Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2001/iii/paper-41/3/i/solution

For a statistically homogeneous matter distribution, the cosmological two-point correlation function of the mean-zero density contrast is
Spatial homogeneity removes dependence on , and isotropy reduces the separation argument to its magnitude. For discrete galaxies, the galaxy two-point correlation function equivalently specifies the excess pair probability at distinct positions:
Consequently the mean density of other galaxies, conditioned on a galaxy at the origin, is . The self-pair at zero separation is excluded from this definition; its Dirac delta contribution is the galaxy power spectrum shot noise of the unsmoothed number-density field.

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