19 research outputs found
The Flux Auto- and Cross-Correlation of the Lyman-alpha Forest. II. Modelling Anisotropies with Cosmological Hydrodynamic Simulations
The isotropy of the Lyman-alpha forest in real-space uniquely provides a
measurement of cosmic geometry at z > 2. The angular diameter distance for
which the correlation function along the line of sight and in the transverse
direction agree corresponds to the correct cosmological model. However, the
Lyman-alpha forest is observed in redshift-space where distortions due to
Hubble expansion, bulk flows, and thermal broadening introduce anisotropy.
Similarly, a spectrograph's line spread function affects the autocorrelation
and cross-correlation differently. In this the second paper of a series on
using the Lyman-alpha forest observed in pairs of QSOs for a new application of
the Alcock-Paczynski (AP) test, these anisotropies and related sources of
potential systematic error are investigated with cosmological hydrodynamic
simulations. Three prescriptions for galactic outflow were compared and found
to have only a marginal effect on the Lyman-alpha flux correlation (which
changed by at most 7% with use of the currently favored variable-momentum wind
model vs. no winds at all). An approximate solution for obtaining the zero-lag
cross-correlation corresponding to arbitrary spectral resolution directly from
the zero-lag cross-correlation computed at full-resolution (good to within 2%
at the scales of interest) is presented. Uncertainty in the observationally
determined mean flux decrement of the Lyman-alpha forest was found to be the
dominant source of systematic error; however, this is reduced significantly
when considering correlation ratios. We describe a simple scheme for
implementing our results, while mitigating systematic errors, in the context of
a future application of the AP test.Comment: 20 page
Constraining quasar host halo masses with the strength of nearby Lyman-alpha forest absorption
Using cosmological hydrodynamic simulations we measure the mean transmitted
flux in the Lyman alpha forest for quasar sightlines that pass near a
foreground quasar. We find that the trend of absorption with pixel-quasar
separation distance can be fitted using a simple power law form including the
usual correlation function parameters r_{0} and \gamma so that ( = \sum
exp(-tau_eff*(1+(r/r_{0})^(-\gamma)))). From the simulations we find the
relation between r_{0} and quasar mass and formulate this as a way to estimate
quasar host dark matter halo masses, quantifying uncertainties due to
cosmological and IGM parameters, and redshift errors. With this method, we
examine data for ~3000 quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data
Release 3, assuming that the effect of ionizing radiation from quasars (the
so-called transverse proximity effect) is unimportant (no evidence for it is
seen in the data.) We find that the best fit host halo mass for SDSS quasars
with mean redshift z=3 and absolute G band magnitude -27.5 is log10(M/M_sun) =
12.48^{+0.53}_{-0.89}. We also use the Lyman-Break Galaxy (LBG) and Lyman alpha
forest data of Adelberger et al in a similar fashion to constrain the halo mass
of LBGs to be log10(M/M_sun) = 11.13^{+0.39}_{-0.55}, a factor of ~20 lower
than the bright quasars. In addition, we study the redshift distortions of the
Lyman alpha forest around quasars, using the simulations. We use the quadrupole
to monopole ratio of the quasar-Lyman alpha forest correlation function as a
measure of the squashing effect. We find that this does not have a measurable
dependence on halo mass, but may be useful for constraining cosmic geometry.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, submitted to MNRA
The Flux Auto- and Cross-Correlation of the Lyman-alpha Forest. I. Spectroscopy of QSO Pairs with Arcminute Separations and Similar Redshifts
The Lyman-alpha forest has opened a new redshift regime for cosmological
investigation. At z > 2 it provides a unique probe of cosmic geometry and an
independent constraint on dark energy that is not subject to standard candle or
ruler assumptions. In Paper I of this series on using the Lyman-alpha forest
observed in pairs of QSOs for a new application of the Alcock-Paczynski test,
we present and discuss the results of a campaign to obtain moderate-resolution
spectroscopy (FWHM ~ 2.5 Angstroms) of the Lyman-alpha forest in pairs of QSOs
with small redshift differences (Delta z 2.2) and arcminute
separations (< 5'). This data set, composed of seven individual QSOs, 35 pairs,
and one triplet, is also well-suited for future investigations of the coherence
of Lyman-alpha absorbers on ~ 1 Mpc transverse scales and the transverse
proximity effect. We note seven revisions for previously published QSO
identifications and/or redshifts.Comment: 20 page
Optical identification of XMM sources in the CFHTLS
We present optical spectroscopic identifications of X-ray sources in ~3
square degrees of the XMM-Large Scale Structure survey (XMM-LSS), also covered
by the Canada France Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS), obtained with the
AAOmega instrument at the Anglo Australian Telescope. In a flux limited sample
of 829 point like sources in the optical band with g' <~22 mag and the 0.5-2
keV flux > 1x10^{-15}erg/cm^2/s, we observed 695 objects and obtained reliable
spectroscopic identification for 489 sources, ~59% of the overall sample. We
therefore increase the number of identifications in this field by a factor
close to five. Galactic stellar sources represent about 15% of the total
(74/489). About 55% (267/489) are broad-line Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs)
spanning redshifts between 0.15 and 3.87 with a median value of 1.68. The
optical-to-X-ray spectral index of the broad-line AGNs is 1.47, typical of
optically-selected Type I quasars and is found to correlate with the rest frame
X-ray and optical monochromatic luminosities at 2 keV and 2500 angstroms
respectively. Consistent with previous studies, we find alpha_ox not to be
correlated with z. In addition, 32 and 116 X-ray sources are, respectively
absorption and emission-line galaxies at z<0.76. From a line ratio diagnostic
diagram it is found that in about 50% of these emission line galaxies, the
emission lines are powered significantly by the AGN. Thirty of the XMM sources
are detected at one or more radio frequencies. In addition, 24 sources have
ambiguous identification: in 8 cases, two XMM sources have a single optical
source within 6 arcsecs of each of them, whereas, 2 and 14 XMM sources have,
respectively, 3 and 2 possible optical sources within 6 arcsecs of each of
them.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures, 5 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
Cosmic density field reconstruction from Ly-alpha forest data
We present a novel, fast method to recover the density field through the
statistics of the transmitted flux in high redshift quasar absorption spectra.
The proposed technique requires the computation of the probability distribution
function of the transmitted flux (P_F) in the Ly-alpha forest region and, as a
sole assumption, the knowledge of the probability distribution function of the
matter density field (P_Delta). We show that the probability density
conservation of the flux and matter density unveils a flux-density (F-Delta)
relation which can be used to invert the Ly-alpha forest without any assumption
on the physical properties of the intergalactic medium. We test our inversion
method at z=3 through the following steps: [i] simulation of a sample of
synthetic spectra for which P_Delta is known; [ii] computation of P_F; [iii]
inversion of the Ly-alpha forest through the F-Delta relation. Our technique,
when applied to only 10 observed spectra characterized by a signal-to noise
ratio S/N >= 100 provides an exquisite (relative error epsilon_Delta <~ 12 % in
>~ 50 % of the pixels) reconstruction of the density field in >~ 90 % of the
line of sight. We finally discuss strengths and limitations of the method.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter
Infrastructure for Detector Research and Development towards the International Linear Collider
The EUDET-project was launched to create an infrastructure for developing and
testing new and advanced detector technologies to be used at a future linear
collider. The aim was to make possible experimentation and analysis of data for
institutes, which otherwise could not be realized due to lack of resources. The
infrastructure comprised an analysis and software network, and instrumentation
infrastructures for tracking detectors as well as for calorimetry.Comment: 54 pages, 48 picture
Transverse and longitudinal correlation functions in the Intergalactic Medium from 32 close pairs of high-redshift quasars
We present the transverse flux correlation function of the Lyman-alpha forest
in quasar absorption spectra at z~2.1 from VLT-FORS and VLT-UVES observations
of a total of 32 pairs of quasars; 26 pairs with separations in the range
0.6<theta<4 arcmin and 6 pairs with 4<theta<10 arcmin. Correlation is detected
at the 3sigma level up to separations of the order of ~4 arcmin (or ~4.4 h^{-1}
Mpc comoving at z=2.1 for Omega_{m}=0.3 and Omega_{Lambda}=0.7). We have,
furthermore, measured the longitudinal correlation function at a somewhat
higher mean redshift (z=2.39) from 20 lines of sight observed with high
spectral resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio with VLT-UVES. We compare
the observed transverse and longitudinal correlation functions to that obtained
from numerical simulations and illustrate the effect of spectral resolution,
thermal broadening and peculiar motions. The shape and correlation length of
the correlation functions are in good agreement with those expected from
absorption by the filamentary and sheet-like structures in the photoionized
warm intergalactic medium predicted in CDM-like models for structures
formation. Using a sample of 139 C_{iv} systems detected along the lines of
sight toward the pairs of quasars we also investigate the transverse
correlation of metals on the same scales. The observed transverse correlation
function of intervening C_{iv} absorption systems is consistent with that of a
randomly distributed population of absorbers. This is likely due to the small
number of pairs with separation less than 2 arcmin. We detect, however, a
significant overdensity of systems in the sightlines towards the quartet
Q0103-294A&B, Q0102-2931 and Q0102-293 which extends over the redshift range
1.5<z<2.2 and an angular scale larger than 10 arcmin.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS, Appendix B and C will be published
online onl
Tracing the gas at redshift 1.7-3.5 with the Lyman-alpha forest: the FLO approach
[Abridged] We present FLO (From Lines to Over-densities), a new technique to
reconstruct the hydrogen density field for the Lya forest lines observed in
high resolution QSO spectra. The method is based on the hypothesis that the Lya
lines arise in the low to intermediate density intergalactic gas and that the
Jeans length is the typical size of the Lya absorbers. The reliability of FLO
is tested against mock spectra obtained from cosmological simulations. The
recovering algorithm gives satisfactory results in the range from the mean
density to over-densities of ~30 and reproduces correctly the correlation
function of the density field and the 1D power spectrum on scales between ~20
and 60 comoving Mpc. A sample of Lya forests from 22 high resolution QSO
spectra is analysed, covering the redshift range 1.7<z<3.5. For each line of
sight, we fit Voigt profiles to the lines of the Lya forest, providing the
largest, homogeneous sample of fitted Lya lines ever studied. The line number
density evolution with redshift follows a power-law relation: dn/dz=(166 +/- 4)
[(1+z)/3.5]^{(2.8 +/- 0.2)} (1 sigma errors). The two-point correlation
function of lines shows a signal up to separations of ~2 comoving Mpc; weak
lines (log N(HI)<13.8) also show a significant clustering but on smaller scales
(r<1.5 comoving Mpc). We estimate with FLO the hydrogen density field toward
the 22 observed lines of sight. The redshift distribution of the average
densities computed for each QSO is consistent with the cosmic mean hydrogen
density in the analysed redshift range. The two-point correlation function and
the 1D power spectrum of the delta field are estimated. The correlation
function shows clustering signal up to ~4 comoving Mpc.Comment: 17 figures and 2 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
ANTARES: the first undersea neutrino telescope
The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope was completed in May 2008 and is the first
operational Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The main purpose of
the detector is to perform neutrino astronomy and the apparatus also offers
facilities for marine and Earth sciences. This paper describes the design, the
construction and the installation of the telescope in the deep sea, offshore
from Toulon in France. An illustration of the detector performance is given