Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We present a measurement of the spatial clustering of galaxy clusters selected via the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) signal. Using a cluster catalog derived from five years of SPT-3G Main field survey data, we define a sample spanning $0.25 < z < 1.1$, as well as two subsamples spanning $0.25 < z < 0.67$ and $0.67 < z < 1.1$. We detect cluster clustering at $12.8σ$, the highest significance detection in a tSZ-selected sample to date. We detail our analytic modeling and theoretical covariance models, including validations performed on synthetic data created from numerical simulations. The measurements and inference pass a variety of null tests, and show minimal sensitivity to common spatially varying systematics that impact optical clustering measurements, such as depth, stellar density, and extinction. We use our pipeline to place constraints on the halo bias of our sample, $b_{\rm{h}} = 5.30\pm{0.24}$, and the normalization of our mass-observable relation, $\rm{lnA}_{sz} = 0.43^{+0.17}_{-0.21}$. We also demonstrate the useful synergies between cluster clustering and abundance measurements, which manifest in the breaking of high-dimensional parameter degeneracies. Samples of clusters selected using the tSZ effect serve as a unique probe of clustering that is insensitive to common systematics, relative to conventional galaxy datasets, and the detection significance of this measurement will increase substantially with existing data from the SPT-3G Ext-10k survey and upcoming data from SPT-3G+ and the Simons Observatory.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Martsen, E. S., Anbajagane, D., Bleem, L. E., Benson, B. A., Anderes, E., Anderson, A. J., Ansarinejad, B., Archipley, M., Balkenhol, L., Barron, D. R., Barry, P. S., Benabed, K., Bender, A. N., Bianchini, F., Bocquet, S., Bouchet, F. R., Camphuis, E., Campitiello, M. G., Carlstrom, J. E., Carron, J., Chang, C. L., Chichura, P. M., Chokshi, A., Chou, T. -L., Coerver, A., Crawford, T. M., Daley, C., de Haan, T., Dibert, K. R., Dobbs, M. A., Doohan, M., Dutcher, D., Feng, C., Ferguson, K. R., Ferree, N. C., Fichman, K., Foster, A., Frontiere, N., Galli, S., Gambrel, A. E., Gao, A. K., Ge, F., Gradis, S., Guidi, F., Guns, S., Halverson, N. W., Hivon, E., Holder, G. P., Holzapfel, W. L., Hood, J. C., Hryciuk, A., Huang, N., Jhaveri, T., Kéruzoré, F., Khalife, A. R., Klein, M., Knox, L., Kornoelje, K., Kuo, C. -L., Larsen, P., Levy, K., Li, Y., Lowitz, A. E., Lu, C., Lynch, G. P., Maccarone, T. J., Maniyar, A. S., Menanteau, F., Millea, M., Montgomery, J., Nakato, Y., Natoli, T., Omori, Y., Ouellette, A., Pan, Z., Paschos, P., Phadke, K. A., Prabhu, K., Quan, W., Rahimi, M., Rahlin, A., Reichardt, C. L., Rouble, M., Ruhl, J. E., Oliveira, A. C. Silva, Simpson, A., Sobrin, J. A., Stark, A. A., Stephen, J., Tandoi, C., Trendafilova, C., Vieira, J. D., Vieregg, A. G., Vitrier, A., Wan, Y., Whitehorn, N., Wu, W. L. K., Young, M. R., Zebrowski, J. A.
Institutions: University of Chicago, University of California, Davis, The University of Melbourne, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, Sorbonne Université, University of New Mexico, Cardiff University, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Argonne National Laboratory, University of Geneva, Istituto Ricerche Solari Locarno, Università della Svizzera italiana, University of California, Berkeley, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Université Paris Cité, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Université Paris-Saclay, Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Trottier Space Institute at McGill, McGill University, Princeton University, California Institute of Technology, Texas Tech University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Colorado Boulder, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Michigan State University, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, Case Western Reserve University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, University of Chicago, Space Telescope Science Institute, National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, European Commission, Office of Science, University of California, Davis, High Energy Physics, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Awards: G102163711, G1055550527, G107546177, G1229526393, G1313983767, G1664757510, G2011917337, G2287611682, G2371548206, G2376186588, G262532246, G262962599, G2710870262, G303061748, G3075337988, G4235786860, G4269941704, G433322167, G4654690619, G495301720, G498139845, G513797252, G5560389312, G5570207115, G58316358, G618388848, G6256534168, G6273510985, G6352361788, G6471802762, G6868755465, G6918803902, South Pole Telescope Operations and Data Products, G8382000481, G8581667079, South Pole Telescope Operations and Data Products, G8755702448, G8945569637, G97770923, G993149817
OpenAlex ID: W7220975122