Reionisation blurring is a non-linear correction to the cosmic microwave background that acts similar to weak gravitational lensing and that can be computed from linear perturbations through a blurring potential. Its impact on the cosmic microwave background is roughly two order of magnitude smaller than that of lensing, in isolation. But the blurring potential is strongly correlated with the lensing potential thereby generating a potentially observable cross-correlation. We compute for the first time the inclusive impact of reionisation blurring on the temperature angular power spectrum and discuss how much it could induce lensing anomalies
Characterising the epoch of reionisation using the cross-correlation of the kSZ effect and CMB lensing
University of Cambridge(剑桥大学);Kavli Institute for Cosmology Cambridge(卡弗里宇宙学剑桥研究所);School of Earth and Space exploration, Arizona State University(亚利桑那州立大学地球与太空探索学院);Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge(剑桥大学天文学研究所);Department of Physics, University of Oxford(牛津大学物理系);Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University(斯坦福大学卡弗里粒子天体物理学与宇宙学研究所);Department of Physics, Stanford University(斯坦福大学物理系)
Gravitational Lensing Effects by Galaxy Clusters on Ionised Bubble Size Distribution during the Epoch of Reionisation
National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院国家天文台);School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院大学天文学与空间科学学院);Key Laboratory of Space Astronomy and Technology, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院国家天文台空间天文与技术重点实验室);Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院上海天文台);State Key Laboratory of Radio Astronomy and Technology(射电天文与技术国家重点实验室)
We study the E and B mode polarisation of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) originating from the transverse peculiar velocity of free electrons, at second order in perturbation theory, during the reionisation and post-reionisation eras. Interestingly, the spectrum of this polarised kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect can be decomposed into a blackbody part and a y-type distortion. The y-distortion part is distinguishable from the primary E and B modes and also the lensing B modes. Furthermore, it is also differentiable from the other y-type signals, such as the thermal SZ effect, which a…
Lensing flux-ratio anomalies are most likely caused by gravitational lensing by small-scale dark matter structures. These anomalies offer the prospect of testing a fundamental prediction of the cold dark matter (CDM) cosmological model: the existence of numerous substructures that are too small to host visible galaxies. In two previous studies we found that the number of subhalos in the six high-resolution simulations of CDM galactic halos of the Aquarius project is not sufficient to account for the observed frequency of flux ratio anomalies seen in selected quasars from the CLASS survey. Thes…
We explore the weak lensing effects by ministructures in the line-of-sight in a quadruply lensed quasar MG0414+0534 that shows an anomaly in the flux-ratios. We find that the observed flux-ratio anomaly can be explained by a presence of either a minifilament or a minivoid in the line-of-sight with a surface mass density of the order of 10^(8-9) h^(-1) solar mass /arcsec^2 without taking into account any subhalos in the lensing galaxy. The astrometric perturbation by a possible minifilament/minivoid is <~ 0.001 arcsec and the amplitudes of convergence perturbations due to these perturbers are ~…
The Subversive Role of Excessive External Shear in Concealing Lensing Anomalies
The University of Hong Kong(香港大学);The Hong Kong Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, The University of Hong Kong(香港大学香港天文及物理研究所);Chiba University(千叶大学);IFCA, Instituto de Física de Cantabria (UC-CSIC)(坎塔布里亚物理研究所(桑坦德大学-西班牙国家科研委员会联合研究所));Donostia International Physics Center, DIPC(圣塞巴斯蒂安国际物理中心)
Early Dark Energy (EDE) contributing a fraction $f_{\rm EDE}(z_c)\sim 10 \%$ of the energy density of the universe around $z_c\simeq 3500$ and diluting as or faster than radiation afterwards, can provide a resolution to the Hubble tension, the $\sim 5σ$ discrepancy between the $H_0$ value derived from early- and late-universe observations within $Λ$CDM. However, it has been pointed out that Large-Scale Structure (LSS) data, which are in $\sim3σ$ tension with $Λ$CDM and EDE cosmologies, might alter these conclusions. We reassess the viability of the EDE against a host of high- and low-redshift …
The flux ratios in the multiple images of gravitationally lensed quasars can provide evidence for dark matter substructure in the halo of the lensing galaxy if the flux ratios differ from those predicted by a smooth model of the lensing galaxy mass distribution. However, it is also possible that baryonic structures in the lensing galaxy, such as edge-on discs, can produce flux-ratio anomalies. In this work, we present the first statistical analysis of flux-ratio anomalies due to baryons from a numerical simulation perspective. We select galaxies with various morphological types in the Illustri…
The flux-ratio anomalies observed in multiply-lensed quasar images are most plausibly explained as the result of perturbing structures superposed on the underlying smooth matter distribution of the primary lens. The cold dark matter cosmological model predicts that a large number of substructures should survive inside larger halos but, surprisingly, this population alone has been shown to be insufficient to explain the observed distribution of the flux ratios of quasar's multiple images. Other halos (and their own subhalos) projected along the line of sight to the primary lens have been consid…
We present a microlensing analysis of 61 Chandra observations of 14 quadruply lensed quasars. X-ray flux measurements of the individual quasar images give a clean determination of the microlensing effects in the lensing galaxy and thus offer a direct assessment of the local fraction of stellar matter making up the total integrated mass along the lines of sight through the lensing galaxy. A Bayesian analysis of the ensemble of lensing galaxies gives a most likely local stellar fraction of 7%, with the other 93% in a smooth, dark matter component, at an average impact parameter R_c of 6.6 kpc fr…
Anomalies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) refer to features that have been observed, mostly at large angular scales, and which show some tension with the statistical predictions of the standard $Λ$CDM model. In this work, we focus our attention on power suppression, dipolar modulation, a preference for odd parity, and the tension in the lensing parameter $A_L$. Though the statistical significance of each individual anomaly is inconclusive, collectively they are significant, and could indicate new physics beyond the $Λ$CDM model. In this article, we present a brief, but pedagogical int…
Addressing position anomalies in the Strong Gravitational Lensing System HS~0810+2554 through Dark Matter Subhalos
Nanjing Normal University(南京师范大学);Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院紫金山天文台);University of Science and Technology of China(中国科学技术大学)
We investigate the gravitational lens effect caused by a non-spherically distorted compact object. The non-spherical property of the gravitational potential is modeled by a quadrupole moment. Under the assumption that the quadrupole contribution is small, we solve perturbatively the lens equation and obtain the image positions and the amplification factors. We show that the separation angle of two major images is only slightly changed by the existence of the quadrupole contribution, whereas the difference of the amplification factors may be significantly modified. Our results indicate that eve…
We explore the weak lensing effect by line-of-sight halos and sub-halos with a mass of M < 10^7 solar mass in QSO-galaxy strong lens systems with quadruple images in a concordant LCDM universe. Using a polynomially fitted non-linear power spectrum P(k) obtained from N-body simulations that can resolve halos with a mass of M ~ 10^5 solar mass, or structures with a comoving wavenumber of k ~ 3*10^2 h/Mpc, we find that the ratio of magnification perturbation due to intervening halos to that of a primary lens is typically ~10 per cent and the predicted values agree well with the estimated values f…
We explore a model of the early universe in which the inflationary epoch is preceded by a cosmic bounce, and argue that this scenario provides a common origin to several of the anomalous features that have been observed at large angular scales in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). More concretely, we show that a power suppression, a dipolar asymmetry, and a preference for odd-parity correlations, with amplitude and scale dependence in consonance with observations, are expected from this scenario. The model also alleviates the tension in the lensing amplitude. These signals originate from t…
The cold dark matter scenario of hierarchical large-scale structure formation predicts the existence of abundant subhalos around large galaxies. However, the number of observed dwarf galaxies is far from this theoretical prediction, suggesting that most of the subhalos could be dark or quite faint. Gravitational lensing is a powerful tool to probe the mass distribution directly irrespective of whether it is visible or dark. Time delay anomalies in strongly lensed quasar systems are complementary to flux ratio anomalies in probing dark matter substructure in galaxies. Here we propose that lense…
Discrepancies between the observed and model-predicted radio flux ratios are seen in a number of quadruply-lensed quasars. The most favored interpretation of these anomalies is that CDM substructures present in lensing galaxies perturb the lens potentials and alter image magnifications and thus flux ratios. So far no consensus has emerged regarding whether or not the predicted CDM substructure abundance fully accounts for the lensing flux anomaly observations. Accurate modeling relies on a realistic lens sample in terms of both the lens environment and internal structures and substructures. In…
We use high-resolution adaptive optics (AO) imaging on the Keck II telescope to study the gravitational lens B0128+437 in unprecedented detail, allowing us to resolve individual lensed quasar components and, for the first time, detect and measure properties of the lensing galaxy. B0128+437 is a small separation lens with known flux-ratio and astrometric anomalies. We discuss possible causes for these anomalies, including the presence of substructure in the lensing galaxy, propagation effects due to dust and a turbulent interstellar medium, and gravitational microlensing. This work on B0128 dem…
While the standard, six-parameter, spatially flat $Λ$CDM model has been highly successful, certain anomalies in the cosmic microwave background bring out a tension between this model and observations. The statistical significance of any one anomaly is small. However, taken together, the presence of two or more of them imply that according to standard inflationary theories we live in quite an exceptional universe. We revisit the analysis of the PLANCK collaboration using loop quantum cosmology, where an unforeseen interplay between the ultraviolet and the infrared makes the \emph{primordial} po…
Probing Dark Matter Substructure with Image Number Anomaly in Strong Lensing Systems
School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University(武汉大学物理科学与技术学院);National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院国家天文台);School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院大学天文与空间科学学院)
The arrival times, positions, and fluxes of multiple images in strong lens systems can be used to infer the presence of dark subhalos in the deflector, and thus test predictions of cold dark matter models. However, gravitational lensing does not distinguish between perturbations to a smooth gravitational potential arising from baryonic and non-baryonic mass. In this work, we quantify the extent to which the stellar mass distribution of a deflector can reproduce flux ratio and astrometric anomalies typically associated with the presence of a dark matter subhalo. Using Hubble Space Telescope ima…
Can third- and fourth-order multipoles plus radial variation of iso-density ellipses explain the observed flux ratios in B1422$+$231? YES, and a lesson learned from a TNG100 lensing galaxy sample
Tsinghua University(清华大学);Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna(博洛尼亚大学);STAR Institute(STAR研究所);INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna(博洛尼亚天文物理与空间科学国家研究院);INFN – Sezione di Bologna(意大利国家核物理研究所博洛尼亚分部);Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago(芝加哥大学卡弗里宇宙物理学研究所);Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago(芝加哥大学天文学与天体物理系)
We demonstrate the impact on forecasted neutrino mass constraints of extending galaxy clustering and CMB lensing predictions from linear to next-to-leading-order power spectra. The redshift-space 1-loop power spectrum model we adopt requires an additional four free bias parameters, a velocity bias parameter and two new stochastic parameters. These additional nuisance parameters appreciably weaken the constraints on $M_ν$. CMB lensing plays a significant role in helping to alleviate these degeneracies and tighten the final constraints. The constraint on the optical depth to reionisation $τ$ has…
In the last decade the detection of individual massive dark matter sub-halos has been possible using potential correction formalism in strong gravitational lens imaging. Here we propose a statistical formalism to relate strong gravitational lens surface brightness anomalies to the lens potential fluctuations arising from dark matter distribution in the lens galaxy. We consider these fluctuations as a Gaussian random field in addition to the unperturbed smooth lens model. This is very similar to weak lensing formalism and we show that in this way we can measure the power spectrum of these pertu…
Certain anomalies in the CMB bring out a tension between the six-parameter flat $Λ$CDM model and the CMB data. We revisit the PLANCK analysis with loop quantum cosmology (LQC) predictions and show that LQC alleviates both the large-scale power anomaly and the tension in the lensing amplitude. These differences arise because, in LQC, the primordial power spectrum is scale dependent for small $k$, with a specific power suppression. We conclude with a prediction of larger optical depth and power suppression in the $B$-mode polarization power spectrum on large scales.
One of the major targets for next-generation cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments is the detection of the primordial B-mode signal. Planning is under way for Stage-IV experiments that are projected to have instrumental noise small enough to make lensing and foregrounds the dominant source of uncertainty for estimating the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ from polarization maps. This makes delensing a crucial part of future CMB polarization science. In this paper we present a likelihood method for estimating the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ from CMB polarization observations, which combines th…
Recent years have brought strong observational evidences for the standard LCDM cosmological model. Cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy and large scale structure (LSS) probes do not favour any extensions of the standard model. Nevertheless, in this framework, the preferred cosmological parameters may differ from probe to probe, from experiment to experiment. This is the well known case of the tension between CMB and Sunyaev Zel'dovich (SZ) galaxy clusters (GC) from Planck. In 2013, the Planck team has shown that the preferred matter content (ΩM) and density fluctuation power spectrum a…