Radial Redshift Space Distortions

The radial component of the peculiar velocities of galaxies cause displacements in their positions in redshift space. We study the effect of the peculiar velocities on the linear redshift space two point correlation function. Our analysis takes into account the radial nature of the redshift space distortions and it highlights the limitations of the plane parallel approximation. We consider the problem of determining the value of \beta and the real space two point correlation function from the linear redshift space two point correlation function. The inversion method proposed here takes into account the radial nature of the redshift space distortions and can be applied to magnitude limited redshift surveys that have only partial sky coverage.Comment: 26 pages including 11 figures, to appear in Ap

Is Strangeness Still Strange at the LHC?

Strangeness production is calculated in a pQCD-based model (including nuclear effects) in the high transverse momentum sector, where pQCD is expected to work well. We investigate pion, kaon, proton and lambda production in pp and heavy-ion collisions. Parton energy loss in AA collisions is taken into account. We compare strange-to-non-strange meson and baryon ratios to data at RHIC, and make predictions for the LHC. We find that these ratios significantly deviate from unity not only at RHIC but also at the LHC, indicating the special role of strangeness at both energies.Comment: Contribution to SQM 2007, 6 pages 2 figure

An Inversion Method for Measuring Beta in Large Redshift Surveys

A precision method for determining the value of Beta= Omega_m^{0.6}/b, where b is the galaxy bias parameter, is presented. In contrast to other existing techniques that focus on estimating this quantity by measuring distortions in the redshift space galaxy-galaxy correlation function or power spectrum, this method removes the distortions by reconstructing the real space density field and determining the value of Beta that results in a symmetric signal. To remove the distortions, the method modifies the amplitudes of a Fourier plane-wave expansion of the survey data parameterized by Beta. This technique is not dependent on the small-angle/plane-parallel approximation and can make full use of large redshift survey data. It has been tested using simulations with four different cosmologies and returns the value of Beta to +/- 0.031, over a factor of two improvement over existing techniques.Comment: 16 pages including 6 figures Submitted to The Astrophysical Journa