A calibration-free null test from anisotropic BAO

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Sapone, Domenico, Nesseris, Savvas
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Sapone, Domenico
Nesseris, Savvas
author_facet Sapone, Domenico
Nesseris, Savvas
contents Baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) analyses usually report the anisotropic shift parameters $α_\perp(z)$ and $α_\parallel(z)$ relative to a fiducial cosmology, and these quantities are primarily used for cosmological parameter inference. Here we show that they can also be used to construct a direct internal consistency test of the background geometry. In particular, we derive a new null test of flat Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) geometry written entirely in terms of the reported BAO shift parameters. The test is calibration free: the sound-horizon ratio $r_{\rm d}/r^{\rm fid}_{\rm d}$ cancels identically, so the relation is independent of the absolute BAO scale. We also derive a calibration-free reconstruction of the deceleration parameter $q(z)$ from the radial BAO sector. Applying these results to anisotropic DESI DR2 BAO measurements, we find no evidence for a breakdown of the flat-FLRW distance relation within current uncertainties. Our results show that anisotropic BAO measurements already provide a nontrivial internal geometric consistency test before performing any model fit.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_18986
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A calibration-free null test from anisotropic BAO
Sapone, Domenico
Nesseris, Savvas
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) analyses usually report the anisotropic shift parameters $α_\perp(z)$ and $α_\parallel(z)$ relative to a fiducial cosmology, and these quantities are primarily used for cosmological parameter inference. Here we show that they can also be used to construct a direct internal consistency test of the background geometry. In particular, we derive a new null test of flat Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) geometry written entirely in terms of the reported BAO shift parameters. The test is calibration free: the sound-horizon ratio $r_{\rm d}/r^{\rm fid}_{\rm d}$ cancels identically, so the relation is independent of the absolute BAO scale. We also derive a calibration-free reconstruction of the deceleration parameter $q(z)$ from the radial BAO sector. Applying these results to anisotropic DESI DR2 BAO measurements, we find no evidence for a breakdown of the flat-FLRW distance relation within current uncertainties. Our results show that anisotropic BAO measurements already provide a nontrivial internal geometric consistency test before performing any model fit.
title A calibration-free null test from anisotropic BAO
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.18986