TotalDat.fits.gz: A FITS table storing information for each of the quasars used in the sample. Th... more TotalDat.fits.gz: A FITS table storing information for each of the quasars used in the sample. The names, formats, and contents of each of the columns in this table are described in Table 1. All time-series data (MJD_x, MAG_x, MAG_ERR_x), structure function data (DT_REST_x, SF_x, SF_ERR_x), and PSD data (REST_FREQ_x, CARMA_PSD_x, CARMA_PSD_ERR_L_x, CARMA_PSD_ERR_U_x) are stored as arrays. EnsDat.fits.gz: A FITS table storing information for the ensemble analysis conducted on different subsets of the total sample. The names, formats, and contents of each of the columns in this table are described in Table 2. Similar to the previous file, time-series, structure function, and PSD data are stored as arrays. It should be noted that for each quasar/ensemble, each array will be the same length to conform to the FITS file standards. Therefore, to force each array to be the same shape, arrays shorter than the largest array will be filled with either NaNs or empty strings until they reach thi...
We study a phenomenological class of models where dark matter converts to dark radiation in the l... more We study a phenomenological class of models where dark matter converts to dark radiation in the low redshift epoch. This class of models, dubbed DMDR, characterizes the evolution of comoving dark matter density with two extra parameters, and may be able to help alleviate the observed discrepancies between early- and late-time probes of the universe. We investigate how the conversion affects key cosmological observables such as the CMB temperature and matter power spectra. Combining 3x2pt data from Year 1 of the Dark Energy Survey, Planck-2018 CMB temperature and polarization data, supernovae (SN) Type Ia data from Pantheon, and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) data from BOSS DR12, MGS and 6dFGS, we place new constraints on the amount of dark matter that has converted to dark radiation and the rate of this conversion. The fraction of the dark matter that has converted since the beginning of the universe in units of the current amount of dark matter, ζ, is constrained at 68% confiden...
We present the statistical methods that have been developed to analyse the OzDES reverberation ma... more We present the statistical methods that have been developed to analyse the OzDES reverberation mapping sample. To perform this statistical analysis we have created a suite of customisable simulations that mimic the characteristics of each individual source in the OzDES sample.These characteristics include: the variability in the photometric and spectroscopic lightcurves,the measurement uncertainties and the observational cadence. By simulating six real sources that contain the CIV emission line, we developed a set of quality criteria that ranks the reliability of a recovered time lag depending on the agreement between different recovery methods, the magnitude of the uncertainties, and the rate at which false positives were found in the simulations. Of these six sources, two were given a quality rating of 1, corresponding to our 'gold standard'. Lags were recovered at 223±56 and 378±104 days with redshifts of 1.93 and 2.74 respectively. Future work will apply these methods to...
We present a novel approach for creating science-ready catalogs through a software infrastructure... more We present a novel approach for creating science-ready catalogs through a software infrastructure developed for the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We integrate the data products released by the DES Data Management and additional products created by the DES collaboration in an environment known as DES Science Portal. Each step involved in the creation of a science-ready catalog is recorded in a relational database and can be recovered at any time. We describe how the DES Science Portal automates the creation and characterization of lightweight catalogs for DES Year 1 Annual Release, and show its flexibility in creating multiple catalogs with different inputs and configurations. Finally, we discuss the advantages of this infrastructure for large surveys such as DES and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. The capability of creating science-ready catalogs efficiently and with full control of the inputs and configurations used is an important asset for supporting science analysis using data ...
We present new Gemini/GMOS optical spectroscopy of 16 extreme variability quasars (EVQs) that dim... more We present new Gemini/GMOS optical spectroscopy of 16 extreme variability quasars (EVQs) that dimmed by more than 1.5 mag in the g band between the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Dark Energy Survey (DES) epochs (separated by a few years in the quasar rest frame). The quasar sample covers a redshift range of 0.5 < z < 2.1. Nearly half of these EVQs brightened significantly (by more than 0.5 mag in the g band) in a few years after reaching their previous faintest state, and some EVQs showed rapid (non-blazar) variations of greater than 1-2 mag on timescales of only months. Leveraging on the large dynamic range in continuum variability between the earlier SDSS and the new GMOS spectra, we explore the associated variations in the broad Mg II,λ2798 line, whose variability properties have not been well studied before. The broad Mg II flux varies in the same direction as the continuum flux, albeit with a smaller amplitude, which indicates at least some portion of Mg II is re...
The size of the dust torus in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and their high-luminosity counterparts... more The size of the dust torus in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and their high-luminosity counterparts, quasars, can be inferred from the time delay between UV/optical accretion disk continuum variability and the response in the mid-infrared (MIR) torus emission. This dust reverberation mapping (RM) technique has been successfully applied to ∼ 70z≲ 0.3 AGN and quasars. Here we present first results of our dust RM program for distant quasars covered in the SDSS Stripe 82 region combining ∼ 20-yr ground-based optical light curves with 10-yr MIR light curves from the WISE satellite. We measure a high-fidelity lag between W1-band (3.4 μm) and g band for 587 quasars over 0.3≲ z≲ 2 (<z>∼ 0.8) and two orders of magnitude in quasar luminosity. They tightly follow (intrinsic scatter ∼ 0.17 dex in lag) the IR lag-luminosity relation observed for z<0.3 AGN, revealing a remarkable size-luminosity relation for the dust torus over more than four decades in AGN luminosity, with little dependen...
Measurements of large-scale structure are interpreted using theoretical predictions for the matte... more Measurements of large-scale structure are interpreted using theoretical predictions for the matter distribution, including potential impacts of baryonic physics. We constrain the feedback strength of baryons jointly with cosmology using weak lensing and galaxy clustering observables (3×2pt) of Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 data in combination with external information from baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and Planck cosmic microwave background polarization. Our baryon modeling is informed by a set of hydrodynamical simulations that span a variety of baryon scenarios; we span this space via a Principal Component (PC) analysis of the summary statistics extracted from these simulations. We show that at the level of DES Y1 constraining power, one PC is sufficient to describe the variation of baryonic effects in the observables, and the first PC amplitude (Q_1) generally reflects the strength of baryon feedback. With the upper limit of Q_1 prior being bound by the Illustris feedback ...
We present spectroscopic confirmation of two new lensed quasars via data obtained at the 6.5m Mag... more We present spectroscopic confirmation of two new lensed quasars via data obtained at the 6.5m Magellan/Baade Telescope. The lens candidates have been selected from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and WISE based on their multi-band photometry and extended morphology in DES images. Images of DES J0115-5244 show two blue point sources at either side of a red galaxy. Our long-slit data confirm that both point sources are images of the same quasar at z_s=1.64. The Einstein Radius estimated from the DES images is 0.51". DES J2200+0110 is in the area of overlap between DES and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Two blue components are visible in the DES and SDSS images. The SDSS fiber spectrum shows a quasar component at z_s=2.38 and absorption compatible with Mg II and Fe II at z_l=0.799, which we tentatively associate with the foreground lens galaxy. The long-slit Magellan spectra show that the blue components are resolved images of the same quasar. The Einstein Radius is 0.68" ...
TotalDat.fits.gz: A FITS table storing information for each of the quasars used in the sample. Th... more TotalDat.fits.gz: A FITS table storing information for each of the quasars used in the sample. The names, formats, and contents of each of the columns in this table are described in Table 1. All time-series data (MJD_x, MAG_x, MAG_ERR_x), structure function data (DT_REST_x, SF_x, SF_ERR_x), and PSD data (REST_FREQ_x, CARMA_PSD_x, CARMA_PSD_ERR_L_x, CARMA_PSD_ERR_U_x) are stored as arrays. EnsDat.fits.gz: A FITS table storing information for the ensemble analysis conducted on different subsets of the total sample. The names, formats, and contents of each of the columns in this table are described in Table 2. Similar to the previous file, time-series, structure function, and PSD data are stored as arrays. It should be noted that for each quasar/ensemble, each array will be the same length to conform to the FITS file standards. Therefore, to force each array to be the same shape, arrays shorter than the largest array will be filled with either NaNs or empty strings until they reach thi...
We study a phenomenological class of models where dark matter converts to dark radiation in the l... more We study a phenomenological class of models where dark matter converts to dark radiation in the low redshift epoch. This class of models, dubbed DMDR, characterizes the evolution of comoving dark matter density with two extra parameters, and may be able to help alleviate the observed discrepancies between early- and late-time probes of the universe. We investigate how the conversion affects key cosmological observables such as the CMB temperature and matter power spectra. Combining 3x2pt data from Year 1 of the Dark Energy Survey, Planck-2018 CMB temperature and polarization data, supernovae (SN) Type Ia data from Pantheon, and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) data from BOSS DR12, MGS and 6dFGS, we place new constraints on the amount of dark matter that has converted to dark radiation and the rate of this conversion. The fraction of the dark matter that has converted since the beginning of the universe in units of the current amount of dark matter, ζ, is constrained at 68% confiden...
We present the statistical methods that have been developed to analyse the OzDES reverberation ma... more We present the statistical methods that have been developed to analyse the OzDES reverberation mapping sample. To perform this statistical analysis we have created a suite of customisable simulations that mimic the characteristics of each individual source in the OzDES sample.These characteristics include: the variability in the photometric and spectroscopic lightcurves,the measurement uncertainties and the observational cadence. By simulating six real sources that contain the CIV emission line, we developed a set of quality criteria that ranks the reliability of a recovered time lag depending on the agreement between different recovery methods, the magnitude of the uncertainties, and the rate at which false positives were found in the simulations. Of these six sources, two were given a quality rating of 1, corresponding to our 'gold standard'. Lags were recovered at 223±56 and 378±104 days with redshifts of 1.93 and 2.74 respectively. Future work will apply these methods to...
We present a novel approach for creating science-ready catalogs through a software infrastructure... more We present a novel approach for creating science-ready catalogs through a software infrastructure developed for the Dark Energy Survey (DES). We integrate the data products released by the DES Data Management and additional products created by the DES collaboration in an environment known as DES Science Portal. Each step involved in the creation of a science-ready catalog is recorded in a relational database and can be recovered at any time. We describe how the DES Science Portal automates the creation and characterization of lightweight catalogs for DES Year 1 Annual Release, and show its flexibility in creating multiple catalogs with different inputs and configurations. Finally, we discuss the advantages of this infrastructure for large surveys such as DES and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. The capability of creating science-ready catalogs efficiently and with full control of the inputs and configurations used is an important asset for supporting science analysis using data ...
We present new Gemini/GMOS optical spectroscopy of 16 extreme variability quasars (EVQs) that dim... more We present new Gemini/GMOS optical spectroscopy of 16 extreme variability quasars (EVQs) that dimmed by more than 1.5 mag in the g band between the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Dark Energy Survey (DES) epochs (separated by a few years in the quasar rest frame). The quasar sample covers a redshift range of 0.5 < z < 2.1. Nearly half of these EVQs brightened significantly (by more than 0.5 mag in the g band) in a few years after reaching their previous faintest state, and some EVQs showed rapid (non-blazar) variations of greater than 1-2 mag on timescales of only months. Leveraging on the large dynamic range in continuum variability between the earlier SDSS and the new GMOS spectra, we explore the associated variations in the broad Mg II,λ2798 line, whose variability properties have not been well studied before. The broad Mg II flux varies in the same direction as the continuum flux, albeit with a smaller amplitude, which indicates at least some portion of Mg II is re...
The size of the dust torus in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and their high-luminosity counterparts... more The size of the dust torus in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and their high-luminosity counterparts, quasars, can be inferred from the time delay between UV/optical accretion disk continuum variability and the response in the mid-infrared (MIR) torus emission. This dust reverberation mapping (RM) technique has been successfully applied to ∼ 70z≲ 0.3 AGN and quasars. Here we present first results of our dust RM program for distant quasars covered in the SDSS Stripe 82 region combining ∼ 20-yr ground-based optical light curves with 10-yr MIR light curves from the WISE satellite. We measure a high-fidelity lag between W1-band (3.4 μm) and g band for 587 quasars over 0.3≲ z≲ 2 (<z>∼ 0.8) and two orders of magnitude in quasar luminosity. They tightly follow (intrinsic scatter ∼ 0.17 dex in lag) the IR lag-luminosity relation observed for z<0.3 AGN, revealing a remarkable size-luminosity relation for the dust torus over more than four decades in AGN luminosity, with little dependen...
Measurements of large-scale structure are interpreted using theoretical predictions for the matte... more Measurements of large-scale structure are interpreted using theoretical predictions for the matter distribution, including potential impacts of baryonic physics. We constrain the feedback strength of baryons jointly with cosmology using weak lensing and galaxy clustering observables (3×2pt) of Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 data in combination with external information from baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and Planck cosmic microwave background polarization. Our baryon modeling is informed by a set of hydrodynamical simulations that span a variety of baryon scenarios; we span this space via a Principal Component (PC) analysis of the summary statistics extracted from these simulations. We show that at the level of DES Y1 constraining power, one PC is sufficient to describe the variation of baryonic effects in the observables, and the first PC amplitude (Q_1) generally reflects the strength of baryon feedback. With the upper limit of Q_1 prior being bound by the Illustris feedback ...
We present spectroscopic confirmation of two new lensed quasars via data obtained at the 6.5m Mag... more We present spectroscopic confirmation of two new lensed quasars via data obtained at the 6.5m Magellan/Baade Telescope. The lens candidates have been selected from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and WISE based on their multi-band photometry and extended morphology in DES images. Images of DES J0115-5244 show two blue point sources at either side of a red galaxy. Our long-slit data confirm that both point sources are images of the same quasar at z_s=1.64. The Einstein Radius estimated from the DES images is 0.51". DES J2200+0110 is in the area of overlap between DES and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Two blue components are visible in the DES and SDSS images. The SDSS fiber spectrum shows a quasar component at z_s=2.38 and absorption compatible with Mg II and Fe II at z_l=0.799, which we tentatively associate with the foreground lens galaxy. The long-slit Magellan spectra show that the blue components are resolved images of the same quasar. The Einstein Radius is 0.68" ...
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Papers by Aurelio Carnero Rosell