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Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Theory and Modelling Systematics for the DESI 2024 results

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arxiv 2402.14070 v2 pith:RKQDY4Q6 submitted 2024-02-21 astro-ph.CO

Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Theory and Modelling Systematics for the DESI 2024 results

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keywords desimodellingtheoryresultserrormeasurementssystematicacoustic
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This paper provides a comprehensive overview of how fitting of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) is carried out within the upcoming Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument's (DESI) 2024 results using its DR1 dataset, and the associated systematic error budget from theory and modelling of the BAO. We derive new results showing how non-linearities in the clustering of galaxies can cause potential biases in measurements of the isotropic ($\alpha_{\mathrm{iso}}$) and anisotropic ($\alpha_{\mathrm{ap}}$) BAO distance scales, and how these can be effectively removed with an appropriate choice of reconstruction algorithm. We then demonstrate how theory leads to a clear choice for how to model the BAO and develop, implement and validate a new model for the remaining smooth-broadband (i.e., without BAO) component of the galaxy clustering. Finally, we explore the impact of all remaining modelling choices on the BAO constraints from DESI using a suite of high-precision simulations, arriving at a set of best-practices for DESI BAO fits, and an associated theory and modelling systematic error. Overall, our results demonstrate the remarkable robustness of the BAO to all our modelling choices and motivate a combined theory and modelling systematic error contribution to the post-reconstruction DESI BAO measurements of no more than $0.1\%$ ($0.2\%$) for its isotropic (anisotropic) distance measurements. We expect the theory and best-practices laid out to here to be applicable to other BAO experiments in the era of DESI and beyond.

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Cited by 14 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

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    astro-ph.CO 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 8.0

    First joint 2PCF+3PCF full-shape analysis on BOSS DR12 real data improves σ(h) by ~29%, σ(ω_cdm) by ~10%, and σ(A_s) by ~24% over 2PCF alone via extra BAO information in 3PCF triangles.

  2. DESI DR2 Results II: Measurements of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations and Cosmological Constraints

    astro-ph.CO 2025-03 accept novelty 7.0

    DESI DR2 BAO data exhibits 2.3 sigma tension with CMB in Lambda-CDM but prefers evolving dark energy (w0 > -1, wa < 0) at 3.1 sigma with CMB and 2.8-4.2 sigma when including supernovae.

  3. DESI 2024 VI: Cosmological Constraints from the Measurements of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations

    astro-ph.CO 2024-04 accept novelty 7.0

    First-year DESI BAO data are consistent with flat LambdaCDM and, when combined with CMB, show a 2.5-3.9 sigma preference for evolving dark energy (w0 > -1, wa < 0) that strengthens with certain supernova datasets.

  4. DESI 2024 III: Baryon Acoustic Oscillations from Galaxies and Quasars

    astro-ph.CO 2024-04 accept novelty 7.0

    DESI measures BAO scales in six redshift bins with 0.52% combined precision using 5.7 million objects, detecting the signal at up to 9.1 sigma and finding larger scales than Planck LCDM at z<0.8.

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    astro-ph.CO 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.0

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  6. Lyman-Alpha Forest and its Cross-Correlation with High-Redshift Galaxies in Effective Field Theory at the Field Level

    astro-ph.CO 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 6.0

    An EFT-based field-level forward model for the Lyman-alpha forest matches simulations at the percent level on quasi-linear scales and generates mocks for DESI and DESI-II analyses.

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    astro-ph.CO 2026-02 conditional novelty 6.0

    A flexible, template-free BAO model built on Zel'dovich smearing recovers the BAO ruler and growth rate without cosmological bias in mock DESI-like data.

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    astro-ph.CO 2026-02 conditional novelty 6.0

    A simple analytic formula built from the Gaussian disconnected covariance and a perturbative pre-post cross-power spectrum reproduces the simulation-estimated cross-covariance well enough for cosmological inference.

  9. Redshift-Dependent Intrinsic Dispersion in the Quasar UV/X-ray Luminosity Relation

    astro-ph.CO 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    Intrinsic dispersion in the quasar UV/X-ray luminosity relation decreases with redshift above z~1.6 and modeling it as redshift-dependent shifts Omega_m0 by ~0.025 in flat LambdaCDM.

  10. Reconstructing dark energy with fewer assumptions

    astro-ph.CO 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    Bin-wise uncorrelated reconstruction from DESI/SDSS BAO and Pantheon+/Union3.1/DES-Dovekie supernovae yields dark energy density peaking then declining and equation of state oscillating with phantom crossing near z~0....

  11. Combined tracer analysis for DESI 2024 BAO

    astro-ph.CO 2025-08 accept novelty 5.0

    Combining LRG and ELG tracers with bias weighting improves BAO constraints by 11% on alpha_iso and 7% on alpha_AP in DESI DR1 data for the 0.8<z<1.1 bin.

  12. Cosmological constraints from the DESI DR1 Bispectrum Full-Shape and DR2 BAO

    astro-ph.CO 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 4.0

    DESI DR1 bispectrum plus DR2 BAO data raise σ8 and S8 by ~1.1-1.2σ while tightening uncertainties, shift DESI-only w0waCDM toward ΛCDM, produce a 2.8σ deviation from ΛCDM when combined with CMB, and yield a neutrino m...

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    astro-ph.CO 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 4.0

    The Zel'dovich smearing approximation for model-agnostic BAO inference is extended to include fiducial cosmology distortions and validated on AbacusSummit simulations of DESI- and Euclid-like samples, producing unbias...

  14. DESI DR2 Results I: Baryon Acoustic Oscillations from the Lyman Alpha Forest

    astro-ph.CO 2025-03 accept novelty 4.0

    DESI DR2 delivers 0.65% precision BAO measurements from the LyA forest at z_eff=2.33, with D_H/r_d = 8.632 ± 0.098 ± 0.026 and D_M/r_d = 38.99 ± 0.52 ± 0.12.