arXiv subjects

Licia Verde

Publications and source records attributed to Licia Verde.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

BAO cosmology in non-spatially flat background geometry from BOSS+eBOSS and lessons for future surveys

We study the impact of the assumption of a non-flat fiducial cosmology on the measurement, analysis and interpretation of BAO distance variables, along and across the line-of-sight. The assumption about cosmology enters in the choice of the base template, as well as on the transformation of tracer's redshifts into distances (the catalog cosmology): here we focus on the curvature assumption, separately and jointly, on both. We employ BOSS and eBOSS publicly available data and show that for the statistical precision of this data set, distance measures and thus cosmological inference are robust to assumptions about curvature both of the template and the catalog. Thus the usual assumptions of flat fiducial cosmologies (but also assumptions of non-flat cosmologies) do not produce any detectable systematic effects. For forthcoming large-volume surveys, however, small but appreciable residual systematic shifts can be generated which may require some care. These are mostly driven by the choice of catalog cosmology if it is significantly different from true cosmology. In particular, the catalog (and template) cosmology should be chosen, possibly iteratively, in such a way that the recovered BAO scaling variables are sufficiently close to unity. At this level of precision, however, other previously overlooked effects become relevant, such as a mismatch between the sound horizon as seen in the BAO and the actual sound horizon in the early Universe. If unaccounted for, such effect may be misinterpreted as cosmological and thus bias the curvature (and cosmology) constraints. We present best practices to avoid this.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Quijote-PNG: The Information Content of the Halo Mass Function

We study signatures of primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG) in the redshift-space halo field on non-linear scales, using a combination of three summary statistics, namely the halo mass function (HMF), power spectrum, and bispectrum. The choice of adding the HMF to our previous joint analysis of power spectrum and bispectrum is driven by a preliminary field-level analysis, in which we train graph neural networks on halo catalogues to infer the PNG $f_\mathrm{NL}$ parameter. The covariance matrix and the responses of our summaries to changes in model parameters are extracted from a suite of halo catalogues constructed from the Quijote-PNG N-body simulations. We consider the three main types of PNG: local, equilateral and orthogonal. Adding the HMF to our previous joint analysis of power spectrum and bispectrum produces two main effects. First, it reduces the equilateral $f_\mathrm{NL}$ predicted errors by roughly a factor $2$, while also producing notable, although smaller, improvements for orthogonal PNG. Second, it helps break the degeneracy between the local PNG amplitude, $f_\mathrm{NL}^\mathrm{local}$, and assembly bias, $b_ϕ$, without relying on any external prior assumption. Our final forecasts for PNG parameters are $Δf_\mathrm{NL}^\mathrm{local} = 40$, $Δf_\mathrm{NL}^\mathrm{equil} = 210$, $Δf_\mathrm{NL}^\mathrm{ortho} = 91$, on a cubic volume of $1 \left(h^{-1}{\rm Gpc}\right)^3$, with a halo number density of $\bar{n}\sim 5.1 \times 10^{-5}~h^3\mathrm{Mpc}^{-3}$, at $z = 1$, and considering scales up to $k_\mathrm{max} = 0.5~h\,\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Taming assembly bias for primordial non-Gaussianity

Primordial non-Gaussianity of the local type induces a strong scale-dependent bias on the clustering of halos in the late-time Universe. This signature is particularly promising to provide constraints on the non-Gaussianity parameter $f_{\rm NL}$ from galaxy surveys, as the bias amplitude grows with scale and becomes important on large, linear scales. However, there is a well-known degeneracy between the real prize, the $f_{\rm NL}$ parameter, and the (non-Gaussian) assembly bias i.e., the halo formation history-dependent contribution to the amplitude of the signal, which could seriously compromise the ability of large-scale structure surveys to constrain $f_{\rm NL}$. We show how the assembly bias can be modeled and constrained, thus almost completely recovering the power of galaxy surveys to competitively constrain primordial non-Gaussianity. In particular, studying hydrodynamical simulations, we find that a proxy for the halo properties that determine assembly bias can be constructed from photometric properties of galaxies. Using a prior on the assembly bias guided by this proxy degrades the statistical errors on $f_{\rm NL}$ only mildly compared to an ideal case where the assembly bias is perfectly known. The systematic error on $f_{\rm NL}$ that the proxy induces can be safely kept under control.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

On approximations of the redshift-space bispectrum and power spectrum multipoles covariance matrix

We investigate, in dark matter and galaxy mocks, the effects of approximating the galaxy power spectrum-bispectrum estimated covariance as a diagonal matrix, for an analysis that aligns with the specifications of recent and upcoming galaxy surveys. We find that, for a joint power spectrum and bispectrum data-vector, with corresponding $k$-ranges of $0.02<k\,[h{\rm Mpc}^{-1}]<0.15$ and $0.02<k\,[h{\rm Mpc}^{-1}]<0.12$ each, the diagonal covariance approximation recovers $\sim 10\%$ larger error-bars on the parameters $\{σ_8,f,α_\parallel,α_\bot\}$ with respect to the full covariance case, while still underestimating the corresponding true errors on the recovered parameters by $\sim 10\%$. This is caused by the diagonal approximations weighting the elements of the data-vector in a sub-optimal way, resulting in a less efficient estimator, with poor coverage properties, than the maximum likelihood estimator featuring the full covariance matrix. We further investigate intermediate approximations to the full covariance matrix, with up to $\sim 80\%$ of the matrix elements being zero, which could be advantageous for theoretical and hybrid approaches. We expect these results to be qualitatively insensitive to variations of the total cosmological volume, depending primarily on the bin size and shot-noise, thus making them particularly significant for present and future galaxy surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

A tale of many $H_0$

The Hubble parameter $H_0$, is not a univocally-defined quantity: it relates redshifts to distances in the near Universe, but is also a key parameter of the $Λ$CDM standard cosmological model. As such, $H_0$ affects several physical processes at different cosmic epochs, and multiple observables. We have counted more than a dozen $H_0$'s which are expected to agree if a) there are no significant systematics in the data and their interpretation and b) the adopted cosmological model is correct. With few exceptions (proverbially confirming the rule) these determinations do not agree at high statistical significance; their values cluster around two camps: the low (68 km/s/Mpc) and high (73 km/s/Mpc) camp. It appears to be a matter of anchors: the shape of the Universe expansion history agrees with the model, it is the normalizations that disagree. Beyond systematics in the data/analysis, if the model is incorrect there are only two viable ways to "fix" it: by changing the early time ($z\gtrsim 1100$) physics and thus the early time normalization, or by a global modification, possibly touching the model's fundamental assumptions (e.g., homogeneity, isotropy, gravity). None of these three options has the consensus of the community. The research community has been actively looking for deviations from $Λ$CDM for two decades; the one we might have found makes us wish we could put the genie back in the bottle.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Cosmic Chronometers with Photometry: a new path to $H(z)$

We present a proof-of-principle determination of the Hubble parameter $H(z)$ from photometric data, obtaining a determination at an effective redshift of $z=0.75$ ($0.65<z<0.85$) of $H(0.75) =105.0\pm 7.9(stat)\pm 7.3(sys)$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, with 7.5\% statistical and 7\% systematic (10\% with statistical and systematics combined in quadrature) accuracy. This is obtained in a cosmology model-independent fashion, but assuming a linear age-redshift relation in the relevant redshift range, as such, it can be used to constrain arbitrary cosmologies as long as $H(z)$ can be considered slowly varying over redshift. In particular, we have applied a neural network, trained on a well-studied spectroscopic sample of 140 objects, to the {\tt COSMOS2015} survey to construct a set of 19 thousand near-passively evolving galaxies and build an age-redshift relation. The Hubble parameter is given by the derivative of the red envelope of the age-redshift relation. This is the first time the Hubble parameter is determined from photometry at $\lesssim 10$\% accuracy. Accurate $H(z)$ determinations could help shed light on the Hubble tension; this study shows that photometry, with a reduction of only a factor of two in the uncertainty, could provide a new perspective on the tension.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Quijote-PNG: Simulations of primordial non-Gaussianity and the information content of the matter field power spectrum and bispectrum

Primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG) is one of the most powerful probes of the early Universe and measurements of the large scale structure of the Universe have the potential to transform our understanding of this area. However relating measurements of the late time Universe to the primordial perturbations is challenging due to the non-linear processes that govern the evolution of the Universe. To help address this issue we release a large suite of N-body simulations containing four types of PNG: \textsc{quijote-png}. These simulations were designed to augment the \textsc{quijote} suite of simulations that explored the impact of various cosmological parameters on large scale structure observables. Using these simulations we investigate how much information on PNG can be extracted by extending power spectrum and bispectrum measurements beyond the perturbative regime at $z=0.0$. This is the first joint analysis of the PNG and cosmological information content accessible with power spectrum and bispectrum measurements of the non-linear scales. We find that the constraining power improves significantly up to $k_\mathrm{max}\approx 0.3 h/{\rm Mpc}$, with diminishing returns beyond as the statistical probes signal-to-noise ratios saturate. This saturation emphasizes the importance of accurately modelling all the contributions to the covariance matrix. Further we find that combining the two probes is a powerful method of breaking the degeneracies with the $Λ$CDM parameters.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Quijote-PNG: Quasi-maximum likelihood estimation of Primordial Non-Gaussianity in the non-linear halo density field

We study primordial non-Gaussian signatures in the redshift-space halo field on non-linear scales, using a quasi-maximum likelihood estimator based on optimally compressed power spectrum and modal bispectrum statistics. We train and validate the estimator on a suite of halo catalogues constructed from the Quijote-PNG N-body simulations, which we release to accompany this paper. We verify its unbiasedness and near optimality, for the three main types of primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG): local, equilateral, and orthogonal. We compare the modal bispectrum expansion with a $k$-binning approach, showing that the former allows for faster convergence of numerical derivatives in the computation of the score-function, thus leading to better final constraints. We find, in agreement with previous studies, that the local PNG signal in the halo-field is dominated by the scale-dependent bias signature on large scales and saturates at $k \sim 0.2~h\,\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$, whereas the small-scale bispectrum is the main source of information for equilateral and orthogonal PNG. Combining power spectrum and bispectrum on non-linear scales plays an important role in breaking degeneracies between cosmological and PNG parameters; such degeneracies remain however strong for equilateral PNG. We forecast that PNG parameters can be constrained with $Δf_\mathrm{NL}^\mathrm{local} = 45$, $Δf_\mathrm{NL}^\mathrm{equil} = 570$, $Δf_\mathrm{NL}^\mathrm{ortho} = 110$, on a cubic volume of $1 \left({ {\rm Gpc}/{ {\rm h}}} \right)^3$, at $z = 1$, considering scales up to $k_\mathrm{max} = 0.5~h\,\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

A tale of two (or more) $h$'s

We use the large-scale structure galaxy data (LSS) from the BOSS and eBOSS surveys, in combination with abundances information from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) to measure two values of the Hubble expansion rate, $H_0=100h\,[{\rm km}\, {\rm s}^{-1}\,{\rm Mpc}^{-1}]$, each of them based on very different physical processes. One is a (traditional) late-time-background measurement based on determining the BAO scale and using BBN abundances on baryons for calibrating its absolute size (BAO+BBN). This method anchors $H_0$ to the (standard) physics of the sound horizon scale at pre-recombination times. The other is a newer early-time based measurement associated with the broadband shape of the power spectrum. This second method anchors $H_0$ to the physics of the matter-radiation equality scale, which also needs BBN information for determining the suppression of baryons in the power spectrum shape (shape+BBN). Within the $Λ$CDM model, we find very good consistency among these two $H_0$'s: BAO+BBN (+growth) delivers $H_0=67.42_{-0.94}^{+0.88}$ $(67.37_{-0.95}^{+0.86})$ km s$^{-1}$Mpc$^{-1}$ , whereas the shape+BBN (+growth) delivers $H_0 = 70.1_{-2.1}^{+2.1}$ $(70.1_{-2.1}^{+1.9})$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, where "growth" stands for information from the late-time-perturbations captured by the growth of structure parameter. These are the tightest sound-horizon free $H_0$ constraints from LSS data to date. As a consequence to be viable, any $Λ$CDM extension proposed to address the so-called "Hubble tension" needs to modify consistently not only the sound horizon scale physics, but also the matter-radiation equality scale, in such a way that both late- and early-based $H_0$'s return results mutually consistent and consistent with the high $H_0$ value recovered by the standard cosmic distance ladder (distance-redshift relation) determinations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

GEO-FPT: a model of the galaxy bispectrum at mildly non-linear scales

We present GEO-FPT (Geometric Fitted Perturbation Theory), a new model for the galaxy bispectrum anisotropic signal in redshift space, with functional form rooted in perturbation theory. It also models the dependence of the bispectrum with the geometric properties of the triangles in Fourier space, and has a broader regime of validity than state-of-the-art theoretical models based on perturbation theory. We calibrate the free parameters of this model using high-resolution dark matter simulations and perform stringent tests to show that GEO-FPT describes the galaxy bispectrum accurately up to scales of $k\simeq0.12 h{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$ for different cosmological models, as well as for biased tracers of the dark matter field, considering a survey volume of $100$ (Gpc $h^{-1})^3$. In particular, a joint analysis of the power spectrum and bispectrum anisotropic signals, taking into account their full covariance matrix, reveals that the relevant physical quantities -- the BAO peak position (along and across the line-of-sight), and the growth of structure parameters times the amplitude of dark matter fluctuations, $fσ_8$-- are recovered in an unbiased way, with an accuracy better than $0.4\%$ and $2\%$ respectively (which is our $2σ$ statistical limit of the systematic error estimate). In addition, the bispectrum signal breaks the $fσ_8$ degeneracy without detectable bias: $f$ and $σ_8$ are recovered with better than $2.7\%$ and $3.8\%$ accuracy respectively (which is our $2σ$ statistical limit of the systematic error estimate). GEO-FPT boosts the applicability of the bispectrum signal of galaxy surveys beyond the current limitation of $k\lesssim 0.08\,h$ Mpc$^{-1}$ % and makes the bispectrum a key statistic to unlock the information content from the mildly non-linear regime in the on-going and forthcoming galaxy redshift surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

An Emulator for the Lyman-alpha Forest

We present methods for interpolating between the 1-D flux power spectrum of the Lyman-$α$ forest, as output by cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. Interpolation is necessary for cosmological parameter estimation due to the limited number of simulations possible. We construct an emulator for the Lyman-$α$ forest flux power spectrum from $21$ small simulations using Latin hypercube sampling and Gaussian process interpolation. We show that this emulator has a typical accuracy of 1.5% and a worst-case accuracy of 4%, which compares well to the current statistical error of 3 - 5% at $z < 3$ from BOSS DR9. We compare to the previous state of the art, quadratic polynomial interpolation. The Latin hypercube samples the entire volume of parameter space, while quadratic polynomial emulation samples only lower-dimensional subspaces. The Gaussian process provides an estimate of the emulation error and we show using test simulations that this estimate is reasonable. We construct a likelihood function and use it to show that the posterior constraints generated using the emulator are unbiased. We show that our Gaussian process emulator has lower emulation error than quadratic polynomial interpolation and thus produces tighter posterior confidence intervals, which will be essential for future Lyman-$α$ surveys such as DESI.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Quijote PNG: The information content of the halo power spectrum and bispectrum

We investigate how much can be learnt about four types of primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG) from small-scale measurements of the halo field. Using the QUIJOTE-PNG simulations, we quantify the information content accessible with measurements of the halo power spectrum monopole and quadrupole, the matter power spectrum, the halo-matter cross spectrum and the halo bispectrum monopole. This analysis is the first to include small, non-linear scales, up to $k_\mathrm{max}=0.5 \mathrm{h/Mpc}$, and to explore whether these scales can break degeneracies with cosmological and nuisance parameters making use of thousands of N-body simulations. We perform all the halo measurements in redshift space with a single sample comprised of all halos with mass $>3.2 \times 10^{13}~h^{-1}M_\odot$. For local PNG, measurements of the scale dependent bias effect from the power spectrum using sample variance cancellation provide significantly tighter constraints than measurements of the halo bispectrum. In this case measurements of the small scales add minimal additional constraining power. In contrast, the information on equilateral and orthogonal PNG is primarily accessible through the bispectrum. For these shapes, small scale measurements increase the constraining power of the halo bispectrum by up to $\times4$, though the addition of scales beyond $k\approx 0.3 \mathrm{h/Mpc}$ improves constraints largely through reducing degeneracies between PNG and the other parameters. These degeneracies are even more powerfully mitigated through combining power spectrum and bispectrum measurements. However even with combined measurements and small scale information, equilateral non-Gaussianity remains highly degenerate with $σ_8$ and our bias model.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Unveiling the Universe with Emerging Cosmological Probes

The detection of the accelerated expansion of the Universe has been one of the major breakthroughs in modern cosmology. Several cosmological probes (CMB, SNe Ia, BAO) have been studied in depth to better understand the nature of the mechanism driving this acceleration, and they are being currently pushed to their limits, obtaining remarkable constraints that allowed us to shape the standard cosmological model. In parallel to that, however, the percent precision achieved has recently revealed apparent tensions between measurements obtained from different methods. These are either indicating some unaccounted systematic effects, or are pointing toward new physics. Following the development of CMB, SNe, and BAO cosmology, it is critical to extend our selection of cosmological probes. Novel probes can be exploited to validate results, control or mitigate systematic effects, and, most importantly, to increase the accuracy and robustness of our results. This review is meant to provide a state-of-art benchmark of the latest advances in emerging beyond-standard cosmological probes. We present how several different methods can become a key resource for observational cosmology. In particular, we review cosmic chronometers, quasars, gamma-ray bursts, standard sirens, lensing time-delay with galaxies and clusters, cosmic voids, neutral hydrogen intensity mapping, surface brightness fluctuations, stellar ages of the oldest objects, secular redshift drift, and clustering of standard candles. The review describes the method, systematics, and results of each probe in a homogeneous way, giving the reader a clear picture of the available innovative methods that have been introduced in recent years and how to apply them. The review also discusses the potential synergies and complementarities between the various probes, exploring how they will contribute to the future of modern cosmology.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

The effect of outflows on CMB bounds from Primordial Black Hole accretion

Should Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) exist in nature, they would inevitably accrete baryonic matter in their vicinity. In turn, the consequent emission of high-energy radiation could affect the thermal history of the universe to an extent that can be probed with a number of cosmological observables such as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies. However, our understanding of the accretion and radiation emission processes in the context of PBHs is still in its infancy, and very large theoretical uncertainties affect the resulting constraints on the PBH abundance. Building on state-of-the-art literature, in this work we take a step towards the development of a more realistic picture of PBH accretion by accounting for the contribution of outflows. Specifically, we derive CMB-driven constraints on the PBH abundance for various accretion geometries, ionization models and mass distributions in absence and in presence of mechanical feedback and non-thermal emissions due to the outflows. As a result, we show that the presence of such outflows introduces an additional layer of uncertainty that needs to be taken into account when quoting cosmological constraints on the PBH abundance, with important consequences in particular in the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observational window.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Integrated trispectrum detection from BOSS DR12 NGC CMASS

We present the first detection of the integrated trispectrum ($\mathit{i}$-trispectrum) monopole and quadrupoles signal from BOSS CMASS NGC DR12. Extending the FKP estimators formalism to the Fourier transform of the four-point correlation function, we test shot-noise subtraction, Gaussianity of the i-trispectrum data-vector, significance of the detection and similarity between the signal from the data and from the galaxy mock catalogues used to numerically estimate the covariance matrix. Using scales corresponding to modes from minimum $k_\mathrm{min}=0.03\,h/\mathrm{Mpc}$ to maximum $k_\mathrm{min}=0.15\,h/\mathrm{Mpc}$, we find a detection in terms of distance from the null hypothesis of $(10.4,5.2,8.3,1.1,3.1)$ $σ$-intervals for the i-trispectrum monopole and quadrupoles respectively. This quantifies the presence of the physical signal of the four-points statistics on BOSS data. For completeness the same analysis is also performed for power spectrum and bispectrum, both monopoles and quadrupoles.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Model-agnostic interpretation of 10 billion years of cosmic evolution traced by BOSS and eBOSS data

We present the first model-agnostic analysis of the complete set of Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (BOSS) and -IV (eBOSS) catalogues of luminous red galaxy and quasar clustering in the redshift range $0.2\leq z \leq 2.2$ (10 billion years of cosmic evolution), which consistently includes the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), redshift space distortions (RSD) and the shape of the transfer function signatures, from pre- and post-reconstructed catalogues in Fourier space. This approach complements the standard analyses techniques which only focus on the BAO and RSD signatures, and the full-modeling approaches which assume a specific underlying cosmology model to perform the analysis. These model-independent results can then easily be interpreted in the context of the cosmological model of choice. In particular, when combined with $z>2.1$ Ly-$α$ BAO measurements, the clustering BAO, RSD and {\it Shape} parameters can be interpreted within a flat-$Λ$CDM model yielding $h=0.6816\pm0.0067$, $Ω_{\rm m}=0.3001\pm0.0057$ and $10^{9}\times A_s= 2.43\pm0.20$ (or $σ_8=0.858\pm0.036$) with a Big Bang Nucleosynthesis prior on the baryon density. Without any external dataset, the BOSS and eBOSS data alone imply $Ω_{\rm m}=0.2971\pm 0.0061$ and $10^{9}\times A_s=2.39^{+0.24}_{-0.43}$ (or $σ_8=0.857\pm0.040$). For models beyond $Λ$CDM, eBOSS data alone (in combination with Planck) constrain the sum of neutrino mass to be $Σm_ν< 0.40$ eV with a BBN prior ($Σm_ν<0.082$ eV) at 95\% CL, the curvature energy density to $Ω_\mathrm{k} = -0.022_{-0.038}^{+0.032}$ ($Ω_\mathrm{k} = 0.0015\pm 0.0016$) and the dark energy equation of state parameter to $w=-0.998_{-0.073}^{+0.085}$ ($w=-1.093_{-0.044}^{+0.048}$) at 68\% CL without a BBN prior.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Neutrino Masses and Mass Hierarchy: Evidence for the Normal Hierarchy

The latest cosmological constraints on the sum of neutrino masses, in combination with the latest laboratory measurements on oscillations, provide ``decisive" Bayesian evidence for the normal neutrino mass hierarchy. We show that this result holds across very different prior alternatives by exploring two extremes on the range of prior choices. In fact, while the specific numerical value for the Evidence depends on the choice of prior, the Bayesian odds remain greater than 140:1 across very different prior choices. For Majorana neutrinos this has important implications for the upper limit of the neutrino-less double beta decay half life and thus for the technology and resources needed for future double beta decay experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Quijote-PNG: Quasi-maximum likelihood estimation of Primordial Non-Gaussianity in the non-linear dark matter density field

Future Large Scale Structure surveys are expected to improve over current bounds on primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG), with a significant impact on our understanding of early Universe physics. The level of such improvements will however strongly depend on the extent to which late time non-linearities erase the PNG signal on small scales. In this work, we show how much primordial information remains in the bispectrum of the non-linear dark matter density field by implementing a new, simulation-based, methodology for joint estimation of PNG amplitudes ($f_{\rm NL}$) and standard $Λ$CDM parameters. The estimator is based on optimally compressed statistics, which, for a given input density field, combine power spectrum and modal bispectrum measurements, and numerically evaluate their covariance and their response to changes in cosmological parameters. We train and validate the estimator using a large suite of N-body simulations (QUIJOTE-PNG), including different types of PNG (local, equilateral, orthogonal). We explicitly test the estimator's unbiasedness, optimality and stability with respect to changes in the total number of input realizations. While the dark matter power spectrum itself contains negligible PNG information, as expected, including it as an ancillary statistic increases the PNG information content extracted from the bispectrum by a factor of order $2$. As a result, we prove the capability of our approach to optimally extract PNG information on non-linear scales beyond the perturbative regime, up to $k_{\rm max} = 0.5~h\,{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$, obtaining marginalized $1$-$σ$ bounds of $Δf_{\rm NL}^{\rm local} \sim 16$, $Δf_{\rm NL}^{\rm equil} \sim 77$ and $Δf_{\rm NL}^{\rm ortho} \sim 40$ on a cubic volume of $1~(\mathrm{Gpc}/h)^3$ at $z=1$. At the same time, we discuss the significant information on cosmological parameters contained on these scales.

astro-ph.CO↗