The Angular Power Spectrum of Edsgc Galaxies

We determine the angular power spectrum Cl of the Edinburgh/Durham Southern Galaxy Catalog (EDSGC) and use this statistic to constrain cosmological parameters. Our methods for determining Cl and the parameters that affect it are based on those developed for the analysis of cosmic microwave backgroundmaps. We expect them to be useful for future surveys. Assuming flat cold dark matter models with a cosmological constant (constrained by COBE/DMR and local cluster abundances) and a scale– independent bias b, we find acceptable fits to the EDSGC angular power spectrum with 1.11 < b < 2.35 and 0.2 < Ωm < 0.55 at 95% confidence. These results are not significantly affected by the “integral constraint” or extinction by interstellar dust, but may be by our assumption of Gaussianity. Subject headings: cosmology: theory – cosmology: observation – cosmology: galaxies