We analyse the large-scale angular correlation function (ACF) of the CMASS luminous galaxies (LGs), a photometric-redshift catalogue based on the Data Release 8 (DR8) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III. This catalogue contains over $600 , , 000$ LGs
in the range $0.45 leq z leq 0.65$, which was split into four redshift shells of constant width. First, we estimate the constraints on the redshift-space distortion (RSD) parameters $bsigma_8$ and $fsigma_8$, where $b$ is the galaxy bias, $f$ the growth rate and $sigma_8$ is the normalization of the perturbations, finding that they vary appreciably among different redshift shells, in agreement with previous results using DR7 data. When assuming constant RSD parameters over the survey redshift range, we obtain $fsigma_8 = 0.69 pm 0.21$, which agrees at the $1.5sigma$ level with Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey DR9 spectroscopic results. Next, we performed two cosmological analyses, where relevant parameters not fitted were kept fixed at their fiducial values. In the first analysis, we extracted the baryon acoustic oscillation peak position for the four redshift shells, and combined with the sound horizon scale from 7-year textit{Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe} $(WMAP7)$ to produce the constraints $Omega_{m}=0.249 pm 0.031$ and $w=-0.885 pm 0.145$. In the second analysis, we used the ACF full shape information to constrain cosmology using real data for the first time, finding $Omega_{m} = 0.280 pm 0.022$ and $f_b = Omega_b/Omega_m = 0.211 pm 0.026$. These results are in good agreement with $WMAP7$ findings, showing that the ACF can be efficiently applied to constrain cosmology in future photometric galaxy surveys.
We analyze the density field of 264,283 galaxies observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) and included in the SDSS data release nine (DR9). In total, the SDSS DR9 BOSS data includes spectrosco
pic redshifts for over 400,000 galaxies spread over a footprint of more than 3,000 deg^2. We measure the power spectrum of these galaxies with redshifts 0.43 < z < 0.7 in order to constrain the amount of local non-Gaussianity, f_NL,local, in the primordial density field, paying particular attention to the impact of systematic uncertainties. The BOSS galaxy density field is systematically affected by the local stellar density and this influences the ability to accurately measure f_NL,local. In the absence of any correction, we find (erroneously) that the probability that f_NL,local is greater than zero, P(f_NL,local >0), is 99.5%. After quantifying and correcting for the systematic bias and including the added uncertainty, we find -45 < f_NL,local < 195 at 95% confidence, and P(f_NL,local >0) = 91.0%. A more conservative approach assumes that we have only learned the k-dependence of the systematic bias and allows any amplitude for the systematic correction; we find that the systematic effect is not fully degenerate with that of f_NL,local, and we determine that -82 < f_NL,local < 178 (at 95% confidence) and P(f_NL,local >0) = 68%. This analysis demonstrates the importance of accounting for the impact of Galactic foregrounds on f_NL,local measurements. We outline the methods that account for these systematic biases and uncertainties. We expect our methods to yield robust constraints on f_NL,local for both our own and future large-scale-structure investigations.
