6,399 research outputs found
Reconstructing the linear power spectrum of cosmological mass fluctuations
We describe an attempt to reconstruct the initial conditions for the
formation of cosmological large-scale structure. The power spectrum of the
primordial fluctuations is affected by bias, nonlinear evolution and
redshift-space distortions, but we show how these effects can be corrected for
analytically. Using eight independent datasets, we obtain excellent agreement
in the estimated linear power spectra given the following conditions. First,
the relative bias factors for Abell clusters, radio galaxies, optical galaxies
and IRAS galaxies must be in the ratios 4.5:1.9:1.3:1. Second, the data require
redshift-space distortion: \Omega^{0.6}/b_{\ss I}
= 1.0 \pm 0.2. Third, low values of and bias are disfavoured. The
shape of the spectrum is extremely well described by a CDM transfer function
with an apparent value of the fitting parameter . Tilted models
predict too little power at 100 Mpc wavelengths.Comment: Edinburgh Astronomy Preprint 26/93. Accepted for publication in
Monthly Notices of the RAS. 13 pages of LaTeX, plus 10 PostScript figures.
You will need the mn.sty style file (from babbage: get mn.sty). The figure
.ps files are in the usual self-unpacking unix scrip
Nonlinear Gravitational Clustering: dreams of a paradigm
We discuss the late time evolution of the gravitational clustering in an
expanding universe, based on the nonlinear scaling relations (NSR) which
connect the nonlinear and linear two point correlation functions. The existence
of critical indices for the NSR suggests that the evolution may proceed towards
a universal profile which does not change its shape at late times. We begin by
clarifying the relation between the density profiles of the individual halo and
the slope of the correlation function and discuss the conditions under which
the slopes of the correlation function at the extreme nonlinear end can be
independent of the initial power spectrum. If the evolution should lead to a
profile which preserves the shape at late times, then the correlation function
should grow as [in a universe] een at nonlinear scales. We
prove that such exact solutions do not exist; however, ther e exists a class of
solutions (``psuedo-linear profiles'', PLP's for short) which evolve as
to a good approximation. It turns out that the PLP's are the correlation
functions which arise if the individual halos are assumed to be isothermal
spheres. They are also configurations of mass in which the nonlinear effects of
gravitational clustering is a minimum and hence can act as building blocks of
the nonlinear universe. We discuss the implicatios of this result.Comment: 32 Pages, Submitted to Ap
Attraction of Acorn-Infesting \u3ci\u3eCydia Latiferreana\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) to Pheromone-Baited Traps
Males of acorn-infesting Cydia latiferreana are attracted to an equilibrium mixture of the four isomers of 8, 10-dodecadien-l-ol acetate, the virgin female-produced pheromone. Trap height relative to the height of trees in which traps are placed seems to be a significant factor influencing moth catches at attractant-baited traps. In an oak woodlot and in an oak nursery, catches of male moths were greater in traps placed near the upper periphery of the canopy than at traps deployed at lower levels in the tree. Practical application of pheromone-baited traps in a forest situation will require further study on lure formulation and on trap deployment under forest conditions
Radio Galaxy Clustering at z~0.3
Radio galaxies are uniquely useful as probes of large-scale structure as
their uniform identification with giant elliptical galaxies out to high
redshift means that the evolution of their bias factor can be predicted. As the
initial stage in a project to study large-scale structure with radio galaxies
we have performed a small redshift survey, selecting 29 radio galaxies in the
range 0.19<z<0.45 from a contiguous 40 square degree area of sky. We detect
significant clustering within this sample. The amplitude of the two-point
correlation function we measure is consistent with no evolution from the local
(z<0.1) value. This is as expected in a model in which radio galaxy hosts form
at high redshift and thereafter obey a continuity equation, although the
signal:noise of the detection is too low to rule out other models. Larger
surveys out to z~1 should reveal the structures of superclusters at
intermediate redshifts and strongly constrain models for the evolution of
large-scale structure.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted by ApJ Letter
Measuring the galaxy power spectrum with multiresolution decomposition -- II. diagonal and off-diagonal power spectra of the LCRS galaxies
The power spectrum estimator based on the discrete wavelet transform (DWT)
for 3-dimensional samples has been studied. The DWT estimator for
multi-dimensional samples provides two types of spectra with respect to
diagonal and off-diagonal modes, which are very flexible to deal with
configuration-related problems in the power spectrum detection. With simulation
samples and mock catalogues of the Las Campanas redshift survey (LCRS), we show
(1) the slice-like geometry of the LCRS doesn't affect the off-diagonal power
spectrum with ``slice-like'' mode; (2) the Poisson sampling with the LCRS
selection function doesn't cause more than 1- error in the DWT power
spectrum; and (3) the powers of peculiar velocity fluctuations, which cause the
redshift distortion, are approximately scale-independent. These results insure
that the uncertainties of the power spectrum measurement are under control. The
scatter of the DWT power spectra of the six strips of the LCRS survey is found
to be rather small. It is less than 1- of the cosmic variance of mock
samples in the wavenumber range h Mpc. To fit the detected
LCRS diagonal DWT power spectrum with CDM models, we find that the best-fitting
redshift distortion parameter is about the same as that obtained from
the Fourier power spectrum. The velocity dispersions for SCDM and
CDM models are also consistent with other detections with
the LCRS. A systematic difference between the best-fitting parameters of
diagonal and off-diagonal power spectra has been significantly measured. This
indicates that the off-diagonal power spectra are capable of providing
information about the power spectrum of galaxy velocity field.Comment: AAS LaTeX file, 41 pages, 10 figures included, 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
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
The cosmological light-cone effect on the power spectrum of galaxies and quasars in wide-field redshift surveys
We examine observational consequences of the cosmological light-cone effect
on the power spectrum of the distribution of galaxies and quasars from upcoming
redshift surveys. First we derive an expression for the power spectrum of
cosmological objects in real space on a light cone, , which is exact in linear theory of density perturbations. Next we
incorporate corrections for the nonlinear density evolution and redshift-space
distortion in the formula in a phenomenological manner which is consistent with
recent numerical simulations. On the basis of this formula, we predict the
power spectrum of galaxies and quasars on the light cone for future redshift
surveys taking account of the selection function properly. We demonstrate that
this formula provides a reliable and useful method to compute the power
spectrum on the light cone given an evolution model of bias.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures, to be published in the Astrophysical Journa
Strong lensing time delay: a new way of measuring cosmic shear
The phenomenon of cosmic shear, or distortion of images of distant sources
unaccompanied by magnification, is an effective way of probing the content and
state of the foreground Universe, because light rays do not have to pass
through mass structures in order to be sheared. It is shown that the delay in
the arrival times between two simultaneously emitted photons that appear to be
arriving from a pair of images of a strongly lensed cosmological source
contains not only information about the Hubble constant, but also the long
range gravitational effect of galactic scale mass clumps located away from the
light paths in question. This is therefore also a method of detecting shear.
Data on time delays among a sample of strongly lensed sources can provide
crucial information about whether extra dynamics beyond gravity and dark energy
are responsible for the global flatness of space. If the standard
model is correct, there should be a large dispersion in the value of as
inferred from the delay data by (the usual procedure of) ignoring the effect of
all other mass clumps except the strong lens itself. The fact that there has
not been any report of a significant deviation from the 0.7 mark during
any of the determinations by this technique may already be pointing to
the absence of the random effect discussed here.Comment: ApJ in pres
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