A Comparison of Cosmological Parameters Determined from CMB Temperature Power Spectra from the South Pole Telescope and the Planck Satellite

The Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature data are best fit with a LCDM model that is in mild tension with constraints from other cosmological probes. The South Pole Telescope (SPT) 2540 $\text{deg}^2$ SPT-SZ survey offers measurements on sub-degree angular scales (multipoles $650 \leq \ell \leq 2500$) with sufficient precision to use as an independent check of the Planck data. Here we build on the recent joint analysis of the SPT-SZ and Planck data in \citet{hou17} by comparing LCDM parameter estimates using the temperature power spectrum from both data sets in the SPT-SZ survey region. We also restrict the multipole range used in parameter fitting to focus on modes measured well by both SPT and Planck, thereby greatly reducing sample variance as a driver of parameter differences and creating a stringent test for systematic errors. We find no evidence of systematic errors from such tests. When we expand the maximum multipole of SPT data used, we see low-significance shifts in the angular scale of the sound horizon and the physical baryon and cold dark matter densities, with a resulting trend to higher Hubble constant. When we compare SPT and Planck data on the SPT-SZ sky patch to Planck full-sky data but keep the multipole range restricted, we find differences in the parameters $n_s$ and $A_se^{-2\tau}$. We perform further checks, investigating instrumental effects and modeling assumptions, and we find no evidence that the effects investigated are responsible for any of the parameter shifts. Taken together, these tests reveal no evidence for systematic errors in SPT or Planck data in the overlapping sky coverage and multipole range and, at most, weak evidence for a breakdown of LCDM or systematic errors influencing either the Planck data outside the SPT-SZ survey area or the SPT data at $\ell >2000$.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. Updated 1 figure and expanded on the reasoning for fixing the affect of lensing on the power spectrum instead of varying Alen

Consistency of cosmic microwave background temperature measurements in three frequency bands in the 2500-square-degree SPT-SZ survey

We present an internal consistency test of South Pole Telescope (SPT) measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropy using three-band data from the SPT-SZ survey. These measurements are made from observations of ~2500 deg^2 of sky in three frequency bands centered at 95, 150, and 220 GHz. We combine the information from these three bands into six semi-independent estimates of the CMB power spectrum (three single-frequency power spectra and three cross-frequency spectra) over the multipole range 650 < l < 3000. We subtract an estimate of foreground power from each power spectrum and evaluate the consistency among the resulting CMB-only spectra. We determine that the six foreground-cleaned power spectra are consistent with the null hypothesis, in which the six cleaned spectra contain only CMB power and noise. A fit of the data to this model results in a chi-squared value of 236.3 for 235 degrees of freedom, and the probability to exceed this chi-squared value is 46%.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, current version matches version published in JCA

The 10 Meter South Pole Telescope

The South Pole Telescope (SPT) is a 10 m diameter, wide-field, offset Gregorian telescope with a 966-pixel, multi-color, millimeter-wave, bolometer camera. It is located at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station in Antarctica. The design of the SPT emphasizes careful control of spillover and scattering, to minimize noise and false signals due to ground pickup. The key initial project is a large-area survey at wavelengths of 3, 2 and 1.3 mm, to detect clusters of galaxies via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect and to measure the small-scale angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The data will be used to characterize the primordial matter power spectrum and to place constraints on the equation of state of dark energy. A second-generation camera will measure the polarization of the CMB, potentially leading to constraints on the neutrino mass and the energy scale of inflation.Comment: 47 pages, 14 figures, updated to match version to be published in PASP 123 903 (May, 2011

A Comparison of Maps and Power Spectra Determined from South Pole Telescope and Planck Data

We study the consistency of 150 GHz data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and 143 GHz data from the Planck satellite over the patch of sky covered by the SPT-SZ survey. We first visually compare the maps and find that the residuals appear consistent with noise after accounting for differences in angular resolution and filtering. We then calculate (1) the cross-spectrum between two independent halves of SPT data, (2) the cross-spectrum between two independent halves of Planck data, and (3) the cross-spectrum between SPT and Planck data. We find the three cross-spectra are well-fit (PTE = 0.30) by the null hypothesis in which both experiments have measured the same sky map up to a single free calibration parameter---i.e., we find no evidence for systematic errors in either data set. As a by-product, we improve the precision of the SPT calibration by nearly an order of magnitude, from 2.6% to 0.3% in power. Finally, we compare all three cross-spectra to the full-sky Planck power spectrum and find marginal evidence for differences between the power spectra from the SPT-SZ footprint and the full sky. We model these differences as a power law in spherical harmonic multipole number. The best-fit value of this tilt is consistent among the three cross-spectra in the SPT-SZ footprint, implying that the source of this tilt is a sample variance fluctuation in the SPT-SZ region relative to the full sky. The consistency of cosmological parameters derived from these datasets is discussed in a companion paper.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures. Published in The Astrophysical Journal. Current arxiv version matches published versio

A Direct Measurement of the Linear Bias of Mid-infrared-selected Quasars at z ap 1 Using Cosmic Microwave Background Lensing

We measure the cross-power spectrum of the projected mass density as traced by the convergence of the cosmic microwave background lensing field from the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and a sample of Type 1 and 2 (unobscured and obscured) quasars at langzrang ~ 1 selected with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, over 2500 deg2. The cross-power spectrum is detected at ≈7σ, and we measure a linear bias b = 1.61 ± 0.22, consistent with clustering analyses. Using an independent lensing map, derived from Planck observations, to measure the cross-spectrum, we find excellent agreement with the SPT analysis. The bias of the combined sample of Type 1 and 2 quasars determined in this work is similar to that previously determined for Type 1 quasars alone; we conclude that obscured and unobscured quasars trace the matter field in a similar way. This result has implications for our understanding of quasar unification and evolution schemes.Peer reviewe

Measurements of Sub-degree B-mode Polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background from 100 Square Degrees of SPTpol Data

We present a measurement of the $B$-mode polarization power spectrum (the $BB$ spectrum) from 100 $\mathrm{deg}^2$ of sky observed with SPTpol, a polarization-sensitive receiver currently installed on the South Pole Telescope. The observations used in this work were taken during 2012 and early 2013 and include data in spectral bands centered at 95 and 150 GHz. We report the $BB$ spectrum in five bins in multipole space, spanning the range $300 \le \ell \le 2300$, and for three spectral combinations: 95 GHz $\times$ 95 GHz, 95 GHz $\times$ 150 GHz, and 150 GHz $\times$ 150 GHz. We subtract small ($< 0.5 \sigma$ in units of statistical uncertainty) biases from these spectra and account for the uncertainty in those biases. The resulting power spectra are inconsistent with zero power but consistent with predictions for the $BB$ spectrum arising from the gravitational lensing of $E$-mode polarization. If we assume no other source of $BB$ power besides lensed $B$ modes, we determine a preference for lensed $B$ modes of $4.9 \sigma$. After marginalizing over tensor power and foregrounds, namely polarized emission from galactic dust and extragalactic sources, this significance is $4.3 \sigma$. Fitting for a single parameter, $A_\mathrm{lens}$, that multiplies the predicted lensed $B$-mode spectrum, and marginalizing over tensor power and foregrounds, we find $A_\mathrm{lens} = 1.08 \pm 0.26$, indicating that our measured spectra are consistent with the signal expected from gravitational lensing. The data presented here provide the best measurement to date of the $B$-mode power spectrum on these angular scales.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure

Mass Calibration and Cosmological Analysis of the SPT-SZ Galaxy Cluster Sample Using Velocity Dispersion σv\sigma_v and X-ray YXY_\textrm{X} 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 ($\sigma_v$) and 16 X-ray Yx measurements of sample clusters, we simultaneously calibrate the mass-observable relation and constrain cosmological parameters. The calibrations using $\sigma_v$ and Yx are consistent at the $0.6\sigma$ level, with the $\sigma_v$ calibration preferring ~16% higher masses. We use the full cluster dataset to measure $\sigma_8(\Omega_ m/0.27)^{0.3}=0.809\pm0.036$. 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 $\sum m_\nu=0.06$ eV, we find the datasets to be consistent at the 1.0$\sigma$ level for WMAP9 and 1.5$\sigma$ for Planck+WP. Allowing for larger $\sum m_\nu$ further reconciles the results. When we combine the cluster and Planck+WP datasets with BAO and SNIa, the preferred cluster masses are $1.9\sigma$ higher than the Yx calibration and $0.8\sigma$ higher than the $\sigma_v$ 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 $\Omega_ m=0.299\pm0.009$ and $\sigma_8=0.829\pm0.011$. Within a $\nu$CDM model we find $\sum m_\nu = 0.148\pm0.081$ eV. We present a consistency test of the cosmic growth rate. Allowing both the growth index $\gamma$ and the dark energy equation of state parameter $w$ to vary, we find $\gamma=0.73\pm0.28$ and $w=-1.007\pm0.065$, demonstrating that the expansion and the growth histories are consistent with a LCDM model ($\gamma=0.55; \,w=-1$).Comment: Accepted by ApJ (v2 is accepted version); 17 pages, 6 figure

Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Cluster Profiles Measured with the South Pole Telescope

We present Sunyaev-Zel'dovich measurements of 15 massive X-ray selected galaxy clusters obtained with the South Pole Telescope. The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) cluster signals are measured at 150 GHz, and concurrent 220 GHz data are used to reduce astrophysical contamination. Radial profiles are computed using a technique that takes into account the effects of the beams and filtering. In several clusters, significant SZ decrements are detected out to a substantial fraction of the virial radius. The profiles are fit to the beta model and to a generalized NFW pressure profile, and are scaled and stacked to probe their average behavior. We find model parameters that are consistent with previous studies: beta=0.86 and r_core/r_500 = 0.20 for the beta model, and (alpha, beta, gamma, c_500)=(1.0,5.5,0.5,1.0) for the generalized NFW model. Both models fit the SPT data comparably well, and both are consistent with the average SZ profile out to the virial radius. The integrated Compton-y parameter Y_SZ is computed for each cluster using both model-dependent and model-independent techniques, and the results are compared to X-ray estimates of cluster parameters. We find that Y_SZ scales with Y_X and gas mass with low scatter. Since these observables have been found to scale with total mass, our results point to a tight mass-observable relation for the SPT cluster survey.Comment: 21 pages, 24 figures, updated to published versio