1,448 research outputs found
Weak Lensing of the CMB: Cumulants of the Probability Distribution Function
We discuss the real-space moments of temperature anisotropies in the cosmic
microwave background (CMB) due to weak gravitational lensing by intervening
large-scale structure. We show that if the probability distribution function of
primordial temperature anisotropies is Gaussian, then it remains unchanged
after gravitational lensing. With finite resolution, however, non-zero
higher-order cumulants are generated both by lensing autocorrelations and by
cross-correlations between the lensing potential and secondary anisotropies in
the CMB such as the Sunayev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. Skewness is produced by
these lensing-SZ correlations, while kurtosis receives contributions from both
lensing alone and lensing-SZ correlations. We show that if the projected
lensing potential is Gaussian, all cumulants of higher-order than the kurtosis
vanish. While recent results raise the possibility of detection of the skewness
in upcoming data, the kurtosis will likely remain undetected.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
Cosmology with intensity mapping techniques using atomic and molecular lines
We present a systematic study of the intensity mapping technique using
updated models for the different emission lines from galaxies and identify
which ones are more promising for cosmological studies of the post reionization
epoch. We consider the emission of , , H,
optical and infrared oxygen lines, nitrogen lines, CII and the CO rotational
lines. We then identify that , , OII, CII and
the lowest rotational CO lines are the best candidates to be used as IM probes.
These lines form a complementary set of probes of the galaxies emission
spectra. We then use reasonable experimental setups from current, planned or
proposed experiments to access the detectability of the power spectrum of each
emission line. Intensity mapping of emission from to 3
will be possible in the near future with HETDEX, while far-infrared lines
require new dedicated experiments. We also show that the proposed SPHEREx
satellite can use OII and IM to study the large-scale
distribution of matter in intermediate redshifts of 1 to 4. We found that
submilimeter experiments with bolometers can have similar performances at
intermediate redshifts using CII and CO(3-2).Comment: 18 pages, 21 figures, 5 tables, published in MNRAS, typos correcte
LISA Measurement of Gravitational Wave Background Anisotropy: Hexadecapole Moment via a Correlation Analysis
We discuss spatial fluctuations in the gravitational wave background arising
from unresolved Galactic binary sources, such as close white dwarf binaries,
due to the fact the galactic binary source distribution is anisotropic. We
introduce a correlation analysis of the two data streams of the Laser
Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) to extract spherical harmonic coefficients,
in an independent manner, of the hexadecapole moment () related to the
projected two-dimensional density distribution of the binary source population.
The proposed technique complements and improves over previous suggestions in
the literature to measure the gravitational wave background anisotropy based on
the time modulation of data as LISA orbits around the Sun. Such techniques,
however, are restricted only to certain combinations of spherical harmonic
coefficients of the galaxy with no ability to separate them individually. With
LISA, and 4 coefficients of the hexadecapole () can be measured
with signal-to-noise ratios at the level of 10 and above in a certain
coordinate system. In addition to the hexadecapole coefficients, when combined
with the time modulation analysis, the correlation study can also be used, in
principle, to measure quadrupole coefficients of the binary distribution.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Cross-Correlation Studies between CMB Temperature Anisotropies and 21 cm Fluctuations
During the transition from a neutral to a fully reionized universe,
scattering of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons via free-electrons
leads to a new anisotropy contribution to the temperature distribution. If the
reionization process is inhomogeneous and patchy, the era of reionization is
also visible via brightness temperature fluctuations in the redshifted 21 cm
line emission from neutral Hydrogen. Since regions containing electrons and
neutral Hydrogen are expected to trace the same underlying density field, the
two are (anti) correlated and this is expected to be reflected in the
anisotropy maps via a correlation between arcminute-scale CMB temperature and
the 21 cm background. In terms of the angular cross-power spectrum,
unfortunately, this correlation is insignificant due to a geometric
cancellation associated with second order CMB anisotropies. The same
cross-correlation between ionized and neutral regions, however, can be studied
using a bispectrum involving large scale velocity field of ionized regions from
the Doppler effect, arcminute scale CMB anisotropies during reionization, and
the 21 cm background. While the geometric cancellation is partly avoided, the
signal-to-noise ratio related to this bispectrum is reduced due to the large
cosmic variance related to velocity fluctuations traced by the Doppler effect.
Unless the velocity field during reionization can be independently established,
it is unlikely that the correlation information related to the relative
distribution of ionized electrons and regions containing neutral Hydrogen can
be obtained with a combined study involving CMB and 21 cm fluctuations.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
The Born and Lens-Lens Corrections to Weak Gravitational Lensing Angular Power Spectra
We revisit the estimation of higher order corrections to the angular power
spectra of weak gravitational lensing. Extending a previous calculation of
Cooray and Hu, we find two additional terms to the fourth order in potential
perturbations of large-scale structure corresponding to corrections associated
with the Born approximation and the neglect of line-of-sight coupling of two
foreground lenses in the standard first order result. These terms alter the
convergence (), the lensing shear E-mode (),
and their cross-correlation () power spectra on large angular
scales, but leave the power spectra of the lensing shear B-mode ()
and rotational () component unchanged as compared to previous
estimates. The new terms complete the calculation of corrections to weak
lensing angular power spectra associated with both the Born approximation and
the lens-lens coupling to an order in which the contributions are most
significant. Taking these features together, we find that these corrections are
unimportant for any weak lensing survey, including for a full sky survey
limited by cosmic variance.Comment: Added references, minor changes to text. 9 pages, 2 figure
Can Cosmic Shear Shed Light on Low Cosmic Microwave Background Multipoles?
The lowest multipole moments of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are
smaller than expected for a scale-invariant power spectrum. One possible
explanation is a cutoff in the primordial power spectrum below a comoving scale
of Mpc. This would affect not only the
CMB but also the cosmic-shear (CS) distortion of the CMB. Such a cutoff
increases significantly the cross-correlation between the large-angle CMB and
cosmic-shear patterns. The cross-correlation may be detectable at
which, when combined with the low CMB moments, may tilt the balance between a
result and a firm detection of a large-scale power-spectrum cutoff.
As an aside, we also note that the cutoff increases the large-angle
cross-correlation between the CMB and low-redshift tracers of the mass
distribution.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, revised statistical analysis, submitted to PR
Heating of the IGM
Using the cosmic virial theorem, Press-Schechter analysis and numerical
simulations, we compute the expected X-ray background (XRB) from the diffuse
IGM with the clumping factor expected from gravitational shock heating. The
predicted fluxes and temperatures are excluded from the observed XRB. The
predicted clumping can be reduced by entropy injection. The required energy is
computed from the two-point correlation function, as well as from
Press-Schechter formalisms. The minimal energy injection of 1 keV/nucleon
excludes radiative or gravitational heating as a primary energy source. We
argue that the intergalactic medium (IGM) must have been heated through violent
processes such as massive supernova bursts. If the heating proceeded through
supernova explosions, it likely proceeded in bursts which may be observable in
high redshift supernova searches. Within our model we reproduce the observed
cluster luminosity-temperature relation with energy injection of 1 keV/nucleon
if this injection is assumed to be uncorrelated with the local density. These
parameters predict that the diffuse IGM soft XRB has a temperature of ~1 keV
with a flux near 10 keV/cm^2 s str keV, which may be detectable in the near
future.Comment: to appear in ApJ Lett., 11 pages incl 1 figur
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