Inexpensive mount for a large millimeter-wavelength telescope

A telescope mount with a single-point force support at the center of gravity of the primary mirror is proposed in order to eliminate much of the structure and cost of a large, millimeter-wavelength telescope. The single-point support gives repeatable thermal and gravitational deformation, so the surface of the primary can be controlled based on lookup tables for elevation and temperature. The new design is most appropriate for a survey telescope because locating the support above the vertex of the primary limits the range of motion of the mount to about 1 rad. A 30 m diameter, λ=850  μm telescope with the proposed mount is a factor of 4 lighter than a design with a conventional elevation-over-azimuth mount, and roughly half the cost

A Sunyaev-Zel'Dovich-Selected Sample of the Most Massive Galaxy Clusters in the 2500 deg^2 South Pole Telescope Survey

The South Pole Telescope (SPT) is currently surveying 2500 deg^2 of the southern sky to detect massive galaxy clusters out to the epoch of their formation using the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. This paper presents a catalog of the 26 most significant SZ cluster detections in the full survey region. The catalog includes 14 clusters which have been previously identified and 12 that are new discoveries. These clusters were identified in fields observed to two differing noise depths: 1500 deg^2 at the final SPT survey depth of 18 μK arcmin at 150 GHz and 1000 deg^2 at a depth of 54 μK arcmin. Clusters were selected on the basis of their SZ signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) in SPT maps, a quantity which has been demonstrated to correlate tightly with cluster mass. The S/N thresholds were chosen to achieve a comparable mass selection across survey fields of both depths. Cluster redshifts were obtained with optical and infrared imaging and spectroscopy from a variety of ground- and space-based facilities. The redshifts range from 0.098 ≤ z ≤ 1.132 with a median of z_(med) = 0.40. The measured SZ S/N and redshifts lead to unbiased mass estimates ranging from 9.8 × 10^(14) M_☉ h^(–1)_(70) ≤ M _(200(ρmean)) ≤ 3.1 × 10^(15) M_☉ h^(–1)_(70). Based on the SZ mass estimates, we find that none of the clusters are individually in significant tension with the ΛCDM cosmological model. We also test for evidence of non-Gaussianity based on the cluster sample and find the data show no preference for non-Gaussian perturbations

Rayleigh beacon for measuring the surface profile of a radio telescope

Millimeter-wavelength Rayleigh scattering from water droplets in a cloud is proposed as a means of generating a bright beacon for measuring the surface profile of a radio telescope. A λ=3  mm transmitter, with an output power of a few watts, illuminating a stratiform cloud, can generate a beacon with the same flux as Mars in 10 GHz bandwidth, but the beacon has a narrow line width, so it is extremely bright. The key advantage of the beacon is that it can be used at any time, and positioned anywhere in the sky, as long as there are clouds

Discovery and Cosmological Implications of SPT-CL J2106-5844, the Most Massive Known Cluster at z>1

Using the South Pole Telescope (SPT), we have discovered the most massive known galaxy cluster at z>1, SPT-CL J2106-5844. In addition to producing a strong Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect signal, this system is a luminous X-ray source and its numerous constituent galaxies display spatial and color clustering, all indicating the presence of a massive galaxy cluster. Very Large Telescope and Magellan spectroscopy of 18 member galaxies shows that the cluster is at z = 1.132^(+0.002)_(–0.003). Chandra observations obtained through a combined HRC-ACIS GTO program reveal an X-ray spectrum with an Fe K line redshifted by z = 1.18 ± 0.03. These redshifts are consistent with the galaxy colors found in optical, near-infrared, and mid-infrared imaging. SPT-CL J2106-5844 displays extreme X-ray properties for a cluster having a core-excluded temperature of T_X = 11.0^(+2.6)_(–1.9) keV and a luminosity (within r _(500)) of LX (0.5-2.0 keV) = (13.9 ± 1.0) × 10_(44) erg s^(–1). The combined mass estimate from measurements of the SZ effect and X-ray data is M_(200) = (1.27 ± 0.21) × 10^(15) h ^(–1) _(70) M_⊙. The discovery of such a massive gravitationally collapsed system at high redshift provides an interesting laboratory for galaxy formation and evolution, and is a probe of extreme perturbations of the primordial matter density field. We discuss the latter, determining that, under the assumption of ΛCDM cosmology with only Gaussian perturbations, there is only a 7% chance of finding a galaxy cluster similar to SPT-CL J2106-5844 in the 2500 deg^2 SPT survey region and that only one such galaxy cluster is expected in the entire sky

Improved Constraints on Cosmic Microwave Background Secondary Anisotropies from the Complete 2008 South Pole Telescope Data

We report measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum from the complete 2008 South Pole Telescope (SPT) data set. We analyze twice as much data as the first SPT power spectrum analysis, using an improved cosmological parameter estimator which fits multi-frequency models to the SPT 150 and 220 GHz bandpowers. We find an excellent fit to the measured bandpowers with a model that includes lensed primary CMB anisotropy, secondary thermal (tSZ) and kinetic (kSZ) Sunyaev-Zel'dovich anisotropies, unclustered synchrotron point sources, and clustered dusty point sources. In addition to measuring the power spectrum of dusty galaxies at high signal-to-noise, the data primarily constrain a linear combination of the kSZ and tSZ anisotropy contributions at 150 GHz and ℓ = 3000: D^(tSZ) ^(3000) + 0.5 D_(kSZ)^(3000) = 4.5 ± 1.0 μK^2. The 95% confidence upper limits on secondary anisotropy power are D ^(tSZ)_(3000) < 5.3 μK^2 and D^(kSZ)_(3000) < 6.5 μK^2. We also consider the potential correlation of dusty and tSZ sources and find it incapable of relaxing the tSZ upper limit. These results increase the significance of the lower than expected tSZ amplitude previously determined from SPT power spectrum measurements. We find that models including non-thermal pressure support in groups and clusters predict tSZ power in better agreement with the SPT data. Combining the tSZ power measurement with primary CMB data halves the statistical uncertainty on σ8. However, the preferred value of σ8 varies significantly between tSZ models. Improved constraints on cosmological parameters from tSZ power spectrum measurements require continued progress in the modeling of the tSZ power

A Measurement of the Damping Tail of the Cosmic Microwave Background Power Spectrum with the South Pole Telescope

We present a measurement of the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) using data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT). The data consist of 790 deg^2 of sky observed at 150 GHz during 2008 and 2009. Here we present the power spectrum over the multipole range 650 < ℓ < 3000, where it is dominated by primary CMB anisotropy. We combine this power spectrum with the power spectra from the seven-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data release to constrain cosmological models. We find that the SPT and WMAP data are consistent with each other and, when combined, are well fit by a spatially flat, ΛCDM cosmological model. The SPT+WMAP constraint on the spectral index of scalar fluctuations is n_s = 0.9663 ± 0.0112. We detect, at ~5σ significance, the effect of gravitational lensing on the CMB power spectrum, and find its amplitude to be consistent with the ΛCDM cosmological model. We explore a number of extensions beyond the ΛCDM model. Each extension is tested independently, although there are degeneracies between some of the extension parameters. We constrain the tensor-to-scalar ratio to be r < 0.21 (95% CL) and constrain the running of the scalar spectral index to be dn_s /dln k = –0.024 ± 0.013. We strongly detect the effects of primordial helium and neutrinos on the CMB; a model without helium is rejected at 7.7σ, while a model without neutrinos is rejected at 7.5σ. The primordial helium abundance is measured to be Y_p = 0.296 ± 0.030, and the effective number of relativistic species is measured to be N_eff = 3.85 ± 0.62. The constraints on these models are strengthened when the CMB data are combined with measurements of the Hubble constant and the baryon acoustic oscillation feature. Notable improvements include ns = 0.9668 ± 0.0093, r < 0.17 (95% CL), and N_eff = 3.86 ± 0.42. The SPT+WMAP data show a mild preference for low power in the CMB damping tail, and while this preference may be accommodated by models that have a negative spectral running, a high primordial helium abundance, or a high effective number of relativistic species, such models are disfavored by the abundance of low-redshift galaxy clusters

Constraints on Cosmological Parameters from the 500 deg² SPTPOL Lensing Power Spectrum

We present cosmological constraints based on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing potential power spectrum measurement from the recent 500 deg² SPTPOL survey, the most precise CMB lensing measurement from the ground to date. We fit a flat ΛCDM model to the reconstructed lensing power spectrum alone and in addition with other data sets: baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), as well as primary CMB spectra from Planck and SPTPOL. The cosmological constraints based on SPTPOL and Planck lensing band powers are in good agreement when analyzed alone and in combination with Planck full-sky primary CMB data. With weak priors on the baryon density and other parameters, the SPTPOL CMB lensing data alone provide a 4% constraint on σ₈Ω^(0.25)_m = 0.593 ± 0.025. Jointly fitting with BAO data, we find σ₈ = 0.779±0.023, Ω_m = 0.368^(+0.032)_(−0.037), and H₀ = 72.0^(+2.1)_(−2.5)kms⁻¹ Mpc⁻¹, up to 2σ away from the central values preferred by Planck lensing + BAO. However, we recover good agreement between SPTPOL and Planck when restricting the analysis to similar scales. We also consider single-parameter extensions to the flat ΛCDM model. The SPTPOL lensing spectrum constrains the spatial curvature to be Ω_K = −0.0007±0.0025 and the sum of the neutrino masses to be ∑m_ν < 0.23 eV at 95% C.L. (with Planck primary CMB and BAO data), in good agreement with the Planck lensing results. With the differences in the signal-to-noise ratio of the lensing modes and the angular scales covered in the lensing spectra, this analysis represents an important independent check on the full-sky Planck lensing measurement

A Measurement of Secondary Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropies with Two Years of South Pole Telescope Observations

We present the first three-frequency South Pole Telescope (SPT) cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectra. The band powers presented here cover angular scales 2000 < ℓ < 9400 in frequency bands centered at 95, 150, and 220 GHz. At these frequencies and angular scales, a combination of the primary CMB anisotropy, thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effects, radio galaxies, and cosmic infrared background (CIB) contributes to the signal. We combine Planck/HFI and SPT data at 220 GHz to constrain the amplitude and shape of the CIB power spectrum and find strong evidence for nonlinear clustering. We explore the SZ results using a variety of cosmological models for the CMB and CIB anisotropies and find them to be robust with one exception: allowing for spatial correlations between the thermal SZ effect and CIB significantly degrades the SZ constraints. Neglecting this potential correlation, we find the thermal SZ power at 150 GHz and ℓ = 3000 to be 3.65 ± 0.69 μK^2, and set an upper limit on the kinetic SZ power to be less than 2.8 μK^2 at 95% confidence. When a correlation between the thermal SZ and CIB is allowed, we constrain a linear combination of thermal and kinetic SZ power: D^(tSZ)_(3000) + 0.5D^(kSZ)_(3000) = 4.60 ± 0.63 μK^2, consistent with earlier measurements. We use the measured thermal SZ power and an analytic, thermal SZ model calibrated with simulations to determine σ_8 = 0.807 ± 0.016. Modeling uncertainties involving the astrophysics of the intracluster medium rather than the statistical uncertainty in the measured band powers are the dominant source of uncertainty on σ_8. We also place an upper limit on the kinetic SZ power produced by patchy reionization; a companion paper uses these limits to constrain the reionization history of the universe

Galaxy Clusters Selected via the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich Effect in the SPTpol 100-square-degree Survey

We present a catalog of galaxy cluster candidates detected in 100 square degrees surveyed with the SPTpol receiver on the South Pole Telescope. The catalog contains 89 candidates detected with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 4.6. The candidates are selected using the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect at 95 and 150 GHz. Using both space- and ground-based optical and infrared telescopes, we have confirmed 81 candidates as galaxy clusters. We use these follow-up images and archival images to estimate photometric redshifts for 66 galaxy clusters and spectroscopic observations to obtain redshifts for 13 systems. An additional two galaxy clusters are confirmed using the overdensity of near-infrared galaxies only and are presented without redshifts. We find that 15 candidates (18% of the total sample) are at redshift z ≥ 1.0, with a maximum confirmed redshift of z_(max) = 1.38±0.10. We expect this catalog to contain every galaxy cluster with M_(500c) > 2.6×10¹⁴M⊙h⁻¹₇₀ and z > 0.25 in the survey area. The mass threshold is approximately constant above z = 0.25, and the complete catalog has a median mass of approximately M_(500c) > 2.7×10¹⁴M⊙h⁻¹₇₀. Compared to previous SPT works, the increased depth of the millimeter-wave data (11.2 and 6.5 μK-arcmin at 95 and 150 GHz, respectively) makes it possible to find more galaxy clusters at high redshift and lower mass