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Register a new userFractional Polarisation of Extragalactic Sources in the 500-square-degree SPTpol Survey
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We study the polarisation properties of extragalactic sources at 95 and 150 GHz in the SPTpol 500 deg$^2$ survey. We estimate the polarised power by stacking maps at known source positions, and correct for noise bias by subtracting the mean polarised power at random positions in the maps. We show that the method is unbiased using a set of simulated maps with similar noise properties to the real SPTpol maps. We find a flux-weighted mean-squared polarisation fraction $langle p^2 rangle= [8.9pm1.1] times 10^{-4}$ at 95 GHz and $[6.9pm1.1] times 10^{-4}$ at 150~GHz for the full sample. This is consistent with the values obtained for a sub-sample of active galactic nuclei. For dusty sources, we find 95 per cent upper limits of $langle p^2 rangle_{rm 95}<16.9 times 10^{-3}$ and $langle p^2 rangle_{rm 150}<2.6 times 10^{-3}$. We find no evidence that the polarisation fraction depends on the source flux or observing frequency. The 1-$sigma$ upper limit on measured mean squared polarisation fraction at 150 GHz implies that extragalactic foregrounds will be subdominant to the CMB E and B mode polarisation power spectra out to at least $elllesssim5700$ ($elllesssim4700$) and $elllesssim5300$ ($elllesssim3600$), respectively at 95 (150) GHz.
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We present a catalog of galaxy cluster candidates detected in 100 square degrees surveyed with the SPTpol receiver on the South Pole Telescope. The catalog contains 89 candidates detected with a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 4.6. The candidates are selected using the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect at 95 and 150 GHz. Using both space- and ground-based optical and infrared telescopes, we have confirmed 81 candidates as galaxy clusters. We use these follow-up images and archival images to estimate photometric redshifts for 66 galaxy clusters and spectroscopic observations to obtain redshifts for 13 systems. An additional 2 galaxy clusters are confirmed using the overdensity of near-infrared galaxies only, and are presented without redshifts. We find that 15 candidates (18% of the total sample) are at redshift of $z geq 1.0$, with a maximum confirmed redshift of $z_{rm{max}} = 1.38 pm 0.10$. We expect this catalog to contain every galaxy cluster with $M_{500c} > 2.6 times 10^{14} M_odot h^{-1}_{70}$ and $z > 0.25$ in the survey area. The mass threshold is approximately constant above $z = 0.25$, and the complete catalog has a median mass of approximately $ M_{500c} = 2.7 times 10^{14} M_odot h^{-1}_{70}$. Compared to previous SPT works, the increased depth of the millimeter-wave data (11.2 and 6.5 $mu$K-arcmin at 95 and 150 GHz, respectively) makes it possible to find more galaxy clusters at high redshift and lower mass.
We estimate the average fractional polarisation at 143, 217 and 353 GHz of a sample of 4697 extragalactic dusty sources by applying stacking technique. The sample is selected from the second version of the Planck Catalogue of Compact Sources at 857 GHz, avoiding the region inside the Planck Galactic mask (fsky ~ 60 per cent). We recover values for the mean fractional polarisation at 217 and 353 GHz of (3.10 pm 0.75) per cent and (3.65 pm 0.66) per cent, respectively, whereas at 143 GHz we give a tentative value of (3.52 pm 2.48) per cent. We discuss the possible origin of the measured polarisation, comparing our new estimates with those previously obtained from a sample of radio sources. We test different distribution functions and we conclude that the fractional polarisation of dusty sources is well described by a log-normal distribution, as determined in the radio band studies. For this distribution we estimate {mu}_{217GHz} = 0.3 pm 0.5 (that would correspond to a median fractional polarisation of {Pi}_{med} = (1.3 pm 0.7) per cent) and {mu}_{353GHz} = 0.7 pm 0.4 ({Pi}_{med} = (2.0 pm 0.8) per cent), {sigma}_{217GHz} = 1.3 pm 0.2 and {sigma}_{353GHz} = 1.1 pm 0.2. With these values we estimate the source number counts in polarisation and the contribution given by these sources to the CMB B-mode angular power spectrum at 217, 353, 600 and 800 GHz. We conclude that extragalactic dusty sources might be an important contaminant for the primordial B-mode at frequencies > 217 GHz.
We report a B-mode power spectrum measurement from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization anisotropy observations made using the SPTpol instrument on the South Pole Telescope. This work uses 500 deg$^2$ of SPTpol data, a five-fold increase over the last SPTpol B-mode release. As a result, the bandpower uncertainties have been reduced by more than a factor of two, and the measurement extends to lower multipoles: $52 < ell < 2301$. Data from both 95 and 150 GHz are used, allowing for three cross-spectra: 95 GHz x 95 GHz, 95 GHz x 150 GHz, and 150 GHz x 150 GHz. B-mode power is detected at very high significance; we find $P(BB < 0) = 5.8 times 10^{-71}$, corresponding to a $18.1 sigma$ detection of power. An upper limit is set on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r < 0.44$ at 95% confidence (the expected $1 sigma$ constraint on $r$ given the measurement uncertainties is 0.22). We find the measured B-mode power is consistent with the Planck best-fit $Lambda$CDM model predictions. Scaling the predicted lensing B-mode power in this model by a factor Alens, the data prefer Alens = $1.17 pm 0.13$. These data are currently the most precise measurements of B-mode power at $ell > 320$.
We report the results of an 87 square-degree point-source survey centered at R.A. 5h30m, decl. -55 deg. taken with the South Pole Telescope (SPT) at 1.4 and 2.0 mm wavelengths with arc-minute resolution and milli-Jansky depth. Based on the ratio of flux in the two bands, we separate the detected sources into two populations, one consistent with synchrotron emission from active galactic nuclei (AGN) and one consistent with thermal emission from dust. We present source counts for each population from 11 to 640 mJy at 1.4 mm and from 4.4 to 800 mJy at 2.0 mm. The 2.0 mm counts are dominated by synchrotron-dominated sources across our reported flux range; the 1.4 mm counts are dominated by synchroton-dominated sources above ~15 mJy and by dust-dominated sources below that flux level. We detect 141 synchrotron-dominated sources and 47 dust-dominated sources at S/N > 4.5 in at least one band. All of the most significantly detected members of the synchrotron-dominated population are associated with sources in previously published radio catalogs. Some of the dust-dominated sources are associated with nearby (z << 1) galaxies whose dust emission is also detected by the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS). However, most of the bright, dust-dominated sources have no counterparts in any existing catalogs. We argue that these sources represent the rarest and brightest members of the population commonly referred to as sub-millimeter galaxies (SMGs). Because these sources are selected at longer wavelengths than in typical SMG surveys, they are expected to have a higher mean redshift distribution and may provide a new window on galaxy formation in the early universe.
We present measurements of the $E$-mode polarization angular auto-power spectrum ($EE$) and temperature-$E$-mode cross-power spectrum ($TE$) of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) using 150 GHz data from three seasons of SPTpol observations. We report the power spectra over the spherical harmonic multipole range $50 < ell leq 8000$, and detect nine acoustic peaks in the $EE$ spectrum with high signal-to-noise ratio. These measurements are the most sensitive to date of the $EE$ and $TE$ power spectra at $ell > 1050$ and $ell > 1475$, respectively. The observations cover 500 deg$^2$, a fivefold increase in area compared to previous SPTpol analyses, which increases our sensitivity to the photon diffusion damping tail of the CMB power spectra enabling tighter constraints on LCDM model extensions. After masking all sources with unpolarized flux $>50$ mJy we place a 95% confidence upper limit on residual polarized point-source power of $D_ell = ell(ell+1)C_ell/2pi <0.107,mu{rm K}^2$ at $ell=3000$, suggesting that the $EE$ damping tail dominates foregrounds to at least $ell = 4050$ with modest source masking. We find that the SPTpol dataset is in mild tension with the $Lambda CDM$ model ($2.1,sigma$), and different data splits prefer parameter values that differ at the $sim 1,sigma$ level. When fitting SPTpol data at $ell < 1000$ we find cosmological parameter constraints consistent with those for $Planck$ temperature. Including SPTpol data at $ell > 1000$ results in a preference for a higher value of the expansion rate ($H_0 = 71.3 pm 2.1,mbox{km},s^{-1}mbox{Mpc}^{-1}$ ) and a lower value for present-day density fluctuations ($sigma_8 = 0.77 pm 0.02$).
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