Galaxy survey

A galaxy survey measures positions and other properties of a selected galaxy sample. A spectroscopic survey uses cosmological redshift to estimate radial distance, with corrections for peculiar velocity. Its volume, selection, galaxy bias, and sampling determine which matter power spectrum modes can be inferred.

Redshift-space distortions arise because observed galaxy redshifts include peculiar velocity as well as cosmological redshift. Distances inferred solely from expansion therefore distort clustering along the line of sight. Coherent large-scale motion and small-scale velocity dispersion produce different effects on the inferred matter power spectrum.

Sampling with a homogeneous Poisson point process of mean comoving number density $\bar{n}$ adds a constant $1/\bar{n}$ to the dimensional galaxy power spectrum. Subtracting its expectation leaves sampling uncertainty. Correlated tracer populations and survey weights modify this simple formula; survey depth alone does not specify $\bar{n}$.

A survey window function describes the finite spatial coverage and weights of a galaxy survey. Multiplication by this window in position space mixes Fourier modes by convolution in Fourier space. A dimension of extent $L$ cannot robustly measure wavelengths much larger than $L$; the fundamental wavenumber of a periodic box of that size is $2\pi /L$.