On priors and scale cuts in EFT-based full-shape analyses

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Main Authors: Chudaykin, Anton, Ivanov, Mikhail M., Nishimichi, Takahiro
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Chudaykin, Anton
Ivanov, Mikhail M.
Nishimichi, Takahiro
author_facet Chudaykin, Anton
Ivanov, Mikhail M.
Nishimichi, Takahiro
contents Parameter estimation from galaxy survey data from the full-shape method depends on scale cuts and priors on EFT parameters. The effects of priors, including the so-called ''prior volume'' phenomenon have been originally studied in Ivanov et al. (2019) and subsequent works. In this note, we repeat and extend these tests and also apply them to other priors used in the literature. We point out that in addition to the ''prior volume'' effect there is a more dangerous effect that is largely overlooked: a systematic bias on cosmological parameters due to overoptimistic scale cuts. Unlike the ''prior volume'' effect, this is a genuine systematic bias due to two-loop corrections that does not vanish with better priors or with larger data volumes. Our study is based on the high fidelity BOSS-like PT Challenge simulation data which offer many advantages over analyses based on synthetic data generated with fitting pipelines. We show that some analysis choices associated with the PyBird code, especially the scale cuts, significantly bias parameter recovery, overestimating $σ_8$ by over $5\%$ (equivalent to $1σ$). The bias on measured EFT parameters is even more significant. In contrast, the analysis choices associated with the CLASS-PT code lead to much smaller ($\lesssim 1\%$) shifts in cosmological parameters based on their best-fit values.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_16358
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On priors and scale cuts in EFT-based full-shape analyses
Chudaykin, Anton
Ivanov, Mikhail M.
Nishimichi, Takahiro
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Parameter estimation from galaxy survey data from the full-shape method depends on scale cuts and priors on EFT parameters. The effects of priors, including the so-called ''prior volume'' phenomenon have been originally studied in Ivanov et al. (2019) and subsequent works. In this note, we repeat and extend these tests and also apply them to other priors used in the literature. We point out that in addition to the ''prior volume'' effect there is a more dangerous effect that is largely overlooked: a systematic bias on cosmological parameters due to overoptimistic scale cuts. Unlike the ''prior volume'' effect, this is a genuine systematic bias due to two-loop corrections that does not vanish with better priors or with larger data volumes. Our study is based on the high fidelity BOSS-like PT Challenge simulation data which offer many advantages over analyses based on synthetic data generated with fitting pipelines. We show that some analysis choices associated with the PyBird code, especially the scale cuts, significantly bias parameter recovery, overestimating $σ_8$ by over $5\%$ (equivalent to $1σ$). The bias on measured EFT parameters is even more significant. In contrast, the analysis choices associated with the CLASS-PT code lead to much smaller ($\lesssim 1\%$) shifts in cosmological parameters based on their best-fit values.
title On priors and scale cuts in EFT-based full-shape analyses
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.16358