One-Point Statistics Matter in Extended Cosmologies

The late universe contains a wealth of information about fundamental physics and gravity, wrapped up in non-Gaussian fields. To make use of as much information as possible, it is necessary to go beyond two-point statistics. Rather than going to higher-order <i>N</i>-point correlation fun...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alex Gough, Cora Uhlemann
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-01-01
Series:Universe
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/8/1/55
_version_ 1797489917339631616
author Alex Gough
Cora Uhlemann
author_facet Alex Gough
Cora Uhlemann
author_sort Alex Gough
collection DOAJ
description The late universe contains a wealth of information about fundamental physics and gravity, wrapped up in non-Gaussian fields. To make use of as much information as possible, it is necessary to go beyond two-point statistics. Rather than going to higher-order <i>N</i>-point correlation functions, we demonstrate that the probability distribution function (PDF) of spheres in the matter field (a one-point function) already contains a significant amount of this non-Gaussian information. The matter PDF dissects different density environments which are lumped together in two-point statistics, making it particularly useful for probing modifications of gravity or expansion history. Our approach in Cataneo et al. 2021 extends the success of Large Deviation Theory for predicting the matter PDF in <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="sans-serif">Λ</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>CDM in these “extended” cosmologies. A Fisher forecast demonstrates the information content in the matter PDF via constraints for a <i>Euclid</i>-like survey volume combining the 3D matter PDF with the 3D matter power spectrum. Adding the matter PDF halves the uncertainties on parameters in an evolving dark energy model, relative to the power spectrum alone. Additionally, the matter PDF contains enough non-linear information to substantially increase the detection significance of departures from General Relativity, with improvements up to six times the power spectrum alone. This analysis demonstrates that the matter PDF is a promising non-Gaussian statistic for extracting cosmological information, particularly for beyond <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="sans-serif">Λ</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>CDM models.
first_indexed 2024-03-10T00:23:29Z
format Article
id doaj.art-22ec6c5d237c43718766adb4d5bcacbb
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2218-1997
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-10T00:23:29Z
publishDate 2022-01-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Universe
spelling doaj.art-22ec6c5d237c43718766adb4d5bcacbb2023-11-23T15:37:41ZengMDPI AGUniverse2218-19972022-01-01815510.3390/universe8010055One-Point Statistics Matter in Extended CosmologiesAlex Gough0Cora Uhlemann1School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics, Newcastle University, Herschel Building, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UKSchool of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics, Newcastle University, Herschel Building, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UKThe late universe contains a wealth of information about fundamental physics and gravity, wrapped up in non-Gaussian fields. To make use of as much information as possible, it is necessary to go beyond two-point statistics. Rather than going to higher-order <i>N</i>-point correlation functions, we demonstrate that the probability distribution function (PDF) of spheres in the matter field (a one-point function) already contains a significant amount of this non-Gaussian information. The matter PDF dissects different density environments which are lumped together in two-point statistics, making it particularly useful for probing modifications of gravity or expansion history. Our approach in Cataneo et al. 2021 extends the success of Large Deviation Theory for predicting the matter PDF in <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="sans-serif">Λ</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>CDM in these “extended” cosmologies. A Fisher forecast demonstrates the information content in the matter PDF via constraints for a <i>Euclid</i>-like survey volume combining the 3D matter PDF with the 3D matter power spectrum. Adding the matter PDF halves the uncertainties on parameters in an evolving dark energy model, relative to the power spectrum alone. Additionally, the matter PDF contains enough non-linear information to substantially increase the detection significance of departures from General Relativity, with improvements up to six times the power spectrum alone. This analysis demonstrates that the matter PDF is a promising non-Gaussian statistic for extracting cosmological information, particularly for beyond <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="sans-serif">Λ</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>CDM models.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/8/1/55cosmologytheorylarge-scale structure of the Universeanalytical methods
spellingShingle Alex Gough
Cora Uhlemann
One-Point Statistics Matter in Extended Cosmologies
Universe
cosmology
theory
large-scale structure of the Universe
analytical methods
title One-Point Statistics Matter in Extended Cosmologies
title_full One-Point Statistics Matter in Extended Cosmologies
title_fullStr One-Point Statistics Matter in Extended Cosmologies
title_full_unstemmed One-Point Statistics Matter in Extended Cosmologies
title_short One-Point Statistics Matter in Extended Cosmologies
title_sort one point statistics matter in extended cosmologies
topic cosmology
theory
large-scale structure of the Universe
analytical methods
url https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/8/1/55
work_keys_str_mv AT alexgough onepointstatisticsmatterinextendedcosmologies
AT corauhlemann onepointstatisticsmatterinextendedcosmologies