The Impact of Cosmic Variance and Satellites on JWST Clustering Measurements at redshift ≈6

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ID: 332936
2026
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Abstract
Abstract We present a framework for inferring the dark matter halo masses of quasars and [O III]-emitting galaxies from JWST/NIRCam Wide Field Slitless Spectroscopy (WFSS) clustering measurements at z ≈ 6. Using the FLAMINGO-10k N-body simulation, we construct mock realizations of quasar and galaxy catalogs that incorporate realistic selection functions, spatial coverage, and sensitivity limits matched to the ASPIRE survey. These mocks enable accurate measurements of the quasar–galaxy cross-correlation and galaxy auto-correlation functions, with covariance matrices derived from 1000 realizations that capture both cosmic variance and bin-to-bin correlations. We employ Bayesian inference to fit the correlation functions and infer the minimum halo masses for quasars and galaxies. Our results demonstrate that Poisson pair-count uncertainties, commonly adopted in high-redshift clustering studies, significantly underestimate the true measurement errors. The dominant missing component is cosmic variance, whose coherent large-scale modes inflate the diagonal of the covariance matrix and induce positive bin-to-bin correlations, both growing with tracer bias. In particular, 1) the commonly used Poisson error on the correlation functions underestimates the true uncertainty by a factor of ≈3; 2) the uncertainties on the inferred minimum halo masses are underestimated by a factor of ≈1.5–3 when adopting Poisson errors instead of the full covariance matrix; 3) the inferred QSO halo mass is robust to whether central and satellite [O iii]-emitters share a common mass threshold. Our framework provides a more complete error budget for JWST/WFSS clustering analyses, enabling robust constraints on the host halo masses and duty cycles of high-redshift quasars and emission-line galaxies.
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Authors Jiamu Huang, Elia Pizzati, Joseph F. Hennawi, Joop Schaye, Feige Wang, Matthieu Schaller, Ben Snyder, Yi Kang
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Journal monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stag1987
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1987
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