7,457 research outputs found
Eviction of a 125 GeV "heavy"-Higgs from the MSSM
We prove that the present experimental constraints are already enough to rule
out the possibility of the ~125 GeV Higgs found at LHC being the second
lightest Higgs in a general MSSM context, even with explicit CP violation in
the Higgs potential. Contrary to previous studies, we are able to eliminate
this possibility analytically, using simple expressions for a relatively small
number of observables. We show that the present LHC constraints on the diphoton
signal strength, tau-tau production through Higgs and BR(B -> X_s gamma) are
enough to preclude the possibility of H_2 being the observed Higgs with m_H~125
GeV within an MSSM context, without leaving room for finely tuned
cancellations. As a by-product, we also comment on the difficulties of an MSSM
interpretation of the excess in the gamma-gamma production cross section
recently found at CMS that could correspond to a second Higgs resonance at
m_H~136 GeV.Comment: 38 pages, 9 figures. Final version accepted at JHEP. Sections 2, 3
and appendices simplified. Experimental results updated, several references
added. Small typos corrected and a new comparison of approximate formulas
with full expressions include
Observational Evidence for an Age Dependence of Halo Bias
We study the dependence of the cross-correlation between galaxies and galaxy
groups on group properties. Confirming previous results, we find that the
correlation strength is stronger for more massive groups, in good agreement
with the expected mass dependence of halo bias. We also find, however, that for
groups of the same mass, the correlation strength depends on the star formation
rate (SFR) of the central galaxy: at fixed mass, the bias of galaxy groups
decreases as the SFR of the central galaxy increases. We discuss these findings
in light of the recent findings by Gao et al (2005) that halo bias depends on
halo formation time, in that halos that assemble earlier are more strongly
biased. We also discuss the implication for galaxy formation, and address a
possible link to galaxy conformity, the observed correlation between the
properties of satellite galaxies and those of their central galaxy.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. Figures
3 and 4 replaced. The bias dependence on the central galaxy luminosity is
omitted due to its sensitivity to the mass mode
Galaxy Groups in the SDSS DR4: II. halo occupation statistics
We investigate various halo occupation statistics using a large galaxy group
catalogue constructed from the SDSS DR4 with an adaptive halo-based group
finder. The conditional luminosity function (CLF) is measured separately for
all, red and blue galaxies, as well as in terms of central and satellite
galaxies. The CLFs for central and satellite galaxies can be well modelled with
a log-normal distribution and a modified Schechter form, respectively. About
85% of the central galaxies and about 80% of the satellite galaxies in halos
with masses M_h\ga 10^{14}\msunh are red galaxies. These numbers decrease to
50% and 40%, respectively, in halos with M_h \sim 10^{12}\msunh. For halos of
a given mass, the distribution of the luminosities of central galaxies, ,
has a dispersion of about 0.15 dex. The mean luminosity (stellar mass) of the
central galaxies scales with halo mass as
() for halos with masses M\gg 10^{12.5}\msunh, and
both relations are significantly steeper for less massive halos. We also
measure the luminosity (stellar mass) gap between the first and second
brightest (most massive) member galaxies, (). These gap statistics, especially in halos with M_h \la
10^{14.0}\msunh, indicate that the luminosities of central galaxies are
clearly distinct from those of their satellites. The fraction of fossil groups,
defined as those groups with , ranges from for groups with M_h\sim 10^{14}\msunh to 18-60% for groups with
M_h\sim 10^{13}\msunh. Finally, we measure the fraction of satellites, which
changes from for galaxies with \rmag\sim -22.0 to for
galaxies with \rmag\sim -17.0. (abridged)Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
The clustering of SDSS galaxy groups: mass and color dependence
We use a sample of galaxy groups selected from the SDSS DR 4 with an adaptive
halo-based group finder to probe how the clustering strength of groups depends
on their masses and colors. In particular, we determine the relative biases of
groups of different masses, as well as that of groups with the same mass but
with different colors. In agreement with previous studies, we find that more
massive groups are more strongly clustered, and the inferred mass dependence of
the halo bias is in good agreement with predictions for the CDM
cosmology. Regarding the color dependence, we find that groups with red
centrals are more strongly clustered than groups of the same mass but with blue
centrals. Similar results are obtained when the color of a group is defined to
be the total color of its member galaxies. The color dependence is more
prominent in less massive groups and becomes insignificant in groups with
masses \gta 10^{14}\msunh. We construct a mock galaxy redshift survey
constructed from the large Millenium simulation that is populated with galaxies
according to the semi-analytical model of Croton et al. Applying our group
finder to this mock survey, and analyzing the mock data in exactly the same way
as the true data, we are able to accurately recover the intrinsic mass and
color dependencies of the halo bias in the model. This suggests that our group
finding algorithm and our method of assigning group masses do not induce
spurious mass and/or color dependencies in the group-galaxy correlation
function. The semi-analytical model reveals the same color dependence of the
halo bias as we find in our group catalogue. In halos with M\sim
10^{12}\msunh, though, the strength of the color dependence is much stronger
in the model than in the data.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ. In the new
version, we add the bias of the shuffled galaxy sample. The errors are
estimated according to the covariance matrix of the GGCCF, which is then
diagonalize
Tracking Down a Critical Halo Mass for Killing Galaxies through the Growth of the Red-Sequence
Red-sequence galaxies record the history of terminated star-formation in the
Universe and can thus provide important clues to the mechanisms responsible for
this termination. We construct composite samples of published cluster and field
galaxy photometry in order to study the build-up of galaxies on the
red-sequence, as parameterised by the dwarf-to-giant ratio (DGR). We find that
the DGR in clusters is higher than that of the field at all redshifts, implying
that the faint end of the red-sequence was established first in clusters. We
find that the DGR evolves with redshift for both samples, consistent with the
``down-sizing'' picture of star formation. We examine the predictions of
semi-analytic models for the DGR and find that neither the magnitude of its
environmental dependence nor its evolution is correctly predicted in the
models. Red-sequence DGRs are consistently too high in the models, the most
likely explanation being that the strangulation mechanism used to remove hot
gas from satellite galaxies is too efficient. Finally we present a simple toy
model including a threshold mass, below which galaxies are not strangled, and
show that this can predict the observed evolution of the field DGR.Comment: MNRAS letters accepted. 5 pages, 1 figur
Three Different Types of Galaxy Alignment within Dark Matter Halos
Using a large galaxy group catalogue based on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Data Release 4 we measure three different types of intrinsic galaxy alignment
within groups: halo alignment between the orientation of the brightest group
galaxies (BGG) and the distribution of its satellite galaxies, radial alignment
between the orientation of a satellite galaxy and the direction towards its
BGG, and direct alignment between the orientation of the BGG and that of its
satellites. In agreement with previous studies we find that satellite galaxies
are preferentially located along the major axis. In addition, on scales r < 0.7
Rvir we find that red satellites are preferentially aligned radially with the
direction to the BGG. The orientations of blue satellites, however, are
perfectly consistent with being isotropic. Finally, on scales r < 0.1 \Rvir, we
find a weak but significant indication for direct alignment between satellites
and BGGs. We briefly discuss the implications for weak lensing measurements.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, ApJL accepte
- …