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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Planck 2018 results. VII. Isotropy and Statistics of the CMB

Analysis of the Planck 2018 data set indicates that the statistical properties of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies are in excellent agreement with previous studies using the 2013 and 2015 data releases. In particular, they are consistent with the Gaussian predictions of the ΛCDM cosmological model, yet also confirm the presence of several so-called “anomalies” on large angular scales. The novelty of the current study, however, lies in being a first attempt at a comprehensive analysis of the statistics of the polarization signal over all angular scales, using either maps of the Stokes parameters, Q and U , or the E -mode signal derived from these using a new methodology (which we describe in an appendix). Although remarkable progress has been made in reducing the systematic effects that contaminated the 2015 polarization maps on large angular scales, it is still the case that residual systematics (and our ability to simulate them) can limit some tests of non-Gaussianity and isotropy. However, a detailed set of null tests applied to the maps indicates that these issues do not dominate the analysis on intermediate and large angular scales (i.e., ℓ ≲ 400). In this regime, no unambiguous detections of cosmological non-Gaussianity, or of anomalies corresponding to those seen in temperature, are claimed. Notably, the stacking of CMB polarization signals centred on the positions of temperature hot and cold spots exhibits excellent agreement with the ΛCDM cosmological model, and also gives a clear indication of how Planck provides state-of-the-art measurements of CMB temperature and polarization on degree scales.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Planck 2018 results

We analyse the Planck full-mission cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and E -mode polarization maps to obtain constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity (NG). We compare estimates obtained from separable template-fitting, binned, and optimal modal bispectrum estimators, finding consistent values for the local, equilateral, and orthogonal bispectrum amplitudes. Our combined temperature and polarization analysis produces the following final results: f NL local = -0.9 ± 5.1; f NL equil = -26 ± 47; and f NL ortho = -38 ± 24 (68% CL, statistical). These results include low-multipole (4 ≤ ℓ < 40) polarization data that are not included in our previous analysis. The results also pass an extensive battery of tests (with additional tests regarding foreground residuals compared to 2015), and they are stable with respect to our 2015 measurements (with small fluctuations, at the level of a fraction of a standard deviation, which is consistent with changes in data processing). Polarization-only bispectra display a significant improvement in robustness; they can now be used independently to set primordial NG constraints with a sensitivity comparable to WMAP temperature-based results and they give excellent agreement. In addition to the analysis of the standard local, equilateral, and orthogonal bispectrum shapes, we consider a large number of additional cases, such as scale-dependent feature and resonance bispectra, isocurvature primordial NG, and parity-breaking models, where we also place tight constraints but do not detect any signal. The non-primordial lensing bispectrum is, however, detected with an improved significance compared to 2015, excluding the null hypothesis at 3.5 σ . Beyond estimates of individual shape amplitudes, we also present model-independent reconstructions and analyses of the Planck CMB bispectrum. Our final constraint on the local primordial trispectrum shape is g NL local = (-5.8 ± 6.5) × 10 4 (68% CL, statistical), while constraints for other trispectrum shapes are also determined. Exploiting the tight limits on various bispectrum and trispectrum shapes, we constrain the parameter space of different early-Universe scenarios that generate primordial NG, including general single-field models of inflation, multi-field models (e.g. curvaton models), models of inflation with axion fields producing parity-violation bispectra in the tensor sector, and inflationary models involving vector-like fields with directionally-dependent bispectra. Our results provide a high-precision test for structure-formation scenarios, showing complete agreement with the basic picture of the ΛCDM cosmology regarding the statistics of the initial conditions, with cosmic structures arising from adiabatic, passive, Gaussian, and primordial seed perturbations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Planck 2018 results. V. CMB power spectra and likelihoods

We describe the legacy Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) likelihoods derived from the 2018 data release. The overall approach is similar in spirit to the one retained for the 2013 and 2015 data release, with a hybrid method using different approximations at low ( ℓ < 30) and high ( ℓ ≥ 30) multipoles, implementing several methodological and data-analysis refinements compared to previous releases. With more realistic simulations, and better correction and modelling of systematic effects, we can now make full use of the CMB polarization observed in the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) channels. The low-multipole EE cross-spectra from the 100 GHz and 143 GHz data give a constraint on the ΛCDM reionization optical-depth parameter τ to better than 15% (in combination with the TT low- ℓ data and the high- ℓ temperature and polarization data), tightening constraints on all parameters with posterior distributions correlated with τ . We also update the weaker constraint on τ from the joint TEB likelihood using the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) channels, which was used in 2015 as part of our baseline analysis. At higher multipoles, the CMB temperature spectrum and likelihood are very similar to previous releases. A better model of the temperature-to-polarization leakage and corrections for the effective calibrations of the polarization channels (i.e., the polarization efficiencies) allow us to make full use of polarization spectra, improving the ΛCDM constraints on the parameters θ MC , ω c , ω b , and H 0 by more than 30%, and n s by more than 20% compared to TT-only constraints. Extensive tests on the robustness of the modelling of the polarization data demonstrate good consistency, with some residual modelling uncertainties. At high multipoles, we are now limited mainly by the accuracy of the polarization efficiency modelling. Using our various tests, simulations, and comparison between different high-multipole likelihood implementations, we estimate the consistency of the results to be better than the 0.5 σ level on the ΛCDM parameters, as well as classical single-parameter extensions for the joint likelihood (to be compared to the 0.3 σ levels we achieved in 2015 for the temperature data alone on ΛCDM only). Minor curiosities already present in the previous releases remain, such as the differences between the best-fit ΛCDM parameters for the ℓ < 800 and ℓ > 800 ranges of the power spectrum, or the preference for more smoothing of the power-spectrum peaks than predicted in ΛCDM fits. These are shown to be driven by the temperature power spectrum and are not significantly modified by the inclusion of the polarization data. Overall, the legacy Planck CMB likelihoods provide a robust tool for constraining the cosmological model and represent a reference for future CMB observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Strong detection of the CMB lensing and galaxy weak lensing cross-correlation from ACT-DR4, Planck Legacy, and KiDS-1000

Here we measured the cross-correlation between galaxy weak lensing data from the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS-1000, DR4) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT, DR4) and the Planck Legacy survey. We used two samples of source galaxies, selected with photometric redshifts, (0.1 < z B < 1.2) and (1.2 < z B < 2), which produce a combined detection significance of the CMB lensing and weak galaxy lensing cross-spectrum of 7.7σ. With the lower redshift galaxy sample, for which the cross-correlation was detected at a significance of 5.3σ, we present joint cosmological constraints on the matter density parameter, Ω m , and the matter fluctuation amplitude parameter, σ 8 , marginalising over three nuisance parameters that model our uncertainty in the redshift and shear calibration as well as the intrinsic alignment of galaxies. We find our measurement to be consistent with the best-fitting flat ΛCDM cosmological models from both Planck and KiDS-1000. We demonstrate the capacity of CMB weak lensing cross-correlations to set constraints on either the redshift or shear calibration by analysing a previously unused high-redshift KiDS galaxy sample (1.2 < z B < 2), with the cross-correlation detected at a significance of 7σ. This analysis provides an independent assessment for the accuracy of redshift measurements in a regime that is challenging to calibrate directly owing to known incompleteness in spectroscopic surveys.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

BeyondPlanck: V. Minimal ADC Corrections for Planck LFI

We describe the correction procedure for Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) differential non-linearities (DNL) adopted in the Bayesian end-to-end BEYONDPLANCK analysis framework. This method is nearly identical to that developed for the official Planck Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) Data Processing Center (DPC) analysis, and relies on the binned rms noise profile of each detector data stream. However, rather than building the correction profile directly from the raw rms profile, we first fit a Gaussian to each significant ADC-induced rms decrement, and then derive the corresponding correction model from this smooth model. The main advantage of this approach is that only samples which are significantly affected by ADC DNLs are corrected, as opposed to the DPC approach in which the correction is applied to all samples, filtering out signals not associated with ADC DNLs. The new corrections are only applied to data for which there is a clear detection of the non-linearities, and for which they perform at least comparably with the DPC corrections. Out of a total of 88 LFI data streams (sky and reference load for each of the 44 detectors) we apply the new minimal ADC corrections in 25 cases, and maintain the DPC corrections in 8 cases. All these corrections are applied to 44 or 70 GHz channels, while, as in previous analyses, none of the 30 GHz ADCs show significant evidence of non-linearity. By comparing the BEYONDPLANCK and DPC ADC correction methods, we estimate that the residual ADC uncertainty is about two orders of magnitude below the total noise of both the 44 and 70 GHz channels, and their impact on current cosmological parameter estimation is small. However, we also show that non-idealities in the ADC corrections can generate sharp stripes in the final frequency maps, and these could be important for future joint analyses with the Planck High Frequency Instrument (HFI), Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), or other datasets. We therefore conclude that, although the existing corrections are adequate for LFI-based cosmological parameter analysis, further work on LFI ADC corrections is still warranted.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

A proposal to generate entangled compass states with sub-Planck structure

We illustrate a procedure to generate a bipartite, entangled compass state, which shows sub-Planck structure. The proposed method uses the interaction of a standing wave laser field, with two, two-level atoms and relies on the ability of this system to choose certain mesoscopic bipartite states to couple with the internal degrees of freedom. An appropriate measurement on the internal degrees of freedom then leads to the entangled state, which shows sub-Planck structures, desired for quantum metrology.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Analytic insights into nonlocal energy transport. III. steady state Fokker Planck theory in spherical and planar geometry

This paper develops an approximate steady state Fokker Planck theory for energetic electron transport in a spherical laser fusion target. First, we apply the theory to only a small population of electrons, which is specified at the outset. Then, one determines the nonlocal electron energy flux of these electrons at a particular position. These energetic electrons may either come from the tail of the thermal distribution function or be generated by an instability. This paper develops two approximate methods of solution, which we call the “characteristic method” and “sparse eigenfunction.” The former works only in planar geometry and the latter in both planar and spherical geometry. Comparison of the two methods in planar geometry shows that even though the approximations are very different, they give about the same result, increasing their credibility. For the example we have chosen, spherical effects are not important for electrons from the tail of the distribution function but may well be for instability generated electrons, which have much higher energy. Comparing planar to spherical, one finds an additional spherical barrier protecting the fuel. It turns out that the associated fuel preheat a Fokker Planck model predicts is considerably less than that predicted by the Krook models as developed at both NRL and other places.

Manheimer, Wallace (ORCID:0000000163342591)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Simulating energetic ions and enhanced fusion rates from ion-cyclotron resonance heating with a full-wave/Fokker–Planck model

Reproducing fast-ion enhanced fusion rates from ion-cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) in tokamaks requires the self-consistent coupling of a full-wave solver and a Fokker–Planck solver, which evolves multiple simultaneously resonant ion species. We introduce a new self-consistent model that iterates the TORIC full-wave solver with the CQL3D Fokker–Planck solver using the integrated plasma simulator (IPS). This model evolves the bounce-averaged ion distribution functions in both parallel and perpendicular velocity-space with a quasilinear radio frequency (RF) diffusion operator valid in the ion finite Larmor radius (FLR) limit and the RF electric fields with the resultant non-Maxwellian FLR dielectric tensor. This produces non-Maxwellian ICRH simulations that are fully self-consistent, fast, and interoperable with integrated modeling frameworks, such as TRANSP/GACODE/IPS-FASTRAN. We demonstrate our model's capabilities by validating it against experimental data in Alcator C-Mod. We then perform the first RF heating simulations of SPARC using self-consistent non-Maxwellian ion distributions to investigate the potential to enhance fusion rates using ion cyclotron resonance heating generated fast ions.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2019

A Fokker–Planck approach to a moment closure for mixing in variable-density turbulence

We develop a theory for the cascade mixing terms in a moment closure approach to binary active scalar mixing in variable-density turbulence. To address the variable-density complications we apply, as a principle and constraint, the conservation of the probability density function (PDF) through a Fokker–Planck equation with bounded sample space whose attractor is the beta PDF with skewness. Mixing is related to a single-point PDF as a realisability principle to provide mathematically rigorous expressions for the small scale statistics in terms of largescale moments. The problem of the unknown small-scale mixing is replaced with the determination of the drift and diffusion terms of a Fokker–Planck equation in a beta-PDF-convergent stochastic process. We find that realisability of a beta-convergent process requires the mixing time-scale ratio, taken as a constant in passive scalar mixing, to be a function of the mean mass fraction, mean fluid density, the Atwood number, the density-volume correlation and moments of the density field. We develop and compare the new model with direct numerical simulations data of non-stationary homogeneous variable-density turbulence.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

MEASURING THE REDSHIFT DEPENDENCE OF THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND MONOPOLE TEMPERATURE WITH PLANCK DATA

We study the capability of Planck data to constrain deviations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) blackbody temperature from adiabatic evolution using the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich anisotropy induced by clusters of galaxies. We consider two types of data sets depending on how the cosmological signal is removed: using a CMB template or using the 217 GHz map. We apply two different statistical estimators, based on the ratio of temperature anisotropies at two different frequencies and on a fit to the spectral variation of the cluster signal with frequency. The ratio method is biased if CMB residuals with amplitude {approx}1 {mu}K or larger are present in the data, while residuals are not so critical for the fit method. To test for systematics, we construct a template from clusters drawn from a hydro-simulation included in the pre-launch Planck Sky Model. We demonstrate that, using a proprietary catalog of X-ray-selected clusters with measured redshifts, electron densities, and X-ray temperatures, we can constrain deviations of adiabatic evolution, measured by the parameter {alpha} in the redshift scaling T(z) = T{sub 0}(1 + z){sup 1-{alpha}}, with an accuracy of {sigma}{sub {alpha}} = 0.011 in the most optimal case and with {sigma}{sub {alpha}} = 0.018 for a less optimal case. These results represent a factor of 2-3 improvement over similar measurements carried out using quasar spectral lines and a factor 6-20 with respect to earlier results using smaller cluster samples.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

THE Y {sub SZ}-Y{sub X} SCALING RELATION AS DETERMINED FROM PLANCK AND CHANDRA

Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) clusters surveys, such as Planck, the South Pole Telescope, and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, will soon be publishing several hundred SZ-selected systems. The key ingredient required to transport the mass calibration from current X-ray-selected cluster samples to these SZ systems is the Y {sub SZ}-Y{sub X} scaling relation. We constrain the amplitude, slope, and scatter of the Y {sub SZ}-Y{sub X} scaling relation using SZ data from Planck and X-ray data from Chandra. We find a best-fit amplitude of ln (D {sup 2} {sub A} Y {sub SZ}/CY{sub X} ) = -0.202 {+-} 0.024 at the pivot point CY{sub X} = 8 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -5} Mpc{sup 2}. This corresponds to a Y {sub SZ}/Y{sub X} ratio of 0.82 {+-} 0.024, in good agreement with X-ray expectations after including the effects of gas clumping. The slope of the relation is {alpha} = 0.916 {+-} 0.032, consistent with unity at Almost-Equal-To 2.3{sigma}. We are unable to detect intrinsic scatter, and find no evidence that the scaling relation depends on cluster dynamical state.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

DISCOVERY OF A GIANT RADIO HALO IN A NEW PLANCK GALAXY CLUSTER PLCKG171.9-40.7

We report the discovery of a giant radio halo in a new, hot, X-ray luminous galaxy cluster recently found by Planck, PLCKG171.9-40.7. The radio halo was found using Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope observations at 235 MHz and 610 MHz, and in the 1.4 GHz data from an NRAO Very Large Array Sky Survey pointing that we have reanalyzed. The diffuse radio emission is coincident with the cluster X-ray emission, and has an extent of {approx}1 Mpc and a radio power of {approx}5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 24} W Hz{sup -1} at 1.4 GHz. Its integrated radio spectrum has a slope of {alpha} Almost-Equal-To 1.8 between 235 MHz and 1.4 GHz, steeper than that of a typical giant halo. The analysis of the archival XMM-Newton X-ray data shows that the cluster is hot ({approx}10 keV) and disturbed, consistent with X-ray-selected clusters hosting radio halos. This is the first giant radio halo discovered in one of the new clusters found by Planck.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

DETECTABILITY OF PLANCK-SCALE-INDUCED BLURRING WITH GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

Microscopic fluctuations inherent to the fuzziness of spacetime at the Planck scale might accumulate in wavefronts propagating a cosmological distance and lead to noticeable blurring in an image of a pointlike source. Distant quasars viewed in the optical and ultraviolet with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) may show this weakly, and if real suggests a stronger effect should be seen for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in X-rays and γ-rays. Those telescopes, however, operate far from their diffraction limits. A description of how Planck-scale-induced blurring could be sensed at high energy, including with cosmic rays, while still agreeing with the HST results is discussed. It predicts dilated apparent source size and inflated uncertainties in positional centroids, effectively a threshold angular accuracy restricting knowledge of source location on the sky. These outcomes are found to be consistent with an analysis of the 10 highest-redshift GRB detections reported for the Fermi satellite. Confusion with photon cascade and scattering phenomena is also possible; prospects for a definitive multiwavelength measurement are considered.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

The stacked thermal Sunyaev–Zel’Dovich signal of locally brightest galaxies in Planck full mission data: Evidence for galaxy feedback?

We use the Planck full mission temperature maps to examine the stacked thermal Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (tSZ) signal of 188,042 “locally brightest galaxies” (LBGs) selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. Our LBG sample closely matches that of Planck Collaboration XI (PCXI), but our analysis differs in several ways. We work directly in terms of physically observable quantities, requiring minimal assumptions about the gas pressure profile. We explicitly model the dust emission from each LBG and simultaneously measure both the stacked tSZ and dust signals as a function of stellar mass M{sub ∗}. There is a small residual bias in stacked tSZ measurements; we measure this bias and subtract it from our results, finding that the effects are non-negligible at the lowest masses in the LBG sample. Finally, we compare our measurements with two pressure profile models, finding that the profile from Battaglia et al. provides a better fit to the results than the Arnaud et al. “universal pressure profile.” However, within the uncertainties, we find that the data are consistent with a self-similar scaling with mass—more precise measurements are needed to detect the relatively small deviations from self-similarity predicted by these models. Consistent with PCXI, we measure the stacked tSZ signal from LBGs with stellar masses down to log{sub 10}(M{sub ∗}/M{sub ⊙}) ∼ 11.1–11.3. For lower stellar masses, however, we do not see evidence for a stacked tSZ signal. We note that the stacked dust emission is comparable to, or larger than, the stacked tSZ signal for log{sub 10}(M{sub ∗}/M{sub ⊙})≲11.3. Future tSZ analyses with larger samples and lower noise levels should be able to probe deviations from self-similarity and thus provide constraints on models of feedback and the evolution of hot halo gas over cosmic time.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Reionization after Planck: The derived growth of the cosmic ionizing emissivity now matches the growth of the galaxy UV luminosity density

Thomson optical depth τ measurements from Planck provide new insights into the reionization of the universe. In pursuit of model-independent constraints on the properties of the ionizing sources, we determine the empirical evolution of the cosmic ionizing emissivity. We use a simple two-parameter model to map out the evolution in the emissivity at z ≳ 6 from the new Planck optical depth τ measurements, from the constraints provided by quasar absorption spectra and from the prevalence of Lyα emission in z ∼ 7–8 galaxies. We find the redshift evolution in the emissivity N-dot {sub ion}(z) required by the observations to be (dlog{sub 10} N-dot {sub ion}/dz){sub z=8}=−0.15{sub −0.11}{sup +0.08} ((dlog{sub 10} N-dot {sub ion}/dz){sub z=8}=−0.19{sub −0.11}{sup +0.09} for a flat prior), largely independent of the assumed clumping factor C{sub H ii} and entirely independent of the nature of the ionizing sources. The trend in N-dot {sub ion}(z) is well-matched by the evolution of the galaxy UV-luminosity density (dlog{sub 10}ρ{sub UV}/dz=−0.11±0.04) to a magnitude limit ≳−13 mag, suggesting that galaxies are the sources that drive the reionization of the universe. The role of galaxies is further strengthened by the conversion from the UV luminosity density ρ{sub UV} to N-dot {sub ion}(z) being possible for physically plausible values of the escape fraction f{sub esc}, the Lyman-continuum photon production efficiency ξ{sub ion}, and faint-end cut-off M{sub lim} to the luminosity function. Quasars/active galactic nuclei appear to match neither the redshift evolution nor normalization of the ionizing emissivity. Based on the inferred evolution in the ionizing emissivity, we estimate that the z ∼ 10 UV-Iuminosity density is 8{sub −4}{sup +15}× lower than at z ∼ 6, consistent with the observations. The present approach of contrasting the inferred evolution of the ionizing emissivity with that of the galaxy UV luminosity density adds to the growing observational evidence that faint, star-forming galaxies drive the reionization of the universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN SMALL-SCALE STRUCTURE IN LOCAL GALACTIC NEUTRAL HYDROGEN AND IN THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND OBSERVED BY PLANCK

High-resolution galactic neutral hydrogen (HI) data obtained with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) over 56 square degrees of sky around l = 132°, b = 25° are compared with small-scale structure in the Cosmic Microwave Background observed by PLANCK, specifically at 143 and 857 GHz, as well as with 100 μm observations from the IRIS survey. The analysis uses data in 13 2° × 2° sub-areas found in the IRSA database at IPAC. The results confirm what has been reported previously; nearby galactic HI features and high-frequency continuum sources believed to be cosmological are in fact clearly associated. While several attempts strongly suggest that the associations are statistically significant, the key to understanding the phenomenon lies in the fact that in any given area HI is associated with cirrus dust at certain HI velocities and with 143 GHz features at different velocities. At the same time, for the 13 sub-areas studied, there is very little overlap between the dust and 143 GHz features. The data do not imply that the HI itself gives rise to the high-frequency continuum emission. Rather, they appear to indicate undiagnosed brightness enhancements indirectly associated with the HI. If low density interstellar electrons concentrated into clumps, or observed in directions where their integrated line-of-sight column densities are greater than the background in a manner similar to the phenomena that give rise to structure in diffuse HI structure, they will profoundly affect attempts to create a foreground electron mask used for processing PLANCK as well as WMAP data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

MOLECULAR ENVIRONMENTS OF 51 PLANCK COLD CLUMPS IN THE ORION COMPLEX

A mapping survey of 51 Planck cold clumps projected on the Orion complex was performed with J = 1-0 lines of {sup 12}CO and {sup 13}CO with the 13.7 m telescope at the Purple Mountain Observatory. The mean column densities of the Planck gas clumps range from 0.5 to 9.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 21} cm{sup -2}, with an average value of (2.9 {+-} 1.9) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 21} cm{sup -2}. The mean excitation temperatures of these clumps range from 7.4 to 21.1 K, with an average value of 12.1 {+-} 3.0 K and the average three-dimensional velocity dispersion {sigma}{sub 3D} in these molecular clumps is 0.66 {+-} 0.24 km s{sup -1}. Most of the clumps have {sigma}{sub NT} larger than or comparable to {sigma}{sub Therm}. The H{sub 2} column density of the molecular clumps calculated from molecular lines correlates with the aperture flux at 857 GHz of the dust emission. By analyzing the distributions of the physical parameters, we suggest that turbulent flows can shape the clump structure and dominate their density distribution on large scales, but not function on small scales due to local fluctuations. Eighty-two dense cores are identified in the molecular clumps. The dense cores have an average radius and local thermal equilibrium (LTE) mass of 0.34 {+-} 0.14 pc and 38{sup +5}{sub -30} M{sub Sun }, respectively. The structures of low column density cores are more affected by turbulence, while the structures of high column density cores are more affected by other factors, especially by gravity. The correlation of velocity dispersion versus core size is very weak for the dense cores. The dense cores are found to be most likely gravitationally bounded rather than pressure confined. The relationship between M{sub vir} and M{sub LTE} can be well fitted with a power law. The core mass function here is much flatter than the stellar initial mass function. The lognormal behavior of the core mass distribution is most likely determined by internal turbulence.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Using CMB data to constrain non-isotropic Planck-scale modifications to Electrodynamics

We develop a method to constrain non-isotropic features of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization, of a type expected to arise in some models describing quantum gravity effects on light propagation. We describe the expected signatures of this kind of anomalous light propagation on CMB photons, showing that it will produce a non-isotropic birefringence effect, i.e. a rotation of the CMB polarization direction whose observed amount depends in a peculiar way on the observation direction. We also show that the sensitivity levels expected for CMB polarization studies by the Planck satellite are sufficient for testing these effects if, as assumed in the quantum-gravity literature, their magnitude is set by the minute Planck length.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗