Galactic conformity measured in semi-analytic models

We study the correlation between the specific star formation rate of central galaxies and neighbour galaxies, also known as 'galactic conformity', out to 20 Mpc/h using three semi-analytic models (SAMs, one from L-GALAXIES and other two from GALFORM). The aim is to establish whether SAMs are able to show galactic conformity using different models and selection criteria. In all the models, when the selection of primary galaxies is based on an isolation criterion in real space, the mean fraction of quenched galaxies around quenched primary galaxies is higher than that around star-forming primary galaxies of the same stellar mass. The overall signal of conformity decreases when we remove satellites selected as primary galaxies, but the effect is much stronger in GALFORM models compared with the L-GALAXIES model. We find this difference is partially explained by the fact that in GALFORM once a galaxy becomes a satellite remains as such, whereas satellites can become centrals at a later time in L-GALAXIES. The signal of conformity decreases down to 60% in the L-GALAXIES model after removing central galaxies that were ejected from their host halo in the past. Galactic conformity is also influenced by primary galaxies at fixed stellar mass that reside in dark matter haloes of different masses. Finally, we explore a proxy of conformity between distinct haloes. In this case the conformity is weak beyond ~ 3 Mpc/h (<3% in L-GALAXIES, <1-2% in GALFORM models). Therefore, it seems difficult that conformity is directly related with a long-range effect.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Improving and extending non-Poissonian distributions for satellite galaxies sampling in HOD: applications to eBOSS ELGs

Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD) models help us to connect observations and theory, by assigning galaxies to dark matter haloes. In this work we study one of the components of HOD models: the probability distribution function (PDF), which is used to assign a discrete number of galaxies to a halo, given a mean number of galaxies. For satellite galaxies, the most commonly used PDF is a Poisson Distribution. PDFs with super-Poisson variances have also been studied, allowing for continuous values of variances. This has not been the case for sub-Poisson variances, for which only the Nearest Integer distribution, with a single variance, has been used in the past. In this work we propose a distribution based on the binomial one, which provides continuous sub-Poisson variances. We have generated mock galaxy catalogues from two dark-matter only simulations, UNIT and OUTERIM, with HOD models assuming different PDFs. We show that the variance of the PDF for satellite galaxies affects the one-halo term of the projected correlation function, and the Count-In-Cells (CIC) one point statistics. We fit the clustering of eBOSS Emission Line Galaxies, finding a preference for a sub-poissonian PDF, when we only vary the parameter controlling the PDF variance and the fraction of satellites. Using a mock catalogue as a reference, we have also included both the clustering and CIC to constrain the parameters of the HOD model. CIC can provide strong constraints to the PDF variance of satellite galaxies.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, 19 page

UNITSIM-Galaxies: Data release and clustering of emission-line galaxies

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society following peer review. The version of record Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 510.4 (2022): 5392-5407 is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-abstract/510/4/5392/6505155?redirectedFrom=fulltextNew surv e ys such as European Space Agenc ys (ESA's) Euclid mission are planned to map with unprecedented precision the large-scale structure of the Universe by measuring the 3D positions of tens of millions of galaxies. It is necessary to develop theoretically modelled galaxy catalogues to estimate the expected performance and to optimize the analysis strategy of these surv e ys. We populate two pairs of (1 h -1 Gpc) 3 volume dark matter-only simulations from the UNIT project with galaxies using the Semi-Analytic Galaxy Evolution semi-analytic model of galaxy formation, coupled to the photoionization model GET EMLINES to estimate their H αemission. These catalogues represent a unique suite that includes galaxy formation physics and -thanks to the fixed-pair technique used -an ef fecti ve volume of ∼(5 h -1 Gpc ) 3 , which is several times larger than the Euclid surv e y. We present the performance of these data and create five additional emission-line galaxy (ELG) catalogues by applying a dust-attenuation model as well as adjusting the flux threshold as a function of redshift in order to reproduce Euclid-forecast d N /d z values. As a first application, we study the abundance and clustering of those model H αELGs: For scales greater than ∼5 h -1 Mpc, we find a scale- independent bias with a value of b ∼1 at redshift z ∼0.5, that can increase nearly linearly to b ∼4 at z ∼2, depending on the ELG catalogue. Model galaxy properties, including their emission-line fluxes (with and without dust extinction) are publicly availabl

The role of environment in galaxy evolution in the SERVS survey I: density maps and cluster candidates

We use photometric redshifts derived from new $u$-band through 4.5$\mu$m Spitzer IRAC photometry in the 4.8\,deg$^2$ of the XMM-LSS field to construct surface density maps in the redshift range 0.1-1.5. Our density maps show evidence for large-scale structure in the form of filaments spanning several tens of Mpc. Using these maps, we identify 339 overdensities that our simulated lightcone analysis suggests are likely associated with dark matter haloes with masses, $M_{\rm halo}$, log($M_{\rm halo}/M_{\odot})>$13.7. From this list of overdensities we recover 43 of 70 known X-ray detected and spectroscopically confirmed clusters. The missing X-ray clusters are largely at lower redshifts and lower masses than our target log($M_{\rm halo}/M_{\odot})>$13.7. The bulk of the overdensities are compact, but a quarter show extended morphologies which include likely projection effects, clusters embedded in apparent filaments as well as at least one potential cluster merger (at $z\sim1.28$). The strongest overdensity in our highest redshift slice (at $z\sim1.5$) shows a compact red galaxy core potentially implying a massive evolved cluster

A unified multiwavelength model of galaxy formation

We present a new version of the GALFORM semi-analytical model of galaxy formation. This brings together several previous developments of GALFORM into a single unified model, including a different initial mass function (IMF) in quiescent star formation and in starbursts, feedback from active galactic nuclei supressing gas cooling in massive halos, and a new empirical star formation law in galaxy disks based on their molecular gas content. In addition, we have updated the cosmology, introduced a more accurate treatment of dynamical friction acting on satellite galaxies, and updated the stellar population model. The new model is able to simultaneously explain both the observed evolution of the K-band luminosity function and stellar mass function, and the number counts and redshift distribution of sub-mm galaxies selected at 850μm. This was not previously achieved by a single physical model within the ΛCDM framework, but requires having an IMF in starbursts that is somewhat top-heavy. The new model is tested against a wide variety of observational data covering wavelengths from the far-UV to sub-mm, and redshifts from z = 0 to z = 6, and is found to be generally successful. These observations include the optical and near-IR luminosity functions, HI mass function, fraction of early type galaxies, Tully-Fisher, metallicity-luminosity and size-luminosity relations at z = 0, as well as far-IR number counts, and far-UV luminosity functions at z ∼ 3 − 6. Discrepancies are however found in galaxy sizes and metallicities at low luminosities, and in the abundance of low mass galaxies at high-z, suggesting the need for a more sophisticated model of supernova feedback