Can we constrain structure growth from galaxy proper motions?

Galaxy peculiar velocities can be used to trace the growth of structure on cosmological scales. In the radial direction, peculiar velocities cause redshift space distortions, an established cosmological probe, and can be measured individually in the presence of an independent distance indicator. In...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Duncan, I, Alonso, D, Slosar, A, Storey-Fisher, K
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Maynooth Academic Publishing 2024
_version_ 1797112810277175296
author Duncan, I
Alonso, D
Slosar, A
Storey-Fisher, K
author_facet Duncan, I
Alonso, D
Slosar, A
Storey-Fisher, K
author_sort Duncan, I
collection OXFORD
description Galaxy peculiar velocities can be used to trace the growth of structure on cosmological scales. In the radial direction, peculiar velocities cause redshift space distortions, an established cosmological probe, and can be measured individually in the presence of an independent distance indicator. In the transverse direction, peculiar velocities cause proper motions. In this case, however, the proper motions are too small to detect on a galaxy-by-galaxy basis for any realistic experiment in the foreseeable future, but could be detected statistically in cross-correlation with other tracers of the density fluctuations. We forecast the sensitivity for a detection of transverse peculiar velocities through the cross-correlation of a proper motion survey, modelled after existing extragalactic samples measured by Gaia, and an overlaping galaxy survey. In particular, we consider a low-redshift galaxy sample, and a higher-redshift quasar sample. We find that, while the expected cosmological signal is below the expected statistical uncertainties from current data using cross-correlations, the sensitivity can improve fast with future experiments, and the threshold for detection may not be too far away in the future. Quantitatively, we find that the signal-to-noise ratio for detection is in the range , with most of the signal concentrated at low redshifts . If detected, this signal is sensitive to the product of the expansion and growth rates at late times, and thus would constitute an independent observable, sensitive to both background expansion and large-scale density fluctuations.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T08:30:06Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:65341b8e-2171-492c-b85a-c620f43749cb
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T08:30:06Z
publishDate 2024
publisher Maynooth Academic Publishing
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:65341b8e-2171-492c-b85a-c620f43749cb2024-03-06T16:06:25ZCan we constrain structure growth from galaxy proper motions?Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:65341b8e-2171-492c-b85a-c620f43749cbEnglishSymplectic ElementsMaynooth Academic Publishing2024Duncan, IAlonso, DSlosar, AStorey-Fisher, KGalaxy peculiar velocities can be used to trace the growth of structure on cosmological scales. In the radial direction, peculiar velocities cause redshift space distortions, an established cosmological probe, and can be measured individually in the presence of an independent distance indicator. In the transverse direction, peculiar velocities cause proper motions. In this case, however, the proper motions are too small to detect on a galaxy-by-galaxy basis for any realistic experiment in the foreseeable future, but could be detected statistically in cross-correlation with other tracers of the density fluctuations. We forecast the sensitivity for a detection of transverse peculiar velocities through the cross-correlation of a proper motion survey, modelled after existing extragalactic samples measured by Gaia, and an overlaping galaxy survey. In particular, we consider a low-redshift galaxy sample, and a higher-redshift quasar sample. We find that, while the expected cosmological signal is below the expected statistical uncertainties from current data using cross-correlations, the sensitivity can improve fast with future experiments, and the threshold for detection may not be too far away in the future. Quantitatively, we find that the signal-to-noise ratio for detection is in the range , with most of the signal concentrated at low redshifts . If detected, this signal is sensitive to the product of the expansion and growth rates at late times, and thus would constitute an independent observable, sensitive to both background expansion and large-scale density fluctuations.
spellingShingle Duncan, I
Alonso, D
Slosar, A
Storey-Fisher, K
Can we constrain structure growth from galaxy proper motions?
title Can we constrain structure growth from galaxy proper motions?
title_full Can we constrain structure growth from galaxy proper motions?
title_fullStr Can we constrain structure growth from galaxy proper motions?
title_full_unstemmed Can we constrain structure growth from galaxy proper motions?
title_short Can we constrain structure growth from galaxy proper motions?
title_sort can we constrain structure growth from galaxy proper motions
work_keys_str_mv AT duncani canweconstrainstructuregrowthfromgalaxypropermotions
AT alonsod canweconstrainstructuregrowthfromgalaxypropermotions
AT slosara canweconstrainstructuregrowthfromgalaxypropermotions
AT storeyfisherk canweconstrainstructuregrowthfromgalaxypropermotions