1,103 research outputs found
A global descriptor of spatial pattern interaction in the galaxy distribution
We present the function J as a morphological descriptor for point patterns
formed by the distribution of galaxies in the Universe. This function was
recently introduced in the field of spatial statistics, and is based on the
nearest neighbor distribution and the void probability function. The J
descriptor allows to distinguish clustered (i.e. correlated) from ``regular''
(i.e. anti-correlated) point distributions. We outline the theoretical
foundations of the method, perform tests with a Matern cluster process as an
idealised model of galaxy clustering, and apply the descriptor to galaxies and
loose groups in the Perseus-Pisces Survey. A comparison with mock-samples
extracted from a mixed dark matter simulation shows that the J descriptor can
be profitably used to constrain (in this case reject) viable models of cosmic
structure formation.Comment: Significantly enhanced version, 14 pages, LaTeX using epsf, aaspp4, 7
eps-figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Luminosity- and morphology-dependent clustering of galaxies
How does the clustering of galaxies depend on their inner properties like
morphological type and luminosity? We address this question in the mathematical
framework of marked point processes and clarify the notion of luminosity and
morphological segregation. A number of test quantities such as conditional
mark-weighted two-point correlation functions are introduced. These descriptors
allow for a scale-dependent analysis of luminosity and morphology segregation.
Moreover, they break the degeneracy between an inhomogeneous fractal point set
and actual present luminosity segregation. Using the Southern Sky Redshift
Survey~2 (da Costa et al. 1998, SSRS2) we find both luminosity and
morphological segregation at a high level of significance, confirming claims by
previous works using these data (Benoist et al. 1996, Willmer et al. 1998).
Specifically, the average luminosity and the fluctuations in the luminosity of
pairs of galaxies are enhanced out to separations of 15Mpc/h. On scales smaller
than 3Mpc/h the luminosities on galaxy pairs show a tight correlation. A
comparison with the random-field model indicates that galaxy luminosities
depend on the spatial distribution and galaxy-galaxy interactions. Early-type
galaxies are also more strongly correlated, indicating morphological
segregation. The galaxies in the PSCz catalog (Saunders et al. 2000) do not
show significant luminosity segregation. This again illustrates that mainly
early-type galaxies contribute to luminosity segregation. However, based on
several independent investigations we show that the observed luminosity
segregation can not be explained by the morphology-density relation alone.Comment: aastex, emulateapj5, 20 pages, 13 figures, several clarifying
comments added, ApJ accepte
Morphological fluctuations of large-scale structure: the PSCz survey
In a follow-up study to a previous analysis of the IRAS 1.2Jy catalogue, we quantify the morphological fluctuations in the PSCz survey. We use a variety of measures, among them the family of scalar Minkowski functionals. We confirm the existence of significant fluctuations that are discernible in volume-limited samples out to 200Mpc/h. In contrast to earlier findings, comparisons with cosmological N-body simulations reveal that the observed fluctuations roughly agree with the cosmic variance found in corresponding mock samples. While two-point measures, e.g. the variance of count-in-cells, fluctuate only mildly, the fluctuations in the morphology on large scales indicate the presence of coherent structures that are at least as large as the sample
Magnification by Galaxy Group Dark Matter Halos
We report on the detection of gravitational lensing magnification by a
population of galaxy groups, at a significance level of 4.9 sigma. Using X-ray
selected groups in the COSMOS 1.64 deg^2 field, and high-redshift Lyman break
galaxies as sources, we measure a lensing-induced angular cross-correlation
between the samples. After satisfying consistency checks that demonstrate we
have indeed detected a magnification signal, and are not suffering from
contamination by physical overlap of samples, we proceed to implement an
optimally weighted cross-correlation function to further boost the signal to
noise of the measurement. Interpreting this optimally weighted measurement
allows us to study properties of the lensing groups. We model the full
distribution of group masses using a composite-halo approach, considering both
the singular isothermal sphere and Navarro-Frenk-White profiles, and find our
best fit values to be consistent with those recovered using the weak-lensing
shear technique. We argue that future weak-lensing studies will need to
incorporate magnification along with shear, both to reduce residual systematics
and to make full use of all available source information, in an effort to
maximize scientific yield of the observations.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Accepted by Ap
Structural insight into SUMO chain recognition and manipulation by the ubiquitin ligase RNF4
The small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) can form polymeric chains that are important signals in cellular processes such as meiosis, genome maintenance and stress response. The SUMO-targeted ubiquitin ligase RNF4 engages with SUMO chains on linked substrates and catalyses their ubiquitination, which targets substrates for proteasomal degradation. Here we use a segmental labelling approach combined with solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and biochemical characterization to reveal how RNF4 manipulates the conformation of the SUMO chain, thereby facilitating optimal delivery of the distal SUMO domain for ubiquitin transfer
Dark Energy from structure: a status report
The effective evolution of an inhomogeneous universe model in any theory of
gravitation may be described in terms of spatially averaged variables. In
Einstein's theory, restricting attention to scalar variables, this evolution
can be modeled by solutions of a set of Friedmann equations for an effective
volume scale factor, with matter and backreaction source terms. The latter can
be represented by an effective scalar field (`morphon field') modeling Dark
Energy.
The present work provides an overview over the Dark Energy debate in
connection with the impact of inhomogeneities, and formulates strategies for a
comprehensive quantitative evaluation of backreaction effects both in
theoretical and observational cosmology. We recall the basic steps of a
description of backreaction effects in relativistic cosmology that lead to
refurnishing the standard cosmological equations, but also lay down a number of
challenges and unresolved issues in connection with their observational
interpretation.
The present status of this subject is intermediate: we have a good
qualitative understanding of backreaction effects pointing to a global
instability of the standard model of cosmology; exact solutions and
perturbative results modeling this instability lie in the right sector to
explain Dark Energy from inhomogeneities. It is fair to say that, even if
backreaction effects turn out to be less important than anticipated by some
researchers, the concordance high-precision cosmology, the architecture of
current N-body simulations, as well as standard perturbative approaches may all
fall short in correctly describing the Late Universe.Comment: Invited Review for a special Gen. Rel. Grav. issue on Dark Energy, 59
pages, 2 figures; matches published versio
The Angular Three-Point Correlation Function in the Quasilinear Regime
We calculate the normalized angular three-point correlation function (3PCF),
, as well as the normalized angular skewness, , assuming the
small-angle approximation, for a biased mass distribution in flat and open
cold-dark-matter (CDM) models with Gaussian initial conditions. The
leading-order perturbative results incorporate the explicit dependence on the
cosmological parameters, the shape of the CDM transfer function, the linear
evolution of the power spectrum, the form of redshift distribution function,
and linear and nonlinear biasing, which may be evolving. Results are presented
for different redshift distributions, including that appropriate for the APM
Galaxy Survey, as well as for a survey with a mean redshift of (such as the VLA FIRST Survey). Qualitatively, many of the results found for
and are similar to those obtained in a related treatment of the
spatial skewness and 3PCF (Buchalter & Kamionkowski 1999), such as a
leading-order correction to the standard result for in the case of
nonlinear bias (as defined for unsmoothed density fields), and the sensitivity
of the configuration dependence of to both cosmological and biasing models.
We show that since angular CFs are sensitive to clustering over a range of
redshifts, the various evolutionary dependences included in our predictions
imply that measurements of in a deep survey might better discriminate
between models with different histories, such as evolving vs. non-evolving
bias, that can have similar spatial CFs at low redshift. Our calculations
employ a derived equation---valid for open, closed, and flat models---for
obtaining the angular bispectrum from the spatial bispectrum in the small-angle
approximation.Comment: 45 pages, including 11 Figures, submitted to the Astrophysical
Journa
Perturbative Analysis of Adaptive Smoothing Methods in Quantifying Large-Scale Structure
Smoothing operation to make continuous density field from observed point-like
distribution of galaxies is crucially important for topological or
morphological analysis of the large-scale structure, such as, the genus
statistics or the area statistics (equivalently the level crossing statistics).
It has been pointed out that the adaptive smoothing filters are more efficient
tools to resolve cosmic structures than the traditional spatially fixed
filters. We study weakly nonlinear effects caused by two representative
adaptive methods often used in smoothed hydrodynamical particle (SPH)
simulations. Using framework of second-order perturbation theory, we calculate
the generalized skewness parameters for the adaptive methods in the case of
initially power-law fluctuations.
Then we apply the multidimensional Edgeworth expansion method and investigate
weakly nonlinear evolution of the genus statistics and the area statistics.
Isodensity contour surfaces are often parameterized by the volume fraction of
the regions above a given density threshold. We also discuss this
parameterization method in perturbative manner.Comment: 42 pages including 9 figure, ApJ 537 in pres
The phase-space structure of a dark-matter halo: Implications for dark-matter direct detection experiments
We study the phase-space structure of a dark-matter halo formed in a high
resolution simulation of a Lambda CDM cosmology. Our goal is to quantify how
much substructure is left over from the inhomogeneous growth of the halo, and
how it may affect the signal in experiments aimed at detecting the dark matter
particles directly. If we focus on the equivalent of ``Solar vicinity'', we
find that the dark-matter is smoothly distributed in space. The probability of
detecting particles bound within dense lumps of individual mass less than 10^7
M_\sun h^{-1} is small, less than 10^{-2}. The velocity ellipsoid in the Solar
neighbourhood deviates only slightly from a multivariate Gaussian, and can be
thought of as a superposition of thousands of kinematically cold streams. The
motions of the most energetic particles are, however, strongly clumped and
highly anisotropic. We conclude that experiments may safely assume a smooth
multivariate Gaussian distribution to represent the kinematics of dark-matter
particles in the Solar neighbourhood. Experiments sensitive to the direction of
motion of the incident particles could exploit the expected anisotropy to learn
about the recent merging history of our Galaxy.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, Phys. Rev. D in press. Postscript version with
high resolution figures available from
http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~ahelmi/research/lcdm_dm.html; some changes in
the text; constraints on the effect of bound dark-matter lumps revised;
remaining conclusions unchange
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