A Test of the Cosmological Principle with Reported Superlarge Structures
Date
2023-02-02
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0000-0002-4297-719X
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
The objective of this thesis is to investigate and study cross-correlation of large-scale structures as a test of the Cosmological Principle (CP). This begins with an explanation of the importance of CP to cosmology and astronomy, followed by a review of the concept of length scales as it pertains to CP, and a review of quasars and Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs). The statistical methods and measurements used in this research will be explained in detail. The resulting statistics are explored for a Gamma-ray burst data set, two quasar data sets with positive and negative galactic latitude, and a data set comprised of quasar-GRB pairs to test for correlations. Statistically significant anomalies appearing in either method are discussed in detail, as well as specific analysis of signals that may relate to the previously reported structures. None of the signals discovered would indicate unusually large structures at a statistically significant level. The correlation study is likewise lacking in statistically significant signals, suggesting no apparent correlation between the GRB and quasar distributions. Lack of statistically significant structures in these distributions suggests that the Cosmological Principle holds. Sources of error are discussed. Potential future studies are laid out, including suggestions on how to increase the number of GRBs with redshift data.
Description
Keywords
cosmology, gamma-ray bursts, quasars, cosmological principle, minimal-spanning tree, nearest-neighbor, python, superlarge structures
Citation
Degree
Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Department
Physics and Engineering Physics
Program
Physics