Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cross-correlation between Dark Energy Survey Y1 galaxy weak lensing and South Pole Telescope+Planck CMB weak lensing

We cross-correlate galaxy weak lensing measurements from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) year-one data with a cosmic microwave background (CMB) weak lensing map derived from South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck data, with an effective overlapping area of 1289  deg^2. With the combined measurements from four source galaxy redshift bins, we obtain a detection significance of 5.8σ. We fit the amplitude of the correlation functions while fixing the cosmological parameters to a fiducial ΛCDMmodel, finding A=0.99±0.17. We additionally use the correlation function measurements to constrain shear calibration bias, obtaining constraints that are consistent with previous DES analyses. Finally, when performing a cosmological analysis under the ΛCDM model, we obtain the marginalized constraints of Ω_m=0.261^(+0.070)_(−0.051) and S_8≡σ_8√Ω_m/0.3=0.660^(+0.085)_(−0.100). These measurements are used in a companion work that presents cosmological constraints from the joint analysis of two-point functions among galaxies, galaxy shears, and CMB lensing using DES, SPT, and Planck data

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Tomographic cross-correlations between Dark Energy Survey galaxies and CMB lensing from South Pole Telescope + Planck

We measure the cross-correlation between REDMAGIC galaxies selected from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) year 1 data and gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) reconstructed from South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck data over 1289  deg^2. When combining measurements across multiple galaxy redshift bins spanning the redshift range of 0.15 < z < 0.90, we reject the hypothesis of no correlation at 19.9σ significance. When removing small-scale data points where thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich signal and nonlinear galaxy bias could potentially bias our results, the detection significance is reduced to 9.9σ. We perform a joint analysis of galaxy-CMB lensing cross-correlations and galaxy clustering to constrain cosmology, finding Ω_m = 0.276^(+0.029)_(−0.030_ and S_8 = σ_8√Ω_m/0.3 = 0.800^(+0.090)_(−0.094). We also perform two alternate analyses aimed at constraining only the growth rate of cosmic structure as a function of redshift, finding consistency with predictions from the concordance ΛCDM model. The measurements presented here are part of a joint cosmological analysis that combines galaxy clustering, galaxy lensing and CMB lensing using data from DES, SPT and Planck

A 2500 deg^2 CMB Lensing Map from Combined South Pole Telescope and Planck Data

We present a cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing map produced from a linear combination of South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck temperature data. The 150 GHz temperature data from the 2500 deg^2 SPT-SZ survey is combined with the Planck 143 GHz data in harmonic space to obtain a temperature map that has a broader ℓ coverage and less noise than either individual map. Using a quadratic estimator technique on this combined temperature map, we produce a map of the gravitational lensing potential projected along the line of sight. We measure the auto-spectrum of the lensing potential C^(φ φ)_L, and compare it to the theoretical prediction for a ΛCDM cosmology consistent with the Planck 2015 data set, finding a best-fit amplitude of 0.95^(+0.06)_(-0.06)(stat.)^(+0.01)_(-0.01)(sys). The null hypothesis of no lensing is rejected at a significance of 24σ. One important use of such a lensing potential map is in cross-correlations with other dark matter tracers. We demonstrate this cross-correlation in practice by calculating the cross-spectrum, C^(φG)_L, between the SPT+Planck lensing map and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) galaxies. We fit C^(φG)_L to a power law of the form p_L = s(L/L_0)^(-b) with a, L_0, and b fixed, and find η^( φG) = C^( φG)_L/P_L = 0.94^(+0.04)_(-0.04), which is marginally lower, but in good agreement with η^( φG) = 1.00^(+0.02)_(-0.01), the best-fit amplitude for the cross-correlation of Planck-2015 CMB lensing and WISEgalaxies over ~67% of the sky. The lensing potential map presented here will be used for cross-correlation studies with the Dark Energy Survey, whose footprint nearly completely covers the SPT 2500 deg^2 field

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Tomographic cross-correlations between Dark Energy Survey galaxies and CMB lensing from South Pole Telescope + Planck

We measure the cross-correlation between REDMAGIC galaxies selected from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) year 1 data and gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) reconstructed from South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck data over 1289  deg^2. When combining measurements across multiple galaxy redshift bins spanning the redshift range of 0.15 < z < 0.90, we reject the hypothesis of no correlation at 19.9σ significance. When removing small-scale data points where thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich signal and nonlinear galaxy bias could potentially bias our results, the detection significance is reduced to 9.9σ. We perform a joint analysis of galaxy-CMB lensing cross-correlations and galaxy clustering to constrain cosmology, finding Ω_m = 0.276^(+0.029)_(−0.030_ and S_8 = σ_8√Ω_m/0.3 = 0.800^(+0.090)_(−0.094). We also perform two alternate analyses aimed at constraining only the growth rate of cosmic structure as a function of redshift, finding consistency with predictions from the concordance ΛCDM model. The measurements presented here are part of a joint cosmological analysis that combines galaxy clustering, galaxy lensing and CMB lensing using data from DES, SPT and Planck

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cross-correlation between Dark Energy Survey Y1 galaxy weak lensing and South Pole Telescope+Planck CMB weak lensing

We cross-correlate galaxy weak lensing measurements from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) year-one data with a cosmic microwave background (CMB) weak lensing map derived from South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck data, with an effective overlapping area of 1289  deg^2. With the combined measurements from four source galaxy redshift bins, we obtain a detection significance of 5.8σ. We fit the amplitude of the correlation functions while fixing the cosmological parameters to a fiducial ΛCDMmodel, finding A=0.99±0.17. We additionally use the correlation function measurements to constrain shear calibration bias, obtaining constraints that are consistent with previous DES analyses. Finally, when performing a cosmological analysis under the ΛCDM model, we obtain the marginalized constraints of Ω_m=0.261^(+0.070)_(−0.051) and S_8≡σ_8√Ω_m/0.3=0.660^(+0.085)_(−0.100). These measurements are used in a companion work that presents cosmological constraints from the joint analysis of two-point functions among galaxies, galaxy shears, and CMB lensing using DES, SPT, and Planck data

Collective Intelligence for Control of Distributed Dynamical Systems

We consider the El Farol bar problem, also known as the minority game (W. B. Arthur, ``The American Economic Review'', 84(2): 406--411 (1994), D. Challet and Y.C. Zhang, ``Physica A'', 256:514 (1998)). We view it as an instance of the general problem of how to configure the nodal elements of a distributed dynamical system so that they do not ``work at cross purposes'', in that their collective dynamics avoids frustration and thereby achieves a provided global goal. We summarize a mathematical theory for such configuration applicable when (as in the bar problem) the global goal can be expressed as minimizing a global energy function and the nodes can be expressed as minimizers of local free energy functions. We show that a system designed with that theory performs nearly optimally for the bar problem.Comment: 8 page

The Robinson Gravitational Wave Background Telescope (BICEP): a bolometric large angular scale CMB polarimeter

The Robinson Telescope (BICEP) is a ground-based millimeter-wave bolometric array designed to study the polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) and galactic foreground emission. Such measurements probe the energy scale of the inflationary epoch, tighten constraints on cosmological parameters, and verify our current understanding of CMB physics. Robinson consists of a 250-mm aperture refractive telescope that provides an instantaneous field-of-view of 17 degrees with angular resolution of 55 and 37 arcminutes at 100 GHz and 150 GHz, respectively. Forty-nine pair of polarization-sensitive bolometers are cooled to 250 mK using a 4He/3He/3He sorption fridge system, and coupled to incoming radiation via corrugated feed horns. The all-refractive optics is cooled to 4 K to minimize polarization systematics and instrument loading. The fully steerable 3-axis mount is capable of continuous boresight rotation or azimuth scanning at speeds up to 5 deg/s. Robinson has begun its first season of observation at the South Pole. Given the measured performance of the instrument along with the excellent observing environment, Robinson will measure the E-mode polarization with high sensitivity, and probe for the B-modes to unprecedented depths. In this paper we discuss aspects of the instrument design and their scientific motivations, scanning and operational strategies, and the results of initial testing and observations.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures. To appear in Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy III, Proceedings of SPIE, 6275, 200

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

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

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