A Measurement of CO(3–2) Line Emission from eBOSS Galaxies at z ∼ 0.5 Using Planck Data
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Line intensity mapping (LIM) is a novel observational technique in astrophysics that utilizes the integrated emission from multiple atomic and molecular transition lines from galaxies to probe the complex physics of galaxy formation and evolution, as well as the large-scale structure of the Universe. Modeling multiple line luminosities of galaxies with varying masses or their host halo masses poses significant uncertainty due to the lack of observational data across a wide redshift range and the intricate nature of astrophysical processes, making them challenging to model analytically or in simulations. While future experiments aim to measure multiple line intensities up to z ∼ 8 across a wide volume using tomographic methods, we leverage publicly available datasets from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment Planck and the galaxy survey eBOSS to constrain the CO(3–2) emission from galaxies. We stack galaxies on the Planck CO(2–1) map and measure galaxy-correlated emission at z ∼ 0.5. Its interpretation as CO(3–2) depends on the continuum model, spectral response, and background treatment, which turns into the signal detection confidence between 2.2 σ and 3.4 σ . Our findings demonstrate that stacking methods are already viable with existing observations from CMB experiments and galaxy surveys, and are complementary to traditional LIM experiments.
Institutions: Cornell University, Flatiron Institute, New York University
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,400
Awards: G1216115535, THE OVERARCHING OBJECTIVE FOR THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO ENABLE AS MUCH INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE TO BE EXTRACTED FROM THE EUCLID AND WFIRST MISSION DATA TO REVEAL TANTALIZING SIGNATURES OF GRAVITY AND DARK SECTOR PHYSICS. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT REFINEMENT AND APPLICATION OF TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES THAT EXTEND BEYOND THE CORE POWER SPECTRUM STATISTICS AND PRIMARY OBSERVATIONAL TRACERS AND ARE TUNED TO REVEAL THE COMPLEX PHENOMENOLOGY EXPECTED IN DARK SECTOR THEORIES INCLUDING WELL-MOTIVATED MODIFIED GRAVITY MODELS AND MASSIVE NEUTRINOS. THE PROPOSED WORK FOCUSES ON TOPICS UNDER TWO THEMES. SOME PROPOSED TOPICS FOCUS DIRECTLY ON THE STAND-ALONE SCIENCE RETURN FOR EUCLID AND WFIRST WHILE OTHERS ARE CENTERED ON LEVERAGING THE ADDITIONAL SCIENCE INFORMATION FROM COMBINING THE MISSION DATA WITH THAT FROM PLANCK AND CURRENT AND UPCOMING CMB EXPERIMENTS. THE FIRST THEME "REALIZING THE POTENTIAL OF THE KINETIC SUNYAEV ZEL'DOVICH (KSZ) EFFECT AS A DARK SECTOR PROBE" CENTERS ON REFINING KSZ EXTRACTION METHODS TO MAXIMIZE ITS USE WITH EUCLID AND WFIRST SPECTROSCOPIC AND PHOTOMETRIC GALAXY SAMPLES IN COMBINATION WITH UPCOMING CMB SURVEYS. TOPICS INCLUDE: QUANTIFYING AND MITIGATING SYSTEMATIC UNCERTAINTIES INTRODUCED BY CLUSTER MIS-CENTERING AND OPTICAL DEPTH MEASUREMENTS; EXTRACTING THE KSZ FROM LARGE SCALE STRUCTURE MORE GENERALLY NOT JUST FROM CLUSTERS AND; DEVELOPING REALISTIC PREDICTIONS FOR MODIFIED GRAVITY CONSTRAINTS WITH SYSTEMATICS ACCURATELY INCORPORATED. TOPICS IN THE SECOND THEME "UNSCREENING MODIFIED GRAVITY WITH DIVERSE STATISTICS AND TRACERS" EXPAND AND HONE THE SUITE OF DENSITY-SENSITIVE STATISTICS AND ASTROPHYSICAL TRACERS TO SAMPLE THE PROPERTIES OF GRAVITY IN A VARIETY OF ENVIRONMENTS. GRADUATE STUDENTS INVOLVED IN THE RESEARCH WILL DEVELOP A VARIETY OF THEORETICAL ANALYTICAL AND NUMERICAL SKILLS: CHARACTERIZING AND DISTINGUISHING MODIFIED GRAVITY THEORIES; BUILDING ADAPTING AND USING N-BODY AND HYDRO-DYNAMICAL SIMULATIONS; AND USING ANALYTICAL AND STATISTICAL SKILLS TO COMPARE THEORETICAL PREDICTIONS TO SIMULATED AND REAL OBSERVATIONS INCLUDING BEING ABLE TO MODEL AND INCORPORATE PRAGMATIC EXPERIMENTAL ERROR ANALYSES. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH DIRECTLY SUPPORTS THE PRIORITIES LAID OUT IN THE NASA ASTROPHYSICS ROADMAP "ENDURING QUESTS DARING VISIONS" IN ANSWERING ONE OF THE THREE DEFINING QUESTIONS "HOW DOES THE UNIVERSE WORK?" AND ENABLE NASA MISSIONS TO BROADEN THE WAYS IN WHICH THEY "PROBE THE ORIGIN AND ULTIMATE FATE OF THE UNIVERSE AND DETERMINE THE FORMS OF MATTER AND ENERGY THAT GOVERN IT BY MAPPING THE GROWTH OF COSMIC STRUCTURE THROUGH ITS HISTORY." THE GOALS OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH ARE ESPECIALLY TIMELY GIVEN THAT DURING THE PROPOSAL TIME-FRAME THE EUCLID SATELLITE WILL LAUNCH AND WFIRST WILL BE MAKING CRITICAL DESIGN AND SURVEY CHOICES INFORMED BY THEIR IMPACT ON THE SCIENCE POTENTIAL. THE OUTCOMES OF THIS PROPOSED WORK COULD DIRECTLY FEED INTO EUCLID AND WFIRST COSMOLOGICAL PIPELINE DEVELOPMENT TO ENSURE THE MISSION DATA IS FULLY UTILIZED TO UNCOVER DISTINCTIVE FACETS OF THE DARK SECTOR., A KEY PREDICTION OF COLD DARK MATTER (CDM) COSMOLOGY IS A SCALE-FREE HIERARCHY OF BOUND STRUCTURE FROM THE LARGEST GALAXY CLUSTERS DOWN TO EARTH-MASS MICROHALOS. WHEN PARTNERED WITH THE WEAKLY INTERACTING MASSIVE PARTICLE (WIMP) HIGH-ENERGY PHYSICS DESCRIPTION OF CDM THIS SIMPLE COSMOLOGICAL MODEL MAKES ACCURATE PREDICTIONS FOR THE ABUNDANCE OF DARK MATTER IN THE UNIVERSE. IT SUCCESSFULLY PREDICTS DARK MATTER CLUSTERING ON LARGE SCALES. HOWEVER WIMPS HAVE NEVER BEEN DETECTED IN THE LAB AND THERE ARE PERSISTENT HINTS THAT SMALL-SCALE STRUCTURE IS UNDERABUNDANT COMPARED TO CDM PREDICTIONS. A DIRECT OBSERVATION OF SMALL DARK MATTER HALOS WOULD EITHER LEND STRONG SUPPORT TO THE WIMP/CDM PARADIGM OR CONCLUSIVELY KILL THE DOMINANT PHENOMENOLOGICAL MODEL OF DARK MATTER. GRAVITATIONAL LENSING IS A MOST PROMISING TOOL FOR DISCOVERING SMALL (<10^9 SOLAR MASS) HALOS OUTSIDE OF THE MILKY WAY. UNTIL RECENTLY THE PRIMARY BARRIER TO PROGRESS WAS OBSERVATIONAL; FEW GRAVITATIONAL LENS SYSTEMS WERE KNOWN AND AMENABLE TO SUBSTRUCTURE LENSING STUDIES. BUT AS MANY THOUSANDS OF NEW LENSES ARE FOUND IN WIDE-FIELD SURVEYS INNOVATIVE NEW METHODS TO MAXIMALLY EXPLOIT LENSES MATURE AND WITH THE ESSENTIAL FOLLOW-UP CAPABILITY OF JWST AND WFIRST WE WILL FOR THE FIRST TIME BE OPERATING IN A DATA-RICH ENVIRONMENT FOR SUBSTRUCTURE LENSING. THE MISSING INGREDIENT TO TURN THESE DATA INTO A DEFINITIVE TEST OF CDM OR NON-CDM MODELS IS A COMPREHENSIVE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK LINKING DARK-MATTER MICROPHYSICS TO OBSERVABLES MARGINALIZING OVER UNCERTAINTIES IN GALAXY EVOLUTION PHYSICS HOST PROPERTIES AND LINE-OF-SIGHT STRUCTURE. WHILE SEVERAL BASIC ESTIMATES EXIST IN THE LITERATURE THERE ARE NO DEDICATED SIMULATIONS THAT INCLUDE ALL THESE EFFECTS FOR LENS-MASS SYSTEMS. OUR PROPOSED THEORETICAL PROGRAM IS ESSENTIAL FOR TURNING THE INCREDIBLE POTENTIAL OF THE FORTHCOMING SUBSTRUCTURE LENSING DATA INTO AN UNPRECEDENTED CONSTRAINT ON DARK MATTER MODELS. WE PROPOSE TO FORECAST CONSTRAINTS ON DARK MATTER PHYSICS FROM SUBSTRUCTURE LENSING OBSERVATIONS WITH JWST AND WFIRST BASED ON THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK THAT WE CREATE AS PART OF THIS PROPOSAL. WE WILL CONSTRUCT A SET OF PROBABILISTIC MODELS AND LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS THAT ARE BASED ON THE SEMI-ANALYTIC MODEL WE WILL DEVELOP. SEMIANALYTIC MODELS ARE TUNED TO FAITHFULLY MATCH N-BODY SIMULATIONS BUT RUN IN A TINY FRACTION OF THE TIME. THEIR SPEED ENABLES SCANS THROUGH DARK MATTER MODEL PARAMETER SPACE; THEY CAN GENERATE ENSEMBLES OF SYSTEMS MATCHING OBSERVED HOSTS; AND CAN EXPLORE AND MARGINALIZE OVER THE UNCERTAINTIES IN GALAXY EVOLUTION FEEDBACK ON SMALL-SCALE STRUCTURE. WE WILL RUN CAREFULLY STAGED SIMULATIONS IN ORDER TO BETTER PARAMETERIZE EVOLUTIONARY EFFECTS ON DARK MATTER HALOS INCLUDING THE EFFECTS OF BARYONS ON THE OBSERVATIONS AND TO TEST OUR SEMI-ANALYTIC MODEL. THE FINAL PRODUCT OF THIS WORK WILL BE A SET OF PROPOSED JWST AND WFIRST FOLLOW-UP CAMPAIGNS THAT WILL MAXIMIZE DARK MATTER SCIENCE AS A FUNCTION OF OBSERVATION TIME WITH THE EXPECTED DARK MATTER CONSTRAINTS AND THEORETICAL UNCERTAINTIES WELL QUANTIFIED. WE WILL MAKE THE SEMI-ANALYTIC MODEL AND OUR LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS PUBLIC TO SERVE THE WHOLE DARK MATTER ASTROPHYSICS COMMUNITY. WITH THIS WORK WE WILL FINALLY REALIZE THE POTENTIAL OF SUBSTRUCTURE LENSING TO TEST THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL PREDICTION OF THE CDM PARADIGM., G531177398, Large-Scale Statistics from Line Intensity Mapping Simulations, G7650360352
OpenAlex ID: W4399657358