Luminosity density estimation from redshift surveys and the mass density of the Universe

Abstract

In most direct estimates of the mass density (visible or dark) of the Universe, a central input parameter is the luminosity density of the Universe. Here we consider the measurement of this luminosity density from red-shift surveys, as a function of the yet undetermined characteristic scale R_H at which the spatial distribution of visible matter tends to a well defined homogeneity. Making the canonical assumption that the cluster mass to luminosity ratio M/L is the universal one, we can estimate the total mass density as a function Ω_m(R_H,M/L). Taking the highest estimated cluster value M/L ~300h and a conservative lower limit R_H > 20 Mpc/h, we obtain the upper bound Ω_m < 0.1 . We note that for values of the homogeneity scale R_H in the range R_H ~ (90 +/- 45) hMpc, the value of Ω_m may be compatible with the nucleosynthesis inferred density in baryons.

arXiv comment16 pages, latex, no figures. To be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• The Glass-like Universe: Real-space correlation properties of standard cosmological models
• Statistical Physics for Cosmic Structures
• Breaking the self-averaging properties of spatial galaxy fluctuations in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey - Data Release Six
• Large-scale fluctuations in the distribution of galaxies from the Two Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey