3,690 research outputs found
Galactic extinction and Abell clusters
In this paper, we present the results of comparing the angular distribution
of Abell clusters with Galactic HI measurements. For most subsamples of
clusters considered, their positions on the sky appear to be anti-correlated
with respect to the distribution of HI column densities. The statistical
significance of these observed anti-correlations is a function of both richness
and distance class, with the more distant and/or richest systems having the
highest significance (~3 sigma). The lower richness, nearby clusters appear to
be randomly distributed compared to the observed Galactic HI column density.Comment: 5 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript file. Figures included.
Accepted by MNRA
A new source detection algorithm using FDR
The False Discovery Rate (FDR) method has recently been described by Miller
et al (2001), along with several examples of astrophysical applications. FDR is
a new statistical procedure due to Benjamini and Hochberg (1995) for
controlling the fraction of false positives when performing multiple hypothesis
testing. The importance of this method to source detection algorithms is
immediately clear. To explore the possibilities offered we have developed a new
task for performing source detection in radio-telescope images, Sfind 2.0,
which implements FDR. We compare Sfind 2.0 with two other source detection and
measurement tasks, Imsad and SExtractor, and comment on several issues arising
from the nature of the correlation between nearby pixels and the necessary
assumption of the null hypothesis. The strong suggestion is made that
implementing FDR as a threshold defining method in other existing
source-detection tasks is easy and worthwhile. We show that the constraint on
the fraction of false detections as specified by FDR holds true even for highly
correlated and realistic images. For the detection of true sources, which are
complex combinations of source-pixels, this constraint appears to be somewhat
less strict. It is still reliable enough, however, for a priori estimates of
the fraction of false source detections to be robust and realistic.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication by A
The Las Campanas Distant Cluster Survey -- The Correlation Function
We present the first non-local (z>0.2) measurement of the cluster-cluster
spatial correlation length, using data from the Las Campanas Distant Cluster
Survey (LCDCS). We measure the angular correlation function for
velocity-dispersion limited subsamples of the catalog at estimated redshifts of
0.35<z_{est}<0.575, and derive spatial correlation lengths for these clusters
via the cosmological Limber equation. The correlation lengths that we measure
for clusters in the LCDCS are consistent both with local results for the APM
cluster catalog and with theoretical expectations based upon the Virgo
Consortium Hubble Volume simulations and the analytic predictions. Despite
samples containing over 100 clusters, our ability to discriminate between
cosmological models is limited because of statistical uncertainty.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted to ApJ (v571, May 20, 2002
WFMOS - Sounding the Dark Cosmos
Vast sound waves traveling through the relativistic plasma during the first
million years of the universe imprint a preferred scale in the density of
matter. We now have the ability to detect this characteristic fingerprint in
the clustering of galaxies at various redshifts and use it to measure the
acceleration of the expansion of the Universe. The Wide-Field Multi-Object
Spectrograph (WFMOS) would use this test to shed significant light on the true
nature of dark energy, the mysterious source of this cosmic acceleration. WFMOS
would also revolutionise studies of the kinematics of the Milky Way and provide
deep insights into the clustering of galaxies at redshifts up to z~4. In this
article we discuss the recent progress in large galaxy redshift surveys and
detail how WFMOS will help unravel the mystery of dark energy.Comment: 6 pages, pure pdf. An introduction to WFMOS and Baryon Acoustic
Oscillations for a general audienc
The Butcher-Oemler Effect in High Redshift X-ray Selected Clusters
We are engaged in a wide-field, multi-colour imaging survey of X-ray selected
clusters at intermediate and high redshift. We present blue fractions for the
first 8 out of 29 clusters, covering almost a factor of 100 in X-ray
luminosity. We find no correlation of blue fraction with redshift or X-ray
luminosity. The lack of a correlation with L, places strong constraints
on the importance of ram-pressure stripping as a driver of the Butcher-Oemler
effect.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be puplished in the proceedings of the ''Sesto
2001-Tracing Cosmic Evolution with Galaxy Clusters'', Sesto 3-6 July 2001,
Italy, eds, Stefano Borgan
An Isocurvature CDM Cosmogony. II. Observational Tests
A companion paper presents a worked model for evolution through inflation to
initial conditions for an isocurvature model for structure formation. It is
shown here that the model is consistent with the available observational
constraints that can be applied without the help of numerical simulations. The
model gives an acceptable fit to the second moments of the angular fluctuations
in the thermal background radiation and the second through fourth moments of
the measured large-scale fluctuations in galaxy counts, within the possibly
significant uncertainties in these measurements. The cluster mass function
requires a rather low but observationally acceptable mass density,
0.1\lsim\Omega\lsim 0.2 in a cosmologically flat universe. Galaxies would be
assembled earlier in this model than in the adiabatic version, an arguably good
thing. Aspects of the predicted non-Gaussian character of the anisotropy of the
thermal background radiation in this model are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 3 postscript figures, uses aas2pp4.st
Bi-large neutrino mixing and the Cabibbo angle
Recent measurements of the neutrino mixing angles cast doubt on the validity
of the so-far popular tri-bimaximal mixing ansatz. We propose a parametrization
for the neutrino mixing matrix where the reactor angle seeds the large solar
and atmospheric mixing angles, equal to each other in first approximation. We
suggest such bi-large mixing pattern as a model building standard, realized
when the leading order value of the reactor angle equals the Cabibbo angle.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figs. v2: matches version appearing in Phys.Rev.D, rapid
communication
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