1,047 research outputs found
Cosmological Parameter Extraction from the First Season of Observations with DASI
The Degree Angular Scale Interferometer (\dasi) has measured the power
spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropy over the range of
spherical harmonic multipoles 100<l<900. We compare this data, in combination
with the COBE-DMR results, to a seven dimensional grid of adiabatic CDM models.
Adopting the priors h>0.45 and 0.0<=tau_c<=0.4, we find that the total density
of the Universe Omega_tot=1.04+/-0.06, and the spectral index of the initial
scalar fluctuations n_s=1.01+0.08-0.06, in accordance with the predictions of
inflationary theory. In addition we find that the physical density of baryons
Omega_b.h^2=0.022+0.004-0.003, and the physical density of cold dark matter
Omega_cdm.h^2=0.14+/-0.04. This value of Omega_b.h^2 is consistent with that
derived from measurements of the primordial abundance ratios of the light
elements combined with big bang nucleosynthesis theory. Using the result of the
HST Key Project h=0.72+/-0.08 we find that Omega_t=1.00+/-0.04, the matter
density Omega_m=0.40+/-0.15, and the vacuum energy density
Omega_lambda=0.60+/-0.15. (All 68% confidence limits.)Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, minor changes in response to referee comment
DASI Three-Year Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization Results
We present the analysis of the complete 3-year data set obtained with the
Degree Angular Scale Interferometer (DASI) polarization experiment, operating
from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole research station. Additional data obtained
at the end of the 2002 Austral winter and throughout the 2003 season were added
to the data from which the first detection of polarization of the cosmic
microwave background radiation was reported. The analysis of the combined data
supports, with increased statistical power, all of the conclusions drawn from
the initial data set. In particular, the detection of E-mode polarization is
increased to 6.3 sigma confidence level, TE cross-polarization is detected at
2.9 sigma, and B-mode polarization is consistent with zero, with an upper limit
well below the level of the detected E-mode polarization. The results are in
excellent agreement with the predictions of the cosmological model that has
emerged from CMB temperature measurements. The analysis also demonstrates that
contamination of the data by known sources of foreground emission is
insignificant.Comment: 13 pages Latex, 10 figures, submitted to Ap
DASI First Results: A Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Angular Power Spectrum
We present measurements of anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background
(CMB) from the first season of observations with the Degree Angular Scale
Interferometer (DASI). The instrument was deployed at the South Pole in the
austral summer 1999--2000, and made observations throughout the following
austral winter. We have measured the angular power spectrum of the CMB in the
range 100<l<900 with high signal-to-noise. In this paper we review the
formalism used in the analysis, in particular the use of constraint matrices to
project out contaminants such as ground and point source signals, and to test
for correlations with diffuse foreground templates. We find no evidence of
foregrounds other than point sources in the data, and find a maximum likelihood
temperature spectral index beta = -0.1 +/- 0.2 (1 sigma), consistent with CMB.
We detect a first peak in the power spectrum at l approx 200, in agreement with
previous experiments. In addition, we detect a peak in the power spectrum at l
approx 550 and power of similar magnitude at l approx 800 which are consistent
with the second and third harmonic peaks predicted by adiabatic inflationary
cosmological models.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, minor changes in response to referee comment
High Frequency Cluster Radio Galaxies: Luminosity Functions and Implications for SZE Selected Cluster Samples
We study the overdensity of point sources in the direction of X-ray-selected
galaxy clusters from the Meta-Catalog of X-ray detected Clusters of galaxies
(MCXC; ) at South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Sydney
University Molonglo Sky Survey (SUMSS) frequencies. Flux densities at 95, 150
and 220 GHz are extracted from the 2500 deg SPT-SZ survey maps at the
locations of SUMSS sources, producing a multi-frequency catalog of radio
galaxies. In the direction of massive galaxy clusters, the radio galaxy flux
densities at 95 and 150 GHz are biased low by the cluster Sunyaev-Zel'dovich
Effect (SZE) signal, which is negative at these frequencies. We employ a
cluster SZE model to remove the expected flux bias and then study these
corrected source catalogs. We find that the high frequency radio galaxies are
centrally concentrated within the clusters and that their luminosity functions
(LFs) exhibit amplitudes that are characteristically an order of magnitude
lower than the cluster LF at 843 MHz. We use the 150 GHz LF to estimate the
impact of cluster radio galaxies on an SPT-SZ like survey. The radio galaxy
flux typically produces a small bias on the SZE signal and has negligible
impact on the observed scatter in the SZE mass-observable relation. If we
assume there is no redshift evolution in the radio galaxy LF then
percent of the clusters would be lost from the sample. Allowing for redshift
evolution of the form increases the incompleteness to
percent. Improved constraints on the evolution of the cluster radio galaxy LF
require a larger cluster sample extending to higher redshift.Comment: Submitted to MNRA
Radio Sources Toward Galaxy Clusters at 30 GHz
Extra-galactic radio sources are a significant contaminant in cosmic
microwave background and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect experiments. Deep
interferometric observations with the BIMA and OVRO arrays are used to
characterize the spatial, spectral, and flux distributions of radio sources
toward massive galaxy clusters at 28.5 GHz. We compute counts of mJy source
fluxes from 89 fields centered on known massive galaxy clusters and 8
non-cluster fields. We find that source counts in the inner regions of the
cluster fields (within 0.5 arcmin of the cluster center) are a factor of 8.9
(+4.3,-2.8) times higher than counts in the outer regions of the cluster fields
(radius greater than 0.5 arcmin). Counts in the outer regions of the cluster
fields are in turn a factor of 3.3 (+4.1,-1.8) greater than those in the
non-cluster fields. Counts in the non-cluster fields are consistent with
extrapolations from the results of other surveys. We compute spectral indices
of mJy sources in cluster fields between 1.4 and 28.5 GHz and find a mean
spectral index of alpha = 0.66 with an rms dispersion of 0.36, where flux is
proportional to frequency raised to negative alpha. The distribution is skewed,
with a median spectral index of 0.72 and 25th and 75th percentiles of 0.51 and
0.92, respectively. This is steeper than the spectral indices of stronger field
sources measured by other surveys.Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures, accepted to A
The Evolution of the Intracluster Medium Metallicity in Sunyaev-Zel'dovich-Selected Galaxy Clusters at 0 < z < 1.5
We present the results of an X-ray spectral analysis of 153 galaxy clusters
observed with the Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Suzaku space telescopes. These
clusters, which span 0 < z < 1.5, were drawn from a larger, mass-selected
sample of galaxy clusters discovered in the 2500 square degree South Pole
Telescope Sunyaev Zel'dovich (SPT-SZ) survey. With a total combined exposure
time of 9.1 Ms, these data yield the strongest constraints to date on the
evolution of the metal content of the intracluster medium (ICM). We find no
evidence for strong evolution in the global (r<R500) ICM metallicity (dZ/dz =
-0.06 +/- 0.04 Zsun), with a mean value at z=0.6 of = 0.23 +/- 0.01 Zsun
and a scatter of 0.08 +/- 0.01 Zsun. These results imply that >60% of the
metals in the ICM were already in place at z=1 (at 95% confidence), consistent
with the picture of an early (z>1) enrichment. We find, in agreement with
previous works, a significantly higher mean value for the metallicity in the
centers of cool core clusters versus non-cool core clusters. We find weak
evidence for evolution in the central metallicity of cool core clusters (dZ/dz
= -0.21 +/- 0.11 Zsun), which is sufficient to account for this enhanced
central metallicity over the past ~10 Gyr. We find no evidence for metallicity
evolution outside of the core (dZ/dz = -0.03 +/- 0.06 Zsun), and no significant
difference in the core-excised metallicity between cool core and non-cool core
clusters. This suggests that strong radio-mode AGN feedback does not
significantly alter the distribution of metals at r>0.15R500. Given the
limitations of current-generation X-ray telescopes in constraining the ICM
metallicity at z>1, significant improvements on this work will likely require
next-generation X-ray missions.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to ApJ. Comments welcome
SPT0346-52: Negligible AGN Activity in a Compact, Hyper-starburst Galaxy at z = 5.7
We present Chandra ACIS-S and ATCA radio continuum observations of the
strongly lensed dusty, star-forming galaxy SPT-S J034640-5204.9 (hereafter
SPT0346-52) at = 5.656. This galaxy has also been observed with ALMA, HST,
Spitzer, Herschel, APEX, and the VLT. Previous observations indicate that if
the infrared (IR) emission is driven by star formation, then the inferred
lensing-corrected star formation rate ( 4500 M_{\sun} yr) and
star formation rate surface density ( 2000 M_{\sun}
{yr^{-1}} {kpc^{-2}}) are both exceptionally high. It remained unclear from
the previous data, however, whether a central active galactic nucleus (AGN)
contributes appreciably to the IR luminosity. The {\it Chandra} upper limit
shows that SPT0346-52 is consistent with being star-formation dominated in the
X-ray, and any AGN contribution to the IR emission is negligible. The ATCA
radio continuum upper limits are also consistent with the FIR-to-radio
correlation for star-forming galaxies with no indication of an additional AGN
contribution. The observed prodigious intrinsic IR luminosity of (3.6
0.3) 10 L_{\sun} originates almost solely from vigorous star
formation activity. With an intrinsic source size of 0.61 0.03 kpc,
SPT0346-52 is confirmed to have one of the highest of any known
galaxy. This high , which approaches the Eddington limit for a
radiation pressure supported starburst, may be explained by a combination of
very high star formation efficiency and gas fraction.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Large Scale Pressure Fluctuations and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect
The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect associated with pressure fluctuations of
the large scale structure gas distribution will be probed with current and
upcoming wide-field small angular scale cosmic microwave background
experiments. We study the generation of pressure fluctuations by baryons which
are present in virialized dark matter halos and by baryons present in small
overdensities. For collapsed halos, assuming the gas distribution is in
hydrostatic equilibrium with matter density distribution, we predict the
pressure power spectrum and bispectrum associated with the large scale
structure gas distribution by extending the dark matter halo approach which
describes the density field in terms of correlations between and within halos.
The projected pressure power spectrum allows a determination of the resulting
SZ power spectrum due to virialized structures. The unshocked photoionized
baryons present in smaller overdensities trace the Jeans-scale smoothed dark
matter distribution. They provide a lower limit to the SZ effect due to large
scale structure in the absence of massive collapsed halos. We extend our
calculations to discuss higher order statistics, such as bispectrum and
skewness in SZ data. The SZ-weak lensing cross-correlation is suggested as a
probe of correlations between dark matter and baryon density fields, while the
probability distribution functions of peak statistics of SZ halos in wide field
CMB data can be used as a probe of cosmology and non-Gaussian evolution of
large scale structure pressure fluctuations.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures; Revised with expanded discussions. Phys. Rev. D.
(in press
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