Scale-Dependent Bias of Galaxies from Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations

Understand

Baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAOs) modulate the density ratio of baryons to dark matter across large regions of the Universe.

• We show that the associated variation in the mass-to-light ratio of galaxies should generate an oscillatory, scale-dependent bias of galaxies relative to the underlying distribution of dark matter.
• A measurement of this effect would calibrate the dependence of the characteristic mass-to-light ratio of galaxies on the baryon mass fraction in their large scale environment.
• This bias, though, is unlikely to significantly affect measurements of BAO peak positions.