756 research outputs found
Evaluating Semi-Analytic Halo Merging Histories
We evaluate the accuracy of semi-analytic merger-trees by comparing them with
the merging histories of dark-matter halos in N-body simulations, focusing on
the joint distribution of the number of progenitors and their masses. We first
confirm that the halo mass function as predicted directly by the
Press-Schechter (PS) model deviates from the simulations by up to 50% depending
on the mass scale and redshift, while the means of the projected distributions
of progenitor number and mass for a halo of a given mass are more accurately
predicted by the Extended PS model. We then use the full merger trees to study
the joint distribution as a function of redshift and parent-halo mass. We find
that while the deviation of the mean quantities due to the inaccuracy of the
Extended PS model partly propagates into the higher moments of the
distribution, the merger-tree procedure does not introduce a significant
additional source of error. In particular, certain properties of the merging
history such as the mass ratio of the progenitors and the total accretion rate
are reproduced quite accurately for galaxy sized halos (\sim 10^{12}\msun),
and less so for larger masses. We conclude that although there could be deviations in the absolute numbers and masses of progenitors and in the
higher order moment of these distributions, the relative properties of
progenitors for a given halo are reproduced fairly well by the merger trees.
They can thus provide a useful framework for modelling galaxy formation once
the above-mentioned limitations are taken into account.Comment: 10 pages including 9 figures, submitted to MNRA
On the Distribution of Haloes, Galaxies and Mass
The stochasticity in the distribution of dark haloes in the cosmic density
field is reflected in the distribution function which gives
the probability of finding haloes in a volume with mass density
contrast . We study the properties of this function using
high-resolution -body simulations, and find that is
significantly non-Poisson. The ratio between the variance and the mean goes
from (Poisson) at to (sub-Poisson) at
to (super-Poisson) at . The mean bias
relation is found to be well described by halo bias models based on the
Press-Schechter formalism. The sub-Poisson variance can be explained as a
result of halo-exclusion while the super-Poisson variance at high
may be explained as a result of halo clustering. A simple phenomenological
model is proposed to describe the behavior of the variance as a function of
. Galaxy distribution in the cosmic density field predicted by
semi-analytic models of galaxy formation shows similar stochastic behavior. We
discuss the implications of the stochasticity in halo bias to the modelling of
higher-order moments of dark haloes and of galaxies.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, Latex using MN2e style. Minor changes. Accepted
for publication in MNRA
Photo-z Performance for Precision Cosmology
Current and future weak lensing surveys will rely on photometrically
estimated redshifts of very large numbers of galaxies. In this paper, we
address several different aspects of the demanding photo-z performance that
will be required for future experiments, such as the proposed ESA Euclid
mission. It is first shown that the proposed all-sky near-infrared photometry
from Euclid, in combination with anticipated ground-based photometry (e.g.
PanStarrs-2 or DES) should yield the required precision in individual photo-z
of sigma(z) < 0.05(1+z) at I_AB < 24.5. Simple a priori rejection schemes based
on the photometry alone can be tuned to recognise objects with wildly
discrepant photo-z and to reduce the outlier fraction to < 0.25% with only
modest loss of otherwise usable objects. Turning to the more challenging
problem of determining the mean redshift of a set of galaxies to a
precision of 0.002(1+z) we argue that, for many different reasons, this is best
accomplished by relying on the photo-z themselves rather than on the direct
measurement of from spectroscopic redshifts of a representative subset of
the galaxies. A simple adaptive scheme based on the statistical properties of
the photo-z likelihood functions is shown to meet this stringent systematic
requirement. We also examine the effect of an imprecise correction for Galactic
extinction and the effects of contamination by fainter over-lapping objects in
photo-z determination. The overall conclusion of this work is that the
acquisition of photometrically estimated redshifts with the precision required
for Euclid, or other similar experiments, will be challenging but possible.
(abridged)Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures; submitted to MNRA
The Evolution of the Dark Halo Spin Parameters lambda and lambda' in a LCDM Universe: The Role of Minor and Major Mergers
The evolution of the spin parameter of dark halos and the dependence on the
halo merging history in a set of dissipationless cosmological LCDM simulations
is investigated. Special focus is placed on the differences of the two commonly
used versions of the spin parameter, namely lambda=J*E^1/2/(G*M^5/2) (Peebles
80) and lambda'=J/(sqrt(2)*M_vir*R_vir*V_vir) (Bullock et al. 01). Though the
distribution of the spin transfer rate defined as the ratio of the spin
parameters after and prior to a merger is similar to a high degree for both,
lambda and lambda', we find considerable differences in the time evolution:
while lambda' is roughly independent of redshift, lambda turns out to increase
significantly with decreasing redshift. This distinct behaviour arises from
small differences in the spin transfer during accretion events. The evolution
of the spin parameter is strongly coupled with the virial ratio
eta:=2*E_kin/|E_pot| of dark halos. Major mergers disturb halos and increase
both their virial ratio and spin parameter for 1-2 Gyrs. At high redshifts
(z=2-3) many halos are disturbed with an average virial ratio of eta = 1.3
which approaches unity until z=0. We find that the redshift evolution of the
spin parameters is dominated by the huge number of minor mergers rather than
the rare major merger events.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, submitted to MNRA
Galaxy-Induced Transformation of Dark Matter Halos
We use N-body/gasdynamical LambdaCDM cosmological simulations to examine the
effect of the assembly of a central galaxy on the shape and mass profile of its
dark halo. Two series of simulations are compared; one that follows only the
evolution of the dark matter component and a second one where a baryonic
component is added. These simulations include radiative cooling but neglect
star formation and feedback, leading most baryons to collect at the halo center
in a disk which is too small and too massive when compared with typical spiral.
This unrealistic model allows us, nevertheless, to gauge the maximum effect
that galaxies may have in transforming their dark halos. We find that the shape
of the halo becomes more axisymmetric: halos are transformed from triaxial into
essentially oblate systems, with well-aligned isopotential contours of roughly
constant flattening (c/a ~ 0.85). Halos always contract as a result of galaxy
assembly, but the effect is substantially less pronounced than predicted by the
"adiabatic contraction" hypothesis. The reduced contraction helps to reconcile
LambdaCDM halos with constraints on the dark matter content inside the solar
circle and should alleviate the long-standing difficulty of matching
simultaneously the scaling properties of galaxy disks and the luminosity
function. The halo contraction is also less pronounced than found in earlier
simulations, a disagreement that suggests that halo contraction is not solely a
function of the initial and final distribution of baryons. Not only how much
baryonic mass has been deposited at the center of a halo matters, but also the
mode of its deposition. It might prove impossible to predict the halo response
without a detailed understanding of a galaxy's assembly history. (Abriged)Comment: 11 pages and 9 figure
The Effects of Gas on Morphological Transformation in Mergers: Implications for Bulge and Disk Demographics
Transformation of disks into spheroids via mergers is a well-accepted element
of galaxy formation models. However, recent simulations have shown that bulge
formation is suppressed in increasingly gas-rich mergers. We investigate the
global implications of these results in a cosmological framework, using
independent approaches: empirical halo-occupation models (where galaxies are
populated in halos according to observations) and semi-analytic models. In
both, ignoring the effects of gas in mergers leads to the over-production of
spheroids: low and intermediate-mass galaxies are predicted to be
bulge-dominated (B/T~0.5 at <10^10 M_sun), with almost no bulgeless systems),
even if they have avoided major mergers. Including the different physical
behavior of gas in mergers immediately leads to a dramatic change: bulge
formation is suppressed in low-mass galaxies, observed to be gas-rich (giving
B/T~0.1 at <10^10 M_sun, with a number of bulgeless galaxies in good agreement
with observations). Simulations and analytic models which neglect the
similarity-breaking behavior of gas have difficulty reproducing the strong
observed morphology-mass relation. However, the observed dependence of gas
fractions on mass, combined with suppression of bulge formation in gas-rich
mergers, naturally leads to the observed trends. Discrepancies between
observations and models that ignore the role of gas increase with redshift; in
models that treat gas properly, galaxies are predicted to be less
bulge-dominated at high redshifts, in agreement with the observations. We
discuss implications for the global bulge mass density and future observational
tests.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, accepted to MNRAS (matched published version).
A routine to return the galaxy merger rates discussed here is available at
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~phopkins/Site/mergercalc.htm
The Local Group as a test of cosmological models
The dynamics of the Local Group and its environment provide a unique
challenge to cosmological models. The velocity field within 5h-1 Mpc of the
Local Group (LG) is extremely ``cold''. The deviation from a pure Hubble flow,
characterized by the observed radial peculiar velocity dispersion, is measured
to be about 60km/s. We compare the local velocity field with similarly defined
regions extracted from N-body simulations of Universes dominated by cold dark
matter (CDM). This test is able to strongly discriminate between models that
have different mean mass densities. We find that neither the Omega=1 (SCDM) nor
Omega=0.3 (OCDM) cold dark matter models can produce a single candidate Local
Group that is embedded in a region with such small peculiar velocities. For
these models, we measure velocity dispersions between 500-700km/s and
150-300km/s respectively, more than twice the observed value. Although both CDM
models fail to produce environments similar to those of our Local Group on a
scale of a few Mpc, they can give rise to many binary systems that have similar
orbital properties as the Milky Way--Andromeda system. The local,
gravitationally induced bias of halos in the CDM ``Local Group'' environment,
if defined within a sphere of 10 Mpc around each Local Group is about 1.5,
independent of Omega. No biasing scheme could reconcile the measured velocity
dispersions around Local Groups with the observed one. Identification of binary
systems using a halo finder (named Skid
(http://www-hpcc.astro.washington.edu/tools/DENMAX for a public version)) based
on local density maxima instead of a simple linking algorithm, gives a much
more complete sample. We show that a standard ``friend of friends'' algorithm
would miss 40% of the LG candidates present in the simulations.Comment: Latex file (19 pages) + 13 figures. Submitted to New Astronomy. Two
MPEG movies were not included. Also available (this time with the movies) at
http://www-hpcc.astro.washington.edu/faculty/fabio/index.htm
The Effects of Gas on Morphological Transformation in Mergers: Implications for Bulge and Disk Demographics
Transformation of disks into spheroids via mergers is a well-accepted element
of galaxy formation models. However, recent simulations have shown that bulge
formation is suppressed in increasingly gas-rich mergers. We investigate the
global implications of these results in a cosmological framework, using
independent approaches: empirical halo-occupation models (where galaxies are
populated in halos according to observations) and semi-analytic models. In
both, ignoring the effects of gas in mergers leads to the over-production of
spheroids: low and intermediate-mass galaxies are predicted to be
bulge-dominated (B/T~0.5 at <10^10 M_sun), with almost no bulgeless systems),
even if they have avoided major mergers. Including the different physical
behavior of gas in mergers immediately leads to a dramatic change: bulge
formation is suppressed in low-mass galaxies, observed to be gas-rich (giving
B/T~0.1 at <10^10 M_sun, with a number of bulgeless galaxies in good agreement
with observations). Simulations and analytic models which neglect the
similarity-breaking behavior of gas have difficulty reproducing the strong
observed morphology-mass relation. However, the observed dependence of gas
fractions on mass, combined with suppression of bulge formation in gas-rich
mergers, naturally leads to the observed trends. Discrepancies between
observations and models that ignore the role of gas increase with redshift; in
models that treat gas properly, galaxies are predicted to be less
bulge-dominated at high redshifts, in agreement with the observations. We
discuss implications for the global bulge mass density and future observational
tests.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, accepted to MNRAS (matched published version).
A routine to return the galaxy merger rates discussed here is available at
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~phopkins/Site/mergercalc.htm
Understanding experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients at the emergency departments in Australia
Objectives: The present study describes the experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients and the factors that shaped their experiences of ED visits in regional settings. Methods: This is a qualitative descriptive study. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients who used the ED services at three hospitals in New South Wales, Northern Territory and South Australia. We coded the collected data and analysed them using a thematic analysis technique. Results: A total of 33 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients participated. Analyses of their experiences revealed four themes, which included: (i) patients' waiting times in ED; (ii) cultural determinants of health; (iii) treatment services; and (iv) safety, security and privacy. Conclusions: A holistic approach and a robust hospital commitment to address cultural needs while considering overall health, social and emotional wellbeing, will enhance Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients' satisfaction for ED visits
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