A Comparison of Cosmological Parameters Determined from CMB Temperature Power Spectra from the South Pole Telescope and the Planck Satellite

• Published in: The Astrophysical Journal
• Main Authors: Aylor, K., Hou, Z., Knox, L., Story, K. T., Benson, B. A., Bleem, L. E., Carlstrom, J. E., Chang, C. L., Cho, H-M., Chown, R., Crawford, T. M., Crites, A. T., Haan, T. de, Dobbs, M. A., Everett, W. B., George, E. M., Halverson, N. W., Harrington, N. L., Holder, G. P., Holzapfel, W. L., Hrubes, J. D., Keisler, R., Lee, A. T., Leitch, E. M., Luong-Van, D., Marrone, Daniel P., McMahon, J. J., Meyer, S. S., Millea, M., Mocanu, L. M., Mohr, J. J., Natoli, T., Omori, Y., Padin, S., Pryke, C., Reichardt, C. L., Ruhl, J. E., Sayre, J. T., Schaffer, K. K., Shirokoff, E., Staniszewski, Z., Stark, A. A., Vanderlinde, K., Vieira, J. D., Williamson, R.
• Other Authors: Univ Arizona, Steward Observ
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: IOP PUBLISHING LTD 2017
• Subjects: cosmic background radiation; cosmology: observations; Canada; Hubble; Kavli; Lambda; South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/626259; https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa947b

The Planck cosmic microwave background temperature data are best fit with a Lambda CDM model that mildly contradicts constraints from other cosmological probes. The South Pole Telescope (SPT) 2540 deg(2) SPT-SZ survey offers measurements on sub-degree angular scales (multipoles 650 <= l <= 2500) with sufficient precision to use as an independent check of the Planck data. Here we build on the recent joint analysis of the SPT-SZ and Planck data in Hou et al. by comparing Lambda CDM parameter estimates using the temperature power spectrum from both data sets in the SPT-SZ survey region. We also restrict the multipole range used in parameter fitting to focus on modes measured well by both SPT and Planck, thereby greatly reducing sample variance as a driver of parameter differences and creating a stringent test for systematic errors. We find no evidence of systematic errors from these tests. When we expand the maximum multipole of SPT data used, we see low-significance shifts in the angular scale of the sound horizon and the physical baryon and cold dark matter densities, with a resulting trend to higher Hubble constant. When we compare SPT and Planck data on the SPT-SZ sky patch to Planck full-sky data but keep the multipole range restricted, we find differences in the parameters n(s) and A(s)e(-2 tau). We perform further checks, investigating instrumental effects and modeling assumptions, and we find no evidence that the effects investigated are responsible for any of the parameter shifts. Taken together, these tests reveal no evidence for systematic errors in SPT or Planck data in the overlapping sky coverage and multipole range and at most weak evidence for a breakdown of Lambda CDM or systematic errors influencing either the Planck data outside the SPT-SZ survey area or the SPT data at l > 2000. U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC02-06CH11357]; Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics; National Science Foundation [PLR-1248097]; Kavli Foundation; NSF Physics Frontier Center [PHY-1125897]; Australian Research Council Future Fellowship [FT150100074]; Fermi Research Alliance, LLC [DE-AC02-07CH11359]; National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation grant [GBMF 947]; Canada Research Chairs program This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [e-mail].