• Accepted Paper

Reanalyzing DESI DR1. V. Cosmological constraints with simulation-based priors

Anton Chudaykin, Mikhail M. Ivanov, and Oliver H. E. Philcox

Phys. Rev. D - Accepted 7 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/lg1n-k1rl

Abstract

We analyze the public DESI full-shape clustering data using simulation-based priors (SBPs). Our priors are obtained by fitting normalizing flows to the distribution of EFT parameters measured from field-level simulations, themselves generated using tailored halo occupation distribution (HOD) models for each tracer. Incorporating SBPs in a power spectrum analysis significantly enhances ΛCDM cosmological parameter constraints; in combination with BAO information from DESI DR2 and a BBN prior on the baryon density, we find the matter density parameter Ωm=0.2987±0.0066, the Hubble constant H0=68.80±0.35kms1Mpc1, and the mass fluctuation amplitude σ8=0.766±0.015 (or the lensing parameter S8=0.764±0.018), which are 1%, 40% and 50% stronger than the baseline results, though with a notable downwards shift in σ8, . The SBPs also have a significant impact in extended models, with the dark energy figure-of-merit improving by 70% (20%) in a w0waCDM analysis when combining with the CMB (and supernovae). In the SBP analysis, we do not find statistically significant evidence for dynamical dark energy: the equation of state parameters are consistent with a cosmological constant within 2.2σ (1.4σ) in analyses without (with) supernovae. The neutrino mass constraints are also enhanced, with the 95% limits Mν<0.073eV and Mν<0.090eV in ΛCDM and w0waCDM respectively. The latter is the strongest constraint obtained to date and reinforces the preference for the normal neutrino mass hierarchy, regardless of the background dynamics. While our results are sensitive to HOD modeling assumptions, they clearly demonstrate that the inclusion of small-scale information can significantly sharpen cosmological parameter constraints.

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