Impact Of Confusion Research Articles

Testing the analytical blind separation method in simulated CMB polarization maps

Context. Multi-frequency observations are needed to separate the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from foreground emission and accurately extract cosmological information from the data. The analytical blind separation (ABS) method is dedicated to extracting the CMB power spectrum from multi-frequency observations in the presence of contamination from astrophysical foreground emission and instrumental noise. Aims. In this study, we apply the ABS method to simulated sky maps as could be observed with a future space-borne survey in order to test its capability of determining the CMB polarization E- and B-mode power spectra. Methods. We present the ABS method performance on simulations for both a full-sky analysis and for an analysis concentrating on sky regions less impacted by Galactic foreground emission. Results. We discuss the origin and minimization of biases in the estimated CMB polarization angular power spectra. We find that the ABS method performs quite well for the analysis of full-sky observations at intermediate and small angular scales, in spite of strong foreground contamination. On the largest scales, extra work is still required to reduce biases of various origins and the impact of confusion between CMB E and B polarization for partial sky analyses.

When is stacking confusing? The impact of confusion on stacking in deep H i galaxy surveys

We present an analytic model to predict the HI mass contributed by confused sources to a stacked spectrum in a generic HI survey. Based on the ALFALFA (Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA) correlation function, this model is in agreement with the estimates of confusion present in stacked Parkes telescope data, and was used to predict how confusion will limit stacking in the deepest Square Kilometre Array precursor HI surveys. Stacking with LADUMA (Looking At the Distant Universe with MeerKAT) and DINGO UDEEP (Deep Investigation of Neutral Gas Origins - Ultra Deep) data will only be mildly impacted by confusion if their target synthesized beam size of 10 arcsec can be achieved. Any beam size significantly above this will result in stacks that contain a mass in confused sources that is comparable to (or greater than) that which is detectable via stacking, at all redshifts. CHILES (COSMOS HI Large Extragalactic Survey) 5 arcsec resolution is more than adequate to prevent confusion influencing stacking of its data, throughout its bandpass range. FAST (Five hundred metre Aperture Spherical Telescope) will be the most impeded by confusion, with HI surveys likely becoming heavily confused much beyond z = 0.1. The largest uncertainties in our model are the redshift evolution of the HI density of the Universe and the HI correlation function. However, we argue that the two idealized cases we adopt should bracket the true evolution, and the qualitative conclusions are unchanged regardless of the model choice. The profile shape of the signal due to confusion (in the absence of any detection) was also modelled, revealing that it can take the form of a double Gaussian with a narrow and wide component.

Spectroscopic confusion: its impact on current and future extragalactic H i surveys

We present a comprehensive model to predict the rate of spectroscopic confusion in HI surveys, and demonstrate good agreement with the observable confusion in existing surveys. Generically the action of confusion on the HI mass function was found to be a suppression of the number count of sources below the `knee', and an enhancement above it. This results in a bias, whereby the `knee' mass is increased and the faint end slope is steepened. For ALFALFA and HIPASS we find that the maximum impact this bias can have on the Schechter fit parameters is similar in magnitude to the published random errors. On the other hand, the impact of confusion on the HI mass functions of upcoming medium depth interferometric surveys, will be below the level of the random errors. In addition, we find that previous estimates of the number of detections for upcoming surveys with SKA-precursor telescopes may have been too optimistic, as the framework implemented here results in number counts between 60% and 75% of those previously predicted, while accurately reproducing the counts of existing surveys. Finally, we argue that any future single dish, wide area surveys of HI galaxies would be best suited to focus on deep observations of the local Universe (z < 0.05), as confusion may prevent them from being competitive with interferometric surveys at higher redshift, while their lower angular resolution allows their completeness to be more easily calibrated for nearby extended sources.