Following a quasi model-independent approach we measure the transversal BAO mode at high redshift using the two-point angular correlation function (2PACF). The analyses done here are only possible now with the quasar catalogue from the twelfth data release (DR12Q) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, because it is spatially dense enough to allow the measurement of the angular BAO signature with moderate statistical significance and acceptable precision. Our analyses with quasars in the redshift interval z ∈ [2.20, 2.25] produce the angular BAO scale θ BAO = 1.77 • ± 0.31 • with a statistical significance of 2.12 σ (i.e., 97% confidence level), calculated through a likelihood analysis performed using the theoretical covariance matrix sourced by the analytical power spectra expected in the ΛCDM concordance model. Additionally, we show that the BAO signal is robust -although with less statistical significance-under diverse bin-size choices and under small displacements of the quasars' angular coordinates. Finally, we also performed cosmological parameter analyses comparing the θ BAO predictions for wCDM and w(a)CDM models with angular BAO data available in the literature, including the measurement obtained here, jointly with CMB data. The constraints on the parameters Ω M , w 0 and w a are in excellent agreement with the ΛCDM concordance model.

The presence of massive neutrinos affects structure formation, leaving imprints on large-scale structure observables such as the weak lensing field. The common lensing analyses with two-point statistics are insensitive to the large amount of non-Gaussian information in the density field. We investigate non-Gaussian tools, in particular the Minkowski Functionals (MFs)-morphological descriptors including area, perimeter, and genus-in an attempt to recover the higher-order information. We use convergence maps from the Cosmological Massive Neutrino Simulations (MassiveNus) and assume galaxy noise, density, and redshift distribution for an LSST-like survey. We show that MFs are sensitive to the neutrino mass sum, and the sensitivity is redshift dependent and is non-Gaussian. We find that redshift tomography significantly improves the constraints on neutrino mass for MFs, compared to the improvements for the power spectrum. We attribute this to the stronger redshift dependence of neutrino effects on small scales. We then build an emulator to model the power spectrum and MFs, and study the constraints on [M ν , Ω m , A s ] from the power spectrum, MFs, and their combination. We show that MFs significantly outperform the power spectrum in constraining neutrino mass, by more than a factor of four. However, a thorough study of the impact from systematics such as baryon physics and galaxy shape and redshift biases will be important to realize the full potential of MFs.

We probe the anisotropy of the large-scale structure (LSS) with the WISE-2MASS catalogue. This analysis is performed by a directional comparison of the galaxy number counts through the entire celestial sphere once systematic effects, such as star-galaxy separation and foregrounds contamination, are properly taken into account. We find a maximal hemispherical asymmetry whose dipolar component is A = 0.0507 ± 0.0014 toward the (l, b) = (323• , −5 • ) direction, whose result is consistent with previous estimations of our proper motion in low and intermediate redshifts, as those carried out with Type Ia Supernovae and similar LSS catalogues. Furthermore, this dipole amplitude is statistically consistent (p-value = 0.061) with mock catalogues simulated according to the expected ΛCDM matter density fluctuations, in addition to observational biases such as the incomplete celestial coverage and anisotropic sky exposure. Our results suggest, therefore, that there is no strong evidence for anomalous anisotropy in the LSS, given the limitations and systematics of current data, in the concordance model scenario.