skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Cosmology from LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Data Release 2: Cross-correlation with the cosmic microwave background
Aims. We combined the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) second data release (DR2) catalogue with gravitational lensing maps from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) to place constraints on the bias evolution of LoTSS-detected radio galaxies, and on the amplitude of matter perturbations. Methods. We constructed a flux-limited catalogue from LoTSS DR2, and analysed its harmonic-space cross-correlation with CMB lensing maps fromPlanck,Cgk, as well as its auto-correlation,Cgg. We explored the models describing the redshift evolution of the large-scale radio galaxy bias, discriminating between them through the combination of bothCgkandCgg. Fixing the bias evolution, we then used these data to place constraints on the amplitude of large-scale density fluctuations, parametrised byσ8. Results. We report the significance of theCgksignal at a level of 26.6σ. We determined that a linear bias evolution of the formbg(z) =bg,D/D(z), whereD(z) is the growth rate, is able to provide a good description of the data, and we measuredbg,D= 1.41 ± 0.06 for a sample that is flux limited at 1.5 mJy, for scalesℓ< 250 forCgg, andℓ< 500 forCgk. At the sample’s median redshift, we obtainedb(z= 0.82) = 2.34 ± 0.10. Usingσ8as a free parameter, while keeping other cosmological parameters fixed to thePlanckvalues, we found fluctuations of σ8= 0.75−0.04+0.05. The result is in agreement with weak lensing surveys, and at 1σdifference withPlanckCMB constraints. We also attempted to detect the late-time-integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect with LOFAR data; however, with the current sky coverage, the cross-correlation with CMB temperature maps is consistent with zero. Our results are an important step towards constraining cosmology with radio continuum surveys from LOFAR and other future large radio surveys.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2108402
PAR ID:
10524202
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
EDP Sciences
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Volume:
681
ISSN:
0004-6361
Page Range / eLocation ID:
A105
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Aims.We cross-correlated galaxies from the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) second data release (DR2) radio source with the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) luminous red galaxy (LRG) sample to extract the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) signal and constrain the linear clustering bias of radio sources in LoTSS DR2. Methods.In the LoTSS DR2 catalogue, employing a flux density limit of 1.5 mJy at the central LoTSS frequency of 144 MHz and a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 7.5, additionally considering eBOSS LRGs with redshifts between 0.6 and 1, we measured both the angular LoTSS-eBOSS cross-power spectrum and the angular eBOSS auto-power spectrum. These measurements were performed across various eBOSS redshift tomographic bins with a width of Δz = 0.06. By marginalising over the broadband shape of the angular power spectra, we searched for a BAO signal in cross-correlation with radio galaxies, and determine the linear clustering bias of LoTSS radio sources for a constant-bias and an evolving-bias model. Results.Using the cross-correlation, we measured the isotropic BAO dilation parameter asα = 1.01 ± 0.11 atzeff = 0.63. By combining four redshift slices atzeff = 0.63, 0.69, 0.75, and 0.81, we determined a more constrained value ofα = 0.968−0.095+0.060. For the entire redshift range ofzeff = 0.715, we measuredbC = 2.64 ± 0.20 for the constant-bias model,b(z0) =bC, and thenbD = 1.80 ± 0.13 for the evolving-bias model,b(z) =bD/D(z), withD(z) denoting the growth rate of linear structures. Additionally, we measured the clustering bias for individual redshift bins. Conclusions.We detected the cross-correlation of LoTSS radio sources and eBOSS LRGs at a 9.2σstatistical significance for one single redshift bin and at a 14.7σsignificance when the four redshift bins were combined. For the BAO signal, we achieved a significance of 2.2σfor a single redshift bin, 2.7σfor the combined cross-correlation and eBOSS auto-correlation, and 4σfor the combined analysis of four redshift bins in the cross-correlation, when assuming a Gaussian distribution for the BAO dilation parameter. 
    more » « less
  2. ABSTRACT Covering $$\sim 5600\, \deg ^2$$ to rms sensitivities of ∼70−100 $$\mu$$Jy beam−1, the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Data Release 2 (LoTSS-DR2) provides the largest low-frequency (∼150 MHz) radio catalogue to date, making it an excellent tool for large-area radio cosmology studies. In this work, we use LoTSS-DR2 sources to investigate the angular two-point correlation function of galaxies within the survey. We discuss systematics in the data and an improved methodology for generating random catalogues, compared to that used for LoTSS-DR1, before presenting the angular clustering for ∼900 000 sources ≥1.5 mJy and a peak signal-to-noise ≥ 7.5 across ∼80 per cent of the observed area. Using the clustering, we infer the bias assuming two evolutionary models. When fitting angular scales of $$0.5 \le \theta \lt 5{^\circ }$$, using a linear bias model, we find LoTSS-DR2 sources are biased tracers of the underlying matter, with a bias of $$b_{\rm C}= 2.14^{+0.22}_{-0.20}$$ (assuming constant bias) and $$b_{\rm E}(z=0)= 1.79^{+0.15}_{-0.14}$$ (for an evolving model, inversely proportional to the growth factor), corresponding to $$b_{\rm E}= 2.81^{+0.24}_{-0.22}$$ at the median redshift of our sample, assuming the LoTSS Deep Fields redshift distribution is representative of our data. This reduces to $$b_{\rm C}= 2.02^{+0.17}_{-0.16}$$ and $$b_{\rm E}(z=0)= 1.67^{+0.12}_{-0.12}$$ when allowing preferential redshift distributions from the Deep Fields to model our data. Whilst the clustering amplitude is slightly lower than LoTSS-DR1 (≥2 mJy), our study benefits from larger samples and improved redshift estimates. 
    more » « less
  3. Abstract We present power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy in temperature and polarization, measured from the Data Release 6 maps made from Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) data. These cover 19,000 deg2of sky in bands centered at 98, 150 and 220 GHz, with white noise levels three times lower thanPlanckin polarization. We find that the ACT angular power spectra estimated over 10,000 deg2, and measured to arcminute scales in TT, TE and EE, are well fit by the sum of CMB and foregrounds, where the CMB spectra are described by the ΛCDM model. Combining ACT with larger-scalePlanckdata, the joint P-ACT dataset provides tight limits on the ingredients, expansion rate, and initial conditions of the universe. We find similar constraining power, and consistent results, from either thePlanckpower spectra or from ACT combined withWMAPdata, as well as from either temperature or polarization in the joint P-ACT dataset. When combined with CMB lensing from ACT andPlanck, and baryon acoustic oscillation data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI DR1), we measure a baryon density of Ωbh2= 0.0226 ± 0.0001, a cold dark matter density of Ωch2= 0.118 ± 0.001, a Hubble constant ofH0= 68.22 ± 0.36 km/s/Mpc, a spectral index ofns= 0.974 ± 0.003, and an amplitude of density fluctuations ofσ8= 0.813 ± 0.005. Including the DESI DR2 data tightens the Hubble constant toH0= 68.43 ± 0.27 km/s/Mpc; ΛCDM parameters agree between the P-ACT and DESI DR2 data at the 1.6σlevel. We find no evidence for excess lensing in the power spectrum, and no departure from spatial flatness. The contribution from Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) anisotropy is detected at high significance; we find evidence for a tilt with suppressed small-scale power compared to our baseline SZ template spectrum, consistent with hydrodynamical simulations with feedback. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract We present a high-significance cross-correlation of CMB lensing maps from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 6 (DR6) with luminous red galaxies (LRGs) from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Survey spectroscopically calibrated by DESI. We detect this cross-correlation at a significance of 38σ; combining our measurement with thePlanck Public Release 4 (PR4) lensing map, we detect the cross-correlation at 50σ. Fitting this jointly with the galaxy auto-correlation power spectrum to break the galaxy bias degeneracy withσ8, we perform a tomographic analysis in four LRG redshift bins spanning 0.4 ≤z≤ 1.0 to constrain the amplitude of matter density fluctuations through the parameter combinationS8×8m/ 0.3)0.4. Prior to unblinding, we confirm with extragalactic simulations that foreground biases are negligible and carry out a comprehensive suite of null and consistency tests. Using a hybrid effective field theory (HEFT) model that allows scales as small askmax= 0.6 h/ Mpc, we obtain a 3.3% constraint onS8×8m/ 0.3)0.4= 0.792+0.024-0.028from ACT data, as well as constraints onS8×(z) that probe structure formation over cosmic time.Our result is consistent with the early-universe extrapolation from primary CMB anisotropies measured byPlanck PR4 within 1.2σ. Jointly fitting ACT andPlanck lensing cross-correlations we obtain a 2.7% constraint ofS8×= 0.776+0.019-0.021, which is consistent with the Planck early-universe extrapolation within 2.1σ, with the lowest redshift bin showing the largest difference in mean. The latter may motivate further CMB lensing tomography analyses atz< 0.6 to assess the impact of potential systematics or the consistency of the ΛCDM model over cosmic time. 
    more » « less
  5. Abstract We infer the growth of large scale structure over the redshift range 0.4 ≲z≲ 1 from the cross-correlation of spectroscopically calibrated Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) selected from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) legacy imaging survey with CMB lensing maps reconstructed from the latestPlanckand ACT data.We adopt a hybrid effective field theory (HEFT) model that robustly regulates the cosmological information obtainable from smaller scales, such that our cosmological constraints are reliably derived from the (predominantly) linear regime.We perform an extensive set of bandpower- and parameter-level systematics checks to ensure the robustness of our results and to characterize the uniformity of the LRG sample.We demonstrate that our results are stable to a wide range of modeling assumptions, finding excellent agreement with a linear theory analysis performed on a restricted range of scales.From a tomographic analysis of the four LRG photometric redshift bins we find that the rate of structure growth is consistent with ΛCDM with an overall amplitude that is ≃ 5-7% lower than predicted by primary CMB measurements with modest (∼ 2σ) statistical significance.From the combined analysis of all four bins and their cross-correlations withPlanckwe obtainS8= 0.765 ± 0.023, which is less discrepant with primary CMB measurements than previous DESI LRG crossPlanckCMB lensing results.From the cross-correlation with ACT we obtainS8= 0.790+0.024-0.027, while when jointly analyzingPlanckand ACT we findS8= 0.775+0.019-0.022from our data alone andσ8= 0.772+0.020-0.023with the addition of BAO data.These constraints are consistent with the latestPlanckprimary CMB analyses at the ≃ 1.6-2.2σlevel, and are in excellent agreement with galaxy lensing surveys. 
    more » « less