Robert Crittenden

A correlation between the cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure in the Universe

Observations of distant supernovae and the fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) indicate that the expansion of the Universe may be accelerating under the action of a ‘cosmological constant’ or some other form of ‘dark energy’. This dark energy now appears to dominate the Universe and not only alters its expansion rate, but also affects the evolution of fluctuations in the density of matter, slowing down the gravitational collapse of material (into, for example, clusters of galaxies) in recent times. Additional fluctuations in the temperature of CMB photons are induced as they pass through large-scale structures and these fluctuations are necessarily correlated with the distribution of relatively nearby matter. Here we report the detection of correlations between recent CMB data and two probes of large-scale structure: the X-ray background and the distribution of radio galaxies. These correlations are consistent with those predicted by dark energy, indicating that we are seeing the imprint of dark energy on the growth of structure in the Universe.The fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have proved an invaluable tool for uncovering the nature of our universe. The recent dramatic data provided by the WMAP satellite [1] have confirmed previous indications that the expansion of the universe may be accelerating[2], driven by a cosmological constant or similar dark energy component. One consequence of dark energy is the suppression of the rate of gravitational collapse of matter at relatively recent times. This causes fluctuations in the CMB to be created as the photons pass through nearby large scale structures, a phenomenon known as the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect. The result is additional large scale fluctuations in the CMB which are correlated with the relatively nearby (i.e., at redshift z ∼ 1) matter distribution [3]. Here we report evidence of correlations between the WMAP data and two all sky probes of large scale structure, the hard X-ray background observed by the HEAO-1 satellite [4] and the NVSS survey of radio galaxies [5]. Both observed correlations are consistent with an ISW origin, indicating that we are seeing the impact of dark energy on the growth of structure.

Spin-induced Galaxy Alignments and Their Implications for Weak-Lensing Measurements

Large-scale correlations in the orientations of galaxies can result from alignments in their angular momentum vectors. These alignments arise from the tidal torques exerted on neighboring protogalaxies by the smoothly varying shear field. We compute the predicted amplitude of such ellipticity correlations using the Zeldovich approximation for a realistic distribution of galaxy shapes. Weak gravitational lensing can also induce ellipticity correlations, since the images of neighboring galaxies will be distorted coherently. On comparing these two effects that induce shape correlations, we find that for current weak-lensing surveys with a median redshift of zm = 1, the intrinsic signal is of the order of 1%-10% of the measured signal. However, for shallower surveys with zm ≤ 0.3, the intrinsic correlations dominate over the lensing signal. The distortions induced by lensing are curl-free, whereas those resulting from intrinsic alignments are not. This difference can be used to disentangle these two sources of ellipticity correlations.

Combined analysis of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect and cosmological implications

We present a global measurement of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect obtained by cross correlating all relevant large-scale galaxy data sets with the cosmic microwave background radiation map provided by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. With these measurements, the overall ISW signal is detected at the

Discriminating weak lensing from intrinsic spin correlations using the curl-gradient decomposition

\ensuremath{\sim}4.5\ensuremath{\sigma}

Looking for a cosmological constant with the Rees-Sciama effect.

level. We also examine the cosmological implications of these measurements, particularly the dark energy equation of state

Ameliorating systematic uncertainties in the angular clustering of galaxies: a study using the SDSS-III

w

The clustering of Galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: including covariance matrix errors

, its sound speed

High redshift detection of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect

{c}_{s}

Improved primordial non-gaussianity constraints from measurements of galaxy clustering and the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect

, and the overall curvature of the Universe. The flat

Disentangling non-Gaussianity, bias and general relativistic effects in the galaxy distribution

\ensuremath{\Lambda}\mathrm{CDM}