Matthew McQuinn

Bio: Matthew McQuinn is an academic researcher from University of Washington. The author has contributed to research in topics: Reionization & Redshift. The author has an hindex of 52, co-authored 125 publications receiving 8194 citations. Previous affiliations of Matthew McQuinn include Max Planck Society & Institute for Advanced Study.

Cosmological Parameter Estimation Using 21 cm Radiation from the Epoch of Reionization

Abstract: A number of radio interferometers are currently being planned or constructed to observe 21 cm emission from reionization. Not only will such measurements provide a detailed view of that epoch, but, since the 21 cm emission also traces the distribution of matter in the universe, this signal can be used to constrain cosmological parameters. The sensitivity of an interferometer to the cosmological information in the signal may depend on how precisely the angular dependence of the 21 cm three-dimensional power spectrum can be measured. Using an analytic model for reionization, we quantify all the effects that break the spherical symmetry of the three-dimensional 21 cm power spectrum. We find that upcoming observatories will be sensitive to the 21 cm signal over a wide range of scales, from larger than 100 to as small as 1 comoving Mpc. Next, we consider three methods to measure cosmological parameters from the signal: (1) direct fitting of the density power spectrum to the signal, (2) using only the velocity field fluctuations in the signal, and (3) looking at the signal at large enough scales that all fluctuations trace the density field. With the foremost method, the first generation of 21 cm observations should moderately improve existing constraints on cosmological parameters for certain low-redshift reionization scenarios, and a 2 yr observation with the second-generation interferometer MWA5000 in combination with the CMB telescope Planck could improve constraints on Ω_w, Ω_(m)h^2, Ω_(b)h^2, Ω_ν, n_s, and α_s. If the universe is substantially ionized by z ~ 12 or if spin temperature fluctuations are important, we show that it will be difficult to place competitive constraints on cosmological parameters with any of the considered methods.

CMB-S4 Science Case, Reference Design, and Project Plan

Abstract: We present the science case, reference design, and project plan for the Stage-4 ground-based cosmic microwave background experiment CMB-S4.

A single fast radio burst localized to a massive galaxy at cosmological distance

Abstract: Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are brief radio emissions from distant astronomical sources. Some are known to repeat, but most are single bursts. Nonrepeating FRB observations have had insufficient positional accuracy to localize them to an individual host galaxy. We report the interferometric localization of the single-pulse FRB 180924 to a position 4 kiloparsecs from the center of a luminous galaxy at redshift 0.3214. The burst has not been observed to repeat. The properties of the burst and its host are markedly different from those of the only other accurately localized FRB source. The integrated electron column density along the line of sight closely matches models of the intergalactic medium, indicating that some FRBs are clean probes of the baryonic component of the cosmic web.

Simulations and Analytic Calculations of Bubble Growth during Hydrogen Reionization

Abstract: We present results from a large volume simulation of hydrogen reionization. We combine 3D radiative transfer calculations and an N-body simulation, describing structure formation in the intergalactic medium, to detail the growth of H II regions around high-redshift galaxies. Our simulation tracks 10243 dark matter particles, in a box of comoving side length 65.6 Mpc h-1. This large volume allows us to accurately characterize the size distribution of H II regions throughout most of the reionization process. At the same time, our simulation resolves many of the small galaxies likely responsible for reionization. It confirms a picture anticipated by analytic models: H II regions grow collectively around highly clustered sources and have a well-defined characteristic size, which evolves from a sub-Mpc scale at the beginning of reionization to R > 10 Mpc toward the end. We present a detailed statistical description of our results and compare them with a numerical scheme based on the analytic model by Furlanetto and coworkers. We find that the analytic calculation reproduces the size distribution of H II regions and the 21 cm power spectrum of the radiative transfer simulation remarkably well. The ionization field from the simulation, however, has more small-scale structure than the analytic calculation, owing to Poisson scatter in the simulated abundance of galaxies on small scales. We propose and validate a simple scheme to incorporate this scatter into our calculations. Our results suggest that analytic calculations are sufficiently accurate to aid in predicting and interpreting the results of future 21 cm surveys. In particular, our fast numerical scheme is useful for forecasting constraints from future 21 cm surveys and in constructing mock surveys to test data analysis procedures.

Cosmological Parameter Estimation Using 21 cm Radiation from the Epoch of Reionization

Abstract: A number of radio interferometers are currently being planned or constructed to observe 21 cm emission from reionization. Not only will such measurements provide a detailed view of that epoch, but, since the 21 cm emission also traces the distribution of matter in the Universe, this signal can be used to constrain cosmological parameters at 6 < z < 20. The sensitivity of an interferometer to the cosmological information in the signal may depend on how precisely the angular dependence of the 21 cm 3-D power spectrum can be measured. Utilizing an analytic model for reionization, we quantify all the effects that break the spherical symmetry of the 3-D 21 cm power spectrum and produce physically motivated predictions for this power spectrum. We find that upcoming observatories will be sensitive to the 21 cm signal over a wide range of scales, from larger than 100 to as small as 1 comoving Mpc. We consider three methods to measure cosmological parameters from the signal: (1) direct fitting of the density power spectrum to the signal, (2) using only the velocity field fluctuations in the signal, (3) looking at the signal at large enough scales such that all fluctuations trace the density field. With the foremost method, the first generation of 21 cm observations should moderately improve existing constraints on cosmological parameters for certain low-redshift reionization scenarios, and a two year observation with the second generation interferometer MWA5000 can improve constraints on Omega_w, Omega_m h^2, Omega_b h^2, Omega_nu, n_s, and alpha_s. If the Universe is substantially ionized by z = 12 or if spin temperature fluctuations are important, we show that it will be difficult to place competitive constraints on cosmological parameters with any of the considered methods.

The EAGLE project: Simulating the evolution and assembly of galaxies and their environments

Abstract: We introduce the Virgo Consortium's EAGLE project, a suite of hydrodynamical simulations that follow the formation of galaxies and black holes in representative volumes. We discuss the limitations of such simulations in light of their finite resolution and poorly constrained subgrid physics, and how these affect their predictive power. One major improvement is our treatment of feedback from massive stars and AGN in which thermal energy is injected into the gas without the need to turn off cooling or hydrodynamical forces, allowing winds to develop without predetermined speed or mass loading factors. Because the feedback efficiencies cannot be predicted from first principles, we calibrate them to the z~0 galaxy stellar mass function and the amplitude of the galaxy-central black hole mass relation, also taking galaxy sizes into account. The observed galaxy mass function is reproduced to ≲0.2 dex over the full mass range, 108

LOFAR: The LOw-Frequency ARray

Abstract: LOFAR, the LOw-Frequency ARray, is a new-generation radio interferometer constructed in the north of the Netherlands and across europe. Utilizing a novel phased-array design, LOFAR covers the largely unexplored low-frequency range from 10-240 MHz and provides a number of unique observing capabilities. Spreading out from a core located near the village of Exloo in the northeast of the Netherlands, a total of 40 LOFAR stations are nearing completion. A further five stations have been deployed throughout Germany, and one station has been built in each of France, Sweden, and the UK. Digital beam-forming techniques make the LOFAR system agile and allow for rapid repointing of the telescope as well as the potential for multiple simultaneous observations. With its dense core array and long interferometric baselines, LOFAR achieves unparalleled sensitivity and angular resolution in the low-frequency radio regime. The LOFAR facilities are jointly operated by the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) foundation, as an observatory open to the global astronomical community. LOFAR is one of the first radio observatories to feature automated processing pipelines to deliver fully calibrated science products to its user community. LOFAR's new capabilities, techniques and modus operandi make it an important pathfinder for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). We give an overview of the LOFAR instrument, its major hardware and software components, and the core science objectives that have driven its design. In addition, we present a selection of new results from the commissioning phase of this new radio observatory.

The clustering of galaxies in the sdss-iii baryon oscillation spectroscopic survey: Baryon acoustic oscillations in the data release 9 spectroscopic galaxy sample

Abstract: We present a one per cent measurement of the cosmic distance scale from the detections of the baryon acoustic oscillations in the clustering of galaxies from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III). Our results come from the Data Release 11 (DR11) sample, containing nearly one million galaxies and covering approximately $8\,500$ square degrees and the redshift range $0.2