Group galaxy number density profiles far out: is the 'one-halo' term NFW out to >10>10 virial radii?

While the density profiles (DPs) of $\Lambda$CDM haloes obey the NFW law out to roughly one virial radius, $r_{\rm vir}$, the structure of their outer parts is still poorly understood, since the 1-halo term describing the halo itself is dominated by the 2-halo term representing the other haloes picked up. Using a semi-analytical model, we measure the real-space `1-halo' number DP of groups out to $20\,r_{\rm vir}$ by assigning each galaxy to its nearest group with mass above $M_{\rm a}$, in units of the group $r_{\rm vir}$. If $M_{\rm a}$ is small (large), the outer DP of groups falls rapidly (slowly). We find that there is an optimal $M_{\rm a}$ for which the stacked DP resembles the NFW model to $0.1$ dex accuracy out to $\simeq 13\,r_{\rm vir}$. We find similar long-range NFW surface DPs (out to $\simeq 10\,r_{\rm vir}$) in the SDSS observations using a galaxy assignment scheme that combines the non-linear virialized regions of groups with their linear outer parts. The optimal $M_{\rm a}$ scales as the minimum mass of the groups that are stacked to the power $0.25-0.3$. Our results suggest that the NFW model does not solely originate from violent relaxation. Moreover, populating haloes with galaxies using HOD models must proceed out to larger radii than usually done.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters. Final version including discussion on the backsplash radiu

Why does the Jeans Swindle work?

When measuring the mass profile of any given cosmological structure through internal kinematics, the distant background density is always ignored. This trick is often refereed to as the "Jeans Swindle". Without this trick a divergent term from the background density renders the mass profile undefined, however, this trick has no formal justification. We show that when one includes the expansion of the Universe in the Jeans equation, a term appears which exactly cancels the divergent term from the background. We thereby establish a formal justification for using the Jeans Swindle.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

MOND and Cosmology

I review various ideas on MOND cosmology and structure formation beginning with non-relativistic models in analogy with Newtonian cosmology. I discuss relativistic MOND cosmology in the context of Bekenstein's theory and propose an alternative biscalar effective theory of MOND in which the acceleration parameter is identified with the cosmic time derivative of a matter coupling scalar field. Cosmic CDM appears in this theory as scalar field oscillations of the auxiliary "coupling strength" field.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, 2 figures, to appear in proceedings of IAP05 in Paris: Mass Profiles and Shapes of Cosmological Structures, G. Mamon, F. Combes, C. Deffayet and B. Fort (eds), (EDP-Sciences 2005

The role of tidal interactions in driving galaxy evolution

We carry out a statistical analysis of galaxy pairs selected from chemical hydrodynamical simulations with the aim at assessing the capability of hierarchical scenarios to reproduce recent observational results for galaxies in pairs. Particularly, we analyse the effects of mergers and interactions on the star formation (SF) activity, the global mean chemical properties and the colour distribution of interacting galaxies. We also assess the effects of spurious pairs.Comment: to appear in "Groups of galaxies in the nearby Universe" ESO Workshop, (Dec 2005) Santiago, Chil

The Association of Compact Groups of Galaxies with Large-scale Structures

We use various samples of compact groups (CGs) to examine the types of association CGs have with rich and poor clusters of galaxies at low (z~0.04) and intermediate (z~0.1) redshifts. We find that ~10-20 % of CGs are associated with rich clusters and a much larger fraction with poorer clusters or loose groups. Considering the incompleteness of catalogs of poorer systems at intermediate redshift, our result is consistent with all CGs at intermediate redshift being associated with larger-scale systems. The richness of the clusters associated with CGs significantly increases from z~0.04 to z~0.1, while their Bautz-Morgan type changes from early to late type for the same range in z. Neither trend is compatible with a selection effect in the cluster catalogs used. We find earlier morphological types of galaxies to be more frequent in CGs associated with larger-scale structures, compared to those in CGs not associated to such structures. We consider this as new evidence that CGs are part of the large-scale structure formation process and that they may play an important role in the evolution of galaxies in these structures.Comment: 5 pages, no figures, Proc. ESO Workshop "Groups of galaxies in the nearby Universe", Santiago, Chile, 5-9 Dec. 2005, ESO Astrophysics Symposia, eds. I. Saviane, V. Ivanov & J. Borissova, Springer-Verlag; very minor revision of text on 15 Mar 2006, added one referenc