Cosmic voids and void lensing in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data

The DES Collaboration

doi:10.1093/mnras/stw2745

Cosmic voids and void lensing in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data

The DES Collaboration

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Abstract

Cosmic voids are usually identified in spectroscopic galaxy surveys, where 3D information about the large-scale structure of the Universe is available. Although an increasing amount of photometric data is being produced, its potential for void studies is limited since photometric redshifts induce line-of-sight position errors of ≥50 Mpc h-1which can render many voids undetectable.We present a new void finder designed for photometric surveys, validate it using simulations, and apply it to the high-quality photo-z redMaGiC galaxy sample of the DES Science Verification data. The algorithm works by projecting galaxies into 2D slices and finding voids in the smoothed 2D galaxy density field of the slice. Fixing the line-of-sight size of the slices to be at least twice the photo-z scatter, the number of voids found in simulated spectroscopic and photometric galaxy catalogues is within 20 per cent for all transverse void sizes, and indistinguishable for the largest voids (Rν ≥ 70 Mpc h^-1). The positions, radii, and projected galaxy profiles of photometric voids also accurately match the spectroscopic void sample. Applying the algorithm to the DES-SV data in the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.8, we identify 87 voids with comoving radii spanning the range 18-120 Mpc h^-1, and carry out a stacked weak lensing measurement. With a significance of 4.4σ, the lensing measurement confirms that the voids are truly underdense in the matter field and hence not a product of Poisson noise, tracer density effects or systematics in the data. It also demonstrates, for the first time in real data, the viability of void lensing studies in photometric surveys.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	746-759
Number of pages	14
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	465
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw2745
State	Published - Feb 11 2017

Funding

This paper has gone through internal review by the DES collaboration. It has been assigned DES paper id DES-2016-0168 and FermiLab preprint number PUB-16-173-AE. Funding for the DES Projects has been provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Ministry of Science and Education of Spain, the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the NationalCenter for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago, the Center for Cosmology andAstro-Particle Physics at the Ohio State University, the Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&MUniversity, Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos, Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico and the Ministério da Ciencia, Tecnologia e Inovação, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey. The Collaborating Institutions are Argonne National Laboratory, the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Cambridge, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas-Madrid, the University of Chicago, University College London, the DES-Brazil Consortium, the University of Edinburgh, the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Institut de Ciències de l'Espai (IEEC/CSIC), the Institut de Física d'Altes Energies, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Ludwig-Maximilians Universit ät München and the associated Excellence Cluster Universe, the University of Michigan, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, the University of Nottingham, The Ohio State University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Portsmouth, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, the University of Sussex, Texas A&MUniversity and the OzDESMembership Consortium. The DES data management system is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number AST-1138766. The DES participants from Spanish institutions are partially supported by MINECO under grants AYA2012-39559, ESP2013-48274, FPA2013-47986, and Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa SEV-2012-0234. Research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) including ERC grant agreements 240672, 291329, and 306478. Support for DG was provided by NASA through the Einstein Fellowship Program, grant PF5-160138. We are grateful for the extraordinary contributions of our CTIO colleagues and the DECam Construction, Commissioning and Science Verification teams in achieving the excellent instrument and telescope conditions which have made this work possible. The success of this project also relies critically on the expertise and dedication of the DES Data Management group.

Funders	Funder number
Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa	SEV-2012-0234
Collaborating Institutions are Argonne National Laboratory
Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey
Institut de Ciències de l'Espai
Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&MUniversity
Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom
National Science Foundation	AST-1138766
U.S. Department of Energy
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	PF5-160138
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Stanford University
Fermilab
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Pennsylvania
Ohio State University
University of Chicago
University of Michigan
University of Portsmouth
National Centre for Supercomputing Applications
Seventh Framework Programme	1138766, 240672, 306478, 660053, 291329
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Higher Education Funding Council for England
University College London
European Research Council
University of Nottingham
University of Sussex
University of Edinburgh
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad	FPA2013-47986, AYA2012-39559, ESP2013-48274
Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos
Seventh Framework Programme
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
Institut de Física d'Altes Energies

Keywords

Cosmology: observations
Gravitational lensing: weak
Large-scale structure of Universe

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10.1093/mnras/stw2745

Cite this

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title = "Cosmic voids and void lensing in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data",

abstract = "Cosmic voids are usually identified in spectroscopic galaxy surveys, where 3D information about the large-scale structure of the Universe is available. Although an increasing amount of photometric data is being produced, its potential for void studies is limited since photometric redshifts induce line-of-sight position errors of ≥50 Mpc h-1which can render many voids undetectable.We present a new void finder designed for photometric surveys, validate it using simulations, and apply it to the high-quality photo-z redMaGiC galaxy sample of the DES Science Verification data. The algorithm works by projecting galaxies into 2D slices and finding voids in the smoothed 2D galaxy density field of the slice. Fixing the line-of-sight size of the slices to be at least twice the photo-z scatter, the number of voids found in simulated spectroscopic and photometric galaxy catalogues is within 20 per cent for all transverse void sizes, and indistinguishable for the largest voids (Rν ≥ 70 Mpc h-1). The positions, radii, and projected galaxy profiles of photometric voids also accurately match the spectroscopic void sample. Applying the algorithm to the DES-SV data in the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.8, we identify 87 voids with comoving radii spanning the range 18-120 Mpc h-1, and carry out a stacked weak lensing measurement. With a significance of 4.4σ, the lensing measurement confirms that the voids are truly underdense in the matter field and hence not a product of Poisson noise, tracer density effects or systematics in the data. It also demonstrates, for the first time in real data, the viability of void lensing studies in photometric surveys.",

keywords = "Cosmology: observations, Gravitational lensing: weak, Large-scale structure of Universe",

author = "{The DES Collaboration} and C. S{\'a}nchez and J. Clampitt and A. Kovacs and B. Jain and J. Garc{\'i}a-Bellido and S. Nadathur and D. Gruen and N. Hamaus and D. Huterer and P. Vielzeuf and A. Amara and C. Bonnett and J. DeRose and Hartley, {W. G.} and M. Jarvis and O. Lahav and R. Miquel and E. Rozo and Rykoff, {E. S.} and E. Sheldon and Wechsler, {R. H.} and J. Zuntz and Abbott, {T. M.C.} and Abdalla, {F. B.} and J. Annis and A. Benoit-L{\'e}vy and Bernstein, {G. M.} and Bernstein, {R. A.} and E. Bertin and D. Brooks and E. Buckley-Geer and {Carnero Rosell}, A. and {Carrasco Kind}, M. and J. Carretero and M. Crocce and Cunha, {C. E.} and D'Andrea, {C. B.} and {da Costa}, {L. N.} and S. Desai and Diehl, {H. T.} and Dietrich, {J. P.} and P. Doel and Evrard, {A. E.} and {Fausti Neto}, A. and B. Flaugher and P. Fosalba and J. Frieman and E. Gaztanaga and Gruendl, {R. A.} and E. Suchyta",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 The Authors.",

year = "2017",

month = feb,

day = "11",

doi = "10.1093/mnras/stw2745",

language = "English",

volume = "465",

pages = "746--759",

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T1 - Cosmic voids and void lensing in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data

AU - The DES Collaboration

AU - Sánchez, C.

AU - Clampitt, J.

AU - Kovacs, A.

AU - Jain, B.

AU - García-Bellido, J.

AU - Nadathur, S.

AU - Gruen, D.

AU - Hamaus, N.

AU - Huterer, D.

AU - Vielzeuf, P.

AU - Amara, A.

AU - Bonnett, C.

AU - DeRose, J.

AU - Hartley, W. G.

AU - Jarvis, M.

AU - Lahav, O.

AU - Miquel, R.

AU - Rozo, E.

AU - Rykoff, E. S.

AU - Sheldon, E.

AU - Wechsler, R. H.

AU - Zuntz, J.

AU - Abbott, T. M.C.

AU - Abdalla, F. B.

AU - Annis, J.

AU - Benoit-Lévy, A.

AU - Bernstein, G. M.

AU - Bernstein, R. A.

AU - Bertin, E.

AU - Brooks, D.

AU - Buckley-Geer, E.

AU - Carnero Rosell, A.

AU - Carrasco Kind, M.

AU - Carretero, J.

AU - Crocce, M.

AU - Cunha, C. E.

AU - D'Andrea, C. B.

AU - da Costa, L. N.

AU - Desai, S.

AU - Diehl, H. T.

AU - Dietrich, J. P.

AU - Doel, P.

AU - Evrard, A. E.

AU - Fausti Neto, A.

AU - Flaugher, B.

AU - Fosalba, P.

AU - Frieman, J.

AU - Gaztanaga, E.

AU - Gruendl, R. A.

AU - Suchyta, E.

PY - 2017/2/11

Y1 - 2017/2/11

N2 - Cosmic voids are usually identified in spectroscopic galaxy surveys, where 3D information about the large-scale structure of the Universe is available. Although an increasing amount of photometric data is being produced, its potential for void studies is limited since photometric redshifts induce line-of-sight position errors of ≥50 Mpc h-1which can render many voids undetectable.We present a new void finder designed for photometric surveys, validate it using simulations, and apply it to the high-quality photo-z redMaGiC galaxy sample of the DES Science Verification data. The algorithm works by projecting galaxies into 2D slices and finding voids in the smoothed 2D galaxy density field of the slice. Fixing the line-of-sight size of the slices to be at least twice the photo-z scatter, the number of voids found in simulated spectroscopic and photometric galaxy catalogues is within 20 per cent for all transverse void sizes, and indistinguishable for the largest voids (Rν ≥ 70 Mpc h-1). The positions, radii, and projected galaxy profiles of photometric voids also accurately match the spectroscopic void sample. Applying the algorithm to the DES-SV data in the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.8, we identify 87 voids with comoving radii spanning the range 18-120 Mpc h-1, and carry out a stacked weak lensing measurement. With a significance of 4.4σ, the lensing measurement confirms that the voids are truly underdense in the matter field and hence not a product of Poisson noise, tracer density effects or systematics in the data. It also demonstrates, for the first time in real data, the viability of void lensing studies in photometric surveys.

AB - Cosmic voids are usually identified in spectroscopic galaxy surveys, where 3D information about the large-scale structure of the Universe is available. Although an increasing amount of photometric data is being produced, its potential for void studies is limited since photometric redshifts induce line-of-sight position errors of ≥50 Mpc h-1which can render many voids undetectable.We present a new void finder designed for photometric surveys, validate it using simulations, and apply it to the high-quality photo-z redMaGiC galaxy sample of the DES Science Verification data. The algorithm works by projecting galaxies into 2D slices and finding voids in the smoothed 2D galaxy density field of the slice. Fixing the line-of-sight size of the slices to be at least twice the photo-z scatter, the number of voids found in simulated spectroscopic and photometric galaxy catalogues is within 20 per cent for all transverse void sizes, and indistinguishable for the largest voids (Rν ≥ 70 Mpc h-1). The positions, radii, and projected galaxy profiles of photometric voids also accurately match the spectroscopic void sample. Applying the algorithm to the DES-SV data in the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.8, we identify 87 voids with comoving radii spanning the range 18-120 Mpc h-1, and carry out a stacked weak lensing measurement. With a significance of 4.4σ, the lensing measurement confirms that the voids are truly underdense in the matter field and hence not a product of Poisson noise, tracer density effects or systematics in the data. It also demonstrates, for the first time in real data, the viability of void lensing studies in photometric surveys.

KW - Cosmology: observations

KW - Gravitational lensing: weak

KW - Large-scale structure of Universe

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DO - 10.1093/mnras/stw2745

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JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 1

ER -

Cosmic voids and void lensing in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data

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Keywords

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