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  1. null (Ed.)
    ABSTRACT Star-forming galaxies are rich reservoirs of dust, both warm and cold. But the cold dust emission is faint alongside the relatively bright and ubiquitous warm dust emission. Recently, evidence for a very cold dust (VCD) component has also been revealed via millimetre/submillimetre (mm/sub-mm) photometry of some galaxies. This component, despite being the most massive of the three dust components in star-forming galaxies, is by virtue of its very low temperature, faint and hard to detect together with the relatively bright emission from warmer dust. Here, we analyse the dust content of a carefully selected sample of four galaxies detected by IRAS, WISE, and South Pole Telescope (SPT), whose spectral energy distributions (SEDs) were modelled to constrain their potential cold dust content. Low-frequency radio observations using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) were carried out to segregate cold dust emission from non-thermal emission in mm/sub-mm wavebands. We also carried out AstroSat/Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) observations for some galaxies to constrain their SED at shorter wavelengths so as to enforce energy balance for the SED modelling. We constructed their SEDs across a vast wavelength range (extending from UV to radio frequencies) by assembling global photometry from GALEX FUV + NUV, UVIT, Johnson BRI, 2MASS, WISE, IRAC, IRAS, AKARI, ISO PHOT, Planck HFI, SPT, and GMRT. The SEDs were modelled with cigale to estimate their basic properties, in particular to constrain the masses of their total and VCD components. Although the galaxies’ dust masses are dominated by warmer dust, there are hints of VCD in two of the targets, NGC 7496 and NGC 7590. 
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  2. ABSTRACT

    We search for signatures of cosmological shocks in gas pressure profiles of galaxy clusters using the cluster catalogues from three surveys: the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 3, the South Pole Telescope (SPT) SZ survey, and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) data releases 4, 5, and 6, and using thermal Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) maps from SPT and ACT. The combined cluster sample contains around 105 clusters with mass and redshift ranges $10^{13.7} \lt M_{\rm 200m}/\, {\rm M}_\odot \lt 10^{15.5}$ and 0.1 < z < 2, and the total sky coverage of the maps is $\approx 15\, 000 \deg ^2$. We find a clear pressure deficit at R/R200m ≈ 1.1 in SZ profiles around both ACT and SPT clusters, estimated at 6σ significance, which is qualitatively consistent with a shock-induced thermal non-equilibrium between electrons and ions. The feature is not as clearly determined in profiles around DES clusters. We verify that measurements using SPT or ACT maps are consistent across all scales, including in the deficit feature. The SZ profiles of optically selected and SZ-selected clusters are also consistent for higher mass clusters. Those of less massive, optically selected clusters are suppressed on small scales by factors of 2–5 compared to predictions, and we discuss possible interpretations of this behaviour. An oriented stacking of clusters – where the orientation is inferred from the SZ image, the brightest cluster galaxy, or the surrounding large-scale structure measured using galaxy catalogues – shows the normalization of the one-halo and two-halo terms vary with orientation. Finally, the location of the pressure deficit feature is statistically consistent with existing estimates of the splashback radius.

     
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  3. Abstract

    Including millimeter-wave data in multiwavelength studies of the variability of active galactic nuclei (AGN) can provide insights into AGN physics that are not easily accessible at other wavelengths. We demonstrate in this work the potential of cosmic microwave background (CMB) telescopes to provide long-term, high-cadence millimeter-wave AGN monitoring over large fractions of sky. We report on a pilot study using data from the SPTpol instrument on the South Pole Telescope (SPT), which was designed to observe the CMB at arcminute and larger angular scales. Between 2013 and 2016, SPTpol was used primarily to observe a single 500 deg2field, covering the entire field several times per day with detectors sensitive to radiation in bands centered at 95 and 150 GHz. We use SPT 150 GHz observations to create AGN light curves, and we compare these millimeter-wave light curves to those at other wavelengths, in particularγ-ray and optical. In this Letter, we focus on a single source, PKS 2326-502, which has extensive, day-timescale monitoring data in gamma-ray, optical, and now millimeter-wave between 2013 and 2016. We find PKS 2326-502 to be in a flaring state in the first 2 yr of this monitoring, and we present a search for evidence of correlated variability between millimeter-wave, opticalR-band, andγ-ray observations. This pilot study is paving the way for AGN monitoring with current and upcoming CMB experiments such as SPT-3G, Simons Observatory, and CMB-S4, including multiwavelength studies with facilities such as Vera C. Rubin Observatories Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

     
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  4. Abstract

    We show the improvement to cosmological constraints from galaxy cluster surveys with the addition of cosmic microwave background (CMB)-cluster lensing data. We explore the cosmological implications of adding mass information from the 3.1σdetection of gravitational lensing of the CMB by galaxy clusters to the Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) selected galaxy cluster sample from the 2500 deg2SPT-SZ survey and targeted optical and X-ray follow-up data. In the ΛCDM model, the combination of the cluster sample with the Planck power spectrum measurements prefersσ8Ωm/0.30.5=0.831±0.020. Adding the cluster data reduces the uncertainty on this quantity by a factor of 1.4, which is unchanged whether the 3.1σCMB-cluster lensing measurement is included or not. We then forecast the impact of CMB-cluster lensing measurements with future cluster catalogs. Adding CMB-cluster lensing measurements to the SZ cluster catalog of the ongoing SPT-3G survey is expected to improve the expected constraint on the dark energy equation of statewby a factor of 1.3 toσ(w) = 0.19. We find the largest improvements from CMB-cluster lensing measurements to be forσ8, where adding CMB-cluster lensing data to the cluster number counts reduces the expected uncertainty onσ8by respective factors of 2.4 and 3.6 for SPT-3G and CMB-S4.

     
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  5. Context.3C 84 is a nearby radio source with a complex total intensity structure, showing linear polarisation and spectral patterns. A detailed investigation of the central engine region necessitates the use of very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) above the hitherto available maximum frequency of 86 GHz.

    Aims.Using ultrahigh resolution VLBI observations at the currently highest available frequency of 228 GHz, we aim to perform a direct detection of compact structures and understand the physical conditions in the compact region of 3C 84.

    Methods.We used Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) 228 GHz observations and, given the limited (u, v)-coverage, applied geometric model fitting to the data. Furthermore, we employed quasi-simultaneously observed, ancillary multi-frequency VLBI data for the source in order to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the core structure.

    Results.We report the detection of a highly ordered, strong magnetic field around the central, supermassive black hole of 3C 84. The brightness temperature analysis suggests that the system is in equipartition. We also determined a turnover frequency ofνm = (113 ± 4) GHz, a corresponding synchrotron self-absorbed magnetic field ofBSSA = (2.9 ± 1.6) G, and an equipartition magnetic field ofBeq = (5.2 ± 0.6) G. Three components are resolved with the highest fractional polarisation detected for this object (mnet = (17.0 ± 3.9)%). The positions of the components are compatible with those seen in low-frequency VLBI observations since 2017–2018. We report a steeply negative slope of the spectrum at 228 GHz. We used these findings to test existing models of jet formation, propagation, and Faraday rotation in 3C 84.

    Conclusions.The findings of our investigation into different flow geometries and black hole spins support an advection-dominated accretion flow in a magnetically arrested state around a rapidly rotating supermassive black hole as a model of the jet-launching system in the core of 3C 84. However, systematic uncertainties due to the limited (u, v)-coverage, however, cannot be ignored. Our upcoming work using new EHT data, which offer full imaging capabilities, will shed more light on the compact region of 3C 84.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available February 1, 2025
  6. ABSTRACT

    We search for the signature of cosmological shocks in stacked gas pressure profiles of galaxy clusters using data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT). Specifically, we stack the latest Compton-y maps from the 2500 deg2 SPT-SZ survey on the locations of clusters identified in that same data set. The sample contains 516 clusters with mean mass $\langle M_{\rm 200m}\rangle = 10^{14.9} \, {\rm M}_\odot$ and redshift 〈z〉 = 0.55. We analyse in parallel a set of zoom-in hydrodynamical simulations from the three hundred project. The SPT-SZ data show two features: (i) a pressure deficit at R/R200m = 1.08 ± 0.09, measured at 3.1σ significance and not observed in the simulations, and; (ii) a sharp decrease in pressure at R/R200m = 4.58 ± 1.24 at 2.0σ significance. The pressure deficit is qualitatively consistent with a shock-induced thermal non-equilibrium between electrons and ions, and the second feature is consistent with accretion shocks seen in previous studies. We split the cluster sample by redshift and mass, and find both features exist in all cases. There are also no significant differences in features along and across the cluster major axis, whose orientation roughly points towards filamentary structure. As a consistency test, we also analyse clusters from the Planck and Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter surveys and find quantitatively similar features in the pressure profiles. Finally, we compare the accretion shock radius ($R_{\rm sh,\, acc}$) with existing measurements of the splashback radius (Rsp) for SPT-SZ and constrain the lower limit of the ratio, $R_{\rm sh,\, acc}/R_{\rm sp}\gt 2.16 \pm 0.59$.

     
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  7. Abstract

    We present component-separated maps of the primary cosmic microwave background/kinematic Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) amplitude and the thermal SZ Compton-yparameter, created using data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and the Planck satellite. These maps, which cover the ∼2500 deg2of the southern sky imaged by the SPT-SZ survey, represent a significant improvement over previous such products available in this region by virtue of their higher angular resolution (1.′25for our highest-resolution Compton-ymaps) and lower noise at small angular scales. In this work we detail the construction of these maps using linear combination techniques, including our method for limiting the correlation of our lowest-noise Compton-ymap products with the cosmic infrared background. We perform a range of validation tests on these data products to test our sky modeling and combination algorithms, and we find good performance in all of these tests. Recognizing the potential utility of these data products for a wide range of astrophysical and cosmological analyses, including studies of the gas properties of galaxies, groups, and clusters, we make these products publicly available athttp://pole.uchicago.edu/public/data/sptsz_ymapand on the NASA/LAMBDA website.

     
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