Alignment of galaxies relative to their local environment in SDSS-DR8

We study the alignment of galaxies relative to their local environment in SDSS-DR8 and, using these data, we discuss evolution scenarios for different types of galaxies. We defined a vector field of the direction of anisotropy of the local environment of galaxies. We summed the unit direction vectors of all close neighbours of a given galaxy in a particular way to estimate this field. We found the alignment angles between the spin axes of disc galaxies, or the minor axes of elliptical galaxies, and the direction of anisotropy. The distributions of cosines of these angles are compared to the random distributions to analyse the alignment of galaxies. Sab galaxies show perpendicular alignment relative to the direction of anisotropy in a sparse environment, for single galaxies and galaxies of low luminosity. Most of the parallel alignment of Scd galaxies comes from dense regions, from 2...3 member groups and from galaxies with low luminosity. The perpendicular alignment of S0 galaxies does not depend strongly on environmental density nor luminosity; it is detected for single and 2...3 member group galaxies, and for main galaxies of 4...10 member groups. The perpendicular alignment of elliptical galaxies is clearly detected for single galaxies and for members of < 11 member groups; the alignment increases with environmental density and luminosity. We confirm the existence of fossil tidally induced alignment of Sab galaxies at low z. The alignment of Scd galaxies can be explained via the infall of matter to filaments. S0 galaxies may have encountered relatively massive mergers along the direction of anisotropy. Major mergers along this direction can explain the alignment of elliptical galaxies. Less massive, but repeated mergers are possibly responsible for the formation of elliptical galaxies in sparser areas and for less luminous elliptical galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Wavelet analysis of the formation of the cosmic web

According to the modern cosmological paradigm galaxies and galaxy systems form from tiny density perturbations generated during the very early phase of the evolution of the Universe. Using numerical simulations we study the evolution of phases of density perturbations of different scales to understand the formation and evolution of the cosmic web. We apply the wavelet analysis to follow the evolution of high-density regions (clusters and superclusters) of the cosmic web. We show that the positions of maxima and minima of density waves (their spatial phases) almost do not change during the evolution of the structure. Positions of extrema of density perturbations are the more stable, the larger is the wavelength of perturbations. Combining observational and simulation data we conclude that the skeleton of the cosmic web was present already in an early stage of structure evolution.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, revised versio

Systematic study of autocorrelation time in pure SU(3) lattice gauge theory

Results of our autocorrelation measurement performed on Fujitsu AP1000 are reported. We analyze (i) typical autocorrelation time, (ii) optimal mixing ratio between overrelaxation and pseudo-heatbath and (iii) critical behavior of autocorrelation time around cross-over region with high statistic in wide range of $\beta$ for pure SU(3) lattice gauge theory on $8^4$, $16^4$ and $32^4$ lattices. For the mixing ratio K, small value (3-7) looks optimal in the confined region, and reduces the integrated autocorrelation time by a factor 2-4 compared to the pseudo-heatbath. On the other hand in the deconfined phase, correlation times are short, and overrelaxation does not seem to matter For a fixed value of K(=9 in this paper), the dynamical exponent of overrelaxation is consistent with 2 Autocorrelation measurement of the topological charge on $32^3 \times 64$ lattice at $\beta$ = 6.0 is also briefly mentioned.Comment: 3 pages of A4 format including 7-figure

Autocorrelation in Updating Pure SU(3) Lattice Gauge Theory by the use of Overrelaxed Algorithms

We measure the sweep-to-sweep autocorrelations of blocked loops below and above the deconfinement transition for SU(3) on a $16^4$ lattice using 20000-140000 Monte-Carlo updating sweeps. A divergence of the autocorrelation time toward the critical $\beta$ is seen at high blocking levels. The peak is near $\beta$ = 6.33 where we observe 440 $\pm$ 210 for the autocorrelation time of $1\times 1$ Wilson loop on $2^4$ blocked lattice. The mixing of 7 Brown-Woch overrelaxation steps followed by one pseudo-heat-bath step appears optimal to reduce the autocorrelation time below the critical $\beta$. Above the critical $\beta$, however, no clear difference between these two algorithms can be seen and the system decorrelates rather fast.Comment: 4 pages of A4 format including 6-figure

Steps toward the power spectrum of matter. III. The primordial spectrum

Observed power spectrum of matter found in Papers I and II is compared with analytical power spectra. Spatially flat cold and mixed dark matter models with cosmological constant and open models are considered. The primordial power spectrum of matter is determined using the power spectrum of matter and the transfer functions of analytical models. The primordial power spectrum has a break in amplitude. We conclude that a scale-free primordial power spectrum is excluded if presently available data on the distribution of clusters and galaxies represent the true mass distribution of the Universe.Comment: LaTex (sty files added), 22 pages, 5 PostScript figures embedded, Astrophysical Journal (accepted

Naval Forces and Civil-Military Relations

While the importance of navies for international affairs is widely documented, their influence in domestic politics remains less well understood. This research offers the first comparative account of how states? naval forces affect civil-military relations. Does the navy matter for military attempts to seize government power? The urban population and, especially, middle class elements in the capital city are potentially more capable (if willing) to create the conditions for the armed forces to overthrow the government. Because naval forces are more strongly linked to these societal elements due to recruitment practice and the location of their bases, countries with a larger navy in relation to the army could be more likely to see coups d?�tat. The empirical findings, based on the analysis of time-series cross-section data on a sample of all states between 1970 and 2007, provide strong support for the theory. Several robustness checks further increase the confidence in the results

Luminous superclusters: remnants from inflation

We derive the luminosity and multiplicity functions of superclusters compiled for the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Data Release 4), and for three samples of simulated superclusters. We find for all supercluster samples Density Field (DF) clusters, which represent high-density peaks of the class of Abell clusters, and use median luminosities/masses of richness class 1 DF-clusters to calculate relative luminosity/mass functions. We show that the fraction of very luminous (massive) superclusters in real samples is more than tenfolds greater than in simulated samples. Superclusters are generated by large-scale density perturbations which evolve very slowly. The absence of very luminous superclusters in simulations can be explained either by non-proper treatment of large-scale perturbations, or by some yet unknown processes in the very early Universe.Comment: 6 pages, 3 Figures, submitted for Astronomy and Astrophysic