Peculiar Velocity Research Articles

The MOST Hosts Survey: Spectroscopic Observation of the Host Galaxies of ∼40,000 Transients Using DESI

We present the Multi-Object Spectroscopy of Transient (MOST) Hosts survey. The survey is planned to run throughout the 5 yr of operation of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and will generate a spectroscopic catalog of the hosts of most transients observed to date, in particular all the supernovae observed by most public, untargeted, wide-field, optical surveys (Palomar Transient Factory, PTF/intermediate PTF, Sloan Digital Sky Survey II, Zwicky Transient Facility, DECAT, DESIRT). Science cases for the MOST Hosts survey include Type Ia supernova cosmology, fundamental plane and peculiar velocity measurements, and the understanding of the correlations between transients and their host-galaxy properties. Here we present the first release of the MOST Hosts survey: 21,931 hosts of 20,235 transients. These numbers represent 36% of the final MOST Hosts sample, consisting of 60,212 potential host galaxies of 38,603 transients (a transient can be assigned multiple potential hosts). Of all the transients in the MOST Hosts list, only 26.7% have existing classifications, and so the survey will provide redshifts (and luminosities) for nearly 30,000 transients. A preliminary Hubble diagram and a transient luminosity–duration diagram are shown as examples of future potential uses of the MOST Hosts survey. The survey will also provide a training sample of spectroscopically observed transients for classifiers relying only on photometry, as we enter an era when most newly observed transients will lack spectroscopic classification. The MOST Hosts DESI survey data will be released on a rolling cadence and updated to match the DESI releases. Dates of future releases and updates are available through the https://mosthosts.desi.lbl.gov website.

Cosmological foundations revisited with Pantheon+

Abstract We reanalyse the Pantheon+ supernova catalogue to compare a cosmology with non-FLRW evolution, the timescape cosmology, with the standard ΛCDM cosmology. To this end, we analyse the Pantheon+ for a geometric comparison between the two models. We construct a covariance matrix to be as independent of cosmology as possible, including independence from the FLRW geometry and peculiar velocity with respect to FLRW average evolution. This framework goes far beyond most other definitions of model independence. We introduce new statistics to refine Type Ia supernova (SNe Ia) light-curve analysis. In addition to conventional galaxy correlation functions used to define the scale of statistical homogeneity we introduce empirical statistics which enables refined analysis of the distribution biases of SNe Ia light-curve parameters βc and $\alpha {x_{\lower2pt\hbox{$\scriptstyle 1$}}}$. For lower redshifts, the Bayesian analysis highlights important features attributable to the increased number of low-redshift supernovae, the artefacts of model-dependent light-curve fitting and the cosmic structure through which we observe supernovae. This indicates the need for cosmology-independent data reduction to conduct a stronger investigation of the emergence of statistical homogeneity and to compare alternative cosmologies in light of recent challenges to the standard model. Dark energy is generally invoked as a place-holder for new physics. For the first time, we find evidence that the timescape cosmology may provide a better overall fit than ΛCDM and that its phenomenology may help disentangle other astrophysical puzzles. Our from-first-principles reanalysis of Pantheon+ supports future deeper studies between the interplay of matter and nonlinear spacetime geometry in a data-driven setting.

A New Limit on the Graviton Mass from the Convergence Scale of the CMB Dipole

The clustering dipole in the 2MASS galaxy survey converges on a scale of ∼400 Mpc to the local peculiar velocity inferred from the Cosmic–Microwave–Background dipole. I show that this limits the graviton mass in Yukawa theories of gravity to less than 5 × 10−32 eV. The new limit is 2.5 × 108 times tighter than the latest constraint from gravitational waves detected by the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA collaboration and comparable to a previous limit from weak lensing.

Accurate proper motions of the protostellar binary system L 1551 IRS 5

Abstract We present an extensive astrometric study of the protostellar binary system L 1551 IRS 5, utilising nearly four decades of interferometric observations obtained between 1983 and 2022 with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). We focus on observations with sufficient angular resolution to separate the two protostars (L 1551 IRS 5 N and S) in the system and derive accurate absolute proper motions for the two sources, as well as the relative proper motion between them. The absolute proper motion is dominated by the solar motion with only a modest contribution from L 1551 IRS 5’s peculiar velocity, as expected for a young stellar object. The relative proper motions enable us to constrain the orbit and derive a total mass of 0.96 ± 0.17 M⊙ for the system. While the emission of both sources at wavelengths shorter than about 1.3 cm is compact, the emission at longer wavelengths (λ ≳ 2 cm) is often affected by a free-free contribution from nearby shock features. The results presented here demonstrate that, when appropriate care is taken to combine the observations, interferometric data collected with different facilities, at different frequencies, and with different gain calibrators can be combined to obtain accurate astrometry. Observations of L 1551 IRS 5 over the next several decades with the VLA, ALMA and eventually the ngVLA and SKA ought to improve its dynamical mass measurement down to an accuracy of a few percent. Similar observations of other young multiple systems have the unique potential to provide dynamical mass estimates for the youngest known stellar objects.

The power spectrum of luminosity distance fluctuations in General Relativity

At low redshift, it is possible to combine spectroscopic information of galaxies with their luminosity or angular diameter distance to directly measure the projection of peculiar velocities (PV) along the line-of-sight. A PV survey probing a large fraction of the sky is subject to so-called wide-angle effects, arising from the variation of the line-of-sight across the sky, and other sub-leading projection effects due to the propagation of the photons in a perturbed cosmological background. In this work, for the first time, we provide a complete description, within linear theory and General Relativity, of the power spectrum of luminosity distance fluctuations, clarifying its relation to the observables in a PV survey. We find that wide-angle effects will be detected at high significance by future observations and will have to be included in the cosmological analysis. Other relativistic projections effects could also be detected provided accurate, per object, distances are available.

The deceleration parameter in perturbed Bianchi universes with a peculiar-velocity “tilt”

Bianchi cosmologies are “natural” anisotropic extensions of the Friedmann universes and they have long been used to investigate the cosmological implications of anisotropy. The latter introduces new ingredients to the standard scenarios, although there are physical processes and effects that maintain their basic Friedmann features when extended to Bianchi universes. Here, we assume a perturbed Bianchi model and look into the implications of the observers’ peculiar flow for their measurement and their interpretation of the deceleration parameter. Our motivation is twofold. To begin with, relative motions have long been known to deceive the observers by “contaminating” the observations, which also still suffer from sample limitations that cloud the statistical significance of the findings. Further motivation comes from claims that observers in bulk flows that expand slightly slower than their surroundings can have the illusion of cosmic acceleration in a universe that is actually decelerating. The claim was originally based on studies of a perturbed tilted Einstein–de Sitter model, but persisted when the background cosmology was replaced by any of the three Friedmann universes. This raised the possibility that the peculiar-motion effect on the deceleration parameter may be generic and largely independent of the host spacetime. Here, we investigate this possibility by extending the earlier studies to perturbed Bianchi models. We find that the Friedmann picture remains unchanged, unless the Bianchi background has unrealistically high anisotropy. The bulk-flow observers can still be misled to the illusion of accelerated expansion by their own peculiar motion.

Evaluating the variance of individual halo properties in constrained cosmological simulations

ABSTRACT Constrained cosmological simulations play an important role in modelling the local Universe, enabling investigation of the dark matter content of local structures and their formation. We introduce an internal method for quantifying the extent to which the variance of individual halo properties is suppressed by the constraints imposed on the initial conditions. We apply it to the Constrained Simulations in BORG (CSiBORG) suite of 101 high-resolution realizations across the posterior probability distribution of initial conditions from the Bayesian Origin Reconstruction from Galaxies (BORG) algorithm. The method is based on the overlap of the initial Lagrangian patch of a halo in one simulation with those in another, measuring the degree to which the haloes’ particles are initially coincident. This addresses the extent to which the imposed large-scale structure constraints reduce the variance of individual halo properties. We find consistent reconstructions of $M\gtrsim 10^{14}~\mathrm{M}_\odot \, h^{-1}$ haloes, indicating that the constraints from the BORG algorithm are sufficient to pin down the masses, positions, and peculiar velocities of clusters to high precision, though we do not assess how well they reproduce observations of the local Universe. The effect of the constraints tapers off towards lower mass, and the halo spins and concentrations are largely unconstrained at all masses. We document the advantages of evaluating halo consistency in the initial conditions and describe how the method may be used to quantify our knowledge of the halo field given galaxy survey data analysed through the lens of probabilistic inference machines such as BORG.

Episodic mass loss in the very luminous red supergiant [W60] B90 in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Context. Despite mounting evidence that extreme red supergiants (RSGs) undergo episodic mass-loss events, their role in RSG evolution remains uncertain. Critical questions remain unanswered, such as whether or not these events can strip the star, and their timescale and frequency. Aims. This study delves into [W60] B90, one of the most luminous and extreme RSGs in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), with our aim being to search for evidence of episodic mass loss. Our discovery of a bar-like nebular structure at 1 pc, which is reminiscent of the bar around Betelgeuse, raised the question of whether [W60] B90 also has a bow shock, motivating the present study. Methods. We collected and analyzed proper motion data from Gaia, as well as new multi-epoch spectroscopic and imaging data, and archival time-series photometry in the optical and mid-infrared (MIR). We used MARCS models to derive the physical properties of the star from the spectra. Results. We find [W60] B90 to be a walkaway star, with a supersonic peculiar velocity in the direction of the bar. We detect shocked emission between the bar and the star, based on the [S II]/Hα > 0.4 criterion, providing strong evidence for a bow shock. The 30 yr optical light curve reveals semi-regular variability, showing three similar dimming events with ΔV ~ 1 mag, a recurrence of ~12 yr, and a rise time of 400 days. We find the MIR light curve to vary by 0.51 mag and 0.37 mag in the WISE1 and WISE2 bands, respectively, and by 0.42 mag and 0.25 mag during the last dimming event. During this event, optical spectroscopy reveals spectral variability (M3 I to M4 I), a correlation between the Teff and the brightness, increased extinction, and, after the minimum, spectral features incompatible with the models. We also find a difference of >300 K between the Teff measured from the TiO bands in the optical and the atomic lines from our J-band spectroscopy. Conclusions. [W60] B90 is a more massive analog of Betelgeuse in the LMC and therefore the first single extragalactic RSG with a suspected bow shock. Its high luminosity of log(L/L⊙) = 5.32 dex, mass-loss rate, and MIR variability compared to other RSGs in the LMC indicate that it is in an unstable evolutionary state, undergoing episodes of mass loss. Investigating other luminous and extreme RSGs in low-metallicity environments using both archival photometry and spectroscopy is crucial to understanding the mechanism driving episodic mass loss in extreme RSGs in light of the Humphreys-Davidson limit and the “RSG problem”.

Gravitational wave luminosity distance-weighted anisotropies

Measurements of the luminosity distance of propagating gravitational waves can provide invaluable information on the geometry and content of our Universe. Due to the clustering of cosmic structures, in realistic situations we need to average the luminosity distance of events coming from patches inside a volume. In this work we evaluate, in a gauge-invariant and fully-relativistic treatment, the impact of cosmological perturbations on such averaging process. We find that clustering, lensing and peculiar velocity effects impact estimates for future detectors such as Einstein Telescope, Cosmic Explorer, the Big Bang Observer and DECIGO. The signal-to-noise ratio of the angular power spectrum of the average luminosity distance over all the redshift bins is 17 in the case of binary black holes detected by Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer. We also provide fitting formulas for the corrections to the average luminosity distance due to general relativistic effects.

Peculiar velocities in Friedmann universes with nonzero spatial curvature

We extend the earlier linear studies of cosmological peculiar velocities to Friedmann universes with nonzero spatial curvature. In the process, we also compare our results with those obtained in cosmologies with Euclidean spatial sections. Employing relativistic cosmological perturbation theory, we first provide the differential formulas governing the evolution of peculiar velocities on all Friedmann backgrounds. The technical complexities of the curved models, however, mean that analytic solutions are possible only in special, though characteristic, moments in the lifetime of these universes. Nevertheless, our solutions exhibit persistent patterns that make us confident enough to generalize them. Thus, we confirm earlier claims that, compared to the Newtonian and the quasi-Newtonian studies, the relativistic analysis supports considerably stronger linear growth rates for peculiar-velocity perturbations. This result holds irrespective of the background curvature. Moreover, for positive curvature, the peculiar growth rate is found to be faster than that obtained in a spatially flat Friedman universe. In contrast, linear peculiar velocities appear to grow at a slower pace when their Friedmann host is spatially open. Extrapolating them to the present, our results seem to suggest faster bulk peculiar motions in overdense, rather than in underdense, regions of the Universe. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Neural network reconstruction of density and velocity fields from the 2MASS Redshift Survey

Aims. Our aim is to reconstruct the 3D matter density and peculiar velocity fields in the local Universe up to a distance of 200 h−1 Mpc from the Two-Micron All-Sky Redshift Survey (2MRS) using a neural network (NN). Methods. We employed an NN with a U-net autoencoder architecture and a weighted mean squared error loss function trained separately to output either the density or velocity field for a given input grid of galaxy number counts. The NN was trained on mocks derived from the Quijote N-body simulations, incorporating redshift-space distortions (RSDs), galaxy bias, and selection effects closely mimicking the characteristics of 2MRS. The trained NN was benchmarked against a standard Wiener filter (WF) on a validation set of mocks before applying it to 2MRS. Results. The NN reconstructions effectively approximate the mean posterior estimate of the true density and velocity fields conditioned on the observations. They consistently outperform the WF in terms of reconstruction accuracy and effectively capture the nonlinear relation between velocity and density. The NN-reconstructed bulk flow of the total survey volume exhibits a significant correlation with the true mock bulk flow, demonstrating that the NN is sensitive to information on “super-survey” scales encoded in the RSDs. When applied to 2MRS, the NN successfully recovers the main known clusters, some of which are partially in the Zone of Avoidance. The reconstructed bulk flows in spheres of different radii less than 100 h−1 Mpc are in good agreement with a previous 2MRS analysis that required an additional external bulk flow component inferred from directly observed peculiar velocities. The NN-reconstructed peculiar velocity of the Local Group closely matches the observed Cosmic Microwave Background dipole in amplitude and Galactic latitude, and only deviates by 18° in longitude. The NN-reconstructed fields are publicly available.

Cosmography of the local Universe by multipole analysis of the expansion rate fluctuation field

We establish a relationship between the multipoles of the expansion rate fluctuation field η, which capture in an accurate way deviations from isotropy in the redshift-distance relation, and the multipoles of the covariant cosmographic parameters—Hubble ℍ o , deceleration ℚ o , jerk 𝕁 o , and curvature ℝ o . These parameters, derived from the third-order expansion of the luminosity distance with respect to redshift in a generic spacetime, provide model-independent insight into the geometry and symmetries of the cosmic line element without requiring the Cosmological Principle. Moreover, we demonstrate that although this approach is fully nonperturbative and does not rely on concepts such as peculiar velocities, it has the potential to constrain the motion of the matter frame at the observer's position relative to the cosmic microwave background.We use two analytical axisymmetric models, motivated by observational evidence, to test the formalism and the effectiveness of the third-order expansion of the luminosity distance. These models also help to predict the precision with which future surveys, like the Zwicky Transient Facility, will constrain the covariant cosmographic parameters in the local (z < 0.1) Universe.

Estimating the mass-to-distance ratio for a set of megamaser AGN black holes by employing a general relativistic method

Context. Motivated by the recent achievements of a full general relativistic method in determining black hole (BH) parameters, we continue to estimate the mass-to-distance ratio of the supermassive BHs hosted at the core of the active galactic nuclei (AGNs) of the megamaser galaxies NGC 1320, NGC 1194, NGC 5495, and Mrk 1029. Aims. Our aim is to study the properties of super massive BHs at the centers of the selected AGNs by using a full general relativistic method that allows us to address the potential detection of relativistic effects within such astrophysical systems. Methods. In order to perform statistical estimations with publicly available observational data, we used a general relativistic model that describes BH rotation curves and further employed a Bayesian fitting method. Results. We estimated the mass-to-distance ratio of the aforementioned BHs, their position and the recessional redshifts of the host galaxies produced by both peculiar motion and cosmological expansion of the Universe. Finally, we calculated the gravitational redshift of the closest maser to the BH for each AGN. This gravitational redshift is a general relativistic effect produced by the gravitational field of the BH properly included in the modelling.

The impact of constrained interacting dark energy on the bound-zone velocity profile

We numerically study the effects of constrained interacting dark energy (CIDER) on the bound-zone velocity profiles around massive dark matter halos. Analyzing the CIDER simulations performed by ref. [1] for three different cases of dark sector coupling (β = 0.03, 0.05 and 0.08) as well as for the standard ΛCDM cosmology (β = 0), we determine the mean peculiar velocity profiles in the bound zones around the friends-of-friends halos with masses larger than M cut = 3 × 1013 h-1 M ⊙ at three redshifts, z = 0, 0.5 and 1. It is found that the universal power-law formula proposed by ref. [2] originally for the ΛCDM case still describes well the bound-zone velocity profiles, V(r), even in the CIDER models. The slope of V(r), turns out to be significantly affected by the CIDER, progressively decreasing as β increases. Meanwhile, the amplitude of V(r) exhibits little dependence on β, which is ascribed to the identical Hubble parameters shared by the ΛCDM and CIDER models in the entire redshift range. Our results imply that the bound-zone velocity slope can break a degeneracy even between the ΛCDM and CIDER models with β ≤ 0.03, which the standard cosmological diagnostics fail to distinguish. We devise a simple analytic formula for the bound-zone slope as a function of β, and prove its validity at all of the three redshifts. It is concluded that the slope of the mean bound-zone peculiar velocity profile should be in principle a powerful probe of dark sector interaction.

Covariant cosmography: the observer-dependence of the Hubble parameter

The disagreement between low- and high-redshift measurements of the Hubble parameter is emerging as a serious challenge to the standard model of cosmology. We develop a covariant cosmographic analysis of the Hubble parameter in a general spacetime, which is fully model-independent and can thus be used as part of a robust assessment of the tension. Here our focus is not on the tension but on understanding the relation between the physical expansion rate and its measurement by observers — which is critical for model-independent measurements and tests. We define the physical Hubble parameter and its multipoles in a general spacetime and derive for the first time the covariant boost transformation of the multipoles measured by a heliocentric observer. The analysis is extended to the covariant deceleration parameter. Current cosmographic measurements of the expansion anisotropy contain discrepancies and disagreements, some of which may arise because the correct transformations for a moving observer are not applied. A heliocentric observer will detect a dipole, generated not only by a Doppler effect, but also by an aberration effect due to shear. In principle, the observer can measure both the intrinsic shear anisotropy and the velocity of the observer relative to the matter — without any knowledge of peculiar velocities, which are gauge dependent and do not arise in a covariant approach. The practical implementation of these results is investigated in a follow-up paper. We further show that the standard cosmographic relation between the Hubble parameter, the redshift and the luminosity distance (or magnitude) is not invariant under boosts and holds only in the matter frame. A moving observer who applies the standard cosmographic relation should correct the luminosity distance by a redshift factor — otherwise an incorrect dipole and a spurious octupole are predicted.

Neutrino halo profiles: HR-DEMNUni simulation analysis

Using the high-resolution HR-DEMNUni simulations, we computed neutrino profiles within virialized dark matter haloes. These new high-resolution simulations allowed us to revisit fitting formulas proposed in the literature and provided updated fitting parameters that extend to less massive haloes and lower neutrino masses than previously in the literature, in accordance with new cosmological limits. The trend we observe for low neutrino masses is that, for dark matter halo masses below ∼ 4 × 1014 h -1 M ⊙, the presence of the core becomes weaker and the profile over the whole radius is closer to a simple power law. We also characterised the neutrino density profile dependence on the solid angle within clustered structures: a forward-backward asymmetry larger than 10% was found when comparing the density profiles from neutrinos along the direction of motion of cold dark matter particles within the same halo. In addition, we looked for neutrino wakes around halo centres produced by the peculiar motion of the halo itself. Our results suggest that the wakes effect is present in haloes with masses greater than 3 × 1014 h -1 M ⊙ where a mean displacement of 0.06h -1Mpc was found.

VLBA Astrometry of the Fastest-spinning Magnetar Swift J1818.0−1607: A Large Trigonometric Distance and a Small Transverse Velocity

In addition to being the most magnetic objects in the known Universe, magnetars are the only objects observed to generate fast-radio-burst-like emissions. The formation mechanism of magnetars is still highly debated and may potentially be probed with the magnetar velocity distribution. We carried out a 3 yr long astrometric campaign on Swift J1818.0−1607, the fastest-spinning magnetar, using the Very Long Baseline Array. After applying the phase-calibrating 1D interpolation strategy, we obtained a small proper motion of 8.5 mas yr−1 mag and a parallax of 0.12 ± 0.02 mas (uncertainties at 1σ confidence throughout the Letter) for Swift J1818.0−1607. The latter is the second magnetar parallax and is among the smallest neutron star parallaxes ever determined. From the parallax, we derived the distance 9.4−1.6+2.0 kpc, which locates Swift J1818.0−1607 at the far side of the Galactic central region. Combined with the distance, the small proper motion leads to a transverse peculiar velocity v⊥=48−16+50 km s−1—a new lower limit to magnetar v ⊥. Incorporating previous v ⊥ estimates of seven other magnetars, we acquired v⊥=149−68+132 km s−1 for the sample of astrometrically studied magnetars, corresponding to the three-dimensional space velocity ∼190−87+168 km s−1, smaller than the average level of young pulsars. Additionally, we found that the magnetar velocity sample does not follow the unimodal young pulsar velocity distribution reported by Hobbs et al. at >2σ confidence, while loosely agreeing with more recent bimodal young pulsar velocity distributions derived from relatively small samples of quality astrometric determinations.

Relative Distances and Peculiar Velocities of 140 Groups and Clusters of Galaxies at Low Redshifts: the Hubble Diagram

Relative Distances and Peculiar Velocities of 140 Groups and Clusters of Galaxies at Low Redshifts: the Hubble Diagram

ZTF SN Ia DR2: Peculiar velocities' impact on the Hubble diagram

Type Ia supernovae ( are used to determine the distance-redshift relation and build the Hubble diagram. Neglecting their host-galaxy peculiar velocities (PVs) may bias the measurement of cosmological parameters. The smaller the redshift, the larger the effect is. We used realistic simulations of observed by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) to investigate the effect of different methods of taking PVs into account. We studied the impact of neglecting galaxy PVs and their correlations in an analysis of the Hubble diagram. We find that it is necessary to use the PV full covariance matrix computed from the velocity power spectrum to take the sample variance into account. Considering the results we have obtained using simulations, we determine the PV systematic effects in the context of the ZTF SN Ia DR2 sample. We determine the PV impact on the intercept of the Hubble diagram, $a_B$, which is directly linked to the measurement of $H_0$. We show that not taking into account PVs and their correlations results in a shift in the $H_0$ value of about $1.0$ and a slight underestimation of the $H_0$ error bar.

Constraining modified gravity scenarios with the 6dFGS and SDSS galaxy peculiar velocity data sets

ABSTRACT The detailed nature of dark energy remains a mystery, leaving the possibility that its effects might be explained by changes to the laws of gravity on large scales. The peculiar velocities of galaxies directly trace the strength of gravity on cosmic scales and provide a means to further constrain such models. We generate constraints on different scenarios of gravitational physics by measuring peculiar velocity (PV) and galaxy clustering two-point correlations, using redshifts and distances from the 6-degree Field Galaxy Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey PV samples, and fitting them against models characteristic of different cosmologies. Our best-fitting results are all found to be in statistical agreement with general relativity, in which context we measure the low-redshift growth of structure to be $f\sigma _8 = 0.329^{+0.081}_{-0.083}$, consistent with the prediction of the standard Lambda cold dark matter model. We also fit the modified gravity scenarios of Dvali–Gabadadze–Porrati and a Hu–Sawicki model of $f(R)$ gravity, finding the $2\sigma$ limit of their characteristic parameters to be $r_{\rm c}H_0/c\gt 6.987$ and $-\log _{10}(|f_{R0}|)\gt 4.703$, respectively. These constraints are comparable to other literature values, though it should be noted that they are significantly affected by the prior adopted for their characteristic parameters. When applied to much larger upcoming PV surveys such as DESI, this method will place rapidly improving constraints on modified gravity models of cosmic expansion and growth.