Constraints on local primordial non-Gaussianity with 3d Velocity Reconstruction from the Kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect

TL;DR

This paper presents the first 3D reconstruction of the large-scale cosmic velocity field from the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect, constraining primordial non-Gaussianity using combined CMB and galaxy data.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for 3D velocity field reconstruction from kSZ data and provides initial constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity.

Findings

Detected kSZ signal at 7.2σ significance.

Constrained local primordial non-Gaussianity parameter f_NL to -90^{+210}_{-350}.

Demonstrated potential for joint galaxy-CMB analyses to improve non-Gaussianity constraints.

Abstract

The cosmic velocity field is an unbiased probe of the total matter distribution but is challenging to measure directly at intermediate and high redshifts. The large-scale velocity field imprints a signal in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) through the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect. We perform the first 3d reconstruction of the large-scale velocity field from the kSZ effect by applying a quadratic estimator to CMB temperature maps and the 3d positions of galaxies. We do so by combining CMB data from the fifth data release of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (in combination with Planck) and a spectroscopic galaxy sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We then measure the galaxy-velocity cross-power spectrum and detect the presence of the kSZ signal at a signal-to-noise ratio of 7.2$\sigma$. Using this galaxy-velocity cross-correlation alone, we constrain the amplitude of local primordial non-Gaussianity finding $f_{\rm NL}=-90^{+210}_{-350}$. This pathfinder measurement sets the stage for joint galaxy-CMB kSZ constraints to significantly enhance the $f_{\rm NL}$ information obtained from galaxy surveys through sample variance cancellation.