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Creators/Authors contains: "Switzer, Eric R"

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  1. 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. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available November 1, 2026
  2. Abstract We present Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 6 (DR6) maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature and polarization anisotropy at arcminute resolution over three frequency bands centered on 98, 150 and 220 GHz. The maps are based on data collected with the AdvancedACT camera over the period 2017–2022 and cover 19,000 square degrees with a median combined depth of 10 μK arcmin. We describe the instrument, mapmaking and map properties and illustrate them with a number of figures and tables. The ACT DR6 maps and derived products are available on LAMBDA athttps://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/product/act/actadv_prod_table.html. We also provide an interactive web atlas athttps://phy-act1.princeton.edu/public/snaess/actpol/dr6/atlasand HiPS data sets in Aladin (e.g.https://alasky.cds.unistra.fr/ACT/DR4DR6/color_CMB). 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available November 1, 2026
  3. Abstract We use new cosmic microwave background (CMB) primary temperature and polarization anisotropy measurements from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 6 (DR6) to test foundational assumptions of the standard cosmological model, ΛCDM, and set constraints on extensions to it. We derive constraints from the ACT DR6 power spectra alone, as well as in combination with legacy data from thePlanckmission. To break geometric degeneracies, we include ACT andPlanckCMB lensing data and baryon acoustic oscillation data from DESI Year-1. To test the dependence of our results on non-ACT data, we also explore combinations replacingPlanckwithWMAPand DESI with BOSS, and further add supernovae measurements from Pantheon+ for models that affect the late-time expansion history. We verify the near-scale-invariance (running of the spectral indexdns/dlnk= 0.0062 ± 0.0052) and adiabaticity of the primordial perturbations. Neutrino properties are consistent with Standard Model predictions: we find no evidence for new light, relativistic species that are free-streaming (Neff= 2.86 ± 0.13, which combined with astrophysical measurements of primordial helium and deuterium abundances becomesNeff= 2.89 ± 0.11), for non-zero neutrino masses (∑mν< 0.089 eV at 95% CL), or for neutrino self-interactions. We also find no evidence for self-interacting dark radiation (Nidr< 0.134), or for early-universe variation of fundamental constants, including the fine-structure constant (αEMEM,0= 1.0043 ± 0.0017) and the electron mass (me/me,0= 1.0063 ± 0.0056). Our data are consistent with standard big bang nucleosynthesis (we findYp= 0.2312 ± 0.0092), theCOBE/FIRAS-inferred CMB temperature (we findTCMB= 2.698 ± 0.016 K), a dark matter component that is collisionless and with only a small fraction allowed as axion-like particles, a cosmological constant (w= -0.986 ± 0.025), and the late-time growth rate predicted by general relativity (γ= 0.663 ± 0.052). We find no statistically significant preference for a departure from the baseline ΛCDM model. In fits to models invoking early dark energy, primordial magnetic fields, or an arbitrary modified recombination history, we findH0= 69.9+0.8-1.5, 69.1 ± 0.5, or 69.6 ± 1.0 km/s/Mpc, respectively; using BOSS instead of DESI BAO data reduces the central values of these constraints by 1–1.5 km/s/Mpc while only slightly increasing the error bars. In general, models introduced to increase the Hubble constant or to decrease the amplitude of density fluctuations inferred from the primary CMB are not favored over ΛCDM by our data. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available November 1, 2026
  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, S 8 σ 8 ( Ω m / 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, S 8 σ 8 ( Ω m / 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. 
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  5. Abstract We present new measurements of cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing over 9400 deg2of the sky. These lensing measurements are derived from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 6 (DR6) CMB data set, which consists of five seasons of ACT CMB temperature and polarization observations. We determine the amplitude of the CMB lensing power spectrum at 2.3% precision (43σsignificance) using a novel pipeline that minimizes sensitivity to foregrounds and to noise properties. To ensure that our results are robust, we analyze an extensive set of null tests, consistency tests, and systematic error estimates and employ a blinded analysis framework. Our CMB lensing power spectrum measurement provides constraints on the amplitude of cosmic structure that do not depend on Planck or galaxy survey data, thus giving independent information about large-scale structure growth and potential tensions in structure measurements. The baseline spectrum is well fit by a lensing amplitude ofAlens= 1.013 ± 0.023 relative to the Planck 2018 CMB power spectra best-fit ΛCDM model andAlens= 1.005 ± 0.023 relative to the ACT DR4 + WMAP best-fit model. From our lensing power spectrum measurement, we derive constraints on the parameter combination S 8 CMBL σ 8 Ω m / 0.3 0.25 of S 8 CMBL = 0.818 ± 0.022 from ACT DR6 CMB lensing alone and S 8 CMBL = 0.813 ± 0.018 when combining ACT DR6 and PlanckNPIPECMB lensing power spectra. These results are in excellent agreement with ΛCDM model constraints from Planck or ACT DR4 + WMAP CMB power spectrum measurements. Our lensing measurements from redshiftsz∼ 0.5–5 are thus fully consistent with ΛCDM structure growth predictions based on CMB anisotropies probing primarilyz∼ 1100. We find no evidence for a suppression of the amplitude of cosmic structure at low redshifts. 
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