:

Joel Hamlett, Catherine L Hale, Matt J Jarvis, David Alonso, Natalia Stylianou, Imogen H Whittam

Abstract:

Abstract Radio-AGN are observed to be more strongly clustered than non-active galaxies, though it is unclear whether this is simply due to their preference for massive host galaxies, or if they reside in distinct environments beyond this mass dependence. Using data from three fields covered by the MIGHTEE survey, we measure the angular two-point cross-correlation functions with a large, stellar mass-limited population of near-infrared selected galaxies, overcoming limitations of previous single-deep-field studies. By fitting halo occupation distribution models, we infer the galaxy bias parameters, b, for radio-AGN in three redshift ranges with median redshifts of $z_{\rm {med}}=0.76^{+0.17}_{-0.28}$, $1.25^{+0.14}_{-0.17}$ and $1.75^{+0.44}_{-0.18}$, finding $b=1.94^{+0.07}_{-0.07}$, $2.50^{+0.11}_{-0.18}$ and $3.38^{+0.27}_{-0.38}$, respectively. The typical dark matter halo mass decreases with increasing redshift: $\log _{10}(\langle M_{\rm {h}} \rangle /{\rm {M_\odot }})=13.44^{+0.08}_{-0.08}$, $13.17^{+0.07}_{-0.06}$ and $13.03^{+0.09}_{-0.10}$, which we attribute to the increased abundance of cold gas required to fuel AGN activity at earlier times. The AGN duty cycle is determined to be ~5 − 9%, and we estimate that the total energy radiated by radio-jets over 0 < z < 2.5 is ~1053 J per halo, which is sufficient to account for the observed excess heating of gas beyond that of gravitational collapse. Comparing the typical dark matter halo masses to the values obtained for the control sample, we find that the halo masses of radio-AGN are $1.54^{+0.47}_{-0.33}$, $1.11^{+0.25}_{-0.20}$ and $1.82^{+1.04}_{-0.57}$ times greater than those of the stellar mass- and redshift-matched galaxies. This difference could arise because AGN feedback suppresses stellar mass growth while leaving halo mass unchanged, or because radio-AGN preferentially reside in earlier forming haloes which are more strongly clustered.