Cross-correlating the patchy screening and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects as a new probe of reionization

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kramer, Darby, van Engelen, Alexander, Cain, Christopher, MacCrann, Niall, Trac, Hy, Grayson, Skylar, Scannapieco, Evan, Sherwin, Blake
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Kramer, Darby
van Engelen, Alexander
Cain, Christopher
MacCrann, Niall
Trac, Hy
Grayson, Skylar
Scannapieco, Evan
Sherwin, Blake
author_facet Kramer, Darby
van Engelen, Alexander
Cain, Christopher
MacCrann, Niall
Trac, Hy
Grayson, Skylar
Scannapieco, Evan
Sherwin, Blake
contents The kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (kSZ) and patchy screening effect are two complementary cosmic microwave background (CMB) probes of the reionization era. The kSZ effect is a relatively strong signal, but is difficult to disentangle from other sources of temperature anisotropy, whereas patchy screening is weaker but can be reconstructed using the cleaner polarization channel. Here, we explore the potential of using upcoming CMB surveys to correlate a reconstructed map of patchy screening with (the square of) the kSZ map, and what a detection of this cross-correlation would mean for reionization science. To do this, we use simulations and theory to quantify the contributions to this signal from different redshifts. We then use the expected survey properties for CMB-S4 and CMB-HD to make detection forecasts. We find that, for or our fiducial reionization scenario, CMB-S4 will obtain a hint of this signal at up to 1.8$σ$, and CMB-HD will detect it at up to 14$σ$. We explore the physical interpretation of the signal and find that it is uniquely sensitive to the first half of reionization and to the bispectrum of the ionized gas distribution.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_07623
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Cross-correlating the patchy screening and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects as a new probe of reionization
Kramer, Darby
van Engelen, Alexander
Cain, Christopher
MacCrann, Niall
Trac, Hy
Grayson, Skylar
Scannapieco, Evan
Sherwin, Blake
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
The kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (kSZ) and patchy screening effect are two complementary cosmic microwave background (CMB) probes of the reionization era. The kSZ effect is a relatively strong signal, but is difficult to disentangle from other sources of temperature anisotropy, whereas patchy screening is weaker but can be reconstructed using the cleaner polarization channel. Here, we explore the potential of using upcoming CMB surveys to correlate a reconstructed map of patchy screening with (the square of) the kSZ map, and what a detection of this cross-correlation would mean for reionization science. To do this, we use simulations and theory to quantify the contributions to this signal from different redshifts. We then use the expected survey properties for CMB-S4 and CMB-HD to make detection forecasts. We find that, for or our fiducial reionization scenario, CMB-S4 will obtain a hint of this signal at up to 1.8$σ$, and CMB-HD will detect it at up to 14$σ$. We explore the physical interpretation of the signal and find that it is uniquely sensitive to the first half of reionization and to the bispectrum of the ionized gas distribution.
title Cross-correlating the patchy screening and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects as a new probe of reionization
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.07623