The University of Tokyo · Physics and Astronomy
Professor Toshiya Namikawa's research lab specializes in theoretical and computational cosmology, focusing on cosmic microwave background (CMB) physics, gravitational lensing reconstruction, and cosmological parameter estimation. The lab develops advanced statistical and analytical methods to extract subtle cosmological signals—such as primordial non-Gaussianity, birefringence, and gravitational wave backgrounds—from large-scale sky surveys. Key research directions include improving lensing estimators with reduced systematics, probing fundamental physics through CMB polarization and anisotropies, and enabling redshift-free cosmology using gravitational wave standard sirens. The lab emphasizes cross-correlation of CMB, weak lensing, and large-scale structure data to constrain neutrino masses, dark energy, and early-universe physics.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
We present new methods for lensing reconstruction from CMB temperature fluctuations which have smaller mean-field and reconstruction noise bias corrections than current lensing estimators, with minimal loss of signal-to-noise. These biases are usually corrected using Monte Carlo simulations, and to the extent that these simulations do not perfectly mimic the underlying sky there are uncertainties in the bias corrections. The bias-hardened estimators which we present can have reduced sensitivity
We present new constraints on anisotropic birefringence of the cosmic microwave background polarization using two seasons of data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope covering 456 square degrees of sky. The birefringence power spectrum, measured using a curved-sky quadratic estimator, is consistent with zero. Our results provide the tightest current constraint on birefringence over a range of angular scales between 5 arc minutes and 9\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. We improve previous upper
We present a method of lensing reconstruction on the full sky, by extending the optimal quadratic estimator proposed by Okamoto & Hu (2003) to the case including the curl mode of deflection angle. The curl mode is induced by the vector and tensor metric perturbations, and the reconstruction of the curl mode would be a powerful tool to not only check systematics in the estimated gradient mode but also probe any vector and tensor sources. We find that the gradient and curl modes can be reconstruct
Gravitational waves (GWs) from compact binary stars at cosmological distances are promising and powerful cosmological probes, referred to as the GW standard sirens. With future GW detectors, we will be able to precisely measure source luminosity distances out to a redshift z∼5. To extract cosmological information, previously proposed cosmological studies using the GW standard sirens rely on source redshift information obtained through an extensive electromagnetic follow-up campaign. However, the
We discuss the synergy of the cosmic shear and CMB lensing experiments to simultaneously constrain the neutrino mass and dark energy properties. Taking fully account of the CMB lensing, cosmic shear, CMB anisotropies, and their cross correlation signals, we clarify a role of each signal, and investigate the extent to which the upcoming observations by a high-angular resolution experiment of CMB and deep galaxy imaging survey can tightly constrain the neutrino mass and dark energy equation-of-sta
We present forecast results for constraining the primordial non-Gaussianity from photometric surveys through a large-scale enhancement of the galaxy clustering amplitude. In photometric surveys, the distribution of observed galaxies at high redshifts suffers from the gravitational-lensing magnification, which systematically alters the number density for magnitude-limited galaxy samples. We estimate size of the systematic bias in the best-fit cosmological parameters caused by the magnification ef
We introduce and validate a delensing framework for the Simons Observatory (SO), which will be used to improve constraints on inflationary gravitational waves by reducing the lensing noise in measurements of the $B$ modes in CMB polarization. SO will initially observe CMB by using three small aperture telescopes and one large-aperture telescope. While polarization maps from small-aperture telescopes will be used to constrain inflationary gravitational waves, the internal CMB lensing maps used to
We discuss detectability of the nonlinear growth of the large-scale structure in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing. The lensing signals involved in the CMB fluctuations have been measured from multiple CMB experiments, such as Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), Planck, POLARBEAR, and South Pole Telescope (SPT). The reconstructed CMB lensing signals are useful to constrain cosmology via their angular power spectrum, while detectability and cosmological application of their bispectrum
Polarization data will soon provide the best avenue for measurements of the CMB lensing potential, although it is potentially sensitive to several instrumental effects including beam asymmetry, polarization angle uncertainties, sky coverage, as well as analysis choices such as masking. We derive "bias-hardened" lensing estimators to mitigate these effects, at the expense of somewhat larger reconstruction noise, and test them numerically on simulated data. We find that the mean-field bias from ma
We explore the potential use of the Radio Continuum (RC) survey conducted by the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) to remove (delens) the lensing-induced B-mode polarization and thus enhance future cosmic microwave background (CMB) searches for inflationary gravitational waves. Measurements of large-scale B-modes of the CMB are considered to be the best method for probing gravitational waves from the cosmic inflation. Future CMB experiments will, however, suffer from contamination by nonprimordial B
We present a new method for delensing $B$ modes of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) using a lensing potential reconstructed from the same realization of the CMB polarization (CMB internal delensing). The $B$-mode delensing is required to improve sensitivity to primary $B$ modes generated by, e.g., the inflationary gravitational waves, axionlike particles, modified gravity, primordial magnetic fields, and topological defects such as cosmic strings. However, the CMB internal delensing suffers
We present robust constraints on the stochastic gravitational waves (GWs) at Mpc scales from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. CMB constraints on GWs are usually characterized as the tensor-to-scalar ratio, assuming specifically a power-law form of the primordial spectrum, and are obtained from the angular spectra of CMB. Here, we relax the assumption of the power-law form, and consider to what extent one can constrain a monochromatic GW at shorter wavelengths. Previously, such a const
The first discovery of the gravitational-wave (GW) event, GW150914, suggests a higher merger rate of black-hole (BH) binaries. If this is true, a number of BH binaries will be observed via the second-generation GW detectors, and the statistical properties of the observed BH binaries can be scrutinized. A naive but important question to ask is whether the spatial distribution of BH binaries faithfully traces the matter inhomogeneities in the Universe or not. Although the BH binaries are thought t
Open papers in the app to read, cite, and organize with AI.