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KiDS-Legacy: Angular galaxy clustering from deep surveys with complex selection effects

Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 694, pp. A259

Abstract

Photometric galaxy surveys, despite their limited resolution along the line of sight, encode rich information about the large-scale structure (LSS) of the Universe thanks to the high number density and extensive depth of the data. However, the complicated selection effects in wide and deep surveys can potentially cause significant bias in the angular two-point correlation function (2PCF) measured from those surveys. In this paper, we measure the 2PCF from the newly published KiDS-Legacy sample. Given an r -band 5 σ magnitude limit of 24.8 and survey footprint of 1347 deg 2 , it achieves an excellent combination of sky coverage and depth for such a measurement. We find that complex selection effects, primarily induced by varying seeing, introduce over-estimation of the 2PCF by approximately an order of magnitude. To correct for such effects, we apply a machine learning-based method to recover an organised random (OR) that presents the same selection pattern as the galaxy sample. The basic idea is to find the selection-induced clustering of galaxies using a combination of self-organising maps (SOMs) and hierarchical clustering (HC). This unsupervised machine learning method is able to recover complicated selection effects without specifying their functional forms. We validate this SOM+HC method on mock deep galaxy samples with realistic systematics and selections derived from the KiDS-Legacy catalogue. Using mock data, we demonstrate that the OR delivers unbiased 2PCF cosmological parameter constraints, removing the 27 σ offset in the galaxy bias parameter that is recovered when adopting uniform randoms. Blinded measurements on the real KiDS-Legacy data show that the corrected 2PCF is robust to the SOM+HC configuration near the optimal set-up suggested by the mock tests.

Authors 21

  1. Leiden University · Utrecht University · Leiden Observatory

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands

  2. Utrecht University

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute for Theoretical Physics, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands

  3. Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas · University of Portsmouth

    Affiliation as printed

    Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Av. Complutense 40, E-28040 Madrid, Spain

    Institute of Cosmology & Gravitation, Dennis Sciama Building, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3FX, United Kingdom

  4. Stockholm University · AlbaNova · Imperial College London

    Affiliation as printed

    Imperial Centre for Inference and Cosmology (ICIC) Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK

    The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova University Centre, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden

  5. University of Bonn

    Affiliation as printed

    Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Universität Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 71, D-53121 Bonn, Germany

  6. Newcastle University

    Affiliation as printed

    School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics, Newcastle University, Herschel Building, NE1 7RU Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK

  7. Center for Theoretical Physics · Polish Academy of Sciences

    Affiliation as printed

    Center for Theoretical Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Lotników 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland

  8. Ruhr University Bochum

    Affiliation as printed

    Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Astronomical Institute (AIRUB), German Centre for Cosmological Lensing, 44780 Bochum, Germany

  9. Royal Observatory · Ruhr University Bochum · University of Edinburgh

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK

    Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Astronomical Institute (AIRUB), German Centre for Cosmological Lensing, 44780 Bochum, Germany

  10. Ruhr University Bochum

    Affiliation as printed

    Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Astronomical Institute (AIRUB), German Centre for Cosmological Lensing, 44780 Bochum, Germany

  11. Center for Theoretical Physics · Polish Academy of Sciences

    Affiliation as printed

    Center for Theoretical Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Lotników 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland

  12. University College London

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK

  13. Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics · University of Bologna

    Affiliation as printed

    Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Augusto Righi” – Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti 93/2, 40129 Bologna, Italy

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy

  14. Leiden University · Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Aix-Marseille Université · Leiden Observatory

    Affiliation as printed

    Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, CNES, LAM, Marseille, France

    Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands

  15. Universität Innsbruck

    Affiliation as printed

    Universität Innsbruck, Institut für Astro- und Teilchenphysik, Technikerstr. 25/8, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria

  16. University of Oxford · Donostia International Physics Center · Ruhr University Bochum

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, United Kingdom

    Donostia International Physics Center, Manuel Lardizabal Ibilbidea, 4, 20018 Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain

    Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Astronomical Institute (AIRUB), German Centre for Cosmological Lensing, 44780 Bochum, Germany

  17. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare · Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna · Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio · National Institute for Astrophysics · University of Bologna

    Affiliation as printed

    Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Augusto Righi” – Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti 93/2, 40129 Bologna, Italy

    INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy

    Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) – Sezione di Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 6/2, I-40127 Bologna, Italy

  18. University of Naples Federico II

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics “E. Pancini” University of Naples Federico II C.U. di Monte Sant’Angelo, Via Cintia, 21 ed. 6, 80126 Naples, Italy

  19. Ruhr University Bochum

    Affiliation as printed

    Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Astronomical Institute (AIRUB), German Centre for Cosmological Lensing, 44780 Bochum, Germany

  20. Durham University

    Affiliation as printed

    Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Ogden Centre for Fundament Physics – West, Department of Physics, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK

    Institute for Computational Cosmology, Ogden Centre for Fundament Physics – West, Department of Physics, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK

  21. Leiden University · Leiden Observatory

    Affiliation as printed

    Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands

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References 103