A new upper limit on the total neutrino mass from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey


Abstract in English

We constrain f_nu = Omega_nu / Omega_m, the fractional contribution of neutrinos to the total mass density in the Universe, by comparing the power spectrum of fluctuations derived from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey with power spectra for models with four components: baryons, cold dark matter, massive neutrinos and a cosmological constant. Adding constraints from independent cosmological probes we find f_nu < 0.13 (at 95% confidence) for a prior of 0.1< Omega_m <0.5, and assuming the scalar spectral index n=1. This translates to an upper limit on the total neutrino mass and m_nu,tot < 1.8 eV for concordance values of Omega_m and the Hubble constant. Very similar results are obtained with a prior on Omega_m from Type Ia supernovae surveys, and with marginalization over n.

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