Engineering topics

Forero-Romero, J.E.

Publications and source records attributed to Forero-Romero, J.E..

2 records

DOE OSTI2025

The effects of continuum fitting on Lyman-α forest correlations

Correlations of fluctuations of the flux in Lyman-α forests of high-redshift quasars have been observed by the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation Spectroscopy Survey (BOSS) and the Dark Energy Spectroscopy Instrument (DESI) survey where they have revealed the effects of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). In order to fit the correlation functions to a physical model and thereby constrain cosmological parameters, it is necessary to take into account the effects of fitting the observed spectra to a template about which the fluctuations are measured. In this paper we use mock spectra to test the distortion matrix technique that has been used since the final BOSS data release to appropriately distort the models. We show that while percent-level effects on the derived forest bias parameters may be present, the technique works sufficiently well that the determination of the BAO peak position is not affected at the percent level. We introduce modifications in the technique used by DESI that were not in the original applications and suggest further possibilities for improvements.

Lyman alpha forest↗

DOE OSTI2025

Impact of systematic redshift errors on the cross-correlation of the Lyman-α forest with quasars at small scales using DESI Early Data

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) will measure millions of quasar spectra by the end of its 5 year survey. Quasar redshift errors impact the shape of the Lyman-α forest correlation functions, which can affect cosmological analyses and therefore cosmological interpretations. Here, using data from the DESI Early Data Release and the first two months of the main survey, we measure the systematic redshift error from an offset in the cross-correlation of the Lyman-α forest with quasars. We find evidence for a redshift dependent bias causing redshifts to be underestimated with increasing redshift, stemming from improper modeling of the Lyman-α optical depth in the templates used for redshift estimation. New templates were derived for the DESI Year 1 quasar sample at z > 1.6 and we found the redshift dependent bias, Δr ∥ , increased from -1.94 ± 0.15 h -1 Mpc to -0.08 ± 0.04 h -1 Mpc (-205 ± 15 km s -1 to -9.0 ± 4.0 km s -1 ). These new templates will be used to provide redshifts for the DESI Year 1 quasar sample.

Lyman alpha forest↗