| Name: | Anjan Sarkar |
| Affiliation: | National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) - TIFR |
| Conference ID : | ASI2024_809 |
| Title : | Measuring neutrino mass with Lyman-α forest observations |
| Authors : | Anjan Kumar sarkar, Shiv K. Sethi |
| Authors Affiliation: | 1. Anjan Kumar Sarkar
Affiliation:NCRA TIFR, SP Pune University Campus, Ganeshkhind, Pune - 411007, India
2. Shiv K. Sethi
Affiliation: Raman Research Institute, Sir C V Raman Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka - 560080, India
|
| Mode of Presentation: | Poster |
| Abstract Category : | Galaxies and Cosmology |
| Abstract : | Neutrinos are light particles (masses ∼ 0.1 eV or less), constituting only a
fraction (∼ 2.8%) of the total energy budget of the universe. Although the
physical existence of the neutrino has been confirmed by particle physics experiments
long ago, the mass of the neutrinos remains uncertain till date;
Measurement of the neutrino mass
m ν < 0.1 eV is only possible at 2 − σconfidence interval. Neutrinos suppress the matter power spectrum at small scales (at larger k). Lyman-α forest is believed to be a potent and powerful
probe of the matter power at small scales (k > 5h Mpc −1 ). Observations
of the Lyman-α forest, therefore, can be used to measure the mass of the
neutrino at a high level of precision. Using a noise less estimator for the
2-point correlation function of the observed flux contrast δ F , Fisher matrix
technique has been used to do estimates of the SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio)
for measuring the neutrino mass. We find that it is possible to measure the
neutrino mass m ν = 0.1 eV at SNR ∼ 4 ( at ∼ 4 − σ confidence interval)
with Lyman-α observations carried out in 100 quasar sightlines, considering
priors on the cosmological parameters (available from PLANCK observations)
and that on the Lyman-α parameters (available from the combined
PLANCK and Lyman-α data). |
