Nonzero Density-Velocity Consistency Relations for Large Scale Structures

Phys Rev Lett. 2016 Aug 19;117(8):081301. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.081301. Epub 2016 Aug 15.

Abstract

We present exact kinematic consistency relations for cosmological structures that do not vanish at equal times and can thus be measured in surveys. These rely on cross correlations between the density and velocity, or momentum, fields. Indeed, the uniform transport of small-scale structures by long-wavelength modes, which cannot be detected at equal times by looking at density correlations only, gives rise to a shift in the amplitude of the velocity field that could be measured. These consistency relations only rely on the weak equivalence principle and Gaussian initial conditions. They remain valid in the nonlinear regime and for biased galaxy fields. They can be used to constrain nonstandard cosmological scenarios or the large-scale galaxy bias.