# What is Beta?

## 1 Analysis

We estimate $`\beta `$ from a variety of simulated galaxy distributions, created by applying simple local and deterministic biasing algorithms to the mass distributions obtained from cosmological N-body simulations.

The cosmological models that we use are: (1) $`\mathrm{\Omega }=1.0`$, CDM model with a tilted power spectrum designed to simultaneously satisfy both COBE and cluster normalization constraints. (2) $`\mathrm{\Omega }=0.4`$, CDM, cluster normalized model. (3) $`\mathrm{\Omega }=0.2`$, CDM, cluster normalized model. Cluster normalization requires that $`\sigma _{8,m}\mathrm{\Omega }^{0.6}=0.55`$ (White, Efstathiou & Frenk 1993).

The biasing algorithms that we use are: (1) Semi-analytic: An empirical bias prescription derived by Narayanan et al. (1999, in prep.) which characterizes the relation between the galaxy and mass density fields in the semi-analytic galaxy formation models of Benson et al. (1999). (2) Sqrt-Exp. (Square-root Exponential): A biasing prescription in which $`(1+\delta _g)\sqrt{(1+\delta _m)}e^{\alpha (1+\delta _m)}`$. (3) Power-law: A biasing prescription in which $`(1+\delta _g)(1+\delta _m)^\alpha `$. Here, $`(1+\delta _g)`$ and $`(1+\delta _m)`$ are the galaxy and mass over-densities, respectively.

All the bias models are designed to yield galaxy distributions with an rms fluctuation, in top-hat spheres of radius $`12h^1`$Mpc, of $`\sigma _{12}0.7`$. The values of $`\mathrm{\Omega }^{0.6}/b_\sigma (12)`$ for the galaxy distributions are 0.6, 0.58, and 0.56 for $`\mathrm{\Omega }=1.0`$, 0.4, and 0.2, respectively. All the results have been averaged over four independent realizations of the cosmological models. The simulation volumes are periodic cubes, with a box size of $`400h^1`$Mpc.

The first method that we use to estimate $`\beta `$ involves the anisotropy of the redshift-space power spectrum. Kaiser (1987) and Cole, Fisher & Weinberg (1994) showed that in linear theory, and under the plane-parallel approximation, the multipole moments of the redshift-space power spectrum may be used to estimate $`\beta `$. Here we employ two different $`\beta `$ estimators: $`P^S(k)/P^R(k)`$, the ratio of the angle-averaged redshift-space power spectrum (monopole) to the real-space power spectrum, and $`P_2(k)/P_0(k)`$, the ratio of the quadrupole and monopole moments of the redshift-space power spectrum. These ratios are, in principle, measurable, and they are related to $`\beta `$ as follows: $`\frac{P^S(k)}{P^R(k)}=1+\frac{2}{3}\beta +\frac{1}{5}\beta ^2`$, $`\frac{P_2(k)}{P_0(k)}=(\frac{4}{3}\beta +\frac{4}{7}\beta ^2)/(1+\frac{2}{3}\beta +\frac{1}{5}\beta ^2)`$. These ratios yield an estimate of $`\beta `$ at each wavenumber $`k`$, and the scale dependence of this estimate is caused mainly by non-linearity in the peculiar velocity field. It is possible to obtain a global estimate of $`\beta `$ by modeling this non-linearity. We use two such models in our analysis: (1) Exponential velocity distribution model (Cole, Fisher & Weinberg 1995), where we assume that the galaxies have uncorrelated small scale peculiar velocities which are drawn from an exponential distribution. We use this model in our analysis of $`P^S(k)/P^R(k)`$ (the results of which are shown in Fig. 1). (2) Empirical model (Hatton & Cole 1999), where the scale dependence of $`P_2(k)/P_0(k)`$ is found empirically by examining a large number of N-body simulations spanning a broad range of parameter space.

The second method that we use to estimate $`\beta `$ involves a direct comparison between the mass and galaxy density fields. The POTENT method (Bertschinger & Dekel 1989) reconstructs the full three dimensional peculiar velocity field $`𝐯`$ from the observed radial peculiar velocity field, allowing a measurement of $`\beta `$ directly from the linear theory relation $`𝐯=\beta H\delta _g`$. We estimate $`\beta `$ using an idealized POTENT method, in which we have perfectly reconstructed the three dimensional peculiar velocity field. We obtain the value of $`\beta `$ by fitting a line of the form $`y=ax+c`$ to the $`(𝐯)`$ vs. $`\delta _g`$ relation. We perform this fit in the region: $`0.5<\delta _g<0.5`$. By repeating this procedure for different smoothing of the velocity and density fields, we can measure $`\beta `$ as a function of scale (see Fig. 1).

## 2 Conclusions

Figure 1 compares $`\beta `$ estimates from the two methods described previously to the function $`\beta _\sigma (R)=\mathrm{\Omega }^{0.6}/b_\sigma `$. Here, $`b_\sigma (R)`$ is the bias function defined as $`b_\sigma (R)=\sigma _g(R)/\sigma _m(R)`$, where $`\sigma _g(R)`$ and $`\sigma _m(R)`$ are the rms fluctuations of the galaxy and mass density fields, smoothed with a Gaussian filter of radius $`R`$, of the galaxy and mass distributions, respectively. In our full analysis, we also compare our $`\beta `$ estimates to the function $`\beta _P(k)=\mathrm{\Omega }^{0.6}/b_P(k)`$. Here $`b_P(k)`$ is the bias function defined as $`b_P(k)=\sqrt{P_g(k)/P_m(k)}`$, where $`P_g(k)`$ and $`P_m(k)`$ are the power spectra of the galaxy and mass distributions, respectively. In the case of a simple, linear bias model, $`\delta _g=b\delta _m`$, all these definitions of $`b`$ are equivalent, i.e., $`b_\sigma =b_P=b`$.

In most cases, we find that the bias factor $`b=\mathrm{\Omega }^{0.6}/\beta `$ derived from redshift-space anisotropy or POTENT is similar to the large-scale value of $`b_P(k)`$ or $`b_\sigma (R)`$ defined by rms fluctuation amplitudes. Discrepancies at the 10-20% level may reflect non-linear dynamics as much as non-linearity of bias, since they also occur for unbiased models. In greater detail: (1) Measurements of $`\beta `$ derived by fitting the Cole et al. (1995) exponential velocity distribution model to $`P^S(k)/P^R(k)`$ underestimate the large-scale values of $`\beta _P`$ by about 10-20% for all cosmological models and biasing prescriptions. (2) Measurements of $`\beta `$ derived by fitting the Hatton & Cole (1999) empirical model to $`P_2(k)/P_0(k)`$ accurately reproduce the large-scale values of $`\beta _P`$ for all cosmological models and biasing prescriptions. (3) Measurements of $`\beta (R)`$ derived from a POTENT-like comparison of $`(𝐯)`$, the negative divergence of the peculiar velocity field, to $`\delta _g`$, the galaxy density field, underestimate the large-scale values of $`\beta _\sigma `$ by about 10-20% for all cosmological models and biasing prescriptions, with the exception of the Sqrt-Exp. biasing prescription. The Sqrt-Exp. model gives erratic results because the non-linearity of the bias model makes the estimated $`\beta `$ sensitive to the range of $`\delta _g`$ used in the linear fit. (4) Estimates of $`\beta `$ from the anisotropy of the redshift-space power spectrum approximately agree with those from the POTENT method on large scales, except in the case of the Sqrt-Exp. model.