Neutrino masses and cosmology with Lyman-alpha forest power spectrum
- CEA, Centre de Saclay, IRFU/SPP, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
- Department of Astronomy and Space Science, Sejong University, Seoul, 143-747 (Korea, Republic of)
- Institut de Théorie des Phénomènes Physiques, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne (Switzerland)
- INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via G. B. Tiepolo 11, 34131 Trieste (Italy)
- Department of Physics and Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States)
We present constraints on neutrino masses, the primordial fluctuation spectrum from inflation, and other parameters of the ΛCDM model, using the one-dimensional Lyα-forest power spectrum measured by [1] from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III), complemented by Planck 2015 cosmic microwave background (CMB) data and other cosmological probes. This paper improves on the previous analysis by [2] by using a more powerful set of calibrating hydrodynamical simulations that reduces uncertainties associated with resolution and box size, by adopting a more flexible set of nuisance parameters for describing the evolution of the intergalactic medium, by including additional freedom to account for systematic uncertainties, and by using Planck 2015 constraints in place of Planck 2013. Fitting Lyα data alone leads to cosmological parameters in excellent agreement with the values derived independently from CMB data, except for a weak tension on the scalar index n{sub s}. Combining BOSS Lyα with Planck CMB constrains the sum of neutrino masses to ∑ m{sub ν} < 0.12 eV (95% C.L.) including all identified systematic uncertainties, tighter than our previous limit (0.15 eV) and more robust. Adding Lyα data to CMB data reduces the uncertainties on the optical depth to reionization τ, through the correlation of τ with σ{sub 8}. Similarly, correlations between cosmological parameters help in constraining the tensor-to-scalar ratio of primordial fluctuations r. The tension on n{sub s} can be accommodated by allowing for a running dn{sub s}/d ln k. Allowing running as a free parameter in the fits does not change the limit on ∑ m{sub ν}. We discuss possible interpretations of these results in the context of slow-roll inflation.
- OSTI ID:
- 22525197
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2015, Issue 11; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Constraints on neutrino masses from Lyman-alpha forest power spectrum with BOSS and XQ-100
Revised cosmological parameters after BICEP 2 and BOSS