Planck Cosmic Microwave Background Research Articles

The gravitational lensing imprints of DES Y3 superstructures on the CMB: a matched filtering approach

ABSTRACT Low-density cosmic voids gravitationally lens the cosmic microwave background (CMB), leaving a negative imprint on the CMB convergence $\kappa$. This effect provides insight into the distribution of matter within voids, and can also be used to study the growth of structure. We measure this lensing imprint by cross-correlating the Planck CMB lensing convergence map with voids identified in the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES Y3) data set, covering approximately 4200 deg$^2$ of the sky. We use two distinct void-finding algorithms: a 2D void-finder that operates on the projected galaxy density field in thin redshift shells, and a new code, Voxel, which operates on the full 3D map of galaxy positions. We employ an optimal matched filtering method for cross-correlation, using the Marenostrum Institut de Ciències de l’Espai N-body simulation both to establish the template for the matched filter and to calibrate detection significances. Using the DES Y3 photometric luminous red galaxy sample, we measure $A_\kappa$, the amplitude of the observed lensing signal relative to the simulation template, obtaining $A_\kappa = 1.03 \pm 0.22$ ($4.6\sigma$ significance) for Voxel and $A_\kappa = 1.02 \pm 0.17$ ($5.9\sigma$ significance) for 2D voids, both consistent with Lambda cold dark matter expectations. We additionally invert the 2D void-finding process to identify superclusters in the projected density field, for which we measure $A_\kappa = 0.87 \pm 0.15$ ($5.9\sigma$ significance). The leading source of noise in our measurements is Planck noise, implying that data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, South Pole Telescope and CMB-S4 will increase sensitivity and allow for more precise measurements.

The Dark Energy Survey: Cosmology Results with ∼1500 New High-redshift Type Ia Supernovae Using the Full 5 yr Data Set

We present cosmological constraints from the sample of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered and measured during the full 5 yr of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) SN program. In contrast to most previous cosmological samples, in which SNe are classified based on their spectra, we classify the DES SNe using a machine learning algorithm applied to their light curves in four photometric bands. Spectroscopic redshifts are acquired from a dedicated follow-up survey of the host galaxies. After accounting for the likelihood of each SN being an SN Ia, we find 1635 DES SNe in the redshift range 0.10 < z < 1.13 that pass quality selection criteria sufficient to constrain cosmological parameters. This quintuples the number of high-quality z > 0.5 SNe compared to the previous leading compilation of Pantheon+ and results in the tightest cosmological constraints achieved by any SN data set to date. To derive cosmological constraints, we combine the DES SN data with a high-quality external low-redshift sample consisting of 194 SNe Ia spanning 0.025 < z < 0.10. Using SN data alone and including systematic uncertainties, we find ΩM = 0.352 ± 0.017 in flat ΛCDM. SN data alone now require acceleration (q 0 < 0 in ΛCDM) with over 5σ confidence. We find (ΩM,w)=(0.264−0.096+0.074,−0.80−0.16+0.14) in flat wCDM. For flat w 0 w a CDM, we find (ΩM,w0,wa)=(0.495−0.043+0.033,−0.36−0.30+0.36,−8.8−4.5+3.7) , consistent with a constant equation of state to within ∼2σ. Including Planck cosmic microwave background, Sloan Digital Sky Survey baryon acoustic oscillation, and DES 3 × 2pt data gives (ΩM, w) = (0.321 ± 0.007, −0.941 ± 0.026). In all cases, dark energy is consistent with a cosmological constant to within ∼2σ. Systematic errors on cosmological parameters are subdominant compared to statistical errors; these results thus pave the way for future photometrically classified SN analyses.

Observational constraints on early dark energy

In this paper, we review and update constraints on the Early Dark Energy (EDE) model from cosmological data sets, in particular Planck PR3 and PR4 cosmic microwave background (CMB) data and large-scale structure (LSS) data sets including galaxy clustering and weak lensing data from the Dark Energy Survey, Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam and KiDS+VIKING-450, as well as BOSS/eBOSS galaxy clustering and Lyman-[Formula: see text] forest data. We detail the fit to CMB data, and perform the first analyses of EDE using the CAMSPEC and Hillipop likelihoods for Planck CMB data, rather than Plik, both of which yield a tighter upper bound on the allowed EDE fraction than that found with Plik. We then supplement CMB data with LSS data in a series of new analyses. All these analyses are concordant in their Bayesian preference for [Formula: see text]CDM over EDE, as indicated by marginalized posterior distributions. We perform a series of tests of the impact of priors in these results, and compare with frequentist analyses based on the profile likelihood, finding qualitative agreement with the Bayesian results. All these tests suggest prior volume effects are not a determining factor in analyses of EDE. This work provides both a review of existing constraints and several new analyses.

Weak lensing constraints on dark matter-baryon interactions with 𝖭-body simulations and machine learning

We investigate the elastic scattering cross section between dark matter and protons using the DES Year 3 weak lensing data. This scattering induces a dark acoustic oscillation structure in the matter power spectra. To address non-linear effects at low redshift, we utilize principal component analysis alongside a limited set of N-body simulations, improving the reliability of our matter power spectrum prediction. We further perform a robust Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to derive the upper bounds on the DM-proton elastic scattering cross-section, assuming different velocity dependencies. Our results, presented as the first Frequentist upper limits, are compared with the ones obtained by Bayesian approach. Compared with the upper limits derived from the Planck cosmic microwave background data, our findings from DES Year 3 data exhibit improvements of up to a factor of five. In addition, we forecast the future sensitivities of the China Space Station Telescope, the upcoming capabilities of this telescope could improve the current limits by approximately one order of magnitude.

Limits on non-relativistic matter during Big-bang nucleosynthesis

Big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) probes the cosmic mass-energy density at temperatures ∼ 10 MeV to ∼ 100 keV. Here, we consider the effect of a cosmic matter-like species that is non-relativistic and pressureless during BBN. Such a component must decay; doing so during BBN can alter the baryon-to-photon ratio, η, and the effective number of neutrino species. We use light element abundances and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) constraints on η and Nν to place constraints on such a matter component. We find that electromagnetic decays heat the photons relative to neutrinos, and thus dilute the effective number of relativistic species to N eff < 3 for the case of three Standard Model neutrino species. Intriguingly, likelihood results based on Planck CMB data alone find Nν = 2.800 ± 0.294, and when combined with standard BBN and the observations of D and 4He give Nν = 2.898 ± 0.141. While both results are consistent with the Standard Model, we find that a nonzero abundance of electromagnetically decaying matter gives a better fit to these results. Our best-fit results are for a matter species that decays entirely electromagnetically with a lifetime τX = 0.89 sec and pre-decay density that is a fraction ξ = (ρX /ρ rad|10 MeV = 0.0026 of the radiation energy density at 10 MeV; similarly good fits are found over a range where ξτX 1/2 is constant. On the other hand, decaying matter often spoils the BBN+CMB concordance, and we present limits in the (τX ,ξ) plane for both electromagnetic and invisible decays. For dark (invisible) decays, standard BBN (i.e. ξ = 0) supplies the best fit. We end with a brief discussion of the impact of future measurements including CMB-S4.

The cosmic microwave background lensing imprint of cosmic voids detected in the WISE-Pan-STARRS luminous red galaxy catalog

The cross-correlation of cosmic voids with the lensing convergence (kappa ) map of cosmic microwave background (CMB) fluctuations offers a powerful tool with which to refine our understanding of the dark sector in the consensus cosmological model. Our principal aim is to compare the lensing signature of our galaxy dataset with simulations based on the concordance model and to characterize the results with an $A_ kappa $ consistency parameter normalized to unity. In particular, our measurements contribute to the understanding of the “lensing-is-low” tension of the Lambda CDM model. In this analysis, we selected luminous red galaxies (LRGs) from the WISE- Pan-STARRS dataset, enabling an extended cross-correlation measurement using a 14,200 deg$^2$ sky area, which offers a more precise measurement than previous studies. We created 2D and 3D void catalogs to cross-correlate their locations with the Planck CMB lensing map and studied their average imprint signal using a stacking methodology. Applying the same procedure, we also generated a mock galaxy catalog from the WebSky simulation to serve as a basis for comparison. The 2D void analysis reveals a good agreement with the standard cosmological model, with $A_ kappa 0.08$ amplitude; that is, $S/N=13.3$, showing a higher signal-to-noise than previous studies using voids detected in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) dataset. The 3D void analysis exhibited a lower signal-to-noise ratio and demonstrated worse agreement with our mock catalog than the 2D voids. These deviations might be attributed to limitations in the mock catalog, such as imperfections in the LRG selection, as well as a potential asymmetry between the northern and southern patches of the Pan-STARRS dataset in terms of data quality. Overall, we present a significant detection of a CMB lensing signal associated with cosmic voids, largely consistent with the concordance model. Future analyses using even larger datasets also hold great promise of further sharpening these results, given their complementary nature to large-scale structure analyses.

Finding origins of CMB anomalies in the inflationary quantum fluctuations

In this paper, we present compelling evidence for the parity asymmetry (a discrete symmetry separate from isotropy) in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) map, measured through two-point temperature correlations. Any asymmetry associated with discrete symmetries, such as parity, challenges our understanding of quantum physics associated with primordial physics rather than LCDM (Λ Cold-Dark-Matter) itself. We commence by conducting a comprehensive analysis of the Planck CMB, focusing on the distribution of power in low-multipoles and temperature anticorrelations at parity conjugate points in position space. We find tension with the near scale-invariant power-law power spectrum of Standard Inflation (SI), with p-values of the order 𝒪(10-4 - 10-3). Alternatively, we explore the framework of direct-sum inflation (DSI), where a quantum fluctuation arises as a direct sum of two components evolving forward and backward in time at parity conjugate points in physical space. This mechanism results in a parity-asymmetric scale-dependent power spectrum, particularly prominent at low-multipoles, without any additional free model parameters. Our findings indicate that DSI is consistent with data on parity asymmetry, the absence of power at θ > 60°, and power suppression at low-even-multipoles which are major data anomalies in the SI model. Furthermore, we discover that the parameters characterizing the hemispherical power asymmetry anomaly become statistically insignificant when the large SI quadrupole amplitude is reduced to align with the data. DSI explains this low quadrupole with a p-value of 3.5%, 39 times higher than SI. Combining statistics from parameters measuring parity and low-ℓ angular power spectrum, we find that DSI is 50-650 times more probable than SI. In summary, our investigation suggests that while CMB temperature fluctuations exhibit homogeneity and isotropy, they also display parity-asymmetric behavior consistent with predictions of DSI. This observation provides a tantalizing evidence for the quantum mechanical nature of gravity.

High-accuracy emulators for observables in ΛCDM, Neff, Σmν, and w cosmologies

ABSTRACT We use the emulation framework CosmoPower to construct and publicly release neural network emulators of cosmological observables, including the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization power spectra, matter power spectrum, distance-redshift relation, baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) and redshift-space distortion (RSD) observables, and derived parameters. We train our emulators on Einstein–Boltzmann calculations obtained with high-precision numerical convergence settings, for a wide range of cosmological models including ΛCDM, wCDM, ΛCDM + Neff, and ΛCDM + Σmν. Our CMB emulators are accurate to better than 0.5 per cent out to ℓ = 104, which is sufficient for Stage-IV data analysis, and our P(k) emulators reach the same accuracy level out to $k=50 \, \, \mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$, which is sufficient for Stage-III data analysis. We release the emulators via an online repository (CosmoPower Organisation), which will be continually updated with additional extended cosmological models. Our emulators accelerate cosmological data analysis by orders of magnitude, enabling cosmological parameter extraction analyses, using current survey data, to be performed on a laptop. We validate our emulators by comparing them to class and camb and by reproducing cosmological parameter constraints derived from Planck TT, TE, EE, and CMB lensing data, as well as from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Data Release 4 CMB data, Dark Energy Survey Year-1 galaxy lensing and clustering data, and Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Data Release 12 BAO and RSD data.

The state of the dark energy equation of state circa 2023

We critically examine the state of current constraints on the dark energy (DE) equation of state (EoS) w. Our study is motivated by the observation that, while broadly consistent with the cosmological constant value w = -1, several independent probes appear to point towards a slightly phantom EoS (w ∼ -1.03) which, if confirmed, could have important implications for the Hubble tension. We pay attention to the apparent preference for phantom DE from Planck Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data alone, whose origin we study in detail and attribute to a wide range of (physical and geometrical) effects. We deem the combination of Planck CMB, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations, Type Ia Supernovae, and Cosmic Chronometers data to be particularly trustworthy, inferring from this final consensus dataset w = -1.013+0.038 -0.043, in excellent agreement with the cosmological constant value. Overall, despite a few scattered hints, we find no compelling evidence forcing us away from the cosmological constant (yet).

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cosmology from Cross-correlations of unWISE Galaxies and ACT DR6 CMB Lensing

We present tomographic measurements of structure growth using cross-correlations of Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) DR6 and Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing maps with the unWISE Blue and Green galaxy samples, which span the redshift ranges 0.2 ≲ z ≲ 1.1 and 0.3 ≲ z ≲ 1.8, respectively. We improve on prior unWISE cross-correlations not just by making use of the new, high-precision ACT DR6 lensing maps, but also by including additional spectroscopic data for redshift calibration and by analyzing our measurements with a more flexible theoretical model. We determine the amplitude of matter fluctuations at low redshifts (z ≃ 0.2–1.6), finding S8≡σ8(Ωm/0.3)0.5=0.813±0.021 using the ACT cross-correlation alone and S 8 = 0.810 ± 0.015 with a combination of Planck and ACT cross-correlations; these measurements are fully consistent with the predictions from primary CMB measurements assuming standard structure growth. The addition of baryon acoustic oscillation data breaks the degeneracy between σ 8 and Ω m , allowing us to measure σ 8 = 0.813 ± 0.020 from the cross-correlation of unWISE with ACT and σ 8 = 0.813 ± 0.015 from the combination of cross-correlations with ACT and Planck. These results also agree with the expectations from primary CMB extrapolations in ΛCDM cosmology; the consistency of σ 8 derived from our two redshift samples at z ∼ 0.6 and 1.1 provides a further check of our cosmological model. Our results suggest that structure formation on linear scales is well described by ΛCDM even down to low redshifts z ≲ 1.

Cosmic insights from galaxy clusters: Exploring magnification bias on sub-millimetre galaxies

Context. Magnification bias, an observational effect of gravitational lensing in the weak regime, allows the cosmological model to be tested through angular correlations of sources at different redshifts. This effect has been observed in various contexts, particularly with sub-millimetre galaxies (SMGs), offering valuable astrophysical and cosmological insights. Aims. The study aims to investigate the magnification bias effect exerted by galaxy clusters on SMGs and its implications for astrophysical and cosmological parameters within the Λ-CDM model. Methods. Magnification bias was explored by quantifying the cross-correlation function, which we then utilised to derive constraints on cosmological and astrophysical parameters with a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. Two distinct galaxy cluster samples were used to assess result robustness and understand the influence of sample characteristics. Results. Cluster samples show higher cross-correlation values than galaxies, with an excess at larger scales suggesting contributions from additional large-scale structures. The parameters obtained, while consistent with those of galaxies, are less constrained due to broader redshift distributions and limited cluster statistics. Results align with weak lensing studies, hinting at slightly lower σ8 and Ωm values than Planck’s cosmic microwave background data, emphasising the need for enhanced precision and alternative low-redshift universe tests. Conclusions. While this method yields constraints that are compatible with the Λ-CDM model, its limitations include broader redshift distributions and a limited number of lenses, resulting in less constrained parameters compared to previous galaxy studies. Nonetheless, our study underscores the potential of using galaxy clusters as lenses for magnification bias studies, capitalising on their elevated masses and thus providing a promising avenue to test current cosmology theories. Further progress can be made by expanding the lens sample size.

The quest for CMB signatures of conformal cyclic cosmology

Circles of low-variance and Hawking points in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), resulting from black hole mergers and black hole evaporation, respectively, in a previous cycle of the universe, have been predicted as possible evidence for the Conformal Cyclic Cosmology model (CCC) introduced by R. Penrose. We present a high-resolution search for such low-variance circles in the Planck and WMAP CMB data, and introduce HawkingNet, our machine learning open-source software based on a ResNet18 algorithm, to search for Hawking points in the CMB.We find that spots consisting of a few unusually bright (high-temperature) or dark (low-temperature) pixels, erroneously lead to regions with many low-variance circles, and consequently sets of near-concentric low-variance circles, when applying the search criteria used in previous work [1]. After removing those spots from the data, no statistically significant low-variance circles can be found.Concerning Hawking points, also no statistically significant evidence is found when using a Gaussian temperature amplitude model over ∼ 1° opening angle and after accounting for spots of unusual brightness.That the unusual spots in the data are themselves remnants of Hawking points is not supported by low-variance and/or low-temperature circles around them.The absence of such statistically-significant distinct features in the currently available CMB data does not disprove the CCC model, but implies that higher resolution CMB data and/or refined CCC based predictions are needed to pursue the search for CCC signatures further.

Lyα Emission at z = 7–13: Clear Evolution of Lyα Equivalent Width Indicating a Late Cosmic Reionization History

We present the evolution of Lyα emission derived from 53 galaxies at z = 6.6–13.2, which have been identified by multiple JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy programs of Early Release Science, General Observer, Director's Discretionary Time, and Guaranteed Time Observations. These galaxies fall on the star formation main sequence and are typical star-forming galaxies with UV magnitudes of −22.5 ≤ M UV ≤ −17.0. We find that 15 out of 53 galaxies show Lyα emission at the >3σ level, and we obtain Lyα equivalent width (EW) measurements and stringent 3σ upper limits for the 15 and 38 galaxies, respectively. Confirming that Lyα velocity offsets and line widths of our galaxies are comparable to those of low-redshift Lyα emitters, we investigate the redshift evolution of the Lyα EW. We find that Lyα EWs statistically decrease toward high redshifts on the Lyα EW versus the M UV plane for various probability distributions of the uncertainties. We then evaluate neutral hydrogen fractions x H I with the redshift evolution of the Lyα EW and the cosmic reionization simulation results on the basis of a Bayesian inference framework, and obtain x H I < 0.79, = 0.62 − 0.36 + 0.15 ?> , and 0.93 − 0.07 + 0.04 ?> at z ∼ 7, 8, and 9–13, respectively. These moderately large x H I values are consistent with the Planck cosmic microwave background optical depth measurement and previous x H I constraints from galaxy and QSO Lyα damping wing absorption and strongly indicate a late reionization history. Such a late reionization history suggests that major sources of reionization would emerge late and be hosted by moderately massive halos compared with the widely accepted picture of abundant low-mass objects for the sources of reionization.

Oscillating Dark Energy in Light of the Latest Observations and Its Impact on the Hubble Tension

In this paper, we have performed a comparative study of different types of oscillating dark energy (DE) models using the Metropolis algorithm of Markov Chain Monte Carlo. Eight different oscillating parameterizations are examined herein that have demonstrated considerable ability to fit the overall cosmological observations, including the Pantheon sample of Type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations, cosmic chronometer Hubble data, and distance priors of the Planck cosmic microwave background. In order to compare the consistency of these models with observations, we have used both the Akaike and deviance information criteria. Although the values of the Akaike information criterion for different models indicate that there is no support for oscillating DE models, the deviance information criterion showed that there is significant support for some of these models. Our results showed that these models are capable of solving the cosmic coincidence problem and alleviating the Hubble tension. Comparing the H 0 values obtained for different oscillating scenarios with that of ΛCDM, we observed that our oscillating models led to H0¯=69.78 , which is 0.29 greater than H 0,Λ and thus reduces the Hubble tension. Among all of the models, model 1, with H 0 = 70.00 ± 0.71, is the most capable of alleviating the H 0 tension. Furthermore, we examined our models assuming H 0 = 73.0 ± 1.4 from SHoES measurements. We find that adding this data point to our data combination led to a ΔH0¯=0.95 increase in the H 0 value for different models.

Determining Cosmological-model-independent H 0 with Gravitationally Lensed Supernova Refsdal

The reappearance of supernova Refsdal with detailed modeling of the lens cluster allows us to measure the time-delay distance, which serves as a powerful tool to determine the Hubble constant (H 0). We give a cosmological-model-independent method to estimate H 0 through Gaussian process regression, using time-delay measurements from this lensed supernova in combination with supernova data from the Pantheon+ sample. Using eight mass models for the lens cluster, we infer H0=64.2−4.3+4.4kms−1Mpc−1 , and using two cluster models most consistent with the observations, we infer H0=66.3−3.6+3.8kms−1Mpc−1 . Our estimates of the value of H 0 are in 1σ agreement with the results assuming a flat ΛCDM model and the uncertainties are comparable. Our constraint results on H 0 from the eight lens models and the two lens models indicate 2σ and 1.8σ tensions with that estimated by Supernova H0 for the Equation of State, respectively. However, our median values of H 0 from the two sets of lens models show good consistency with H 0 inferred from Planck cosmic microwave background observations assuming a ΛCDM model within 1σ. We also find that our results for H 0 indicate 2σ deviations and 1.7σ deviations from the constraint results of H 0 using six time-delay quasars by H0LiCOW with the same analysis method.

Constraints on cosmological models from quasars calibrated with type Ia supernova by a Gaussian process

ABSTRACT In this paper, we use quasars calibrated from type Ia supernova (SN Ia) to constrain cosmological models. We consider three different X-ray luminosity (LX)–ultraviolet luminosity (LUV) relations of quasars, i.e. the standard LX–LUV relation and two redshift–evolutionary relations (Type I and Type II), respectively, constructed from copula and considering a redshift correction to the luminosity of quasars. Only in the case of the Type I relation, quasars can always provide effective constraints on the ΛCDM (cosmological constant Λ plus cold dark matter) model. Furthermore, we show that, when the observational Hubble data (OHD) are added, the constraints on the absolute magnitude M of SN Ia and the Hubble constant H0 can be obtained. In the ΛCDM model, the OHD measurements plus quasars with the Type I relation yields M = $-19.321^{+0.085}_{-0.076}$, which is in good agreement with the measurement from SH0ES (M = −19.253 ± 0.027), and H0 = $70.80\pm 3.6~\mathrm{km~s^{-1}\, Mpc^{-1}}$, falling between the measurements from SH0ES and the Planck cosmic microwave background radiation data.

Some Old Globular Clusters (and Stars) Inferring That the Universe Is Older Than Commonly Accepted

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made startling discoveries regarding the early universe. It has revealed galaxies as soon as 300 million years after the Big Bang, challenging current galaxy formation models. Additionally, it has identified massive, bright galaxies in the young universe, contradicting the standard ΛCDM model&amp;apos;s age estimate of 13.8 Gyr. This prompts a re-evaluation of galaxy formation and cosmological models. There is a strong tension between JWST high-redshift galaxy observations and Planck Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) satellite measurements. Even alternative cosmological models, including those incorporating dark matter–baryon interaction, f(R) gravity, and dynamical dark have failed to resolve this tension. One possible solution is that the Universe&amp;apos;s age exceeds predictions by the ΛCDM model. The study challenges this by introducing a method based on blue straggler stars (BSs) within GCs, comparing ages with other models. The ages obtained are compared with those of other models to certify that they are equally valid. These values are comparable within the error ranges except for the clusters: NGC104, NGC 5634, IC 4499, NGC 6273 and NGC 4833, finding their respective ages to be between 14.7 and 21.6 Gyr, surpassing the commonly accepted age of the Universe. These results inferred an age for the Universe of around 26 Gyr, close to 26.7 Gyr. This value aligns that suggested by the cosmological model named Covarying Coupling Constants + TL (CCC+TL). Such a value is consistent with early universe observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The results of the present paper reinforces the advocating for a critical review of models encompassing dark mass, dark energy, and the dynamics of the Universe, particularly in explaining the presence of primitive massive galaxies, very old GCs, and very old and poor metallic stars.

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: DR6 Gravitational Lensing Map and Cosmological Parameters

We present cosmological constraints from a gravitational lensing mass map covering 9400 deg2 reconstructed from measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) from 2017 to 2021. In combination with measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations and big bang nucleosynthesis, we obtain the clustering amplitude σ 8 = 0.819 ± 0.015 at 1.8% precision, S8≡σ8(Ωm/0.3)0.5=0.840±0.028 , and the Hubble constant H 0 = (68.3 ± 1.1) km s−1 Mpc−1 at 1.6% precision. A joint constraint with Planck CMB lensing yields σ 8 = 0.812 ± 0.013, S8≡σ8(Ωm/0.3)0.5=0.831±0.023 , and H 0 = (68.1 ± 1.0) km s−1 Mpc−1. These measurements agree with ΛCDM extrapolations from the CMB anisotropies measured by Planck. We revisit constraints from the KiDS, DES, and HSC galaxy surveys with a uniform set of assumptions and find that S 8 from all three are lower than that from ACT+Planck lensing by levels ranging from 1.7σ to 2.1σ. This motivates further measurements and comparison, not just between the CMB anisotropies and galaxy lensing but also between CMB lensing probing z ∼ 0.5–5 on mostly linear scales and galaxy lensing at z ∼ 0.5 on smaller scales. We combine with CMB anisotropies to constrain extensions of ΛCDM, limiting neutrino masses to ∑m ν < 0.13 eV (95% c.l.), for example. We describe the mass map and related data products that will enable a wide array of cross-correlation science. Our results provide independent confirmation that the universe is spatially flat, conforms with general relativity, and is described remarkably well by the ΛCDM model, while paving a promising path for neutrino physics with lensing from upcoming ground-based CMB surveys.

12 × 2 pt combined probes: pipeline, neutrino mass, and data compression

With the rapid advance of wide-field surveys it is increasingly important to perform combined cosmological probe analyses. We present a new pipeline for simulation-based multi-probe analyses, which combines tomographic large-scale structure (LSS) probes (weak lensing and galaxy clustering) with cosmic microwave background (CMB) primary and lensing data. These are combined at the C ℓ-level, yielding 12 distinct auto- and cross-correlations. The pipeline is based on UFalconv2, a framework to generate fast, self-consistent map-level realizations of cosmological probes from input lightcones, which is applied to the CosmoGridV1 N-body simulation suite. It includes a non-Gaussian simulation-based covariance for the LSS tracers, several data compression schemes, and a neural network emulator for accelerated theoretical predictions. We validate the pipeline by comparing the simulations to these predictions, and our derived constraints to earlier analyses. We apply our framework to a simulated 12×2 pt tomographic analysis of KiDS, BOSS, and Planck, and forecast constraints for a ΛCDM model with a variable neutrino mass. We find that, while the neutrino mass constraints are driven by the CMB data, the addition of LSS data helps to break degeneracies and improves the constraint by up to 35%. For a fiducial Mν = 0.15 eV, a full combination of the above CMB+LSS data would enable a 3σ constraint on the neutrino mass. We explore data compression schemes and find that MOPED outperforms PCA and is made robust using the derivatives afforded by our automatically differentiable emulator. We also study the impact of an internal lensing tension in the CMB data, parametrized by AL , on the neutrino mass constraint, finding that the addition of LSS to CMB data including all cross-correlations is able to mitigate the impact of this systematic. UFalconv2 and a MOPED compressed Planck CMB primary + CMB lensing likelihood are made publicly available.[UFalconv2: https://cosmology.ethz.ch/research/software-lab/UFalcon.html, compressed Planck CMB primary + CMB lensing likelihood: https://github.com/alexreevesy/planck_compressed.]

Cosmological Tensions and the Transitional Planck Mass Model

In this follow-up analysis, we update previous constraints on the transitional Planck mass (TPM) modified gravity model using the latest version of EFTCAMB and provide new constraints using South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck anisotropy data along with Planck cosmic microwave background lensing, baryon acoustic oscillations, and Type Ia supernovae data and a Hubble constant, H 0, prior from local measurements. We find that large shifts in the Planck mass lead to large suppression of power on small scales that is disfavored by both the SPT and Planck data. Using only the SPT temperature-polarization–polarization-polarization (TE-EE) data, this suppression of power can be compensated for by an upward shift of the scalar index to n s = 1.003 ± 0.016, resulting in km m−1 Mpc−1 and a ∼7% shift in the Planck mass. Including the Planck temperature-temperature (TT) ℓ ≤ 650 and Planck TE-EE data restricts the shift to be <5% at 2σ with H 0 = 70.65 ± 0.66 km m−1 Mpc−1. Excluding the H 0 prior, the SPT and Planck data constrain the shift in the Planck mass to be <3% at 2σ with a best-fit value of 0.04%, consistent with the Λ cold dark matter limit. In this case km s−1 Mpc−1, which is partially elevated by the dynamics of the scalar field in the late Universe. This differs from early dark energy models that prefer higher values of H 0 when the high-ℓ Planck TT data are excluded. We additionally constrain TPM using redshift space distortion data from BOSS DR12 and cosmic shear, galaxy–galaxy lensing, and galaxy clustering data from DES Y1, finding both disfavor transitions close to recombination, but earlier Planck mass transitions are allowed.