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Galaxy Clusters Selected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect in 5 year data from the SPT-3G Main Survey
Authors:
L. E. Bleem,
M. Klein,
K. Kornoelje,
S. Bocquet,
J. A. Sobrin,
M. Aguena,
E. Anderes,
A. J. Anderson,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
B. Ansarinejad,
M. Archipley,
L. Balkenhol,
D. R. Barron,
P. S. Barry,
M. Bayliss,
K. Benabed,
A. N. Bender,
B. A. Benson,
F. Bianchini,
F. R. Bouchet,
D. Brooks,
D. L. Burke,
M. Calzadilla,
R. Camilleri,
E. Camphuis
, et al. (126 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We report a new galaxy cluster catalog, selected using the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect, from 5 years of observations of the SPT-3G Main field. Drawn from arcminute-resolution data with white noise levels of 3.2, 2.5, and 8.9 $μ$K-arcmin at 95, 150, and 220 GHz, respectively, the sample consists of 8,892 cluster candidates detected above significance $ξ=4$, with an expected purity of…
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We report a new galaxy cluster catalog, selected using the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect, from 5 years of observations of the SPT-3G Main field. Drawn from arcminute-resolution data with white noise levels of 3.2, 2.5, and 8.9 $μ$K-arcmin at 95, 150, and 220 GHz, respectively, the sample consists of 8,892 cluster candidates detected above significance $ξ=4$, with an expected purity of $>82\%$ (4,480 at $ξ\ge5$ with purity $>99\%$). Using optical and infrared data we have confirmed 7,190 candidates as clusters. The sample spans a mass range $7.9 \times 10^{13}$ $M_\odot/h_{70}$ \ $< M_\textrm{500c} < $ $1.6 \times 10^{15}$ $M_\odot/h_{70}$ with a median mass of $1.65 \times 10^{14}$ $M_\odot/h_{70}$, and a redshift range of $0.037<z\lesssim 2$ with a median redshift of $z_{\textrm{med}}$ = 0.73; 1,780 clusters are at $z>1$ and 271 at $z>1.5$. Compared to previous SZ cluster samples from South Pole Telescope and Atacama Cosmology Telescope data, the SPT-3G sample is highly consistent in mass and redshift but is significantly deeper, with per-cluster detection signal-to-noise 2-4 times higher and a cluster density of 4.5 confirmed clusters/deg$^2$. We cross match with eRASS1 cluster and point source catalogs, finding 1,279 and 1,319 matches, respectively. The SPT and eROSITA cluster mass estimates are in relatively good agreement. We perform a series of validation checks using both internal data splits and comparisons to external samples. These tests show increasing correlated (dusty) emission with redshift, with a $\sim17\times$ larger 220 GHz temperature increment for clusters at $z\sim1.5$ than $z\sim0.25$, but only weak evidence for correlated synchrotron emission. Finally, a number of clusters are flagged as candidate strong gravitational lenses.
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Submitted 1 July, 2026;
originally announced July 2026.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: optimized $w$CDM simulation-based inference with weak lensing map-level hybrid statistics
Authors:
J. Williamson,
T. L. Makinen,
N. Porqueres,
N. Jeffrey,
A. Heavens,
M. Gatti,
B. D. Wandelt,
L. Whiteway,
J. Prat,
A. Alarcon,
A. Amon,
K. Bechtol,
M. R. Becker,
G. M. Bernstein,
A. Campos,
A. Carnero Rosell,
R. Chen,
A. Choi,
J. DeRose,
C. Doux,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
K. Eckert,
S. Everett,
A. Ferté,
Z. Gong
, et al. (63 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present cosmological constraints from the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES Y3) weak lensing data using hierarchical hybrid statistics within a Bayesian simulation-based inference framework that is based on the Gower Street simulations. To maximize the precision of the inference, we have developed a new, information-theory based, data compression of the weak lensing maps to just seven highly infor…
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We present cosmological constraints from the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES Y3) weak lensing data using hierarchical hybrid statistics within a Bayesian simulation-based inference framework that is based on the Gower Street simulations. To maximize the precision of the inference, we have developed a new, information-theory based, data compression of the weak lensing maps to just seven highly informative summary statistics. The hybrid scheme exploits the high information content of the power spectrum, compressing both the power spectrum and neural-based summaries that are designed to extract further information. Our simulation-based approach enables principled forward modelling of all major sources of systematic uncertainty and survey properties into realistic mock observations, including the survey mask, photometric redshift uncertainties, intrinsic galaxy alignments, multiplicative shear calibration bias, source galaxy clustering, non-Gaussian shape noise, and non-linear structure formation. The summary statistics are then used in a Bayesian simulation-based inference pipeline. The inference is validated through coverage tests and checks for robustness against baryonic feedback. Assuming a $w$CDM cosmology, our analysis yields $S_8 = 0.808 \pm 0.017$, $Ω_{\rm m} = 0.325 \pm 0.024$, and $w < -0.766$ (marginalized posterior 68 per cent credible intervals). This rigorous combination of information theory, physics- and neural network-based extreme data compression, and principled Bayesian analysis improves the figure of merit for $(Ω_{\rm m}, S_8, w)$ by 60 per cent over the previous state-of-the-art, and by almost a factor of 3 over two-point analyses of the same data. They are the most precise joint constraints on $(Ω_{\rm m}, S_8, w)$ from weak gravitational lensing data alone of any survey to date. We intend to apply this analysis to the more recent DES Y6 data.
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Submitted 9 June, 2026;
originally announced June 2026.
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Constraints on Dynamical Dark Energy from Multiple Probes in the Full Dark Energy Survey
Authors:
DES Collaboration,
T. M. C. Abbott,
M. Adamow,
M. Aguena,
A. Alarcon,
S. Allam,
O. Alves,
A. Amon,
D. Anbajagane,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
P. Armstrong,
S. Avila,
J. Beas-Gonzalez,
K. Bechtol,
M. R. Becker,
G. M. Bernstein,
E. Bertin,
J. Blazek,
S. Bocquet,
D. Brooks,
D. Brout,
D. L. Burke,
H. Camacho,
G. Camacho-Ciurana,
R. Camilleri
, et al. (144 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present results on dark energy evolution, assuming a time-dependent equation of state $w(a)=w_0+w_a(1-a)$, from growth and geometric probes using the full six-year Dark Energy Survey dataset: type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations, and weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering (3$\times$2pt). The combination yields $w_0=-0.84^{+0.10}_{-0.10}$ and $w_a=-0.44^{+0.60}_{-0.55}$, th…
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We present results on dark energy evolution, assuming a time-dependent equation of state $w(a)=w_0+w_a(1-a)$, from growth and geometric probes using the full six-year Dark Energy Survey dataset: type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations, and weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering (3$\times$2pt). The combination yields $w_0=-0.84^{+0.10}_{-0.10}$ and $w_a=-0.44^{+0.60}_{-0.55}$, the tightest constraints ever obtained from a single survey, with $2.2σ$ deviation from a cosmological constant. Adding the DESI DR2 BAO data yields $w_0=-0.84^{+0.06}_{-0.07}$ and $w_a=-0.53^{+0.33}_{-0.28}$, representing the most stringent low-redshift-only test of dynamical dark energy to date, with a $2.3σ$ deviation. In this combination, adding 3$\times$2pt doubles the constraining power. Finally, when combined with primary CMB information, we obtain $w_0=-0.82^{+0.05}_{-0.05}$, $w_a=-0.63^{+0.21}_{-0.18}$, with a $3.0σ$ deviation. We find that including 3$\times$2pt in the previously studied SN + DESI BAO + CMB combination leaves the significance essentially unchanged ($3.2 σ$ to $3.0σ$) while improving the figure of merit by $\sim$10\%. We systematically investigate the impact of leaving out each one of the probes and find that the significance of the deviation from a cosmological constant ranges from 2.3 to 3.2$σ$, with best-fit parameters consistently in the region $w_0 >-1$ and $w_a <0$. Excluding SN from the all data combination yields a $2.6σ$ departure from $Λ$CDM, providing a cross-check independent of supernova photometric calibration. These results support the weak preference for evolving dark energy reported by several recent cosmological analyses. By combining growth and geometric probes from a single survey, this work realizes the multi-probe dark energy program envisioned at the inception of DES.
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Submitted 2 June, 2026; v1 submitted 26 May, 2026;
originally announced May 2026.
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Deep Spectroscopy with DESI for Photometric Redshift Training and Calibration
Authors:
Biprateep Dey,
Jeffrey A. Newman,
Tianqing Zhang,
J. Aguilar,
S. Ahlen,
A. Anand,
B. Andrews,
S. Bailey,
D. Bianchi,
D. Brooks,
F. J. Castander,
T. Claybaugh,
A. Cuceu,
K. S. Dawson,
A. de la Macorra,
J. Della Costa,
Arjun Dey,
P. Doel,
S. Ferraro,
A. Font-Ribera,
E. Gaztañaga,
Satya Gontcho A Gontcho,
D. Gruen,
G. Gutierrez,
J. Guy
, et al. (40 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Deep spectroscopic samples can be used to improve photometric redshift (photo-$z$) estimates and reduce uncertainties on redshift distributions. Such improvements can increase the cosmological constraining power of large imaging-based experiments such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) and mitigate what may be a limiting systematic effect. We present results…
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Deep spectroscopic samples can be used to improve photometric redshift (photo-$z$) estimates and reduce uncertainties on redshift distributions. Such improvements can increase the cosmological constraining power of large imaging-based experiments such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) and mitigate what may be a limiting systematic effect. We present results from the ``DESI-Deep pilot'' program, which was designed to assess the capability of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) on the 4m Mayall telescope to measure redshifts of galaxies as faint as expected lensing samples for early LSST data ($m_i \leq 24.5$). We find that DESI is remarkably efficient at this task, with redshift success rates comparable to the results of observations from 10m-class telescopes with only $\sim2\times$ longer integration time (rather than $\sim 8\times$ longer as would be expected from aperture-area scaling), while simultaneously achieving $\sim30$ times larger multiplexing. We also find that the signal-to-noise ratio of the spectra scales as expected for background-limited observations even for the longest exposure times ($\sim 7$ hours) and faintest targets in the program. These results demonstrate that DESI could provide the definitive redshift sample for the early years of LSST with a modest investment of observing time. Based upon the results of this program, we provide updated predictions for the time required to collect benchmark samples for photo-$z$ training and calibration using a variety of spectroscopic facilities. Finally, we describe a potential "DESI-Deep" survey designed to train and calibrate photo-$z$'s for imaging experiments, and provide forecasts of its impact on cosmological inference.
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Submitted 7 April, 2026;
originally announced April 2026.
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Brightest Cluster Galaxy ellipticity as proxy for halo shape: Orientation bias, assembly bias, and potential selection effects in SZ-selected clusters
Authors:
Radhakrishnan Srinivasan,
Tae-hyeon Shin,
Anja von der Linden,
Ricardo Herbonnet,
Matthias Klein,
Tamas N. Varga,
Antonio Frigo,
Lindsey E. Bleem,
Hao-Yi Wu,
Zhuowen Zhang,
Benjamin Levine,
Alex Alarcon,
Alexandra Amon,
Matthew B. Bayliss,
Keith Bechtol,
Matthew Becker,
Gary Bernstein,
Sebastian Bocquet,
Andresa Campos,
Aurelio Carnero Rosell,
Matias Carrasco Kind,
Chihway Chang,
Rebecca Chen,
Ami Choi,
Juan De Vicente
, et al. (71 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The orientation of triaxial galaxy clusters with respect to the line-of-sight is expected to be one of the prime sources of scatter and potential bias in optical observables (e.g., richness and weak-lensing signal) of galaxy clusters. In this work, we use the observed shape of the central Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG) as proxy for the orientation along the line-of-sight for clusters selected via…
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The orientation of triaxial galaxy clusters with respect to the line-of-sight is expected to be one of the prime sources of scatter and potential bias in optical observables (e.g., richness and weak-lensing signal) of galaxy clusters. In this work, we use the observed shape of the central Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG) as proxy for the orientation along the line-of-sight for clusters selected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect from the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) surveys, matched to optically selected clusters from the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES). We construct two samples of clusters that are designed to be identical in SZ mass estimate and redshift but with the roundest vs. the most elliptical BCGs, which we expect to correspond to BCGs (and clusters) with major axes aligned along the line-of-sight vs. in the plane of the sky, respectively. We find that the optical richness of round-BCG clusters is $\sim 10$\% larger than that of elliptical-BCG clusters, in agreement with the expectation from projection effects and presenting the first such detection in data. The density profiles, however, are not in agreement with the expectation from projection effects: the 1-halo term (below $6~h^{-1}\rm{Mpc}$) of both the weak-lensing and galaxy density profiles are the same for the subsamples, contrary to previous studies based on X-ray selected clusters. In the 2-halo regime (above $6~h^{-1}\rm{Mpc}$), we find a significant excess of the elliptical-BCG cluster profiles compared to the round-BCG cluster profiles, which is the opposite of the expectation from numerical simulations. We hypothesize that the intrinsic shape of the BCG reflects not just the orientation angle, but also intrinsic properties of the cluster which can affect both the SZ signal and the amplitude of the 2-halo term.
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Submitted 24 March, 2026;
originally announced March 2026.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: Cosmological Constraints from Cosmic Shear
Authors:
DES Collaboration,
T. M. C. Abbott,
M. Aguena,
A. Alarcon,
O. Alves,
A. Amon,
D. Anbajagane,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
W. d'Assignies,
S. Avila,
D. Bacon,
J. Beas-Gonzalez,
K. Bechtol,
M. R. Becker,
G. M. Bernstein,
J. Blazek,
S. Bocquet,
D. Brooks,
H. Camacho,
G. Camacho-Ciurana,
R. Camilleri,
G. Campailla,
A. Campos,
A. Carnero Rosell,
M. Carrasco Kind
, et al. (104 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present legacy cosmic shear measurements and cosmological constraints using six years of Dark Energy Survey imaging data. From these data, we study ~140 million galaxies (8.29 galaxies/arcmin$^2$) that are 50% complete at i=24.0 and extend beyond z=1.2. We divide the galaxies into four redshift bins, and obtain cosmic shear measurement with a signal-to-noise of 83, a factor of 2 higher than the…
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We present legacy cosmic shear measurements and cosmological constraints using six years of Dark Energy Survey imaging data. From these data, we study ~140 million galaxies (8.29 galaxies/arcmin$^2$) that are 50% complete at i=24.0 and extend beyond z=1.2. We divide the galaxies into four redshift bins, and obtain cosmic shear measurement with a signal-to-noise of 83, a factor of 2 higher than the Year 3 analysis. We model the uncertainties due to shear and redshift calibrations, and discard measurements on small angular scales to mitigate baryon feedback and other small-scale uncertainties. We consider two fiducial models to account for the intrinsic alignment (IA) of the galaxies. We conduct a blind analysis in the context of the $Λ$CDM model and find $S_8 \equiv σ_8(Ω_m/0.3)^{0.5}=0.798^{+0.014}_{-0.015}$ (marginalized mean with 68% CL) when using the non-linear alignment model (NLA) and $S_{8} = 0.783^{+0.019}_{-0.015}$ with the tidal alignment and tidal torque model (TATT), providing 1.8% and 2.5% uncertainty on $S_8$. Compared to constraints from the cosmic microwave background from Planck 2018, ACT DR6 and SPT-3G DR1, we find consistency in the full parameter space at 1.1$σ$ (1.7$σ$) and in $S_8$ at 2.0$σ$ (2.3$σ$) for NLA (TATT). The result using the NLA model is preferred according to the Bayesian evidence. We find that the model choice for IA and baryon feedback can impact the value of our $S_8$ constraint up to $1σ$. For our fiducial model choices, the resultant uncertainties in $S_8$ are primarily degraded by the removal of scales, as well as the marginalization over the IA parameters. We demonstrate that our result is internally consistent and robust to different choices in calibrating the data, owing to methodological improvements in shear and redshift measurement, laying the foundation for next-generation cosmic shear programs.
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Submitted 10 February, 2026;
originally announced February 2026.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: Galaxy-galaxy lensing
Authors:
G. Giannini,
G. Camacho-Ciurana,
A. Whyley,
J. Prat,
J. Blazek,
C. Sánchez,
G. Zacharegkas,
A. Alarcon,
E. Legnani,
A. Amon,
D. Anbajagane,
S. Avila,
K. Bechtol,
M. R. Becker,
G. M. Bernstein,
S. Bocquet,
A. Campos,
A. Carnero Rosell,
R. Cawthon,
C. Chang,
M. Crocce,
W. d'Assignies,
J. De Vicente,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
S. Elvin-Poole
, et al. (94 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present galaxy--galaxy lensing (GGL) measurements from the full six years of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES Y6), covering $4031\,\mathrm{deg}^2$ and used in the DES Y6 $3\times2$pt cosmological analysis. We use the MagLim++ lens sample, containing $\sim 9$ million galaxies divided into six redshift bins, and the Metadetection source catalog, including $\sim 140$ million galaxies divided…
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We present galaxy--galaxy lensing (GGL) measurements from the full six years of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES Y6), covering $4031\,\mathrm{deg}^2$ and used in the DES Y6 $3\times2$pt cosmological analysis. We use the MagLim++ lens sample, containing $\sim 9$ million galaxies divided into six redshift bins, and the Metadetection source catalog, including $\sim 140$ million galaxies divided into four redshift bins. The mean tangential shear signal achieves a total signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of $173$, corresponding to a $17\%$ improvement over DES Y3. After applying the scale cuts used in the cosmological analysis, with $R_{\min}=6\,\mathrm{Mpc}/h$ ($4\,\mathrm{Mpc}/h$) for the linear (nonlinear) galaxy-bias model, the S/N is reduced to $75$ (90). A comprehensive suite of validation tests demonstrates that the measurement is robust against observational and astrophysical systematics at the statistical precision required for the DES Y6 analysis. Although not used in the main cosmological analysis, we extract high--signal-to-noise geometric shear-ratio measurements from the galaxy--galaxy lensing signal on small angular scales. These measurements provide an internal consistency check on the photometric redshift distributions and shear calibration used in the $3\times2$pt analysis.
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Submitted 21 January, 2026;
originally announced January 2026.
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Dark Energy Survey: DESI-Independent Angular BAO Measurement
Authors:
J. Mena-Fernández,
S. Avila,
A. Porredon,
H. Camacho,
J. Muir,
E. Sanchez,
M. Adamow,
K. Bechtol,
R. Camilleri,
G. Campailla,
T. M. Davis,
N. Deiosso,
C. Doux,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
A. Ferté,
R. A. Gruendl,
W. G. Hartley,
A. Pieres,
M. Raveri,
E. S. Rykoff,
I. Sevilla-Noarbe,
P. Shah,
E. Sheldon,
M. Vincenzi,
B. Yanny
, et al. (58 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present a measurement of the angular baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) scale from the completed Dark Energy Survey (DES) dataset excluding the area of overlap with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). We follow the same methodology and validation process as in the DES year 6 (Y6) BAO analysis. We interpret the impact of this measurement in the context of the statistical preference f…
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We present a measurement of the angular baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) scale from the completed Dark Energy Survey (DES) dataset excluding the area of overlap with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). We follow the same methodology and validation process as in the DES year 6 (Y6) BAO analysis. We interpret the impact of this measurement in the context of the statistical preference for $w_0w_a$ cold dark matter (CDM) over $Λ$CDM when combined with DES Y5 Type Ia supernovae (SN), Planck Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and DESI BAO. Based on our previous work, using the full Y6 DES BAO sample, in combination with SN, CMB and DESI data release 1 (DR1) BAO, added $0.3σ$ in this preference (from $3.7σ$ to $4.0σ$), but this ignored possible correlations between datasets. Using our new DESI-independent DES BAO likelihood instead, we find a smaller increase in the statistical preference for $w_0w_a$CDM, from $3.7σ$ to $3.8σ$ when using DESI DR1 BAO, and from $4.0σ$ to $4.1σ$ when updating to the more recent DESI data release 2 (DR2) BAO. These significances reduce to $3.1σ$ when using the new calibrated DES SN-Dovekie. Alongside this work, we publicly release \texttt{BAOfit\_wtheta}, the BAO fitting code for the angular correlation function used in the DES Y6 BAO analysis.
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Submitted 12 June, 2026; v1 submitted 21 January, 2026;
originally announced January 2026.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: Weak Lensing and Galaxy Clustering Cosmological Analysis Framework
Authors:
D. Sanchez-Cid,
A. Ferté,
J. Blazek,
S. Samuroff,
A. Amon,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
J. M. Coloma-Nadal,
J. Muir,
A. Porredon,
J. Prat,
N. Weaverdyck,
M. Yamamoto,
D. Anbajagane,
M. R. Becker,
P. Carrilho,
C. Chang,
M. Crocce,
G. Giannini,
W. d'Assignies,
J. DeRose,
S. Dodelson,
E. Krause,
E. Legnani,
J. Mena-Fernández,
N. MacCrann
, et al. (93 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present the methodology for the weak lensing and galaxy clustering analyses of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 6 data set. In this work, we design and validate the analysis pipeline for the cosmic shear, galaxy clustering plus galaxy$-$galaxy lensing ($2 \times 2$pt), and the joint analysis in the $3 \times 2$pt. Our framework accounts for key theoretical uncertainties, such as baryonic feedb…
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We present the methodology for the weak lensing and galaxy clustering analyses of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 6 data set. In this work, we design and validate the analysis pipeline for the cosmic shear, galaxy clustering plus galaxy$-$galaxy lensing ($2 \times 2$pt), and the joint analysis in the $3 \times 2$pt. Our framework accounts for key theoretical uncertainties, such as baryonic feedback and galaxy bias, incorporating both linear and non-linear models. We apply scale cuts in regimes where theoretical modeling becomes unreliable. The robustness of the pipeline is validated using mock data and simulations, confirming unbiased cosmological constraints and highlighting the importance of posterior projection effects in the validation process. As a result, we deliver robust and validated analysis pipelines for cosmic shear, $2 \times 2$pt, and $3 \times 2$pt in $Λ$CDM and $w$CDM scenarios, including a well-defined set of scales suitable for real data analysis, a robust prescription for theoretical systematics, and the theoretical covariance of the signal. This comprehensive methodology also lays the groundwork for future galaxy surveys such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time.
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Submitted 21 January, 2026;
originally announced January 2026.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: Magnification modeling and its impact on galaxy clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing cosmology
Authors:
E. Legnani,
J. Elvin-Poole,
D. Anbajagane,
D. Sanchez Cid,
A. Ferté,
N. Weaverdyck,
A. Porredon,
S. Avila,
R. Miquel,
J. De Vicente,
J. Coloma,
S. Samuroff,
W. d'Assignies,
A. Alarcon,
C. Sánchez,
J. Muir,
J. Prat,
N. MacCrann,
D. Bacon,
M. A. Troxel,
C. Chang,
M. Crocce,
M. R. Becker,
J. Blazek,
M. Yamamoto
, et al. (50 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Gravitational lensing magnification alters the observed spatial distribution of galaxies and must be accounted for to prevent biases in cosmological probes of the large-scale structure. We investigate its effects on the Dark Energy Survey Year 6 galaxy clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing analyses using the fiducial lens (position tracer) sample MagLim++. Magnification bias is parameterized by a c…
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Gravitational lensing magnification alters the observed spatial distribution of galaxies and must be accounted for to prevent biases in cosmological probes of the large-scale structure. We investigate its effects on the Dark Energy Survey Year 6 galaxy clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing analyses using the fiducial lens (position tracer) sample MagLim++. Magnification bias is parameterized by a coefficient that describes the response of the number of selected objects per unlensed area element to a change in the lensing convergence. We quantify this coefficient using the Balrog synthetic source injection catalog to account for the complexity of the selection function, and compare these results with simplified estimates. The resulting values of the magnification coefficients for each redshift bin are [3.16 $\pm$ 0.08, 2.76 $\pm$ 0.21, 4.09 $\pm$ 0.15, 4.42 $\pm$ 0.16, 4.90 $\pm$ 0.29, 4.83 $\pm$ 0.25]. Relative to Year 3, this analysis provides more precise and accurate magnification bias estimates through a larger Balrog area and reweighting to better match the data properties. The cosmological results are robust when tested against various magnification parameter prior choices and also when adding cross-clustering between lens redshift bins. Neglecting magnification, however, introduces significant systematic shifts: relative to the fiducial analysis with Gaussian priors centered on the Balrog-derived estimates, we observe shifts of 1.37$σ$ in $S_8$ and -0.84$σ$ in $Ω_m$ (with cosmic shear included: -0.61$σ$ in $S_8$ and -0.71$σ$ in $Ω_m$), in agreement with findings from simulated data, demonstrating that magnification must be modeled to avoid biases. Freeing the magnification bias in lens bin 2 leads to unphysical negative values, further justifying its exclusion from the fiducial Year 6 analysis.
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Submitted 21 January, 2026;
originally announced January 2026.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: Cosmological Constraints from Galaxy Clustering and Weak Lensing
Authors:
DES Collaboration,
T. M. C. Abbott,
M. Adamow,
M. Aguena,
A. Alarcon,
S. S. Allam,
O. Alves,
A. Amon,
D. Anbajagane,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
S. Avila,
D. Bacon,
E. J. Baxter,
J. Beas-Gonzalez,
K. Bechtol,
M. R. Becker,
G. M. Bernstein,
E. Bertin,
J. Blazek,
S. Bocquet,
D. Brooks,
D. Brout,
H. Camacho,
G. Camacho-Ciurana,
R. Camilleri
, et al. (147 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present cosmology results combining galaxy clustering and weak gravitational lensing measured in the full six years (Y6) of observations by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) covering $\sim$5000 deg$^2$. We perform a large-scale structure analysis using three two-point correlation functions (3$\times$2pt): (i) cosmic shear from 140 million source galaxy shapes, (ii) galaxy clustering of 9 million len…
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We present cosmology results combining galaxy clustering and weak gravitational lensing measured in the full six years (Y6) of observations by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) covering $\sim$5000 deg$^2$. We perform a large-scale structure analysis using three two-point correlation functions (3$\times$2pt): (i) cosmic shear from 140 million source galaxy shapes, (ii) galaxy clustering of 9 million lens galaxy positions, and (iii) galaxy-galaxy lensing from their cross-correlation. We model the data in flat $Λ$CDM and $w$CDM cosmologies. The combined analysis yields $S_8\equiv σ_8 (Ω_{\rm m}/0.3)^{0.5} = 0.789^{+0.012}_{-0.012}$ and matter density $Ω_{\rm m} = 0.333^{+0.023}_{-0.028}$ in $Λ$CDM (68\% CL), where $σ_8$ is the clustering amplitude. These constraints show a (full-space) parameter difference of 1.8$σ$ from a combination of cosmic microwave background (CMB) primary anisotropy datasets from Planck 2018, ACT-DR6, and SPT-3G DR1. Projected only into $S_8$ the difference is $2.6σ$. In $w$CDM the Y6 3$\times$2pt results yield $S_8 = 0.782^{+0.021}_{-0.020}$, $Ω_{\rm m} = 0.325^{+0.032}_{-0.035}$, and dark energy equation-of-state parameter $w = -1.12^{+0.26}_{-0.20}$. For the first time, we combine all DES dark-energy probes: 3$\times$2pt, SNe Ia, BAO and Clusters. In $Λ$CDM this combination yields a $2.8σ$ parameter difference from the CMB. When combining DES 3$\times$2pt with other low-redshift datasets (DESI DR2 BAO, DES SNe Ia, SPT clusters), we find a 2.3$σ$ parameter difference with CMB. A joint fit of Y6 3$\times$2pt, CMB, and those low-redshift datasets produces the tightest $Λ$CDM constraints to date: $S_8 = 0.806^{+0.006}_{-0.007}$, $Ω_{\rm m} = 0.302^{+0.003}_{-0.003}$, $h = 0.683^{+0.003}_{-0.002}$, and $\sum m_ν< 0.14$ eV (95\% CL). In $w$CDM, this combination yields $w = -0.981^{+0.021}_{-0.022}$.
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Submitted 29 January, 2026; v1 submitted 20 January, 2026;
originally announced January 2026.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: MagLim++ Lens Sample Selection and Measurements of Galaxy Clustering
Authors:
N. Weaverdyck,
M. Rodríguez-Monroy,
J. Elvin-Poole,
I. Sevilla-Noarbe,
A. Porredon,
S. Avila,
S. Lee,
W. Riquelme,
M. Tabbutt,
D. Huterer,
J. Prat,
J. De Vicente,
J. Mena-Fernández,
M. Crocce,
C. Sánchez,
G. M. Bernstein,
E. Henning,
R. Cawthon,
A. J. Ross,
T. M. C. Abbott,
M. Aguena,
S. S. Allam,
O. Alves,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
D. Bacon
, et al. (63 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Galaxy clustering is a sensitive probe of the expansion history and growth of structure of the universe, and key degeneracies can be broken by combining these data with measurements of cosmic shear and galaxy-galaxy lensing (a so-called 3$\times$2pt analysis). The largest and least biased statistical samples of galaxies for use in clustering analyses can be collected photometrically through large…
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Galaxy clustering is a sensitive probe of the expansion history and growth of structure of the universe, and key degeneracies can be broken by combining these data with measurements of cosmic shear and galaxy-galaxy lensing (a so-called 3$\times$2pt analysis). The largest and least biased statistical samples of galaxies for use in clustering analyses can be collected photometrically through large imaging surveys. However, selecting clean photometric subsamples for cosmology are crucial for avoiding contamination that can bias cosmological constraints. Here we present the MagLim++ galaxy sample, selected to optimize for cosmological constraining power and incorporating an array of novel quality cuts to identify and remove residual contamination. This sample comes from the full six years of observations from the Dark Energy Survey. We present measurements of the two-point angular clustering ($w(θ)$) of 9,186,205 galaxies distributed over 4031 sq. degrees and in six tomographic redshift bins centered at $\bar{z}\approx$ [0.31, 0.44, 0.62, 0.78, 0.90, 1.01]. These measurements are used as part of the 3$\times$2pt and other DES Y6 legacy cosmological analyses in companion works. We describe the battery of null tests and mitigation schemes implemented to address observational, astrophysical, and methodological systematics in the analysis. The resulting $w(θ)$ measurements have a S/N = 149 (90.2 for linear scales only), which we use to place galaxy-clustering-only constraints on the matter density of the Universe, $Ω_m=0.311^{+0.023}_{-0.035}$, and amplitude of galaxy clustering in each redshift bin, $b_iσ_8=[1.16^{+0.04}_{-0.06},\ 1.40^{+0.04}_{-0.06},\ 1.57^{+0.04}_{-0.06},\ 1.59^{+0.04}_{-0.05},\ 1.50^{+0.04}_{-0.05},\ 1.74^{+0.06}_{-0.08}]$.
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Submitted 20 January, 2026;
originally announced January 2026.
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Weak Lensing Mass Calibration of the ACT DR5 Galaxy Clusters with the DES Year 3 Weak Lensing Data
Authors:
T. Shin,
E. J. Baxter,
E. Lee,
N. Battaglia,
A. Alarcon,
A. Amon,
M. Becker,
G. Bernstein,
J. R. Bond,
A. Campos,
C. Chang,
R. Chen,
A. Choi,
J. DeRose,
S. Dodelson,
C. Doux,
J. Dunkley,
J. Elvin-Poole,
J. H. Esteves,
S. Everett,
A. Ferté,
M. Gatti,
S. Grandis,
D. Gruen,
I. Harrison
, et al. (71 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We use weak gravitational lensing measurements from Year 3 Dark Energy Survey data to calibrate the masses of 443 galaxy clusters selected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect from Atacama Cosmology Telescope Data Release 5 maps of the cosmic microwave background. We incorporate redshift and SZ measurements for individual clusters into a hierarchical model for the stacked lensing signals and perform…
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We use weak gravitational lensing measurements from Year 3 Dark Energy Survey data to calibrate the masses of 443 galaxy clusters selected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect from Atacama Cosmology Telescope Data Release 5 maps of the cosmic microwave background. We incorporate redshift and SZ measurements for individual clusters into a hierarchical model for the stacked lensing signals and perform Bayesian analyses to constrain the hydrostatic mass bias of the clusters. Our treatment of systematic uncertainties includes a prescription for measuring and accounting for the weak lensing boost factor, consideration of a miscentering effect, as well as marginalization over uncertainties in the source galaxy photometric redshift distributions and shear calibration. The resultant constraints on the normalization of the mass-observable relation have a precision of approximately 7\%, with the mean WL halo mass of $M_{\rm 500c} = 5.4 \times 10^{14} M_{\odot}$. We measure the bias between the true cluster mass and the mass estimated from the SZ signal based on an X-ray--calibrated scaling relation assuming hydrostatic equilibrium, to be $1-b = 0.75^{+0.04}_{-0.06}$ over the full sample. When splitting the clusters into high ($z$=0.43-0.70) and low ($z$=0.15-0.43) redshift bins, we measure $1-b = 0.58^{+0.06}_{-0.05}$ and $0.82^{+0.07}_{-0.07}$, respectively. When introducing additional freedom in redshift and mass to the hydrostatic bias model, we find that $1-b$ decreases with redshift (with the power law of $-2.0^{+0.7}_{-0.4}$, 99.95\% confidence), consistent with findings from other recent studies, while we do not find any significant trend in mass. We also demonstrate that our result is robust against various systematics. The weak-lensing mass calibration presented in this study will be a useful tool for using the ACT clusters as probes of astrophysics and cosmology.
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Submitted 21 December, 2025;
originally announced December 2025.
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Constraints on the normal branch of DGP gravity from SPT galaxy clusters with DES and HST weak-lensing mass calibration and from Planck PR4 CMB anisotropies
Authors:
S. M. L. Vogt,
S. Bocquet,
C. T. Davies,
J. J. Mohr,
F. Schmidt,
C. -Z. Ruan,
B. Li,
C. Hernändez-Aguayo,
S. Grandis,
L. E. Bleem,
M. Klein,
M. Aguena,
S. Allam,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
D. Bacon,
D. Brooks,
R. Camilleri,
A. Carnero Rosell,
J. Carretero,
M. Costanzi,
L. N. da Costa,
M. E. da Silva Pereira,
J. De Vicente,
P. Doel,
J. Garcïa-Bellido
, et al. (27 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present constraints on the normal branch of the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (nDGP) braneworld gravity model from the abundance of massive galaxy clusters. On scales below the nDGP crossover scale $r_{\rm c}$, the nDGP model features an effective gravity-like fifth force that alters the growth of structure, leading to an enhancement of the halo mass function (HMF) on cluster scales. The enhanced clu…
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We present constraints on the normal branch of the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (nDGP) braneworld gravity model from the abundance of massive galaxy clusters. On scales below the nDGP crossover scale $r_{\rm c}$, the nDGP model features an effective gravity-like fifth force that alters the growth of structure, leading to an enhancement of the halo mass function (HMF) on cluster scales. The enhanced cluster abundance allows for constraints on the nDGP model using cluster samples. We employ the SPT cluster sample, selected through the thermal Sunyaev-Zel`dovich effect (tSZE) with the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and with mass calibration using weak-lensing data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The cluster sample contains 1,005 clusters with redshifts $0.25 < z < 1.78$, which are confirmed with the Multi-Component Matched Filter (MCMF) algorithm using optical and near-infrared data. Weak-lensing data from DES and HST enable a robust mass measurement of the cluster sample. We use DES Year 3 data for 688 clusters with redshifts $z < 0.95$, and HST data for 39 clusters with redshifts $ 0.6 < z <1.7$. We account for the enhancement in the HMF through a semi-analytic correction factor to the standard cosmology HMF derived from the spherical collapse model in the nDGP model. We then further calibrate this model using $N$-body simulations. In addition, for the first time, we analyze the primary cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropy measurements from Planck PR4 within the nDGP model. We obtain a competitive constraint from the joint analysis of the SPT cluster abundance with the Planck PR4 data, and report an upper bound of $1/\sqrt{(H_0r_{\rm c})}< 1.41$ at $95\,\%$ when assuming a cosmology with massive neutrinos.
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Submitted 12 June, 2026; v1 submitted 5 December, 2025;
originally announced December 2025.
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Confronting cosmic shear astrophysical uncertainties: DES Year 3 revisited
Authors:
Leah Bigwood,
Jamie McCullough,
Jared Siegel,
Alexandra Amon,
George Efstathiou,
David Sanchez-Cid,
Elisa Legnani,
Daniel Gruen,
Jonathan Blazek,
Cyrille Doux,
Aurelio Carnero Rosell,
Marco Gatti,
Eric Huff,
Niall MacCrann,
Anna Porredon,
Judit Prat Marti,
Marcelle Soares dos Santos,
Justin Myles,
Simon Samuroff,
Masaya Yamamoto,
Boyan Yin,
Joe Zuntz
Abstract:
Cosmology from weak gravitational lensing has been limited by astrophysical uncertainties in baryonic feedback and intrinsic alignments. By calibrating these effects using external data, we recover non-linear information, achieving a 2% constraint on the clustering amplitude, $S_8$, resulting in a factor of two improvement on the $Λ$CDM constraints relative to the fiducial Dark Energy Survey Year…
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Cosmology from weak gravitational lensing has been limited by astrophysical uncertainties in baryonic feedback and intrinsic alignments. By calibrating these effects using external data, we recover non-linear information, achieving a 2% constraint on the clustering amplitude, $S_8$, resulting in a factor of two improvement on the $Λ$CDM constraints relative to the fiducial Dark Energy Survey Year 3 model. The posterior, $S_8=0.832^{+0.013}_{-0.017}$, shifts by $1.5σ$ to higher values, in closer agreement with the cosmic microwave background result for the standard six-parameter $Λ$CDM cosmology. Our approach uses a star-forming 'blue' galaxy sample with intrinsic alignment model parameters calibrated by direct spectroscopic measurements, together with a baryonic feedback model informed by observations of X-ray gas fractions and kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect profiles that span a wide range in halo mass and redshift. Our results provide a blueprint for next-generation surveys: leveraging galaxy properties to control intrinsic alignments and external gas probes to calibrate feedback, unlocking a substantial improvement in the precision of weak lensing surveys.
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Submitted 3 December, 2025;
originally announced December 2025.
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OzDES Reverberation Mapping of Active Galactic Nuclei: Final Data Release, Black-Hole Mass Results, & Scaling Relations
Authors:
H. McDougall,
T. M. Davis,
Z. Yu,
P. Martini,
C. Lidman,
U. Malik,
A. Penton,
G. F. Lewis,
B. E. Tucker,
B. J. S. Pope,
S. Allam,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
J. Asorey,
D. Bacon,
S. Bocquet,
D. Brooks,
A. Carnero Rosell,
D. Carollo,
A. Carr,
J. Carretero,
T. Y. Cheng,
L. N. da Costa,
M. E. da Silva Pereira,
J. De Vicente,
H. T. Diehl
, et al. (31 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Over the last decade, the Australian Dark Energy (OzDES) collaboration has used Reverberation Mapping to measure the masses of high redshift supermassive black holes. Here we present the final review and analysis of this OzDES reverberation mapping campaign. These observations use 6-7 years of photometric and spectroscopic observations of 735 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) in the redshift range 0.13…
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Over the last decade, the Australian Dark Energy (OzDES) collaboration has used Reverberation Mapping to measure the masses of high redshift supermassive black holes. Here we present the final review and analysis of this OzDES reverberation mapping campaign. These observations use 6-7 years of photometric and spectroscopic observations of 735 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) in the redshift range 0.13-3.85 and bolometric luminosity range 44.3 - 47.5 erg/s. Both photometry and spectra are observed in visible wavelengths, allowing for the physical scale of the AGN broad line region to be estimated from reverberations of the H\b{eta}, MgII and CIV emission lines. We successfully use reverberation mapping to constrain the masses of 62 super-massive black holes, and combine with existing data to fit a power law to the lag-luminosity relation for the H\b{eta} and MgII lines with a scatter of ~0.25 dex, the tightest yet identified, fit specifically for consistency with high redshift AGN. We fit a similarly constrained relation for CIV, resolving a tension with the low luminosity literature AGN by accounting for selection effects arising from finite survey length. We also examine the impact of emission line width and luminosity (related to accretion rate) in reducing the scatter of these scaling relationships and find no significant improvement over the lag-only approach for any of the three lines. Using these relations, we further estimate the masses and accretion rates of 246 AGN with single epoch methods. We also use these relations to estimate the relative sizes of the H\b{eta}, MgII and CIV emitting regions. In short, we provide a comprehensive benchmark of high redshift AGN reverberation mapping at the close of this most recent generation of surveys, including light curves, time-delays, and a set of significantly improved radius-luminosity relations for use with high-redshift populations.
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Submitted 24 June, 2026; v1 submitted 30 November, 2025;
originally announced December 2025.
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OzDES Reverberation Mapping Program: CIV lags from six years of data
Authors:
A. Penton,
H. McDougall,
T. M. Davis,
Z. Yu,
U. Malik,
P. Martini,
B. E. Tucker,
C. Lidman,
G. F. Lewis,
R. Sharp,
M. Aguena,
S. Allam,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
J. Asorey,
D. Bacon,
S. Bocquet,
D. Brooks,
R. Camilleri,
A. Carnero Rosell,
D. Carollo,
A. Carr,
J. Carretero,
T. Y. Cheng,
L. N. da Costa,
M. E. da Silva Pereira
, et al. (30 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present 29 successfully recovered CIV time lags in Active Galactic Nuclei from the complete Dark Energy Survey Reverberation Mapping campaign. The AGN in this sample span a redshift range of 1.9<z<3.5. We successfully measure the velocity dispersion from the CIV spectral linewidth for 25 of these 29 sources, and use these to calculate new high-redshift black hole mass estimates, finding masses…
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We present 29 successfully recovered CIV time lags in Active Galactic Nuclei from the complete Dark Energy Survey Reverberation Mapping campaign. The AGN in this sample span a redshift range of 1.9<z<3.5. We successfully measure the velocity dispersion from the CIV spectral linewidth for 25 of these 29 sources, and use these to calculate new high-redshift black hole mass estimates, finding masses between 0.8 and 1.3 billion solar masses. We also identify a selection effect due to the duration of the survey that can impact the radius-luminosity relation derived from this and other (high-redshift) data. This paper represents the culmination of the OzDES CIV campaign.
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Submitted 15 July, 2026; v1 submitted 30 November, 2025;
originally announced December 2025.
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The Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program: A Reanalysis Of Cosmology Results And Evidence For Evolving Dark Energy With An Updated Type Ia Supernova Calibration
Authors:
B. Popovic,
P. Shah,
W. D. Kenworthy,
R. Kessler,
T. M. Davis,
A. Goobar,
D. Scolnic,
M. Vincenzi,
P. Wiseman,
R. Chen,
E. Charleton,
M. Acevedo,
P. Armstrong,
B. M. Boyd,
D. Brout,
R. Camilleri,
J. Frieman,
L. Galbany,
M. Grayling,
L. Kelsey,
B. Rose,
B. Sánchez,
J. Lee,
A. Möller,
M. Smith
, et al. (58 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present improved cosmological constraints from a re-analysis of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) 5-year sample of Type Ia supernovae (DES-SN5YR). This re-analysis includes an improved photometric cross-calibration, recent white dwarf observations to cross-calibrate between DES and low redshift surveys, retraining the SALT3 light curve model and fixing a numerical approximation in the host galaxy co…
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We present improved cosmological constraints from a re-analysis of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) 5-year sample of Type Ia supernovae (DES-SN5YR). This re-analysis includes an improved photometric cross-calibration, recent white dwarf observations to cross-calibrate between DES and low redshift surveys, retraining the SALT3 light curve model and fixing a numerical approximation in the host galaxy colour law. Our fully recalibrated sample, which we call DES-Dovekie, comprises $\sim$1600 likely Type Ia SNe from DES and $\sim$200 low-redshift SNe from other surveys. With DES-Dovekie, we obtain $Ω_{\rm m} = 0.330 \pm 0.015$ in Flat $Λ$CDM which changes $Ω_{\rm m}$ by $-0.022$ compared to DES-SN5YR. Combining DES-Dovekie with CMB data from Planck, ACT and SPT and the DESI DR2 measurements in a Flat $w_0 w_a$CDM cosmology, we find $w_0 = -0.803 \pm 0.054$, $w_a = -0.72 \pm 0.21$. Our results hold a significance of $3.2σ$, reduced from $4.2σ$ for DES-SN5YR, to reject the null hypothesis that the data are compatible with the cosmological constant. This significance is equivalent to a Bayesian model preference odds of approximately 5:1 in favour of the Flat $w_0 w_a$CDM model. Using generally accepted thresholds for model preference, our updated data exhibits only a weak preference for evolving dark energy.
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Submitted 27 March, 2026; v1 submitted 10 November, 2025;
originally announced November 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Simulation-based $w$CDM inference from weak lensing and galaxy clustering maps with deep learning: Analysis design
Authors:
A. Thomsen,
J. Bucko,
T. Kacprzak,
V. Ajani,
J. Fluri,
A. Refregier,
D. Anbajagane,
F. J. Castander,
A. Ferté,
M. Gatti,
N. Jeffrey,
A. Alarcon,
A. Amon,
K. Bechtol,
M. R. Becker,
G. M. Bernstein,
A. Campos,
A. Carnero Rosell,
C. Chang,
R. Chen,
A. Choi,
M. Crocce,
C. Davis,
J. DeRose,
S. Dodelson
, et al. (77 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Data-driven approaches using deep learning are emerging as powerful techniques to extract non-Gaussian information from cosmological large-scale structure. This work presents the first simulation-based inference (SBI) pipeline that combines weak lensing and galaxy clustering maps in a realistic Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES Y3) configuration and serves as preparation for a forthcoming analysis of…
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Data-driven approaches using deep learning are emerging as powerful techniques to extract non-Gaussian information from cosmological large-scale structure. This work presents the first simulation-based inference (SBI) pipeline that combines weak lensing and galaxy clustering maps in a realistic Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES Y3) configuration and serves as preparation for a forthcoming analysis of the survey data. We develop a scalable forward model based on the CosmoGridV1 suite of N-body simulations to generate over one million self-consistent mock realizations of DES Y3 at the map level. Leveraging this large dataset, we train deep graph convolutional neural networks on the full survey footprint in spherical geometry to learn low-dimensional features that approximately maximize mutual information with target parameters. These learned compressions enable neural density estimation of the implicit likelihood via normalizing flows in a ten-dimensional parameter space spanning cosmological $w$CDM, intrinsic alignment, and linear galaxy bias parameters, while marginalizing over baryonic, photometric redshift, and shear bias nuisances. To ensure robustness, we extensively validate our inference pipeline using synthetic observations derived from both systematic contaminations in our forward model and independent Buzzard galaxy catalogs. Our forecasts yield significant improvements in cosmological parameter constraints, achieving $2-3\times$ higher figures of merit in the $Ω_m - S_8$ plane relative to our implementation of baseline two-point statistics and effectively breaking parameter degeneracies through probe combination. These results demonstrate the potential of SBI analyses powered by deep learning for upcoming Stage-IV wide-field imaging surveys.
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Submitted 18 February, 2026; v1 submitted 6 November, 2025;
originally announced November 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: Redshift Calibration of the Weak Lensing Source Galaxies
Authors:
B. Yin,
A. Amon,
A. Campos,
M. A. Troxel,
W. d'Assignies,
G. M. Bernstein,
G. Camacho-Ciurana,
S. Mau,
M. R. Becker,
G. Giannini,
A. Alarcón,
D. Gruen,
J. McCullough,
M. Yamamoto,
D. Anbajagane,
S. Dodelson,
C. Sánchez,
J. Myles,
J. Prat,
C. Chang,
M. Crocce,
K. Bechtol,
A. Ferté,
M. Gatti,
N. MacCrann
, et al. (73 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Determining the distribution of redshifts for galaxies in wide-field photometric surveys is essential for robust cosmological studies of weak gravitational lensing. We present the methodology, calibrated redshift distributions, and uncertainties of the final Dark Energy Survey Year 6 (Y6) weak lensing galaxy data, divided into four redshift bins centered at…
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Determining the distribution of redshifts for galaxies in wide-field photometric surveys is essential for robust cosmological studies of weak gravitational lensing. We present the methodology, calibrated redshift distributions, and uncertainties of the final Dark Energy Survey Year 6 (Y6) weak lensing galaxy data, divided into four redshift bins centered at $\langle z \rangle = [0.414, 0.538, 0.846, 1.157]$. We combine independent information from two methods on the full shape of redshift distributions: optical and near-infrared photometry within an improved Self-Organizing Map $p(z)$ (SOMPZ) framework, and cross-correlations with spectroscopic galaxy clustering measurements (WZ), which we demonstrate to be consistent both in terms of the redshift calibration itself and in terms of resulting cosmological constraints within 0.1$σ$. We describe the process used to produce an ensemble of redshift distributions that account for several known sources of uncertainty. Among these, imperfection in the calibration sample due to the lack of faint, representative spectra is the dominant factor. The final uncertainty on mean redshift in each bin is $σ_{\langle z\rangle} = [0.012, 0.008,0.009, 0.024]$. We ensure the robustness of the redshift distributions by leveraging new image simulations and a cross-check with galaxy shape information via the shear ratio (SR) method.
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Submitted 25 June, 2026; v1 submitted 27 October, 2025;
originally announced October 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: Clustering-redshifts and importance sampling of Self-Organised-Maps $n(z)$ realizations for $3\times2$pt samples
Authors:
W. d'Assignies,
G. M. Bernstein,
B. Yin,
G. Giannini,
A. Alarcon,
M. Manera,
C. To,
M. Yamamoto,
N. Weaverdyck,
R. Cawthon,
M. Gatti,
A. Amon,
D. Anbajagane,
S. Avila,
M. R. Becker,
K. Bechtol,
C. Chang,
M. Crocce,
J. De Vicente,
S. Dodelson,
J. Fang,
A. Ferté,
D. Gruen,
E. Legnani,
A. Porredon
, et al. (70 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
This work is part of a series establishing the redshift framework for the $3\times2$pt analysis of the Dark Energy Survey Year 6 (DES Y6). For DES Y6, photometric redshift distributions are estimated using self-organizing maps (SOMs), calibrated with spectroscopic and many-band photometric data. To overcome limitations from color-redshift degeneracies and incomplete spectroscopic coverage, we enha…
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This work is part of a series establishing the redshift framework for the $3\times2$pt analysis of the Dark Energy Survey Year 6 (DES Y6). For DES Y6, photometric redshift distributions are estimated using self-organizing maps (SOMs), calibrated with spectroscopic and many-band photometric data. To overcome limitations from color-redshift degeneracies and incomplete spectroscopic coverage, we enhance this approach by incorporating clustering-based redshift constraints (clustering-z, or WZ) from angular cross-correlations with BOSS and eBOSS galaxies, and eBOSS quasar samples. We define a WZ likelihood and apply importance sampling to a large ensemble of SOM-derived $n(z)$ realizations, selecting those consistent with the clustering measurements to produce a posterior sample for each lens and source bin. The analysis uses angular scales of 1.5-5 Mpc to optimize signal-to-noise while mitigating modeling uncertainties, and marginalizes over redshift-dependent galaxy bias and other systematics informed by the N-body simulation Cardinal. While a sparser spectroscopic reference sample limits WZ constraining power at $z>1.1$, particularly for source bins, we demonstrate that combining SOMPZ with WZ improves redshift accuracy and enhances the overall cosmological constraining power of DES Y6. We estimate an improvement in $S_8$ of approximately 10\% for cosmic shear and $3\times2$pt analysis, primarily due to the WZ calibration of the source samples.
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Submitted 25 February, 2026; v1 submitted 27 October, 2025;
originally announced October 2025.
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Transformer Redesign for Late Fusion of Audio-Text Features on Ultra-Low-Power Edge Hardware
Authors:
Stavros Mitsis,
Ermos Hadjikyriakos,
Humaid Ibrahim,
Savvas Neofytou,
Shashwat Raman,
James Myles,
Eiman Kanjo
Abstract:
Deploying emotion recognition systems in real-world environments where devices must be small, low-power, and private remains a significant challenge. This is especially relevant for applications such as tension monitoring, conflict de-escalation, and responsive wearables, where cloud-based solutions are impractical. Multimodal emotion recognition has advanced through deep learning, but most system…
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Deploying emotion recognition systems in real-world environments where devices must be small, low-power, and private remains a significant challenge. This is especially relevant for applications such as tension monitoring, conflict de-escalation, and responsive wearables, where cloud-based solutions are impractical. Multimodal emotion recognition has advanced through deep learning, but most systems remain unsuitable for deployment on ultra-constrained edge devices. Prior work typically relies on powerful hardware, lacks real-time performance, or uses unimodal input. This paper addresses that gap by presenting a hardware-aware emotion recognition system that combines acoustic and linguistic features using a late-fusion architecture optimised for Edge TPU. The design integrates a quantised transformer-based acoustic model with frozen keyword embeddings from a DSResNet-SE network, enabling real-time inference within a 1.8MB memory budget and 21-23ms latency. The pipeline ensures spectrogram alignment between training and deployment using MicroFrontend and MLTK. Evaluation on re-recorded, segmented IEMOCAP samples captured through the Coral Dev Board Micro microphone shows a 6.3% macro F1 improvement over unimodal baselines. This work demonstrates that accurate, real-time multimodal emotion inference is achievable on microcontroller-class edge platforms through task-specific fusion and hardware-guided model design.
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Submitted 20 October, 2025;
originally announced October 2025.
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Ultra-Faint Milky Way Satellites Discovered in Carina, Phoenix, and Telescopium with DELVE Data Release 3
Authors:
C. Y. Tan,
W. Cerny,
A. B. Pace,
J. A. Sharp,
K. Overdeck,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
J. D. Simon,
B. Mutlu-Pakdil,
D. J. Sand,
A. M. Senkevich,
D. Erkal,
P. S. Ferguson,
F. Sobreira,
K. R. Atzberger,
J. L. Carlin,
A. Chiti,
D. Crnojević,
A. P. Ji,
L. C. Johnson,
T. S. Li,
G. Limberg,
C. E. Martínez-Vázquez,
G. E. Medina,
V. M. Placco,
A. H. Riley
, et al. (54 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We report the discovery of three Milky Way satellite candidates: Carina IV, Phoenix III, and DELVE 7, in the third data release of the DECam Local Volume Exploration survey (DELVE). The candidate systems were identified by cross-matching results from two independent search algorithms. All three are extremely faint systems composed of old, metal-poor stellar populations ($τ\gtrsim 10$ Gyr, [Fe/H]…
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We report the discovery of three Milky Way satellite candidates: Carina IV, Phoenix III, and DELVE 7, in the third data release of the DECam Local Volume Exploration survey (DELVE). The candidate systems were identified by cross-matching results from two independent search algorithms. All three are extremely faint systems composed of old, metal-poor stellar populations ($τ\gtrsim 10$ Gyr, [Fe/H] $ \lesssim -1.4$). Carina IV ($M_V = -2.8;\ r_{1/2} = 40 {\rm pc}$) and Phoenix III ($M_V = -1.2;\ r_{1/2} = 19 {\rm pc}$) have half-light radii that are consistent with the known population of dwarf galaxies, while DELVE 7 ($M_V = 1.2;\ r_{1/2} = 2 {\rm pc}$) is very compact and seems more likely to be a star cluster, though its nature remains ambiguous without spectroscopic followup. The Gaia proper motions of stars in Carina IV ($M_* = 2250^{+1180}_{-830} {\rm M_\odot}$) indicate that it is unlikely to be associated with the LMC, while DECam CaHK photometry confirms that its member stars are metal-poor. Phoenix III ($M_* = 520^{+660}_{-290} {\rm M_\odot}$) is the faintest known satellite in the extreme outer stellar halo ($D_{\rm GC} > 100$ kpc), while DELVE 7 ($M_* = 60^{+120}_{-40} {\rm M_\odot}$) is the faintest known satellite with $D_{\rm GC} > 20$ kpc.
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Submitted 11 March, 2026; v1 submitted 13 October, 2025;
originally announced October 2025.
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Robust Measurement of Stellar Streams Around the Milky Way: Correcting Spatially Variable Observational Selection Effects in Optical Imaging Surveys
Authors:
K. K. Boone,
P. S. Ferguson,
M. Tabbutt,
K. Bechtol,
T. -Y. Cheng,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
C. E. Martínez-Vázquez,
B. Mutlu-Pakdil,
T. M. C. Abbott,
O. Alves,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
D. Bacon,
S. Bocquet,
D. Brooks,
R. Camilleri,
A. Carnero Rosell,
L. N. da Costa,
M. E. da Silva Pereira,
T. M. Davis,
J. De Vicente,
S. Desai,
P. Doel,
S. Everett,
B. Flaugher,
J. Frieman
, et al. (25 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Observations of density variations in stellar streams are a promising probe of low-mass dark matter substructure in the Milky Way. However, survey systematics such as variations in seeing and sky brightness can also induce artificial fluctuations in the observed densities of known stellar streams. These variations arise because survey conditions affect both object detection and star--galaxy miscla…
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Observations of density variations in stellar streams are a promising probe of low-mass dark matter substructure in the Milky Way. However, survey systematics such as variations in seeing and sky brightness can also induce artificial fluctuations in the observed densities of known stellar streams. These variations arise because survey conditions affect both object detection and star--galaxy misclassification rates. To mitigate these effects, we use Balrog synthetic source injections in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Y3 data to calculate detection rate variations and classification rates as functions of survey properties. We show that these rates are nearly separable with respect to survey properties and can be estimated with sufficient statistics from the synthetic catalogs. Applying these corrections reduces the standard deviation of relative detection rates across the DES footprint by a factor of five, and our corrections significantly change the inferred linear density of the Phoenix stream when including faint objects. Additionally, for artificial streams with DES like survey properties we are able to recover density power spectra with reduced bias. We also find that uncorrected power-spectrum results for LSST-like data can be around five times more biased, highlighting the need for such corrections in future ground based surveys.
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Submitted 17 April, 2026; v1 submitted 8 October, 2025;
originally announced October 2025.
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Dwarf galaxy halo masses from spectroscopic and photometric lensing in DESI and DES
Authors:
Helena Treiber,
Alexandra Amon,
Risa H. Wechsler,
Viraj Manwadkar,
Justin Myles,
ChangHoon Hahn,
Andrew Hearin,
Sven Heydenreich,
Amélie Saintonge,
Manasvee Saraf,
Jessica Nicole Aguilar,
Steven Ahlen,
Abhijeet Anand,
Davide Bianchi,
David Brooks,
Francisco Javier Castander,
Todd Claybaugh,
Andrew P. Cooper,
Andrei Cuceu,
Axel de la Macorra,
Biprateep Dey,
Jaime E. Forero-Romero,
Enrique Gaztañaga,
Satya Gontcho A Gontcho,
Gaston Gutierrez
, et al. (24 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present the most precise and lowest-mass weak lensing measurements of dwarf galaxies to date, enabled by spectroscopic lenses from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and photometric lenses from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) calibrated with DESI redshifts. Using DESI spectroscopy from the first data release, we construct clean samples of galaxies with median stellar masses…
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We present the most precise and lowest-mass weak lensing measurements of dwarf galaxies to date, enabled by spectroscopic lenses from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and photometric lenses from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) calibrated with DESI redshifts. Using DESI spectroscopy from the first data release, we construct clean samples of galaxies with median stellar masses $\log_{10}(M_*/M_{\odot})=8.3-10.1$ and measure their weak lensing signals with sources from DES, KiDS, and SDSS, achieving detections with $S/N$ up to 14 for dwarf galaxies ($\log_{10}(M_*/M_{\odot})<$9.25) -- opening up a new regime for lensing measurements of low-mass systems. Leveraging DES photometry calibrated with DESI, we extend to a photometric dwarf sample of over 700,000 galaxies, enabling robust lensing detections of dwarf galaxies with combined $S/N=38$ and a significant measurement down to $\log_{10}(M_*/M_{\odot})=8.0$. We show that the one-halo regime (scales $\lesssim 0.15h^{-1}\rm Mpc$) is insensitive to various systematic and sample selection effects, providing robust halo mass estimates, while the signal in the two-halo regime depends on galaxy color and environment. These results demonstrate that DESI already enables precise dwarf lensing measurements, and that calibrated photometric samples extend this capability. Together, they pave the way for novel constraints on dwarf galaxy formation and dark matter physics with upcoming surveys like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's LSST.
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Submitted 13 October, 2025; v1 submitted 24 September, 2025;
originally announced September 2025.
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Biasing from galaxy trough and peak profiles with the DES Y3 redMaGiC galaxies and the weak lensing mass map
Authors:
Q. Hang,
N. Jeffrey,
L. Whiteway,
O. Lahav,
J. Williamson,
M. Gatti,
J. DeRose,
A. Kovacs,
A. Alarcon,
A. Amon,
K. Bechtol,
M. R. Becker,
G. M. Bernstein,
A. Campos,
A. Carnero Rosell,
M. Carrasco Kind,
C. Chang,
R. Chen,
A. Choi,
S. Dodelson,
C. Doux,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
J. Elvin-Poole,
S. Everett,
A. Ferté
, et al. (61 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We measure the correspondence between the distribution of galaxies and matter around troughs and peaks in the projected galaxy density, by comparing \texttt{redMaGiC} galaxies ($0.15<z<0.65$) to weak lensing mass maps from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Y3 data release. We obtain stacked profiles, as a function of angle $θ$, of the galaxy density contrast $δ_{\rm g}$ and the weak lensing convergence…
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We measure the correspondence between the distribution of galaxies and matter around troughs and peaks in the projected galaxy density, by comparing \texttt{redMaGiC} galaxies ($0.15<z<0.65$) to weak lensing mass maps from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Y3 data release. We obtain stacked profiles, as a function of angle $θ$, of the galaxy density contrast $δ_{\rm g}$ and the weak lensing convergence $κ$, in the vicinity of these identified troughs and peaks, referred to as `void' and `cluster' superstructures. The ratio of the profiles depend mildly on $θ$, indicating good consistency between the profile shapes. We model the amplitude of this ratio using a function $F(η, θ)$ that depends on cosmological parameters $η$, scaled by the galaxy bias. We construct templates of $F(η, θ)$ using a suite of $N$-body (`Gower Street') simulations forward-modelled with DES Y3-like noise and systematics. We discuss and quantify the caveats of using a linear bias model to create galaxy maps from the simulation dark matter shells. We measure the galaxy bias in three lens tomographic bins (near to far): $2.32^{+0.86}_{-0.27}, 2.18^{+0.86}_{-0.23}, 1.86^{+0.82}_{-0.23}$ for voids, and $2.46^{+0.73}_{-0.27}, 3.55^{+0.96}_{-0.55}, 4.27^{+0.36}_{-1.14}$ for clusters, assuming the best-fit \textit{Planck} cosmology. Similar values with $\sim0.1σ$ shifts are obtained assuming the mean DES Y3 cosmology. The biases from troughs and peaks are broadly consistent, although a larger bias is derived for peaks, which is also larger than those measured from the DES Y3 $3\times2$-point analysis. This method shows an interesting avenue for measuring field-level bias that can be applied to future lensing surveys.
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Submitted 8 January, 2026; v1 submitted 23 September, 2025;
originally announced September 2025.
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DELVE Milky Way Satellite Galaxy Census I: Satellite Population and Survey Selection Function in DES, DELVE, and Pan-STARRS
Authors:
C. Y. Tan,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
A. B. Pace,
W. Cerny,
E. O. Nadler,
A. Doliva-Dolinsky,
D. Anbajagane,
T. S. Li,
J. D. Simon,
A. K. Vivas,
A. R. Walker,
M. Adamów,
K. Bechtol,
J. L. Carlin,
Q. O. Casey,
C. Chang,
A. Chaturvedi,
T. -Y. Cheng,
A. Chiti,
Y. Choi,
D. Crnojević,
P. S. Ferguson,
R. A. Gruendl,
A. P. Ji,
G. Limberg
, et al. (62 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The properties of Milky Way satellite galaxies have important implications for galaxy formation, reionization, and the fundamental physics of dark matter. However, the population of Milky Way satellites includes the faintest known galaxies, and current observations are incomplete. To understand the impact of observational selection effects on the known satellite population, we perform rigorous, qu…
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The properties of Milky Way satellite galaxies have important implications for galaxy formation, reionization, and the fundamental physics of dark matter. However, the population of Milky Way satellites includes the faintest known galaxies, and current observations are incomplete. To understand the impact of observational selection effects on the known satellite population, we perform rigorous, quantitative estimates of the Milky Way satellite galaxy detection efficiency in three wide-field survey datasets: the Dark Energy Survey Year 6, the DECam Local Volume Exploration Data Release 3, and the Pan-STARRS1 Data Release 1. Together, these surveys cover $\sim$13,600 deg$^2$ to $g \sim 24.0$ and $\sim$27,700 deg$^2$ to $g \sim 22.5$, spanning $\sim$91% of the high-Galactic-latitude sky ($|b| \geq 15^\circ$). We apply multiple detection algorithms over the combined footprint and recover 49 known satellites above a strict census detection threshold. To characterize the sensitivity of our census, we run our detection algorithms on a large set of simulated galaxies injected into the survey data, which allows us to develop models that predict the detectability of satellites as a function of their properties. We then fit an empirical model to our data and infer the luminosity function, radial distribution, and size-luminosity relation of Milky Way satellite galaxies. Our empirical model predicts a total of $265^{+79}_{-47}$ satellite galaxies with $-20 \leq M_V \leq 0$, half-light radii of $15 \leq r_{1/2} (\rm pc) \leq 3000$, and galactocentric distances of $10 \leq D_{\rm GC} (\rm kpc) \leq 300$. We also identify a mild anisotropy in the angular distribution of the observed galaxies, at a significance of $\sim$$2σ$, which can be attributed to the clustering of satellites associated with the LMC.
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Submitted 13 March, 2026; v1 submitted 15 September, 2025;
originally announced September 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: Redshift Calibration of the MagLim++ Lens Sample
Authors:
G. Giannini,
A. Alarcon,
W. d'Assignies,
G. M. Bernstein,
M. A. Troxel,
C. Chang,
B. Yin,
A. Amon,
J. Myles,
N. Weaverdyck,
A. Porredon,
D. Anbajagane,
S. Avila,
K. Bechtol,
M. R. Becker,
J. Blazek,
M. Crocce,
D. Gruen,
M. Rodriguez-Monroy,
C. Sánchez,
D. Sanchez Cid,
I. Sevilla-Noarbe,
M. Aguena,
S. Allam,
O. Alves
, et al. (63 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
In this work, we derive and calibrate the redshift distribution of the MagLim++ lens galaxy sample used in the Dark Energy Survey Year 6 (DES Y6) 3x2pt cosmology analysis. The 3x2pt analysis combines galaxy clustering from the lens galaxy sample and weak gravitational lensing. The redshift distributions are inferred using the SOMPZ method - a Self-Organizing Map framework that combines deep-field…
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In this work, we derive and calibrate the redshift distribution of the MagLim++ lens galaxy sample used in the Dark Energy Survey Year 6 (DES Y6) 3x2pt cosmology analysis. The 3x2pt analysis combines galaxy clustering from the lens galaxy sample and weak gravitational lensing. The redshift distributions are inferred using the SOMPZ method - a Self-Organizing Map framework that combines deep-field multi-band photometry, wide-field data, and a synthetic source injection (Balrog) catalog. Key improvements over the DES Year 3 (Y3) calibration include a noise-weighted SOM metric, an expanded Balrog catalogue, and an improved scheme for propagating systematic uncertainties, which allows us to generate O($10^8$) redshift realizations that collectively span the dominant sources of uncertainty. These realizations are then combined with independent clustering-redshift measurements via importance sampling. The resulting calibration achieves typical uncertainties on the mean redshift of 1-2%, corresponding to a 20-30% average reduction relative to DES Y3. We compress the $n(z)$ uncertainties into a small number of orthogonal modes for use in cosmological inference. Marginalizing over these modes leads to only a minor degradation in cosmological constraints. This analysis establishes the MagLim++ sample as a robust lens sample for precision cosmology with DES Y6 and provides a scalable framework for future surveys.
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Submitted 9 September, 2025;
originally announced September 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: improved mitigation of spatially varying observational systematics with masking
Authors:
M. Rodríguez-Monroy,
N. Weaverdyck,
J. Elvin-Poole,
I. Sevilla-Noarbe,
A. Carnero Rosell,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
D. Anbajagane,
S. Avila,
M. R. Becker,
K. Bechtol,
M. Crocce,
A. Ferté,
M. Gatti,
J. Mena-Fernández,
A. Porredon,
D. Sanchez Cid,
M. Yamamoto,
M. Aguena,
S. S. Allam,
O. Alves,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
D. Bacon,
J. Blazek,
S. Bocquet,
D. Brooks
, et al. (41 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
As photometric surveys reach unprecedented statistical precision, systematic uncertainties increasingly dominate large-scale structure probes relying on galaxy number density. Defining the final survey footprint is critical, as it excludes regions affected by artefacts or suboptimal observing conditions. For galaxy clustering, spatially varying observational systematics, such as seeing, are a lead…
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As photometric surveys reach unprecedented statistical precision, systematic uncertainties increasingly dominate large-scale structure probes relying on galaxy number density. Defining the final survey footprint is critical, as it excludes regions affected by artefacts or suboptimal observing conditions. For galaxy clustering, spatially varying observational systematics, such as seeing, are a leading source of bias. Template maps of contaminants are used to derive spatially dependent corrections, but extreme values may fall outside the applicability range of mitigation methods, compromising correction reliability. The complexity and accuracy of systematics modelling depend on footprint conservativeness, with aggressive masking enabling simpler, robust mitigation. We present a unified approach to define the DES Year 6 joint footprint, integrating observational systematics templates and artefact indicators that degrade mitigation performance. This removes extreme values from an initial seed footprint, leading to the final joint footprint. By evaluating the DES Year 6 lens sample MagLim++ plus plus on this footprint, we enhance the Iterative Systematics Decontamination (ISD) method, detecting non-linear systematic contamination and improving correction accuracy. While the mask's impact on clustering is less significant than systematics decontamination, it remains non-negligible, comparable to statistical uncertainties in certain w(theta) scales and redshift bins. Supporting coherent analyses of galaxy clustering and cosmic shear, the final footprint spans 4031.04 deg2, setting the basis for DES Year 6 1x2pt, 2x2pt, and 3x2pt analyses. This work highlights how targeted masking strategies optimise the balance between statistical power and systematic control in Stage-III and -IV surveys.
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Submitted 25 September, 2025; v1 submitted 9 September, 2025;
originally announced September 2025.
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The Dark Energy Camera All Data Everywhere cosmic shear project V: Constraints on cosmology and astrophysics from 270 million galaxies across 13,000 deg$^2$ of the sky
Authors:
D. Anbajagane,
C. Chang,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
C. Y. Tan,
M. Adamow,
R. A. Gruendl,
L. F. Secco,
Z. Zhang,
M. R. Becker,
P. S. Ferguson,
N. Chicoine,
K. Herron,
A. Alarcon,
R. Teixeira,
D. Suson,
A. J. Shajib,
J. A. Frieman,
A. N. Alsina,
A. Amon,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
J. Blazek,
C. R. Bom,
H. Camacho,
J. A. Carballo-Bello,
A. Carnero Rosell
, et al. (56 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present constraints on models of cosmology and astrophysics using cosmic shear data vectors from three datasets: the northern and southern Galactic cap of the Dark Energy Camera All Data Everywhere (DECADE) project, and the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 3. These data vectors combined consist of 270 million galaxies spread across 13,000 ${\rm deg}^2$ of the sky. We first extract constraints for…
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We present constraints on models of cosmology and astrophysics using cosmic shear data vectors from three datasets: the northern and southern Galactic cap of the Dark Energy Camera All Data Everywhere (DECADE) project, and the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 3. These data vectors combined consist of 270 million galaxies spread across 13,000 ${\rm deg}^2$ of the sky. We first extract constraints for $Λ$CDM cosmology and find $S_8= 0.805^{+0.019}_{-0.019}$ and $Ω_{\rm m} = 0.262^{+0.023}_{-0.036}$, which is consistent within $1.9 σ$ of constraints from the Planck satellite. Extending our analysis to dynamical dark energy models shows that lensing provides some (but still minor) improvements to existing constraints from supernovae and baryon acoustic oscillations. Finally, we study six different models for the impact of baryons on the matter power spectrum. We show the different models provide consistent constraints on baryon suppression, and associated cosmology, once the astrophysical priors are sufficiently wide. Current scale-cut approaches for mitigating baryon contamination result in a residual bias of $\approx 0.3σ$ in the $S_8, Ω_{\rm m}$ posterior. Using all scales with dedicated baryon modeling leads to negligible improvement as the new information is used solely to self-calibrate the baryon model on small scales. Additional non-lensing datasets, and/or calibrations of the baryon model, will be required to access the full statistical power of the lensing measurements. The combined dataset in this work represents the largest lensing dataset to date (most galaxies, largest area) and provides an apt testing ground for analyses of upcoming datasets from Stage IV surveys. The DECADE shear catalogs, data vectors, and likelihoods are made publicly available.
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Submitted 14 July, 2026; v1 submitted 3 September, 2025;
originally announced September 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Cosmological constraints from second and third-order shear statistics
Authors:
R. C. H. Gomes,
S. Sugiyama,
B. Jain,
M. Jarvis,
D. Anbajagane,
A. Halder,
G. A. Marques,
S. Pandey,
J. Marshall,
A. Alarcon,
A. Amon,
K. Bechtol,
M. Becker,
G. Bernstein,
A. Campos,
R. Cawthon,
C. Chang,
R. Chen,
A. Choi,
J. Cordero,
C. Davis,
J. Derose,
S. Dodelson,
C. Doux,
K. Eckert
, et al. (73 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present a cosmological analysis of the third-order aperture mass statistic using Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES Y3) data. We perform a complete tomographic measurement of the three-point correlation function of the Y3 weak lensing shape catalog with the four fiducial source redshift bins. Building upon our companion methodology paper, we apply a pipeline that combines the two-point function…
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We present a cosmological analysis of the third-order aperture mass statistic using Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES Y3) data. We perform a complete tomographic measurement of the three-point correlation function of the Y3 weak lensing shape catalog with the four fiducial source redshift bins. Building upon our companion methodology paper, we apply a pipeline that combines the two-point function $ξ_{\pm}$ with the mass aperture skewness statistic $\langle M_{\rm ap}^3\rangle$, which is an efficient compression of the full shear three-point function. We use a suite of simulated shear maps to obtain a joint covariance matrix. By jointly analyzing $ξ_\pm$ and $\langle M_{\rm ap}^3\rangle$ measured from DES Y3 data with a $Λ$CDM model, we find $S_8=0.780\pm0.015$ and $Ω_{\rm m}=0.266^{+0.039}_{-0.040}$, yielding 111% of figure-of-merit improvement in $Ω_m$-$S_8$ plane relative to $ξ_{\pm}$ alone, consistent with expectations from simulated likelihood analyses. With a $w$CDM model, we find $S_8=0.749^{+0.027}_{-0.026}$ and $w_0=-1.39\pm 0.31$, which gives an improvement of $22\%$ on the joint $S_8$-$w_0$ constraint. Our results are consistent with $w_0=-1$. Our new constraints are compared to CMB data from the Planck satellite, and we find that with the inclusion of $\langle M_{\rm ap}^3\rangle$ the existing tension between the data sets is at the level of $2.3σ$. We show that the third-order statistic enables us to self-calibrate the mean photometric redshift uncertainty parameter of the highest redshift bin with little degradation in the figure of merit. Our results demonstrate the constraining power of higher-order lensing statistics and establish $\langle M_{\rm ap}^3\rangle$ as a practical observable for joint analyses in current and future surveys.
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Submitted 8 January, 2026; v1 submitted 19 August, 2025;
originally announced August 2025.
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Constraining the Stellar-to-Halo Mass Relation with Galaxy Clustering and Weak Lensing from DES Year 3 Data
Authors:
G. Zacharegkas,
C. Chang,
J. Prat,
W. Hartley,
S. Mucesh,
A. Alarcon,
O. Alves,
A. Amon,
K. Bechtol,
M. R. Becker,
G. Bernstein,
J. Blazek,
A. Campos,
A. Carnero Rosell,
M. Carrasco Kind,
R. Cawthon,
R. Chen,
A. Choi,
J. Cordero,
C. Davis,
J. Derose,
H. Diehl,
S. Dodelson,
C. Doux,
A. Drlica-Wagner
, et al. (78 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We develop a framework to study the relation between the stellar mass of a galaxy and the total mass of its host dark matter halo using galaxy clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements. We model a wide range of scales, roughly from $\sim 100 \; {\rm kpc}$ to $\sim 100 \; {\rm Mpc}$, using a theoretical framework based on the Halo Occupation Distribution and data from Year 3 of the Dark Ene…
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We develop a framework to study the relation between the stellar mass of a galaxy and the total mass of its host dark matter halo using galaxy clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements. We model a wide range of scales, roughly from $\sim 100 \; {\rm kpc}$ to $\sim 100 \; {\rm Mpc}$, using a theoretical framework based on the Halo Occupation Distribution and data from Year 3 of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) dataset. The new advances of this work include: 1) the generation and validation of a new stellar mass-selected galaxy sample in the range of $\log M_\star/M_\odot \sim 9.6$ to $\sim 11.5$; 2) the joint-modeling framework of galaxy clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing that is able to describe our stellar mass-selected sample deep into the 1-halo regime; and 3) stellar-to-halo mass relation (SHMR) constraints from this dataset. In general, our SHMR constraints agree well with existing literature with various weak lensing measurements. We constrain the free parameters in the SHMR functional form $\log M_\star (M_h) = \log(εM_1) + f\left[ \log\left( M_h / M_1 \right) \right] - f(0)$, with $f(x) \equiv -\log(10^{αx}+1) + δ[\log(1+\exp(x))]^γ/ [1+\exp(10^{-x})]$, to be $\log M_1 = 11.506^{+0.325}_{-0.404}$, $\log ε= -1.632^{+0.306}_{-0.181}$, $α= -1.638^{+0.108}_{-0.099}$, $γ= 0.596^{+0.251}_{-0.210}$ and $δ= 3.810^{+2.045}_{-1.811}$. The inferred average satellite fraction is within $\sim 5-35\%$ for our fiducial results and we do not see any clear trends with redshift or stellar mass. Furthermore, we find that the inferred average galaxy bias values follow the generally expected trends with stellar mass and redshift. Our study is the first SHMR in DES in this mass range, and we expect the stellar mass sample to be of general interest for other science cases.
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Submitted 6 January, 2026; v1 submitted 27 June, 2025;
originally announced June 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: $w$CDM cosmology from simulation-based inference with persistent homology on the sphere
Authors:
J. Prat,
M. Gatti,
C. Doux,
P. Pranav,
C. Chang,
N. Jeffrey,
L. Whiteway,
D. Anbajagane,
S. Sugiyama,
A. Thomsen,
A. Alarcon,
A. Amon,
K. Bechtol,
G. M. Bernstein,
A. Campos,
R. Chen,
A. Choi,
C. Davis,
J. DeRose,
S. Dodelson,
K. Eckert,
J. Elvin-Poole,
S. Everett,
A. Ferté,
D. Gruen
, et al. (72 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present cosmological constraints from Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES Y3) weak lensing data using persistent homology, a topological data analysis technique that tracks how features like clusters and voids evolve across density thresholds. For the first time, we apply spherical persistent homology to galaxy survey data through the algorithm TopoS2, which is optimized for curved-sky analyses and…
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We present cosmological constraints from Dark Energy Survey Year 3 (DES Y3) weak lensing data using persistent homology, a topological data analysis technique that tracks how features like clusters and voids evolve across density thresholds. For the first time, we apply spherical persistent homology to galaxy survey data through the algorithm TopoS2, which is optimized for curved-sky analyses and HEALPix compatibility. Employing a simulation-based inference framework with the Gower Street simulation suite, specifically designed to mimic DES Y3 data properties, we extract topological summary statistics from convergence maps across multiple smoothing scales and redshift bins. After neural network compression of these statistics, we estimate the likelihood function and validate our analysis against baryonic feedback effects, finding minimal biases (under $0.3σ$) in the $Ω_\mathrm{m}-S_8$ plane. Assuming the $w$CDM model, our combined Betti numbers and second moments analysis yields $S_8 = 0.821 \pm 0.018$ and $Ω_\mathrm{m} = 0.304\pm0.037$-constraints 70% tighter than those from cosmic shear two-point statistics in the same parameter plane. Our results demonstrate that topological methods provide a powerful and robust framework for extracting cosmological information, with our spherical methodology readily applicable to upcoming Stage IV wide-field galaxy surveys.
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Submitted 5 December, 2025; v1 submitted 16 June, 2025;
originally announced June 2025.
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Constraints on cosmology and baryonic feedback with joint analysis of Dark Energy Survey Year 3 lensing data and ACT DR6 thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect observations
Authors:
S. Pandey,
J. C. Hill,
A. Alarcon,
O. Alves,
A. Amon,
D. Anbajagane,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
N. Battaglia,
E. Baxter,
K. Bechtol,
M. R. Becker,
G. M. Bernstein,
J. Blazek,
S. L. Bridle,
E. Calabrese,
H. Camacho,
A. Campos,
A. Carnero Rosell,
M. Carrasco Kind,
R. Cawthon,
C. Chang,
R. Chen,
P. Chintalapati,
A. Choi,
J. Cordero
, et al. (116 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present a joint analysis of weak gravitational lensing (shear) data obtained from the first three years of observations by the Dark Energy Survey and thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect measurements from a combination of Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and Planck data. A combined analysis of shear (which traces the projected mass) with the tSZ effect (which traces the projected gas pressu…
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We present a joint analysis of weak gravitational lensing (shear) data obtained from the first three years of observations by the Dark Energy Survey and thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect measurements from a combination of Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and Planck data. A combined analysis of shear (which traces the projected mass) with the tSZ effect (which traces the projected gas pressure) can jointly probe both the distribution of matter and the thermodynamic state of the gas, accounting for the correlated effects of baryonic feedback on both observables. We detect the shear$~\times~$tSZ cross-correlation at a 21$σ$ significance, the highest to date, after minimizing the bias from cosmic infrared background leakage in the tSZ map. By jointly modeling the small-scale shear auto-correlation and the shear$~\times~$tSZ cross-correlation, we obtain $S_8 = 0.811^{+0.015}_{-0.012}$ and $Ω_{\rm m} = 0.263^{+0.023}_{-0.030}$, results consistent with primary CMB analyses from Planck and P-ACT. We find evidence for reduced thermal gas pressure in dark matter halos with masses $M < 10^{14} \, M_{\odot}/h$, supporting predictions of enhanced feedback from active galactic nuclei on gas thermodynamics. A comparison of the inferred matter power suppression reveals a $2-4σ$ tension with hydrodynamical simulations that implement mild baryonic feedback, as our constraints prefer a stronger suppression. Finally, we investigate biases from cosmic infrared background leakage in the tSZ-shear cross-correlation measurements, employing mitigation techniques to ensure a robust inference. Our code is publicly available on GitHub.
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Submitted 9 June, 2025;
originally announced June 2025.
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Spectroscopic Characterization of redMaPPer Galaxy Clusters with DESI
Authors:
J. Myles,
D. Gruen,
T. Jeltema,
A. Mantz,
S. Allen,
S. Fu,
A. Kremin,
J. Aguilar,
S. Ahlen,
D. Bianchi,
D. Brooks,
F. J. Castander,
T. Claybaugh,
A. de la Macorra,
A. Dey,
P. Doel,
S. Ferraro,
J. E. Forero-Romero,
E. Gaztañaga,
S. Gontcho A Gontcho,
G. Gutierrez,
K. Honscheid,
M. Ishak,
R. Kehoe,
D. Kirkby
, et al. (22 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Optical galaxy cluster identification algorithms such as redMaPPer promise to enable an array of astrophysical and cosmological studies, but suffer from biases whereby galaxies in front of and behind a galaxy cluster are mistakenly associated with the primary cluster halo. These projection effects caused by irreducible photometric redshift uncertainty must be quantified to facilitate the use of op…
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Optical galaxy cluster identification algorithms such as redMaPPer promise to enable an array of astrophysical and cosmological studies, but suffer from biases whereby galaxies in front of and behind a galaxy cluster are mistakenly associated with the primary cluster halo. These projection effects caused by irreducible photometric redshift uncertainty must be quantified to facilitate the use of optical cluster catalogues. We present measurements of galaxy cluster projection effects and velocity dispersion using spectroscopy from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). Our findings are as follows: we confirm that the fraction of redMaPPer putative member galaxies mistakenly associated with cluster haloes is richness dependent, being more than twice as large at low richness than high richness; we present the first spectroscopic evidence of an increase in projection effects with increasing redshift, by as much as 25 per cent from $z\sim0.1$ to $z\sim0.2$; moreover, we find qualitative evidence for luminosity dependence in projection effects, with fainter galaxies being more commonly far behind clusters than their bright counterparts; finally we fit the scaling relation between measured mean spectroscopic richness and velocity dispersion, finding an implied linear scaling between spectroscopic richness and halo mass. We discuss further directions for the application of spectroscopic datasets to improve use of optically selected clusters to test cosmological models.
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Submitted 19 November, 2025; v1 submitted 6 June, 2025;
originally announced June 2025.
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Year six photometric measurements of known Trans-Neptunian Objects and Centaurs by the Dark Energy Survey
Authors:
Feliphe S. Ferreira,
Julio I. B. Camargo,
Rodrigo Boufleur,
M. V. Banda-Huarca,
Adriano Pieres,
Viviane F. Peixoto,
Marcelo Assafin,
P. H. Bernardinelli,
H. W. Lin,
Felipe Braga-Ribas,
Altair Gomes-Junior,
Roberto Vieira-Martins,
L. N. da Costa,
T. M. C. Abbott,
M. Aguena,
Sahar S. Allam,
O. Alves,
J. Annis,
D. Bacon,
D. Brooks,
D. L. Burke,
A. Carneiro Rosell,
J. Carretero,
S. Desai,
P. Doel
, et al. (38 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We identified known Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) and Centaurs in the complete Dark Energy Survey (DES) year six catalog (DES Y6) through the Sky Body Tracker (SkyBoT) tool. We classified our dataset of 144 objects into a widely used 4-class taxonomic system of TNOs. No such previous classification was available in the literature for most of these objects. From absolute magnitudes and average alb…
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We identified known Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) and Centaurs in the complete Dark Energy Survey (DES) year six catalog (DES Y6) through the Sky Body Tracker (SkyBoT) tool. We classified our dataset of 144 objects into a widely used 4-class taxonomic system of TNOs. No such previous classification was available in the literature for most of these objects. From absolute magnitudes and average albedos, an estimation of the diameters of all these objects is obtained. Correlations involving colours, orbital parameters, dynamical classes and sizes are also discussed. In particular, our largest reddest object has a diameter of $390^{+68}_{-53}$ km and our largest cold classical, $255^{+19}_{-17}$ km. Also, a weak correlation between colour and inclination is found within the population of resonant TNOs in addition to weak correlations between colour and phase slope in different bands.
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Submitted 7 September, 2025; v1 submitted 23 April, 2025;
originally announced April 2025.
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The SPT-Deep Cluster Catalog: Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Selected Clusters from Combined SPT-3G and SPTpol Measurements over 100 Square Degrees
Authors:
K. Kornoelje,
L. E. Bleem,
E. S. Rykoff,
T. M. C. Abbott,
P. A. R. Ade,
M. Aguena,
O. Alves,
A. J. Anderson,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
B. Ansarinejad,
M. Archipley,
M. L. N. Ashby,
J. E. Austermann,
D. Bacon,
L. Balkenhol,
J. A. Beall,
K. Benabed,
A. N. Bender,
B. A. Benson,
F. Bianchini,
S. Bocquet,
F. R. Bouchet,
D. Brooks,
D. L. Burke,
M. Calzadilla
, et al. (169 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present a catalog of 500 galaxy cluster candidates in the SPT-Deep field: a 100 deg$^2$ field that combines data from the SPT-3G and SPTpol surveys to reach noise levels of 3.0, 2.2, and 9.0 $μ$K-arcmin at 95, 150, and 220 GHz, respectively. This is comparable to noise levels expected for the wide field survey of CMB-S4, a next-generation CMB experiment. Candidates are selected via the thermal…
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We present a catalog of 500 galaxy cluster candidates in the SPT-Deep field: a 100 deg$^2$ field that combines data from the SPT-3G and SPTpol surveys to reach noise levels of 3.0, 2.2, and 9.0 $μ$K-arcmin at 95, 150, and 220 GHz, respectively. This is comparable to noise levels expected for the wide field survey of CMB-S4, a next-generation CMB experiment. Candidates are selected via the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect with a minimum significance of $ξ= 4.0$, resulting in a catalog of purity $\sim 89 \%$. Optical data from the Dark Energy Survey and infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope are used to confirm 442 cluster candidates. The clusters span $0.12 < z \lesssim 1.8$ and $1.0 \times 10^{14} M_{\odot}/h_{70} < M_{500c} < 8.7 \times 10^{14} M_{\odot}/h_{70}$. The sample's median redshift is 0.74 and the median mass is $1.7 \times 10^{14} M_{\odot}/h_{70}$; these are the lowest median mass and highest median redshift of any SZ-selected sample to date. We assess the effect of infrared emission from cluster member galaxies on cluster selection by performing a joint fit to the infrared dust and tSZ signals by combining measurements from SPT and overlapping submillimeter data from Herschel/SPIRE. We find that at high redshift ($z>1)$, the tSZ signal is reduced by $17.4^{+3.1}_{-2.9} \%$ ($3.7^{+0.7}_{-0.7}\%$) at 150 GHz (95 GHz) due to dust contamination. We repeat our cluster finding method on dust-nulled SPT maps and find the resulting catalog is consistent with the nominal SPT-Deep catalog, demonstrating dust contamination does not significantly impact the SPT-Deep selection function; we attribute this lack of bias to the inclusion of the SPT 220 GHz band.
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Submitted 21 March, 2025;
originally announced March 2025.
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Data Release 1 of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
Authors:
DESI Collaboration,
M. Abdul Karim,
A. G. Adame,
D. Aguado,
J. Aguilar,
S. Ahlen,
S. Alam,
G. Aldering,
D. M. Alexander,
R. Alfarsy,
L. Allen,
C. Allende Prieto,
O. Alves,
A. Anand,
U. Andrade,
E. Armengaud,
S. Avila,
A. Aviles,
H. Awan,
S. Bailey,
A. Baleato Lizancos,
O. Ballester,
A. Bault,
J. Bautista,
R. Bean
, et al. (285 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
In 2021 May the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration began a 5-year spectroscopic redshift survey to produce a detailed map of the evolving three-dimensional structure of the universe between $z=0$ and $z\approx4$. DESI's principle scientific objectives are to place precise constraints on the equation of state of dark energy, the gravitationally driven growth of large-scale st…
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In 2021 May the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration began a 5-year spectroscopic redshift survey to produce a detailed map of the evolving three-dimensional structure of the universe between $z=0$ and $z\approx4$. DESI's principle scientific objectives are to place precise constraints on the equation of state of dark energy, the gravitationally driven growth of large-scale structure, and the sum of the neutrino masses, and to explore the observational signatures of primordial inflation. We present DESI Data Release 1 (DR1), which consists of all data acquired during the first 13 months of the DESI main survey, as well as a uniform reprocessing of the DESI Survey Validation data which was previously made public in the DESI Early Data Release. The DR1 main survey includes high-confidence redshifts for 18.7M objects, of which 13.1M are spectroscopically classified as galaxies, 1.6M as quasars, and 4M as stars, making DR1 the largest sample of extragalactic redshifts ever assembled. We summarize the DR1 observations, the spectroscopic data-reduction pipeline and data products, large-scale structure catalogs, value-added catalogs, and describe how to access and interact with the data. In addition to fulfilling its core cosmological objectives with unprecedented precision, we expect DR1 to enable a wide range of transformational astrophysical studies and discoveries.
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Submitted 4 March, 2026; v1 submitted 18 March, 2025;
originally announced March 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Cosmological Constraints from Cluster Abundances, Weak Lensing, and Galaxy Clustering
Authors:
DES Collaboration,
T. M. C. Abbott,
M. Aguena,
A. Alarcon,
D. Anbajagane,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
S. Avila,
D. Bacon,
M. R. Becker,
S. Bhargava,
J. Blazek,
S. Bocquet,
D. Brooks,
A. Carnero Rosell,
J. Carretero,
F. J. Castander,
C. Chang,
A. Choi,
C. Conselice,
M. Costanzi,
M. Crocce,
L. N. da Costa,
M. E. S. Pereira,
T. M. Davis,
S. Desai
, et al. (66 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Galaxy clusters provide a unique probe of the late-time cosmic structure and serve as a powerful independent test of the $Λ$CDM model. This work presents the first set of cosmological constraints derived with ~16,000 optically selected redMaPPer clusters across nearly 5,000 $\rm{deg}^2$ using DES Year 3 data sets. Our analysis leverages a consistent modeling framework for galaxy cluster cosmology…
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Galaxy clusters provide a unique probe of the late-time cosmic structure and serve as a powerful independent test of the $Λ$CDM model. This work presents the first set of cosmological constraints derived with ~16,000 optically selected redMaPPer clusters across nearly 5,000 $\rm{deg}^2$ using DES Year 3 data sets. Our analysis leverages a consistent modeling framework for galaxy cluster cosmology and DES-Y3 joint analyses of galaxy clustering and weak lensing (3x2pt), ensuring direct comparability with the DES-Y3 3x2pt analysis. We obtain constraints of $S_8 = 0.864 \pm 0.035$ and $Ω_{\rm{m}} = 0.265^{+0.019}_{-0.031}$ from the cluster-based data vector. We find that cluster constraints and 3x2pt constraints are consistent under the $Λ$CDM model with a Posterior Predictive Distribution (PPD) value of $0.53$. The consistency between clusters and 3x2pt provides a stringent test of $Λ$CDM across different mass and spatial scales. Jointly analyzing clusters with 3x2pt further improves cosmological constraints, yielding $S_8 = 0.811^{+0.022}_{-0.020}$ and $Ω_{\rm{m}} = 0.294^{+0.022}_{-0.033}$, a $24\%$ improvement in the $Ω_{\rm{m}}-S_8$ figure-of-merit over 3x2pt alone. Moreover, we find no significant deviation from the Planck CMB constraints with a probability to exceed (PTE) value of $0.6$, significantly reducing previous $S_8$ tension claims. Finally, combining DES 3x2pt, DES clusters, and Planck CMB places an upper limit on the sum of neutrino masses of $\sum m_ν< 0.26$ eV at 95% confidence under the $Λ$CDM model. These results establish optically selected clusters as a key cosmological probe and pave the way for cluster-based analyses in upcoming Stage-IV surveys such as LSST, Euclid, and Roman.
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Submitted 17 March, 2025;
originally announced March 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey: Modeling strategy for multiprobe cluster cosmology and validation for the Full Six-year Dataset
Authors:
Chun-Hao To,
Elisabeth Krause,
Chihway Chang,
Hao-Yi Wu,
Risa H. Wechsler,
Eduardo Rozo,
David H. Weinberg,
D. Anbajagane,
S. Avila,
J. Blazek,
S. Bocquet,
M. Costanzi,
J. De Vicente,
J. Elvin-Poole,
A. Ferté,
S. Grandis,
J. Muir,
A. Porredon,
S. Samuroff,
E. Sanchez,
D. Sanchez Cid,
I. Sevilla-Noarbe,
N. Weaverdyck,
T. M. C. Abbott,
M. Aguena
, et al. (41 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We introduce an updated To&Krause2021 model for joint analyses of cluster abundances and large-scale two-point correlations of weak lensing and galaxy and cluster clustering (termed CL+3x2pt analysis) and validate that this model meets the systematic accuracy requirements of analyses with the statistical precision of the final Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 6 (Y6) dataset. The validation program co…
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We introduce an updated To&Krause2021 model for joint analyses of cluster abundances and large-scale two-point correlations of weak lensing and galaxy and cluster clustering (termed CL+3x2pt analysis) and validate that this model meets the systematic accuracy requirements of analyses with the statistical precision of the final Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 6 (Y6) dataset. The validation program consists of two distinct approaches, (1) identification of modeling and parameterization choices and impact studies using simulated analyses with each possible model misspecification (2) end-to-end validation using mock catalogs from customized Cardinal simulations that incorporate realistic galaxy populations and DES-Y6-specific galaxy and cluster selection and photometric redshift modeling, which are the key observational systematics. In combination, these validation tests indicate that the model presented here meets the accuracy requirements of DES-Y6 for CL+3x2pt based on a large list of tests for known systematics. In addition, we also validate that the model is sufficient for several other data combinations: the CL+GC subset of this data vector (excluding galaxy--galaxy lensing and cosmic shear two-point statistics) and the CL+3x2pt+BAO+SN (combination of CL+3x2pt with the previously published Y6 DES baryonic acoustic oscillation and Y5 supernovae data).
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Submitted 17 March, 2025;
originally announced March 2025.
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The DECADE cosmic shear project IV: cosmological constraints from 107 million galaxies across 5,400 deg$^2$ of the sky
Authors:
D. Anbajagane,
C. Chang,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
C. Y. Tan,
M. Adamow,
R. A. Gruendl,
L. F. Secco,
Z. Zhang,
M. R. Becker,
P. S. Ferguson,
N. Chicoine,
K. Herron,
A. Alarcon,
R. Teixeira,
D. Suson,
A. N. Alsina,
A. Amon,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
J. Blazek,
C. R. Bom,
H. Camacho,
J. A. Carballo-Bello,
A. Carnero Rosell,
R. Cawthon,
W. Cerny
, et al. (50 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present cosmological constraints from the Dark Energy Camera All Data Everywhere (DECADE) cosmic shear analysis. This work uses shape measurements for 107 million galaxies measured through Dark Energy Camera (DECam) imaging of $5,\!412$ deg$^2$ of sky that is outside the Dark Energy Survey (DES) footprint. We derive constraints on the cosmological parameters $S_8 = 0.791^{+0.027}_{-0.032}$ and…
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We present cosmological constraints from the Dark Energy Camera All Data Everywhere (DECADE) cosmic shear analysis. This work uses shape measurements for 107 million galaxies measured through Dark Energy Camera (DECam) imaging of $5,\!412$ deg$^2$ of sky that is outside the Dark Energy Survey (DES) footprint. We derive constraints on the cosmological parameters $S_8 = 0.791^{+0.027}_{-0.032}$ and $Ω_{\rm m} =0.269^{+0.034}_{-0.050}$ for the $Λ$CDM model, which are consistent with those from other weak lensing surveys and from the cosmic microwave background. We combine our results with cosmic shear results from DES Y3 at the likelihood level, since the two datasets span independent areas on the sky. The combined measurements, which cover $\approx\! 10,\!000$ deg$^2$, prefer $S_8 = 0.791 \pm 0.023$ and $Ω_{\rm m} = 0.277^{+0.034}_{-0.046}$ under the $Λ$CDM model. These results are the culmination of a series of rigorous studies that characterize and validate the DECADE dataset and the associated analysis methodologies (Anbajagane et. al 2025a,b,c). Overall, the DECADE project demonstrates that the cosmic shear analysis methods employed in Stage-III weak lensing surveys can provide robust cosmological constraints for fairly inhomogeneous datasets. This opens the possibility of using data that have been previously categorized as ``unusable'' for cosmic shear analyses, thereby increasing the statistical power of upcoming weak lensing surveys.
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Submitted 20 October, 2025; v1 submitted 24 February, 2025;
originally announced February 2025.
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The DECADE cosmic shear project II: photometric redshift calibration of the source galaxy sample
Authors:
D. Anbajagane,
A. Alarcon,
R. Teixeira,
C. Chang,
L. F. Secco,
C. Y. Tan,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
M. Adamow,
R. A. Gruendl,
G. Giannini,
M. R. Becker,
P. S. Ferguson,
N. Chicoine,
Z. Zhang,
K. Herron,
D. Suson,
A. N. Alsina,
A. Amon,
C. R. Bom,
J. A. Carballo-Bello,
W. Cerny,
A. Choi,
Y. Choi,
C. Doux,
K. Eckert
, et al. (28 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present the photometric redshift characterization and calibration for the Dark Energy Camera All Data Everywhere (DECADE) weak lensing dataset: a catalog of 107 million galaxies observed by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) in the northern Galactic cap. The redshifts are estimated from a combination of wide-field photometry, deep-field photometry with associated redshift estimates, and a transfer…
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We present the photometric redshift characterization and calibration for the Dark Energy Camera All Data Everywhere (DECADE) weak lensing dataset: a catalog of 107 million galaxies observed by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) in the northern Galactic cap. The redshifts are estimated from a combination of wide-field photometry, deep-field photometry with associated redshift estimates, and a transfer function between the wide field and deep field that is estimated using a source injection catalog. We construct four tomographic bins for the galaxy catalog, and estimate the redshift distribution, $n(z)$, within each one using the Self-organizing Map Photo-Z (SOMPZ) methodology. Our estimates include the contributions from sample variance, zeropoint calibration uncertainties, and redshift biases, as quantified for the deep-field dataset. The total uncertainties on the mean redshifts are $σ_{\langle z \rangle} \approx 0.01$. The SOMPZ estimates are then compared to those from the clustering redshift method, obtained by cross-correlating our source galaxies with galaxies in spectroscopic surveys, and are shown to be consistent with each other.
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Submitted 20 October, 2025; v1 submitted 24 February, 2025;
originally announced February 2025.
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Discovering Strong Gravitational Lenses in the Dark Energy Survey with Interactive Machine Learning and Crowd-sourced Inspection with Space Warps
Authors:
J. Gonzalez,
P. Holloway,
T. Collett,
A. Verma,
K. Bechtol,
P. Marshall,
A. More,
J. Acevedo Barroso,
G. Cartwright,
M. Martinez,
T. Li,
K. Rojas,
S. Schuldt,
S. Birrer,
H. T. Diehl,
R. Morgan,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
J. H. O'Donnell,
E. Zaborowski,
B. Nord,
E. M. Baeten,
L. C. Johnson,
C. Macmillan,
A. Roodman,
A. Pieres
, et al. (48 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We conduct a search for strong gravitational lenses in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 6 imaging data. We implement a pre-trained Vision Transformer (ViT) for our machine learning (ML) architecture and adopt Interactive Machine Learning to construct a training sample with multiple classes to address common types of false positives. Our ML model reduces 236 million DES cutout images to 22,564 tar…
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We conduct a search for strong gravitational lenses in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 6 imaging data. We implement a pre-trained Vision Transformer (ViT) for our machine learning (ML) architecture and adopt Interactive Machine Learning to construct a training sample with multiple classes to address common types of false positives. Our ML model reduces 236 million DES cutout images to 22,564 targets of interest, including around 85% of previously reported galaxy-galaxy lens candidates discovered in DES. These targets were visually inspected by citizen scientists, who ruled out approximately 90% as false positives. Of the remaining 2,618 candidates, 149 were expert-classified as 'definite' lenses and 516 as 'probable' lenses, with 147 of these candidates being newly identified. Additionally, we trained a second ViT to find double-source plane lens systems, finding at least one double-source system. Our main ViT excels at identifying galaxy-galaxy lenses, consistently assigning high scores to candidates with high confidence. The top 800 ViT-scored images include around 100 of our `definite' lens candidates. This selection is an order of magnitude higher in purity than previous convolutional neural network-based lens searches and demonstrates the feasibility of applying our methodology for discovering large samples of lenses in future surveys.
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Submitted 21 April, 2025; v1 submitted 26 January, 2025;
originally announced January 2025.
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High-Significance Detection of Correlation Between the Unresolved Gamma-Ray Background and the Large Scale Cosmic Structure
Authors:
B. Thakore,
M. Negro,
M. Regis,
S. Camera,
D. Gruen,
N. Fornengo,
A. Roodman,
A. Porredon,
T. Schutt,
A. Cuoco,
A. Alarcon,
A. Amon,
K. Bechtol,
M. R. Becker,
G. M. Bernstein,
A. Campos,
A. Carnero Rosell,
M. Carrasco Kind,
R. Cawthon,
C. Chang,
R. Chen,
A. Choi,
J. Cordero,
C. Davis,
J. DeRose
, et al. (74 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Our understanding of the $γ$-ray sky has improved dramatically in the past decade, however, the unresolved $γ$-ray background (UGRB) still has a potential wealth of information about the faintest $γ$-ray sources pervading the Universe. Statistical cross-correlations with tracers of cosmic structure can indirectly identify the populations that most characterize the $γ$-ray background. In this study…
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Our understanding of the $γ$-ray sky has improved dramatically in the past decade, however, the unresolved $γ$-ray background (UGRB) still has a potential wealth of information about the faintest $γ$-ray sources pervading the Universe. Statistical cross-correlations with tracers of cosmic structure can indirectly identify the populations that most characterize the $γ$-ray background. In this study, we analyze the angular correlation between the $γ$-ray background and the matter distribution in the Universe as traced by gravitational lensing, leveraging more than a decade of observations from the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) and 3 years of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We detect a correlation at signal-to-noise ratio of 8.9. Most of the statistical significance comes from large scales, demonstrating, for the first time, that a substantial portion of the UGRB aligns with the mass clustering of the Universe as traced by weak lensing. Blazars provide a plausible explanation for this signal, especially if those contributing to the correlation reside in halos of large mass ($\sim 10^{14} M_{\odot}$) and account for approximately 30-40 % of the UGRB above 10 GeV. Additionally, we observe a preference for a curved $γ$-ray energy spectrum, with a log-parabolic shape being favored over a power-law. We also discuss the possibility of modifications to the blazar model and the inclusion of additional $gamma$-ray sources, such as star-forming galaxies or particle dark matter.
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Submitted 17 April, 2025; v1 submitted 17 January, 2025;
originally announced January 2025.
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Comparing the DES-SN5YR and Pantheon+ SN cosmology analyses: Investigation based on "Evolving Dark Energy or Supernovae systematics?"
Authors:
M. Vincenzi,
R. Kessler,
P. Shah,
J. Lee,
T. M. Davis,
D. Scolnic,
P. Armstrong,
D. Brout,
R. Camilleri,
R. Chen,
L. Galbany,
C. Lidman,
A. Möller,
B. Popovic,
B. Rose,
M. Sako,
B. O. Sánchez,
M. Smith,
M. Sullivan,
P. Wiseman,
T. M. C. Abbott,
M. Aguena,
S. Allam,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
S. Bocquet
, et al. (43 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Recent cosmological analyses measuring distances of Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) have all given similar hints at time-evolving dark energy. To examine whether underestimated SN Ia systematics might be driving these results, Efstathiou (2024) compared overlapping SN events between Pantheon+ and DES-SN5YR (20% SNe are in common), and reported evidence for a…
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Recent cosmological analyses measuring distances of Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) have all given similar hints at time-evolving dark energy. To examine whether underestimated SN Ia systematics might be driving these results, Efstathiou (2024) compared overlapping SN events between Pantheon+ and DES-SN5YR (20% SNe are in common), and reported evidence for a $\sim$0.04 mag offset between the low and high-redshift distance measurements of this subsample of events. If these offsets are arbitrarily subtracted from the entire DES-SN5YR sample, the preference for evolving dark energy is reduced. In this paper, we reproduce this offset and show that it has two sources. First, 43% of the offset is due to DES-SN5YR improvements in the modelling of supernova intrinsic scatter and host galaxy properties. These are scientifically-motivated modelling updates implemented in DES-SN5YR and their associated uncertainties are captured within the DES-SN5YR systematic error budget. Even if the less accurate scatter model and host properties from Pantheon+ are used instead, the DES-SN5YR evidence for evolving dark energy is only reduced from 3.9$σ$ to 3.3$σ$. Second, 38% of the offset is due to a misleading comparison because different selection functions characterize the DES subsets included in Pantheon+ and DES-SN5YR and therefore individual SN distance measurements are expected to be different because of different bias corrections. In conclusion, we confirm the validity of the published DES-SN5YR results.
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Submitted 11 January, 2025;
originally announced January 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: Point-spread Function Modeling
Authors:
T. Schutt,
M. Jarvis,
A. Roodman,
A. Amon,
M. R. Becker,
R. A. Gruendl,
M. Yamamoto,
K. Bechtol,
G. M. Bernstein,
M. Gatti,
E. S. Rykoff,
E. Sheldon,
M. A. Troxel,
T. M. C. Abbott,
M. Aguena,
A. Alarcon,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
D. Brooks,
A. Carnero Rosell,
J. Carretero,
C. Chang,
A. Choi,
M. Crocce,
L. N. da Costa,
T. M. Davis
, et al. (48 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present the point-spread function (PSF) modeling for weak lensing shear measurement using the full six years of the Dark Energy Survey (DES Y6) data. We review the PSF estimation procedure using the PIFF (PSFs In the Full FOV) software package and describe the key improvements made to PIFF and modeling diagnostics since the DES year three (Y3) analysis: (i) use of external Gaia and infrared pho…
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We present the point-spread function (PSF) modeling for weak lensing shear measurement using the full six years of the Dark Energy Survey (DES Y6) data. We review the PSF estimation procedure using the PIFF (PSFs In the Full FOV) software package and describe the key improvements made to PIFF and modeling diagnostics since the DES year three (Y3) analysis: (i) use of external Gaia and infrared photometry catalogs to ensure higher purity of the stellar sample used for model fitting, (ii) addition of color-dependent PSF modeling, the first for any weak lensing analysis, and (iii) inclusion of model diagnostics inspecting fourth-order moments, which can bias weak lensing measurements to a similar degree as second-order modeling errors. Through a comprehensive set of diagnostic tests, we demonstrate the improved accuracy of the Y6 models evident in significantly smaller systematic errors than those of the Y3 analysis, in which all $g$ band data were excluded due to insufficiently accurate PSF models. For the Y6 weak lensing analysis, we include $g$ band photometry data in addition to the $riz$ bands, providing a fourth band for photometric redshift estimation. Looking forward to the next generation of wide-field surveys, we describe several ongoing improvements to PIFF, which will be the default PSF modeling software for weak lensing analyses for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time.
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Submitted 18 March, 2025; v1 submitted 10 January, 2025;
originally announced January 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: Photometric Data Set for Cosmology
Authors:
K. Bechtol,
I. Sevilla-Noarbe,
A. Drlica-Wagner,
B. Yanny,
R. A. Gruendl,
E. Sheldon,
E. S. Rykoff,
J. De Vicente,
M. Adamow,
D. Anbajagane,
M. R. Becker,
G. M. Bernstein,
A. Carnero Rosell,
J. Gschwend,
M. Gorsuch,
W. G. Hartley,
M. Jarvis,
T. Jeltema,
R. Kron,
T. A. Manning,
J. O'Donnell,
A. Pieres,
M. Rodríguez-Monroy,
D. Sanchez Cid,
M. Tabbutt
, et al. (81 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We describe the photometric data set assembled from the full six years of observations by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) in support of static-sky cosmology analyses. DES Y6 Gold is a curated data set derived from DES Data Release 2 (DR2) that incorporates improved measurement, photometric calibration, object classification and value added information. Y6 Gold comprises nearly $5000~{\rm deg}^2$ of…
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We describe the photometric data set assembled from the full six years of observations by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) in support of static-sky cosmology analyses. DES Y6 Gold is a curated data set derived from DES Data Release 2 (DR2) that incorporates improved measurement, photometric calibration, object classification and value added information. Y6 Gold comprises nearly $5000~{\rm deg}^2$ of $grizY$ imaging in the south Galactic cap and includes 669 million objects with a depth of $i_{AB} \sim 23.4$ mag at S/N $\sim 10$ for extended objects and a top-of-the-atmosphere photometric uniformity $< 2~{\rm mmag}$. Y6 Gold augments DES DR2 with simultaneous fits to multi-epoch photometry for more robust galaxy shapes, colors, and photometric redshift estimates. Y6 Gold features improved morphological star-galaxy classification with efficiency $98.6\%$ and contamination $0.8\%$ for galaxies with $17.5 < i_{AB} < 22.5$. Additionally, it includes per-object quality information, and accompanying maps of the footprint coverage, masked regions, imaging depth, survey conditions, and astrophysical foregrounds that are used for cosmology analyses. After quality selections, benchmark samples contain 448 million galaxies and 120 million stars. This paper will be complemented by online data access and documentation.
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Submitted 13 January, 2025; v1 submitted 10 January, 2025;
originally announced January 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: Synthetic-source Injection Across the Full Survey Using Balrog
Authors:
D. Anbajagane,
M. Tabbutt,
J. Beas-Gonzalez,
B. Yanny,
S. Everett,
M. R. Becker,
M. Yamamoto,
E. Legnani,
J. De Vicente,
K. Bechtol,
J. Elvin-Poole,
G. M. Bernstein,
A. Choi,
M. Gatti,
G. Giannini,
R. A. Gruendl,
M. Jarvis,
S. Lee,
J. Mena-Fernández,
A. Porredon,
M. Rodriguez-Monroy,
E. Rozo,
E. S. Rykoff,
T. Schutt,
E. Sheldon
, et al. (57 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Synthetic source injection (SSI), the insertion of sources into pixel-level on-sky images, is a powerful method for characterizing object detection and measurement in wide-field, astronomical imaging surveys. Within the Dark Energy Survey (DES), SSI plays a critical role in characterizing all necessary algorithms used in converting images to catalogs, and in deriving quantities needed for the cosm…
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Synthetic source injection (SSI), the insertion of sources into pixel-level on-sky images, is a powerful method for characterizing object detection and measurement in wide-field, astronomical imaging surveys. Within the Dark Energy Survey (DES), SSI plays a critical role in characterizing all necessary algorithms used in converting images to catalogs, and in deriving quantities needed for the cosmology analysis, such as object detection rates, galaxy redshift estimation, galaxy magnification, star-galaxy classification, and photometric performance. We present here a source injection catalog of $146$ million injections spanning the entire 5000 deg$^2$ DES footprint, generated using the Balrog SSI pipeline. Through this sample, we demonstrate that the DES Year 6 (Y6) image processing pipeline provides accurate estimates of the object properties, for both galaxies and stars, at the percent-level, and we highlight specific regimes where the accuracy is reduced. We then show the consistency between SSI and data catalogs, for all galaxy samples developed within the weak lensing and galaxy clustering analyses of DES Y6. The consistency between the two catalogs also extends to their correlations with survey observing properties (seeing, airmass, depth, extinction, etc.). Finally, we highlight a number of applications of this catalog to the DES Y6 cosmology analysis. This dataset is the largest SSI catalog produced at this fidelity and will serve as a key testing ground for exploring the utility of SSI catalogs in upcoming surveys such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time.
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Submitted 29 May, 2025; v1 submitted 9 January, 2025;
originally announced January 2025.
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Dark Energy Survey Year 6 Results: Cell-based Coadds and Metadetection Weak Lensing Shape Catalogue
Authors:
M. Yamamoto,
M. R. Becker,
E. Sheldon,
M. Jarvis,
R. A. Gruendl,
F. Menanteau,
E. S. Rykoff,
S. Mau,
T. Schutt,
M. Gatti,
M. A. Troxel,
A. Amon,
D. Anbajagane,
G. M. Bernstein,
D. Gruen,
E. M. Huff,
M. Tabbutt,
A. Tong,
B. Yanny,
T. M. C. Abbott,
M. Aguena,
A. Alarcon,
F. Andrade-Oliveira,
K. Bechtol,
J. Blazek
, et al. (59 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present the Metadetection weak lensing galaxy shape catalogue from the six-year Dark Energy Survey (DES Y6) imaging data. This dataset is the final release from DES, spanning 4422 deg$^2$ of the southern sky. We describe how the catalogue was constructed, including the two new major processing steps, cell-based image coaddition and shear measurements with Metadetection. The DES Y6 Metadetection…
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We present the Metadetection weak lensing galaxy shape catalogue from the six-year Dark Energy Survey (DES Y6) imaging data. This dataset is the final release from DES, spanning 4422 deg$^2$ of the southern sky. We describe how the catalogue was constructed, including the two new major processing steps, cell-based image coaddition and shear measurements with Metadetection. The DES Y6 Metadetection weak lensing shape catalogue consists of 151,922,791 galaxies detected over riz bands, with an effective number density of $n_{\rm eff}$ =8.22 galaxies per arcmin$^2$ and shape noise of $σ_e$ = 0.29. We carry out a suite of validation tests on the catalogue, including testing for PSF leakage, testing for the impact of PSF modeling errors, and testing the correlation of the shear measurements with galaxy, PSF, and survey properties. In addition to demonstrating that our catalogue is robust for weak lensing science, we use the DES Y6 image simulation suite (Mau, Becker et al. 2025) to estimate the overall multiplicative shear bias of our shear measurement pipeline. We find no detectable multiplicative bias at the roughly half-percent level, with m = (3.4 $\pm$ 6.1) x $10^{-3}$, at 3$σ$ uncertainty. This is the first time both cell-based coaddition and Metadetection algorithms are applied to observational data, paving the way to the Stage-IV weak lensing surveys.
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Submitted 10 February, 2026; v1 submitted 9 January, 2025;
originally announced January 2025.
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Photometry of outer Solar System objects from the Dark Energy Survey II: a joint analysis of trans-Neptunian absolute magnitudes, colors, lightcurves and dynamics
Authors:
Pedro H. Bernardinelli,
Gary M. Bernstein,
T. M. C. Abbott,
M. Aguena,
S. S. Allam,
D. Brooks,
A. Carnero Rosell,
J. Carretero,
L. N. da Costa,
M. E. S. Pereira,
T. M. Davis,
J. De Vicente,
S. Desai,
H. T. Diehl,
P. Doel,
S. Everett,
B. Flaugher,
J. Frieman,
J. García-Bellido,
E. Gaztanaga,
R. A. Gruendl,
G. Gutierrez,
K. Herner,
S. R. Hinton,
D. L. Hollowood
, et al. (21 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
For the 696 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with absolute magnitudes $5.5 < H_r < 8.2$ detected in the Dark Energy Survey (DES), we characterize the relationships between their dynamical state and physical properties -- namely $H_r$, indicating size; colors, indicating surface composition; and flux variation semi-amplitude $A$, indicating asphericity and surface inhomogeneity. We seek ``birth'' phy…
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For the 696 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) with absolute magnitudes $5.5 < H_r < 8.2$ detected in the Dark Energy Survey (DES), we characterize the relationships between their dynamical state and physical properties -- namely $H_r$, indicating size; colors, indicating surface composition; and flux variation semi-amplitude $A$, indicating asphericity and surface inhomogeneity. We seek ``birth'' physical distributions that can recreate these parameters in every dynamical class. We show that the observed colors of these TNOs are consistent with 2 Gaussian distributions in $griz$ space, ``near-IR bright'' (NIRB) and ``near-IR faint'' (NIRF), presumably an inner and outer birth population, respectively. We find a model in which both the NIRB and NIRF $H_r$ and $A$ distributions are independent of current dynamical states, supporting their assignment as birth populations. All objects are consistent with a common rolling $p(H_r)$, but NIRF objects are significantly more variable. Cold classicals (CCs) are purely NIRF, while hot classical (HC), scattered, and detached TNOs are consistent with $\approx70\%$ NIRB, and resonances' NIRB fractions show significant variation. The NIRB component of the HCs and of some resonances have broader inclination distributions than the NIRFs, i.e. their current dynamics retains information about birth location. We find evidence for radial stratification within the birth NIRB population, in that HC NIRBs are on average redder than detached or scattered NIRBs; a similar effect distinguishes CCs from other NIRFs. We estimate total object counts and masses of each class within our $H_r$ range. These results will strongly constrain models of the outer solar system.
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Submitted 2 January, 2025;
originally announced January 2025.