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ABSTRACT We present measurements of galaxy clustering from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III). These use the Data Release 9 (DR9) CMASS sample, which contains 264 283 massive galaxies covering 3275 square degrees with an effective redshift z = 0.57 and redshift range 0.43 < z < 0.7. Assuming a concordance ΛCDM cosmological model, this sample covers an effective volume of 2.2 Gpc3, and represents the largest sample of the Universe ever surveyed at this density [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We analyse the anisotropic clustering of massive galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release 9 (DR9) sample, which consists of 264 283 galaxies in the redshift range 0.43 < z < 0.7 spanning 3275 deg2. Both peculiar velocities and errors in the assumed redshift-distance relation ('Alcock-Paczynski effect') generate correlations between clustering amplitude and orientation with respect to the line of sight. Together with the sharp baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) standard ruler, our measurements of the broad-band shape of the monopole and quadrupole correlation functions simultaneously constrain the comoving angular diameter distance (2190 ± 61 Mpc) to z = 0.57, the Hubble expansion rate at z = 0.57 (92.4 ± 4.5 km s−1 Mpc−1) and the growth rate of structure at that same redshift (dσ8/d ln a = 0.43 ± 0.069). Our analysis provides the best current direct determination of both DA and H in galaxy clustering data using this technique. If we further assume a Λcold dark matter expansion history, our growth constraint tightens to dσ8/d ln a = 0.415 ± 0.034. In combination with the cosmic microwave background, our measurements of DA, H and dσ8/d ln a all separately require dark energy at z > 0.57, and when combined imply ΩΛ = 0.74 ± 0.016, independent of the Universe's evolution at z < 0.57. All of these constraints assume scale-independent linear growth, and assume general relativity to compute both [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the power spectrum of the reconstructed halo density field derived from a sample of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Seventh Data Release (DR7). The halo power spectrum has a direct connection to the underlying dark matter power for , well into the quasi-linear regime. This enables us to use a factor of ∼8 more modes in the cosmological analysis than an analysis with , as was adopted in the SDSS team analysis of the DR4 LRG sample. The observed halo power spectrum for is well fitted by our model: for 40 degrees of freedom for the best-fitting Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model. We find for a power-law primordial power spectrum with spectral index ns and fixed, consistent with cosmic microwave background measurements. The halo power spectrum also constrains the ratio of the comoving sound horizon at the baryon-drag epoch to an effective distance to . Combining the halo power spectrum measurement with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe ( WMAP) 5 year results, for the flat ΛCDM model we find and . Allowing for massive neutrinos in ΛCDM, we find eV at the 95 per cent confidence level. If we instead consider the effective number of relativistic species Neff as a free parameter, we find . Combining also with the Kowalski et al. supernova sample, we find and for an open cosmology with constant dark energy equation of state w. The power spectrum and a module to calculate the likelihoods are publicly available at . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spectroscopic Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 (DR7) galaxy sample represents the final set of galaxies observed using the original SDSS target selection criteria. We analyse the clustering of galaxies within this sample, including both the luminous red galaxy and main samples, and also include the 2-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey data. In total, this sample comprises 893 319 galaxies over 9100 deg2. Baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) are observed in power spectra measured for different slices in redshift; this allows us to constrain the distance–redshift relation at multiple epochs. We achieve a distance measure at redshift , of (2.7 per cent accuracy), where is the comoving sound horizon at the baryon-drag epoch, is the angular diameter distance and is the Hubble parameter. We find an almost independent constraint on the ratio of distances , which is consistent at the 1.1σ level with the best-fitting Λ cold dark matter model obtained when combining our distance constraint with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 5-year ( WMAP5) data. The offset is similar to that found in previous analyses of the SDSS DR5 sample, but the discrepancy is now of lower significance, a change caused by a revised error analysis and a change in the methodology adopted, as well as the addition of more data. Using WMAP5 constraints on and , and combining our BAO distance measurements with those from the Union supernova sample, places a tight constraint on and that is robust to allowing and . This result is independent of the behaviour of dark energy at redshifts greater than those probed by the BAO and supernova measurements. Combining these data sets with the full WMAP5 likelihood constraints provides tight constraints on both and for a constant dark energy equation of state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the 3D real-space clustering power spectrum of a sample of ∼600 000 luminous red galaxies measured by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, using photometric redshifts. These galaxies are old, elliptical systems with strong 4000-Å breaks, and have accurate photometric redshifts with an average error of Δ z= 0.03. This sample of galaxies ranges from redshift z= 0.2 to 0.6 over 3528 deg2 of the sky, probing a volume of 1.5 h−3 Gpc3, making it the largest volume ever used for galaxy clustering measurements. We measure the angular clustering power spectrum in eight redshift slices and use well-calibrated redshift distributions to combine these into a high-precision 3D real-space power spectrum from k= 0.005 to k= 1 h Mpc−1. We detect power on gigaparsec scales, beyond the turnover in the matter power spectrum, at a ∼2σ significance for k < 0.01 h Mpc−1, increasing to 5.5σ for k < 0.02 h Mpc−1. This detection of power is on scales significantly larger than those accessible to current spectroscopic redshift surveys. We also find evidence for baryonic oscillations, both in the power spectrum, as well as in fits to the baryon density, at a 2.5 σ confidence level. The large volume and resulting small statistical errors on the power spectrum allow us to constrain both the amplitude and the scale dependence of the galaxy bias in cosmological fits. The statistical power of these data to constrain cosmology is ∼1.7 times better than previous clustering analyses. Varying the matter density and baryon fraction, we find ΩM= 0.30 ± 0.03, and Ωb/ΩM= 0.18 ± 0.04, for a fixed Hubble constant of 70 km s−1 Mpc−1 and a scale-invariant spectrum of initial perturbations. The detection of baryonic oscillations also allows us to measure the comoving distance to z= 0.5; we find a best-fitting distance of 1.73 ± 0.12 Gpc, corresponding to a 6.5 per cent error on the distance. These results demonstrate the ability to make precise clustering measurements with photometric surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have used the Two-Degree Field (2dF) instrument on the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) to obtain redshifts of a sample of and quasars selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging. These data are part of a larger joint programme between the SDSS and 2dF communities to obtain spectra of faint quasars and luminous red galaxies, namely the 2dF–SDSS LRG and QSO (2SLAQ) Survey. We describe the quasar selection algorithm and present the resulting number counts and luminosity function of 5645 quasars in 105.7 deg2. The bright-end number counts and luminosity functions agree well with determinations from the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey (2QZ) data to. However, at the faint end, the 2SLAQ number counts and luminosity functions are steeper (i.e. require more faint quasars) than the final 2QZ results from Croom et al., but are consistent with the preliminary 2QZ results from Boyle et al. Using the functional form adopted for the 2QZ analysis (a double power law with pure luminosity evolution characterized by a second-order polynomial in redshift), we find a faint-end slope of if we allow all of the parameters to vary, and if we allow only the faint-end slope and normalization to vary (holding all other parameters equal to the final 2QZ values). Over the magnitude range covered by the 2SLAQ survey, our maximum-likelihood fit to the data yields 32 per cent more quasars than the final 2QZ parametrization, but is not inconsistent with other deep surveys for quasars. The 2SLAQ data exhibit no well-defined‘break’ in the number counts or luminosity function, but do clearly flatten with increasing magnitude. Finally, we find that the shape of the quasar luminosity function derived from 2SLAQ is in good agreement with that derived from Type I quasars found in hard X-ray surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]