Cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering in the presence of massive neutrinos

Abstract

The clustering ratio is defined as the ratio between the correlation function and the variance of the smoothed overdensity field. In LCDM cosmologies not accounting for massive neutrinos, it has already been proved to be independent from bias and redshift space distortions on a range of linear scales. It therefore allows for a direct comparison of measurements (from galaxies in redshift space) to predictions (for matter in real space). In this paper we first extend the applicability of such properties of the clustering ratio to cosmologies that include massive neutrinos, by performing tests against simulated data. We then investigate the constraining power of the clustering ratio when cosmological parameters such as the total neutrino mass and the equation of state of dark energy are left free. We analyse the joint posterior distribution of the parameters that must satisfy, at the same time, the measurements of the galaxy clustering ratio in the SDSS DR12, and the angular power spectrum of temperature and polarization anisotropies of the CMB measured by the Planck satellite. We find the clustering ratio to be very sensitive to the CDM density parameter, but not very much so to the total neutrino mass. Lastly, we forecast the constraining power the clustering ratio will achieve with forthcoming surveys, predicting the amplitude of its errors in a Euclid-like galaxy survey. In this case, we find it is expected to improve the constraint at 95% level on the CDM density by 40% and on the total neutrino mass by 14%.