Symmetry in Hyper Suprime-Cam Galaxy Spin Directions

Abstract

We perform a Bayesian analysis of anisotropy in binary galaxy spin directions in the Hyper-Suprime Cam Data Release 3 catalog, in response to a recent claim that it exhibits a dipole. We find no significant evidence for anisotropy, or for a direction-independent spin probability that differs from 0.5. These results are unchanged allowing for a quadrupole or simply searching for a fixed anisotropy between any two hemispheres, and the Bayes factor indicates decisive evidence for the isotropic model. Our principled method contrasts with the statistic employed by Shamir, which lacks a strong theoretical foundation. Our code is available at ✎.