A hierarchical field-level inference approach to reconstruction from sparse Lyman-α forest data

Autor(en)

Natalia Porqueres, Oliver Hahn, Jens Jasche, Guilhem Lavaux

Abstrakt

We address the problem of inferring the three-dimensional matter distribution from a sparse set of one-dimensional quasar absorption spectra of the Lyman-α forest. Using a Bayesian forward modelling approach, we focus on extending the dynamical model to a fully self-consistent hierarchical field-level prediction of redshift-space quasar absorption sightlines. Our field-level approach rests on a recently developed semiclassical analogue to Lagrangian perturbation theory (LPT), which improves over noise problems and interpolation requirements of LPT. It furthermore allows for a manifestly conservative mapping of the optical depth to redshift space. In addition, this new dynamical model naturally introduces a coarse-graining scale, which we exploited to accelerate the Markov chain Monte-Carlo (MCMC) sampler using simulated annealing. By gradually reducing the effective temperature of the forward model, we were able to allow it to first converge on large spatial scales before the sampler became sensitive to the increasingly larger space of smaller scales. We demonstrate the advantages, in terms of speed and noise properties, of this field-level approach over using LPT as a forward model, and, using mock data, we validated its performance to reconstruct three-dimensional primordial perturbations and matter distribution from sparse quasar sightlines.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Astrophysik, Institut für Mathematik

Externe Organisation(en)

Imperial Centre for Inference and Cosmology, Imperial College London, Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK n.porqueres@imperial.ac.uk 0000-0002-7599-966X, Laboratoire Lagrange, Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Bvd de l'Observatoire, CS 34229, 06304, Nice, France, Stockholm University, Université Paris IV - Paris-Sorbonne

Journal

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Band

642

ISSN

0004-6361

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202038482

Publikationsdatum

10-2020

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

103044 Kosmologie, 103004 Astrophysik

Schlagwörter

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/05dff667-28bc-4052-bc10-a73e25001d9b