arXiv subjects

Florian Beutler

Publications and source records attributed to Florian Beutler.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Dynamical dark energy in light of the latest observations

A flat Friedman-Roberson-Walker universe dominated by a cosmological constant ($Λ$) and cold dark matter (CDM) has been the working model preferred by cosmologists since the discovery of cosmic acceleration. However, tensions of various degrees of significance are known to be present among existing datasets within the $Λ$CDM framework. In particular, the Lyman-$α$ forest measurement of the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) by the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) prefers a smaller value of the matter density fraction $Ω_{\rm M}$ compared to the value preferred by cosmic microwave background (CMB). Also, the recently measured value of the Hubble constant, $H_0=73.24\pm1.74 \ {\rm km}\ {\rm s}^{-1} \ {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$, is $3.4σ$ higher than $66.93\pm0.62 \ {\rm km}\ {\rm s}^{-1} \ {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$ inferred from the Planck CMB data. In this work, we investigate if these tensions can be interpreted as evidence for a non-constant dynamical dark energy (DE). Using the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence to quantify the tension between datasets, we find that the tensions are relieved by an evolving DE, with the dynamical DE model preferred at a $3.5σ$ significance level based on the improvement in the fit alone. While, at present, the Bayesian evidence for the dynamical DE is insufficient to favour it over $Λ$CDM, we show that, if the current best fit DE happened to be the true model, it would be decisively detected by the upcoming DESI survey.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV: Mapping the Milky Way, Nearby Galaxies, and the Distant Universe

We describe the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV (SDSS-IV), a project encompassing three major spectroscopic programs. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2) is observing hundreds of thousands of Milky Way stars at high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio in the near-infrared. The Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey is obtaining spatially-resolved spectroscopy for thousands of nearby galaxies (median redshift of z = 0.03). The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) is mapping the galaxy, quasar, and neutral gas distributions between redshifts z = 0.6 and 3.5 to constrain cosmology using baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, and the shape of the power spectrum. Within eBOSS, we are conducting two major subprograms: the SPectroscopic IDentification of eROSITA Sources (SPIDERS), investigating X-ray AGN and galaxies in X-ray clusters, and the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey (TDSS), obtaining spectra of variable sources. All programs use the 2.5-meter Sloan Foundation Telescope at Apache Point Observatory; observations there began in Summer 2014. APOGEE-2 also operates a second near-infrared spectrograph at the 2.5-meter du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, with observations beginning in early 2017. Observations at both facilities are scheduled to continue through 2020. In keeping with previous SDSS policy, SDSS-IV provides regularly scheduled public data releases; the first one, Data Release 13, was made available in July 2016.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

Extending the modeling of the anisotropic galaxy power spectrum to $k = 0.4 \ h\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$

We present a new model for the redshift-space power spectrum of galaxies and demonstrate its accuracy in modeling the monopole, quadrupole, and hexadecapole of the galaxy density field down to scales of $k = 0.4 \ h\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$. The model describes the clustering of galaxies in the context of a halo model and the clustering of the underlying halos in redshift space using a combination of Eulerian perturbation theory and $N$-body simulations. The modeling of redshift-space distortions is done using the so-called distribution function approach. The final model has 13 free parameters, and each parameter is physically motivated rather than a nuisance parameter, which allows the use of well-motivated priors. We account for the Finger-of-God effect from centrals and both isolated and non-isolated satellites rather than using a single velocity dispersion to describe the combined effect. We test and validate the accuracy of the model on several sets of high-fidelity $N$-body simulations, as well as realistic mock catalogs designed to simulate the BOSS DR12 CMASS data set. The suite of simulations covers a range of cosmologies and galaxy bias models, providing a rigorous test of the level of theoretical systematics present in the model. The level of bias in the recovered values of $f σ_8$ is found to be small. When including scales to $k = 0.4 \ h\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$, we find 15-30\% gains in the statistical precision of $f σ_8$ relative to $k = 0.2 \ h\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ and a roughly 10-15\% improvement for the perpendicular Alcock-Paczynski parameter $α_\perp$. Using the BOSS DR12 CMASS mocks as a benchmark for comparison, we estimate an uncertainty on $f σ_8$ that is $\sim$10-20\% larger than other similar Fourier-space RSD models in the literature that use $k \leq 0.2 \ h\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$, suggesting that these models likely have a too-limited parametrization.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Angular clustering tomography and its cosmological implications

We investigate the cosmological implications of studying galaxy clustering using a tomographic approach applied to the final BOSS DR12 galaxy sample, including both auto- and cross-correlation functions between redshift shells. We model the signal of the full shape of the angular correlation function, $ω(θ)$, in redshift bins using state-of-the-art modelling of non-linearities, bias and redshift-space distortions. We present results on the redshift evolution of the linear bias of BOSS galaxies, which cannot be obtained with traditional methods for galaxy-clustering analysis. We also obtain constraints on cosmological parameters, combining this tomographic analysis with measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and type Ia supernova (SNIa). We explore a number of cosmological models, including the standard $Λ$CDM model and its most interesting extensions, such as deviations from $w_\rm{DE} = -1$, non-minimal neutrino masses, spatial curvature and deviations from general relativity using the growth-index $γ$ parametrisation. These results are, in general, comparable to the most precise present-day constraints on cosmological parameters, and show very good agreement with the standard model. In particular, combining CMB, $ω(θ)$ and SNIa, we find a value of $w_\rm{DE}$ consistent with $-1$ to a precision better than 5\% when it is assumed to be constant in time, and better than 6\% when we also allow for a spatially-curved Universe.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: On the measurement of growth rate using galaxy correlation functions

We present a measurement of the linear growth rate of structure, \textit{f} from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS III) Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release 12 (DR12) using Convolution Lagrangian Perturbation Theory (CLPT) with Gaussian Streaming Redshift-Space Distortions (GSRSD) to model the two point statistics of BOSS galaxies in DR12. The BOSS-DR12 dataset includes 1,198,006 massive galaxies spread over the redshift range $0.2 < z < 0.75$. These galaxy samples are categorized in three redshift bins. Using CLPT-GSRSD in our analysis of the combined sample of the three redshift bins, we report measurements of $f σ_8$ for the three redshift bins. We find $f σ_8 = 0.430 \pm 0.054$ at $z_{\rm eff} = 0.38$, $f σ_8 = 0.452 \pm 0.057$ at $z_{\rm eff} = 0.51$ and $f σ_8 = 0.457 \pm 0.052$ at $z_{\rm eff} = 0.61$. Our results are consistent with the predictions of Planck $Λ$CDM-GR. Our constraints on the growth rates of structure in the Universe at different redshifts serve as a useful probe, which can help distinguish between a model of the Universe based on dark energy and models based on modified theories of gravity. This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering dataset from BOSS. The measurements and likelihoods presented here are combined with others in Alam et al. 2016 to produce the final cosmological constraints from BOSS.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Consistency of the growth rate in different environments with the 6dF Galaxy Survey: measurement of the void-galaxy and galaxy-galaxy correlation functions

We present a new test of gravitational physics by comparing the growth rate of cosmic structure measured around voids with that measured around galaxies in the same large-scale structure dataset, the low-redshift 6-degree Field Galaxy Survey. By fitting a self-consistent Redshift Space Distortion model to the 2D galaxy-galaxy and void-galaxy correlation functions, we recover growth rate values fσ_8 = 0.42 \pm 0.06 and 0.39 \pm 0.11, respectively. The environmental-dependence of cosmological statistics can potentially discriminate between modified-gravity scenarios which modulate the growth rate as a function of scale or environment and test the underlying assumptions of homogeneity and isotropy.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

The Clustering of Galaxies in the Completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Cosmic Flows and Cosmic Web from Luminous Red Galaxies

We present a Bayesian phase-space reconstruction of the cosmic large-scale matter density and velocity fields from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillations Spectroscopic Survey Data Release 12 (BOSS DR12) CMASS galaxy clustering catalogue. We rely on a given $Λ$CDM cosmology, a mesh resolution in the range of 6-10 $h^{-1}$ Mpc, and a lognormal-Poisson model with a redshift dependent nonlinear bias. The bias parameters are derived from the data and a general renormalised perturbation theory approach. We use combined Gibbs and Hamiltonian sampling, implemented in the \textsc{argo} code, to iteratively reconstruct the dark matter density field and the coherent peculiar velocities of individual galaxies, correcting hereby for coherent redshift space distortions (RSD). Our tests relying on accurate $N$-body based mock galaxy catalogues, show unbiased real space power spectra of the nonlinear density field up to $k\sim0.2\, h$ Mpc$^{-1}$, and vanishing quadrupoles down to $r\sim20\,h^{-1}$ Mpc. We also demonstrate that the nonlinear cosmic web can be obtained from the tidal field tensor based on the Gaussian component of the reconstructed density field. We find that the reconstructed velocities have a statistical correlation coefficient compared to the true velocities of each individual lightcone mock galaxy of $r\sim0.68$ including about 10% of satellite galaxies with virial motions (about $r=0.75$ without satellites). The power spectra of the velocity divergence agree well with theoretical predictions up to $k\sim0.2\,h\,{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$. This work will be especially useful to improve, e.g. BAO reconstructions, kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ), integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) measurements, or environmental studies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

The DESI Experiment Part I: Science,Targeting, and Survey Design

DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) is a Stage IV ground-based dark energy experiment that will study baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and the growth of structure through redshift-space distortions with a wide-area galaxy and quasar redshift survey. To trace the underlying dark matter distribution, spectroscopic targets will be selected in four classes from imaging data. We will measure luminous red galaxies up to $z=1.0$. To probe the Universe out to even higher redshift, DESI will target bright [O II] emission line galaxies up to $z=1.7$. Quasars will be targeted both as direct tracers of the underlying dark matter distribution and, at higher redshifts ($ 2.1 < z < 3.5$), for the Ly-$α$ forest absorption features in their spectra, which will be used to trace the distribution of neutral hydrogen. When moonlight prevents efficient observations of the faint targets of the baseline survey, DESI will conduct a magnitude-limited Bright Galaxy Survey comprising approximately 10 million galaxies with a median $z\approx 0.2$. In total, more than 30 million galaxy and quasar redshifts will be obtained to measure the BAO feature and determine the matter power spectrum, including redshift space distortions.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2016

The DESI Experiment Part II: Instrument Design

DESI (Dark Energy Spectropic Instrument) is a Stage IV ground-based dark energy experiment that will study baryon acoustic oscillations and the growth of structure through redshift-space distortions with a wide-area galaxy and quasar redshift survey. The DESI instrument is a robotically-actuated, fiber-fed spectrograph capable of taking up to 5,000 simultaneous spectra over a wavelength range from 360 nm to 980 nm. The fibers feed ten three-arm spectrographs with resolution $R= λ/Δλ$ between 2000 and 5500, depending on wavelength. The DESI instrument will be used to conduct a five-year survey designed to cover 14,000 deg$^2$. This powerful instrument will be installed at prime focus on the 4-m Mayall telescope in Kitt Peak, Arizona, along with a new optical corrector, which will provide a three-degree diameter field of view. The DESI collaboration will also deliver a spectroscopic pipeline and data management system to reduce and archive all data for eventual public use.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2016

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: tomographic BAO analysis of DR12 combined sample in Fourier space

We perform a tomographic baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) analysis using the monopole, quadrupole and hexadecapole of the redshift-space galaxy power spectrum measured from the pre-reconstructed combined galaxy sample of the completed Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III) Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release (DR)12 covering the redshift range of $0.20<z<0.75$. By allowing for overlap between neighbouring redshift slices, we successfully obtained the isotropic and anisotropic BAO distance measurements within nine redshift slices to a precision of $1.5\%-3.4\%$ for $D_V/r_d$, $1.8\% -4.2\%$ for $D_A/r_d$ and $3.7\% - 7.5\%$ for $H \ r_d$, depending on effective redshifts. We provide our BAO measurement of $D_A/r_d$ and $H \ r_d$ with the full covariance matrix, which can be used for cosmological implications. Our measurements are consistent with those presented in \citet{Acacia}, in which the BAO distances are measured at three effective redshifts. We constrain dark energy parameters using our measurements, and find an improvement of the Figure-of-Merit of dark energy in general due to the temporal BAO information resolved. This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering dataset from BOSS.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: constraining modified gravity

We use baryon acoustic oscillation and redshift space distortion from the completed Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, corresponding to data release 12 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, combined sample analysis in combination with cosmic microwave background, supernova and redshift space distortion measurements from additional spectroscopic surveys to test deviations from general relativity. We present constraints on several phenomenological models of modified gravity: First, we parametrise the growth of structure using the growth index $γ$, finding $γ=0.566\pm0.058$ (68\% C.L.). Second, we modify the relation of the two Newtonian potentials by introducing two additional parameters, $G_M$ and $G_L$. In this approach, $G_M$ refers to modifications of the growth of structure whereas $G_L$ to modification of the lensing potential. We consider a power law to model the redshift dependency of $G_M$ and $G_L$ as well as binning in redshift space, introducing four additional degrees of freedom, $G_M(z<0.5)$, $G_M(z>0.5)$, $G_L(z<0.5)$, $G_L(z>0.5)$. At 68\% C.L. we measure $G_M=0.980 \pm 0.096$ and $G_L=1.082 \pm 0.060$ for a linear model, $G_M= 1.01\pm 0.36$ and $G_L=1.31 \pm 0.19$ for a cubic model as well as $G_M(z<0.5)=1.26 \pm 0.32$, $G_M(z>0.5)=0.986\pm0.022$, $G_L(z<0.5)=1.067\pm0.058$ and $G_L(z>0.5)=1.037\pm0.029$. Thirdly, we investigate general scalar tensor theories of gravity, finding the model to be mostly unconstrained by current data. Assuming a one-parameter $f(R)$ model we can constrain $B_0< 7.7 \times 10^{-5}$ (95\% C.L). For all models we considered we find good agreement with general relativity.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Cosmological implications of the Fourier space wedges of the final sample

We extract cosmological information from the anisotropic power spectrum measurements from the recently completed Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), extending the concept of clustering wedges to Fourier space. Making use of new FFT-based estimators, we measure the power spectrum clustering wedges of the BOSS sample by filtering out the information of Legendre multipoles l > 4. Our modelling of these measurements is based on novel approaches to describe non-linear evolution, bias, and redshift-space distortions, which we test using synthetic catalogues based on large-volume N-body simulations. We are able to include smaller scales than in previous analyses, resulting in tighter cosmological constraints. Using three overlapping redshift bins, we measure the angular diameter distance, the Hubble parameter, and the cosmic growth rate, and explore the cosmological implications of our full shape clustering measurements in combination with CMB and SN Ia data. Assuming a ΛCDM cosmology, we constrain the matter density to Ω_m = 0.311 -0.010 +0.009 and the Hubble parameter to H_0 = 67.6 -0.6 +0.7 km s^-1 Mpc^-1, at a confidence level (CL) of 68 per cent. We also allow for non-standard dark energy models and modifications of the growth rate, finding good agreement with the ΛCDM paradigm. For example, we constrain the equation-of-state parameter to w = -1.019 -0.039 +0.048. This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering dataset from BOSS. The measurements and likelihoods presented here are combined with others in Alam et al. 2016 to produce the final cosmological constraints from BOSS.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Observational systematics and baryon acoustic oscillations in the correlation function

We present baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) scale measurements determined from the clustering of 1.2 million massive galaxies with redshifts 0.2 < z < 0.75 distributed over 9300 square degrees, as quantified by their redshift-space correlation function. In order to facilitate these measurements, we define, describe, and motivate the selection function for galaxies in the final data release (DR12) of the SDSS III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This includes the observational footprint, masks for image quality and Galactic extinction, and weights to account for density relationships intrinsic to the imaging and spectroscopic portions of the survey. We simulate the observed systematic trends in mock galaxy samples and demonstrate that they impart no bias on baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) scale measurements and have a minor impact on the recovered statistical uncertainty. We measure transverse and radial BAO distance measurements in 0.2 < z < 0.5, 0.5 < z < 0.75, and (overlapping) 0.4 < z < 0.6 redshift bins. In each redshift bin, we obtain a precision that is 2.7 per cent or better on the radial distance and 1.6 per cent or better on the transverse distance. The combination of the redshift bins represents 1.8 per cent precision on the radial distance and 1.1 per cent precision on the transverse distance. This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering dataset from BOSS. The measurements and likelihoods presented here are combined with others in Alam et al. (2016) to produce the final cosmological constraints from BOSS.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: double-probe measurements from BOSS galaxy clustering \& Planck data -- towards an analysis without informative priors

We develop a new methodology called double-probe analysis with the aim of minimizing informative priors in the estimation of cosmological parameters. We extract the dark-energy-model-independent cosmological constraints from the joint data sets of Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) galaxy sample and Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurement. We measure the mean values and covariance matrix of $\{R$, $l_a$, $Ω_b h^2$, $n_s$, $log(A_s)$, $Ω_k$, $H(z)$, $D_A(z)$, $f(z)σ_8(z)\}$, which give an efficient summary of Planck data and 2-point statistics from BOSS galaxy sample, where $R=\sqrt{Ω_m H_0^2}\,r(z_*)$, and $l_a=πr(z_*)/r_s(z_*)$, $z_*$ is the redshift at the last scattering surface, and $r(z_*)$ and $r_s(z_*)$ denote our comoving distance to $z_*$ and sound horizon at $z_*$ respectively. The advantage of this method is that we do not need to put informative priors on the cosmological parameters that galaxy clustering is not able to constrain well, i.e. $Ω_b h^2$ and $n_s$. Using our double-probe results, we obtain $Ω_m=0.304\pm0.009$, $H_0=68.2\pm0.7$, and $σ_8=0.806\pm0.014$ assuming $Λ$CDM; and $Ω_k=0.002\pm0.003$ and $w=-1.00\pm0.07$ assuming o$w$CDM. The results show no tension with the flat $Λ$CDM cosmological paradigm. By comparing with the full-likelihood analyses with fixed dark energy models, we demonstrate that the double-probe method provides robust cosmological parameter constraints which can be conveniently used to study dark energy models. We extend our study to measure the sum of neutrino mass and obtain $Σm_ν<0.10/0.22$ (68\%/95\%) assuming $Λ$CDM and $Σm_ν<0.26/0.52$ (68\%/95\%) assuming $w$CDM. This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering dataset from BOSS.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Baryon Acoustic Oscillations in Fourier-space

We analyse the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) signal of the final Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) data release (DR12). Our analysis is performed in Fourier-space, using the power spectrum monopole and quadrupole. The dataset includes $1\,198\,006$ galaxies over the redshift range $0.2 < z < 0.75$. We divide this dataset into three (overlapping) redshift bins with the effective redshifts $\zeff = 0.38$, $0.51$ and $0.61$. We demonstrate the reliability of our analysis pipeline using N-body simulations as well as $\sim 1000$ MultiDark-Patchy mock catalogues, which mimic the BOSS-DR12 target selection. We apply density field reconstruction to enhance the BAO signal-to-noise ratio. By including the power spectrum quadrupole we can separate the line-of-sight and angular modes, which allows us to constrain the angular diameter distance $D_A(z)$ and the Hubble parameter $H(z)$ separately. We obtain two independent $1.6\%$ and $1.5\%$ constraints on $D_A(z)$ and $2.9\%$ and $2.3\%$ constraints on $H(z)$ for the low ($\zeff=0.38$) and high ($\zeff=0.61$) redshift bin, respectively. We obtain two independent $1\%$ and $0.9\%$ constraints on the angular averaged distance $D_V(z)$, when ignoring the Alcock-Paczynski effect. The detection significance of the BAO signal is of the order of $8σ$ (post-reconstruction) for each of the three redshift bins. Our results are in good agreement with the Planck prediction within $Λ$CDM. This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering dataset from BOSS. The measurements and likelihoods presented here are combined with others in~\citet{Alam2016} to produce the final cosmological constraints from BOSS.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: cosmological implications of the configuration-space clustering wedges

We explore the cosmological implications of anisotropic clustering measurements in configuration space of the final galaxy samples from Data Release 12 of the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. We implement a new detailed modelling of the effects of non-linearities, galaxy bias and redshift-space distortions that can be used to extract unbiased cosmological information from our measurements for scales $s \gtrsim 20\,h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$. We combined the galaxy clustering information from BOSS with the latest cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations and Type Ia supernovae samples and found no significant evidence for a deviation from the $Λ$CDM cosmological model. In particular, these data sets can constrain the dark energy equation of state parameter to $w_{\rm DE}=-0.996\pm0.042$ when assumed time-independent, the curvature of the Universe to $Ω_{k}=-0.0007\pm 0.0030$ and the sum of the neutrino masses to $\sum m_ν < 0.25\,{\rm eV}$ at 95 per cent CL. We explore the constraints on the growth rate of cosmic structures assuming $f(z)=Ω_{\rm m}(z)^γ$ and obtain $γ= 0.609\pm 0.079$, in good agreement with the predictions of general relativity of $γ=0.55$. We compress the information of our clustering measurements into constraints on the parameter combinations $D_{\rm V}(z)/r_{\rm d}$, $F_{\rm AP}(z)$ and $fσ_8(z)$ at the effective redshifts of $z=0.38$, $0.51$ and $0.61$ with their respective covariance matrices and find good agreement with the predictions for these parameters obtained from the best-fitting $Λ$CDM model to the CMB data from the Planck satellite. This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering dataset from BOSS. The measurements and likelihoods presented here are combined with others in Alam et al. (2016) to produce the final cosmological constraints from BOSS.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: combining correlated Gaussian posterior distributions

The cosmological information contained in anisotropic galaxy clustering measurements can often be compressed into a small number of parameters whose posterior distribution is well described by a Gaussian. We present a general methodology to combine these estimates into a single set of consensus constraints that encode the total information of the individual measurements, taking into account the full covariance between the different methods. We illustrate this technique by applying it to combine the results obtained from different clustering analyses, including measurements of the signature of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) and redshift-space distortions (RSD), based on a set of mock catalogues of the final SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). Our results show that the region of the parameter space allowed by the consensus constraints is smaller than that of the individual methods, highlighting the importance of performing multiple analyses on galaxy surveys even when the measurements are highly correlated. This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering dataset from BOSS. The methodology presented here is used in Alam et al. (2016) to produce the final cosmological constraints from BOSS.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Anisotropic galaxy clustering in Fourier-space

We investigate the anisotropic clustering of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release 12 (DR12) sample, which consists of $1\,198\,006$ galaxies in the redshift range $0.2 < z < 0.75$ and a sky coverage of $10\,252\,$deg$^2$. We analyse this dataset in Fourier space, using the power spectrum multipoles to measure Redshift-Space Distortions (RSD) simultaneously with the Alcock-Paczynski (AP) effect and the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) scale. We include the power spectrum monopole, quadrupole and hexadecapole in our analysis and compare our measurements with a perturbation theory based model, while properly accounting for the survey window function. To evaluate the reliability of our analysis pipeline we participate in a mock challenge, which resulted in systematic uncertainties significantly smaller than the statistical uncertainties. While the high-redshift constraint on $fσ_8$ at $z_{\rm eff}=0.61$ indicates a small ($\sim 1.4σ$) deviation from the prediction of the Planck $Λ$CDM model, the low-redshift constraint is in good agreement with Planck $Λ$CDM. This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering dataset from BOSS. The measurements and likelihoods presented here are combined with others in~\citet{Alam2016} to produce the final cosmological constraints from BOSS.

astro-ph.CO↗