The Pairwise Peculiar Velocity Dispersion of Galaxies: Effects of the Infall

We study the reliability of the reconstruction method which uses a modelling of the redshift distortions of the two-point correlation function to estimate the pairwise peculiar velocity dispersion of galaxies. In particular, the dependence of this quantity on different models for the infall velocity is examined for the Las Campanas Redshift Survey. We make extensive use of numerical simulations and of mock catalogs derived from them to discuss the effect of a self-similar infall model, of zero infall, and of the real infall taken from the simulation. The implications for two recent discrepant determinations of the pairwise velocity dispersion for this survey are discussed.Comment: minor changes in the discussion; accepted for publication in ApJ; 8 pages with 2 figures include

Untersuchungen über die Kallusbildung von di- und tetraploiden Reben in vitro

An Sproßexplantaten von di- und tetraploidem Vitis vinifera „Riesling" und „Portugieser" wurde das Kalluswachstum in vitro untersucht. Nach 42 Tagen hatte sich an den tetraploiden Explantaten der Sorte Riesling 28%, an den tetraploiden Explantaten der Sorte Portugieser 65% mehr Kallus gebildet als an den betreffenden diploiden Explantaten.Das höhere Frischgewicht der Kalli von tetraploiden Explantaten kann auf den höheren Wassergehalt der Zellen zurückgeführt werden. Es konnte kein Unterschied im Trockengewicht der Kalli von di- und tetraploiden Explantaten der Sorte Portugieser festgestellt werden. Die durchschnittliche Länge der Kalluszellen von tetraploiden Explantaten war gegenüber denen von diploiden Explantaten nahezu verdoppelt, während die Breite der Zellen gleich war. Dadurch war der Längen/Breitenindex bei den Kalluszellen der tetraploiden Explantate von 1,9 auf 3,3 erhöht. Das durchschnittliche Volumen der Kalluszellen der tetraploiden Explantate war verdoppelt.Die erhöhte Kallusbildung an den tetraploiden Explantaten muß zu einem gewissen Teil auf Polyploidisierungen zurückgeführt werden, die in beiden Kallustypen festgestellt werden konnte. Obwohl diese Polyploidisierungen in den Kalli der di- und tetraploiden Explantate gleich häufig auftraten, wirkte sich die dadurch bedingte sekundäre Vergrößerung der Zellen in den Kalli der tetraploiden Explantate stärker aus als in den Kalli der diploiden Explantate.Studies on callus growth of di- and tetraploid grapes in vitroCallus growth on shoot explants of di- and tetraploid Vitis vinifera "Riesling" and "Portugieser" was investigated in vitro. After 42 days the 4x explants showed on "Riesling" 28°/o more callus, and on "Portugieser" the increase was 65%. There was no difference in the dry weight of the calli of diploid and tetraploid "Portugieser" explants. Therefore, the increased fresh weight of the calli of the 4x explants can be traced back to a higher water content of the cells. The average length of the calli cells of the tetraploid explants was almost double that of the 2x, while the width was equal. Accordingly, the length/width index was increased from 1.9 to 3.3. The average volume of the callus cells of the 4x explants was doubled. The increased production of callus on the tetraploid explants must, to a certain extent, be traced back to polyploidisation, which is found equally in both types of callus. Although there is an equal occurence of polyploidisation in the calli of 2x and 4x explants, the secondary increase of cell size, which is due to this polyploidisation, is more prominent in the calli of the 4x explants

The cross-correlation between galaxies of different luminosities and Colors

We study the cross-correlation between galaxies of different luminosities and colors, using a sample selected from the SDSS Dr 4. Galaxies are divided into 6 samples according to luminosity, and each of these samples is divided into red and blue subsamples. Projected auto-correlation and cross-correlation is estimated for these subsample. At projected separations r_p > 1\mpch, all correlation functions are roughly parallel, although the correlation amplitude depends systematically on luminosity and color. On r_p < 1\mpch, the auto- and cross-correlation functions of red galaxies are significantly enhanced relative to the corresponding power laws obtained on larger scales. Such enhancement is absent for blue galaxies and in the cross-correlation between red and blue galaxies. We esimate the relative bias factor on scales r > 1\mpch for each subsample using its auto-correlation function and cross-correlation functions. The relative bias factors obtained from different methods are similar. For blue galaxies the luminosity-dependence of the relative bias is strong over the luminosity range probed (-23.0<M_r < -18.0),but for red galaxies the dependence is weaker and becomes insignificant for luminosities below L^*. To examine whether a significant stochastic/nonlinear component exists in the bias relation, we study the ratio R_ij= W_{ii}W_{jj}/W_{ij}^2, where W_{ij} is the projected correlation between subsample i and j. We find that the values of R_ij are all consistent with 1 for all-all, red-red and blue-blue samples, however significantly larger than 1 for red-blue samples. For faint red - faint blue samples the values of R_{ij} are as high as ~ 2 on small scales r_p < 1 \mpch and decrease with increasing r_p.Comment: 25 pages, 18 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

Scaling properties of the redshift power spectrum: theoretical models

We report the results of an analysis of the redshift power spectrum $P^S(k,\mu)$ in three typical Cold Dark Matter (CDM) cosmological models, where $\mu$ is the cosine of the angle between the wave vector and the line-of-sight. Two distinct biased tracers derived from the primordial density peaks of Bardeen et al. and the cluster-underweight model of Jing, Mo, & B\"orner are considered in addition to the pure dark matter models. Based on a large set of high resolution simulations, we have measured the redshift power spectrum for the three tracers from the linear to the nonlinear regime. We investigate the validity of the relation - guessed from linear theory - in the nonlinear regime $$P^S(k,\mu)=P^R(k)[1+\beta\mu^2]^2D(k,\mu,\sigma_{12}(k)),$$ where $P^R(k)$ is the real space power spectrum, and $\beta$ equals $\Omega_0^{0.6}/b_l$. The damping function $D$ which should generally depend on $k$, $\mu$, and $\sigma_{12}(k)$, is found to be a function of only one variable $k\mu\sigma_{12}(k)$. This scaling behavior extends into the nonlinear regime, while $D$ can be accurately expressed as a Lorentz function - well known from linear theory - for values $D > 0.1$. The difference between $\sigma_{12}(k)$ and the pairwise velocity dispersion defined by the 3-D peculiar velocity of the simulations (taking $r=1/k$) is about 15%. Therefore $\sigma_{12}(k)$ is a good indicator of the pairwise velocity dispersion. The exact functional form of $D$ depends on the cosmological model and on the bias scheme. We have given an accurate fitting formula for the functional form of $D$ for the models studied.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ;24 pages with 7 figures include

Effects related to spacetime foam in particle physics

It is found that the existence of spacetime foam leads to a situation in which the number of fundamental quantum bosonic fields is a variable quantity. The general aspects of an exact theory that allows for a variable number of fields are discussed, and the simplest observable effects generated by the foam are estimated. It is shown that in the absence of processes related to variations in the topology of space, the concept of an effective field can be reintroduced and standard field theory can be restored. However, in the complete theory the ground state is characterized by a nonvanishing particle number density. From the effective-field standpoint, such particles are "dark". It is assumed that they comprise dark matter of the universe. The properties of this dark matter are discussed, and so is the possibility of measuring the quantum fluctuation in the field potentials.Comment: 18 pages, minor corrections added to the published varian

The Three-point Correlation Function of Galaxies Determined from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey

In a detailed analysis of the three point correlation function (3PCF) for the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey we have accurately measured the 3PCF for galaxies of different luminosity. The 3PCF amplitudes [\Qsu or \Qrpu] of the galaxies generally decrease with increasing triangle size and increase with the shape parameter $v$, in qualitative agreement with the predictions for the clustering of dark matter in popular hierarchical CDM models. The 2dFGRS results agree well with the results of Jing & B\"orner for the Las Camapanas Redshift Survey (LCRS), though the measurement accuracy is greatly improved in the present study. The dependence of the 3PCF on luminosity is not significant, but there seems to be a trend for the brightest galaxy sample to have a lower amplitude than the fainter ones. Comparing the measured 3PCF amplitudes [\Qsu or \Qrpu] to the prediction of a WMAP concordance model, we find that the measured values are consistently lower than the predicted ones for dark matter. This is most pronounced for the brightest galaxies, for which about one-half of the predicted $Q$ value provides a good description of \Qrpu for the 2dFGRS data. For a less luminous sample, the $Q$ values are also smaller than in the dark matter model on small scales, but on scales larger than s=8 \mpc and r_p=3.25 \mpc they reach the model values. We discuss implications for current theories of galaxy formation.Comment: 39 pages, 18 figures, ApJ, published version; minor changes to the previous versio

Spatial correlation functions and the pairwise peculiar velocity dispersion of galaxies in the PSCz survey: implications for the galaxy biasing in cold dark matter models

We report on the measurement of the two-point correlation function, and the pairwise peculiar velocity of galaxies in the IRAS PSCz survey. We compute these statistics first in redshift space, and then obtain the projected functions which have simple relations to the real-space correlation functions on the basis of the method developed earlier in analyzing the Las Campanas Redshift Survey (LCRS) by Jing, Mo, & B\"orner (1998). We find that the real space two-point correlation function can be fitted to a power law $\xi(r) = (r_0/r)^{\gamma}$ with $\gamma=1.69$ and r_0=3.70 \mpc. The pairwise peculiar velocity dispersion $\sigma_{12}(r_p)$ is close to 400 \kms at r_p=3\mpc and decreases to about 150 \kms at r_p \approx 0.2 \mpc. These values are significantly lower than those obtained from the LCRS. In order to understand the implications of those measurements on the galaxy biasing, we construct mock samples for a low density spatially-flat cold dark matter model ($\Omega_0 = 0.3$, $\lambda_0=0.7$, $\Gamma=0.2$, $\sigma_8=1$) using a set of high-resolution N-body simulations. Applying a stronger cluster-underweight biasing ($\propto M^{-0.25}$) than for the LCRS ($\propto M^{-0.08}$), we are able to reproduce these observational data, except for the strong decrease of the pairwise peculiar velocity at small separations. This is qualitatively ascribed to the different morphological mixture of galaxies in the two catalogues. Disk-dominated galaxy samples drawn from the theoretically constructed GIF catalog yield results rather similar to our mock samples with the simple cluster-underweight biasing.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ; 24 pages with 9 figure

The redshift-space two-point correlation functions of galaxies and groups in the Nearby Optical Galaxy sample

We use the two-point correlation function in redshift space, $\xi(s)$, to study the clustering of the galaxies and groups of the Nearby Optical Galaxy (NOG) sample, which is a nearly all-sky, complete, magnitude-limited sample of $\sim$7000 bright and nearby optical galaxies. The correlation function of galaxies is well described by a power law, $\xi(s)=(s/s_0)^{-\gamma}$, with slope $\gamma\sim1.5$ and $s_0\sim6.4 h^{-1}$Mpc (on scales $2.7 - 12 h^{-1}$Mpc), in agreement with previous results of several redshift surveys of optical galaxies. We confirm the existence of morphological segregation between early- and late-type galaxies and, in particular, we find a gradual decreasing of the strength of clustering from the S0 galaxies to the late-type spirals, on intermediate scales. Furthermore, luminous galaxies turn out to be more clustered than dim galaxies. The luminosity segregation, which is significant for both early- and late-type objects, starts to become appreciable only for galaxies brighter than $M_B\sim -19.5 + 5 \log h$ ($\sim 0.6 L^*$) and is independent on scale. The NOG group correlation functions are characterized by $s_0$-values ranging from $\sim 8 h^{-1}$ Mpc (for groups with at least three members) to $\sim10 h^{-1}$ Mpc (for groups with at least five members). The degree of group clustering depends on the physical properties of groups. Specifically, groups with greater velocity dispersions, sizes and masses tend to be more clustered than those with lower values of these quantities.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, in press, 72 pages, 16 eps figure

AP-4-mediated axonal transport controls endocannabinoid production in neurons

Davies et al. identify a putative mechanism underlying the childhood neurological disorder AP-4 deficiency syndrome. In the absence of AP-4, an enzyme that makes 2-AG is not transported to the axon, leading to axonal growth defects, which can be rescued by inhibition of 2-AG breakdown. The adaptor protein complex AP-4 mediates anterograde axonal transport and is essential for axon health. AP-4-deficient patients suffer from a severe neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorder. Here we identify DAGLB (diacylglycerol lipase-beta), a key enzyme for generation of the endocannabinoid 2-AG (2-arachidonoylglycerol), as a cargo of AP-4 vesicles. During normal development, DAGLB is targeted to the axon, where 2-AG signalling drives axonal growth. We show that DAGLB accumulates at the trans-Golgi network of AP-4-deficient cells, that axonal DAGLB levels are reduced in neurons from a patient with AP-4 deficiency, and that 2-AG levels are reduced in the brains of AP-4 knockout mice. Importantly, we demonstrate that neurite growth defects of AP-4-deficient neurons are rescued by inhibition of MGLL (monoacylglycerol lipase), the enzyme responsible for 2-AG hydrolysis. Our study supports a new model for AP-4 deficiency syndrome in which axon growth defects arise through spatial dysregulation of endocannabinoid signalling.Special thanks to the MPIB Imaging Facility for outstanding technical support, in particular to Giovanni Cardone for his advice and assistance with the implementation of image analysis pipelines, as well as feedback on the manuscript, and to Martin Spitaler for his expert technical advice for imaging experiments

Semi-analytical model of galaxy formation with high-resolution N-body simulations

We model the galaxy formation in a series of high-resolution N-body simulations using the semi-analytical approach. Unlike many earlier investigations based on semi-analytical models, we make use of the subhalos resolved in the $N$-body simulations to follow the mergers of galaxies in dark halos, and we show that this is pivotal in modeling correctly the galaxy luminosity function at the bright end and the bimodal nature of galaxy color distribution. Mergers of galaxies based on subhalos also result in many more bright red galaxies at high $z$. The semi-analytical model we adopt is similar to those used in earlier semi-analytical studies, except that we consider the effect of a prolonged cooling in small halos and that we explicitly follow the chemical enrichment in the interstellar medium. We use our model to make predictions for the properties of the galaxy population at low redshift and compare them with various current observations. We find that our model predictions can match the luminosity functions of galaxies in various wavebands redder than the u-band. The shape of the luminosity function at bright end is well reproduced if galaxy mergers are modeled with the merger trees of subhalos and the steep faint-end slope can be moderated if the gas cooling time in low-mass halos is comparable to the age of the universe. The model with subhalos resolved can reproduce the main features in the observed color bimodal distribution, though it still predicts too many bright blue galaxies. The same model can also match the color-magnitude relation for elliptical galaxies in clusters, the metallicity-luminosity relation.Comment: 57 pages, 1 table, 18 figures, a new figure added, more discussion on color bimodality, to appear in Ap