Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2301.02186

Inferring the impact of feedback on the matter distribution using the Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect: Insights from CAMELS simulations and ACT+DES data

Abstract

Feedback from active galactic nuclei and stellar processes changes the matter distribution on small scales, leading to significant systematic uncertainty in weak lensing constraints on cosmology. We investigate how the observable properties of group-scale halos can constrain feedback's impact on the matter distribution using Cosmology and Astrophysics with MachinE Learning Simulations (CAMELS). Extending the results of previous work to smaller halo masses and higher wavenumber, $k$, we find that the baryon fraction in halos contains significant information about the impact of feedback on the matter power spectrum. We explore how the thermal Sunyaev Zel'dovich (tSZ) signal from group-scale halos contains similar information. Using recent Dark Energy Survey (DES) weak lensing and Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) tSZ cross-correlation measurements and models trained on CAMELS, we obtain $10\%$ constraints on feedback effects on the power spectrum at $k \sim 5\, h/{\rm Mpc}$. We show that with future surveys, it will be possible to constrain baryonic effects on the power spectrum to $\mathcal{O}(<1\%)$ at $k = 1\, h/{\rm Mpc}$ and $\mathcal{O}(3\%)$ at $k = 5\, h/{\rm Mpc}$ using the methods that we introduce here. Finally, we investigate the impact of feedback on the matter bispectrum, finding that tSZ observables are highly informative in this case.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Shivam Pandey, Kai Lehman, Eric J. Baxter, Yueying Ni, Daniel Anglés-Alcázar, Shy Genel, Francisco Villaescusa-Navarro, Ana Maria Delgado, Tiziana di Matteo. 2023-01-05. Inferring the impact of feedback on the matter distribution using the Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect: Insights from CAMELS simulations and ACT+DES data. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad2268

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Constraining spinning primordial black holes with interstellar dust heating

Primordial black holes (PBHs) are a well-motivated dark matter candidate, and their cosmic abundance is constrained by a variety of observational probes. PBHs in the mass range $10^{15}\,\text{g}\,{-}\,10^{17}\,\text{g}$ are evaporating today via Hawking radiation, a process that can heat interstellar dust and modify its thermal emission. Recent studies have used this effect to place constraints on the abundance of non-spinning PBHs. We extend this approach by investigating the influence of PBH spin on dust-heating constraints. Furthermore, we account for secondary photons that originate not only from the decay of gauge bosons but also from the decay of hadrons produced via the fragmentation of primary quarks and gluons emitted through Hawking radiation. By comparing the dust heating rate induced by spinning PBHs with the maximum cooling rate of dust, considering both silicate and graphite grains, we derive new upper limits on the fraction of dark matter in the form of PBHs, $f_{\rm PBH}$. Our results show that the constraints depend on both PBH mass and spin. Smaller PBHs with higher spin yield stronger limits. For example, in the cases we investigated, the strongest constraint is $f_{\rm PBH} \sim 1.5 \times 10^{-4}$ for $M_{\rm PBH} = 10^{15}{\rm g}$ and spin parameter $a_{*} = 0.9999$. Although these limits are less stringent than existing constraints in the same mass range, they provide a distinct and complementary approach to constraining the abundance of PBHs.

astro-ph.CO

Two-parameter continuous deformation of Starobinsky inflation as a bridge between Planck and ACT DESI data with $N_\star\in(50,60)$

We present a family of plateau-type inflationary potentials, eq.~\eqref{Vgeneral}, and analyze a two-parameter $\alpha\beta$-Starobinsky specialization that interpolates continuously between a \emph{maximal} plateau ($V\!\to\!V_0$) and a \emph{submaximal} plateau ($V\!\to\!V_\infty 0$ with $x_\star\gg 1/\beta$ the slow-roll scaling laws change to $n_s\simeq 1-\frac{4}{3N_\star},\, r\simeq\mathcal{C}(\alpha,\beta)\,N_\star^{-4/3},$ with an explicit coefficient $\mathcal{C}(\alpha,\beta)$ set by the plateau truncation. This deformation lifts $n_s$ at fixed $N_\star$ while further suppressing $r$, reconciling the Planck~2018 constraint $n_s=0.9649\pm0.0042$ (68\% CL) and BICEP/Keck18 data $r_{0.05}<0.036$ (95\% CL), with the higher central values $n_s\sim0.97$--$0.98$ preferred by ACT+DESI~DR2 (BAO), within the theoretically motivated interval $N_\star\in(50,60)$ and without exotic reheating. We provide an exact identity for $V/V'$ enabling analytic control of $N_\star$, a practical crossover criterion $\beta\,x_\star\ll1$ vs.\ $\gg1$, and a transparent mapping between $(\alpha,\beta)$ and the observables $(n_s,r,N_\star)$. These yield sharp, testable signatures, particularly the softened $N_\star$-scaling of $r$, that distinguish a maximal from a submaximal plateau with upcoming CMB and LSS data.

astro-ph.CO

A Tale of Two Gauges: Effective Field Theory for Relativistic Behavior of Cosmological Axions

In this work, we present a formalism to model the relativistic behavior of axions. The relativistic behavior of axions is surprisingly difficult to model precisely, as it involves oscillations on timescales much shorter than the Hubble timescale. To overcome this challenge, one typically resorts to some form of effective treatment, focusing only on the time-averaged description of the exact oscillations. Salehian, Namjoo & Kaiser provide a systematic framework for such treatment, based on the effective field theory formalism. While the aforementioned study was formulated for axion perturbations in the Newtonian gauge with no anisotropic stress, we extend the formalism to the synchronous gauge that is more conventionally used for numerical implementation in a realistic cosmological setting. Unlike their work, however, we propose a fluid interpretation in which the axion field can be identified as a perfect fluid at all times, both in the exact and effective regimes. Moreover, we present the effective field theory for the Newtonian gauge with non-zero anisotropic stress, making the original formulation more general and useful for scenarios where the matter content of the universe is multi-component. These results lay the theoretical foundation for a companion paper where we discuss how the axion field should be incorporated alongside other species in common cosmological Boltzmann solvers.

astro-ph.CO