5,828 research outputs found
The scale of homogeneity in the Las Campanas Redshift Survey
We analyse the Las Campanas Redshift Survey using the integrated conditional
density (or density of neighbors) in volume-limited subsamples up to
unprecedented scales (200 Mpc/) in order to determine without ambiguity the
behavior of the density field. We find that the survey is well described by a
fractal up to 20-30 Mpc/, but flattens toward homogeneity at larger scales.
Although the data are still insufficient to establish with high significance
the expected homogeneous behavior, and therefore to rule out a fractal trend to
larger scales, a fit with a CDM-like spectrum with high normalization well
represents the data.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted on Ap.J. Letter
Amplitude and Phase Fluctuations for Gravitational Waves Propagating through Inhomogeneous Mass Distribution in the Universe
When a gravitational wave (GW) from a distant source propagates through the
universe, its amplitude and phase change due to gravitational lensing by the
inhomogeneous mass distribution. We derive the amplitude and phase
fluctuations, and calculate these variances in the limit of a weak
gravitational field of density perturbation. If the scale of the perturbation
is smaller than the Fresnel scale ( is the
GW frequency), the GW is not magnified due to the diffraction effect. The rms
amplitude fluctuation is for Hz, but it is reduced less
than 5% for a very low frequency of Hz. The rms phase
fluctuation in the chirp signal is radian at LISA frequency band
( Hz). Measurements of these fluctuations will provide
information about the matter power spectrum on the Fresnel scale pc.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, refferences added, accepted for publication in
Ap
Damped Lyman alpha systems and disk galaxies: number density, column density distribution and gas density
We present a comparison between the observed properties of damped Lyman alpha
systems (DLAs) and the predictions of simple models for the evolution of
present day disk galaxies, including both low and high surface brightness
galaxies. We focus in particular on the number density, column density
distribution and gas density of DLAs, which have now been measured in
relatively large samples of absorbers. From the comparison we estimate the
contribution of present day disk galaxies to the population of DLAs, and how it
varies with redshift. Based on the differences between the models and the
observations, we also speculate on the nature of the fraction of DLAs which
apparently do not arise in disk galaxies.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted in MNRA
Old Galaxies at High Redshift and the Cosmological Constant
In a recent striking discovery, Dunlop {\bf \it et al} observed a galaxy at
redshift z=1.55 with an estimated age of 3.5 Gyr. This is incompatible with age
estimates for a flat matter dominated universe unless the Hubble constant is
less than . While both an open universe, and a universe
with a cosmological constant alleviate this problem, I argue here that this
result favors a non-zero cosmological constant, especially when considered in
light of other cosmological constraints. In the first place, for the favored
range of matter densities, this constraint is more stringent than the globular
cluster age constraint, which already favors a non-zero cosmological constant.
Moreover, the age-redshift relation for redshifts of order unity implies that
the ratio between the age associated with redshift 1.55 and the present age is
also generally larger for a cosmological constant dominated universe than for
an open universe. In addition, structure formation is generally suppressed in
low density cosmologies, arguing against early galaxy formation. The additional
constraints imposed by the new observation on the parameter space of vs
(where ) are derived for both
cosmologies. For a cosmological constant dominated universe this constraint is
consistent with the range allowed by other cosmological constraints, which also
favor a non-zero value.Comment: latex, 10 pages, including two embedded postscript figure
Power Spectrum Correlations Induced by Non-Linear Clustering
Gravitational clustering is an intrinsically non-linear process that
generates significant non-Gaussian signatures in the density field. We consider
how these affect power spectrum determinations from galaxy and weak-lensing
surveys. Non-Gaussian effects not only increase the individual error bars
compared to the Gaussian case but, most importantly, lead to non-trivial
cross-correlations between different band-powers. We calculate the
power-spectrum covariance matrix in non-linear perturbation theory (weakly
non-linear regime), in the hierarchical model (strongly non-linear regime), and
from numerical simulations in real and redshift space. We discuss the impact of
these results on parameter estimation from power spectrum measurements and
their dependence on the size of the survey and the choice of band-powers. We
show that the non-Gaussian terms in the covariance matrix become dominant for
scales smaller than the non-linear scale, depending somewhat on power
normalization. Furthermore, we find that cross-correlations mostly deteriorate
the determination of the amplitude of a rescaled power spectrum, whereas its
shape is less affected. In weak lensing surveys the projection tends to reduce
the importance of non-Gaussian effects. Even so, for background galaxies at
redshift z=1, the non-Gaussian contribution rises significantly around l=1000,
and could become comparable to the Gaussian terms depending upon the power
spectrum normalization and cosmology. The projection has another interesting
effect: the ratio between non-Gaussian and Gaussian contributions saturates and
can even decrease at small enough angular scales if the power spectrum of the
3D field falls faster than 1/k^2.Comment: 34 pages, 15 figures. Revised version, includes a clearer explanation
of why the hierarchical ansatz does not provide a good model of the
covariance matrix in the non-linear regime, and new constraints on the
amplitudes Ra and Rb for general 4-pt function configurations in the
non-linear regim
Simulated Extragalactic Observations with a Cryogenic Imaging Spectrophotometer
In this paper we explore the application of cryogenic imaging
spectrophotometers. Prototypes of this new class of detector, such as
superconducting tunnel junctions (STJs) and transition edge sensors (TESs),
currently deliver low resolution imaging spectrophotometry with high quantum
efficiency (70-100%) and no read noise over a wide bandpass in the visible to
near-infrared. In order to demonstrate their utility and the differences in
observing strategy needed to maximize their scientific return, we present
simulated observations of a deep extragalactic field. Using a simple analytic
technique, we can estimate both the galaxy redshift and spectral type more
accurately than is possible with current broadband techniques. From our
simulated observations and a subsequent discussion of the expected migration
path for this new technology, we illustrate the power and promise of these
devices.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journa
Correlation between the Mean Matter Density and the Width of the Saturated Lyman Alpha Absorption
We report a scaling of the mean matter density with the width of the
saturated Lyman alpha absorptions. This property is established using the
``pseudo-hydro'' technique (Croft et al. 1998). It provides a constraint for
the inversion of the Lyman alpha forest, which encounters difficulty in the
saturated region. With a Gaussian density profile and the scaling relation, a
simple inversion of the simulated Lyman alpha forests shows that the
one-dimensional mass power spectrum is well recovered on scales above 2 Mpc/h,
or roughly k < 0.03 s/km, at z=3. The recovery underestimates the power on
small scales, but improvement is possible with a more sophisticated algorithm.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS, replaced by
the version after proo
Clustering Analyses of 300,000 Photometrically Classified Quasars--I. Luminosity and Redshift Evolution in Quasar Bias
Using ~300,000 photometrically classified quasars, by far the largest quasar
sample ever used for such analyses, we study the redshift and luminosity
evolution of quasar clustering on scales of ~50 kpc/h to ~20 Mpc/h from
redshifts of z~0.75 to z~2.28. We parameterize our clustering amplitudes using
realistic dark matter models, and find that a LCDM power spectrum provides a
superb fit to our data with a redshift-averaged quasar bias of b_Q =
2.41+/-0.08 () for . This represents a better
fit than the best-fit power-law model (; ). We find b_Q increases with redshift.
This evolution is significant at >99.6% using our data set alone, increasing to
>99.9999% if stellar contamination is not explicitly parameterized. We measure
the quasar classification efficiency across our full sample as a = 95.6 +/-
^{4.4}_{1.9}%, a star-quasar separation comparable with the star-galaxy
separation in many photometric studies of galaxy clustering. We derive the mean
mass of the dark matter halos hosting quasars as MDMH=(5.2+/-0.6)x10^{12}
M_solar/h. At z~1.9 we find a deviation from luminosity-independent
quasar clustering; this suggests that increasing our sample size by a factor of
1.8 could begin to constrain any luminosity dependence in quasar bias at z~2.
Our results agree with recent studies of quasar environments at z < 0.4, which
detected little luminosity dependence to quasar clustering on proper scales >50
kpc/h. At z < 1.6, our analysis suggests that b_Q is constant with luminosity
to within ~0.6, and that, for g < 21, angular quasar autocorrelation
measurements are unlikely to have sufficient statistical power at z < 1.6 to
detect any luminosity dependence in quasars' clustering.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables; uses amulateapj; accepted to Ap
A Constraint on the Distance Scale to Cosmological Gamma--Ray Bursts
If \g--ray bursts are cosmological in origin, the sources are expected to
trace the large--scale structure of luminous matter in the universe. I use a
new likelihood method that compares the counts--in--cells distribution of
\g--ray bursts in the BATSE 3B catalog with that expected from the known
large--scale structure of the universe, in order to place a constraint on the
distance scale to cosmological bursts. I find, at the 95\% confidence level,
that the comoving distance to the ``edge'' of the burst distribution is greater
than ~Mpc (), and that the nearest burst is farther than
~Mpc. The median distance to the nearest burst is ~Mpc,
implying that the total energy released in \g--rays during a burst event is of
order ergs. None of the bursts that have been observed
by BATSE are in nearby galaxies, nor is a signature from the Coma cluster or
the ``Great Wall'' likely to be seen in the data at present.Comment: 15 LaTeX pages with 2 encapsulated Postscript figures included, uses
AASTeX (v. 4.0) available at ftp://ftp.aas.org/pubs
Expectations For an Interferometric Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Survey for Galaxy Clusters
Non-targeted surveys for galaxy clusters using the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect
(SZE) will yield valuable information on both cosmology and evolution of the
intra-cluster medium (ICM). The redshift distribution of detected clusters will
constrain cosmology, while the properties of the discovered clusters will be
important for studies of the ICM and galaxy formation. Estimating survey yields
requires a detailed model for both cluster properties and the survey strategy.
We address this by making mock observations of galaxy clusters in cosmological
hydrodynamical simulations. The mock observatory consists of an interferometric
array of ten 2.5 m diameter telescopes, operating at a central frequency of 30
GHz with a bandwidth of 8 GHz. We find that clusters with a mass above will be detected at any redshift, with the
exact limit showing a very modest redshift dependence. Using a Press-Schechter
prescription for evolving the number densities of clusters with redshift, we
determine that such a survey should find hundreds of galaxy clusters per year,
many at high redshifts and relatively low mass -- an important regime uniquely
accessible to SZE surveys. Currently favored cosmological models predict
roughly 25 clusters per square degree.Comment: revised to match published versio
- âŠ