Kinematic Dipole Detection with Galaxy Surveys: Forecasts and Requirements

Upcoming or future deep galaxy samples with wide sky coverage can provide independent measurement of the kinematic dipole—our motion relative to the rest frame defined by the large-scale structure. Such a measurement would present an important test of the standard cosmological model, as the standard model predicts the galaxy measurement should precisely agree with the existing precise measurements made using the cosmic microwave background. However, the required statistical precision to measure the kinematic dipole typically makes the measurement susceptible to bias from the presence of the local-structure-induced dipole contamination. In order to minimize the latter, a sufficiently deep survey is required. We forecast both the statistical error and the systematic bias in the kinematic dipole measurements. We find that a survey covering ∼75% of the sky in both hemispheres and having ∼30 million galaxies can detect the kinematic dipole at 5σ, while its median redshift should be at least z 0.75 med ~ for negligible bias from the local structure.