Measurement of the pairwise kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect with Planck and BOSS data

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We present a new measurement of the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (kSZ) using Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) and Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) data. Using the `LowZ North/South' galaxy catalogue from BOSS DR12, and the group catalogue from BOSS DR13, we evaluate the mean pairwise kSZ temperature associated with BOSS galaxies. We construct a `Central Galaxies Catalogue' (CGC) which consists of isolated galaxies from the original BOSS data set, and apply the aperture photometry (AP) filter to suppress the primary CMB contribution. By constructing a halo model to fit the pairwise kSZ function, we constrain the mean optical depth to be τ=(0.53±0.32)×10⁻⁴(1.65σ) for `LowZ North CGC', τ=(0.30±0.57)×10⁻⁴(0.53σ) for `LowZ South CGC', and τ=(0.43±0.28)×10⁻⁴(1.53σ) for `DR13 Group'. In addition, we vary the radius of the AP filter and find that the AP size of 7 arcmin gives the maximum detection for τ. We also investigate the dependence of the signal with halo mass and find τ=(0.32±0.36)×10⁻⁴(0.8σ) and τ=(0.67±0.46)×10⁻⁴(1.4σ) for `DR13 Group' with halo mass restricted to, respectively, less and greater than its median halo mass, 10¹² h⁻¹ M. For the `LowZ North CGC' sample restricted to M h 10¹⁴ h⁻¹ M there is no detection of the kSZ signal because these high mass halos are associated with the high-redshift galaxies of the LowZ North catalogue, which have limited contribution to the pairwise kSZ signals.