ABSTRACT
The correlation between the broad line region radius and continuum luminosity (R–L relation) of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is critical for single-epoch mass estimates of supermassive ...black holes (SMBHs). At z ∼ 1–2, where AGN activity peaks, the R–L relation is constrained by the reverberation mapping (RM) lags of the Mg ii line. We present 25 Mg ii lags from the Australian Dark Energy Survey RM project based on 6 yr of monitoring. We define quantitative criteria to select good lag measurements and verify their reliability with simulations based on both the damped random walk stochastic model and the rescaled, resampled versions of the observed light curves of local, well-measured AGN. Our sample significantly increases the number of Mg ii lags and extends the R–L relation to higher redshifts and luminosities. The relative iron line strength $\mathcal {R}_{\rm Fe}$ has little impact on the R–L relation. The best-fitting Mg iiR–L relation has a slope α = 0.39 ± 0.08 with an intrinsic scatter $\sigma _{\rm rl} = 0.15^{+0.03}_{-0.02}$ . The slope is consistent with previous measurements and shallower than the H β R–L relation. The intrinsic scatter of the new R–L relation is substantially smaller than previous studies and comparable to the intrinsic scatter of the H β R–L relation. Our new R–L relation will enable more precise single-epoch mass estimates and SMBH demographic studies at cosmic noon.
Abstract
We present deep
g
- and
r
-band Magellan/Megacam photometry of two dwarf galaxy candidates discovered in the Dark Energy Survey (DES), Grus
i
and Indus
ii
(DES J2038–4609). For the case of ...Grus
i
, we resolved the main sequence turn-off (MSTO) and ∼2 mags below it. The MSTO can be seen at
g
0
∼ 24 with a photometric uncertainty of 0.03 mag. We show Grus
i
to be consistent with an old, metal-poor (∼13.3 Gyr, Fe/H ∼ −1.9) dwarf galaxy. We derive updated distance and structural parameters for Grus
i
using this deep, uniform, wide-field data set. We find an azimuthally-averaged halflight radius more than two times larger (∼151
+21
−31
pc; ∼
4
.′
16
−
0.74
+
0.54
) and an absolute
V
-band magnitude ∼−4.1 that is ∼1 magnitude brighter than previous studies. We obtain updated distance, ellipticity, and centroid parameters that are in agreement with other studies within uncertainties. Although our photometry of Indus
ii
is ∼2–3 magnitudes deeper than the DES Y1 public release, we find no coherent stellar population at its reported location. The original detection was located in an incomplete region of sky in the DES Y2Q1 data set and was flagged due to potential blue horizontal branch member stars. The best-fit isochrone parameters are physically inconsistent with both dwarf galaxies and globular clusters. We conclude that Indus
ii
is likely a false positive, flagged due to a chance alignment of stars along the line of sight.
ABSTRACT
Reverberation mapping measurements have been used to constrain the relationship between the size of the broad-line region and luminosity of active galactic nuclei (AGN). This R–L relation is ...used to estimate single-epoch virial black hole masses, and has been proposed to use to standardize AGN to determine cosmological distances. We present reverberation measurements made with Hβ from the 6-yr Australian Dark Energy Survey (OzDES) Reverberation Mapping Program. We successfully recover reverberation lags for eight AGN at 0.12 < z < 0.71, probing higher redshifts than the bulk of Hβ measurements made to date. Our fit to the R–L relation has a slope of α = 0.41 ± 0.03 and an intrinsic scatter of σ = 0.23 ± 0.02 dex. The results from our multi-object spectroscopic survey are consistent with previous measurements made by dedicated source-by-source campaigns, and with the observed dependence on accretion rate. Future surveys, including LSST, TiDES, and SDSS-V, which will be revisiting some of our observed fields, will be able to build on the results of our first-generation multi-object reverberation mapping survey.
We measure the clustering of DES year 1 galaxies that are intended to be combined with weak lensing samples in order to produce precise cosmological constraints from the joint analysis of large-scale ...structure and lensing correlations. Two-point correlation functions are measured for a sample of 6.6×105 luminous red galaxies selected using the redMaGiC algorithm over an area of 1321 square degrees, in the redshift range 0.15<z<0.9, split into five tomographic redshift bins. The sample has a mean redshift uncertainty of σz/(1+z)=0.017. We quantify and correct spurious correlations induced by spatially variable survey properties, testing their impact on the clustering measurements and covariance. We demonstrate the sample’s robustness by testing for stellar contamination, for potential biases that could arise from the systematic correction, and for the consistency between the two-point auto- and cross-correlation functions. We show that the corrections we apply have a significant impact on the resultant measurement of cosmological parameters, but that the results are robust against arbitrary choices in the correction method. We find the linear galaxy bias in each redshift bin in a fiducial cosmology to be b(σ8/0.81)|z=0.24=1.40±0.07, b(σ8/0.81)|z=0.38=1.60±0.05, b(σ8/0.81)|z=0.53=1.60±0.04 for galaxies with luminosities L/L*>0.5, b(σ8/0.81)|z=0.68=1.93±0.04 for L/L*>1 and b(σ8/0.81)|z=0.83=1.98±0.07 for L/L*>1.5, broadly consistent with expectations for the redshift and luminosity dependence of the bias of red galaxies. We show these measurements to be consistent with the linear bias obtained from tangential shear measurements.
Abstract
Stochastic field distortions caused by atmospheric turbulence are a fundamental limitation to the astrometric accuracy of ground-based imaging. This distortion field is measurable at the ...locations of stars with accurate positions provided by the Gaia DR2 catalog; we develop the use of Gaussian process regression (GPR) to interpolate the distortion field to arbitrary locations in each exposure. We introduce an extension to standard GPR techniques that exploits the knowledge that the 2D distortion field is curl-free. Applied to several hundred 90 s exposures from the Dark Energy Survey as a test bed, we find that the GPR correction reduces the variance of the turbulent astrometric distortions ≈12× , on average, with better performance in denser regions of the Gaia catalog. The rms per-coordinate distortion in the
riz
bands is typically ≈7 mas before any correction and ≈2 mas after application of the GPR model. The GPR astrometric corrections are validated by the observation that their use reduces, from 10 to 5 mas rms, the residuals to an orbit fit to
riz
-band observations over 5 yr of the
r
= 18.5 trans-Neptunian object Eris. We also propose a GPR method, not yet implemented, for simultaneously estimating the turbulence fields and the 5D stellar solutions in a stack of overlapping exposures, which should yield further turbulence reductions in future deep surveys.
We present a tomographic measurement of the cross-correlation between thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (TSZ) maps from Planck and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and weak galaxy lensing shears measured ...during the first three years of observations of the Dark Energy Survey. This correlation is sensitive to the thermal energy in baryons over a wide redshift range and is therefore a powerful probe of astrophysical feedback. We detect the correlation at a statistical significance of 21σ, the highest significance to date. We examine the TSZ maps for potential contaminants, including cosmic infrared background and radio sources, finding that cosmic infrared background has a substantial impact on our measurements and must be taken into account in our analysis. We use the cross-correlation measurements to test different feedback models. In particular, we model the TSZ using several different pressure profile models calibrated against hydrodynamical simulations. Our analysis marginalizes over redshift uncertainties, shear calibration biases, and intrinsic alignment effects. We also marginalize over Ωm and σ8 using Planck or DES priors. We find that the data prefer the model with a low amplitude of the pressure profile at small scales, compatible with a scenario with strong active galactic nuclei feedback and ejection of gas from the inner part of the halos. When using a more flexible model for the shear profile, constraints are weaker, and the data cannot discriminate between different baryonic prescriptions.
Abstract
We use 6 yr of data from the Dark Energy Survey to perform a detailed photometric characterization of the Phoenix stellar stream, a 15° long, thin, dynamically cold, low-metallicity stellar ...system in the Southern Hemisphere. We use natural splines, a nonparametric modeling technique, to simultaneously fit the stream track, width, and linear density. This updated stream model allows us to improve measurements of the heliocentric distance (17.4 ± 0.1 (stat.) ±0.8 (sys.) kpc) and distance gradient (−0.009 ± 0.006 kpc deg
−1
) of Phoenix, which corresponds to a small change of 0.13 ± 0.09 kpc in heliocentric distance along the length of the stream. We measure linear intensity variations on degree scales, as well as deviations in the stream track on ∼2° scales, suggesting that the stream may have been disturbed during its formation and/or evolution. We recover three peaks and one gap in linear intensity along with fluctuations in the stream track. Compared to other thin streams, the Phoenix stream shows more fluctuations and, consequently, the study of Phoenix offers a unique perspective on gravitational perturbations of stellar streams. We discuss possible sources of perturbations to Phoenix, including baryonic structures in the Galaxy and dark matter subhalos.
Moderate, long-term weight loss results in the loss of bone mass in overweight or obese premenopausal women. However, whether these changes persist during weight maintenance or regain remains to be ...determined.
Overweight or obese (body mass index: 25.8-42.5 kg/m(2)) women (n=40) with at least two risk factors for the metabolic syndrome participated in this 12-month study that examined the effects of prescribed weight loss and regain, with or without exercise, on bone turnover and on bone mineral density (BMD) in a subset of participants (n=24). During the first 6 month, participants lost ≈ 10% of their initial body weight via energy restriction and supervised aerobic exercise. Following weight loss, participants were randomly assigned to either an exercise or a no exercise treatment for the regain (+50% of weight lost) phase. A one-way (time) repeated measures one-factor analysis of variance (RMANOVA) tested the effects of weight loss on BMD and bone turnover, and a two-way RMANOVA (time, exercise) was used to examine the effects of exercise during weight regain.
Hip (P=0.007) and lumbar spine (P=0.05) BMD decreased with weight loss, and remained reduced after weight regain with or without exercise. Likewise, the weight-loss-associated increases in osteocalcin (P<0.001) and C-terminal peptide of type I collagen (P<0.001) persisted following weight regain, independent of exercise.
The results of the present study, which is the first to examine changes in bone mass and turnover during carefully controlled weight regain, suggest that weight-loss-induced perturbations in bone mass and turnover persist after partial weight regain, regardless of whether regular weight-bearing aerobic exercise was continued.
We analyze Dark Energy Survey (DES) data to constrain a cosmological model where a subset of parameters-focusing on Ωm-are split into versions associated with structure growth (e.g., Ωmgrow) and ...expansion history (e.g., Ωmgeo). Once the parameters have been specified for the ΛCDM cosmological model, which includes general relativity as a theory of gravity, it uniquely predicts the evolution of both geometry (distances) and the growth of structure over cosmic time. Any inconsistency between measurements of geometry and growth could therefore indicate a breakdown of that model. Our growth-geometry split approach therefore serves both as a (largely) model-independent test for beyond-ΛCDM physics, and as a means to characterize how DES observables provide cosmological information. We analyze the same multiprobe DES data as Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 171301 (2019) : DES Year 1 (Y1) galaxy clustering and weak lensing, which are sensitive to both growth and geometry, as well as Y1 BAO and Y3 supernovae, which probe geometry. We additionally include external geometric information from BOSS DR12 BAO and a compressed Planck 2015 likelihood, and external growth information from BOSS DR12 RSD. We find no significant disagreement with Ωmgrow=Ωmgeo. When DES and external data are analyzed separately, degeneracies with neutrino mass and intrinsic alignments limit our ability to measure Ωmgrow, but combining DES with external data allows us to constrain both growth and geometric quantities. We also consider a parametrization where we split both Ωm and w, but find that even our most constraining data combination is unable to separately constrain Ωmgrow and wgrow. Relative to ΛCDM, splitting growth and geometry weakens bounds on σ8 but does not alter constraints on h.
ABSTRACT
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are used as standardizable candles to measure cosmological distances, but differences remain in their corrected luminosities which display a magnitude step as a ...function of host galaxy properties such as stellar mass and rest-frame U−R colour. Identifying the cause of these steps is key to cosmological analyses and provides insight into SN physics. Here we investigate the effects of SN progenitor ages on their light-curve properties using a galaxy-based forward model that we compare to the Dark Energy Survey 5-yr SN Ia sample. We trace SN Ia progenitors through time and draw their light-curve width parameters from a bimodal distribution according to their age. We find that an intrinsic luminosity difference between SNe of different ages cannot explain the observed trend between step size and SN colour. The data split by stellar mass are better reproduced by following recent work implementing a step in total-to-selective dust extinction ratio (RV) between low- and high-mass hosts, although an additional intrinsic luminosity step is still required to explain the data split by host galaxy U−R. Modelling the RV step as a function of galaxy age provides a better match overall. Additional age versus luminosity steps marginally improve the match to the data, although most of the step is absorbed by the width versus luminosity coefficient α. Furthermore, we find no evidence that α varies with SN age.
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