Iskay2: Signal Extraction of the Kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Through The Pairwise Estimator. Pipeline and Validation

TL;DR

Iskay2 is a new pipeline that enhances the measurement of the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect by efficiently applying the pairwise estimator to CMB and galaxy data, enabling precise cosmological insights.

Contribution

The paper introduces iskay2, an efficient and validated pipeline for applying the pairwise kSZ estimator to CMB and galaxy catalogs, facilitating high-precision cosmological measurements.

Findings

Pipeline produces results consistent with previous measurements.

Enables high-precision pairwise kSZ measurements with upcoming surveys.

Validated through comparison with published results.

Abstract

The peculiar motions of massive halos probe the distribution of matter in the universe, the gravitational potential, and the history of cosmic structure growth. The kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect offers a robust observational window into these properties. The pairwise kSZ estimator probes the pairwise momentum of groups of galaxies by cross-correlating cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps with spectroscopic galaxy catalogs, using galaxies to trace the positions of dark matter halos. This note introduces iskay2, an efficient pipeline designed to apply the pairwise kSZ estimator to maps of the CMB and large galaxy catalogs. Pairwise kSZ measurements obtained using this pipeline are compared to previously published results and are shown to be consistent within statistical expectations. This pipeline will enable high-precision measurements of the pairwise kSZ utilizing galaxy catalogs like DESI combined with past, current and next-generation high-resolution CMB experiments such as ACT, SPT and the Simons Observatory.