Beecroft Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology

Abstract:

We present a catalogue comprising over 10 000 QSOs covering an effective area of 289.6 deg2, based on spectroscopic observations with the 2-degree Field (2dF) instrument at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. This catalogue forms the first release of the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey. QSO candidates with 18.25 < bJ < 20.85 were obtained from a single homogeneous colour-selected catalogue based on APM measurements of UK Schmidt photographic material. The final catalogue will contain approximately 25 000 QSOs and will be released to the public at the end of 2002, one year after the observational phase is concluded.

Abstract:

To obtain further estimates of several cosmological parameters, the recent BOOMERANG-98 (B98) and MAXIMA-1 cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy data, as well as COBE DMR, were analyzed. The resulting data support the chief predictions of the inflation paradigm, that the geometry of the Universe is flat, and that the initial density perturbations are scale invariant, and with the corollary that the density of mass energy in the Universe is dominated by a form other than ordinary matter.

Abstract:

Recent results from BOOMERANG-98 and MAXIMA-1, taken together with COBE-DMR, provide consistent and high signal-to-noise measurements of the CMB power spectrum at spherical harmonic multipole bands over $2<\ell\lta800$. Analysis of the combined data yields 68% (95%) confidence limits on the total density, $\Omega_{\rm {tot}}\simeq 1.11 \pm 0.07 (^{+0.13}_{-0.12})$, the baryon density, $\Omega_b h^2\simeq 0.032^{+0.005}_{-0.004} (^{+0.009}_{-0.008})$, and the scalar spectral tilt, $n_s\simeq1.01^{+0.09}_{-0.07} (^{+0.17}_{-0.14})$. These data are consistent with inflationary initial conditions for structure formation. Taken together with other cosmological observations, they imply the existence of both non-baryonic dark matter and dark energy in the universe.