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On the Impacts of Halo Model Implementations in Sunyaev-Zeldovich Cross-Correlation Analyses
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Submitted 18 Feb 2025
abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review
The authors' main claim Although significant, this discrepancy from the modeling choices is not large enough to completely account for the existing disagreements between simulations and measurements.
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The abstract, sentence by sentence
Statistical studies of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) using Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) observations offer a promising method of studying the gas properties of galaxies and the astrophysics that govern their evolution. Forward modeling profiles from theory and simulations allows them to be refined directly off of data, but there are currently significant differences between the thermal SZ (tSZ) observations of the CGM and the predicted tSZ signal. While these discrepancies could be inherent, they could also be the result of decisions in the forward modeling used to build statistical measures off of theory. In order to see effects of this, we compare an analysis utilizing halo occupancy distributions (HODs) implemented in halo models to simulate the galaxy distribution against a previous studies which weighted their results off of the CMASS galaxy sample, which contains nearly one million galaxies, mainly centrals of group sized halos, selected for relatively uniform stellar mass across redshifts between $0.4<z<0.7$. We review some of the implementation differences that can account for changes, such as miscentering, one-halo/two-halo cutoff radii, and mass ranges, all of which will need to be given the proper attention in future high-signal-to-noise studies. We find that our more thorough model predicts a signal $\sim 25\%$ stronger than the one from previous studies on the exact same sample, resulting in a $33\%$ improved fit for non-dust-contaminated angular scales. Additionally, we find that modifications that change the satellite fraction even by just a few percents, such as editing the halo mass range and certain HOD parameters, result in strong changes in the final signal. Although significant, this discrepancy from the modeling choices is not large enough to completely account for the existing disagreements between simulations and measurements.
background contribution method result interpretation main claim
| # | sentence | role | the authors' own work | states the main conclusion | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s0 | Statistical studies of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) using Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) observations offer a promising method of studying the gas properties of galaxies and the astrophysics that govern their evolution. | background 1.00 | 0.06 | 0.02 | hedged possibility 0.50 |
| s1 | Forward modeling profiles from theory and simulations allows them to be refined directly off of data, but there are currently significant differences between the thermal SZ (tSZ) observations of the CGM and the predicted tSZ signal. | background 0.69 | 0.10 | 0.03 | asserted 0.99 |
| s2 | While these discrepancies could be inherent, they could also be the result of decisions in the forward modeling used to build statistical measures off of theory. | background 0.49 | 0.05 | 0.03 | hedged possibility 1.00 |
| s3 | In order to see effects of this, we compare an analysis utilizing halo occupancy distributions (HODs) implemented in halo models to simulate the galaxy distribution against a previous studies which weighted their results off of the CMASS galaxy sample, which contains nearly one million galaxies, mainly centrals of group sized halos, selected for relatively uniform stellar mass across redshifts between $0.4<z<0.7$. | method 0.79 | 0.66 | 0.04 | asserted 0.91 |
| s4 | We review some of the implementation differences that can account for changes, such as miscentering, one-halo/two-halo cutoff radii, and mass ranges, all of which will need to be given the proper attention in future high-signal-to-noise studies. | method 0.63 | 0.34 | 0.06 | hedged possibility 0.57 |
| s5 | We find that our more thorough model predicts a signal $\sim 25\%$ stronger than the one from previous studies on the exact same sample, resulting in a $33\%$ improved fit for non-dust-contaminated angular scales. | result 1.00 | 0.96 | 0.67 | asserted 1.00 |
| s6 | Additionally, we find that modifications that change the satellite fraction even by just a few percents, such as editing the halo mass range and certain HOD parameters, result in strong changes in the final signal. | result 0.99 | 0.94 | 0.11 | asserted 1.00 |
| s7 | Although significant, this discrepancy from the modeling choices is not large enough to completely account for the existing disagreements between simulations and measurements. | interpretation 0.78 | 0.74 | 0.25 | asserted 0.99 |
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Original abstract
Statistical studies of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) using Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) observations offer a promising method of studying the gas properties of galaxies and the astrophysics that govern their evolution. Forward modeling profiles from theory and simulations allows them to be refined directly off of data, but there are currently significant differences between the thermal SZ (tSZ) observations of the CGM and the predicted tSZ signal. While these discrepancies could be inherent, they could also be the result of decisions in the forward modeling used to build statistical measures off of theory. In order to see effects of this, we compare an analysis utilizing halo occupancy distributions (HODs) implemented in halo models to simulate the galaxy distribution against a previous studies which weighted their results off of the CMASS galaxy sample, which contains nearly one million galaxies, mainly centrals of group sized halos, selected for relatively uniform stellar mass across redshifts between $0.4<z<0.7$. We review some of the implementation differences that can account for changes, such as miscentering, one-halo/two-halo cutoff radii, and mass ranges, all of which will need to be given the proper attention in future high-signal-to-noise studies. We find that our more thorough model predicts a signal $\sim 25\%$ stronger than the one from previous studies on the exact same sample, resulting in a $33\%$ improved fit for non-dust-contaminated angular scales. Additionally, we find that modifications that change the satellite fraction even by just a few percents, such as editing the halo mass range and certain HOD parameters, result in strong changes in the final signal. Although significant, this discrepancy from the modeling choices is not large enough to completely account for the existing disagreements between simulations and measurements.
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References
How the literature uses it
1 arXiv paper cite this in 1 sentence
What it cites · 6 sentences without a confident label
Compares with 2 papers
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Interestingly the change induced by the inclusion of satellites in kSZ signal that [ref] found has a similar amplitude to what we found for tSZ signal.
FLAMINGO: combining kinetic SZ effect and galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements to gauge the impact of feedback on large-scale structure · Discussions and Conclusions · 1.00
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We further checked our calculations in sections 2.1-2.3 against another halo model [<https://github.com/CLASS-SZ>] [ref] , finding consistent values for the galaxy-$y$ cross-spectra when using the same profiles in [ref] and the same HOD parameterization in Eqs. [ref] and [ref].
class_sz I: Overview · Halo Model Implementation · 0.86
Cites as background 5 papers
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Within the past decade, large galaxy redshifts surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's (SDSS) Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) [ref] paired with high resolution wide field observations such as the tSZ, lensing [ref] , and X-rays [ref] opened the door to statistical studies of galaxies properties.
Sunyaev-Zeldovich Signals from $L^*$ Galaxies: Observations, Analytics, and Simulations · Introduction · 0.87
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Recently, work by [ref] looked at the impact of satellites on the kSZ cross-correlation measurements [ref] using numerical simulations.
Evidence for large baryonic feedback at low and intermediate redshifts from kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich observations with ACT and DESI photometric galaxies · Discussions and Conclusions · 0.99
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Recently, work by [ref] looked at the impact of satellites on the kSZ cross-correlation measurements [ref] using numerical simulations.
FLAMINGO: combining kinetic SZ effect and galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements to gauge the impact of feedback on large-scale structure · Discussions and Conclusions · 0.99
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