Non-Gaussian Error in Galaxy Survey (Part 1)

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to accurately estimate non-Gaussian error bars in galaxy survey power spectra, accounting for complex survey selection functions and non-Gaussian covariance, improving over traditional Gaussian assumptions.

Contribution

The authors develop a fast, parameterized approach to incorporate non-Gaussian errors from simulations and survey selection effects into galaxy power spectrum analysis.

Findings

Observed Fourier modes are correlated at larger scales than predicted by Gaussian models.

Non-Gaussian fractional variance in the power spectrum is about three times larger than FKP estimates.

Deviations from Gaussian predictions increase significantly at smaller scales, up to an order of magnitude.

Abstract

We propose a method to estimate non-Gaussian error bars on the matter power spectrum from galaxy surveys in the presence of non-trivial survey selection functions. The estimators are often obtained from formalisms like FKP and PKL, which rely on the assumption that the underlying field is Gaussian. The Monte Carlo method is more accurate but involves the tedious process of running and cross-correlating a large number of N-body simulations, in which the survey volume is embedded. From 200 N-body simulations, we extract a non-linear covariance matrix as a function of two scales and of the angle between two Fourier modes. All the non-Gaussian features of that matrix are then simply parametrized in terms of a few fitting functions and Eigenvectors. We furthermore develop a fast and accurate strategy that combines our parameterization with a general galaxy survey selection function, and incor- porate non-Gaussian Poisson uncertainty. We describe how to incorporate these two distinct non-Gaussian contributions into a typical analysis pipeline, and apply our method with the se- lection function from the 2dFGRS. We find that the observed Fourier modes correlate at much larger scales than that predicted by both FKP formalism or by pure N-body simulation in a "top hat" selection function. In particular, the observed Fourier modes are already 50 per cent correlated at k\sim0.1hMpc^(-1), and the non-Gaussian fractional variance on the power spectrum ({\sigma} /P(k))^2 is about a factor of 3.0 larger than the FKP prescription. At k~0.4hMpc^(-1), the deviations are an order of magnitude.