173 research outputs found
A linear filter to reconstruct the ISW effect from CMB and LSS observations
The extraction of a signal from some observational data sets that contain
different contaminant emissions, often at a greater level than the signal
itself, is a common problem in Astrophysics and Cosmology. The signal can be
recovered, for instance, using a simple Wiener filter. However, in certain
cases, additional information may also be available, such as a second
observation which correlates to a certain level with the sought signal. In
order to improve the quality of the reconstruction, it would be useful to
include as well this additional information. Under these circumstances, we have
constructed a linear filter, the linear covariance-based filter, that extracts
the signal from the data but takes also into account the correlation with the
second observation. To illustrate the performance of the method, we present a
simple application to reconstruct the so-called Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect
from simulated observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background and of
catalogues of galaxies.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in the IEEE Journal of
Selected Topics in Signal Processin
On the recovery of ISW fluctuations using large-scale structure tracers and CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies
In this work we present a method to extract the signal induced by the
integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect in the cosmic microwave background (CMB).
It makes use of the Linear Covariance-Based filter introduced by Barreiro et
al., and combines CMB data with any number of large-scale structure (LSS)
surveys and lensing information. It also exploits CMB polarization to reduce
cosmic variance. The performance of the method has been thoroughly tested with
simulations taking into account the impact of non-ideal conditions such as
incomplete sky coverage or the presence of noise. In particular, three galaxy
surveys are simulated, whose redshift distributions peak at low (), intermediate () and high redshift (). The
contribution of each of the considered data sets as well as the effect of a
mask and noise in the reconstructed ISW map is studied in detail. When
combining all the considered data sets (CMB temperature and polarization, the
three galaxy surveys and the lensing map), the proposed filter successfully
reconstructs a map of the weak ISW signal, finding a perfect correlation with
the input signal for the ideal case and around 80 per cent, on average, in the
presence of noise and incomplete sky coverage. We find that including CMB
polarization improves the correlation between input and reconstruction although
only at a small level. Nonetheless, given the weakness of the ISW signal, even
modest improvements can be of importance. In particular, in realistic
situations, in which less information is available from the LSS tracers, the
effect of including polarisation is larger. For instance, for the case in which
the ISW signal is recovered from CMB plus only one survey, and taking into
account the presence of noise and incomplete sky coverage, the improvement in
the correlation coefficient can be as large as 10 per cent.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Integrated Sachs-Wolfe map recovery from NVSS and WMAP 7yr data
We present a map of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies
induced by the late Integrated Sachs Wolfe effect. The map is constructed by
combining the information of the WMAP 7-yr CMB data and the NRAO VLA Sky Survey
(NVSS) through a linear filter. This combination improves the quality of the
map that would be obtained using information only from the Large Scale
Structure data. In order to apply the filter, a given cosmological model needs
to be assumed. In particular, we consider the standard LCDM model. As a test of
consistency, we show that the reconstructed map is in agreemet with the assumed
model, which is also favoured against a scenario where no correlation between
the CMB and NVSS catalogue is considered.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Minor revision, accepted for publication in MNRA
A Bayesian estimate of the CMB-large-scale structure cross-correlation
Evidences for late-time acceleration of the Universe are provided by multiple
probes, such as Type Ia supernovae, the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and
large-scale structure (LSS). In this work, we focus on the integrated
Sachs--Wolfe (ISW) effect, i.e., secondary CMB fluctuations generated by
evolving gravitational potentials due to the transition between, e.g., the
matter and dark energy (DE) dominated phases. Therefore, assuming a flat
universe, DE properties can be inferred from ISW detections. We present a
Bayesian approach to compute the CMB--LSS cross-correlation signal. The method
is based on the estimate of the likelihood for measuring a combined set
consisting of a CMB temperature and a galaxy contrast maps, provided that we
have some information on the statistical properties of the fluctuations
affecting these maps. The likelihood is estimated by a sampling algorithm,
therefore avoiding the computationally demanding techniques of direct
evaluation in either pixel or harmonic space. As local tracers of the matter
distribution at large scales, we used the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)
galaxy catalog and, for the CMB temperature fluctuations, the ninth-year data
release of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP9). The results show a
dominance of cosmic variance over the weak recovered signal, due mainly to the
shallowness of the catalog used, with systematics associated with the sampling
algorithm playing a secondary role as sources of uncertainty. When combined
with other complementary probes, the method presented in this paper is expected
to be a useful tool to late-time acceleration studies in cosmology.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables. We extended the previous analyses
including WMAP9 Q, V and W channels, besides the ILC map. Updated to match
accepted ApJ versio
On the signature of superclusters and voids in the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect
Through a large ensemble of Gaussian realisations and a suite of large-volume
N-body simulations, we show that in a standard LCDM scenario, supervoids and
superclusters in the redshift range should leave a {\em small}
signature on the ISW effect of the order K. We perform aperture
photometry on WMAP data, centred on such superstructures identified from SDSS
LRGs, and find amplitudes at the level of 8 -- 11K -- thus confirming the
earlier work of Granett et al 2008. If we focus on apertures of the size
\sim3.6\degr, then our realisations indicate that LCDM is discrepant at the
level of . If we combine all aperture scales considered, ranging
from 1\degr--20\degr, then the discrepancy becomes , and it
further lowers to if only 30 superstructures are considered
in the analysis (being compatible with no ISW signatures at in this
case). Full-sky ISW maps generated from our N-body simulations show that this
discrepancy cannot be alleviated by appealing to Rees-Sciama mechanisms, since
their impact on the scales probed by our filters is negligible. We perform a
series of tests on the WMAP data for systematics. We check for foreground
contaminants and show that the signal does not display the correct dependence
on the aperture size expected for a residual foreground tracing the density
field. The signal also proves robust against rotation tests of the CMB maps,
and seems to be spatially associated to the angular positions of the supervoids
and superclusters. We explore whether the signal can be explained by the
presence of primordial non-Gaussianities of the local type. We show that for
models with \FNL=\pm100, whilst there is a change in the pattern of
temperature anisotropies, all amplitude shifts are well below K.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, matches accepted version in MNRA
The significance of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect revisited
We revisit the state of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect measurements
in light of newly available data and address criticisms about the measurements
which have recently been raised. We update the data set previously assembled by
Giannantonio et al. to include new data releases for both the cosmic microwave
background (CMB) and the large-scale structure (LSS) of the Universe. We find
that our updated results are consistent with previous measurements. By fitting
a single template amplitude, we now obtain a combined significance of the ISW
detection at the 4.4 sigma level, which fluctuates by 0.4 sigma when
alternative data cuts and analysis assumptions are considered. We also make new
tests for systematic contaminations of the data, focusing in particular on the
issues raised by Sawangwit et al. Amongst them, we address the rotation test,
which aims at checking for possible systematics by correlating pairs of
randomly rotated maps. We find results consistent with the expected data
covariance, no evidence for enhanced correlation on any preferred axis of
rotation, and therefore no indication of any additional systematic
contamination. We publicly release the results, the covariance matrix, and the
sky maps used to obtain them.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures. MNRAS in pres
A Theory of a Spot
We present a simple inflationary scenario that can produce arbitrarily large
spherical underdense or overdense regions embedded in a standard Lambda cold
dark matter paradigm, which we refer to as bubbles. We analyze the effect such
bubbles would have on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). For super-horizon
sized bubble in the vicinity of the last scattering surface, a signal is
imprinted onto CMB via a combination of Sach-Wolfe and an early integrated
Sach-Wolfe (ISW) effects. Smaller, sub-horizon sized bubbles at lower redshifts
(during matter domination and later) can imprint secondary anisotropies on the
CMB via Rees-Sciama, late-time ISW and Ostriker-Vishniac effects. Our scenario,
and arguably most similar inflationary models, produce bubbles which are
over/underdense in potential: in density such bubbles are characterized by
having a distinct wall with the interior staying at the cosmic mean density. We
show that such models can potentially, with only moderate fine tuning, explain
the \emph{cold spot}, a non-Gaussian feature identified in the Wilkinson
Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data by several authors. However, more
detailed comparisons with current and future CMB data are necessary to confirm
(or rule out) this scenario.Comment: 19 pages, 19 figures, added references and explanations, JCAP in
pres
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