Using the Marked Power Spectrum to Detect the Signature of Neutrinos in Large-Scale Structure

Elena Massara, Francisco Villaescusa-Navarro, Shirley Ho, Neal Dalal, and David N. Spergel

Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 011301 – Published 6 January 2021

Abstract

Cosmological neutrinos have their greatest influence in voids: These are the regions with the highest neutrino to dark matter density ratios. The marked power spectrum can be used to emphasize low-density regions over high-density regions and, therefore, is potentially much more sensitive than the power spectrum to the effects of neutrino masses. Using 22 000 $N$ -body simulations from the Quijote suite, we quantify the information content in the marked power spectrum of the matter field and show that it outperforms the standard power spectrum by setting constraints improved by a factor larger than 2 on all cosmological parameters. The combination of marked and standard power spectra allows us to place a $4.3 σ$ constraint on the minimum sum of the neutrino masses with a volume equal to $1 (Gpc h^{- 1})^{3}$ and without cosmic microwave background priors. Combinations of different marked power spectra yield a $6 σ$ constraint within the same conditions.

Received 7 May 2020
Revised 6 October 2020
Accepted 24 November 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.011301

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Cosmological parameters Large scale structure of the Universe Particle astrophysics

Gravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Authors & Affiliations

Elena Massara ^1,2,*, Francisco Villaescusa-Navarro^3,2, Shirley Ho^2,3,4, Neal Dalal ⁵, and David N. Spergel^2,3

¹Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
²Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, 162 5th Avenue, New York, New York 10010, USA
³Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Peyton Hall, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
⁴Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA
⁵Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5, Canada