Exploring the effects of galaxy formation on matter clustering through a
  library of simulation power spectra
  Upcoming weak lensing surveys require a detailed theoretical understanding of
the matter power spectrum in order to derive accurate and precise cosmological
parameter values. While galaxy formation is known to play an important role,
its precise effects are currently unknown. We present a set of 92 matter power
spectra from the OWLS, cosmo-OWLS and BAHAMAS simulation suites, including
different $\Lambda$CDM cosmologies, neutrino masses, subgrid prescriptions and
AGN feedback strengths. We conduct a detailed investigation of the dependence
of the relative difference between the total matter power spectra in
hydrodynamical and collisionless simulations on the effectiveness of stellar
and AGN feedback, cosmology and redshift. The strength of AGN feedback can
greatly affect the power on a range of scales, while a lack of stellar feedback
can greatly increase the effectiveness of AGN feedback on large scales. We also
examine differences in the initial conditions of hydrodynamic and N-body
simulations that can lead to a ~1% discrepancy in the large-scale power, and
furthermore show our results to be insensitive to cosmic variance. We present
an empirical model capable of predicting the effect of galaxy formation on the
matter power spectrum at z=0 to within 1% for k<1 h/Mpc, given only the mean
baryon fraction in galaxy groups. Differences in group baryon fractions can
also explain the quantitative disagreement between predictions from the
literature. All total and dark matter only power spectra in this library will
be made publicly available at powerlib.strw.leidenuniv.nl.
