{
  "abstract": "The kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect is a sensitive probe of the free-electron momentum field, tapping into spatial correlations relevant for both large-scale cosmology and smaller-scale astrophysics. Precision kSZ measurements will provide a robust channel for constraining inflationary physics and equivalence principle violation, while simultaneously characterizing the small-scale gas distribution and associated baryonic feedback. However, robust kSZ measurement for cosmological applications is challenging, as the primary source of large-scale information is convolved with unknown small-scale dynamics in a degenerate combination. In this paper we address this challenge using the Effective Field Theory (EFT) framework that provides a principled way of treating the effects of small-scale dynamics on large scale-structure. Extracting the kSZ signal can be reformulated as a measurement of the one-loop galaxy-galaxy-electron momentum bispectrum. We compute here a pure dark matter version of this bispectrum in EFT and compare it to simulations. We derive the EFT counterterms that capture small-scale backreaction and find that two of them acquire a transverse direction. One transverse counterterm gets generated entirely by the vorticity of the velocity field. Our computation of the bispectrum dipole agrees with simulation data to 5% up to k_max = 0.23 h/Mpc, which is significantly larger than the reach of tree level theory, which breaks down beyond k_max = 0.07 h/Mpc (at redshift z = 0.5). For the bispectrum computed with the projected momentum field, relevant to measuring the kSZ field, we find a similar k_max, and make the first detection of the transverse counterterms from simulations. Our results suggest that one-loop bispectrum computations can play an important role in advancing kSZ cosmology.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.15750",
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Ryan Raikman"
    },
    {
      "name": "James M. Sullivan"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mikhail M. Ivanov"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9v8ewsq23np8e.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.15750",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "9v8ewsq23np8e",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15750",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.CO"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Cosmology and Gravitation Theories"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213296799",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.15750",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-14",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9v8ewsq23np8e.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:22:19Z",
      "native_id": "2609.15750",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15750"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.CO",
      "subfield": "cosmology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Toward Precision Kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Cosmology---1. The Matter - Momentum Bispectrum at One-Loop Order",
  "title_text": "Toward Precision Kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Cosmology---1. The Matter - Momentum Bispectrum at One-Loop Order",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:22:19Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9v8ewsq23np8e",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}