A small fraction of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons scatter off electrons in the ionised gas in collapsed structures. This process, known as the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, is usually broken down into a thermal (tSZ) and a kinematic (kSZ) contribution. While the former is sensitive to the random velocities of the electrons in the hot gas, the latter is sourced by the bulk motion of the entire object. In this thesis I measure the signature of both of these effects by cross-correlating CMB data with different tracers of the large-scale structure. I further study how these effects can be used as probes of cosmology and astrophysics. I first report a statistically significant detection of the kSZ effect. This is achieved by combining a cluster catalogue derived from the first year data of the Dark Energy Survey with CMB temperature maps from the South Pole Telescope. I perform the measurement with a differential statistic that isolates the pairwise kSZ signal, providing the first detection of the large-scale motion of clusters using redshifts derived from photometric data. By fitting the pairwise kSZ signal to a theoretical template, I measure the average central optical depth of the cluster sample. I compare the extracted signal to simulations and find good agreement with respect to the signal-to-noise, the constraint on the optical depth, and the corresponding gas fraction. I next study the potential of the kSZ effect as a probe of cosmology, again focussing on the pairwise method. The main challenge is disentangling the cosmologically interesting mean pairwise velocity from the cluster optical depth and the associated uncertainties on the baryonic physics in clusters. Using the Magneticum cosmological hydrodynamical simulations I calibrate a scaling relation between the amplitude of the tSZ signal and the optical depth. I show that this relation can be used to recover an accurate estimate of the mean pairwise velocity from the kSZ signal, and that this effect can therefore be used as a probe of cosmology. I finally derive constraints on feedback from active galactic nuclei by setting limits on their tSZ signal. By combining all-sky microwave, sub-mm, and far-infrared data from the Planck and AKARI satellites, I break the degeneracy between the tSZ signature and extragalactic dust emission. I test the measurement pipeline with a catalogue of galaxy clusters, finding the expected high-significance tSZ detection together with correlated dust emission. I then measure the tSZ signal of spectroscopically confirmed quasi-stellar objects (QSOs), but obtain only a low-significance hint of a tSZ signature. This analysis leads to a lower mean thermal energy than reported in some previous studies which were contaminated by dust emission. A comparison of these results to hydrodynamical simulations can be used as a probe of QSO host masses.

In this thesis, I study the relativistic effects of matter inhomogeneities on the accelerating expansion of the Universe. The acceleration is often taken to be caused by the presence of an exotic fluid called Dark Energy, or else a non-zero 'cosmological constant' term in the field equations of General Relativity. I consider whether this result could instead be an artefact caused by using an incorrect model to interpret observations. The standard 'concordance' cosmological model assumes the Cosmological Principle, which states that the matter distribution on large scales is homogeneous. One possibility is that correction terms appear in the field equations when small-scale inhomogeneities are smoothed over to produce this homogeneous model. These 'backreaction' effects could affect the dynamics of the spacetime, causing an apparent acceleration. I clarify the relationship between acceleration of the averaged spacetime and acceleration inferred from observable quantities, and show that they are closely related in statistically-homogeneous spacetimes. Another possibility is that the Universe could be inhomogeneous on large scales. If there was a large ‘void’, with us at the centre, the lensing of light by the void could reproduce the observations that imply cosmic acceleration. I show that a popular class of void models, based on spherically-symmetric Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi spacetimes, are unable to simultaneously fit a selection of observational data, thus effectively ruling-out this possibility. These data include the Kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (KSZ) effect, which is a distortion/shift of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) frequency spectrum caused by the Compton scattering of photons by hot gas in galaxy clusters. This, and other distortions of the CMB frequency spectrum, are sensitive to the degree of anisotropy in the CMB about a scattering cluster. I suggest tests involving these observables that exploit the strong link between isotropy and homogeneity to (a) distinguish between different causes of a deviation from spatial flatness on the horizon scale, and (b) potentially confirm the Cosmological Principle using observations. Finally, I describe a novel Bayesian CMB component separation method for extracting the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signal of clusters from CMB sky maps.

This thesis describes the analysis of pointed thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect data from observations using the Cosmic Background Imager 2 (CBI2). CBI2 is an upgrade to the original Cosmic Background Imager, with antennas that have twice the effective collecting area, and hence provide greater sensitivity on longer baselines. Observations of the thermal SZ effect constrain the line-of-sight integrated gas pressure within clusters of galaxies and, when combined with X-ray data, provide an excellent tool for deriving the physical properties of these large structures. The CBI2 SZ data combine relatively low-resolution with a large field-of-view, and can therefore be used to constrain the gas properties of medium-redshift clusters out to the virial radius. By jointly fitting a suitable analytical model to SZ data and X-ray surface brightness data, it is possible to obtain constraints on the temperature and total mass of the cluster. For the analysis work presented in this thesis I choose to parametrise the gas based upon the known behaviour of the entropy, and the total mass by the Navarro, Frenk and White (NFW) prescription. This model is tested against Hydrodynamic/N-body simulations and is found to reproduce the radial behaviour of key cluster properties. The CBI2 observations presented in this work focus on the REFLEX-DXL clusters, an X-ray luminous sub-sample of the REFLEX survey at z ~ 0.3, which have previously published X-ray surface brightness data. The Bullet Cluster, a significant merger system, is a member of this sample and is presented here as a case study for use of the entropy-based model. The derived total mass and gas mass fraction of this cluster are found to be consistent with results from previous X-ray observations. The derived properties from the REFLEX-DXL sample are used to construct a preliminary set of SZ scaling relations out to the virial radius, and are found to be consistent with the self-similar model for massive clusters.

Dans cette thèse, nous explorons la phénoménologie de certaines extensions de la relativité générale et de la gravité quantique.Cette recherche est motivée par l’incomplétude des modèles théoriques qui décrivent le comportement de la matière aux échelles cosmologiques.Le model standard de la physique des particules et la relativité générale, combinés ensemble et avec les données expérimentales provenant des collisionneurs de particules et de l’astrophysique, conduisent a des modèles d’univers domines par de la matière invisible. De plus, selon le meilleur de ces modèles, l’univers serait présentement dans une phase d’expansion accélérée et aurait commencer son existence par une singularité spatio-temporelle : le big bang.Ainsi, la physique théorique se trouve mise au défi d’obtenir un model sans singularités et avec moins (ou aucune) matière sombre. Sur ce point, les deux dernières décennies ont étés particulièrement fructueuse : il y a maintenant un grand nombre de théories de gravité modifiée, d’énergie sombre et de gravité quantique qui sont à notre disposition.L’objectif du présent travail est de construire un cadre phénoménologique nous permettant de comparer clairement ces théories les unes aux autres et possiblement d’en réfuter certaines en se basant sur les récentes observations cosmologiques ainsi que celles qui sont encore a venir.La première partie de la thèse est dédiée aux théories de gravité modifiée et d’énergie sombre. La deuxième partie traite de la cosmologie quantique a boucles, et finalement la dernière partie présente une nouvelle façon de sonder l’expansion accélérée de l’univers via l’effet Sunyeav Zeldovich thermique. / In this thesis we explore the phenomenology of some extensions to General Relativity and quantum gravity theories.The motivation for this research lies in the incompleteness of the current theoretical models that describe the behaviour of matter on cosmological scales.The standard model of particle physics and general relativity, combined together along with experimental probes in particle colliders and astrophysics, lead to a model for our universe, which is today dominated by dark matter. Moreover, according to the best model, the universe is currently undergoing an accelerated expansion and had started its existence with a space-time singularity: the big bang.The challenge for theoretical physics is therefore to obtain a model without singularity and with less invisible matter (or none). To this respect, the last two decades have been particularly fruitful: there is a large number of competing modified gravity and dark energy theories as well as quantum gravity proposals at our disposal.The purpose of the work presented here is to set up a phenomenological framework that enables a clear comparison and possible exclusions of these new theories by confronting them to current and future observational data.The first part of the thesis is dedicated to modified gravity and dark energy models. The second part deals with loop quantum cosmology, and the last part is a presentation of a new probe for dark energy: the thermal Sunyaev Zeldovich power spectrum.

Submitted by Emanuel Varela Cardoso (emanuel.varela@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-10-18T17:24:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 LEONARDO RIBEIRO COLAÇO – DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGFísica) 2016.pdf: 3372949 bytes, checksum: 8387f15d435a4dd929618ecca701927e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-18T17:24:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LEONARDO RIBEIRO COLAÇO – DISSERTAÇÃO (PPGFísica) 2016.pdf: 3372949 bytes, checksum: 8387f15d435a4dd929618ecca701927e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018 / Capes / As teorias cosmológicas mais comumente aceitas são baseadas no pressuposto de que as constantes fundamentais da natureza, como a constante gravitacional G, a constante de estrutura fina α, entre outras, são de fato constantes. Sendo assim, a suposição de que essas constantes não variam no espaço-tempo é apenas uma hipótese, precisando então ser comprovada a partir de dados experimentais. Neste trabalho, propomos um novo método, independente de modelo cosmológico, capaz de investigar uma possível variação como redshift da constante de estrutura fina, α=е2 /hc, onde é a carga elementar, h é a constante de Planck dividida por 2 π e c é a velocidade da luz. Para tal fim, mostramos também que a técnica combinada do Efeito Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (ESZ) como Brilho Superficial em raios-X (SX) para se medir Distância de Diâmetro Angular (DDA) dos Aglomerados de Galáxias (AG) é dependente da constante de estrutura fina. Mais precisamente,se = 0 (z), argumentamos que os dados atuais dessa técnica fornecem DobsA (z) = 2(z)DA(z), onde DA(z) é a verdadeira DDA para o aglomerado de galáxias e (z) é o campo escalar Dilaton que governa uma possível variação em α. Considerando uma amostra de 25 medidas de DobsA (z), feitas por De Filippis et al. (2005),via ESZ/SX na faixa de redshift 0; 023 < zAG < 0; 784 e estimando medidas de DA(z) do assim chamado Union 2.1 Compilation de Super nova e tipoIa (SNeIa), onde o redshift das SNeIa foram cuidadosamente selecionados para coincidir como redshift do aglomerado de galáxias associado com a maior diferença de redshift obedece a jzAG 􀀀 zSNej < 0; 005. Portanto, foi possível atribuir algumas restrições sobre uma possível variação de α para uma classe de Modelos Dilaton Run away, (z) =1􀀀 ln (1+ z). Nossas análises mostraram que = 􀀀0; 037 0; 157 em 1 , ou seja, nossas análises são compatíveis com uma não variação da constante de estrutura fina. / The most common accepted cosmological theories are base don the assumption that the fundamental constants of nature, suchas the gravitational constant G, the new structure constant α, and others, are infact constant. Thus, the assumption that these constants do not vary with time or space is only a hypothesis, then it needs to be confirmed from experimental data. In this paper, we propose a new method, independent of cosmological models, which is cap able to investigate a possible variation with redshift of the new structure constant, α = e2=hc, where e is the elementary charge, h is Planck's constant over 2π and c is the speed of light. For that purpose, we also show that the combined technique between Sunyaev-Zel'doviche effect (SZE) and X-ray surface brightness (SX) to measure Angular Diameter Distance (ADD) of Galaxy Clusters (GC), dependents on the new structure constant. More precisely, if α = α0 (z) we argue that the current data of this technique gives DobsA (z) = 2(z)DA(z), where DA(z) is the true ADD for galaxy clustersand (z) is the dilatons calareld that governs a possible variation of α. We considere da sample of 25 measurements of Dobs A (z), made by De Filipp is e tal. (2005),via ESZ/SX in the range of redshift 0:023 < zGC < 0:784 and we also estimated DA(z) from the so-called Union 2.1 Super novaeIa(SNEIa) Compilation,where the SNeIa redshifts were carefully selected to match the one soft he as sociated galaxy cluster with the larger redshiftd iαe rencefollows jzGC 􀀀� zSNej < 0:005. There for e,it was possible to put some constraints on a possible variation of α for a class of Dilaton Run a way Model, (z) =1 􀀀� ln (1+ z). We obtained = 􀀀�0; 037 0; 157 in1 , i.e.,our analysis is compatible with an on variation of the new structure constant.

La distribution de masse dans l'Univers telle que tracée par les amas de galaxies constitue une sonde cosmologique puissante. La caractérisation des processus associés à l'origine et à la croissance des grandes structures permet de contraindre des paramètres cosmologiques via l'étude de la distribution des amas en fonction de leur masse et de leur redshift. Cependant, il existe un désaccord statistiquement significatif observé entre les contraintes cosmologiques établies par l'étude des anisotropies primaires du fond diffus cosmologique et celles issues de l'analyse de la distribution des amas de galaxies. Cela pourrait signifier que le modèle standard de la cosmologie est incomplet. L'une des méthodes d'observation des amas de galaxie exploite l'effet Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) qui permet de contraindre la pression du gaz contenu dans ces derniers. Cette observable peut être directement liée à la masse des amas via une relation d'échelle et un profil de pression. Il est donc essentiel de caractériser précisément ces derniers afin de limiter les potentiels biais et effets systématiques affectant les analyses cosmologiques. Cette thèse présente l'ensemble des travaux réalisés dans cet objectif. Elle porte sur des thématiques allant des observations SZ effectuées avec la caméra NIKA2 installée au télescope de 30 mètres de l’IRAM jusqu'à l'estimation des paramètres cosmologiques en passant par l'analyse des données brutes de NIKA2 et des cartes SZ réalisées.Une part du travail de thèse présenté dans ce document est consacrée à l'étude et l’amélioration des différentes étapes effectuées, depuis les observations d'amas de galaxies au télescope avec la caméra NIKA2 jusqu'à la production de cartes de l'effet SZ. Les procédures développées pour estimer les performances instrumentales de NIKA2 sont détaillées et la chaîne d'analyse utilisée pour réduire les données brutes est présentée.Les travaux réalisés dans cette thèse ont également consisté à caractériser les propriétés thermodynamiques d'amas de galaxies via des analyses jointes combinant les cartes SZ NIKA2 avec des données X mesurées par le satellite XMM-Newton. Nous détaillons les méthodes employées dans le logiciel de traitement des données SZ créé pour le grand programme SZ de NIKA2, la procédure de déprojection non-paramétrique développée pour caractériser le profil de pression des amas de galaxies et les résultats de la première observation SZ avec NIKA2.Les dernières activités présentées sont dédiées aux analyses réalisées afin de quantifier l'impact du grand programme SZ de NIKA2 sur la cosmologie. Nous analysons l'effet des perturbations dynamiques du milieu intra-amas sur la caractérisation du profil de pression avec NIKA2 via l'utilisation d'amas de la simulation numérique MUSIC. Finalement, nous détaillons l'étude permettant d'estimer l'impact d'une variation du profil de pression universel sur l'estimation des paramètres cosmologiques déduite du spectre de puissance de l'effet SZ mesuré par Planck. / The mass distribution in the Universe, as traced by galaxy clusters is a powerful cosmological probe. The characterization of the processes associated with the origin and the growth of the large scale structures enables constraining cosmological parameters by studying the distribution of clusters according to their mass and redshift. However, a tension is observed between the cosmological constraints established by the study of the primary anisotropies of the cosmological background and those resulting from the analysis of the distribution of galaxy clusters. This may imply that our cosmological model is incomplete. The observation of clusters from the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect allows us to constrain their gas pressure. This observable can be directly linked to the mass of galaxy clusters via a scaling relation and a pressure profile. It is thus essential to characterize the latter precisely in order to limit the potential bias and systematic effects affecting cosmological analyses. This thesis presents the work carried out to this end. It covers topics ranging from SZ observations made with the NIKA2 camera installed at the IRAM 30-metre telescope to the estimation of cosmological parameters, and including the analysis of NIKA2 raw data and the SZ maps produced.Part of the thesis work presented in this document is dedicated to the study and the improvement of the different tasks carried out, from the observations of galaxy clusters with the NIKA2 camera to the production of maps of the SZ effect. The procedures developed to estimate the NIKA2 instrumental performance are detailed and the analysis pipeline used to analyze the raw data is presented.The work carried out in this thesis also consisted in characterizing the thermodynamic properties of galaxy clusters using joint analyzes that combine the NIKA2 SZ maps with X-ray data measured by the XMM-Newton satellite. We detail the methods used in the SZ data processing software created for the NIKA2 SZ large program, the non-parametric deprojection procedure developed to characterize the pressure profile of galaxy clusters and the results of the first SZ observation with NIKA2.The last activities presented are dedicated to the analyses carried out to quantify the impact of the NIKA2 SZ large program on cosmology. We analyze the effect of dynamic disturbances of the intracluster medium on the characterization of the pressure profile with NIKA2 via the use of clusters from the MUSIC N-body simulation. Finally, we detail the study realized in order to estimate the impact of a modification of the universal pressure profile on the estimation of cosmological parameters derived from the power spectrum of the SZ effect measured by Planck.