Reconstructing the largest scales of the Universe with field-level inference applied to the Quaia Quasar Catalogue
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866908806085083136 |
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| author | Andrews, Adam Loureiro, Arthur Jasche, Jens McAlpine, Stuart Lavaux, Guilhem Leclercq, Florent |
| author_facet | Andrews, Adam Loureiro, Arthur Jasche, Jens McAlpine, Stuart Lavaux, Guilhem Leclercq, Florent |
| contents | The recently released Quaia quasar catalogue, with its broad redshift range and all-sky coverage, enables unprecedented three-dimensional reconstructions of matter across cosmic time. In this work, we apply the field-level inference algorithm BORG to the Quaia catalogues to reconstruct the initial conditions and present-day matter distribution of the Universe. We employ a physics-based forward model of large-scale structure using Lagrangian perturbation theory, incorporating light-cone effects, redshift-space distortions, quasar bias, and survey selection effects. This approach enables a detailed and physically motivated inference of the three-dimensional density field and initial conditions over the entire cosmic volume considered. We analyse both the G < 20.0 (Quaia Clean) and G < 20.5 (Quaia Deep) samples, where G denotes the Gaia broad optical-band magnitude, imposing conservative sky cuts to ensure robustness against foreground contamination. The resulting reconstructions span a comoving volume of (10h^{-1} Gpc)^3 with a maximum spatial resolution of 39.1 h^{-1}Mpc, making this the largest field-level reconstruction of the observable Universe in terms of comoving volume to date. We validate our reconstructions through a range of internal and external consistency checks, including the cross-correlation of the inferred density fields with Planck CMB lensing, where we detect a signal at ~4σsignificance. Beyond delivering high-fidelity data products, including posterior maps of initial conditions, present-day dark matter, and velocity fields, this work establishes a framework for exploiting quasar surveys in field-level cosmology. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_02363 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Reconstructing the largest scales of the Universe with field-level inference applied to the Quaia Quasar Catalogue Andrews, Adam Loureiro, Arthur Jasche, Jens McAlpine, Stuart Lavaux, Guilhem Leclercq, Florent Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics The recently released Quaia quasar catalogue, with its broad redshift range and all-sky coverage, enables unprecedented three-dimensional reconstructions of matter across cosmic time. In this work, we apply the field-level inference algorithm BORG to the Quaia catalogues to reconstruct the initial conditions and present-day matter distribution of the Universe. We employ a physics-based forward model of large-scale structure using Lagrangian perturbation theory, incorporating light-cone effects, redshift-space distortions, quasar bias, and survey selection effects. This approach enables a detailed and physically motivated inference of the three-dimensional density field and initial conditions over the entire cosmic volume considered. We analyse both the G < 20.0 (Quaia Clean) and G < 20.5 (Quaia Deep) samples, where G denotes the Gaia broad optical-band magnitude, imposing conservative sky cuts to ensure robustness against foreground contamination. The resulting reconstructions span a comoving volume of (10h^{-1} Gpc)^3 with a maximum spatial resolution of 39.1 h^{-1}Mpc, making this the largest field-level reconstruction of the observable Universe in terms of comoving volume to date. We validate our reconstructions through a range of internal and external consistency checks, including the cross-correlation of the inferred density fields with Planck CMB lensing, where we detect a signal at ~4σsignificance. Beyond delivering high-fidelity data products, including posterior maps of initial conditions, present-day dark matter, and velocity fields, this work establishes a framework for exploiting quasar surveys in field-level cosmology. |
| title | Reconstructing the largest scales of the Universe with field-level inference applied to the Quaia Quasar Catalogue |
| topic | Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.02363 |