Related papers: Median Statistics and the Mass Density of the Univ…
A summary of various measurements of the mean matter density in the universe, Omega_m, is presented. Results from very different kinds of methods using various astronomical objects -- from supernovae to large-scale structure -- are shown.…
We were asked to debate the value of the cosmological mass-density parameter Omega. Is Omega_m=1 in accordance with the simplest model? Is Omega_m much smaller as indicated by some observations? There is conflicting evidence. We lay out the…
For decades, the determination of the mean density of matter(Omega_M) has been tied to the distribution of light. This has led to a ``bias,'' perhaps as large as a factor of 2, in determining a key cosmological parameter. Recent…
The motions of galaxies can be used to constrain the cosmological density parameter Omega and the clustering amplitude of matter on large scales. The mean relative velocity of galaxy pairs, estimated from the Mark III survey, indicates that…
Measurements of the cosmological density parameter Omega using techniques that exploit the gravity-induced motions of galaxies constrain, in linear perturbation theory, the degenerate parameter combination beta = Omega^{0.6}/b, where the…
Zavarygin et al. (2018) compiled a list of 15 deuterium abundance measurements, discarded two because the remaining 13 measurements are then consistent with gaussianity, and found that the weighted mean baryon density (Omega_b h^2)…
We use current observations on the number statistics of gravitationally lensed optical arcs towards galaxy clusters to derive an upper limit on the cosmological mass density of the Universe. The gravitational lensing statistics due to…
Using mean relative peculiar velocity measurements for pairs of galaxies, we estimate the cosmological density parameter $\Omega_m$ and the amplitude of density fluctuations $\sigma_8$. Our results suggest that our statistic is a robust and…
The results of different analyses of the dynamical parameters of the Universe are converging towards agreement. Remaining disagreements reflect systematic errors coming either from the observations or from differences in the methods of…
The distance-redshift relation depends on the amount of matter of each type in the universe. Measurements at different redshifts constrain differing combinations of these matter densities and thus may be used in combination to constrain…
The large-scale dynamics of matter is inferred from the observed peculiar velocities of galaxies via the POTENT procedure. The smoothed fields of velocity and mass-density fluctuations are recovered from the current data of about 3000…
Constraints on an exact quintessence scalar-field model with an exponential potential are derived from gravitational lens statistics. An exponential potential can account for data from both optical quasar surveys and radio selected sources.…
The matter content of the Universe is strongly inhomogeneous on small scales. Motivated by this fact, we consider a model of the Universe that has regularly spaced discrete masses, rather than a continuous fluid. The optical properties of…
We have developed a technique to systematically discover and study high-redshift supernovae that can be used to measure the cosmological parameters. We report here results based on the initial seven of >28 supernovae discovered to date in…
Following Gott et al. (2001), we use Huchra's final compilation of 553 measurements of the Hubble constant ($H_0$) to determine median statistical constraints on $H_0$. We find $H_0=68 \pm 5.5$ (or $\pm 1$) $\kmsmpc$, where the errors are…
Despite the fact that the mean matter density of the universe has been measured to an accuracy of a few percent within the standard $\Lambda$CDM paradigm, its median density is not known even to order of magnitude. Typical points lie in…
Robustness of any statistics depends upon the number of assumptions it makes about the measured data. We point out the advantages of median statistics using toy numerical experiments and demonstrate its robustness, when the number of…
We show that a regression of unsmoothed peculiar velocity measurements against peculiar velocities predicted from a smoothed galaxy density field leads to a biased estimate of the cosmological density parameter Omega, even when galaxies…
We undertake a critical evaluation of recent observational information on $\Omega_m$ and $\Omega_\Lambda$ in order to identify possible sources of systematic errors and effects of simplified statistical analyses. We combine observations for…
We report on the first measurement of the average mass and mass-to-light ratio of galaxy groups by analysing the weak lensing signal induced by these systems. The groups, which have velocity dispersions of 50-400 km/s, have been selected…