861 research outputs found
Cross-correlating CMB polarization with local large scale structures
We study heterogeneous quantities that efficiently cross-correlate the
lensing information encoded in CMB polarization and large-scale structures
recovered from weak lensing galaxy surveys. These quantities allow us to take
advantage of the special features of weak lensing effect on CMB B-polarization
and of the high (40%) cross-correlation between the two data sets. We show that
these objects are robust to filtering effects, have a low intrinsic cosmic
variance (around 8% for small 100 square degrees surveys) and can be used as an
original constraint on the vacuum energy density.Comment: 4 pages, use moriond.sty, to appear in the proceedings of the XXXVth
Rencontres de Moriond "Energy densities in the Universe
First cosmic shear results from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Wide Synoptic Legacy Survey
We present the first measurements of the weak gravitational lensing signal
induced by the large scale mass distribution from data obtained as part of the
ongoing Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS). The data used in
this analysis are from the Wide Synoptic Survey, which aims to image ~170
square degree in five filters. We have analysed ~22 deg2 (31 pointings) of i'
data spread over two of the three survey fields. These data are of excellent
quality and the results bode well for the remainder of the survey: we do not
detect a significant `B'-mode, suggesting that residual systematics are
negligible at the current level of accuracy. Assuming a Cold Dark Matter model
and marginalising over the Hubble parameter h=[0.6,0.8], the source redshift
distribution and systematics, we constrain sigma_8, the amplitude of the matter
power spectrum. At a fiducial matter density Omega_m=0.3 we find
sigma_8=0.85+-0.06. This estimate is in excellent agreement with previous
studies. Combination of our results with those from the Deep component of the
CFHTLS enables us to place a constraint on a constant equation of state for the
dark energy, based on cosmic shear data alone. We find that w_0<-0.8 at 68%
confidence.Comment: Submitted to Ap
Cosmic Shear Analysis with CFHTLS Deep data
We present the first cosmic shear measurements obtained from the T0001
release of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey. The data set
covers three uncorrelated patches (D1, D3 and D4) of one square degree each
observed in u*, g', r', i' and z' bands, out to i'=25.5. The depth and the
multicolored observations done in deep fields enable several data quality
controls. The lensing signal is detected in both r' and i' bands and shows
similar amplitude and slope in both filters. B-modes are found to be
statistically zero at all scales. Using multi-color information, we derived a
photometric redshift for each galaxy and separate the sample into medium and
high-z galaxies. A stronger shear signal is detected from the high-z subsample
than from the low-z subsample, as expected from weak lensing tomography. While
further work is needed to model the effects of errors in the photometric
redshifts, this results suggests that it will be possible to obtain constraints
on the growth of dark matter fluctuations with lensing wide field surveys. The
various quality tests and analysis discussed in this work demonstrate that
MegaPrime/Megacam instrument produces excellent quality data. The combined Deep
and Wide surveys give sigma_8= 0.89 pm 0.06 assuming the Peacock & Dodds
non-linear scheme and sigma_8=0.86 pm 0.05 for the halo fitting model and
Omega_m=0.3. We assumed a Cold Dark Matter model with flat geometry.
Systematics, Hubble constant and redshift uncertainties have been marginalized
over. Using only data from the Deep survey, the 1 sigma upper bound for w_0,
the constant equation of state parameter is w_0 < -0.8.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures, accepted A&
Lensing effect on the relative orientation between the Cosmic Microwave Background ellipticities and the distant galaxies
The low redshift structures of the Universe act as lenses in a similar way on
the Cosmic Microwave Background light and on the distant galaxies (say at
redshift about unity). As a consequence, the CMB temperature distortions are
expected to be statistically correlated with the galaxy shear, exhibiting a
non-uniform distribution of the relative angle between the CMB and the galactic
ellipticities. Investigating this effect we find that its amplitude is as high
as a 10% excess of alignement between CMB and the galactic ellipticities
relative to the uniform distribution. The relatively high signal-to-noise ratio
we found should makes possible a detection with the planned CMB data sets,
provided that a galaxy survey follow up can be done on a sufficiently large
area. It would provide a complementary bias-independent constraint on the
cosmological parameters.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures; uses emulateapj.sty; submitted to Ap
CMB B-polarization to map the Large-scale Structures of the Universe
We explore the possibility of using the B-type polarization of the CMB to map
the large-scale structures of the Universe taking advantage of the lens effects
on the CMB polarization. The functional relation between the B component with
the primordial CMB polarization and the line-of-sight mass distribution is
explicited. Noting that a sizeable fraction (at least 40%) of the dark halo
population which is responsible of this effect can also be detected in galaxy
weak lensing survey, we present statistical quantities that should exhibit a
strong sensitivity to this overlapping. We stress that it would be a sound test
of the gravitational instability picture, independent on many systematic
effects that may hamper lensing detection in CMB or galaxy survey alone.
Moreover we estimate the intrinsic cosmic variance of the amplitude of this
effect to be less than 8% for a 100, deg^2 survey with a 10' CMB beam. Its
measurement would then provide us with an original mean for constraining the
cosmological parameters, more particularly, as it turns out, the cosmological
constant Lambda.Comment: Latex2e with REVTEX ; 14 pages, 8 figure
Dark energy constraints and correlations with systematics from CFHTLS weak lensing, SNLS supernovae Ia and WMAP5
We combine measurements of weak gravitational lensing from the CFHTLS-Wide
survey, supernovae Ia from CFHT SNLS and CMB anisotropies from WMAP5 to obtain
joint constraints on cosmological parameters, in particular, the dark energy
equation of state parameter w. We assess the influence of systematics in the
data on the results and look for possible correlations with cosmological
parameters.
We implement an MCMC algorithm to sample the parameter space of a flat CDM
model with a dark-energy component of constant w. Systematics in the data are
parametrised and included in the analysis. We determine the influence of
photometric calibration of SNIa data on cosmological results by calculating the
response of the distance modulus to photometric zero-point variations. The weak
lensing data set is tested for anomalous field-to-field variations and a
systematic shape measurement bias for high-z galaxies.
Ignoring photometric uncertainties for SNLS biases cosmological parameters by
at most 20% of the statistical errors, using supernovae only; the parameter
uncertainties are underestimated by 10%. The weak lensing field-to-field
variance pointings is 5%-15% higher than that predicted from N-body
simulations. We find no bias of the lensing signal at high redshift, within the
framework of a simple model. Assuming a systematic underestimation of the
lensing signal at high redshift, the normalisation sigma_8 increases by up to
8%. Combining all three probes we obtain -0.10<1+w<0.06 at 68% confidence
(-0.18<1+w<0.12 at 95%), including systematic errors. Systematics in the data
increase the error bars by up to 35%; the best-fit values change by less than
0.15sigma. [Abridged]Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures. Revised version, matches the one to be
published in A&A. Modifications have been made corresponding to the referee's
suggestions, including reordering of some section
Dark Energy and the quietness of the Local Hubble Flow
The linearity and quietness of the Local () Hubble Flow (LHF) in
view of the very clumpy local universe is a long standing puzzle in standard
and in open CDM cosmogony. The question addressed in this paper is whether the
antigravity component of the recently discovered dark energy can cool the
velocity flow enough to provide a solution to this puzzle. We calculate the
growth of matter fluctuations in a flat universe containing a fraction
of dark energy obeying the time independent equation of state
. We find that dark energy can indeed cool the LHF. However the
dark energy parameter values required to make the predicted velocity dispersion
consistent with the observed value have been ruled out
by other observational tests constraining the dark energy parameters and
. Therefore despite the claims of recent qualitative studies dark
energy with time independent equation of state can not by itself explain the
quietness and linearity of the Local Hubble Flow.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev. D. Minor corrections, one
figure adde
Vacuum Polarization of a Charged Massless Scalar Field on Cosmic String Spacetime in the Presence of a Magnetic Field
In this paper we consider a charged massless scalar quantum field operator in
the spacetime of an idealized cosmic string, i.e., an infinitely long, straight
and static cosmic string, which presents a magnetic field confined in a
cylindrical tube of finite radius. Three distinct situations are taking into
account in this analysis: {\it{i)}} a homogeneous field inside the tube,
{\it{ii)}} a magnetic field proportional to and {\it{iii)}} a cylindrical
shell with -function. In these three cases the axis of the infinitely
long tube of radius coincides with the cosmic string. In order to study the
vacuum polarization effects outside the tube, we explicitly calculate the
Euclidean Green function associated with this system for the three above
situations, considering points in the region outside the tube.Comment: 26 pages, LaTex format, 3 figure
A Lensing Reconstruction of Primordial Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization
We discuss a possibility to directly reconstruct the CMB polarization field
at the last scattering surface by accounting for modifications imposed by the
gravitational lensing effect. The suggested method requires a tracer field of
the large scale structure lensing potentials that deflected propagating CMB
photons from the last scattering surface. This required information can come
from a variety of observations on the large scale structure matter
distribution, including convergence reconstructed from lensing shear studies
involving galaxy shapes. In the case of so-called curl, or B,-modes of CMB
polarization, the reconstruction allows one to identify the distinct signature
of inflationary gravitational waves.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures; PRD submitte
Nonrelativistic Quantum Analysis of the Charged Particle-Dyon System on a Conical Spacetime
In this paper we develop the nonrelativistic quantum analysis of the charged
particle-dyon system in the spacetime produced by an idealized cosmic string.
In order to do that, we assume that the dyon is superposed to the cosmic
string. Considering this peculiar configuration {\it conical} monopole
harmonics are constructed, which are a generalizations of previous monopole
harmonics obtained by Wu and Yang(1976 {\it Nucl. Phys. B} {\bf 107} 365)
defined on a conical three-geometry. Bound and scattering wave functions are
explicitly derived. As to bound states, we present the energy spectrum of the
system, and analyze how the presence of the topological defect modifies
obtained result. We also analyze this system admitting the presence of an extra
isotropic harmonic potential acting on the particle. We show that the presence
of this potential produces significant changes in the energy spectrum of the
system.Comment: Paper accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit
- âŠ