skip to main content


Title: Strong detection of the CMB lensing and galaxy weak lensing cross-correlation from ACT-DR4, Planck Legacy, and KiDS-1000
We measured the cross-correlation between galaxy weak lensing data from the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS-1000, DR4) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT, DR4) and the Planck Legacy survey. We used two samples of source galaxies, selected with photometric redshifts, (0.1 <  z B  < 1.2) and (1.2 <  z B  < 2), which produce a combined detection significance of the CMB lensing and weak galaxy lensing cross-spectrum of 7.7 σ . With the lower redshift galaxy sample, for which the cross-correlation was detected at a significance of 5.3 σ , we present joint cosmological constraints on the matter density parameter, Ω m , and the matter fluctuation amplitude parameter, σ 8 , marginalising over three nuisance parameters that model our uncertainty in the redshift and shear calibration as well as the intrinsic alignment of galaxies. We find our measurement to be consistent with the best-fitting flat ΛCDM cosmological models from both Planck and KiDS-1000. We demonstrate the capacity of CMB weak lensing cross-correlations to set constraints on either the redshift or shear calibration by analysing a previously unused high-redshift KiDS galaxy sample (1.2 <  z B  < 2), with the cross-correlation detected at a significance of 7 σ . This analysis provides an independent assessment for the accuracy of redshift measurements in a regime that is challenging to calibrate directly owing to known incompleteness in spectroscopic surveys.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1907657
NSF-PAR ID:
10353158
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more » ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; « less
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Volume:
649
ISSN:
0004-6361
Page Range / eLocation ID:
A146
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ABSTRACT

    Cross-correlation between weak lensing of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and weak lensing of galaxies offers a way to place robust constraints on cosmological and astrophysical parameters with reduced sensitivity to certain systematic effects affecting individual surveys. We measure the angular cross-power spectrum between the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) DR4 CMB lensing and the galaxy weak lensing measured by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Y3 data. Our baseline analysis uses the CMB convergence map derived from ACT-DR4 and Planck data, where most of the contamination due to the thermal Sunyaev Zel’dovich effect is removed, thus avoiding important systematics in the cross-correlation. In our modelling, we consider the nuisance parameters of the photometric uncertainty, multiplicative shear bias and intrinsic alignment of galaxies. The resulting cross-power spectrum has a signal-to-noise ratio = 7.1 and passes a set of null tests. We use it to infer the amplitude of the fluctuations in the matter distribution (S8 ≡ σ8(Ωm/0.3)0.5 = 0.782 ± 0.059) with informative but well-motivated priors on the nuisance parameters. We also investigate the validity of these priors by significantly relaxing them and checking the consistency of the resulting posteriors, finding them consistent, albeit only with relatively weak constraints. This cross-correlation measurement will improve significantly with the new ACT-DR6 lensing map and form a key component of the joint 6×2pt analysis between DES and ACT.

     
    more » « less
  2. Abstract A number of recent, low-redshift, lensing measurements hint at a universe in which the amplitude of lensing is lower than that predicted from the ΛCDM model fit to the data of the Planck CMB mission. Here we use the auto- and cross-correlation signal of unWISE galaxies and Planck CMB lensing maps to infer cosmological parameters at low redshift. In particular, we consider three unWISE samples (denoted as "blue", "green" and "red") at median redshifts z ∼ 0.6, 1.1 and 1.5, which fully cover the Dark Energy dominated era. Our cross-correlation measurements, with combined significance S / N  ∼ 80, are used to infer the amplitude of low-redshift fluctuations, σ 8 ; the fraction of matter in the Universe, Ω m ; and the combination S 8  ≡ σ 8 (Ω m /0.3) 0.5 to which these low-redshift lensing measurements are most sensitive. The combination of blue, green and red samples gives a value S m  = 0.784 ± 0.015, that is fully consistent with other low-redshift lensing measurements and in 2.4σ tension with the CMB predictions from Planck. This is noteworthy, because CMB lensing probes the same physics as previous galaxy lensing measurements, but with very different systematics, thus providing an excellent complement to previous measurements. 
    more » « less
  3. We present a measurement of the cross-correlation between theMagLimgalaxies selected from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) first three years of observations (Y3) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 4 (DR4), reconstructed over ∼ 436 sq. deg of the sky. Our galaxy sample, which covers ∼ 4143 sq. deg, is divided into six redshift bins spanning the redshift range of 0.20 < z < 1.05. We adopt a blinding procedure until passing all consistency and systematics tests. After imposing scale cuts for the cross-power spectrum measurement, we reject the null hypothesis of no correlation at 9.1σ. We constrain cosmological parameters from a joint analysis of galaxy and CMB lensing-galaxy power spectra considering a flat ΛCDM model, marginalized over 23 astrophysical and systematic nuisance parameters. We find the clustering amplitude S_8 ≡ σ_8(Ω_m/0.3)^0.5 = 0.75+0.04-0.05. In addition, we constrain the linear growth of cosmic structure as a function of redshift. Our results are consistent with recent DES Y3 analyses and suggest a preference for a lower S_8 compared to results from measurements of CMB anisotropies by the Planck satellite, although at a mild level (< 2σ) of statistical significance. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract

    We present cosmological constraints from a gravitational lensing mass map covering 9400 deg2reconstructed from measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) from 2017 to 2021. In combination with measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations and big bang nucleosynthesis, we obtain the clustering amplitudeσ8= 0.819 ± 0.015 at 1.8% precision,S8σ8(Ωm/0.3)0.5=0.840±0.028, and the Hubble constantH0= (68.3 ± 1.1) km s−1Mpc−1at 1.6% precision. A joint constraint with Planck CMB lensing yieldsσ8= 0.812 ± 0.013,S8σ8(Ωm/0.3)0.5=0.831±0.023, andH0= (68.1 ± 1.0) km s−1Mpc−1. These measurements agree with ΛCDM extrapolations from the CMB anisotropies measured by Planck. We revisit constraints from the KiDS, DES, and HSC galaxy surveys with a uniform set of assumptions and find thatS8from all three are lower than that from ACT+Planck lensing by levels ranging from 1.7σto 2.1σ. This motivates further measurements and comparison, not just between the CMB anisotropies and galaxy lensing but also between CMB lensing probingz∼ 0.5–5 on mostly linear scales and galaxy lensing atz∼ 0.5 on smaller scales. We combine with CMB anisotropies to constrain extensions of ΛCDM, limiting neutrino masses to ∑mν< 0.13 eV (95% c.l.), for example. We describe the mass map and related data products that will enable a wide array of cross-correlation science. Our results provide independent confirmation that the universe is spatially flat, conforms with general relativity, and is described remarkably well by the ΛCDM model, while paving a promising path for neutrino physics with lensing from upcoming ground-based CMB surveys.

     
    more » « less
  5. ABSTRACT

    We present cosmological parameter constraints based on a joint modelling of galaxy–lensing cross-correlations and galaxy clustering measurements in the SDSS, marginalizing over small-scale modelling uncertainties using mock galaxy catalogues, without explicit modelling of galaxy bias. We show that our modelling method is robust to the impact of different choices for how galaxies occupy dark matter haloes and to the impact of baryonic physics (at the $\sim 2{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ level in cosmological parameters) and test for the impact of covariance on the likelihood analysis and of the survey window function on the theory computations. Applying our results to the measurements using galaxy samples from BOSS and lensing measurements using shear from SDSS galaxies and CMB lensing from Planck, with conservative scale cuts, we obtain $S_8\equiv \left(\frac{\sigma _8}{0.8228}\right)^{0.8}\left(\frac{\Omega _\mathrm{ m}}{0.307}\right)^{0.6}=0.85\pm 0.05$ (stat.) using LOWZ × SDSS galaxy lensing, and S8 = 0.91 ± 0.1 (stat.) using combination of LOWZ and CMASS × Planck CMB lensing. We estimate the systematic uncertainty in the galaxy–galaxy lensing measurements to be $\sim 6{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ (dominated by photometric redshift uncertainties) and in the galaxy–CMB lensing measurements to be $\sim 3{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, from small-scale modelling uncertainties including baryonic physics.

     
    more » « less