Infrared cutoffs and the adiabatic limit in noncommutative spacetime

We discuss appropriate infrared cutoffs and their adiabatic limit for field theories on the noncommutative Minkowski space in the Yang-Feldman formalism. In order to do this, we consider a mass term as interaction term. We show that an infrared cutoff can be defined quite analogously to the commutative case and that the adiabatic limit of the two-point function exists and coincides with the expectation, to all orders.Comment: 19 page

CMB Lensing Power Spectrum Biases from Galaxies and Clusters using High-angular Resolution Temperature Maps

The lensing power spectrum from cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature maps will be measured with unprecedented precision with upcoming experiments, including upgrades to ACT and SPT. Achieving significant improvements in cosmological parameter constraints, such as percent level errors on sigma_8 and an uncertainty on the total neutrino mass of approximately 50 meV, requires percent level measurements of the CMB lensing power. This necessitates tight control of systematic biases. We study several types of biases to the temperature-based lensing reconstruction signal from foreground sources such as radio and infrared galaxies and the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect from galaxy clusters. These foregrounds bias the CMB lensing signal due to their non-Gaussian nature. Using simulations as well as some analytical models we find that these sources can substantially impact the measured signal if left untreated. However, these biases can be brought to the percent level if one masks galaxies with fluxes at 150 GHz above 1 mJy and galaxy clusters with masses above M_vir = 10^14 M_sun. To achieve such percent level bias, we find that only modes up to a maximum multipole of l_max ~ 2500 should be included in the lensing reconstruction. We also discuss ways to minimize additional bias induced by such aggressive foreground masking by, for example, exploring a two-step masking and in-painting algorithm.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, to be submitted to Ap

Cosmic Microwave Background Constraints on the Duration and Timing of Reionization from the South Pole Telescope

The epoch of reionization is a milestone of cosmological structure formation, marking the birth of the first objects massive enough to yield large numbers of ionizing photons. However, the mechanism and timescale of reionization remain largely unknown. Measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) Doppler effect from ionizing bubbles embedded in large-scale velocity streams—known as the patchy kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect—can be used to constrain the duration of reionization. When combined with large-scale CMB polarization measurements, the evolution of the ionized fraction, x-bar_(e), can be inferred. Using new multi-frequency data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT), we show that the ionized fraction evolved relatively rapidly. For our basic foreground model, we find the kSZ power sourced by reionization at ℓ = 3000 to be D^(patchy)_3000 ≤ 2.1 μK^2 at 95% confidence. Using reionization simulations, we translate this to a limit on the duration of reionization of Δz≡z_(x-bar)_e=0.20 - z_(x-bar)_e=0.99≤4.4 (95% confidence). We find that this constraint depends on assumptions about the angular correlation between the thermal SZ power and the cosmic infrared background (CIB). Introducing the degree of correlation as a free parameter, we find that the limit on kSZ power weakens to D^(patchy)_3000 ≤ 4.9 μK^2, implying Δz ≤ 7.9 (95% confidence). We combine the SPT constraint on the duration of reionization with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe measurement of the integrated optical depth to probe the cosmic ionization history. We find that reionization ended with 95% confidence at z > 7.2 under the assumption of no tSZ-CIB correlation, and z > 5.8 when correlations are allowed. Improved constraints from the full SPT data set in conjunction with upcoming Herschel and Planck data should detect extended reionization at >95% confidence provided Δz ≥ 2. These CMB observations complement other observational probes of the epoch of reionization such as the redshifted 21 cm line and narrowband surveys for Lyα-emitting galaxies

Angular momentum extraction by gravity waves in the Sun

We review the behavior of the oscillating shear layer produced by gravity waves below the surface convection zone of the Sun. We show that, under asymmetric filtering produced by this layer, gravity waves of low spherical order, which are stochastically excited at the base of the convection zone of late type stars, can extract angular momentum from their radiative interior. The time-scale for this momentum extraction in a Sun-like star is of the order of 10^7 years. The process is particularly efficient in the central region, and it could produce there a slowly rotating core.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figues, accepted by Astrophysical Journal Letter, 26 June 200

Modeling Extragalactic Foregrounds and Secondaries for Unbiased Estimation of Cosmological Parameters From Primary CMB Anisotropy

Using the latest physical modeling and constrained by the most recent data, we develop a phenomenological parameterized model of the contributions to intensity and polarization maps at millimeter wavelengths from external galaxies and Sunyaev-Zeldovich effects. We find such modeling to be necessary for estimation of cosmological parameters from Planck data. For example, ignoring the clustering of the infrared background would result in a bias in n_s of 7 sigma. We show that the simultaneous marginalization over a full foreground model can eliminate such biases, while increasing the statistical uncertainty in cosmological parameters by less than 20%. The small increases in uncertainty can be significantly reduced with the inclusion of higher-resolution ground-based data. The multi-frequency analysis we employ involves modeling 46 total power spectra and marginalization over 17 foreground parameters. We show that we can also reduce the data to a best estimate of the CMB power spectra, and just two principal components (with constrained amplitudes) describing residual foreground contamination.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Ap

Systematic Two-band Model Calculations of the GMR Effect with Metallic and Nonmetallic Spacers and with Impurities

By an accurate Green's function method we calculate conductances and the corresponding Giant Magneto-Resistance effects (GMR) of two metallic ferromagnetic films separated by different spacers, metallic and non-metallic ones, in a simplified model on a sc lattice, in CPP and CIP geometries (i.e. current perpendicular or parallel to the planes), without impurities, or with interface- or bulk impurities. The electronic structure of the systems is approximated by two hybridized orbitals per atom, to mimic s-bands and d-bands and their hybridization. We show that such calculations usually give rough estimates only, but of the correct order of magnitude; in particular, the predictions on the impurity effects depend strongly on the model parameters. One of our main results is the prediction of huge CPP-GMR effects for {\it non-metallic} spacers in the ballistic limit.Comment: Revised version; discussions and references improved; accepted by JMM