skip to main content

Attention:

The NSF Public Access Repository (PAR) system and access will be unavailable from 11:00 PM ET on Friday, December 13 until 2:00 AM ET on Saturday, December 14 due to maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.


This content will become publicly available on July 1, 2025

Title: Cosmological constraints from the eBOSS Lyman-α forest using the PRIYA simulations
Abstract

We present new cosmological parameter constraints from the eBOSS Lyman-α forest survey. We use a new theoretical model and likelihood based on the PRIYA simulation suite. PRIYA is the first suite to resolve the Lyman-αforest in a (120 Mpc/h)3volume, using a multi-fidelity emulation technique. We use PRIYA to predict Lyman-αforest observables with ≲ 1% interpolation error over an 11 dimensional (9 simulated, 2 in post-processing) parameter space. We identify an internal tension within the flux power spectrum data. Once the discrepant data is removed, we find the primeval scalar spectral index measured at a pivot scale ofk0= 0.78 Mpc-1to benP= 1.009+0.027-0.018at 68% confidence. This measurement from the Lyman-αforest flux power spectrum alone is in reasonable agreement with Planck, and in tension with earlier eBOSS analyses. The amplitude of matter fluctuations isσ8= 0.733+0.026-0.029at 68% confidence, in agreement with Dark Energy Survey weak lensing measurements and other small-scale structure probes and in tension with CMB measurements from Planck and ACT. The effective optical depth to Lyman-α  photons from our pipeline is in good agreement with earlier high resolution measurements. We find a linear power atz= 3 andk= 0.009 s/km of Δ2L= 0.302+0.024-0.027with a slopeneff= -2.264+0.026-0.018. Our flux power spectrum only chains prefer a low level of heating during helium reionization. When we add IGM temperature data we findnP= 0.983 ± 0.020 andσ8= 0.703+0.023-0.027. Our chains prefer an early and long helium reionization event, as suggested by measurements from the helium Lyman-αforest. In the near future we will use our pipeline to infer cosmological parameters from the DESI Lyman-α data.

 
more » « less
Award ID(s):
2215705
PAR ID:
10534750
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Publisher / Repository:
IOP Publishing
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Volume:
2024
Issue:
07
ISSN:
1475-7516
Page Range / eLocation ID:
029
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ABSTRACT

    In this work, we extend our recently developed multifidelity emulation technique to the simulated Lyman-α forest flux power spectrum. Multifidelity emulation allows interpolation of simulation outputs between cosmological parameters using many cheap low-fidelity simulations and a few expensive high-fidelity simulations. Using a test suite of small-box (30 Mpc h−1) simulations, we show that multifidelity emulation is able to reproduce the Lyman-α forest flux power spectrum well, achieving an average accuracy when compared to a test suite of $0.8\, {\rm {per\ cent}}$. We further show that it has a substantially increased accuracy over single-fidelity emulators, constructed using either the high- or low-fidelity simulations only. In particular, it allows the extension of an existing simulation suite to smaller scales and higher redshifts.

     
    more » « less
  2. ABSTRACT

    We present the Sherwood–Relics simulations, a new suite of large cosmological hydrodynamical simulations aimed at modelling the intergalactic medium (IGM) during and after the cosmic reionization of hydrogen. The suite consists of over 200 simulations that cover a wide range of astrophysical and cosmological parameters. It also includes simulations that use a new lightweight hybrid scheme for treating radiative transfer effects. This scheme follows the spatial variations in the ionizing radiation field, as well as the associated fluctuations in IGM temperature and pressure smoothing. It is computationally much cheaper than full radiation hydrodynamics simulations, and circumvents the difficult task of calibrating a galaxy formation model to observational constraints on cosmic reionization. Using this hybrid technique, we study the spatial fluctuations in IGM properties that are seeded by patchy cosmic reionization. We investigate the relevant physical processes and assess their impact on the z > 4 Lyman-α forest. Our main findings are: (i) consistent with previous studies patchy reionization causes large-scale temperature fluctuations that persist well after the end of reionization, (ii) these increase the Lyman-α forest flux power spectrum on large scales, and (iii) result in a spatially varying pressure smoothing that correlates well with the local reionization redshift. (iv) Structures evaporated or puffed up by photoheating cause notable features in the Lyman-α forest, such as flat-bottom or double-dip absorption profiles.

     
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    We explore how the assumption of ionization equilibrium modulates the modeled intergalactic medium at the end of the hydrogen epoch of reionization using the cosmological radiation hydrodynamicTechnicolor Dawnsimulation. In neutral and partially ionized regions where the metagalactic ultraviolet background is weak, the ionization timescaletion≡ Γ−1exceeds the Hubble time. Assuming photoionization equilibrium in such regions artificially boosts the ionization rate, accelerating reionization. By contrast, the recombination timetrec<tionin photoionized regions, with the result that assuming photoionization equilibrium artificially increases the neutral hydrogen fraction. Using snapshots in the range 8 ≥z≥ 5, we compare the predicted Lyαforest (LAF) flux power spectrum with and without the assumption of ionization equilibrium. Small scales (k> 0.1 rad s km−1) exhibit reduced power from 7 ≤z≤ 5.5 in the ionization equilibrium case, while larger scales are unaffected. This occurs for the same reasons: ionization equilibrium artificially suppresses the neutral fraction in self-shielded gas and boosts ionizations in voids, suppressing small-scale fluctuations in the ionization field. When the volume-averaged neutral fraction drops below 10−4, the signature of nonequilibrium ionizations on the LAF disappears. Comparing with recent observations indicates that these nonequilibrium effects are not yet observable in the LAF flux power spectrum.

     
    more » « less
  4. null (Ed.)
    ABSTRACT The reionization of the second electron of helium shapes the physical state of intergalactic gas at redshifts between 2 ≲ z ≲ 5. Because performing full in situ radiative transfer in hydrodynamic simulations is computationally expensive for large volumes, the physics of He ii reionization is often approximated by a uniform ultraviolet background model that does not capture the spatial inhomogeneity of reionization. We have devised a model that implements the effects of He ii reionization using semi-analytic calculations of the thermal state of intergalactic gas – a way to bypass a full radiative transfer simulation while still realizing the physics of He ii reionization that affects observables such as the Lyman α forest. Here, we present a publicly available code that flexibly models inhomogeneous He ii reionization in simulations at a negligible computational cost. Because many of the parameters of He ii reionization are uncertain, our model is customizable from a set of free parameters. We show results from this code in mp-gadget, where this model is implemented. We demonstrate the resulting temperature evolution and temperature–density relation of intergalactic gas – consistent with recent measurements and previous radiative transfer simulations. We show that the impact of He ii reionization gives rise to subtle signatures in the 1D statistics of the Lyman α forest at the level of several percent, in agreement with previous findings. The flexible nature of these simulations is ideal for studies of He ii reionization and future observations of the He ii Lyman α forest. 
    more » « less
  5. ABSTRACT We present cosmological constraints from the analysis of angular power spectra of cosmic shear maps based on data from the first three years of observations by the Dark Energy Survey (DES Y3). Our measurements are based on the pseudo-Cℓ method and complement the analysis of the two-point correlation functions in real space, as the two estimators are known to compress and select Gaussian information in different ways, due to scale cuts. They may also be differently affected by systematic effects and theoretical uncertainties, making this analysis an important cross-check. Using the same fiducial Lambda cold dark matter model as in the DES Y3 real-space analysis, we find ${S_8 \equiv \sigma _8 \sqrt{\Omega _{\rm m}/0.3} = 0.793^{+0.038}_{-0.025}}$, which further improves to S8 = 0.784 ± 0.026 when including shear ratios. This result is within expected statistical fluctuations from the real-space constraint, and in agreement with DES Y3 analyses of non-Gaussian statistics, but favours a slightly higher value of S8, which reduces the tension with the Planck 2018 constraints from 2.3σ in the real space analysis to 1.5σ here. We explore less conservative intrinsic alignments models than the one adopted in our fiducial analysis, finding no clear preference for a more complex model. We also include small scales, using an increased Fourier mode cut-off up to $k_{\rm max}={5}\, {h}\, {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$, which allows to constrain baryonic feedback while leaving cosmological constraints essentially unchanged. Finally, we present an approximate reconstruction of the linear matter power spectrum at present time, found to be about 20 per cent lower than predicted by Planck 2018, as reflected by the lower S8 value. 
    more » « less