Galaxy Large-scale Structure Research Articles

What Is the Price of Abandoning Dark Matter? Cosmological Constraints on Alternative Gravity Theories.

Any successful alternative gravity theory that obviates the need for dark matter must fit our cosmological observations. Measurements of microwave background polarization trace the large-scale baryon velocity field at recombination and show very strong O(1) baryon acoustic oscillations. Measurements of the large-scale structure of galaxies at low redshift show much weaker features in the spectrum. If the alternative gravity theory's dynamical equations for the growth rate of structure are linear, then the density field growth can be described by a Green's function: δ(x[over →],t)=δ(x[over →],t^{'})G(x,t,t^{'}). We show that the Green's function G(x,t,t^{'}) must have dramatic features that erase the initial baryon oscillations. This implies an acceleration law that changes sign on the ∼150 Mpc scale. On the other hand, if the alternative gravity theory has a large nonlinear term that couples modes on different scales, then the theory would predict large-scale non-Gaussian features in large-scale structure. These are not seen in the distribution of galaxies nor in the distribution of quasars. No proposed alternative gravity theory for dark matter seems to satisfy these constraints.

Upper Bound of Neutrino Masses from Combined Cosmological Observations and Particle Physics Experiments.

We investigate the impact of prior models on the upper bound of the sum of neutrino masses, ∑m_{ν}. Using data from the large scale structure of galaxies, cosmic microwave background, type Ia supernovae, and big bang nucleosynthesis, we argue that cosmological neutrino mass and hierarchy determination should be pursued using exact models, since approximations might lead to incorrect and nonphysical bounds. We compare constraints from physically motivated neutrino mass models (i.e., ones respecting oscillation experiments) to those from models using standard cosmological approximations. The former give a consistent upper bound of ∑m_{ν}≲0.26 eV (95% CI) and yield the first approximation-independent upper bound for the lightest neutrino mass species, m_{0}^{ν}<0.086 eV (95% CI). By contrast, one of the approximations, which is inconsistent with the known lower bounds from oscillation experiments, yields an upper bound of ∑m_{ν}≲0.15 eV (95% CI); this differs substantially from the physically motivated upper bound.

Active optics in astronomy – modeling of deformable substrates: freeform surfaces for FIREBall and MESSIER

Abstract Active optics techniques on large telescopes and astronomical instrumentations provide high imaging quality. For ground-based astronomy, the co-addition of adaptive optics again increases angular resolution up to providing diffraction-limited imaging at least in the infrared. Active and adaptive optics marked milestone progress in the detection of exoplanets, super-massive black holes, and large-scale structure of galaxies. This paper is dedicated to highly deformable active optics that can generate non-axisymmetric aspheric surfaces – or freeform surfaces – by use of a minimum number of actuators: a single uniform load acts over the surface of a vase-form substrate whilst under reaction to its elliptical perimeter ring. Two such instruments are presented: (1) the Faint Intergalactic Redshifted Emission Balloon (FIREBall) telescope and multi object spectrograph (MOS) where the freeform reflective diffraction grating is generated by replication of a deformable master grating, and (2) the MESSIER wide-field low-central-obstruction three-mirror-anastigmat (TMA) telescope proposal where the freeform mirror is generated by stress figuring and elastic relaxation. Freeform surfaces were obtained by plane super-polishing. Preliminary analysis required use of the optics theory of 3rd-order aberrations and elasticity theory of thin elliptical plates. Final cross-optimizations were carried out with Zemax raytracing code and Nastran FEA elasticity code in order to determine geometry of the deformable substrates.

Redshift inference from the combination of galaxy colours and clustering in a hierarchical Bayesian model

Powerful current and future cosmological constraints using high precision measurements of the large-scale structure of galaxies and its weak gravitational lensing effects rely on accurate characterization of the redshift distributions of the galaxy samples using only broadband imaging. We present a framework for constraining both the redshift probability distributions of galaxy populations and the redshifts of their individual members. We use a hierarchical Bayesian model (HBM) which provides full posterior distributions on those redshift probability distributions, and, for the first time, we show how to combine survey photometry of single galaxies and the information contained in the galaxy clustering against a well-characterized tracer population in a robust way. One critical approximation turns the HBM into a system amenable to efficient Gibbs sampling. We show that in the absence of photometric information, this method reduces to commonly used clustering redshift estimators. Using a simple model system, we show how the incorporation of clustering information with photo-$z$'s tightens redshift posteriors, and can overcome biases or gaps in the coverage of a spectroscopic prior. The method enables the full propagation of redshift uncertainties into cosmological analyses, and uses all the information at hand to reduce those uncertainties and associated potential biases.

Wide-field Optical Spectroscopy of Abell 133: A Search for Filaments Reported in X-Ray Observations

Abstract Filaments of the cosmic web have long been associated with the threadlike structures seen in galaxy redshift surveys. However, despite their baryon content being dominated by hot gas, these filaments have been an elusive target for X-ray observations. Recently, detections of filaments in very deep (2.4 Ms) observations with Chandra were reported around Abell 133 (z = 0.0559). To verify these claims, we conducted a multiobject spectrographic campaign on the Baade 6.5 m telescope around Abell 133; this resulted in a catalog of ∼3000 new redshift measurements, of which 254 are of galaxies near the cluster. We investigate the kinematic state of Abell 133 and identify the physical locations of filamentary structure in the galaxy distribution. Contrary to previous studies, we see no evidence that Abell 133 is dynamically disturbed; we reject the hypothesis that there is a kinematically distinct subgroup (p = 0.28) and find no velocity offset between the central galaxy and the cluster ( ). The spatial distribution of galaxies traces the X-ray filaments, as confirmed by angular cross-correlation with a significance of ∼5σ. A similar agreement is found in the angular density distribution, where two X-ray structures have corresponding galaxy enhancements. We also identify filaments in the large-scale structure of galaxies; these filaments approach the cluster from the direction the X-ray structures are seen. While more members between R 200 and 2 × R 200 are required to clarify which large-scale filaments connect to the X-ray gas, we argue that this is compelling evidence that the X-ray emission is indeed associated with cosmic filaments.

Growing up in a megalopolis: environmental effects on galaxy evolution in a supercluster at z ∼ 0.65 in UKIDSS UDS

We present a large-scale galaxy structure Cl J021734-0513 at z~0.65 discovered in the UKIDSS UDS field, made of ~20 galaxy groups and clusters, spreading over 10 Mpc. We report on a VLT/VIMOS spectroscopic follow-up program that, combined with past spectroscopy, allowed us to confirm four galaxy clusters (M200 ~ 10^14 Msol) and a dozen associated groups and star-forming galaxy overdensities. Two additional filamentary structures at z ~ 0.62 and z ~ 0.69 and foreground and background clusters at 0.6 < z < 0.7 were also confirmed along the line-of-sight. The structure subcomponents are at different formation stages. The clusters have a core dominated by passive galaxies and an established red sequence. The remaining structures are a mix of star-forming galaxy overdensities and forming groups. The presence of quiescent galaxies in the core of the latter shows that `preprocessing' has already happened before the groups fall into their more massive neighbours. Our spectroscopy allows us to derive spectral index measurements e.g. emission/absorption line equivalent widths, strength of the 4000A break, valuable to investigate the star formation history of structure members. Based on these line measurements, we select a population of `poststarburst' galaxies. These galaxies are preferentially found within the virial radius of clusters, supporting a scenario in which their recent quenching could be prompted by gas stripping by the dense intracluster medium. We derive stellar age estimates using MCMC-based spectral fitting for quiescent galaxies and find a correlation between ages and colours/stellar masses which favours a top-down formation scenario of the red sequence. A catalogue of ~650 redshifts in UDS will be released alongside the paper.

Topology of Large-scale Structures of Galaxies in Two Dimensions—Systematic Effects

Abstract We study the two-dimensional topology of galactic distribution when projected onto two-dimensional spherical shells. Using the latest Horizon Run 4 simulation data, we construct the genus of the two-dimensional field and consider how this statistic is affected by late-time nonlinear effects—principally gravitational collapse and redshift space distortion (RSD). We also consider systematic and numerical artifacts, such as shot noise, galaxy bias, and finite pixel effects. We model the systematics using a Hermite polynomial expansion and perform a comprehensive analysis of known effects on the two-dimensional genus, with a view toward using the statistic for cosmological parameter estimation. We find that the finite pixel effect is dominated by an amplitude drop and can be made less than 1% by adopting pixels smaller than 1/3 of the angular smoothing length. Nonlinear gravitational evolution introduces time-dependent coefficients of the zeroth, first, and second Hermite polynomials, but the genus amplitude changes by less than 1% between z = 1 and z = 0 for smoothing scales R G &gt; 9 Mpc / h . Non-zero terms are measured up to third order in the Hermite polynomial expansion when studying RSD. Differences in the shapes of the genus curves in real and redshift space are small when we adopt thick redshift shells, but the amplitude change remains a significant ∼  ( 10 % ) effect. The combined effects of galaxy biasing and shot noise produce systematic effects up to the second Hermite polynomial. It is shown that, when sampling, the use of galaxy mass cuts significantly reduces the effect of shot noise relative to random sampling.

The anisotropic line correlation function as a probe of anisotropies in galaxy surveys

We propose an anisotropic generalisation of the line correlation function (ALCF) to separate and quantify phase information in the large-scale structure of galaxies. The line correlation function probes the strictly non-linear regime of structure formation and since phase information drops out of the power spectrum, the line correlation function provides a complementary tool to commonly used techniques based on two-point statistics. Furthermore, it is independent of linear bias as well as the Gaussian variance on the modulus of the density field and thus may also prove to be advantageous compared to the bispectrum or similar higher-order statistics for certain cases. For future applications it is vital, though, to be able to account for observational effects that cause anisotropies in the distribution of galaxies. Based on a number of numerical studies, we find that our ALCF is well suited to accomplish this task and we demonstrate how the Alcock-Paczynski effect and kinematical redshift-space distortions can in principle be measured via the ALCF.

New H i scaling relations to probe the H i content of galaxies via global H i-deficiency maps

We present new multi-wavelength scaling relations between the neutral hydrogen content (HI) and the stellar properties of nearby galaxies selected from the HI Parkes All-Sky Survey (HIPASS). We use these new scaling relations to investigate the environmental dependency of the HI content of galaxies. We find that galaxies in high density environments tend to have on average less HI than galaxies with the same stellar mass in the low density environment. Our new HI scaling relations allow us to identify individual galaxies, as well as group/cluster environments, that have an `anomalous' HI content. We map the global distribution of HI-deficient and HI-excess galaxies on the sky and compare it to the large scale structure of galaxies. We find galaxy clusters to be HI-deficient, and we identify that the regions surrounding clusters tend to be HI-excess. Finally, we demonstrate the potential of using HI scaling relations to predict future HI surveys based on an optical redshift survey. We apply our scaling relations to 16709 galaxies in the 6dF Galaxy Survey (6dFGS) that lie in the HIPASS volume and compare our predictions to the measurements. We find that scaling relations are good method to estimate the outcome of HI surveys.

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the large-scale structure of galaxies and comparison to mock universes

From a volume-limited sample of 45 542 galaxies and 6000 groups with z ≤ 0.213, we use an adapted minimal spanning tree algorithm to identify and classify large-scale structures within the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. Using galaxy groups, we identify 643 filaments across the three equatorial GAMA fields that span up to 200 h−1 Mpc in length, each with an average of eight groups within them. By analysing galaxies not belonging to groups, we identify a secondary population of smaller coherent structures composed entirely of galaxies, dubbed ‘tendrils’ that appear to link filaments together, or penetrate into voids, generally measuring around 10 h−1 Mpc in length and containing on average six galaxies. Finally, we are also able to identify a population of isolated void galaxies. By running this algorithm on GAMA mock galaxy catalogues, we compare the characteristics of large-scale structure between observed and mock data, finding that mock filaments reproduce observed ones extremely well. This provides a probe of higher order distribution statistics not captured by the popularly used two-point correlation function.

A large-scale galaxy structure atz = 2.02 associated with the radio galaxy MRC 0156-252

We present the spectroscopic confirmation of a structure of galaxies surrounding the radio galaxy MRC0156-252 at z = 2.02. The structure was initially discovered as an overdensity of both near-infrared selected z > 1.6 and mid-infrared selected z > 1.2 galaxy candidates. We used the VLT/FORS2 multi-object spectrograph to target ~80 high-redshift galaxy candidates, and obtain robust spectroscopic redshifts for more than half the targets. The majority of the confirmed sources are star-forming galaxies at z > 1.5. In addition to the radio galaxy, two of its close-by companions (< 6'') also show AGN signatures. Ten sources, including the radio galaxy, lie within |z - 2.020 | < 0.015 (i.e., velocity offsets < 1500 km/s) and within projected 2 Mpc comoving of the radio galaxy. Additional evidence suggests not only that the galaxy structure associated with MRC0156-252 is a forming galaxy cluster but also that this structure is most probably embedded in a larger scale structure.

Generation of arbitrarily non-Gaussian fields with a set correlation structure

Non-Gaussianity in the cosmic microwave background and the large-scale structure of galaxies provides an increasingly powerful probe of the universe. I implement an algorithm to generate realisations of fields that possess an arbitrary probability distribution function and an arbitrary power spectrum and demonstrate the code with a number of examples, including the uniform distribution, the Laplace distribution, the χ and χ2 distributions, Rayleigh and Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions. The code is available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/nongaussian.

WARM-HOT GAS IN GROUPS AND GALAXIES TOWARD H2356-309

We present a detailed analysis of the galaxy and group distributions around three reported X-ray absorption line systems in the spectrum of the quasar H2356-309. Previous studies associated these absorbers with known large-scale galaxy structures (i.e., walls and filaments) along the line of sight. Such absorption lines typically trace 10^{5-7} K gas, and may be evidence of the elusive warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) thought to harbor the bulk of the low-redshift "missing baryons;" alternatively, they may be linked to individual galaxies or groups in the filaments. Here we combine existing galaxy survey data with new, multi-object Magellan spectroscopy to investigate the detailed galaxy distribution near each absorber. All of these three absorption systems are within the projected virial radii of nearby galaxies and/or groups, and could therefore arise in these virialized structures rather than (or in addition to) the WHIM. However, we find no additional galaxies near a fourth "void" absorber recently found in the spectrum, suggesting that this system may indeed trace gas unassociated with any individual halo. Though the number of known systems is still small, spatial coincidences suggest that some X-ray absorbers lie in galaxy and/or group environments, though others could still trace the large-scale filamentary WHIM gas predicted by simulations.

Precision cosmology as a neutrino laboratory

I give an overview of the effects of neutrinos on cosmology, focussing in particular on the role played by massive neutrinos in the evolution of cosmological perturbations. I discuss how recent observations of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies and the large-scale structure of galaxies can probe neutrino masses with greater precision than current laboratory experiments. I describe several new techniques that will be used to probe cosmology in the future, and also some recent advances in the computation of the nonlinear matter power spectrum and related observables.

Two close large quasar groups of size ∼ 350 Mpc at

The Clowes & Campusano (1991) Large Quasar Group (LQG) at <z> = 1.28 has been re-examined using the quasar data from the DR7QSO catalogue of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In the 1991 discovery, the LQG impinged on the northern, southern and eastern limits of the survey. In the DR7QSO data, the western, northern and southern boundaries of the LQG remain essentially the same, but an extension eastwards of \sim 2 deg is indicated. In the DR7QSO data, the LQG has 34 members, with <z> = 1.28. A new group of 38 members is indicated at <z> = 1.11 and within \sim 2.0 deg of the Clowes & Campusano LQG. The characteristic sizes of these two LQGs, \sim 350-400 Mpc, appear to be only marginally consistent with the scale of homogeneity in the concordance cosmology. In addition to their intrinsic interest, these two LQGs provide locations in which to investigate early large-scale structure in galaxies and to identify high-z clusters. A method is presented for assessing the statistical significance and overdensity of groups found by linkage of points.

Shedding light on the galaxy luminosity function

From as early as the 1930s, astronomers have tried to quantify the statistical nature of the evolution and large-scale structure of galaxies by studying their luminosity distribution as a function of redshift - known as the galaxy luminosity function (LF). Accurately constructing the LF remains a popular and yet tricky pursuit in modern observational cosmology where the presence of observational selection effects due to e.g. detection thresholds in apparent magnitude, colour, surface brightness or some combination thereof can render any given galaxy survey incomplete and thus introduce bias into the LF. Over the last seventy years there have been numerous sophisticated statistical approaches devised to tackle these issues; all have advantages -- but not one is perfect. This review takes a broad historical look at the key statistical tools that have been developed over this period, discussing their relative merits and highlighting any significant extensions and modifications. In addition, the more generalised methods that have emerged within the last few years are examined. These methods propose a more rigorous statistical framework within which to determine the LF compared to some of the more traditional methods. I also look at how photometric redshift estimations are being incorporated into the LF methodology as well as considering the construction of bivariate LFs. Finally, I review the ongoing development of completeness estimators which test some of the fundamental assumptions going into LF estimators and can be powerful probes of any residual systematic effects inherent magnitude-redshift data.

DISCOVERY OF A LARGE-SCALE GALAXY FILAMENT NEAR A CANDIDATE INTERGALACTIC X-RAY ABSORPTION SYSTEM

We present an analysis of the large-scale galaxy distribution around two possible warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) absorption systems reported along the Markarian 421 sightline. Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we find a prominent galaxy filament at the redshift of the z=0.027 X-ray absorption line system. The filament exhibits a width of 3.2 Mpc and length of at least 20 Mpc, comparable to the size of WHIM filaments seen in cosmological simulations. No individual galaxies fall within 350 projected kpc so it is unlikely that the absorption is associated with gas in a galaxy halo or outflow. Another, lower-significance X-ray absorption system was reported in the same Chandra spectrum at z=0.011, but the large-scale structure in its vicinity is far weaker and may be a spurious alignment. By searching for similar galaxy structures in 140 random smoothed SDSS fields, we estimate a ~5-10% probability of the z=0.027 absorber-filament alignment occurring by chance. If these two systems are indeed physically associated, this would represent the first known coincidence between large-scale galaxy structure and a blind X-ray WHIM detection.

Ultrahigh energy nuclei in the galactic magnetic field

Observations are consistent with a significant fraction of heavy nuclei in the cosmic ray flux above a few times 1019 eV. Such nuclei can be deflected considerably in the Galactic magnetic field,with important implicationsfor the search of their sources. We perform detailed simulations of heavy nuclei propagationwithin recent Galactic magnetic field models. While such models are not yet sufficientlyconstrained to predict deflection maps in detail, we find general features of the distributionof (de-) magnified flux from sources.Since in most theoretical models sources of heavy nuclei are located in the local large scale structure of galaxies, we show examples of images of several nearby galaxy clusters and of the supergalactic plane.Such general features may be useful to develop efficient methods for source reconstructionfrom observed ultrahigh energy cosmic ray arrival directions.

SUZAKUOBSERVATION OF A1689: ANISOTROPIC TEMPERATURE AND ENTROPY DISTRIBUTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE

(Abridged) We present results of Suzaku observations of the intracluster medium (ICM) in Abell 1689, combined with complementary analysis of the SDSS data and weak and strong lensing analysis of Subaru/Suprime-Cam and HST/ACS observations. Faint X-ray emission from the ICM around the virial radius is detected at 4.0 sigma significance. We find anisotropic gas temperature and entropy distributions in cluster outskirts correlated with large-scale structure of galaxies. The high temperature and entropy region in the northeastern (NE) outskirts is connected to an overdense filamentary structure. The outskirt regions in contact with low density void environments have low gas temperatures and entropies, deviating from hydrostatic equilibrium. These results suggest that thermalization of the ICM occurs faster along the filamentary structures than the void regions. A joint X-ray and lensing analysis shows that the hydrostatic mass is $\sim60-90%$ of spherical lensing one but comparable to a triaxial halo mass within errors in $0.6r_{2500} \simlt r \simlt 0.8r_{500}$, and that it is significantly biased as low as $\simlt60%$ within $0.4r_{2500}$, irrespective of mass models. The thermal gas pressure within $r_{500}$ is, at most, $\sim50$--60% of the total pressure to balance fully the gravity of the spherical lensing mass, and $\sim30$--40% around the virial radius. Although these constitute lower limits when one considers the possible halo triaxiality, these small relative contributions of thermal pressure would require additional sources of pressure, such as bulk and/or turbulent motions.

X-RAY ABSORPTION BY WHIM IN THE SCULPTOR WALL

We present XMM RGS and Chandra LETG observations of the blazar, H 2356-309, located behind the Sculptor Wall, a large-scale galaxy structure expected to harbor high-density Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM). Our simultaneous analysis of the RGS and LETG spectra yields a 3-sigma detection of the crucial redshifted O vii K-alpha line with a column density (>~ 10^{16} cm^{-2}) consistent with similar large-scale structures produced in cosmological simulations. This represents the first detection of non-local WHIM from X-ray absorption studies where XMM and Chandra data are analyzed simultaneously and the absorber redshift is already known, thus providing robust evidence for the expected repository of the "missing baryons".