Assembly bias and local Primordial non-Gaussianity from DESI DR1 quasars

Fondi, E. [Universitat de Barcelona (ICCUB) (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000178011859); Verde, L. [Universitat de Barcelona (ICCUB) (Spain); Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000326018770); Chaussidon, E. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000189964874); Aguilar, J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)]; Ahlen, S. [Boston University, MA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000160987247); BenZvi, S. [University of Rochester, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000155374710); Bianchi, D. [Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy); INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Milano (Italy)] (ORCID:0000000197120006); Brooks, D. [University College London (United Kingdom)]; Claybaugh, T. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)]; Cuceu, A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000221690595); de la Macorra, A. [Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Mexico)] (ORCID:0000000217691640); Doel, P. [University College London (United Kingdom)]; Ferraro, S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000349927854); Forero-Romero, J. E. [Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá (Colombia)] (ORCID:0000000228903725); Gaztañaga, E. [Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), Castelldefels (Spain); University of Portsmouth (United Kingdom); Institute of Space Sciences, ICE-CSIC, Barcelona (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000196320815); Gontcho, S. Gontcho A. [University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (United States)] (ORCID:000000033142233X); Gutierrez, G. [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)]; Herrera-Alcantar, H. K. [Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (France); Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (France)] (ORCID:0000000291369609); Huterer, D. [University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)] (ORCID:0000000165580112); Ishak, M. [The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX (United States)] (ORCID:000000026024466X); Joyce, R. [NSF NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ (United States)] (ORCID:0000000302015241); Kremin, A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000163567424); Lahav, O. [University College London (United Kingdom)]; Lamman, C. [The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000267319329); Landriau, M. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000318388528); Le Guillou, L. [Sorbonne Université, Paris (France)] (ORCID:0000000171788868); Manera, M. [Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain); The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000349628934); Martini, P. [The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000242794182); Meisner, A. [NSF NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ (United States)] (ORCID:0000000211257384); Miquel, R. [Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona (Spain); The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (Spain)]; Nadathur, S. [University of Portsmouth (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000190703102); Palanque-Delabrouille, N. [Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:000000033188784X); Percival, W. J. [University of Waterloo, ON (Canada); Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON (Canada)] (ORCID:0000000206445727); Prada, F. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), Granada (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000171458674); Pérez-Ràfols, I. [Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000169790125); Rossi, G. [Sejong University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)]; Samushia, L. [Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory, Tbilisi, (Georgia); Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (United States); Ilia State University, Tbilisi (Georgia)] (ORCID:0000000216095687); Sanchez, E. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000296468198); Schlegel, D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)]; Sprayberry, D. [NSF NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ (United States)]; Tarlé, G. [University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)] (ORCID:0000000317040781); Weaver, B. A. [NSF NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ (United States)]; Zou, H. [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)] (ORCID:0000000266843997)

doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2026/06/062

DOE OSTI · 3019831

Assembly bias and local Primordial non-Gaussianity from DESI DR1 quasars

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Abstract

The analysis of the large-scale clustering of quasars (QSO) observed by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) represents a promising avenue for constraining local Primordial non-Gaussianity (PNG), parameterized by f NL . The signal to be constrained is the scale-dependent bias induced in the 2-point clustering of the considered tracer sample. The resulting constraints on f NL , however, are fully degenerate with the local PNG bias parameter b ϕ , dependent on the assembly bias parameter p. Using IllustrisTNG hydrodynamical simulations, we select a QSO sample reflecting the selection criteria and properties of DESI QSOs, and provide a robust prior for p, and thus for b ϕ , building on the findings of Fondi et al. 2024. We find a distribution with mean p̅ ≃ 1.4 with weak redshift dependence, stable to selection noise and consistent with the expected recent merger history typical of quasar-hosting halos. By comparing with the CAMELS simulations we demonstrate that this prior is robust to astrophysical assumptions and cosmic variance. Finally, applying this prior to the DESI DR1 dataset, we derive updated constraints on local PNG, obtaining f NL = -3.3±9.2.

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Fondi, E. [Universitat de Barcelona (ICCUB) (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000178011859), Verde, L. [Universitat de Barcelona (ICCUB) (Spain); Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000326018770), Chaussidon, E. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000189964874), Aguilar, J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)], Ahlen, S. [Boston University, MA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000160987247), BenZvi, S. [University of Rochester, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000155374710), Bianchi, D. [Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy); INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Milano (Italy)] (ORCID:0000000197120006), Brooks, D. [University College London (United Kingdom)], Claybaugh, T. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)], Cuceu, A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000221690595), de la Macorra, A. [Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Mexico)] (ORCID:0000000217691640), Doel, P. [University College London (United Kingdom)], Ferraro, S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000349927854), Forero-Romero, J. E. [Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá (Colombia)] (ORCID:0000000228903725), Gaztañaga, E. [Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), Castelldefels (Spain); University of Portsmouth (United Kingdom); Institute of Space Sciences, ICE-CSIC, Barcelona (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000196320815), Gontcho, S. Gontcho A. [University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (United States)] (ORCID:000000033142233X), Gutierrez, G. [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)], Herrera-Alcantar, H. K. [Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (France); Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (France)] (ORCID:0000000291369609), Huterer, D. [University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)] (ORCID:0000000165580112), Ishak, M. [The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX (United States)] (ORCID:000000026024466X), Joyce, R. [NSF NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ (United States)] (ORCID:0000000302015241), Kremin, A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000163567424), Lahav, O. [University College London (United Kingdom)], Lamman, C. [The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000267319329), Landriau, M. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000318388528), Le Guillou, L. [Sorbonne Université, Paris (France)] (ORCID:0000000171788868), Manera, M. [Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain); The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000349628934), Martini, P. [The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000242794182), Meisner, A. [NSF NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ (United States)] (ORCID:0000000211257384), Miquel, R. [Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona (Spain); The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (Spain)], Nadathur, S. [University of Portsmouth (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000190703102), Palanque-Delabrouille, N. [Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:000000033188784X), Percival, W. J. [University of Waterloo, ON (Canada); Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON (Canada)] (ORCID:0000000206445727), Prada, F. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), Granada (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000171458674), Pérez-Ràfols, I. [Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000169790125), Rossi, G. [Sejong University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)], Samushia, L. [Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory, Tbilisi, (Georgia); Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (United States); Ilia State University, Tbilisi (Georgia)] (ORCID:0000000216095687), Sanchez, E. [CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000296468198), Schlegel, D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)], Sprayberry, D. [NSF NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ (United States)], Tarlé, G. [University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)] (ORCID:0000000317040781), Weaver, B. A. [NSF NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ (United States)], Zou, H. [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)] (ORCID:0000000266843997). 2026-06-22. Assembly bias and local Primordial non-Gaussianity from DESI DR1 quasars. https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2026/06/062

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