[{"doi":"10.1103/physrevd.111.103536","date_created":"2026-01-31T09:29:24Z","publication_status":"published","type":"journal_article","day":"28","article_type":"original","abstract":[{"text":"The thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect (tSZ) is a sensitive probe of cosmology, as it traces the abundance of galaxy clusters and groups in the late-time Universe. Upcoming cosmic microwave background experiments such as the Simons Observatory (SO) and CMB-S4 will provide low-noise and high-resolution component-separated tSZ maps covering a large sky fraction. The tSZ signal is highly non-Gaussian; therefore, higher-order statistics are needed to optimally extract information from these maps. In this work, we study the cosmological constraining power of several tSZ statistics—Minkowski functionals (MFs), peaks, minima, and moments—that have yielded promising results in capturing non-Gaussian information from other cosmological data. Using a large suite of halo-model-based tSZ simulations with varying Ω𝑐 and 𝜎8 (154 cosmologies and over 800,000 maps, each 10.5×10.5  deg2), we show that by combining these observables, we can achieve  ≈29 × tighter constraints compared to using the tSZ power spectrum alone in an idealized noiseless case, with the MFs dominating the constraints. We show that much of the MF constraining power arises from halos below the detection threshold of cluster surveys, suggesting promising synergies with cluster-count analyses. Finally, we demonstrate that these statistics have the potential to deliver tight constraints even in the presence of noise. For example, using post-component-separation tSZ noise expected for SO, we obtain  ≈1.6 × and  ≈1.8 × tighter constraints than the power spectrum with MFs and all statistics combined, respectively. We show that the constraints from MFs approach the noiseless case for white-noise levels ≲1  𝜇⁢K−arcmin.","lang":"eng"}],"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"oa":1,"OA_type":"green","_id":"21125","issue":"10","date_updated":"2026-02-10T08:11:17Z","citation":{"mla":"Sabyr, Alina, et al. “Constraining Cosmology with Thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich Maps: Minkowski Functionals, Peaks, Minima, and Moments.” <i>Physical Review D</i>, vol. 111, no. 10, 103536, American Physical Society, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.103536\">10.1103/physrevd.111.103536</a>.","ieee":"A. Sabyr, J. C. Hill, and Z. Haiman, “Constraining cosmology with thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich maps: Minkowski functionals, peaks, minima, and moments,” <i>Physical Review D</i>, vol. 111, no. 10. American Physical Society, 2025.","chicago":"Sabyr, Alina, J. Colin Hill, and Zoltán Haiman. “Constraining Cosmology with Thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich Maps: Minkowski Functionals, Peaks, Minima, and Moments.” <i>Physical Review D</i>. American Physical Society, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.103536\">https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.103536</a>.","short":"A. Sabyr, J.C. Hill, Z. Haiman, Physical Review D 111 (2025).","ista":"Sabyr A, Hill JC, Haiman Z. 2025. Constraining cosmology with thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich maps: Minkowski functionals, peaks, minima, and moments. Physical Review D. 111(10), 103536.","apa":"Sabyr, A., Hill, J. C., &#38; Haiman, Z. (2025). Constraining cosmology with thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich maps: Minkowski functionals, peaks, minima, and moments. <i>Physical Review D</i>. American Physical Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.103536\">https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.103536</a>","ama":"Sabyr A, Hill JC, Haiman Z. Constraining cosmology with thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich maps: Minkowski functionals, peaks, minima, and moments. <i>Physical Review D</i>. 2025;111(10). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.103536\">10.1103/physrevd.111.103536</a>"},"quality_controlled":"1","extern":"1","article_number":"103536","external_id":{"arxiv":["2410.21247"]},"author":[{"last_name":"Sabyr","first_name":"Alina","full_name":"Sabyr, Alina"},{"last_name":"Hill","first_name":"J. Colin","full_name":"Hill, J. Colin"},{"first_name":"Zoltán","full_name":"Haiman, Zoltán","last_name":"Haiman","id":"7c006e8c-cc0d-11ee-8322-cb904ef76f36","orcid":"0000-0003-3633-5403"}],"article_processing_charge":"No","title":"Constraining cosmology with thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich maps: Minkowski functionals, peaks, minima, and moments","year":"2025","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","date_published":"2025-05-28T00:00:00Z","volume":111,"oa_version":"Preprint","publisher":"American Physical Society","publication":"Physical Review D","OA_place":"repository","status":"public","arxiv":1,"month":"05","intvolume":"       111","main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1","url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2410.21247"}],"publication_identifier":{"issn":["2470-0010"],"eissn":["2470-0029"]}},{"publication_identifier":{"issn":["2470-0010"],"eissn":["2470-0029"]},"main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1","url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2409.04583"}],"intvolume":"       111","month":"03","arxiv":1,"status":"public","OA_place":"repository","publication":"Physical Review D","publisher":"American Physical Society","date_published":"2025-03-04T00:00:00Z","oa_version":"Preprint","volume":111,"user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","year":"2025","title":"Self-lensing flares from black hole binaries. IV. The number of detectable shadows","article_processing_charge":"No","author":[{"first_name":"Kevin","full_name":"Park, Kevin","last_name":"Park"},{"full_name":"Xin, Chengcheng","first_name":"Chengcheng","last_name":"Xin"},{"last_name":"Davelaar","full_name":"Davelaar, Jordy","first_name":"Jordy"},{"orcid":"0000-0003-3633-5403","id":"7c006e8c-cc0d-11ee-8322-cb904ef76f36","last_name":"Haiman","full_name":"Haiman, Zoltán","first_name":"Zoltán"}],"external_id":{"arxiv":["2409.04583"]},"article_number":"063011","extern":"1","quality_controlled":"1","citation":{"ieee":"K. Park, C. Xin, J. Davelaar, and Z. Haiman, “Self-lensing flares from black hole binaries. IV. The number of detectable shadows,” <i>Physical Review D</i>, vol. 111, no. 6. American Physical Society, 2025.","mla":"Park, Kevin, et al. “Self-Lensing Flares from Black Hole Binaries. IV. The Number of Detectable Shadows.” <i>Physical Review D</i>, vol. 111, no. 6, 063011, American Physical Society, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.063011\">10.1103/physrevd.111.063011</a>.","short":"K. Park, C. Xin, J. Davelaar, Z. Haiman, Physical Review D 111 (2025).","chicago":"Park, Kevin, Chengcheng Xin, Jordy Davelaar, and Zoltán Haiman. “Self-Lensing Flares from Black Hole Binaries. IV. The Number of Detectable Shadows.” <i>Physical Review D</i>. American Physical Society, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.063011\">https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.063011</a>.","ista":"Park K, Xin C, Davelaar J, Haiman Z. 2025. Self-lensing flares from black hole binaries. IV. The number of detectable shadows. Physical Review D. 111(6), 063011.","ama":"Park K, Xin C, Davelaar J, Haiman Z. Self-lensing flares from black hole binaries. IV. The number of detectable shadows. <i>Physical Review D</i>. 2025;111(6). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.063011\">10.1103/physrevd.111.063011</a>","apa":"Park, K., Xin, C., Davelaar, J., &#38; Haiman, Z. (2025). Self-lensing flares from black hole binaries. IV. The number of detectable shadows. <i>Physical Review D</i>. American Physical Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.063011\">https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.063011</a>"},"date_updated":"2026-02-10T08:14:10Z","issue":"6","_id":"21126","OA_type":"green","oa":1,"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Subparsec supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries are expected to be common in active galactic nuclei as a result of the hierarchical buildup of galaxies via mergers. While direct evidence for these compact binaries is lacking, a few hundred candidates have been identified, most based on the apparent periodicities of their optical light curves. Since these signatures can be mimicked by active galactic nuclei red noise, additional evidence is needed to confirm their binary nature. Recurring self-lensing flares, occurring whenever the two BHs are aligned with the line of sight within their Einstein radii, have been suggested as additional binary signatures. Furthermore, in many cases, lensing flares are also predicted to contain a “dip,” whenever the lensed SMBH’s shadow is comparable in angular size to the binary’s Einstein radius. This feature would unambiguously confirm binaries and additionally identify SMBH shadows that are spatially unresolvable by high-resolution Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). Here we estimate the number of quasars for which these dips may be detectable by Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) by extrapolating the quasar luminosity function to faint magnitudes and assuming that SMBH binaries are randomly oriented and have mass ratios following those in the Illustris simulations. Under plausible assumptions about quasar lifetimes, binary fractions, and Eddington ratios, we expect tens of thousands of detectable flares, of which several dozen contain measurable dips."}],"article_type":"original","day":"04","type":"journal_article","publication_status":"published","date_created":"2026-01-31T09:29:42Z","doi":"10.1103/physrevd.111.063011"},{"article_type":"original","isi":1,"day":"18","date_created":"2025-11-16T23:01:24Z","publication_status":"published","type":"journal_article","department":[{"_id":"ZoHa"}],"doi":"10.1103/5m1n-qh9v","date_updated":"2025-12-01T15:29:42Z","citation":{"ista":"Xue LQ, Tagawa H, Haiman Z, Bartos I. 2025. What determines the maximum mass of AGN-assisted black hole mergers? Physical Review D. 112(6), 063034.","apa":"Xue, L. Q., Tagawa, H., Haiman, Z., &#38; Bartos, I. (2025). What determines the maximum mass of AGN-assisted black hole mergers? <i>Physical Review D</i>. American Physical Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/5m1n-qh9v\">https://doi.org/10.1103/5m1n-qh9v</a>","ama":"Xue LQ, Tagawa H, Haiman Z, Bartos I. What determines the maximum mass of AGN-assisted black hole mergers? <i>Physical Review D</i>. 2025;112(6). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/5m1n-qh9v\">10.1103/5m1n-qh9v</a>","mla":"Xue, Ling Qin, et al. “What Determines the Maximum Mass of AGN-Assisted Black Hole Mergers?” <i>Physical Review D</i>, vol. 112, no. 6, 063034, American Physical Society, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/5m1n-qh9v\">10.1103/5m1n-qh9v</a>.","ieee":"L. Q. Xue, H. Tagawa, Z. Haiman, and I. Bartos, “What determines the maximum mass of AGN-assisted black hole mergers?,” <i>Physical Review D</i>, vol. 112, no. 6. American Physical Society, 2025.","chicago":"Xue, Ling Qin, Hiromichi Tagawa, Zoltán Haiman, and Imre Bartos. “What Determines the Maximum Mass of AGN-Assisted Black Hole Mergers?” <i>Physical Review D</i>. American Physical Society, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/5m1n-qh9v\">https://doi.org/10.1103/5m1n-qh9v</a>.","short":"L.Q. Xue, H. Tagawa, Z. Haiman, I. Bartos, Physical Review D 112 (2025)."},"quality_controlled":"1","issue":"6","_id":"20651","OA_type":"green","scopus_import":"1","abstract":[{"text":"The origin of merging binary black holes detected through gravitational waves remains a fundamental question in astrophysics. While stellar evolution imposes an upper mass limit of ∼50⁢𝑀⊙ for black holes, some observed mergers—most notably GW190521—involve significantly more massive components, suggesting alternative formation channels. Here we investigate the maximum masses attainable by black hole mergers within active galactic nucleus (AGN) disks. Using a comprehensive semianalytic model incorporating 27 binary and environmental parameters, we explore the role of AGN disk conditions in shaping the upper end of the black hole mass spectrum. We find that an AGN disk lifetime is the dominant factor, with high-mass mergers (≳200⁢𝑀⊙) only possible if disks persist for ≳40  Myr. The joint electromagnetic observation of an AGN-assisted merger could therefore lead to a direct measurement of the age of an AGN disk.","lang":"eng"}],"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"oa":1,"year":"2025","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","date_published":"2025-09-18T00:00:00Z","volume":112,"oa_version":"Preprint","article_processing_charge":"No","title":"What determines the maximum mass of AGN-assisted black hole mergers?","acknowledgement":"The authors are thankful for Yang Yang and Yue Yu for valuable discussions and assistance with the programming process. H. T. was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2021YFC2203002). Z. H. is grateful for support from NASA under Grants No. 80NSSC22K0822 and No. 80NSSC24K0440. I. B. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY-2309024.","author":[{"full_name":"Xue, Ling Qin","first_name":"Ling Qin","last_name":"Xue"},{"last_name":"Tagawa","first_name":"Hiromichi","full_name":"Tagawa, Hiromichi"},{"id":"7c006e8c-cc0d-11ee-8322-cb904ef76f36","orcid":"0000-0003-3633-5403","full_name":"Haiman, Zoltán","first_name":"Zoltán","last_name":"Haiman"},{"last_name":"Bartos","full_name":"Bartos, Imre","first_name":"Imre"}],"article_number":"063034","external_id":{"isi":["001583255800010"],"arxiv":["2504.19570"]},"main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1","url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2504.19570"}],"publication_identifier":{"eissn":["2470-0029"],"issn":["2470-0010"]},"month":"09","intvolume":"       112","status":"public","arxiv":1,"publisher":"American Physical Society","publication":"Physical Review D","OA_place":"repository"},{"status":"public","arxiv":1,"publisher":"American Physical Society","publication":"Physical Review D","publication_identifier":{"issn":["2470-0010"],"eissn":["2470-0029"]},"main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1","url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.00405"}],"month":"05","intvolume":"       107","author":[{"first_name":"Leesa","full_name":"Fleury, Leesa","last_name":"Fleury"},{"id":"8ae5b6e7-2a03-11ee-914d-b58ed7a3b47d","orcid":"0000-0002-4770-5388","full_name":"Caiazzo, Ilaria","first_name":"Ilaria","last_name":"Caiazzo"},{"first_name":"Jeremy","full_name":"Heyl, Jeremy","last_name":"Heyl"}],"external_id":{"arxiv":["2208.00405"]},"article_number":"L101303","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","year":"2023","volume":107,"date_published":"2023-05-17T00:00:00Z","oa_version":"Preprint","article_processing_charge":"No","title":"Constraining axions with ZTF J1901+1458","scopus_import":"1","oa":1,"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"abstract":[{"text":"The axion-nucleon coupling enables the production of axions through the decay of excited 57Fe nuclei, and axions produced in the Sun through this process are often a target of helioscope searches. We show for the first time that hot, highly magnetic white dwarfs such as ZTF J1901+1458 are a viable target to search for the x-ray signature of axions that were produced by the 57Fe transition in the core and then converted to photons in the magnetosphere. We calculate that a 100 ks observation of ZTF J1901+1458 with NuSTAR would constrain the coupling of axions to nucleons and photons at a level below the bounds of both current and future planned helioscopes.","lang":"eng"}],"extern":"1","quality_controlled":"1","citation":{"ieee":"L. Fleury, I. Caiazzo, and J. Heyl, “Constraining axions with ZTF J1901+1458,” <i>Physical Review D</i>, vol. 107, no. 10. American Physical Society, 2023.","mla":"Fleury, Leesa, et al. “Constraining Axions with ZTF J1901+1458.” <i>Physical Review D</i>, vol. 107, no. 10, L101303, American Physical Society, 2023, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.107.l101303\">10.1103/physrevd.107.l101303</a>.","short":"L. Fleury, I. Caiazzo, J. Heyl, Physical Review D 107 (2023).","chicago":"Fleury, Leesa, Ilaria Caiazzo, and Jeremy Heyl. “Constraining Axions with ZTF J1901+1458.” <i>Physical Review D</i>. American Physical Society, 2023. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.107.l101303\">https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.107.l101303</a>.","ista":"Fleury L, Caiazzo I, Heyl J. 2023. Constraining axions with ZTF J1901+1458. Physical Review D. 107(10), L101303.","ama":"Fleury L, Caiazzo I, Heyl J. Constraining axions with ZTF J1901+1458. <i>Physical Review D</i>. 2023;107(10). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.107.l101303\">10.1103/physrevd.107.l101303</a>","apa":"Fleury, L., Caiazzo, I., &#38; Heyl, J. (2023). Constraining axions with ZTF J1901+1458. <i>Physical Review D</i>. American Physical Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.107.l101303\">https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.107.l101303</a>"},"date_updated":"2024-04-02T07:11:34Z","issue":"10","_id":"15198","type":"journal_article","date_created":"2024-03-26T09:48:05Z","publication_status":"published","doi":"10.1103/physrevd.107.l101303","article_type":"original","day":"17"},{"article_type":"original","day":"03","type":"journal_article","date_created":"2024-03-26T10:39:46Z","publication_status":"published","doi":"10.1103/physrevd.97.083001","extern":"1","date_updated":"2024-10-14T12:33:32Z","quality_controlled":"1","citation":{"ista":"Caiazzo I, Heyl J. 2018. Vacuum birefringence and the x-ray polarization from black-hole accretion disks. Physical Review D. 97(8), 083001.","apa":"Caiazzo, I., &#38; Heyl, J. (2018). Vacuum birefringence and the x-ray polarization from black-hole accretion disks. <i>Physical Review D</i>. American Physical Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.97.083001\">https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.97.083001</a>","ama":"Caiazzo I, Heyl J. Vacuum birefringence and the x-ray polarization from black-hole accretion disks. <i>Physical Review D</i>. 2018;97(8). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.97.083001\">10.1103/physrevd.97.083001</a>","mla":"Caiazzo, Ilaria, and Jeremy Heyl. “Vacuum Birefringence and the X-Ray Polarization from Black-Hole Accretion Disks.” <i>Physical Review D</i>, vol. 97, no. 8, 083001, American Physical Society, 2018, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.97.083001\">10.1103/physrevd.97.083001</a>.","ieee":"I. Caiazzo and J. Heyl, “Vacuum birefringence and the x-ray polarization from black-hole accretion disks,” <i>Physical Review D</i>, vol. 97, no. 8. American Physical Society, 2018.","chicago":"Caiazzo, Ilaria, and Jeremy Heyl. “Vacuum Birefringence and the X-Ray Polarization from Black-Hole Accretion Disks.” <i>Physical Review D</i>. American Physical Society, 2018. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.97.083001\">https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.97.083001</a>.","short":"I. Caiazzo, J. Heyl, Physical Review D 97 (2018)."},"_id":"15238","issue":"8","scopus_import":"1","oa":1,"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"In the next decade, x-ray polarimetry will open a new window on the high-energy Universe, as several missions that include an x-ray polarimeter are currently under development. Observations of the polarization of x rays coming from the accretion disks of stellar-mass and supermassive black holes are among the new polarimeters’ major objectives. In this paper, we show that these observations can be affected by the quantum electrodynamic (QED) effect of vacuum birefringence: after an x-ray photon is emitted from the accretion disk, its polarization changes as the photon travels through the accretion disk’s magnetosphere, as a result of the vacuum becoming birefringent in the presence of a magnetic field. We show that this effect can be important for black holes in the energy band of the upcoming polarimeters and has to be taken into account in a complete model of the x-ray polarization that we expect to detect from black-hole accretion disks, both for stellar mass and for supermassive black holes. We find that, for a chaotic magnetic field in the disk, QED can significantly decrease the linear polarization fraction of edge-on photons, depending on the spin of the hole and on the strength of the magnetic field. This effect can provide, for the first time, a direct way to probe the magnetic field strength close to the innermost stable orbit of black-hole accretion disks and to study the role of magnetic fields in astrophysical accretion in general."}],"user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","year":"2018","date_published":"2018-04-03T00:00:00Z","volume":97,"oa_version":"Preprint","article_processing_charge":"No","title":"Vacuum birefringence and the x-ray polarization from black-hole accretion disks","author":[{"id":"8ae5b6e7-2a03-11ee-914d-b58ed7a3b47d","orcid":"0000-0002-4770-5388","first_name":"Ilaria","full_name":"Caiazzo, Ilaria","last_name":"Caiazzo"},{"last_name":"Heyl","full_name":"Heyl, Jeremy","first_name":"Jeremy"}],"external_id":{"arxiv":["1803.03798"]},"article_number":"083001","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["2470-0029"],"issn":["2470-0010"]},"main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1","url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1803.03798"}],"month":"04","intvolume":"        97","status":"public","arxiv":1,"publisher":"American Physical Society","publication":"Physical Review D"}]