Evaluating the effect of stellar multiplicity on the PSF of space-based weak lensing surveys

The next generation of space-based telescopes used for weak lensing surveys will require exquisite point spread function (PSF) determination. Previously negligible effects may become important in the reconstruction of the PSF, in part because of the improved spatial resolution. In this paper, we show that unresolved multiple star systems can affect the ellipticity and size of the PSF and that this effect is not cancelled even when using many stars in the reconstruction process. We estimate the error in the reconstruction of the PSF due to the binaries in the star sample both analytically and with image simulations for different PSFs and stellar populations. The simulations support our analytical finding that the error on the size of the PSF is a function of the multiple stars distribution and of the intrinsic value of the size of the PSF, i.e. if all stars were single. Similarly, the modification of each of the complex ellipticity components (e1,e2) depends on the distribution of multiple stars and on the intrinsic complex ellipticity. Using image simulations, we also show that the predicted error in the PSF shape is a theoretical limit that can be reached only if large number of stars (up to thousands) are used together to build the PSF at any desired spatial position. For a lower number of stars, the PSF reconstruction is worse. Finally, we compute the effect of binarity for different stellar magnitudes and show that bright stars alter the PSF size and ellipticity more than faint stars. This may affect the design of PSF calibration strategies and the choice of the related calibration fields.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted in A&

The universal distribution of halo interlopers in projected phase space. Bias in galaxy cluster concentration and velocity anisotropy?

When clusters of galaxies are viewed in projection, one cannot avoid picking up foreground/background interlopers (FBIs), that lie within the virial cone (VC), but outside the virial sphere. Structural & kinematic deprojection equations are not known for an expanding Universe, where the Hubble flow (HF) stretches the line-of-sight (LOS) distribution of velocities. We analyze 93 mock relaxed clusters, built from a cosmological simulation. The stacked mock cluster is well fit by an m=5 Einasto DM density profile (but only out to 1.5 virial radii [r_v]), with velocity anisotropy (VA) close to the Mamon-Lokas model with VA radius equal to that of density slope -2. The surface density of FBIs is nearly flat out to r_v, while their LOS velocity distribution shows a dominant gaussian cluster-outskirts component and a flat field component. This distribution of FBIs in projected phase space is nearly universal in mass. A local k=2.7 sigma velocity cut returns the LOS velocity dispersion profile (LOSVDP) expected from the NFW density and VA profiles measured in 3D. The HF causes a shallower outer LOSVDP that cannot be well matched by the Einasto model for any k. After this velocity cut, FBIs still account for 23% of DM particles within the VC (close to the observed fraction of cluster galaxies lying off the Red Sequence). The best-fit projected NFW/Einasto models underestimate the 3D concentration by 6+/-6% (16+/-7%) after (before) the velocity cut, unless a constant background is included in the fit. Assuming the correct mass profile, the VA profile is well recovered from the measured LOSVDP, with a slight bias towards more radial orbits in the outer regions. These small biases are overshadowed by large cluster-cluster variations caused by cosmic variance. An appendix provides an analytical approximation to the surface density, projected mass and tangential shear profiles of the Einasto model.Comment: Version published in A&A, 23 pages, 22 figure

A Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Study of Four FeLoBAL Quasar Host Galaxies

We study the host galaxies of four Iron Low-Ionization Broad Absorption-line Quasars (FeLoBALs) using Hubble Space Telescope imaging data, investigating the possibility that they represent a transition between an obscured AGN and an ordinary optical quasar. In this scenario, the FeLoBALs represent the early stage of merger-triggered accretion, in which case their host galaxies are expected to show signs of an ongoing or recent merger. Using PSF subtraction techniques, we decompose the images into host galaxy and AGN components at rest-frame ultraviolet and optical wavelengths. The ultraviolet is sensitive to young stars, while the optical probes stellar mass. In the ultraviolet we image at the BAL absorption trough wavelengths so as to decrease the contrast between the quasar and host galaxy emission. We securely detect an extended source for two of the four FeLoBALs in the rest-frame optical; a third host galaxy is marginally detected. In the rest-frame UV we detect no host emission; this constrains the level of unobscured star formation. Thus, the host galaxies have observed properties that are consistent with those of non-BAL quasars with the same nuclear luminosity, i.e., quiescent or moderately starforming elliptical galaxies. However, we cannot exclude starbursting hosts that have the stellar UV emission obscured by modest amounts of dust reddening. Thus, our findings also allow the merger-induced young quasar scenario. For three objects, we identify possible close companion galaxies that may be gravitationally interacting with the quasar hosts.Comment: 33 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Cross-correlating the Thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect and the Distribution of Galaxy Clusters

We present the analytical formulas, derived based on the halo model, to compute the cross-correlation between the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect and the distribution of galaxy clusters. By binning the clusters according to their redshifts and masses, this cross-correlation, the so-called stacked SZ signal, reveals the average SZ profile around the clusters. The stacked SZ signal is obtainable from a joint analysis of an arcminute-resolution cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment and an overlapping optical survey, which allows for detection of the SZ signals for clusters whose masses are below the individual cluster detection threshold. We derive the error covariance matrix for measuring the stacked SZ signal, and then forecast for its detection from ongoing and forthcoming combined CMB-optical surveys. We find that, over a wide range of mass and redshift, the stacked SZ signal can be detected with a significant signal to noise ratio (total S/N \gsim 10), whose value peaks for the clusters with intermediate masses and redshifts. Our calculation also shows that the stacking method allows for probing the clusters' SZ profiles over a wide range of scales, even out to projected radii as large as the virial radius, thereby providing a promising way to study gas physics at the outskirts of galaxy clusters.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, minor revisions reflect PRD published versio