Topic
South Pole Telescope
About: South Pole Telescope is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 562 publications have been published within this topic receiving 49177 citations. The topic is also known as: SPT & The South Pole Telescope.
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TL;DR: In this article, a combination of seven-year data from WMAP and improved astrophysical data rigorously tests the standard cosmological model and places new constraints on its basic parameters and extensions.
Abstract: The combination of seven-year data from WMAP and improved astrophysical data rigorously tests the standard cosmological model and places new constraints on its basic parameters and extensions. By combining the WMAP data with the latest distance measurements from the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the distribution of galaxies and the Hubble constant (H0) measurement, we determine the parameters of the simplest six-parameter ΛCDM model. The power-law index of the primordial power spectrum is ns = 0.968 ± 0.012 (68% CL) for this data combination, a measurement that excludes the Harrison–Zel’dovich–Peebles spectrum by 99.5% CL. The other parameters, including those beyond the minimal set, are also consistent with, and improved from, the five-year results. We find no convincing deviations from the minimal model. The seven-year temperature power spectrum gives a better determination of the third acoustic peak, which results in a better determination of the redshift of the matter-radiation equality epoch. Notable examples of improved parameters are the total mass of neutrinos, � mν < 0.58 eV (95% CL), and the effective number of neutrino species, Neff = 4.34 +0.86 −0.88 (68% CL), which benefit from better determinations of the third peak and H0. The limit on a constant dark energy equation of state parameter from WMAP+BAO+H0, without high-redshift Type Ia supernovae, is w =− 1.10 ± 0.14 (68% CL). We detect the effect of primordial helium on the temperature power spectrum and provide a new test of big bang nucleosynthesis by measuring Yp = 0.326 ± 0.075 (68% CL). We detect, and show on the map for the first time, the tangential and radial polarization patterns around hot and cold spots of temperature fluctuations, an important test of physical processes at z = 1090 and the dominance of adiabatic scalar fluctuations. The seven-year polarization data have significantly improved: we now detect the temperature–E-mode polarization cross power spectrum at 21σ , compared with 13σ from the five-year data. With the seven-year temperature–B-mode cross power spectrum, the limit on a rotation of the polarization plane due to potential parity-violating effects has improved by 38% to Δα =− 1. 1 ± 1. 4(statistical) ± 1. 5(systematic) (68% CL). We report significant detections of the Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) effect at the locations of known clusters of galaxies. The measured SZ signal agrees well with the expected signal from the X-ray data on a cluster-by-cluster basis. However, it is a factor of 0.5–0.7 times the predictions from “universal profile” of Arnaud et al., analytical models, and hydrodynamical simulations. We find, for the first time in the SZ effect, a significant difference between the cooling-flow and non-cooling-flow clusters (or relaxed and non-relaxed clusters), which can explain some of the discrepancy. This lower amplitude is consistent with the lower-than-theoretically expected SZ power spectrum recently measured by the South Pole Telescope Collaboration.
11,309 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, an efficient line-of-sight method was implemented to calculate the anisotropy and polarization of the cosmic microwave background for scalar and tensor modes in almost Friedmann-Robertson-Walker models with positive spatial curvature.
Abstract: We implement the efficient line-of-sight method to calculate the anisotropy and polarization of the cosmic microwave background for scalar and tensor modes in almost Friedmann-Robertson-Walker models with positive spatial curvature. We present new results for the polarization power spectra in such models.
4,332 citations
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University of Chicago1, Cardiff University2, University of California, Berkeley3, General Dynamics4, National Institute of Standards and Technology5, McGill University6, University of Colorado Boulder7, Marshall Space Flight Center8, Case Western Reserve University9, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign10, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory11, Harvard University12, National Center for Supercomputing Applications13
TL;DR: The South Pole Telescope (SPT) as mentioned in this paper is a 10m diameter, wide-field, offset Gregorian telescope with a 966-pixel, multicolor, millimeter-wave, bolometer camera.
Abstract: .The South Pole Telescope (SPT) is a 10 m diameter, wide-field, offset Gregorian telescope with a 966 pixel, multicolor, millimeter-wave, bolometer camera. It is located at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station in Antarctica. The design of the SPT emphasizes careful control of spillover and scattering, to minimize noise and false signals due to ground pickup. The key initial project is a large-area survey at wavelengths of 3, 2, and 1.3 mm, to detect clusters of galaxies via the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect and to measure the small-scale angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The data will be used to characterize the primordial matter power spectrum and to place constraints on the equation of state of dark energy. A second-generation camera will measure the polarization of the CMB, potentially leading to constraints on the neutrino mass and the energy scale of inflation.
626 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented cluster counts and corresponding cosmological constraints from the Planck full mission data set and extended their analysis to the two-dimensional distribution in redshift and signal-to-noise.
Abstract: We present cluster counts and corresponding cosmological constraints from the Planck full mission data set. Our catalogue consists of 439 clusters detected via their Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) signal down to a signal-to-noise ratio of 6, and is more than a factor of 2 larger than the 2013 Planck cluster cosmology sample. The counts are consistent with those from 2013 and yield compatible constraints under the same modelling assumptions. Taking advantage of the larger catalogue, we extend our analysis to the two-dimensional distribution in redshift and signal-to-noise. We use mass estimates from two recent studies of gravitational lensing of background galaxies by Planck clusters to provide priors on the hydrostatic bias parameter, (1−b). In addition, we use lensing of cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature fluctuations by Planck clusters as an independent constraint on this parameter. These various calibrations imply constraints on the present-day amplitude of matter fluctuations in varying degrees of tension with those from the Planck analysis of primary fluctuations in the CMB; for the lowest estimated values of (1−b) the tension is mild, only a little over one standard deviation, while it remains substantial (3.7σ) for the largest estimated value. We also examine constraints on extensions to the base flat ΛCDM model by combining the cluster and CMB constraints. The combination appears to favour non-minimal neutrino masses, but this possibility does little to relieve the overall tension because it simultaneously lowers the implied value of the Hubble parameter, thereby exacerbating the discrepancy with most current astrophysical estimates. Improving the precision of cluster mass calibrations from the current 10%-level to 1% would significantly strengthen these combined analyses and provide a stringent test of the base ΛCDM model.
606 citations
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University of Chicago1, Argonne National Laboratory2, Harvard University3, McGill University4, Stanford University5, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory6, Massachusetts Institute of Technology7, Fermilab8, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich9, University of Missouri–Kansas City10, National Institute of Standards and Technology11, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile12, California Institute of Technology13, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research14, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign15, Max Planck Society16, University of Florida17, University of Colorado Boulder18, Leiden University19, University of California, Berkeley20, University of California, Davis21, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory22, University of Arizona23, University of Michigan24, University of Minnesota25, University of Melbourne26, Space Telescope Science Institute27, Case Western Reserve University28, School of the Art Institute of Chicago29, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute30, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory31, University of Toronto32
TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented a catalog of galaxy clusters selected via their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect signature from 2500 deg^2 of South Pole Telescope (SPT) data.
Abstract: We present a catalog of galaxy clusters selected via their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect signature from 2500 deg^2 of South Pole Telescope (SPT) data. This work represents the complete sample of clusters detected at high significance in the 2500 deg^2 SPT-SZ survey, which was completed in 2011. A total of 677 (409) cluster candidates are identified above a signal-to-noise threshold of ξ = 4.5 (5.0). Ground- and space-based optical and near-infrared (NIR) imaging confirms overdensities of similarly colored galaxies in the direction of 516 (or 76%) of the ξ > 4.5 candidates and 387 (or 95%) of the ξ > 5 candidates; the measured purity is consistent with expectations from simulations. Of these confirmed clusters, 415 were first identified in SPT data, including 251 new discoveries reported in this work. We estimate photometric redshifts for all candidates with identified optical and/or NIR counterparts; we additionally report redshifts derived from spectroscopic observations for 141 of these systems. The mass threshold of the catalog is roughly independent of redshift above z ~ 0.25 leading to a sample of massive clusters that extends to high redshift. The median mass of the sample is M_(500c(ρcrit)) ~ 3.5 x 10^(14)M_☉ h_(70)^(-1), the median redshift is z_(med) = 0.55, and the highest-redshift systems are at z > 1.4. The combination of large redshift extent, clean selection, and high typical mass makes this cluster sample of particular interest for cosmological analyses and studies of cluster formation and evolution.
573 citations