Power Spectrum Analysis of the Stromlo-APM Redshift Survey

We test estimators of the galaxy power spectrum P (k) against simulated galaxy catalogues constructed from N-body simulations and we derive formulae to correct for biases. These estimators are then applied to compute the power spectrum of galaxies in the Stromlo-APM redshift survey. We test whether the amplitude of P (k) depends on galaxy luminosity, but find no significant luminosity dependence except at absolute magnitudes brighter than MbJ = −20.3, (H0 = 100km s ) where there is some evidence for a rise in the amplitude of P (k). By comparing the redshift space power spectrum of the Stromlo-APM survey with the real space power spectrum determined from the parent APM Galaxy Survey, we attempt to measure the distortion in the shape of P (k) caused by galaxy peculiar motions. We find some evidence for an effect, but the errors are large and do not exclude a value of β = Ω/b = 1, where Ω is the cosmological density parameter and b is the linear biasing parameter relating galaxy fluctuations to those in the mass, (δρ/ρ)gal = b (δρ/ρ)m. The shape of the StromloAPM power spectrum is consistent with that determined from the CfA-2 survey, but has a slightly higher amplitude by a factor of about 1.4 than the power spectrum of IRAS galaxies.