148 research outputs found
A Self-Learning Neural Network Approach for RFI Detection and Removal in Radio Astronomy
We present a novel neural network (NN) method for the detection and removal
of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) from the raw digitized signal in the
signal processing chain of a typical radio astronomy experiment. The main
advantage of our method is that it does not require a training set. Instead,
our method relies on the fact that the true signal of interest coming from
astronomical sources is thermal and therefore described as a Gaussian random
process, which cannot be compressed. We employ a variational encoder/decoder
network to find the compressible information in the datastream that can explain
the most variance with the fewest degrees of freedom. We demonstrate it on a
set of toy problems and stored ringbuffers from the Baryon Mapping eXperiment
(BMX) prototype. We find that the RFI subtraction is effective at cleaning
simulated timestreams: while we find that the power spectra of the RFI-cleaned
timestreams output by the NN suffer from extra signal consistent with additive
noise, we find that it is generally around percent level across the band and
sub 10 percent in contaminated spectral channels even when RFI power is an
order of magnitude larger than the signal. We discuss advantages and
limitations of this method and possible implementation in the front-end of
future radio experiments.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in PAS
Measurement of Galaxy Cluster Integrated Comptonization and Mass Scaling Relations with the South Pole Telescope
We describe a method for measuring the integrated Comptonization (Y_(SZ)) of clusters of galaxies from measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect in multiple frequency bands and use this method to characterize a sample of galaxy clusters detected in the South Pole Telescope (SPT) data. We use a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to fit a β-model source profile and integrate Y_(SZ) within an angular aperture on the sky. In simulated observations of an SPT-like survey that include cosmic microwave background anisotropy, point sources, and atmospheric and instrumental noise at typical SPT-SZ survey levels, we show that we can accurately recover β-model parameters for inputted clusters. We measure Y_(SZ) for simulated semi-analytic clusters and find that Y_(SZ) is most accurately determined in an angular aperture comparable to the SPT beam size. We demonstrate the utility of this method to measure Y_(SZ) and to constrain mass scaling relations using X-ray mass estimates for a sample of 18 galaxy clusters from the SPT-SZ survey. Measuring Y_(SZ) within a 0.'75 radius aperture, we find an intrinsic log-normal scatter of 21% ± 11% in Y_(SZ) at a fixed mass. Measuring Y_(SZ) within a 0.3 Mpc projected radius (equivalent to 0.'75 at the survey median redshift z = 0.6), we find a scatter of 26% ± 9%. Prior to this study, the SPT observable found to have the lowest scatter with mass was cluster detection significance. We demonstrate, from both simulations and SPT observed clusters that Y_(SZ) measured within an aperture comparable to the SPT beam size is equivalent, in terms of scatter with cluster mass, to SPT cluster detection significance
Star-Forming Brightest Cluster Galaxies at 0.25 < z < 1.25: A Transitioning Fuel Supply
We present a multi-wavelength study of 90 brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs)
in a sample of galaxy clusters selected via the Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect by
the South Pole Telescope, utilizing data from various ground- and space-based
facilities. We infer the star formation rate (SFR) for the BCG in each cluster,
based on the UV and IR continuum luminosity, as well as the [O II] emission
line luminosity in cases where spectroscopy is available, finding 7 systems
with SFR > 100 Msun/yr. We find that the BCG SFR exceeds 10 Msun/yr in 31 of 90
(34%) cases at 0.25 < z < 1.25, compared to ~1-5% at z ~ 0 from the literature.
At z > 1, this fraction increases to 92(+6)(-31)%, implying a steady decrease
in the BCG SFR over the past ~9 Gyr. At low-z, we find that the specific star
formation rate in BCGs is declining more slowly with time than for field or
cluster galaxies, most likely due to the replenishing fuel from the cooling ICM
in relaxed, cool core clusters. At z > 0.6, the correlation between cluster
central entropy and BCG star formation - which is well established at z ~ 0 -
is not present. Instead, we find that the most star-forming BCGs at high-z are
found in the cores of dynamically unrelaxed clusters. We investigate the
rest-frame near-UV morphology of a subsample of the most star-forming BCGs
using data from the Hubble Space Telescope, finding complex, highly asymmetric
UV morphologies on scales as large as ~50-60 kpc. The high fraction of
star-forming BCGs hosted in unrelaxed, non-cool core clusters at early times
suggests that the dominant mode of fueling star formation in BCGs may have
recently transitioned from galaxy-galaxy interactions to ICM cooling.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures. Submitted for publication in ApJ. Comments
welcom
The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array Dish I: Beam Pattern Measurements and Science Implications
The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA) is a radio interferometer
aiming to detect the power spectrum of 21 cm fluctuations from neutral hydrogen
from the Epoch of Reionization (EOR). Drawing on lessons from the Murchison
Widefield Array (MWA) and the Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of
Reionization (PAPER), HERA is a hexagonal array of large (14 m diameter) dishes
with suspended dipole feeds. Not only does the dish determine overall
sensitivity, it affects the observed frequency structure of foregrounds in the
interferometer. This is the first of a series of four papers characterizing the
frequency and angular response of the dish with simulations and measurements.
We focus in this paper on the angular response (i.e., power pattern), which
sets the relative weighting between sky regions of high and low delay, and
thus, apparent source frequency structure. We measure the angular response at
137 MHz using the ORBCOMM beam mapping system of Neben et al. We measure a
collecting area of 93 m^2 in the optimal dish/feed configuration, implying
HERA-320 should detect the EOR power spectrum at z~9 with a signal-to-noise
ratio of 12.7 using a foreground avoidance approach with a single season of
observations, and 74.3 using a foreground subtraction approach. Lastly we study
the impact of these beam measurements on the distribution of foregrounds in
Fourier space.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. Replaced to match accepted ApJ versio
X-ray cavities in a sample of 83 SPT-selected clusters of galaxies: Tracing the evolution of AGN feedback in clusters of galaxies out to z=1.2
X-ray cavities are key tracers of mechanical (or radio mode) heating arising
from the active galactic nuclei (AGN) in brightest cluster galaxies. We report
on a survey for X-ray cavities in 83 massive, high-redshift (0.4<z<1.2)
clusters of galaxies selected by their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signature in the
South Pole Telescope data. Based on Chandra X-ray images, we find a total of 6
clusters having symmetric pairs of surface brightness depressions consistent
with the picture of radio jets inflating X-ray cavities in the intracluster
medium. The majority of these detections are of relatively low significance and
require deeper follow-up data in order to be confirmed. Further, due to the
limitations of Chandra at high redshift, this search misses small (<10 kpc),
unresolved X-ray cavities at high (z>0.5) redshift. Despite these limitations,
our results suggest that the power generated by AGN feedback in brightest
cluster galaxies has remained unchanged for over half of the age of the
Universe (>7 Gyrs at z=0.8). On average, the detected X-ray cavities have
powers of 0.8-5*10^45 erg/s, enthalpies of 3-6*10^59 erg, and radii of 17 kpc.
Integrating over 7 Gyrs, we find that the supermassive black holes in the
brightest cluster galaxies may have accreted 10^8 to several 10^9M_sun of
material to power these outflows. This level of accretion indicates that
significant supermassive black hole growth may occur not only at early times,
in the quasar era, but at late times as well. We also find that X-ray cavities
at high-redshift may inject an excess heat of 0.1-1.0 keV per particle into the
hot intracluster medium above and beyond the energy needed to offset cooling.
This value is similar to the energy needed to preheat clusters, break
self-similarity, and explain the excess entropy in hot atmospheres.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 1 table. Submitted for publication in Ap
A Measurement of the Correlation of Galaxy Surveys with CMB Lensing Convergence Maps from the South Pole Telescope
We compare cosmic microwave background lensing convergence maps derived from South Pole Telescope (SPT) data with galaxy survey data from the Blanco Cosmology Survey, WISE, and a new large Spitzer/IRAC field designed to overlap with the SPT survey. Using optical and infrared catalogs covering between 17 and 68 deg^2 of sky, we detect a correlation between the SPT convergence maps and each of the galaxy density maps at >4σ, with zero correlation robustly ruled out in all cases. The amplitude and shape of the cross-power spectra are in good agreement with theoretical expectations and the measured galaxy bias is consistent with previous work. The detections reported here utilize a small fraction of the full 2500 deg^2 SPT survey data and serve as both a proof of principle of the technique and an illustration of the potential of this emerging cosmological probe
South Pole Telescope Detections of the Previously Unconfirmed Planck Early SZ Clusters in the Southern Hemisphere
We present South Pole Telescope (SPT) observations of the five galaxy cluster
candidates in the southern hemisphere which were reported as unconfirmed in the
Planck Early Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (ESZ) sample. One cluster candidate, PLCKESZ
G255.62-46.16, is located in the 2500-square-degree SPT SZ survey region and
was reported previously as SPT-CL J0411-4819. For the remaining four
candidates, which are located outside of the SPT SZ survey region, we performed
short, dedicated SPT observations. Each of these four candidates was strongly
detected in maps made from these observations, with signal-to-noise ratios
ranging from 6.3 to 13.8. We have observed these four candidates on the
Magellan-Baade telescope and used these data to estimate cluster redshifts from
the red sequence. Resulting redshifts range from 0.24 to 0.46. We report
measurements of Y_0.75', the integrated Comptonization within a 0.75' radius,
for all five candidates. We also report X-ray luminosities calculated from
ROSAT All-Sky Survey catalog counts, as well as optical and improved SZ
coordinates for each candidate. The combination of SPT SZ measurements, optical
red-sequence measurements, and X-ray luminosity estimates demonstrates that
these five Planck ESZ cluster candidates do indeed correspond to real galaxy
clusters with redshifts and observable properties consistent with the rest of
the ESZ sample.Comment: 7 emulateapj pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Revised to match published
versio
Mass Calibration and Cosmological Analysis of the SPT-SZ Galaxy Cluster Sample Using Velocity Dispersion and X-ray Measurements
We present a velocity dispersion-based mass calibration of the South Pole
Telescope Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect survey (SPT-SZ) galaxy cluster sample.
Using a homogeneously selected sample of 100 cluster candidates from 720 deg2
of the survey along with 63 velocity dispersion () and 16 X-ray Yx
measurements of sample clusters, we simultaneously calibrate the
mass-observable relation and constrain cosmological parameters. The
calibrations using and Yx are consistent at the level,
with the calibration preferring ~16% higher masses. We use the full
cluster dataset to measure . The
SPT cluster abundance is lower than preferred by either the WMAP9 or
Planck+WMAP9 polarization (WP) data, but assuming the sum of the neutrino
masses is eV, we find the datasets to be consistent at the
1.0 level for WMAP9 and 1.5 for Planck+WP. Allowing for larger
further reconciles the results. When we combine the cluster and
Planck+WP datasets with BAO and SNIa, the preferred cluster masses are
higher than the Yx calibration and higher than the
calibration. Given the scale of these shifts (~44% and ~23% in mass,
respectively), we execute a goodness of fit test; it reveals no tension,
indicating that the best-fit model provides an adequate description of the
data. Using the multi-probe dataset, we measure and
. Within a CDM model we find eV. We present a consistency test of the cosmic growth rate.
Allowing both the growth index and the dark energy equation of state
parameter to vary, we find and ,
demonstrating that the expansion and the growth histories are consistent with a
LCDM model ().Comment: Accepted by ApJ (v2 is accepted version); 17 pages, 6 figure
Analysis of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Mass-Observable Relations using South Pole Telescope Observations of an X-ray Selected Sample of Low Mass Galaxy Clusters and Groups
(Abridged) We use 95, 150, and 220GHz observations from the SPT to examine
the SZE signatures of a sample of 46 X-ray selected groups and clusters drawn
from ~6 deg^2 of the XMM-BCS. These systems extend to redshift z=1.02, have
characteristic masses ~3x lower than clusters detected directly in the SPT data
and probe the SZE signal to the lowest X-ray luminosities (>10^42 erg s^-1)
yet.
We develop an analysis tool that combines the SZE information for the full
ensemble of X-ray-selected clusters. Using X-ray luminosity as a mass proxy, we
extract selection-bias corrected constraints on the SZE significance- and
Y_500-mass relations. The SZE significance- mass relation is in good agreement
with an extrapolation of the relation obtained from high mass clusters.
However, the fit to the Y_500-mass relation at low masses, while in good
agreement with the extrapolation from high mass SPT clusters, is in tension at
2.8 sigma with the constraints from the Planck sample. We examine the tension
with the Planck relation, discussing sample differences and biases that could
contribute.
We also present an analysis of the radio galaxy point source population in
this ensemble of X-ray selected systems. We find 18 of our systems have 843 MHz
SUMSS sources within 2 arcmin of the X-ray centre, and three of these are also
detected at significance >4 by SPT. Of these three, two are associated with the
group brightest cluster galaxies, and the third is likely an unassociated
quasar candidate. We examine the impact of these point sources on our SZE
scaling relation analyses and find no evidence of biases. We also examine the
impact of dusty galaxies using constraints from the 220 GHz data. The stacked
sample provides 2.8 significant evidence of dusty galaxy flux, which
would correspond to an average underestimate of the SPT Y_500 signal that is
(17+-9) per cent in this sample of low mass systems.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure
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