A structure in the early Universe at z 1.3 that exceeds the homogeneity scale of the R-W concordance cosmology

A Large Quasar Group (LQG) of particularly large size and high membership has been identified in the DR7QSO catalogue of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. It has characteristic size (volume^1/3) ~ 500 Mpc (proper size, present epoch), longest dimension ~ 1240 Mpc, membership of 73 quasars, and mean redshift = 1.27. In terms of both size and membership it is the most extreme LQG found in the DR7QSO catalogue for the redshift range 1.0 = 1.28, which is itself one of the more extreme examples. Their boundaries approach to within ~ 2 deg (~ 140 Mpc projected). This new, huge LQG appears to be the largest structure currently known in the early universe. Its size suggests incompatibility with the Yadav et al. scale of homogeneity for the concordance cosmology, and thus challenges the assumption of the cosmological principle

Searching High Redshift Large-Scale Structures: Photometry of Four Fields Around Quasar Pairs at z~1

We have studied the photometric properties of four fields around the high-redshift quasar pairs QP1310+0007, QP1355-0032, QP0110-0219, and QP0114-3140 at z ~ 1 with the aim of identifying large-scale structures- galaxy clusters or groups- around them. This sample was observed with GMOS in Gemini North and South telescopes in the g', r', i', and z' bands, and our photometry is complete to a limiting magnitude of i' ~ 24 mag (corresponding to ~ M*_i' + 2 at the redshift of the pairs). Our analysis reveals that QP0110-0219 shows very strong and QP1310+0007 and QP1355-0032 show some evidence for the presence of rich galaxy clusters in direct vicinity of the pairs. On the other hand, QP0114-3140 could be an isolated pair in a poor environment. This work suggest that z ~ 1 quasar pairs are excellent tracers of high density environments and this same technique may be useful to find clusters at higher redshifts.Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures, ApJ accepted. Added one figure and 3 references. Some paragraphs was rewritten in sections 1, 3, 5, and 6, as suggested by refere

A structure in the early Universe at z 1.3 that exceeds the homogeneity scale of the R-W concordance cosmology

A Large Quasar Group (LQG) of particularly large size and high membership has been identified in the DR7QSO catalogue of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. It has characteristic size (volume^1/3) ~ 500 Mpc (proper size, present epoch), longest dimension ~ 1240 Mpc, membership of 73 quasars, and mean redshift = 1.27. In terms of both size and membership it is the most extreme LQG found in the DR7QSO catalogue for the redshift range 1.0 = 1.28, which is itself one of the more extreme examples. Their boundaries approach to within ~ 2 deg (~ 140 Mpc projected). This new, huge LQG appears to be the largest structure currently known in the early universe. Its size suggests incompatibility with the Yadav et al. scale of homogeneity for the concordance cosmology, and thus challenges the assumption of the cosmological principle

The properties of highly luminous IRAS galaxies

From a complete sample of 154 galaxies identified with IRAS sources in a 304 sq deg area centered on the South Galactic Pole, a subsample of 58 galaxies with L sub IR/L sub B > 3 was chosen. Low resolution spectra were obtained for 30% of the subsample and redshifts and relative emission line intensities were derived. As a class these galaxies are very luminous with = 2.9 x 10 to the 11th power L sub 0 and (L sub IR) max = 1.3 x 10 to the 12th power L sub 0. CCD images and JHK photometry were obtained for many of the subsample. The galaxies are for the most part newly identified and are optically faint, with a majority showing evidence of a recent interaction. Radio continuum observations of all galaxies of the subsample were recently obtained at 20 cm VLA with about 75% being detected in a typical integration time of about 10 minutes

The ESO Key-Programme ``A Homogeneous Bright QSO Survey'' - I The Methods and the ``Deep'' Fields

This is the first paper in a series aimed at defining a statistically significant sample of QSOs in the range $15 < B < 18.75$ and $0.3 < z < 2.2$. The selection is carried out using direct plates obtained at the ESO and UK Schmidt Telescopes, scanned with the COSMOS facility and searched for objects with an ultraviolet excess. Follow-up spectroscopy, carried out at ESO La Silla, is used to classify each candidate. In this initial paper, we describe the scientific objectives of the survey; the selection and observing techniques used. We present the first sample of 285 QSOs ($M_B < -23$) in a 153 deg$^2$ area, covered by the six ``deep'' fields, intended to obtain significant statistics down $B \simeq 18.75$ with unprecedented photometric accuracy. From this database, QSO counts are determined in the magnitude range $17 < B < 18.75$.Comment: 21 pages uuencoded compressed postscript, to appear in Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplements, 199

Systematic review of the evidence on housing interventions for ‘housing-vulnerable’ adults and its relationship to wellbeing

Access to safe, good quality affordable housing is essential to wellbeing and housing related factors can have an important influence on neighbourliness and sense of community belonging. A recent scoping review on housing and wellbeing identified a lack of review-level evidence around the impact of housing interventions on wellbeing of people who are vulnerable to discrimination or exclusion in relation to housing (Preston et al., 2016). This systematic review was commissioned to address that gap. We synthesise and consider the quality of evidence on how housing interventions can contribute to improving the lives of adults who are vulnerable in relation to the security of their housing tenure (‘housing-vulnerable’ adults)