1,528 research outputs found
Analysis of the Spatial Distribution of Galaxies by Multiscale Methods
Galaxies are arranged in interconnected walls and filaments forming a cosmic
web encompassing huge, nearly empty, regions between the structures. Many
statistical methods have been proposed in the past in order to describe the
galaxy distribution and discriminate the different cosmological models. We
present in this paper results relative to the use of new statistical tools
using the 3D isotropic undecimated wavelet transform, the 3D ridgelet transform
and the 3D beamlet transform. We show that such multiscale methods produce a
new way to measure in a coherent and statistically reliable way the degree of
clustering, filamentarity, sheetedness, and voidedness of a datasetComment: 26 pages, 20 figures. Submitted to EURASIP Journal on Applied Signal
Processing (special issue on "Applications of Signal Processing in
Astrophysics and Cosmology"
The Multiscale Morphology Filter: Identifying and Extracting Spatial Patterns in the Galaxy Distribution
We present here a new method, MMF, for automatically segmenting cosmic
structure into its basic components: clusters, filaments, and walls.
Importantly, the segmentation is scale independent, so all structures are
identified without prejudice as to their size or shape. The method is ideally
suited for extracting catalogues of clusters, walls, and filaments from samples
of galaxies in redshift surveys or from particles in cosmological N-body
simulations: it makes no prior assumptions about the scale or shape of the
structures.}Comment: Replacement with higher resolution figures. 28 pages, 17 figures. For
Full Resolution Version see:
http://www.astro.rug.nl/~weygaert/tim1publication/miguelmmf.pd
Weak Lensing Mass Reconstruction using Wavelets
This paper presents a new method for the reconstruction of weak lensing mass
maps. It uses the multiscale entropy concept, which is based on wavelets, and
the False Discovery Rate which allows us to derive robust detection levels in
wavelet space. We show that this new restoration approach outperforms several
standard techniques currently used for weak shear mass reconstruction. This
method can also be used to separate E and B modes in the shear field, and thus
test for the presence of residual systematic effects. We concentrate on large
blind cosmic shear surveys, and illustrate our results using simulated shear
maps derived from N-Body Lambda-CDM simulations with added noise corresponding
to both ground-based and space-based observations.Comment: Accepted manuscript with all figures can be downloaded at:
http://jstarck.free.fr/aa_wlens05.pdf and software can be downloaded at
http://jstarck.free.fr/mrlens.htm
More than just halo mass: Modelling how the red galaxy fraction depends on multiscale density in a HOD framework
The fraction of galaxies with red colours depends sensitively on environment,
and on the way in which environment is measured. To distinguish competing
theories for the quenching of star formation, a robust and complete description
of environment is required, to be applied to a large sample of galaxies. The
environment of galaxies can be described using the density field of neighbours
on multiple scales - the multiscale density field. We are using the Millennium
simulation and a simple HOD prescription which describes the multiscale density
field of Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7 galaxies to investigate the dependence of
the fraction of red galaxies on the environment. Using a volume limited sample
where we have sufficient galaxies in narrow density bins, we have more dynamic
range in halo mass and density for satellite galaxies than for central
galaxies. Therefore we model the red fraction of central galaxies as a constant
while we use a functional form to describe the red fraction of satellites as a
function of halo mass which allows us to distinguish a sharp from a gradual
transition. While it is clear that the data can only be explained by a gradual
transition, an analysis of the multiscale density field on different scales
suggests that colour segregation within the haloes is needed to explain the
results. We also rule out a sharp transition for central galaxies, within the
halo mass range sampled.Comment: 24 pages, 21 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA
Multiscale Phenomenology of the Cosmic Web
We analyze the structure and connectivity of the distinct morphologies that
define the Cosmic Web. With the help of our Multiscale Morphology Filter (MMF),
we dissect the matter distribution of a cosmological CDM N-body
computer simulation into cluster, filaments and walls. The MMF is ideally
suited to adress both the anisotropic morphological character of filaments and
sheets, as well as the multiscale nature of the hierarchically evolved cosmic
matter distribution. The results of our study may be summarized as follows:
i).- While all morphologies occupy a roughly well defined range in density,
this alone is not sufficient to differentiate between them given their overlap.
Environment defined only in terms of density fails to incorporate the intrinsic
dynamics of each morphology. This plays an important role in both linear and
non linear interactions between haloes. ii).- Most of the mass in the Universe
is concentrated in filaments, narrowly followed by clusters. In terms of
volume, clusters only represent a minute fraction, and filaments not more than
9%. Walls are relatively inconspicous in terms of mass and volume. iii).- On
average, massive clusters are connected to more filaments than low mass
clusters. Clusters with M h have on average
two connecting filaments, while clusters with M
h have on average five connecting filaments. iv).- Density profiles
indicate that the typical width of filaments is 2\Mpch. Walls have less well
defined boundaries with widths between 5-8 Mpc h. In their interior,
filaments have a power-law density profile with slope ,
corresponding to an isothermal density profile.Comment: 28 pages, 22 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. For a
high-res version see http://www.astro.rug.nl/~weygaert/webmorph_mmf.pd
Alpha, Betti and the Megaparsec Universe: on the Topology of the Cosmic Web
We study the topology of the Megaparsec Cosmic Web in terms of the
scale-dependent Betti numbers, which formalize the topological information
content of the cosmic mass distribution. While the Betti numbers do not fully
quantify topology, they extend the information beyond conventional cosmological
studies of topology in terms of genus and Euler characteristic. The richer
information content of Betti numbers goes along the availability of fast
algorithms to compute them.
For continuous density fields, we determine the scale-dependence of Betti
numbers by invoking the cosmologically familiar filtration of sublevel or
superlevel sets defined by density thresholds. For the discrete galaxy
distribution, however, the analysis is based on the alpha shapes of the
particles. These simplicial complexes constitute an ordered sequence of nested
subsets of the Delaunay tessellation, a filtration defined by the scale
parameter, . As they are homotopy equivalent to the sublevel sets of
the distance field, they are an excellent tool for assessing the topological
structure of a discrete point distribution. In order to develop an intuitive
understanding for the behavior of Betti numbers as a function of , and
their relation to the morphological patterns in the Cosmic Web, we first study
them within the context of simple heuristic Voronoi clustering models.
Subsequently, we address the topology of structures emerging in the standard
LCDM scenario and in cosmological scenarios with alternative dark energy
content. The evolution and scale-dependence of the Betti numbers is shown to
reflect the hierarchical evolution of the Cosmic Web and yields a promising
measure of cosmological parameters. We also discuss the expected Betti numbers
as a function of the density threshold for superlevel sets of a Gaussian random
field.Comment: 42 pages, 14 figure
Multi-scale morphology of the galaxy distribution
Many statistical methods have been proposed in the last years for analyzing
the spatial distribution of galaxies. Very few of them, however, can handle
properly the border effects of complex observational sample volumes. In this
paper, we first show how to calculate the Minkowski Functionals (MF) taking
into account these border effects. Then we present a multiscale extension of
the MF which gives us more information about how the galaxies are spatially
distributed. A range of examples using Gaussian random fields illustrate the
results. Finally we have applied the Multiscale Minkowski Functionals (MMF) to
the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey data. The MMF clearly indicates an evolution of
morphology with scale. We also compare the 2dF real catalog with mock catalogs
and found that Lambda-CDM simulations roughly fit the data, except at the
finest scale.Comment: 17 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Multiscale magnetic underdense regions on the solar surface: Granular and Mesogranular scales
The Sun is a non-equilibrium dissipative system subjected to an energy flow
which originates in its core. Convective overshooting motions create
temperature and velocity structures which show a temporal and spatial
evolution. As a result, photospheric structures are generally considered to be
the direct manifestation of convective plasma motions. The plasma flows on the
photosphere govern the motion of single magnetic elements. These elements are
arranged in typical patterns which are observed as a variety of multiscale
magnetic patterns. High resolution magnetograms of quiet solar surface revealed
the presence of magnetic underdense regions in the solar photosphere, commonly
called voids, which may be considered a signature of the underlying convective
structure. The analysis of such patterns paves the way for the investigation of
all turbulent convective scales from granular to global. In order to address
the question of magnetic structures driven by turbulent convection at granular
and mesogranular scales we used a "voids" detection method. The computed voids
distribution shows an exponential behavior at scales between 2 and 10 Mm and
the absence of features at 5-10 Mm mesogranular scales. The absence of
preferred scales of organization in the 2-10 Mm range supports the multiscale
nature of flows on the solar surface and the absence of a mesogranular
convective scale
A multiscale approach to environment and its influence on the colour distribution of galaxies
We present a multiscale approach to measurements of galaxy density, applied
to a volume-limited sample constructed from SDSS DR5. We populate a rich
parameter space by obtaining independent measurements of density on different
scales for each galaxy, avoiding the implicit assumptions involved, e.g., in
the construction of group catalogues. As the first application of this method,
we study how the bimodality in galaxy colour distribution (u-r) depends on
multiscale density. The u-r galaxy colour distribution is described as the sum
of two gaussians (red and blue) with five parameters: the fraction of red
galaxies (f_r) and the position and width of the red and blue peaks (mu_r,
mu_b, sigma_r and sigma_b). Galaxies mostly react to their smallest scale (<
0.5 Mpc) environments: in denser environments red galaxies are more common
(larger f_r), redder (larger mu_r) and with a narrower distribution (smaller
sigma_r), while blue galaxies are redder (larger mu_b) but with a broader
distribution (larger sigma_b). There are residual correlations of f_r and mu_b
with 0.5 - 1 Mpc scale density, which imply that total or partial truncation of
star formation can relate to a galaxy's environment on these scales. Beyond 1
Mpc (0.5 Mpc for mu_r) there are no positive correlations with density. However
f_r (mu_r) anti-correlates with density on >2 (1) Mpc scales at fixed density
on smaller scales. We examine these trends qualitatively in the context of the
halo model, utilizing the properties of haloes within which the galaxies are
embedded, derived by Yang et al, 2007 and applied to a group catalogue. This
yields an excellent description of the trends with multiscale density,
including the anti-correlations on large scales, which map the region of
accretion onto massive haloes. Thus we conclude that galaxies become red only
once they have been accreted onto haloes of a certain mass.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS
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