Backlighting extended gas halos around luminous red galaxies: Kinematic Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect from DESI Y1 and ACT data

The gas density profile around galaxies, shaped by feedback and affecting the galaxy lensing signal, is imprinted on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) by the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (kSZ). We precisely measure this effect ($S/N\ensuremath{\approx}10$) via velocity stacking with 825,283 spectroscopically confirmed luminous red galaxies (LRG) from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Year 1 (DESI Y1) survey, which overlap with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 6 temperature maps over $\ensuremath{\ge}4,000\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{deg}}^{2}$. We explore the kSZ dependence with various galaxy parameters and find no significant trend with redshift but clear trends with stellar mass and absolute magnitude in $g$, $r$, and $z$ bands. Our analysis suggests that the gas extends beyond the dark matter halo (99.5% confidence level, i.e., probability to exceed $(\mathrm{PTE})=0.005$). We find a tentative preference for hydrodynamical simulation models with stronger feedback that drives gas further out (Illustris $z=0.5$, $\mathrm{PTE}=0.37$) over weaker-feedback cases (IllustrisTNG $z=0.8$, $\mathrm{PTE}=0.045$), though with limited statistical significance. In all cases, a free multiplicative amplitude was fit to the simulated profiles, and further modeling work is required to firm up these conclusions. We find consistency between kSZ profiles around spectroscopic and photometric LRG, with comparable statistical power, thus increasing our confidence in the photometric analysis. Additionally, we present the first kSZ measurement around the DESI Y1 bright galaxy sample (BGS) and the emission-line galaxies (ELG) whose features match qualitative expectations. Finally, we forecast $S/N\ensuremath{\sim}50$ for future stacked kSZ measurements using data from the ACT, the DESI Y3, and the Rubin Observatory. These measurements will serve as an input for galaxy formation models and baryonic uncertainties in galaxy lensing.

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Journal
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Published
2025-11-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/lqbj-wcqj
Citations
10
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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article
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11.55
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article

Backlighting extended gas halos around luminous red galaxies: Kinematic Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect from DESI Y1 and ACT data

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Backlighting extended gas halos around luminous red galaxies: Kinematic Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect from DESI Y1 and ACT data

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article en
10 citations

Abstract

The gas density profile around galaxies, shaped by feedback and affecting the galaxy lensing signal, is imprinted on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) by the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (kSZ). We precisely measure this effect ($S/N\ensuremath{\approx}10$) via velocity stacking with 825,283 spectroscopically confirmed luminous red galaxies (LRG) from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Year 1 (DESI Y1) survey, which overlap with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 6 temperature maps over $\ensuremath{\ge}4,000\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{deg}}^{2}$. We explore the kSZ dependence with various galaxy parameters and find no significant trend with redshift but clear trends with stellar mass and absolute magnitude in $g$, $r$, and $z$ bands. Our analysis suggests that the gas extends beyond the dark matter halo (99.5% confidence level, i.e., probability to exceed $(\mathrm{PTE})=0.005$). We find a tentative preference for hydrodynamical simulation models with stronger feedback that drives gas further out (Illustris $z=0.5$, $\mathrm{PTE}=0.37$) over weaker-feedback cases (IllustrisTNG $z=0.8$, $\mathrm{PTE}=0.045$), though with limited statistical significance. In all cases, a free multiplicative amplitude was fit to the simulated profiles, and further modeling work is required to firm up these conclusions. We find consistency between kSZ profiles around spectroscopic and photometric LRG, with comparable statistical power, thus increasing our confidence in the photometric analysis. Additionally, we present the first kSZ measurement around the DESI Y1 bright galaxy sample (BGS) and the emission-line galaxies (ELG) whose features match qualitative expectations. Finally, we forecast $S/N\ensuremath{\sim}50$ for future stacked kSZ measurements using data from the ACT, the DESI Y3, and the Rubin Observatory. These measurements will serve as an input for galaxy formation models and baryonic uncertainties in galaxy lensing.

Physical review. D/Physical review. D.Vol. 112(10)
Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES), University of Wyoming (US), Universidad de Guanajuato (MX), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (CL), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (US), Institute of Space Sciences (ES), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US), University of Waterloo (CA), Duke University (US), Perimeter Institute (CA), University of Toronto (CA), University of Milan (IT), Princeton University (US), Université Paris Cité (FR), Cornell University (US), University of Cambridge (GB), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), University of Michigan (US), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (US), University of California System (US), Sejong University (KR), California University of Pennsylvania (US), Sorbonne Université (FR), Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (ES), Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US), Ohio University (US), Instituto de Estudios Avanzados (VE), Wyoming Department of Education (US), European Southern Observatory (CL), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (ES), Institute of Space Science - INFLPR Subsidiary (RO), Universidad de Los Andes (BO), Flatiron Health (United States) (US), Flatiron Institute (US), Laboratoire Médiations (FR), Institute of Science and Technology, University College London (GB), The Ohio State University (US), University of Portsmouth (GB), Columbia University (US), Siena College (US), University of KwaZulu-Natal (ZA), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES), Stanford University (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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