1,533 research outputs found
Is the Redshift Clustering of Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts Significant?
The 26 long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with known redshifts form a
distinct cosmological set, selected differently than other cosmological probes
such as quasars and galaxies. Since the progenitors are now believed to be
connected with active star-formation and since burst emission penetrates dust,
one hope is that with a uniformly-selected sample, the large-scale redshift
distribution of GRBs can help constrain the star-formation history of the
Universe. However, we show that strong observational biases in ground-based
redshift discovery hamper a clean determination of the large-scale GRB rate and
hence the connection of GRBs to the star formation history. We then focus on
the properties of the small-scale (clustering) distribution of GRB redshifts.
When corrected for heliocentric motion relative to the local Hubble flow, the
observed redshifts appear to show a propensity for clustering: 8 of 26 GRBs
occurred within a recession velocity difference of 1000 km/s of another GRB.
That is, 4 pairs of GRBs occurred within 30 h_65^-1 Myr in cosmic time, despite
being causally separated on the sky. We investigate the significance of this
clustering. Comparison of the numbers of close redshift pairs expected from the
simulation with that observed shows no significant small-scale clustering
excess in the present sample; however, the four close pairs occur only in about
twenty percent of the simulated datasets (the precise significance of the
clustering is dependent upon the modeled biases). We conclude with some
impetuses and suggestions for future precise GRB redshift measurements.Comment: Published in the Astronomical Journal, June 2003: see
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2003AJ....125.2865
Evidence for a Positive Cosmological Constant from Flows of Galaxies and Distant Supernovae
Recent observations of high-redshift supernovae seem to suggest that the
global geometry of the Universe may be affected by a `cosmological constant',
which acts to accelerate the expansion rate with time. But these data by
themselves still permit an open universe of low mass density and no
cosmological constant. Here we derive an independent constraint on the lower
bound to the mass density, based on deviations of galaxy velocities from a
smooth universal expansion. This constraint rules out a low-density open
universe with a vanishing cosmological constant, and together the two favour a
nearly flat universe in which the contributions from mass density and the
cosmological constant are comparable. This type of universe, however, seems to
require a degree of fine tuning of the initial conditions that is in apparent
conflict with `common wisdom'.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. Slightly revised version. Letter to Natur
OMEGA AND BIASING FROM OPTICAL GALAXIES VERSUS POTENT MASS
The mass density field in the local universe, recovered by the POTENT method
from peculiar velocities of 3000 galaxies, is compared with the density
field of optically-selected galaxies. Both density fields are smoothed with a
Gaussian filter of radius 12 Mpc. Under the assumptions of
gravitational instability and a linear biasing parameter b\sbo between
optical galaxies and mass, we obtain \beta\sbo \equiv \om^{0.6}/b\sbo = 0.74
\pm 0.13. This result is obtained from a regression of POTENT mass density on
optical density after correcting the mass density field for systematic biases
in the velocity data and POTENT method. The error quoted is just the
formal error estimated from the observed scatter in the density--density
scatterplot; it does not include the uncertainty due to cosmic scatter in the
mean density or in the biasing relation. We do not attempt a formal analysis of
the goodness of fit, but the scatter about the fit is consistent with our
estimates of the uncertainties.Comment: Final revised version (minor typos corrected). 13 pages, gzipped tar
file containing LaTeX and figures. The Postscript file is available at
ftp://dust0.dur.ac.uk/pub/mjh/potopt/potopt.ps.Z or (gzipped) at
ftp://xxx.lanl.gov/astro-ph/ps/9501/9501074.ps.gz or via WWW at
http://xxx.lanl.gov/ps/astro-ph/9501074 or as separate LaTeX text and
encapsulated Postscript figures in a compressed tar'd file at
ftp://dust0.dur.ac.uk/pub/mjh/potopt/latex/potopt.tar.
Non-linear Stochastic Galaxy Biasing in Cosmological Simulations
We study the biasing relation between dark-matter halos or galaxies and the
underlying mass distribution, using cosmological -body simulations in which
galaxies are modelled via semi-analytic recipes. The nonlinear, stochastic
biasing is quantified in terms of the mean biasing function and the scatter
about it as a function of time, scale and object properties. The biasing of
galaxies and halos shows a general similarity and a characteristic shape, with
no galaxies in deep voids and a steep slope in moderately underdense regions.
At \sim 8\hmpc, the nonlinearity is typically \lsim 10 percent and the
stochasticity is a few tens of percent, corresponding to percent
variations in the cosmological parameter . Biasing
depends weakly on halo mass, galaxy luminosity, and scale. The time evolution
is rapid, with the mean biasing larger by a factor of a few at
compared to , and with a minimum for the nonlinearity and stochasticity at
an intermediate redshift. Biasing today is a weak function of the cosmological
model, reflecting the weak dependence on the power-spectrum shape, but the time
evolution is more cosmology-dependent, relecting the effect of the growth rate.
We provide predictions for the relative biasing of galaxies of different type
and color, to be compared with upcoming large redshift surveys. Analytic models
in which the number of objects is conserved underestimate the evolution of
biasing, while models that explicitly account for merging provide a good
description of the biasing of halos and its evolution, suggesting that merging
is a crucial element in the evolution of biasing.Comment: 27 pages, 21 figures, submitted to MNRA
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