We study the prospects to measure the cosmic radio dipole by means of continuum surveys with the Square Kilometre Array. Such a measurement will allow a critical test of the cosmological principle. It will test whether the cosmic rest frame defined by the cosmic microwave background at photon decoupling agrees with the cosmic rest frame of matter at late times.
The dipole anisotropy seen in the {cosmic microwave background radiation} is interpreted as due to our peculiar motion. The Cosmological Principle implies that this cosmic dipole signal should also be present, with the same direction, in the large-sc
ale distribution of matter. Measurement of the cosmic matter dipole constitutes a key test of the standard cosmological model. Current measurements of this dipole are barely above the expected noise and unable to provide a robust test. Upcoming radio continuum surveys with the SKA should be able to detect the dipole at high signal to noise. We simulate number count maps for SKA survey specifications in Phases 1 and 2, including all relevant effects. Nonlinear effects from local large-scale structure contaminate the {cosmic (kinematic)} dipole signal, and we find that removal of radio sources at low redshift ($zlesssim 0.5$) leads to significantly improved constraints. We forecast that the SKA could determine the kinematic dipole direction in Galactic coordinates with an error of $(Delta l,Delta b)sim(9^circ,5^circ)$ to $(8^circ, 4^circ)$, depending on the sensitivity. The predicted errors on the relative speed are $sim 10%$. These measurements would significantly reduce the present uncertainty on the direction of the radio dipole, and thus enable the first critical test of consistency between the matter and CMB dipoles.
The origin and contributions to the Cosmic Radio Dipole are of great interest in cosmology. Recent studies revealed open questions about the nature of the observed Cosmic Radio Dipole. We use simulated source count maps to test a linear and a quadrat
ic Cosmic Radio Dipole estimator for possible biases in the estimated dipole directions and contributions from the masking procedure. We find a superiority of the quadratic estimator, which is then used to analyse the TGSS-ADR1, WENSS, SUMSS, and NVSS radio source catalogues, spreading over a decade of frequencies. The same masking strategy is applied to all four surveys to produce comparable results. In order to address the differences in the observed dipole amplitudes, we cross-match two surveys, located at both ends of the analysed frequency range. For the linear estimator, we identify a general bias in the estimated dipole directions. The positional offsets of the quadratic estimator to the CMB dipole for skies with $10^7$ simulated sources is found to be below one degree and the accuracy of the estimated dipole amplitudes is below $10^{-3}$. For the four radio source catalogues, we find an increasing dipole amplitude with decreasing frequency, which is consistent with results from the literature and results of the cross-matched catalogue. We conclude that for all analysed surveys, the observed Cosmic Radio Dipole amplitudes exceed the expectation, derived from the CMB dipole.
The study of the Universe on ultra-large scales is one of the major science cases for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The SKA will be able to probe a vast volume of the cosmos, thus representing a unique instrument, amongst next-generation cosmolog
ical experiments, for scrutinising the Universes properties on the largest cosmic scales. Probing cosmic structures on extremely large scales will have many advantages. For instance, the growth of perturbations is well understood for those modes, since it falls fully within the linear regime. Also, such scales are unaffected by the poorly understood feedback of baryonic physics. On ultra-large cosmic scales, two key effects become significant: primordial non-Gaussianity and relativistic corrections to cosmological observables. Moreover, if late-time acceleration is driven not by dark energy but by modifications to general relativity, then such modifications should become apparent near and above the horizon scale. As a result, the SKA is forecast to deliver transformational constraints on non-Gaussianity and to probe gravity on super-horizon scales for the first time.
Although the Hubble constant $H_0$ and spatial curvature $Omega_{K}$ have been measured with very high precision, they still suffer from some tensions. In this paper, we propose an improved method to combine the observations of ultra-compact structur
e in radio quasars and strong gravitational lensing with quasars acting as background sources to determine $H_0$ and $Omega_{K}$ simultaneously. By applying the distance sum rule to the time-delay measurements of 7 strong lensing systems and 120 intermediate-luminosity quasars calibrated as standard rulers, we obtain stringent constraints on the Hubble constant ($H_0=78.3pm2.9 mathrm{~km~s^{-1}~Mpc^{-1}}$) and the cosmic curvature ($Omega_K=0.49pm0.24$). On the one hand, in the framework of a flat universe, the measured Hubble constant ($H_0=73.6^{+1.8}_{-1.6} mathrm{~km~s^{-1}~Mpc^{-1}}$) is strongly consistent with that derived from the local distance ladder, with a precision of 2%. On the other hand, if we use the local $H_0$ measurement as a prior, our results are marginally compatible with zero spatial curvature ($Omega_K=0.23^{+0.15}_{-0.17}$) and there is no significant deviation from a flat universe. Finally, we also evaluate whether strongly lensed quasars would produce robust constraints on $H_0$ and $Omega_{K}$ in the non-flat and flat $Lambda$CDM model if the compact radio structure measurements are available from VLBI observations.
The observed dipole anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature is much larger than the fluctuations observed on smaller scales and is dominated by the kinematic contribution from the Doppler shifting of the monopole due to our mo
tion with respect to the CMB rest frame. In addition to this kinematic component, there is expected to be an intrinsic contribution with an amplitude about two orders of magnitude smaller. Here we explore a method whereby the intrinsic CMB dipole can be reconstructed through observation of temperature fluctuations on small scales which result from gravitational lensing. Though the experimental requirements pose practical challenges, we show that one can in principle achieve a cosmic variance limited measurement of the primary dipole using the reconstruction method we describe. Since the primary CMB dipole is sensitive to the largest observable scales, such a measurement would have a number of interesting applications for early universe physics, including testing large-scale anomalies, extending the lever-arm for measuring local non-Gaussianity, and constraining isocurvature fluctuations on super-horizon scales.