A group finder algorithm optimised for the study of local galaxy environment

Abstract

The majority of galaxy group catalogues available in the literature use the popular friends-of-friends algorithm which links galaxies using a linking length. One potential drawback to this approach is that clusters of point can be link with thin bridges which may not be desirable. Furthermore, these algorithms are designed with large-scales galaxy surveys in mind rather than small-scale, local galaxy environments, where attention to detail is important. Here we present a new simple group finder algorithm, TD-ENCLOSER, that finds the group that encloses a target galaxy of interest. TD-ENCLOSER is based on the kernel density estimation method which treats each galaxy, represented by a zero-dimensional particle, as a two-dimensional circular Gaussian. The algorithm assigns galaxies to peaks in the density field in order of density in descending order ("Top Down") so that galaxy groups "grow" around the density peaks. Outliers in under-dense regions are prevented from joining groups by a specified hard threshold, while outliers at the group edges are clipped below a soft (blurred) interior density level. The group assignments are largely insensitive to all free parameters apart from the hard density threshold and the kernel standard deviation, although this is a known feature of density-based group finder algorithms, and operates with a computing speed that increases linearly with the size of the input sample. In preparation for a companion paper, we also present a simple algorithm to select unique representative groups when duplicates occur. TD-ENCLOSER produces results comparable to those from a widely used catalogue, as shown in a companion paper. A smoothing scale of 0.3 Mpc provides the most realistic group structure.Comment: Submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics on October 6th 2019. This paper is the first in a series of three paper