Cosmological Tensions and the Transitional Planck Mass Model

In this followup analysis, we update previous constraints on the Transitional Planck Mass (TPM) modified gravity model using the latest version of EFTCAMB and provide new constraints using SPT and Planck anisotropy data along with Planck CMB lensing, BAO, SNe Ia, and an $H_0$ prior from local measurements. We find that large shifts in the Planck mass lead to large suppression of power on small scales that is disfavored by both SPT and Planck. Using only SPT TE-EE data, this suppression of power can be compensated for by an upward shift of the scalar index to $n_s = 1.003 \pm 0.016$ resulting in $H_0 = 71.94^{+0.86}_{-0.85}$ kms$^{-1}$Mpc$^{-1}$ and a $\sim7\%$ shift in the Planck mass. Including Planck TT $\ell \leq 650$ and Planck TE-EE data restricts the shift to be $<5\%$ at $2\sigma$ with $H_0 = 70.65 \pm 0.66$ kms$^{-1}$Mpc$^{-1}$. Excluding the $H_0$ prior, SPT and Planck data constrain the shift in the Planck mass to be $<3\%$ at $2\sigma$ with a best-fit value of $0.04\%$, consistent with the $\Lambda$CDM limit. In this case $H_0 = 69.09^{+0.69}_{-0.68}$ kms$^{-1}$Mpc$^{-1}$, which is partially elevated by the dynamics of the scalar-field in the late universe. This differs from EDE models that prefer higher values of $H_0$ when high $\ell$ Planck TT data are excluded. We additionally constrain TPM using RSD data from BOSS DR 12 and cosmic shear, galaxy-galaxy lensing, and galaxy clustering data from DES Y1 finding both disfavor transitions close to recombination, but earlier Planck mass transitions are allowed.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figures, 8 table

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Lensing of CMB Temperature and Polarization Derived from Cosmic Infrared Background Cross-Correlation

We present a measurement of the gravitational lensing of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization fields obtained by cross-correlating the reconstructed convergence signal from the first season of Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter data at 146 GHz with Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB) fluctuations measured using the Planck satellite. Using an effective overlap area of 92.7 square degrees, we detect gravitational lensing of the CMB polarization by large-scale structure at a statistical significance of 4.5 sigma. Combining both CMB temperature and polarization data gives a lensing detection at 9.1 sigma significance. A B-mode polarization lensing signal is present with a significance of 3.2 sigma. We also present the first measurement of CMB lensing-CIB correlation at small scales corresponding to l \u3e 2000. Null tests and systematic checks show that our results are not significantly biased by astrophysical or instrumental systematic effects, including Galactic dust. Fitting our measurements to the best-fit lensing-CIB cross-power spectrum measured in Planck data, scaled by an amplitude A, gives A = 1.02(-0.08)(+0.12)(stat.) +/- 0.06(syst.), consistent with the Planck results

Power-law Template for Infrared Point-source Clustering

We perform a combined fit to angular power spectra of unresolved infrared (IR) point sources from the Planck satellite (at 217, 353, 545, and 857 GHz, over angular scales 100 ≾ ℓ ≾ 2200), the Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST; 250, 350, and 500μm; 1000 ≾ ℓ ≾ 9000), and from correlating BLAST and Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT; 148 and 218 GHz) maps. We find that the clustered power over the range of angular scales and frequencies considered is well fitted by a simple power law of the form C^(clust)_ℓ ∝ ℓ^(-n) with n = 1.25 ± 0.06. While the IR sources are understood to lie at a range of redshifts, with a variety of dust properties, we find that the frequency dependence of the clustering power can be described by the square of a modified blackbody, ν^(β)B(ν, T_(eff)), with a single emissivity index β = 2.20 ± 0.07 and effective temperature T_(eff) = 9.7 K. Our predictions for the clustering amplitude are consistent with existing ACT and South Pole Telescope results at around 150 and 220 GHz, as is our prediction for the effective dust spectral index, which we find to be α_(150–220) = 3.68±0.07 between 150 and 220 GHz. Our constraints on the clustering shape and frequency dependence can be used to model the IR clustering as a contaminant in cosmic microwave background anisotropy measurements. The combined Planck and BLAST data also rule out a linear bias clustering model

Calibrating CHIME, A New Radio Interferometer to Probe Dark Energy

The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) is a transit interferometer currently being built at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) in Penticton, BC, Canada. We will use CHIME to map neutral hydrogen in the frequency range 400 -- 800\,MHz over half of the sky, producing a measurement of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) at redshifts between 0.8 -- 2.5 to probe dark energy. We have deployed a pathfinder version of CHIME that will yield constraints on the BAO power spectrum and provide a test-bed for our calibration scheme. I will discuss the CHIME calibration requirements and describe instrumentation we are developing to meet these requirements