[2002.07829] Arguments Against Using $h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$ Units In ...

Astrophysics > Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics arXiv:2002.07829 (astro-ph) [Submitted on 18 Feb 2020 (v1), last revised 11 Dec 2020 (this version, v2)] Title:Arguments against using $h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$ units in observational cosmology Authors:Ariel G. Sanchez View a PDF of the paper titled Arguments against using $h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$ units in observational cosmology, by Ariel G. Sanchez View PDF

Abstract:It is common to express cosmological measurements in units of $h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$. Here, we review some of the complications that originate from this practice. A crucial problem caused by these units is related to the normalization of the matter power spectrum, which is commonly characterized in terms of the linear-theory rms mass fluctuation in spheres of radius $8\,h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$, $\sigma_8$. This parameter does not correctly capture the impact of $h$ on the amplitude of density fluctuations. We show that the use of $\sigma_8$ has caused critical misconceptions for both the so-called $\sigma_8$ tension regarding the consistency between low-redshift probes and cosmic microwave background data, and the way in which growth-rate estimates inferred from redshift-space distortions are commonly expressed. We propose to abandon the use of $h^{-1}{\rm Mpc}$ units in cosmology and to characterize the amplitude of the matter power spectrum in terms of $\sigma_{12}$, defined as the mass fluctuation in spheres of radius $12\,{\rm Mpc}$, whose value is similar to the standard $\sigma_8$ for $h\sim 0.67$.

Comments:	6 pages, 4 figures. Minor changes. Matches version published in PRD
Subjects:	Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
Cite as:	arXiv:2002.07829 [astro-ph.CO]
(or arXiv:2002.07829v2 [astro-ph.CO] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2002.07829 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite
Journal reference:	A.G. Sánchez (2020), Phys. Rev. D 102, 123511
Related DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.123511 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources

Submission history

From: Ariel G. Sanchez [view email] [v1] Tue, 18 Feb 2020 19:04:12 UTC (242 KB) [v2] Fri, 11 Dec 2020 10:11:34 UTC (296 KB) Full-text links:

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