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| Hauptverfasser: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2025
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| Online-Zugang: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.00284 |
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| _version_ | 1866913919977652224 |
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| author | de Belsunce, Roger Ivanov, Mikhail M. Sullivan, James M. Akitsu, Kazuyuki Chen, Shi-Fan |
| author_facet | de Belsunce, Roger Ivanov, Mikhail M. Sullivan, James M. Akitsu, Kazuyuki Chen, Shi-Fan |
| contents | The distribution of absorption lines in the spectra of distant quasars, called the Lyman-$α$ (Ly-$α$) forest, is a unique probe of cosmology and the intergalactic medium at high redshifts and small scales. The statistical power of ongoing redshift surveys demands precise theoretical tools to model the Ly-$α$ forest. We address this challenge by developing an analytic, perturbative forward model to predict the Ly-$α$ forest at the field level for a given set of cosmological initial conditions. Our model shows a remarkable performance when compared with the Sherwood hydrodynamic simulations: it reproduces the flux distribution, the Ly-$α$ - dark matter halo cross-correlations, and the count-in-cell statistics at the percent level down to scales of a few Mpc. Our work provides crucial tools that bridge analytic modeling on large scales with simulations on small-scales, enabling field-level inference from Ly-$α$ forest data and simulation-based priors for cosmological analyses. This is especially timely for realizing the full scientific potential of the Ly-$α$ forest measurements by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_00284 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Modeling the Cosmological Lyman-$α$ Forest at the Field Level de Belsunce, Roger Ivanov, Mikhail M. Sullivan, James M. Akitsu, Kazuyuki Chen, Shi-Fan Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics The distribution of absorption lines in the spectra of distant quasars, called the Lyman-$α$ (Ly-$α$) forest, is a unique probe of cosmology and the intergalactic medium at high redshifts and small scales. The statistical power of ongoing redshift surveys demands precise theoretical tools to model the Ly-$α$ forest. We address this challenge by developing an analytic, perturbative forward model to predict the Ly-$α$ forest at the field level for a given set of cosmological initial conditions. Our model shows a remarkable performance when compared with the Sherwood hydrodynamic simulations: it reproduces the flux distribution, the Ly-$α$ - dark matter halo cross-correlations, and the count-in-cell statistics at the percent level down to scales of a few Mpc. Our work provides crucial tools that bridge analytic modeling on large scales with simulations on small-scales, enabling field-level inference from Ly-$α$ forest data and simulation-based priors for cosmological analyses. This is especially timely for realizing the full scientific potential of the Ly-$α$ forest measurements by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. |
| title | Modeling the Cosmological Lyman-$α$ Forest at the Field Level |
| topic | Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.00284 |