The Lyman-alpha Forest Power Spectrum from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Details The Lyman-alpha Forest Power Spectrum from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey The Lyman-alpha Forest Power Spectrum from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

2004-05-03

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0405013v1

Astrophys.J.Suppl. 163 (2006) 80-109

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

92 pages, 45 of them figures, submitted to ApJ, data available at http://feynman.princeton.edu/~pmcdonal/LyaF/sdss.html

Scientific paper

10.1086/444361

We measure the power spectrum, P_F(k,z), of the transmitted flux in the Ly-alpha forest using 3035 high redshift quasar spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This sample is almost two orders of magnitude larger than any previously available data set, yielding statistical errors of ~0.6% and ~0.005 on, respectively, the overall amplitude and logarithmic slope of P_F(k,z). This unprecedented statistical power requires a correspondingly careful analysis of the data and of possible systematic contaminations in it. For this purpose we reanalyze the raw spectra to make use of information not preserved by the standard pipeline. We investigate the details of the noise in the data, resolution of the spectrograph, sky subtraction, quasar continuum, and metal absorption. We find that background sources such as metals contribute significantly to the total power and have to be subtracted properly. We also find clear evidence for SiIII correlations with the Ly-alpha forest and suggest a simple model to account for this contribution to the power. While it is likely that our newly developed analysis technique does not eliminate all systematic errors in the P_F(k,z) measurement below the level of the statistical errors, our tests indicate that any residual systematics in the analysis are unlikely to affect the inference of cosmological parameters from P_F(k,z). These results should provide an essential ingredient for all future attempts to constrain modeling of structure formation, cosmological parameters, and theories for the origin of primordial fluctuations.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

The Lyman-alpha Forest Power Spectrum from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The Lyman-alpha Forest Power Spectrum from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Lyman-alpha Forest Power Spectrum from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-234583