We measure the effective optical depth in the Ly forest using 40,035 quasar spectra from the Twelfth Data Release (DR12) of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey of Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV. ...A rigorous selection based on spectral index and the equivalent width of the C iv emission line is applied to choose seven uniform samples with minimal intrinsic variations across redshifts. Modeling the redshift evolution of the effective optical depth with a power law, produces and . The 2.2% precision estimate on γ is dominated by systematic errors, likely arising from the bias and uncertainties in spectral index estimates. Even after incorporating the systematic errors, this work provides the most precise estimates of optical depth parameters to date. Finally, using the reconstructed Ly forest continuum to directly measure the transmitted flux ratio as a function of redshift, we find deviations of less than 2.5% from the predictions from the global model and no convincing evidence for signal associated with He ii reionization.
Future Baryon Acoustic Oscillation surveys aim at observing galaxy clustering over a wide range of redshift and galaxy populations at great precision, reaching tenths of a percent, in order to detect ...any deviation of dark energy from the lambda cold dark matter ( ΛCDM ) model. We utilize a set of paired quasi-N-body FastPM simulations that were designed to mitigate the sample variance effect on the BAO feature and evaluated the BAO systematics as precisely as ~0.01 percent. We report anisotropic BAO scale shifts before and after density field reconstruction in the presence of redshift-space distortions over a wide range of redshift, galaxy/halo biases, and shot noise levels. We test different reconstruction schemes and different smoothing filter scales, and introduce physically motivated BAO fitting models. For the first time, we derive a Galilean-invariant infrared resummed model for halos in real and redshift space. We test these models from the perspective of robust BAO measurements and non-BAO information such as growth rate and non-linear bias. We find that pre-reconstruction BAO scale has moderate fitting-model dependence at the level of 0.1–0.2 percent for matter while the dependence is substantially reduced to less than 0.07 percent for halos. We find that post-reconstruction BAO shifts are generally reduced to below 0.1 percent in the presence of galaxy/halo bias and show much smaller fitting model dependence. Different reconstruction conventions can potentially make a much larger difference on the line-of-sight BAO scale, upto 0.3 percent. Furthermore, the precision (error) of the BAO measurements is quite consistent regardless of the choice of the fitting model or reconstruction convention.
Previously we used the Nearby Supernova Factory sample to show that SNe~Ia having locally star-forming environments are dimmer than SNe~Ia having locally passive environments.Here we use the ...\constitution\ sample together with host galaxy data from \GALEX\ to independently confirm that result. The effect is seen using both the SALT2 and MLCS2k2 lightcurve fitting and standardization methods, with brightness differences of $0.094 \pm 0.037\ \mathrm{mag}$ for SALT2 and $0.155 \pm 0.041\ \mathrm{mag}$ for MLCS2k2 with $R_V=2.5$. When combined with our previous measurement the effect is $0.094 \pm 0.025\ \mathrm{mag}$ for SALT2. If the ratio of these local SN~Ia environments changes with redshift or sample selection, this can lead to a bias in cosmological measurements. We explore this issue further, using as an example the direct measurement of $H_0$. \GALEX{} observations show that the SNe~Ia having standardized absolute magnitudes calibrated via the Cepheid period--luminosity relation using {\textit{HST}} originate in predominately star-forming environments, whereas only ~50% of the Hubble-flow comparison sample have locally star-forming environments. As a consequence, the $H_0$ measurement using SNe~Ia is currently overestimated. Correcting for this bias, we find a value of $H_0^{corr}=70.6\pm 2.6\ \mathrm{km\ s^{-1}\ Mpc^{-1}}$ when using the LMC distance, Milky Way parallaxes and the NGC~4258 megamaser as the Cepheid zeropoint, and $68.8\pm 3.3\ \mathrm{km\ s^{-1}\ Mpc^{-1}}$ when only using NGC~4258. Our correction brings the direct measurement of $H_0$ within $\sim 1\,\sigma$ of recent indirect measurements based on the CMB power spectrum.
We describe the design and data analysis of the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey, the densest and largest high-precision redshift survey of galaxies at z approx. 1 completed to date. The survey was ...designed to conduct a comprehensive census of massive galaxies, their properties, environments, and large-scale structure down to absolute magnitude MB = −20 at z approx. 1 via approx.90 nights of observation on the Keck telescope. The survey covers an area of 2.8 Sq. deg divided into four separate fields observed to a limiting apparent magnitude of R(sub AB) = 24.1. Objects with z approx. < 0.7 are readily identifiable using BRI photometry and rejected in three of the four DEEP2 fields, allowing galaxies with z > 0.7 to be targeted approx. 2.5 times more efficiently than in a purely magnitude-limited sample. Approximately 60% of eligible targets are chosen for spectroscopy, yielding nearly 53,000 spectra and more than 38,000 reliable redshift measurements. Most of the targets that fail to yield secure redshifts are blue objects that lie beyond z approx. 1.45, where the O ii 3727 Ang. doublet lies in the infrared. The DEIMOS 1200 line mm(exp −1) grating used for the survey delivers high spectral resolution (R approx. 6000), accurate and secure redshifts, and unique internal kinematic information. Extensive ancillary data are available in the DEEP2 fields, particularly in the Extended Groth Strip, which has evolved into one of the richest multiwavelength regions on the sky. This paper is intended as a handbook for users of the DEEP2 Data Release 4, which includes all DEEP2 spectra and redshifts, as well as for the DEEP2 DEIMOS data reduction pipelines. Extensive details are provided on object selection, mask design, biases in target selection and redshift measurements, the spec2d two-dimensional data-reduction pipeline, the spec1d automated redshift pipeline, and the zspec visual redshift verification process, along with examples of instrumental signatures or other artifacts that in some cases remain after data reduction. Redshift errors and catastrophic failure rates are assessed through more than 2000 objects with duplicate observations. Sky subtraction is essentially photon-limited even under bright OH sky lines; we describe the strategies that permitted this, based on high image stability, accurate wavelength solutions, and powerful B-spline modeling methods. We also investigate the impact of targets that appear to be single objects in ground-based targeting imaging but prove to be composite in Hubble Space Telescope data; they constitute several percent of targets at z approx. 1, approaching approx. 5%-10% at z > 1.5. Summary data are given that demonstrate the superiority of DEEP2 over other deep high-precision redshift surveys at z approx. 1 in terms of redshift accuracy, sample number density, and amount of spectral information. We also provide an overview of the scientific highlights of the DEEP2 survey thus far.
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