Alcock–Paczyński test with model-independent BAO data

Abstract

Cosmological tests based on the statistical analysis of galaxy distributions usually depend on source evolution. An exception is the Alcock–Paczyński (AP) test, which is based on the changing ratio of angular to spatial/redshift size of (presumed) spherically-symmetric source distributions with distance. Intrinsic redshift distortions due to gravitational effects may also have an influence, but they can now be overcome with the inclusion of a sharp feature, such as the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) peak. Redshift distortions affect the amplitude of the peak, but impact its position only negligibly. As we shall show here, the use of this diagnostic, with new BAO peaks from SDSS-III/BOSS at average redshifts [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], disfavors the current concordance ([Formula: see text]CDM) model at [Formula: see text]. Within the context of expanding Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) cosmologies, these data instead favor the zero active mass equation-of-state, [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are, respectively, the total density and pressure of the cosmic fluid, the basis for the [Formula: see text] universe.