Underdense Regions Research Articles

CAVITY: Calar Alto Void Integral-field Treasury surve. I. First public data release

The Calar Alto Void Integral-field Treasury surveY (CAVITY) is a legacy project aimed at characterising the population of galaxies inhabiting voids, which are the most under-dense regions of the cosmic web, located in the Local Universe. This paper describes the first public data release (DR1) of CAVITY, comprising science-grade optical data cubes for the initial 100 out of a total of sim 300 galaxies in the Local Universe ($0.005 < z < 0.050$). These data were acquired using the integral-field spectrograph PMAS/PPak mounted on the 3.5m telescope at the Calar Alto observatory. The DR1 galaxy sample encompasses diverse characteristics in the color–magnitude space, morphological type, stellar mass, and gas ionisation conditions, providing a rich resource for addressing key questions in galaxy evolution through spatially resolved spectroscopy. The galaxies in this study were observed with the low-resolution V500 set-up, spanning the wavelength range 3745–7500 with a spectral resolution of 6.0 (FWHM). Here, we describe the data reduction and characteristics and data structure of the CAVITY datasets essential for their scientific utilisation, highlighting such concerns as vignetting effects, as well as the identification of bad pixels and management of spatially correlated noise. We also provide instructions for accessing the CAVITY datasets and associated ancillary data through the project's dedicated database.

Limitations and rotation of the two-armed phase spiral in the Milky Way stellar disc

Context. The Milky Way’s history of recent disturbances is vividly demonstrated by a structure in the vertical phase-space distribution known as the Gaia phase spiral. A one-armed phase spiral has been seen widely across the Milky Way disc, while a two-armed one has only been observed in the solar neighbourhood. Aims. This study aims to determine the properties of the two-armed phase spiral and to put it in a Galactic context, with the ultimate goal of understanding the structure and history of the Milky Way disc. Methods. The Gaia DR3 data were used to trace and characterise the two-armed phase spiral. Special focus was put on the phase spiral’s spatial distribution, rotational behaviour, and chemical characteristics. To quantify the properties of the phase spiral, we used a model that fits a spiral pattern to the phase space distribution of the stars. Results. We found that the two-armed phase spiral is detectable only within a narrow range of galactocentric distances and angular momenta in the solar neighbourhood, R = 8 ± 0.5 kpc, LZ = 1450 ± 50 kpc km s−1. Outside this region, the phase spiral is one-armed. The two-armed phase spiral rotates with the phase angle, in a similar way to the one-armed phase spiral, and changes axis ratio with phase angle. Additionally, stars within the phase-space overdensity caused by the two-armed phase spiral pattern have slightly higher mean metallicity than stars in the underdense regions of the pattern at equivalent galactocentric distances, angular momenta, and vertical orbit extents. Conclusions. The two-armed phase spiral rotates with phase angle and its effect can be seen in metallicity, in a similar way to the one-armed phase spiral. However, the limited range over which it can be found, and its variation in shape are quite different from the one-armed version, suggesting it is a much more localised phenomenon in the Galactic disc.

Global preventive feedback of powerful radio jets on galaxy formation

Firmly anchored on observational data, giant radio lobes from massive galaxies hosting supermassive black holes can exert a major negative feedback effect, by endowing the intergalactic gas with significant magnetic pressure hence retarding or preventing gas accretion onto less massive halos in the vicinity. Since massive galaxies that are largely responsible for producing the giant radio lobes, this effect is expected to be stronger in more overdense large-scale environments, such as protoclusters, than in underdense regions, such as voids. We show that by redshift [Formula: see text] halos with masses up to [Formula: see text] are significantly hindered from accreting gas due to this effect for radio bubble volume filling fraction of [Formula: see text], respectively. Since the vast majority of the stars in the universe at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] 2 to 3 form precisely in those halos, this negative feedback process is likely one major culprit for causing the global downturn in star formation in the universe. It also provides a natural explanation for the rather sudden flattening of the slope of the galaxy rest-frame UV luminosity function around [Formula: see text]. A cross-correlation between protoclusters and Faraday rotation measures may test the predicted magnetic field. Inclusion of this external feedback process in the next generation of cosmological simulations may be imperative.

Pebble-driven migration of low-mass planets in the 2D regime of pebble accretion

Pebbles drifting past a disk-embedded low-mass planet develop asymmetries in their distribution and exert a substantial gravitational torque on the planet, thus modifying its migration rate. Our aim is to assess how the distribution of pebbles and the resulting torque change in the presence of pebble accretion, focusing on its 2D regime. First, we performed 2D high-resolution multi-fluid simulations with Fargo3D but found that they are impractical for resolving pebble accretion due to the smoothing of the planetary gravitational potential. To remove the smoothing and directly trace pebbles accreted by the planet, we developed a new code Deneb which evolves an ensemble of pebbles, represented by Lagrangian superparticles, in a steady-state gaseous background. For small and moderate Stokes numbers, $ St pebble accretion creates two underdense regions with a front-rear asymmetry with respect to the planet. The underdensity trailing the planet is more extended. The resulting excess of pebble mass in front of the planet then makes the pebble torque positive and capable of outperforming the negative gas torque. Pebble accretion thus enables outward migration (previously thought to occur mainly for $ St in a larger portion of the parameter space. It occurs for the planet mass pl oplus $ and for all the Stokes numbers considered in our study, $ St $, assuming a pebble-to-gas mass ratio of $Z=0.01$. If some of the observed planets underwent outward pebble-driven migration during their accretion, the formation sites of their progenitor embryos could have differed greatly from the usual predictions of planet formation models. To enable an update of the respective models, we provide a scaling law for the pebble torque that can be readily incorporated in N-body simulations.

Cosmology from One Galaxy in a Void?

Understanding galaxy properties may be the key to unlocking some of the most intriguing mysteries of modern cosmology. Recent work relied on machine learning to extract cosmological constraints on Ωm using only one galaxy. But if this is true, how should we select the galaxy to use for cosmology inference? In this Letter, we consider selecting a galaxy that lies in cosmic voids, the underdense regions of the cosmic web, and compare the constraints obtained with the ones obtained when randomly selecting a galaxy in the whole sample. We use the IllustrisTNG galaxy catalog from the Cosmology and Astrophysics with MachinE Learning Simulations (CAMELS) project and the VIDE void finder to identify galaxies inside voids. We show that void galaxies provide stronger constraints on Ωm compared to randomly selected galaxies. This result suggests that the distinctive characteristics of void galaxies may provide a cleaner and more effective environment for extracting cosmological information.

The impact of free-streaming on dwarf galaxy counts in low-density regions

ABSTRACT We study the statistics of dwarf galaxy populations as a function of environment in cold dark matter (CDM) and warm dark matter (WDM; sterile neutrino model mass $M_{{\rm s}}=7.1~{\rm keV}$; half-mode mass $M_{{\rm hm}} = 6.3\times 10^8$ ${\rm M}_\odot$; and thermal relic equivalent mass $m_{{\rm th}} = 2.8~{\rm keV}$) cosmogonies, using the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) galaxy formation model in two counterpart simulations. We measure the abundance of dwarf galaxies within 3 Mpc of DM haloes with a present-day halo mass similar to the Milky Way, finding that the number of galaxies $M_{*}\gt 10^7$ ${\rm M}_\odot$ is nearly identical for WDM and CDM. However, the cumulative mass function becomes shallower for WDM at lower masses, yielding 50 per cent fewer dwarf galaxies of $M_{*}\gtrsim 10^{5}$ ${\rm M}_\odot$ than CDM. The suppression of low-mass halo counts in WDM increases significantly from high- to low-density regions for haloes in the $[0.5,2] \times M_ {\rm hm}$ range. The fraction of haloes hosting resolvable galaxies ($M_*\gtrsim 10^{5}$ ${\rm M}_\odot$ ) also diverges from overdense to underdense regions for $M\gt 2M_ {\rm hm}$, as the increased collapse delay at small densities pushes the collapse to after the reionization threshold. However, the stellar mass of WDM haloes at $[0.5,2]\times M_ {\rm hm}$ is 30 per cent higher per unit halo mass than CDM haloes in underdense regions. We conclude that the suppression of galaxies with $M_{*}\gtrsim 10^5$ ${\rm M}_\odot$ between WDM and CDM is independent of density: the suppression of halo counts and fraction of luminous haloes is balanced by an enhancement in stellar mass–halo mass relation.

CAVITY, Calar Alto Void Integral-field Treasury surveY and project extension

We have learnt in the last decades that the majority of galaxies belong to high density regions interconnected in a sponge-like fashion. This large-scale structure is characterised by clusters, filaments, and walls, where most galaxies concentrate, but also under-dense regions called voids. The void regions and the galaxies within represent an ideal place for the study of galaxy formation and evolution, as they are largely unaffected by the complex physical processes that transform galaxies in high-density environments. The void galaxies may hold the key to answer current challenges to the Lambda CDM paradigm as well. The CAVITY survey is a Legacy project approved by the Calar Alto Observatory to obtain spatially resolved spectroscopic information of $ void galaxies in the Local Universe (0.005 < z < 0.050), covering -17.0 to -21.5 in $ r$ band absolute magnitude. It officially started in January 2021 and has been awarded 110 useful dark observing nights at the 3.5 m telescope using the PMAS spectrograph. Complementary follow-up projects, including deep optical imaging, integrated as well as resolved CO data, and integrated HI spectra, have joined the PMAS observations and naturally complete the scientific aim of characterising galaxies in cosmic voids. The extension data has been named CAVITY+. The data will be available to the whole community in different data releases, the first of which is planned for July 2024, and it will provide the community with PMAS datacubes for around 100 void galaxies through a user friendly and well documented database platform. Here, we present the survey, sample selection, data reduction, quality control schemes, science goals, and some examples of the scientific power of the CAVITY and CAVITY+ data.

Secondary halo bias through cosmic time

Context. The spatial distribution of dark matter halos carries cosmological and astrophysical information. Cosmological information can be considered to be contained in the connection between halo main properties and the large-scale halo bias, while the astrophysical information would be encoded in the scaling relations between halo properties. The combination of these two contributions leads to the effect of secondary halo bias. Aims. Our goal is to measure the signal of secondary halo bias as a function of a variety of intrinsic and environmental halo properties and to characterize its statistical significance as a function of cosmological redshift. Methods. Using fixed and paired N-body simulations of dark-matter halos – the UNIT simulation – with masses above ∼1011 M⊙h−1 identified over a wide range of cosmological redshifts (0 < z < 5), we explored the behavior of the scaling relations among different halo properties. We included novel environmental properties based on the halo distribution as well as the underlying dark-matter field. We implemented an object-by-object estimator of large-scale effective bias and tested its validity against standard approaches. With a bias assigned to each tracer, we performed a statistical analysis aimed at characterizing the distribution of the bias and the signal of the secondary halo bias. Results. We show how the halo scaling relations linking direct probes of the halo potential well do not depend on the environment. On the contrary, links between the halo mass and the so-called set of secondary halo properties are sensitive to the cosmological environment, mainly to under-dense regions. We show that the signal of secondary bias is derived statistically from secondary correlations beyond the standard link to the halo mass. Conclusions. We show that the secondary bias arises through nonlocal and/or environmental properties related either to the halo distribution or to the properties of the underlying dark-matter field. In particular, properties such as the tidal field (a measure of the anisotropy of the density field) and the local Mach number (a measure of the local kinetic temperature of the halo distribution) generate the signals of the secondary bias with the highest significance. We propose applications of the assignment of individual bias for the generation of mock catalogs containing the signal of secondary bias, as well as a series of cosmological analyses aimed at mining large galaxy datasets.

Constraints on UHECR Sources and Extragalactic Magnetic Fields from Directional Anisotropies

A dipole anisotropy in ultra–high-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) arrival directions, of extragalactic origin, is now firmly established at energies E > 8 EeV. Furthermore, the UHECR angular power spectrum shows no power at smaller angular scales than the dipole, apart from hints of possible individual hot or warm spots for energy thresholds ≳40 EeV. Here we exploit the magnitude of the dipole and the limits on smaller-scale anisotropies to place constraints on two quantities: the extragalactic magnetic field (EGMF) and the number density of UHECR sources or the volumetric event rate if UHECR sources are transient. We also vary the bias between the extragalactic matter and the UHECR source densities, reflecting whether UHECR sources are preferentially found in over- or underdense regions, and find that little or no bias is favored. We follow Ding et al. (2021) in using the CosmicFlows-2 density distribution of the local universe as our baseline distribution of UHECR sources, but we improve and extend that work by employing an accurate and self-consistent treatment of interactions and energy losses during propagation. Deflections in the Galactic magnetic field are treated using either the full JF12 magnetic field model, with both random and coherent components, or just the coherent part, to bracket the impact of the GMF on the dipole anisotropy. This large-scale structure model gives good agreement with both the direction and magnitude of the measured dipole anisotropy and forms the basis for simulations of discrete sources and the inclusion of EGMF effects.

Investigating cosmic homogeneity using multifractal analysis of the SDSS-IV eBOSS DR16 quasar catalogue

ABSTRACT We analyse the volume-limited subsamples extracted from the sixteenth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-IV (SDSS-IV) eBOSS quasar survey spanning a redshift interval of 0.8 < z < 2.2, to estimate the scale of transition to homogeneity in the Universe. The multifractal analysis used for this purpose considers the scaling behaviour of different moments of quasar distribution in different density environments. This analysis gives the spectrum of generalized dimension Dq, where positive values of q characterize the scaling behaviour in overdense regions and the negative ones in underdense regions. We expect fractal correlation dimension Dq(r) = 3, for a homogeneous, random point distribution in 3-Dimensions. The fractal correlation dimension Dq(r), corresponding to q = 2 obtained in our study stabilizes in the range (2.8–2.9) for scales r > 80 h−1 Mpc. The observed quasar distribution shows consistency with the simulated mock data and the random distribution of quasars within one sigma. Further, the generalized dimension spectrum Dq(r) also reveals transition to homogeneity beyond >110 h−1 Mpc, and the dominance of clustering at small scales r < 80 h−1 Mpc. Consequently, our study provides strong evidence for the homogeneity in SDSS quasar distribution, offering insights into large-scale structure properties and, thus can play a pivotal role in scrutinizing the clustering properties of quasars and its evolution in various upcoming surveys such as Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument and Extremely Large Telescope.

Large-scale excess H i absorption around z ≈ 4 galaxies detected in a background galaxy spectrum in the MUSE eXtremely deep field

ABSTRACT Observationally mapping the relation between galaxies and the intergalactic medium (IGM) is of key interest for studies of cosmic reionization. Diffuse hydrogen gas has typically been observed in H i Lyman-α (Lyα) absorption in the spectra of bright background quasars. However, it is important to extend these measurements to background galaxies as quasars become increasingly rare at high redshift and rarely probe closely separated sight lines. Here, we use deep integral field spectroscopy in the MUSE eXtremely Deep Field to demonstrate the measurement of the Lyα transmission at z ≈ 4 in absorption to a background galaxy at z = 4.77. The H i transmission is consistent with independent quasar sight lines at similar redshifts. Exploiting the high number of spectroscopic redshifts of faint galaxies (500 between z = 4.0–4.7 within a radius of 8 arcmin) that are tracers of the density field, we show that Lyα transmission is inversely correlated with galaxy density, i.e. transparent regions in the Lyα forest mark underdense regions at z ≈ 4. Due to large-scale clustering, galaxies are surrounded by excess H i absorption over the cosmic mean out to 4 cMpc/h70. We also find that redshifts from the peak of the Lyα line are typically offset from the systemic redshift by +170 km s−1. This work extends results from z ≈ 2–3 to higher redshifts and demonstrates the power of deep integral field spectroscopy to simultaneously measure the ionization structure of the IGM and the large-scale density field in the early Universe.

The abundance of dark matter haloes down to Earth mass

ABSTRACT We use the voids-within-voids-within-voids (VVV) simulations, a suite of successive nested N-body simulations with extremely high resolution (denoted, from low to high resolution, by L0 to L7), to test the Press–Schechter (PS), Sheth–Tormen (ST), and extended Press–Schechter (EPS) formulae for the halo abundance over the entire mass range, from minihaloes of 10−6 M⊙, to cluster haloes of 1015 M⊙, at different redshifts, from z = 30 to the present. We find that at z = 0 and z = 2, ST best reproduces the results of L0, which has the mean cosmic density (overdensity δ = 0), at 1011−15 M⊙. The higher resolution levels (L1–L7) are biased underdense regions (δ < −0.6). The EPS formalism takes this into account since it gives the mass function of a region conditioned, in this case, on having a given underdensity. EPS provides good matches to these higher levels, with deviations ≲20 per cent, at 10−6−12.5 M⊙. At z ∼ 7−15, the ST predictions for L0 and the EPS for L1–L7 show somewhat larger deviations from the simulation results. However, at even higher redshifts, z ∼ 30, EPS fits the simulations well again. We confirm our results by picking more subvolumes from the L0 simulation, finding that our conclusions depend only weakly on the size and overdensity of the region. The good agreement of EPS with the higher level simulations implies that PS (or ST) gives an accurate description of the total halo mass function in representative regions of the universe.

DEMNUni: disentangling dark energy from massive neutrinos with the void size function

Cosmic voids, the underdense regions in the Universe, are impacted by dark energy and massive neutrinos. In this work, relying on the DEMNUni suite of cosmological simulations, we explore the void size function in cosmologies with both dynamical dark energy and massive neutrinos. We investigate the impact of different choices of dark matter tracers on the void size function and study its sensitivity to the joint effect of several dark energy equations of state and total neutrino masses.In particular, we find that for all the combinations of neutrino mass and dark energy equation of state considered, the differences between the corresponding void size functions are larger than the associated Poisson noise, and therefore can be all distinguished. This looks very promising considering that forthcoming surveys, as the Euclid satellite, will be characterised by a void statistics with similar number densities and volumes as for the DEMNUni suite. These findings show that the use of the void size function in forthcoming large galaxy surveys will be extremely useful in breaking degeneracies among these cosmological parameters.

Influence of local structure on relic neutrino abundances and anisotropies

Gravitational potentials of the Milky Way and extragalactic structures can influence the propagation of the cosmic neutrino background (CNB). Of particular interest to future CNB observatories, such as PTOLEMY, is the CNB number density on Earth. In this study, we have developed a simulation framework that maps the trajectories of relic neutrinos as they move through the local gravitational environment. The potentials are based on the dark matter halos found in state-of-the-art cosmological N-body simulations, resulting in a more nuanced and realistic input than the previously employed analytical models. We find that the complex dark matter distributions, along with their dynamic evolution, influence the abundance and anisotropies of the CNB in ways unaccounted for by earlier analytical methods. Importantly, these cosmological simulations contain multiple instances of Milky Way-like halos that we employ to model a variety of gravitational landscapes. Consequently, we notice a variation in the CNB number densities that can be primarily attributed to the differences in the masses of these individual halos. For neutrino masses between 0.01 and 0.3 eV, we note clustering factors within the range of 1 + 𝒪(10-3) to 1 + 𝒪(1). Furthermore, the asymmetric nature of the underlying dark matter distributions within the halos results in not only overdense, but intriguingly, underdense regions within the full-sky anisotropy maps. Gravitational clustering appears to have a significant impact on the angular power spectra of these maps, leading to orders of magnitude more power on smaller scales beyond multipoles of ℓ = 3 when juxtaposed against predictions by primordial fluctuations. We discuss how our results reshape our understanding of relic neutrino clustering and how this might affect observability of future CNB observatories such as PTOLEMY.GitHub: our simulation code will be made visible here.

The monopole and quadrupole moments of the epoch of reionization (EoR) 21-cm bispectrum

ABSTRACT We study the monopole ($\bar{B}^0_0$) and quadrupole ($\bar{B}^0_2$) moments of the 21-cm bispectrum (BS) from EoR simulations and present results for squeezed and stretched triangles. Both $\bar{B}^0_0$ and $\bar{B}^0_2$ are positive at the early stage of EoR where the mean neutral hydrogen (${\rm H\, {\small I}}$) density fraction $\bar{x}_{\rm {\rm H\, {\small I}}}\approx 0.99$. The subsequent evolution of $\bar{B}^0_0$ and $\bar{B}^0_2$ at large and intermediate scales (k = 0.29 and $0.56 \, {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$, respectively) is punctuated by two sign changes which mark transitions in the ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ distribution. The first sign flip where $\bar{B}^0_0$ becomes negative occurs in the intermediate stages of EoR $(\bar{x}_{\rm {\rm H\, {\small I}}}\gt 0.5)$, at large scale first followed by the intermediate scale. This marks the emergence of distinct ionized bubbles in the neutral background. $\bar{B}^0_2$ is relatively less affected by this transition, and it mostly remains positive even when $\bar{B}^0_0$ becomes negative. The second sign flip, which affects both $\bar{B}^0_0$ and $\bar{B}^0_2$, occurs at the late stage of EoR $(\bar{x}_{\rm {\rm H\, {\small I}}}\lt 0.5)$. This marks a transition in the topology of the ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ distribution, after which we have distinct ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ islands in an ionized background. This causes $\bar{B}^0_0$ to become positive. The negative $\bar{B}^0_2$ is a definite indication that the ${\rm H\, {\small I}}$ islands survive only in underdense regions.

Void BAO measurements on quasars from eBOSS

Abstract We present the clustering of voids based on the quasar (QSO) sample of the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Data Release 16 in configuration space. We define voids as overlapping empty circumspheres computed by Delaunay tetrahedra spanned by quartets of quasars, allowing for an estimate of the depth of underdense regions. To maximise the BAO signal-to-noise ratio, we consider only voids with radii larger than 36h−1Mpc. Our analysis shows a negative BAO peak in the cross-correlation of QSOs and voids. The joint BAO measurement of the QSO auto-correlation and the corresponding cross-correlation with voids shows an improvement in 70% of the QSO mocks with an average improvement of $\sim 5\%$. However, on the SDSS data, we find no improvement compatible with cosmic variance. For both mocks and data, adding voids does not introduce any bias. We find under the flat ΛCDM assumption, a distance joint measurement on data at the effective redshift zeff = 1.51 of DV(zeff) = 26.558 ± 0.553. A forecast of a DESI-like survey with 1000 boxes with a similar effective volume recovers the same results as for light-cone mocks with an average of 4.8% improvement in 68% of the boxes.

The influence of microstructural orientation on fracture toughness in (V, Al)N and (V, Al)(O, N) coatings as measured by microcantilever bending

Since protective transition metal (oxy)nitride coatings are widely used, understanding of the mechanisms linking microstructure to their fracture behaviour is required to optimise wear resistance, while maintaining fracture toughness. To assess this interconnection, beam bending was performed using microcantilevers oriented parallel and at 90° to the growth direction. Furthermore, the tests were applied to favour normal bending and shear fracture. Coatings were synthesised by both direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) as well as high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS). Here, we show that the fracture toughness depends on the alignment of the grains and loading directions. Furthermore, an improved fracture toughness was found in coatings produced by HPPMS, when microstructural defects, such as underdense regions in DCMS deposited coatings can be excluded. We propose indices based on fracture and mechanical properties to rank those coatings. Here, the HPPMS deposited oxynitride showed the best combination of mechanical properties and fracture toughness.Graphical abstractPrinciple of measuring the effects of microstructure and process route on the fracture toughness via microcantilever bending.

Dependence of galactic bars on the tidal density field in the SDSS

ABSTRACT As a key driver of the secular evolution of disc galaxies, bar formation is potentially linked to the surrounding tidal field. We systematically investigate the dependence of bars on both the small (${\lt }2\, \mathrm{Mpc}\,h^{-1}$) and large (${\gt }5\, \mathrm{Mpc}\,h^{-1}$) scale tidal fields using galaxies observed in the range 0.01 < z < 0.11 by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We characterize bar strength using the ellipticity of the isophote that corresponds to each bar, ebar, derived from its galaxy image after subtracting the 2D disc component. We demonstrate the efficacy of our bar detection method by performing an extensive comparison with the visual identifications from SDSS and the DESI Legacy Surveys. Using the Yang et al. SDSS group catalogue, we confirm the results from a recent study that the average ebar of galaxies within interacting clusters is higher than that within isolated ones at 0.01 < z < 0.06, but this small-scale tidal enhancement of bars disappears after we increase the cluster sample by a factor of 5 to z = 0.11. On large scales, we explore the dependence of ebar on α5, the tidal anisotropy of the density field defined over $5\, \mathrm{Mpc}\,h^{-1}$. We do not detect any such dependence for 98 per cent of the galaxies with α5 < 10. Intriguingly, among the 2 per cent with α5 ≥ 10, we detect some hint of a boost in bar strength in the underdense regions and a suppression in the overdense regions. Combining our results on both scales, we conclude that there is little evidence for the tidal dependence of bar formation in the local Universe, except for the extremely anisotropic environments.

Galaxies in voids assemble their stars slowly.

Galaxies in the Universe are distributed in a web-like structure characterized by different large-scale environments: dense clusters, elongated filaments, sheetlike walls and under-dense regions, called voids1-5. The low density in voids is expected to affect the properties of their galaxies. Indeed, previous studies6-14 have shown that galaxies in voids are, on average, bluerand less massive, andhave later morphologies and higher current star formation rates than galaxies in denser large-scale environments. However, it has never been observationally proved that the star formation histories (SFHs) in voids are substantially different from those infilaments, walls and clusters. Here we show that void galaxies have had, on average, slower SFHs than galaxies in denser large-scale environments. We also find two main SFH types present in all the environments: 'short-timescale' galaxies are not affected by their large-scale environment at early times but only later in their lives; 'long-timescale' galaxies have been continuously affected by their environment and stellar mass. Both types have evolved more slowly in voids than in filaments, walls and clusters.

Delfin++: A Delaunay based algorithm for finding 3D polyhedral voids in galaxy surveys

Delfin++ (Delaunay Edge Void Finder) is a simple and time-efficient algorithm, with a single input variable, designed to find cosmological voids within a 3-dimensional distribution of galaxies by characterizing them as polyhedral regions from a Delaunay tessellation. Two density metrics are defined and used to search for density minima and construct polyhedra that represent the underdense zones. A density threshold is used to define the limit above which a galaxy will not be considered part of a void. This threshold is commonly defined as 0.2n̄, where n̄ is the mean point density of the sample, whereas the values used in this work range from 0.2n̄ to 0.33n̄. The algorithm is applied to artificial data, with different density contrasts, as well as to galaxy data from SDSS DR10. The detected voids are compared with voids that have been produced through the application of vide. Our algorithm detects roundish underdense regions in the galaxy samples, with differences and overlaps compared to the vide algorithm’s results. Closer agreement is revealed when the edge length density metric is used over large galaxy samples, allowing for the detection of up to 90% of the largest vide voids. We measure ellipticities of Delfin++ detected voids and find that their distribution is shifted towards smaller values in comparison with vide’s distribution, and with predictions from an analytical model. The voids found with Delfin++ are not intended to generate a catalog, but rather represent a proof of concept of a simpler algorithm or with fewer rules for further calibration and future production of a final catalog. Delfin++ performance tests suggest that enhanced characterization of voids can be achieved through (i) choice of other density threshold values, and (ii) early recognition and rejection of deformed polyhedra induced by missing data.