Going beyond the power spectrum: an analysis of BOSS galaxy data with wavelet scattering transforms

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Speaker :  
Dr. George Valogiannis (The University of Chicago, USA)
Location :  
2nd Floor Seminar Room & Online
Date :  

Time : 

Video
Abstract :

Optimal extraction of the non-Gaussian information encoded in the Large-Scale Structure (LSS) of the universe lies at the forefront of modern precision cosmology. In this talk, I will discuss recent efforts to achieve this task using the Wavelet Scattering Transform (WST), which subjects an input field to a layer of non-linear transformations that are sensitive to non-Gaussianity through a generated set of WST coefficients. In order to assess its applicability in the context of LSS surveys, I will present the first WST application to actual galaxy observations, through a WST re-analysis of the BOSS DR12 CMASS dataset. After laying out the procedure on how to capture all necessary layers of realism for an application to data obtained from a spectroscopic survey, I will show results for the marginalized posterior probability distributions of multiple cosmological parameters obtained from a likelihood analysis of the CMASS data. A joint WST+ 2-point correlation function (2pcf) analysis is found to deliver a substantial improvement in the values of the predicted 1σ errors compared to the regular 2pcf-only analysis, highlighting the exciting prospect of employing higher-order statistics in order to fully exploit the potential of upcoming Stage-IV spectroscopic observations from DESI and Euclid.