The intrinsic alignment of red galaxies in DES Y1 redMaPPer galaxy clusters

Journal Article · 07 September 2023 · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad2712 · OSTI ID:2004618

Zhou, C. ; Tong, A.; Troxel, M. A. ; Blazek, J.; Lin, C. ; Bacon, D.; Bleem, L.; Chang, C. ; Costanzi, M. ; DeRose, J.; Dietrich, J. P.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Gruen, D.; Gruendl, R. A.; Hoyle, B.; Jarvis, M.; MacCrann, N.; Mawdsley, B.; McClintock, T.; Melchior, P. ; Prat, J.; Pujol, A.; Rozo, E.; Rykoff, E. S.; Samuroff, S.; Sheldon, E.; Shin, T.; Rosell, A. Carnero; Yanny, B.; Sánchez, C.; Tucker, D. L.; Sevilla-Noarbe, I.; Zuntz, J.; Varga, T. N.; Zhang, Y.; Alves, O.; Amon, A.; Bertin, E.; Brooks, D.; Burke, D. L.; Kind, M. Carrasco; da Costa, L. N.; Davis, T. M.; De Vicente, J.; Desai, S.; Diehl, H. T.; Doel, P.; Everett, S.; Ferrero, I.; Flaugher, B.; Frieman, J.; Gerdes, D. W.; Gutierrez, G.; Hinton, S. R.; Hollowood, D. L.; Honscheid, K.; James, D. J.; Jeltema, T.; Kuehn, K.; Lahav, O.; Lima, M.; Marshall, J. L.; Mena-Fernández, J.; Menanteau, F.; Miquel, R.; Palmese, A.; Paz-Chinchón, F.; Pieres, A.; Malagón, A. A. Plazas; Porredon, A.; Raveri, M.; Romer, A. K.; Sanchez, E.; Smith, M.; Soares-Santos, M.; Suchyta, E.; Swanson, M. E. C.; Tarle, G.; To, C.; Weaverdyck, N.; Weller, J.; Wiseman, P.

ABSTRACT Clusters of galaxies trace the most non-linear peaks in the cosmic density field. The weak gravitational lensing of background galaxies by clusters can allow us to infer their masses. However, galaxies associated with the local environment of the cluster can also be intrinsically aligned due to the local tidal gradient, contaminating any cosmology derived from the lensing signal. We measure this intrinsic alignment in Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 redMaPPer clusters. We find evidence of a non-zero mean radial alignment of galaxies within clusters between redshifts 0.1–0.7. We find a significant systematic in the measured ellipticities of cluster satellite galaxies that we attribute to the central galaxy flux and other intracluster light. We attempt to correct this signal, and fit a simple model for intrinsic alignment amplitude (AIA) to the measurement, finding AIA = 0.15 ± 0.04, when excluding data near the edge of the cluster. We find a significantly stronger alignment of the central galaxy with the cluster dark matter halo at low redshift and with higher richness and central galaxy absolute magnitude (proxies for cluster mass). This is an important demonstration of the ability of large photometric data sets like DES to provide direct constraints on the intrinsic alignment of galaxies within clusters. These measurements can inform improvements to small-scale modelling and simulation of the intrinsic alignment of galaxies to help improve the separation of the intrinsic alignment signal in weak lensing studies.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Arizona U.; Australia, CSIRO, North Ryde; Barcelona, Autonoma U.; Barcelona, IEEC; Barcelona, IFAE; Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Caltech, JPL; Cambridge U.; Cambridge U., DAMTP; Cambridge U., Inst. of Astron.; Carnegie Mellon U.; Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr.; Chicago U., EFI; Chicago U., KICP; Duke U.; Duke University, Durham, NC (United States); Edinburgh U., Inst. Astron.; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Garching, Max Planck Inst., MPE; Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys.; IAC, La Laguna; ICREA, Barcelona; IFPU, Trieste; INFN, Genoa; INFN, Trieste; Illinois U., Urbana, Astron. Dept.; Indian Inst. Tech., Hyderabad; Inst. Theor. Astrophys., Oslo; LIneA, Rio de Janeiro; Laguna U., Tenerife; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lowell Observ.; MIT, Cambridge, Dept. Phys.; MIT, LNS; Madrid, CIEMAT; Madrid, Escuela Tec. Sup. Ing. Ind.; Munich U.; NCSA, Urbana; Northeastern U.; ORIGINS, Garching; Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Ohio State U.; Ohio State U., CCAPP; Paris, Inst. Astrophys.; Pennsylvania U.; Portsmouth U., ICG; Princeton U., Astrophys. Sci. Dept.; Queensland U.; Rio de Janeiro Observ.; SISSA, Trieste; SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); SUNY, Stony Brook; Sao Paulo U., Sao Carlos; Southampton U.; Sussex U.; Texas A-M; Trieste Observ.; U. Michigan, Ann Arbor; U. Michigan, Dept. Astron.; UC, Santa Cruz; University Coll. London
• Sponsoring Organization: National Science Foundation (NSF); US Department of Energy; USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
• Contributing Organization: DES Collaboration
• Grant/Contract Number: 89243024CSC000002; AC02-05CH11231; AC02-06CH11357; AC02-07CH11359; AC05-00OR22725; SC0021098
• OSTI ID: 2004618
• Report Number(s): DES-2019-0504; FERMILAB-PUB--23-086-PPD; FERMILAB-PUB-23-086-PPD
• Journal Information: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Journal Name: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 526; ISSN 0035-8711
• Publisher: Oxford University PressCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United Kingdom
• Language: English