Clustering of Photometric Luminous Red Galaxies II: Cosmological Implications from the Baryon Acoustic Scale

A new determination of the sound horizon scale in angular coordinates is presented. It makes use of ~ 0.6 x 10^6 Luminous Red Galaxies, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey imaging data, with photometric redshifts. The analysis covers a redshift interval that goes from z=0.5 to z=0.6. We find evidence of the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) signal at the ~ 2.3 sigma confidence level, with a value of theta_{BAO} (z=0.55) = (3.90 \pm 0.38) degrees, including systematic errors. To our understanding, this is the first direct measurement of the angular BAO scale in the galaxy distribution, and it is in agreement with previous BAO measurements. We also show how radial determinations of the BAO scale can break the degeneracy in the measurement of cosmological parameters when they are combined with BAO angular measurements. The result is also in good agreement with the WMAP7 best-fit cosmology. We obtain a value of w_0 = -1.03 \pm 0.16 for the equation of state parameter of the dark energy, Omega_M = 0.26 \pm 0.04 for the matter density, when the other parameters are fixed. We have also tested the sensitivity of current BAO measurements to a time varying dark energy equation of state, finding w_a = 0.06 \pm 0.22 if we fix all the other parameters to the WMAP7 best-fit cosmology.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication to MNRA

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ ПРИСПОСОБИТЕЛЬНЫХ РЕАКЦИЙ УЧАЩИХСЯ В ЗАВИСИМОСТИ ОТ ТИПА ПСИХОВЕГЕТАТИВНОЙ РЕГУЛЯЦИИ

The purpose of the students (12 to 15 years old) examination was to identify the integrative criteria of assessing the nature of the functional relationships between the parameters of the psychosocial and physiological adaptation of students, depending on age, individual-typological peculiarities of vegetative regulation, personal potential at different stages of school education.The study of the characteristics of vegetative regulation of the cardiovascular system was made with a help of an automatic cardiac-rhythm programs. The research of psychophysiological parameters was fulfiled using an automatic complex. The measurement of the speed of simple visual-motor reaction (PSMR), reaction to a moving object (WFD), the level of functional mobility of nervous processes (WFP) and health brain (DDM) were made before. Features psychosocial adaptation was analyzed using 8-color Luscher test.All examinee were divided into three groups on the basis of the statistical characteristics of the cardiac rhythm by the tone source autonomic tone: “vagotonia” (with a predominance of parasympathetic sistems), “somatotonic” (with domination of the sympatholytic effects), “atonic” (balanced type of vegetative nervous system).Based on the analysis of psychodynamic, neurodynamic and vegetative functions showed that students with initial vagotonies tone are characterized by high levels of situational and personal anxiety, low psychosocial adaptation, decreased activity of neurodynamic functions and psychodynamic processes in the learning dynamics, whereas the individuals with dominance of sympatotonics type regulation have high level of neurodynamic processes, psychosocial adaptation, against the background of significant stress mechanisms of vegetative regulation.Students with initial vegetative tone demonstrate a sufficient level of psychosocial adaptation, activity psychodynamic and neuromotor processes, accompanied by the preservation of the functionality of the body according to the parameters myocardial-hemodynamic homeostasis.It is established that the formation process of psychosocial and physiological adaptation and disadaptation of students is largely determined by the type of vegetative (autonomic) tone, degree of stress, behaviour strategies in stressful situations.Целью проведенного среди учащихся в возрасте от 12 до 15 лет исследования явилось выявление интегративных критериев показателей, позволяющих оценить характер функциональных взаимосвязей между параметрами психосоциальной и физиологической адаптации учащихся в зависимости от возрастных, индивидуально-типологических особенностей вегетативной регуляции, личностного потенциала на различных этапах обучения школьников.Изучение особенностей вегетативной регуляции сердечно-сосудистой системы проводилось по показателям автоматизированной кардиоритмографической программы. Исследование психофизиологических показателей осуществлялось при помощи автоматизированного комплекса, также было произведено измерение скорости простой зрительно-моторной реакции, реакции на движущийся объект, уровня функциональной подвижности нервных процессов и работоспособности головного мозга. Особенности психосоциальной адаптации анализировались при помощи восьмицветового теста Люшера.Все обследуемые лица на основании статистических характеристик сердечного ритма были разделены на три группы по тону исходного вегетативного тонуса: «ваготоников» (с преобладанием парасимпатической готовности), «симпатотоников» (с доминированием симпатолитических воздействий), «эйтоников» (сбалансированный тип вегетативной нервной системы).На основании исследования психодинамических, нейродинамических и вегетативных функций показано, что учащиеся с исходным ваготоническим тонусом характеризуются высоким уровнем ситуативной и личностной тревожности, низкой психосоциальной адаптацией, снижением активности нейродинамических функций и психодинамических процессов в динамике обучения, тогда как у лиц с доминированием симпатотонического типа регуляции отмечается высокий уровень нейродинамических процессов, психосоциальной адаптации на фоне выраженного напряжения механизмов вегетативной регуляции эйтонических.Школьники с исходным вегетативным тонусом демонстрируют достаточный уровень психосоциальной адаптации, активности психодинамических и нейромоторных процессов, сопровождающихся сохранением функциональных возможностей организма, судя по параметрам миокардиально-гемодинамического гомеостаза

Detecting Baryon Acoustic Oscillations

Baryon Acoustic Oscillations are a feature imprinted in the galaxy distribution by acoustic waves traveling in the plasma of the early universe. Their detection at the expected scale in large-scale structures strongly supports current cosmological models with a nearly linear evolution from redshift approximately 1000, and the existence of dark energy. Besides, BAOs provide a standard ruler for studying cosmic expansion. In this paper we focus on methods for BAO detection using the correlation function measurement. For each method, we want to understand the tested hypothesis (the hypothesis H0 to be rejected) and the underlying assumptions. We first present wavelet methods which are mildly model-dependent and mostly sensitive to the BAO feature. Then we turn to fully model-dependent methods. We present the most often used method based on the chi^2 statistic, but we find it has limitations. In general the assumptions of the chi^2 method are not verified, and it only gives a rough estimate of the significance. The estimate can become very wrong when considering more realistic hypotheses, where the covariance matrix of the measurement depends on cosmological parameters. Instead we propose to use a new method based on two modifications: we modify the procedure for computing the significance and make it rigorous, and we modify the statistic to obtain better results in the case of varying covariance matrix. We verify with simulations that correct significances are different from the ones obtained using the classical chi^2 procedure. We also test a simple example of varying covariance matrix. In this case we find that our modified statistic outperforms the classical chi^2 statistic when both significances are correctly computed. Finally we find that taking into account variations of the covariance matrix can change both BAO detection levels and cosmological parameter constraints

Very large scale correlations in the galaxy distribution

We characterize galaxy correlations in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey by measuring several moments of galaxy counts in spheres. We firstly find that the average counts grows as a power-law function of the distance with an exponent D= 2.1+- 0.05 for r in [0.5,20] Mpc/h and D = 2.8+-0.05 for r in [30,150] Mpc/h. In order to estimate the systematic errors in these measurements we consider the counts variance finding that it shows systematic finite size effects which depend on the samples sizes. We clarify, by making specific tests, that these are due to galaxy long-range correlations extending up to the largest scales of the sample. The analysis of mock galaxy catalogs, generated from cosmological N-body simulations of the standard LCDM model, shows that for r<20 Mpc/h the counts exponent is D~2.0, weakly dependent on galaxy luminosity, while D=3 at larger scales. In addition, contrary to the case of the observed galaxy samples, no systematic finite size effects in the counts variance are found at large scales, a result that agrees with the absence of large scale, r~100 Mpc/h, correlations in the mock catalogs. We thus conclude that the observed galaxy distribution is characterized by correlations, fluctuations and hence structures, which are larger, both in amplitude and in spatial extension, than those predicted by the standard model LCDM of galaxy formation.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures to be published in Europhysics Letter

A first application of the Alcock-Paczynski test to stacked cosmic voids

We report on the first application of the Alcock-Paczynski test to stacked voids in spectroscopic galaxy redshift surveys.We use voids from the Sutter et al. (2012) void catalog, which was derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 main sample and luminous red galaxy catalogs. The construction of that void catalog removes potential shape measurement bias by using a modified version of the ZOBOV algorithm and by removing voids near survey boundaries and masks. We apply the shape-fitting procedure presented in Lavaux & Wandelt (2012) to ten void stacks out to redshift z=0.36. Combining these measurements, we determine the mean cosmologically induced "stretch" of voids in three redshift bins, with 1-sigma errors of 5-15%. The mean stretch is consistent with unity, providing no indication of a distortion induced by peculiar velocities. While the statistical errors are too large to detect the Alcock-Paczynski effect over our limited redshift range, this proof-of-concept analysis defines procedures that can be applied to larger spectroscopic galaxy surveys at higher redshifts to constrain dark energy using the expected statistical isotropy of structures that are minimally affected by uncertainties in galaxy velocity bias.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, minor revisions from referee comments, ApJ accepte

Clustering of photometric luminous red galaxies I : Growth of Structure and Baryon Acoustic Feature

The possibility of measuring redshift space (RSD) distortions using photometric data have been recently highlighted. This effect complements and significantly alters the detectability of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in photometric surveys. In this paper we present measurements of the angular correlation function of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) in the photometric catalog of the final data release (DR7) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II (SDSS). The sample compromise ~ 1.5 x 10^6 LRGs distributed in 0.45 < z < 0.65, with a characteristic photometric error of ~ 0.05. Our measured correlation centered at z=0.55 is in very good agreement with predictions from standard LCDM in a broad range of angular scales, $0.5^\circ < \theta < 6^\circ$. We find that the growth of structure can indeed be robustly measured, with errors matching expectations. The velocity growth rate is recovered as $f \sigma_8 = 0.53 \pm 0.42$ when no prior is imposed on the growth factor and the background geometry follows a LCDM model with WMAP7+SNIa priors. This is compatible with the corresponding General Relativity (GR) prediction $f \sigma_8 = 0.45$ for our fiducial cosmology. If we adopt a parametrization such that $f=\Omega ^\gamma_m(z)$, with $\gamma \approx 0.55$ in GR, and combine our $f\sigma_8$ measurement with the corresponding ones from spectroscopic LRGs at lower redshifts we obtain $\gamma=0.54 \pm 0.17$. In addition we find evidence for the presence of the baryon acoustic feature matching the amplitude, location and shape of LCDM predictions. The photometric BAO feature is detected with 98 % confidence level at z=0.55.Comment: 16 pages, 19 figures, minor changes to text to match accepted version by MNRA

The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: improved distance measurements to z = 1 with reconstruction of the baryonic acoustic feature

We present significant improvements in cosmic distance measurements from the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey, achieved by applying the reconstruction of the baryonic acoustic feature technique. We show using both data and simulations that the reconstruction technique can often be effective despite patchiness of the survey, significant edge effects and shot-noise. We investigate three redshift bins in the redshift range 0.2 &lt; z &lt; 1, and in all three find improvement after reconstruction in the detection of the baryonic acoustic feature and its usage as a standard ruler. We measure model-independent distance measures DV(rfid s/rs) of 1716 ± 83, 2221 ± 101, 2516 ± 86 Mpc (68 per cent CL) at effective redshifts z = 0.44, 0.6, 0.73, respectively, where DV is the volume-averaged distance, and rs is the sound horizon at the end of the baryon drag epoch. These significantly improved 4.8, 4.5 and 3.4 per cent accuracy measurements are equivalent to those expected from surveys with up to 2.5 times the volume of WiggleZ without reconstruction applied. These measurements are fully consistent with cosmologies allowed by the analyses of the Planck Collaboration and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We provide the DV(rfid s/rs) posterior probability distributions and their covariances. When combining these measurements with temperature fluctuations measurements of Planck, the polarization of Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 9, and the 6dF Galaxy Survey baryonic acoustic feature, we do not detect deviations from a flat Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model. Assuming this model, we constrain the current expansion rate to H0 = 67.15 ± 0.98 km s-1Mpc-1. Allowing the equation of state of dark energy to vary, we obtain wDE =-1.080 ± 0.135. When assuming a curved ΛCDM model we obtain a curvature value of ΩK =-0.0043 ± 0.0047

Legislative History: An Act to Amend the Date to Determine Age for Kindergarten Eligibility (HP284)(LD 367)

https://digitalmaine.com/legishist113/1366/thumbnail.jp

A Strategy to Measure the Dark Energy Equation of State using the HII galaxy Hubble Relation & X-ray AGN Clustering: Preliminary Results

We explore the possibility of setting stringent constraints to the Dark Energy equation of state using alternative cosmic tracers like: (a) the Hubble relation using HII galaxies, which can be observed at much higher redshifts (z~3.5) than those currently traced by SNIa samples, and (b) the large-scale structure using the clustering of X-ray selected AGN,which have a redshift distribution peaking at z~1. We use extensive Monte-Carlo simulations to define the optimal strategy for the recovery of the dark-energy equation of state using the high redshift (z~2) Hubble relation, but accounting also for the effects of gravitational lensing, which for such high redshifts can significantly affect the derived cosmological constraints. Based on a "Figure of Merit" analysis, we provide estimates for the number of 2<z<3.5 tracers needed to reduce the cosmological solution space, presently provided by the Constitution SNIa set, by a desired factor. We find that it is much more efficient to increase the number of tracers than to reduce their individual uncertainties. Finally, we propose a framework to put constraints on the dark energy equation of state by using the joint likelihood of the X-ray AGN clustering and of the Hubble relation cosmological analyses. A preliminary joint analysis using the X-ray AGN clustering of the 2XMM survey and the Hubble relation of the Constitution SNIa set provide: Omega_m= 0.31+-0.01 and w=-1.06+-0.05. We also find that the joint SNIa-2XMM analysis provides significantly more stringent cosmological constraints, increasing the Figure of Merit by a factor ~2, with respect to that of the joint SNIa-BAO analysis.Comment: MNRAS in press, 12 colour figure

The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: measuring the cosmic expansion history using the Alcock-Paczynski test and distant supernovae

Astronomical observations suggest that today's Universe is dominated by a dark energy of unknown physical origin. One of the most notable consequences in many models is that dark energy should cause the expansion of the Universe to accelerate: but the expansion rate as a function of time has proven very difficult to measure directly. We present a new determination of the cosmic expansion history by combining distant supernovae observations with a geometrical analysis of large-scale galaxy clustering within the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey, using the Alcock-Paczynski test to measure the distortion of standard spheres. Our result constitutes a robust and non-parametric measurement of the Hubble expansion rate as a function of time, which we measure with 10-15% precision in four bins within the redshift range 0.1 < z < 0.9. We demonstrate that the cosmic expansion is accelerating, in a manner independent of the parameterization of the cosmological model (although assuming cosmic homogeneity in our data analysis). Furthermore, we find that this expansion history is consistent with a cosmological-constant dark energy.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA