Effects of [N ii] and H α line blending on the WFIRST Galaxy redshift survey
Author
Martens, DanielFang, Xiao
Troxel, M A
DeRose, Joe
Hirata, Christopher M
Wechsler, Risa H
Wang, Yun
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Dept AstronUniv Arizona, Steward Observ
Issue Date
2019-02-08
Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESSCitation
Daniel Martens, Xiao Fang, M A Troxel, Joe DeRose, Christopher M Hirata, Risa H Wechsler, Yun Wang, Effects of [N ii] and H α line blending on the WFIRST Galaxy redshift survey, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 485, Issue 1, May 2019, Pages 211–228, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz391Rights
Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
The Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) will conduct a galaxy redshift survey using the H α emission line primarily for spectroscopic redshift determination. Due to the modest spectroscopic resolution of the grism, the H α and the neighbouring [N ii] lines are blended, leading to a redshift bias that depends on the [N ii]/H α ratio, which is correlated with a galaxy’s metallicity, hence mass and ultimately environment. We investigate how this bias propagates into the galaxy clustering and cosmological parameters obtained from the WFIRST. Using simulation, we explore the effect of line blending on redshift-space distortion and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements. We measure the BAO parameters α∥, α⊥, the logarithmic growth factor fv, and calculate their errors based on the correlations between the line ratio and large-scale structure. We find Δα∥=0.31±0.23 per cent (0.26±0.17 per cent), Δα⊥=−0.10±0.10 per cent (−0.12±0.11 per cent), and Δfv=0.17±0.33 per cent (−0.20±0.30 per cent) for redshift 1.355–1.994 (0.700–1.345), which use approximately 18 per cent, 9 per cent, and 7 per cent of the systematic error budget in a root-sum-square sense. These errors may already be tolerable but further mitigations are discussed. Biases due to the environment-independent redshift error can be mitigated by measuring the redshift error probability distribution function. High-spectral-resolution reobservation of a few thousand galaxies would be required (if by direct approach) to reduce them to below 25 per cent of the error budget. Finally, we outline the next steps to improve the modelling of [N ii]-induced blending biases and their interaction with other redshift error sources.ISSN
0035-8711Version
Final published versionSponsors
Simons Foundation; U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC02-76SF00515]; Packard Foundation; NSF; NASA [NNG16PJ25C]; NASA ROSES ATP [16-ATP16-0084]; U.S. Department of Energy Officeae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1093/mnras/stz391