No Arabic abstract
This is the first paper of a series where we study the clustering of LRG galaxies in the latest spectroscopic SDSS data release, DR6, which has 75000 LRG galaxies covering over 1 $Gpc^3/h^3$ at $0.15<z<0.47$. Here we focus on modeling redshift space distortions in $xips$, the 2-point correlation in separate line-of-sight and perpendicular directions, on large scales. % and away from the line-of-sight. We use large mock simulations to study the validity of models and errors. We show that errors in the data are dominated by a shot-noise term that is 40% larger than the Poisson error commonly used. We first use the normalized quadrupole for the whole sample (mean z=0.34) to estimate $beta=f(Omega_m)/b=0.34 pm 0.03$, where $f(Omega_m)$ is the linear velocity growth factor and $b$ is the linear bias parameter that relates galaxy to matter fluctuations on large scales. We next use the full $xips$ plane to find $Omega_{0m}= 0.245 pm 0.020$ (h=0.72) and the biased amplitude $b sigma_8 = 1.56 pm 0.09$. For standard gravity, we can combine these measurements to break degeneracies and find $sigma_8=0.85 pm 0.06$, $b=1.85 pm 0.25$ and $f(Omega_m)=0.64 pm 0.09$. We present constraints for modified theories of gravity and find that standard gravity is consistent with data as long as $0.80<sigma_8<0.92$. We also calculate the cross-correlation with WMAP5 and show how both methods to measure the growth history are complementary to constrain non-standard models of gravity. Finally, we show results for different redshift slices, including a prominent BAO peak in the monopole at different redshifts. (Abridged)
This is the second paper of a series where we study the clustering of LRG galaxies in the latest spectroscopic SDSS data release, DR6, which has 75000 LRG galaxies covering over 1 $Gpc^3/h^3$ for $0.15<z<0.47$. Here we focus on modeling redshift space distortions in $xisp$, the 2-point correlation in separate line-of-sight and perpendicular directions, at small scales and in the line-of-sight. We show that a simple Kaiser model for the anisotropic 2-point correlation function in redshift space, convolved with a distribution of random peculiar velocities with an exponential form, can describe well the correlation of LRG at all scales. We show that to describe with accuracy the so called fingers-of-God (FOG) elongations in the radial direction, it is necessary to model the scale dependence of both bias $b$ and the pairwise rms peculiar velocity $sigma_{12}$ with the distance. We show how both quantities can be inferred from the $xisp$ data. From $r simeq 10$ Mpc/h to $r simeq 1$ Mpc/h, both the bias and $sigma_{12}$ are shown to increase by a factor of two: from $b=2$ to $b=4$ and from $sigma_{12}=400$ to 800 Km/s. The later is in good agreement, within a 5 percent accuracy in the recovered velocities, with direct velocity measurements in dark matter simulations with $Omega_m=0.25$ and $sigma_8$=0.85.
We present a clustering analysis of Luminous Red Galaxies in SDSS Stripe 82. We study the angular 2-point correlation function, of 130,000 LRG candidates via colour-cut selections in izK with the K band coverage coming from UKIDSS LAS. We have used the cross-correlation technique of Newman (2008) to establish the LRG redshift distribution. Cross-correlating with SDSS QSOs, MegaZ-LRGs and DEEP2 galaxies implies an average LRG redshift of z~1 with space density, n_g~3.2 +/-0.16 x10^-4 h^3 Mpc^-3. For theta<10, w(theta) significantly deviates from a single power-law. A double power-law with a break at r_b~2.4 h^-1 Mpc fits the data better, with best-fit scale length, r_0,1=7.63+/-0.27 h^-1Mpc and slope gamma_1=2.01 +/-0.02 at small scales and r_0,2=9.92 +/-0.40 h^-1 Mpc and gamma_2=1.64 +/-0.04 at large scales. Due to the flat slope at large scales, we find that a standard LambdaCDM linear model is accepted only at 2-3sigma, with the best-fit bias factor, b=2.74+/-0.07. We also fitted HOD models and estimate an effective halo mass of M_eff=3.3 +/-0.6x10^13 h^-1 M_sun. But at large scales, the current HOD models did not help explain the power excess in the clustering signal. We then compare the w(theta) results to those of Sawangwit et al. (2011) from 3 samples of LRGs at lower redshifts to measure clustering evolution. We find that a long-lived model may be a poorer fit than at lower redshifts, although this assumes that the Stripe 82 LRGs are luminosity-matched to the AAOmega LRGs. We find stronger evidence for evolution in the form of the z~1 LRG correlation function, with the above flat 2-halo slope maintaining to r>50 h^-1 Mpc. Applying the cross-correlation test of Ross et al. (2011), we find little evidence that the result is due to systematics. Otherwise it may provide evidence for primordial non-Gaussianity in the matter distribution, with f^local_NL=90+/-30.[Abridged]
We apply a new model for the spherically averaged correlation function at large pair separations to the measurement of the clustering of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) made from the SDSS by Cabre and Gaztanaga(2009). Our model takes into account the form of the BAO peak and the large scale shape of the correlation function. We perform a Monte Carlo Markov chain analysis for different combinations of datasets and for different parameter sets. When used in combination with a compilation of the latest CMB measurements, the LRG clustering and the latest supernovae results give constraints on cosmological parameters which are comparable and in remarkably good agreement, resolving the tension reported in some studies. The best fitting model in the context of a flat, Lambda-CDM cosmology is specified by Omega_m=0.261+-0.013, Omega_b=0.044+-0.001, n_s=0.96+-0.01, H_0=71.6+-1.2 km/s/Mpc and sigma_8=0.80+-0.02. If we allow the time-independent dark energy equation of state parameter to vary, we find results consistent with a cosmological constant at the 5% level using all data sets: w_DE=-0.97+-0.05. The large scale structure measurements by themselves can constrain the dark energy equation of state parameter to w_DE=-1.05+-0.15, independently of CMB or supernovae data. We do not find convincing evidence for an evolving equation of state. We provide a set of extended distance priors that contain the most relevant information from the CMB power spectrum and the shape of the LRG correlation function which can be used to constrain dark energy models and spatial curvature. Our model should provide an accurate description of the clustering even in much larger, forthcoming surveys, such as those planned with NASAs JDEM or ESAs Euclid mission.
We present the small-scale (0.01<r<8 h^{-1} Mpc) projected correlation function w_p(r_p) and real space correlation function xi(r) of 24520 luminous early-type galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) sample (0.16<z<0.36). ``Fiber collision incompleteness of the SDSS spectroscopic sample at scales smaller than 55 arcseconds prevents measurements of the correlation function for LRGs on scales smaller than ~0.3 Mpc by the usual methods. In this work, we cross-correlate the spectroscopic sample with the imaging sample, with a weighting scheme to account for the collisions, extensively tested against mock catalogs. We correct for photometric biases in the SDSS imaging of close galaxy pairs. We find that the correlation function xi(r) is surprisingly close to a r^{-2} power law over more than 4 orders of magnitude in separation r. This result is too steep at small scales to be explained in curre
Observations of galaxy clustering are made in redshift space, which results in distortions to the underlying isotropic distribution of galaxies. These redshift-space distortions (RSD) not only degrade important features of the matter density field, such as the baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) peaks, but also pose challenges for the theoretical modelling of observational probes. Here we introduce an iterative nonlinear reconstruction algorithm to remove RSD effects from galaxy clustering measurements, and assess its performance by using mock galaxy catalogues. The new method is found to be able to recover the real-space galaxy correlation function with an accuracy of $sim1%$, and restore the quadrupole accurately to $0$, on scales $sgtrsim20Mpch$. It also leads to an improvement in the reconstruction of the initial density field, which could help to accurately locate the BAO peaks. An `internal calibration scheme is proposed to determine the values of cosmological parameters as a part of the reconstruction process, and possibilities to break parameter degeneracies are discussed. RSD reconstruction can offer a potential way to simultaneously extract the cosmological parameters, initial density field, real-space galaxy positions and large-scale peculiar velocity field (of the real Universe), making it an alternative to standard perturbative approaches in galaxy clustering analysis, bypassing the need for RSD modelling.