Engineering topics
Cunha, C. E.
Publications and source records attributed to Cunha, C. E..
First Cosmology Results using Supernovae Ia from the Dark Energy Survey: Survey Overview, Performance, and Supernova Spectroscopy
We present details on the observing strategy, data-processing techniques, and spectroscopic targeting algorithms for the first three years of operation for the Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program (DES-SN). This five-year program using the Dark Energy Camera mounted on the 4 m Blanco telescope in Chile was designed to discover and follow supernovae (SNe) Ia over a wide redshift range (0.05 < z < 1.2) to measure the equation-of-state parameter of dark energy. We describe the SN program in full: strategy, observations, data reduction, spectroscopic follow-up observations, and classification. From three seasons of data, we have discovered 12,015 likely SNe, 308 of which have been spectroscopically confirmed, including 251 SNe Ia over a redshift range of 0.017 < z < 0.85. We determine the effective spectroscopic selection function for our sample and use it to investigate the redshift-dependent bias on the distance moduli of SNe Ia we have classified. The data presented here are used for the first cosmology analysis by DES-SN (“DES-SN3YR”), the results of which are given in Dark Energy Survey Collaboration et al. The 489 spectra that are used to define the DES-SN3YR sample are publicly available at https://des.ncsa.illinois.edu/releases/sn.
Observation and confirmation of nine strong-lensing systems in Dark Energy Survey Year 1 data
ABSTRACT We describe the observation and confirmation of nine new strong gravitational lenses discovered in Year 1 data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We created candidate lists based on (i) galaxy group and cluster samples, and (ii) photometrically selected galaxy samples. We selected 46 candidates through visual inspection and then used the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph(GMOS) at the Gemini South telescope to acquire a spectroscopic follow-up of 21 of these candidates. Through an analysis of these spectroscopic follow-up data, we confirmed nine new lensing systems and rejected two candidates, and the analysis was inconclusive on 10 candidates. For each of the confirmed systems, our report measured spectroscopic properties, estimated source image–lens separations, and estimated enclosed masses as well. The sources that we targeted have an i-band surface brightness range of $i_{\rm SB} \sim 22\!-\!24\, {\rm mag}\,{\rm arcsec}^{-2}$ and a spectroscopic redshift range of zspec ∼ 0.8−2.6. The lens galaxies have a photometric redshift range of zlens ∼ 0.3−0.7. The lensing systems range in source image–lens separation from 2 to 9 arcsec and in enclosed mass from 1012 to 1013 M⊙.
Chemical Abundance Analysis of Tucana III, the Second r -process Enhanced Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxy
Here, we introduce a chemical abundance analysis of four additional confirmed member stars of Tucana III, a Milky Way satellite galaxy candidate in the process of being tidally disrupted as it is accreted by the Galaxy. Two of these stars are centrally located in the core of the galaxy while the other two stars are located in the eastern and western tidal tails. The four stars have chemical abundance patterns consistent with the one previously studied star in Tucana III: they are moderately enhanced in r-process elements, i.e., they have $\langle$[Eu/Fe]$\rangle$ ≈ +0.4 dex. The non-neutron-capture elements generally follow trends seen in other dwarf galaxies, including a metallicity spread of 0.44 dex and the expected trend in α-elements, i.e., the lower metallicity stars have higher Ca and Ti abundance. In general, the chemical abundance patterns of these stars suggest that Tucana III was an ultra-faint dwarf galaxy, and not a globular cluster, before being tidally disturbed. As is the case for the one other galaxy dominated by r-pr ocess enhanced stars, Reticulum II, Tucana III’s stellar chemical abundances are consistent with pollution from ejecta produced by a binary neutron star merger, although a different r-process element or dilution gas mass is required to explain the abundances in these two galaxies if a neutron star merger is the sole source of r-process enhancement.
The Morphology and Structure of Stellar Populations in the Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy from Dark Energy Survey Data
Using deep wide-field photometry 3 yr data (Y3) from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), we introduce a panoramic study of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy. The data discussed here—a small subset of the full survey—uniformly cover a region of 25 deg 2 centered on the galaxy to a depth of g ~ 23.5. We use these data to study the structural properties of Fornax, overall stellar population, and its member stars in different evolutionary phases. We also search for possible signs of tidal disturbance. Fornax is found to be significantly more spatially extended than what early studies suggested. No statistically significant distortions or signs of tidal disturbances were found down to a surface brightness limit of ~32.1 mag arcsec -2 . Yet, there are hints of shell-like features located ~20'–40' from the center of Fornax that may be stellar debris from past merger events. We also find that intermediate-age and young main-sequence populations show different orientation at the galaxy center and have many substructures. The deep DES Y3 data allow us to characterize the age of those young stellar substructures with great accuracy, both those previously known and those newly identified as possible overdensities in this work, on the basis of their color–magnitude diagram morphology. We find that the youngest overdensities are all found on the eastern side of Fornax, where the Fornax field population itself is slightly younger than in the west. In summary, the high-quality DES Y3 data reveal that Fornax has many rich structures and provide insights into its complex formation history.
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: constraints on intrinsic alignments and their colour dependence from galaxy clustering and weak lensing
Abstract We perform a joint analysis of intrinsic alignments and cosmology using tomographic weak lensing, galaxy clustering, and galaxy–galaxy lensing measurements from Year 1 (Y1) of the Dark Energy Survey. We define early- and late-type subsamples, which are found to pass a series of systematics tests, including for spurious photometric redshift error and point spread function correlations. We analyse these split data alongside the fiducial mixed Y1 sample using a range of intrinsic alignment models. In a fiducial non-linear alignment model analysis, assuming a flat Λ cold dark matter cosmology, we find a significant difference in intrinsic alignment amplitude, with early-type galaxies favouring $A_\mathrm{IA} = 2.38^{+0.32}_{-0.31}$ and late-type galaxies consistent with no intrinsic alignments at $0.05^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$. The analysis is repeated using a number of extended model spaces, including a physically motivated model that includes both tidal torquing and tidal alignment mechanisms. In multiprobe likelihood chains in which cosmology, intrinsic alignments in both galaxy samples and all other relevant systematics are varied simultaneously, we find the tidal alignment and tidal torquing parts of the intrinsic alignment signal have amplitudes $A_1 = 2.66 ^{+0.67}_{-0.66}$, $A_2=-2.94^{+1.94}_{-1.83}$, respectively, for early-type galaxies and $A_1 = 0.62 ^{+0.41}_{-0.41}$, $A_2 = -2.26^{+1.30}_{-1.16}$ for late-type galaxies. In the full (mixed) Y1 sample the best constraints are $A_1 = 0.70 ^{+0.41}_{-0.38}$, $A_2 = -1.36 ^{+1.08}_{-1.41}$. For all galaxy splits and IA models considered, we report cosmological parameter constraints consistent with the results of the main DES Y1 cosmic shear and multiprobe cosmology papers.
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cross-correlation between Dark Energy Survey Y1 galaxy weak lensing and South Pole Telescope + P l a n c k CMB weak lensing
We cross-correlate galaxy weak lensing measurements from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) year-one data with a cosmic microwave background (CMB) weak lensing map derived from South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck data, with an effective overlapping area of 1289-deg 2 . With the combined measurements from four source galaxy redshift bins, we obtain a detection significance of 5.8σ. We fit the amplitude of the correlation functions while fixing the cosmological parameters to a fiducial ΛCDM model, finding A =0.99±0.17. We also use the correlation function measurements to constrain shear calibration bias, obtaining constraints that are consistent with previous DES analyses. Lastly, when performing a cosmological analysis under the ΛCDM model, we obtain the marginalized constraints of Ω m = 0.261$^{+0.070}_{-0.051}$ and S 8≡σ 8 $\sqrt{Ω_m/0.3}$=0.660$^{+0.085}_{-0.100}$. These measurements are used in a companion work that presents cosmological constraints from the joint analysis of two-point functions among galaxies, galaxy shears, and CMB lensing using DES, SPT, and Planck data.
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: validation of weak lensing cluster member contamination estimates from P(z) decomposition
Weak lensing source galaxy catalogues used in estimating the masses of galaxy clusters can be heavily contaminated by cluster members, prohibiting accurate mass calibration. In this study, we test the performance of an estimator for the extent of cluster member contamination based on decomposing the photometric redshift P(z) of source galaxies into contaminating and background components. We perform a full scale mock analysis on a simulated sky survey approximately mirroring the observational properties of the Dark Energy Survey Year One observations (DES Y1), and find excellent agreement between the true number profile of contaminating cluster member galaxies in the simulation and the estimated one. We further apply the method to estimate the cluster member contamination for the DES Y1 redMaPPer cluster mass calibration analysis, and compare the results to an alternative approach based on the angular correlation of weak lensing source galaxies. We find indications that the correlation based estimates are biased by the selection of the weak lensing sources in the cluster vicinity, which does not strongly impact the P(z) decomposition method. Collectively, these benchmarks demonstrate the strength of the P(z) decomposition method in alleviating membership contamination and enabling highly accurate cluster weak lensing studies without broad exclusion of source galaxies, thereby improving the total constraining power of cluster mass calibration via weak lensing.
Measurement of the splashback feature around SZ-selected Galaxy clusters with DES, SPT, and ACT
We present a detection of the splashback feature around galaxy clusters selected using the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) signal. Recent measurements of the splashback feature around optically selected galaxy clusters have found that the splashback radius, rsp, is smaller than predicted by N-body simulations. A possible explanation for this discrepancy is that rsp inferred from the observed radial distribution of galaxies is affected by selection effects related to the optical cluster-finding algorithms. We test this possibility by measuring the splashback feature in clusters selected via the SZ effect in data from the South Pole Telescope SZ survey and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter survey. The measurement is accomplished by correlating these cluster samples with galaxies detected in the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 data. The SZ observable used to select clusters in this analysis is expected to have a tighter correlation with halo mass and to be more immune to projection effects and aperture-induced biases, potentially ameliorating causes of systematic error for optically selected clusters. We find that the measured r sp for SZ-selected clusters is consistent with the expectations from simulations, although the small number of SZ-selected clusters makes a precise comparison difficult. In agreement with previous work, when using optically selected redMaPPer clusters with similar mass and redshift distributions, r sp is ~2σ smaller than in the simulations. These results motivate detailed investigations of selection biases in optically selected cluster catalogues and exploration of the splashback feature around larger samples of SZ-selected clusters. Additionally, we investigate trends in the galaxy profile and splashback feature as a function of galaxy colour, finding that blue galaxies have profiles close to a power law with no discernible splashback feature, which is consistent with them being on their first infall into the cluster.
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Tomographic cross-correlations between Dark Energy Survey galaxies and CMB lensing from South Pole Telescope +Planck
We measure the cross-correlation between redMaGiC galaxies selected from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) year 1 data and gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) reconstructed from South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck data over 1289 deg2 . When combining measurements across multiple galaxy redshift bins spanning the redshift range of 0.15 <z <0.90 , we reject the hypothesis of no correlation at 19.9 σ significance. When removing small-scale data points where thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signal and nonlinear galaxy bias could potentially bias our results, the detection significance is reduced to 9.9 σ . We perform a joint analysis of galaxy-CMB lensing cross-correlations and galaxy clustering to constrain cosmology, finding Ωm=0.27 6-0.030+0.029 and S8=σ8√{Ωm/0.3 }=0.80 0-0.094+0.090 . We also perform two alternate analyses aimed at constraining only the growth rate of cosmic structure as a function of redshift, finding consistency with predictions from the concordance Λ CDM model. The measurements presented here are part of a joint cosmological analysis that combines galaxy clustering, galaxy lensing and CMB lensing using data from DES, SPT and Planck.
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: the effect of intracluster light on photometric redshifts for weak gravitational lensing
Herein, we study the effect of diffuse intracluster light on the critical surface mass density estimated from photometric redshifts of lensing source galaxies, and the resulting bias in a weak lensing measurement of galaxy cluster mass. Under conservative assumptions, we find the bias to be negligible for imaging surveys like the Dark Energy Survey with a recommended scale cut of ≥200 kpc distance from cluster centres. For significantly deeper lensing source galaxy catalogues from present and future surveys like the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope program, more conservative scale and source magnitude cuts or a correction of the effect may be necessary to achieve percent level lensing measurement accuracy, especially at the massive end of the cluster population.
Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: Joint analysis of galaxy clustering, galaxy lensing, and CMB lensing two-point functions
We perform a joint analysis of the auto and cross-correlations between three cosmic fields: the galaxy density field, the galaxy weak lensing shear field, and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) weak lensing convergence field. These three fields are measured using roughly 1300 sq. deg. of overlapping optical imaging data from first year observations of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and millimeter-wave observations of the CMB from both the South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zel’dovich survey and Planck. We present cosmological constraints from the joint analysis of the two-point correlation functions between galaxy density and galaxy shear with CMB lensing. We test for consistency between these measurements and the DES-only two-point function measurements, finding no evidence for inconsistency in the context of flat Λ CDM cosmological models. Performing a joint analysis of five of the possible correlation functions between these fields (excluding only the CMB lensing autospectrum) yields S 8 ≡ σ 8 $\sqrt{Ω_{m}}/0.3$ = 0.782$^{+0.019}_{-0.025}$ and Ω m = 0.260$^{+0.029}_{-0.019}$. We test for consistency between these five correlation function measurements and the Planck -only measurement of the CMB lensing autospectrum, again finding no evidence for inconsistency in the context of flat Λ CDM models. Combining constraints from all six two-point functions yields S 8 = 0.776$^{+0.014}_{-0.021}$ and Ω m = 0.271$^{+0.022}_{-0.016}$. These results provide a powerful test and confirmation of the results from the first year DES joint-probes analysis.
Methods for cluster cosmology and application to the SDSS in preparation for DES Year 1 release
ABSTRACT We implement the first blind analysis of cluster abundance data to derive cosmological constraints from the abundance and weak lensing signal of redMaPPer clusters in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We simultaneously fit for cosmological parameters and the richness–mass relation of the clusters. For a flat Λ cold dark matter cosmological model with massive neutrinos, we find $S_8 \equiv \sigma _{8}(\Omega _\mathrm{ m}/0.3)^{0.5}=0.79^{+0.05}_{-0.04}$. This value is both consistent and competitive with that derived from cluster catalogues selected in different wavelengths. Our result is also consistent with the combined probes analyses by the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS), and with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies as measured by Planck. We demonstrate that the cosmological posteriors are robust against variation of the richness–mass relation model and to systematics associated with the calibration of the selection function. In combination with baryon acoustic oscillation data and big bang nucleosynthesis data (Cooke et al.), we constrain the Hubble rate to be h = 0.66 ± 0.02, independent of the CMB. Future work aimed at improving our understanding of the scatter of the richness–mass relation has the potential to significantly improve the precision of our cosmological posteriors. The methods described in this work were developed for use in the forthcoming analysis of cluster abundances in the DES. Our SDSS analysis constitutes the first part of a staged-unblinding analysis of the full DES data set.
Cosmological lensing ratios with DES Y1, SPT, and Planck
Correlations between tracers of the matter density field and gravitational lensing are sensitive to the evolution of the matter power spectrum and the expansion rate across cosmic time. Appropriately defined ratios of such correlation functions, on the other hand, depend only on the angular diameter distances to the tracer objects and to the gravitational lensing source planes. Because of their simple cosmological dependence, such ratios can exploit available signal-to-noise ratio down to small angular scales, even where directly modelling the correlation functions is difficult. We present a measurement of lensing ratios using galaxy position and lensing data from the Dark Energy Survey, and CMB lensing data from the South Pole Telescope and Planck, obtaining the highest precision lensing ratio measurements to date. Relative to the concordance ΛCDM model, we find a best-fitting lensing ratio amplitude of A = 1.1 ± 0.1. We use the ratio measurements to generate cosmological constraints, focusing on the curvature parameter. We demonstrate that photometrically selected galaxies can be used to measure lensing ratios, and argue that future lensing ratio measurements with data from a combination of LSST and Stage-4 CMB experiments can be used to place interesting cosmological constraints, even after considering the systematic uncertainties associated with photometric redshift and galaxy shear estimation.
First Cosmological Results using Type Ia Supernovae from the Dark Energy Survey: Measurement of the Hubble Constant
We present an improved measurement of the Hubble constant (H_0) using the ‘inverse distance ladder’ method, which adds the information from 207 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) at redshift 0.018 < z < 0.85 to existing distance measurements of 122 low-redshift (z < 0.07) SNe Ia (Low-z) and measurements of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAOs). Whereas traditional measurements of H_0 with SNe Ia use a distance ladder of parallax and Cepheid variable stars, the inverse distance ladder relies on absolute distance measurements from the BAOs to calibrate the intrinsic magnitude of the SNe Ia. We find H_0 = 67.8 ± 1.3 km s^−1 Mpc^−1 (statistical and systematic uncertainties, 68 per cent confidence). Our measurement makes minimal assumptions about the underlying cosmological model, and our analysis was blinded to reduce confirmation bias. We examine possible systematic uncertainties and all are below the statistical uncertainties. Our H_0 value is consistent with estimates derived from the Cosmic Microwave Background assuming a ΛCDM universe.
Identification of RR Lyrae stars in multiband, sparsely-sampled data from the Dark Energy Survey using template fitting and Random Forest classification
Many studies have shown that RR Lyrae variable stars (RRL) are powerful stellar tracers of Galactic halo structure and satellite galaxies. The Dark Energy Survey (DES), with its deep and wide coverage (g ~ 23.5 mag in a single exposure; over 5000 deg2) provides a rich opportunity to search for substructures out to the edge of the Milky Way halo. However, the sparse and unevenly sampled multiband light curves from the DES wide-field survey (a median of four observations in each of grizY over the first three years) pose a challenge for traditional techniques used to detect RRL. We present an empirically motivated and computationally efficient template-fitting method to identify these variable stars using three years of DES data. When tested on DES light curves of previously classified objects in SDSS stripe 82, our algorithm recovers 89% of RRL periods to within 1% of their true value with 85% purity and 76% completeness. Using this method, we identify 5783 RRL candidates, ~28% of which are previously undiscovered. This method will be useful for identifying RRL in other sparse multiband data sets.
Galaxies in X-ray selected clusters and groups in Dark Energy Survey data – II. Hierarchical Bayesian modelling of the red-sequence galaxy luminosity function
Using ~100 X-ray selected clusters in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data, in this work we constrain the luminosity function (LF) of cluster red-sequence galaxies as a function of redshift. This is the first homogeneous optical/X-ray sample large enough to constrain the evolution of the LF simultaneously in redshift (0.1 < z < 1.05) and cluster mass ($13.5 \le \rm {log_{10}}(M_{200crit}) \sim \lt 15.0$). We pay particular attention to completeness issues and the detection limit of the galaxy sample. We then apply a hierarchical Bayesian model to fit the cluster galaxy LFs via a Schechter function, including its characteristic break (m*) to a faint end power-law slope (α). Our approach allows us to avoid known issues in similar analyses based on stacking or binning the clusters. We find weak and statistically insignificant (~1.9σ) evolution in the faint end slope α versus redshift. We also find no dependence in α or m* with the X-ray inferred cluster masses. Yet, the amplitude of the LF as a function of cluster mass is constrained to ${\sim } 20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ precision. As a by-product of our algorithm, we utilize the correlation between the LF and cluster mass to provide an improved estimate of the individual cluster masses as well as the scatter in true mass given the X-ray inferred masses. This technique can be applied to a larger sample of X-ray or optically selected clusters from the Dark Energy Survey, greatly improving the sensitivity of the analysis.
Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: Constraints on extended cosmological models from galaxy clustering and weak lensing
We present constraints on extensions of the minimal cosmological models dominated by dark matter and dark energy, Lambda CDM and wCDM, by using a combined analysis of galaxy clustering and weak gravitational lensing from the first-year data of the Dark Energy Survey (DES Y1) in combination with external data. We consider four extensions of the minimal dark energy-dominated scenarios: (1) nonzero curvature Omega(k), (2) number of relativistic species N-eff different from the standard value of 3.046, (3) time-varying equation-of-state of dark energy described by the parameters w(0) and w(a) (alternatively quoted by the values at the pivot redshift, w(p), and w(a)), and (4) modified gravity described by the parameters is mu(0) and Sigma(0) that modify the metric potentials. We also consider external information from Planck cosmic microwave background measurements; baryon acoustic oscillation measurements from SDSS, 6dF, and BOSS; redshift-space distortion measurements from BOSS; and type Ia supernova information from the Pantheon compilation of datasets. Constraints on curvature and the number of relativistic species are dominated by the external data; when these are combined with DES Y1, we find Omega(k) = 0.0020(-0.0032)(+0.0037) at the 68% confidence level, and the upper limit N-eff < 3.28(3.55) at 68% (95%) confidence, assuming a hard prior N-eff > 3.0. For the time-varying equation-of-state, we find the pivot value (w(p), w(a)) = (-0.91(-0.23)(+0.19), -0.57(-1.11)(+0.93)) at pivot redshift z(p )= 0.27 from DES alone, and (w(p), w(a)) = (-1.01(-0.04)(+0.04), -0.28(-0.48)(+0.37)) at z(p) = 0.20 from DES Y1 combined with external data; in either case we find no evidence for the temporal variation of the equation of state. For modified gravity, we find the present-day value of the relevant parameters to be Sigma(0) = 0.43(-)(0.29)(+0.28) from DES Y1 alone, and (Sigma(0), mu(0)) = (0.06(-0.07)(+0.08), -0.11(-0.46)(+0.42)) from DES Y1 combined with external data. These modified-gravity constraints are consistent with predictions from general relativity.