Constraints on Cosmological Models from Once and Future Redshift Surveys

Abstract

The power spectrum of density fluctuations measured from galaxy redshift surveys provides important constraints on models for the formation of large-scale structure. I present new results for a redshift sample of 15,000 galaxies, and review the limitations of current measurements. To span the decade of wavelength between the scales probed by galaxy surveys and COBE, measure the detailed shape of the power spectrum, and accurately examine the dependence of clustering on galaxy species, we require deeper samples with carefully controlled selection criteria and improved techniques for power spectrum estimation. I review plans for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and describe a new method for estimating the power spectrum that optimally treats survey data with arbitrary geometry and sampling.