431 research outputs found
Dark energy constraints and correlations with systematics from CFHTLS weak lensing, SNLS supernovae Ia and WMAP5
We combine measurements of weak gravitational lensing from the CFHTLS-Wide
survey, supernovae Ia from CFHT SNLS and CMB anisotropies from WMAP5 to obtain
joint constraints on cosmological parameters, in particular, the dark energy
equation of state parameter w. We assess the influence of systematics in the
data on the results and look for possible correlations with cosmological
parameters.
We implement an MCMC algorithm to sample the parameter space of a flat CDM
model with a dark-energy component of constant w. Systematics in the data are
parametrised and included in the analysis. We determine the influence of
photometric calibration of SNIa data on cosmological results by calculating the
response of the distance modulus to photometric zero-point variations. The weak
lensing data set is tested for anomalous field-to-field variations and a
systematic shape measurement bias for high-z galaxies.
Ignoring photometric uncertainties for SNLS biases cosmological parameters by
at most 20% of the statistical errors, using supernovae only; the parameter
uncertainties are underestimated by 10%. The weak lensing field-to-field
variance pointings is 5%-15% higher than that predicted from N-body
simulations. We find no bias of the lensing signal at high redshift, within the
framework of a simple model. Assuming a systematic underestimation of the
lensing signal at high redshift, the normalisation sigma_8 increases by up to
8%. Combining all three probes we obtain -0.10<1+w<0.06 at 68% confidence
(-0.18<1+w<0.12 at 95%), including systematic errors. Systematics in the data
increase the error bars by up to 35%; the best-fit values change by less than
0.15sigma. [Abridged]Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures. Revised version, matches the one to be
published in A&A. Modifications have been made corresponding to the referee's
suggestions, including reordering of some section
The VIPERS Multi-Lambda Survey. II. Diving with massive galaxies in 22 square degrees since z = 1.5
We investigate the evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function (SMF) and
stellar mass density from redshift z=0.2 to z=1.5 of a <22-selected
sample with highly reliable photometric redshifts and over an unprecedentedly
large area. Our study is based on NIR observations carried out with WIRCam at
CFHT over the footprint of the VIPERS spectroscopic survey and benefits from
the high quality optical photometry from the CFHTLS and UV observations with
the GALEX satellite. The accuracy of our photometric redshifts is <
0.03 and 0.05 for the bright (22.5) samples,
respectively. The SMF is measured with ~760,000 galaxies down to =22 and
over an effective area of ~22.4 deg, the latter of which drastically
reduces the statistical uncertainties (i.e. Poissonian error & cosmic
variance). We point out the importance of a careful control of the photometric
calibration, whose impact becomes quickly dominant when statistical
uncertainties are reduced, which will be a major issue for future generation of
cosmological surveys with, e.g. EUCLID or LSST. By exploring the rest-frame
(NUV-r) vs (r-) color-color diagram separating star-forming and quiescent
galaxies, (1) we find that the density of very massive log() >
11.5 galaxies is largely dominated by quiescent galaxies and increases by a
factor 2 from z~1 to z~0.2, which allows for additional mass assembly via dry
mergers, (2) we confirm a scenario where star formation activity is impeded
above a stellar mass log() = 10.640.01, a value that
is found to be very stable at 0.2 < z < 1.5, (3) we discuss the existence of a
main quenching channel that is followed by massive star-forming galaxies, and
finally (4) we characterise another quenching mechanism required to explain the
clear excess of low-mass quiescent galaxies observed at low redshift.Comment: 22 pages, 20 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A. Version to be
publishe
The VIPERS Multi-Lambda Survey. I. UV and NIR Observations, multi-color catalogues and photometric redshifts
We present observations collected in the CFHTLS-VIPERS region in the
ultraviolet (UV) with the GALEX satellite (far and near UV channels) and the
near infrared with the CFHT/WIRCam camera (-band) over an area of 22 and
27 deg, respectively. The depth of the photometry was optimized to measure
the physical properties (e.g., SFR, stellar masses) of all the galaxies in the
VIPERS spectroscopic survey. The large volume explored by VIPERS will enable a
unique investigation of the relationship between the galaxy properties and
their environment (density field and cosmic web) at high redshift (0.5 < z <
1.2). In this paper, we present the observations, the data reductions and the
build-up of the multi-color catalogues. The CFHTLS-T0007 (gri-{\chi}^2) images
are used as reference to detect and measure the -band photometry, while
the T0007 u-selected sources are used as priors to perform the GALEX photometry
based on a dedicated software (EMphot). Our final sample reaches ~25
(at 5{\sigma}) and ~22 (at 3{\sigma}). The large spectroscopic sample
(~51,000 spectroscopic redshifts) allows us to highlight the robustness of our
star/galaxy separation, and the reliability of our photometric redshifts with a
typical accuracy 0.04 and a catastrophic failure rate {\eta} <
2% down to i~23. We present various tests on the band completeness and
photometric redshift accuracy by comparing with existing, overlapping deep
photometric catalogues. Finally, we discuss the BzK sample of passive and
active galaxies at high redshift and the evolution of galaxy morphology in the
(NUV-r) vs (r-K_s) diagram at low redshift (z < 0.25) thanks to the high image
quality of the CFHTLS. The images, catalogues and photometric redshifts for 1.5
million sources (down to 25 or 22) are released and
available at this URL: http://cesam.lam.fr/vipers-mls/Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A. Version to be
publishe
Group-finding with photometric redshifts: The Photo-z Probability Peaks algorithm
We present a galaxy group-finding algorithm, the Photo-z Probability Peaks
(P3) algorithm, optimized for locating small galaxy groups using photometric
redshift data by searching for peaks in the signal-to-noise of the local
overdensity of galaxies in a three-dimensional grid. This method is an
improvement over similar two-dimensional matched-filter methods in reducing
background contamination through the use of redshift information, allowing it
to accurately detect groups at lower richness. We present the results of tests
of our algorithm on galaxy catalogues from the Millennium Simulation. Using a
minimum S/N of 3 for detected groups, a group aperture size of 0.25 Mpc/h, and
assuming photometric redshift accuracy of sigma_z = 0.05 it attains a purity of
84% and detects ~295 groups/deg.^2 with an average group richness of 8.6
members. Assuming photometric redshift accuracy of sigma_z = 0.02, it attains a
purity of 97% and detects ~143 groups/deg.^2 with an average group richness of
12.5 members. We also test our algorithm on data available for the COSMOS field
and the presently-available fields from the CFHTLS-Wide survey, presenting
preliminary results of this analysis.Comment: Accepted for publication by MNRAS, 16 pages, 11 color figure
3D Cosmic Shear: Cosmology from CFHTLenS
This paper presents the first application of 3D cosmic shear to a wide-field
weak lensing survey. 3D cosmic shear is a technique that analyses weak lensing
in three dimensions using a spherical harmonic approach, and does not bin data
in the redshift direction. This is applied to CFHTLenS, a 154 square degree
imaging survey with a median redshift of 0.7 and an effective number density of
11 galaxies per square arcminute usable for weak lensing. To account for survey
masks we apply a 3D pseudo-Cl approach on weak lensing data, and to avoid
uncertainties in the highly non-linear regime, we separately analyse radial
wave numbers k<=1.5h/Mpc and k<=5.0h/Mpc, and angular wavenumbers l~400-5000.
We show how one can recover 2D and tomographic power spectra from the full 3D
cosmic shear power spectra and present a measurement of the 2D cosmic shear
power spectrum, and measurements of a set of 2-bin and 6-bin cosmic shear
tomographic power spectra; in doing so we find that using the 3D power in the
calculation of such 2D and tomographic power spectra from data naturally
accounts for a minimum scale in the matter power spectrum. We use 3D cosmic
shear to constrain cosmologies with parameters OmegaM, OmegaB, sigma8, h, ns,
w0, wa. For a non-evolving dark energy equation of state, and assuming a flat
cosmology, lensing combined with WMAP7 results in h=0.78+/-0.12,
OmegaM=0.252+/-0.079, sigma8=0.88+/-0.23 and w=-1.16+/-0.38 using only scales
k<=1.5h/Mpc. We also present results of lensing combined with first year Planck
results, where we find no tension with the results from this analysis, but we
also find no significant improvement over the Planck results alone. We find
evidence of a suppression of power compared to LCDM on small scales 1.5 < k <
5.0 h/Mpc in the lensing data, which is consistent with predictions of the
effect of baryonic feedback on the matter power spectrum.Comment: Full journal article here
http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/442/2/1326.full.pdf+htm
CFHTLenS: Co-evolution of galaxies and their dark matter haloes
Galaxy-galaxy weak lensing is a direct probe of the mean matter distribution
around galaxies. The depth and sky coverage of the CFHT Legacy Survey yield
statistically significant galaxy halo mass measurements over a much wider range
of stellar masses ( to ) and redshifts () than previous weak lensing studies. At redshift , the
stellar-to-halo mass ratio (SHMR) reaches a maximum of percent as a
function of halo mass at . We find, for the first
time from weak lensing alone, evidence for significant evolution in the SHMR:
the peak ratio falls as a function of cosmic time from percent at
to percent at , and shifts to lower
stellar mass haloes. These evolutionary trends are dominated by red galaxies,
and are consistent with a model in which the stellar mass above which star
formation is quenched "downsizes" with cosmic time. In contrast, the SHMR of
blue, star-forming galaxies is well-fit by a power law that does not evolve
with time. This suggests that blue galaxies form stars at a rate that is
balanced with their dark matter accretion in such a way that they evolve along
the SHMR locus. The redshift dependence of the SHMR can be used to constrain
the evolution of the galaxy population over cosmic time.Comment: 18 pages, MNRAS, in pres
- âŠ