The DEEP2 galaxy redshift survey: evolution of the colour–density relation at 0.4 < z < 1.35

Using a sample of 19 464 galaxies drawn from the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey, we study the relationship between galaxy colour and environment at  0.4 < z < 1.35  . We find that the fraction of galaxies on the red sequence depends strongly on local environment out to   z > 1  , being larger in regions of greater galaxy density. At all epochs probed, we also find a small population of red, morphologically early-type galaxies residing in regions of low measured overdensity. The observed correlations between the red fraction and local overdensity are highly significant, with the trend at   z > 1  detected at a greater than 5σ level. Over the entire redshift regime studied, we find that the colour–density relation evolves continuously, with red galaxies more strongly favouring overdense regions at low z relative to their red-sequence counterparts at high redshift. At   z ≳ 1.3  , the red fraction only weakly correlates with overdensity, implying that any colour dependence to the clustering of  ∼ L *  galaxies at that epoch must be small. Our findings add weight to existing evidence that the build-up of galaxies on the red sequence has occurred preferentially in overdense environments (i.e. galaxy groups) at   z ≲ 1.5  . Furthermore, we identify the epoch  ( z ∼ 2)  at which typical  ∼ L *  galaxies began quenching and moved on to the red sequence in significant number. The strength of the observed evolutionary trends at  0 < z < 1.35  suggests that the correlations observed locally, such as the morphology–density and colour–density relations, are the result of environment-driven mechanisms (i.e. 'nurture') and do not appear to have been imprinted (by 'nature') upon the galaxy population during their epoch of formation.     

Approaching a homogeneous galaxy distribution: results from the Stromlo–APM redshift survey

Recent results from a number of redshift surveys suggest that the Universe is well described by an inhomogeneous, fractal distribution on the largest scales probed. This distribution has been found to have fractal dimension, D , approximately equal to 2.1, in contrast to a homogeneous distribution in which the dimension should approach the value 3 as the scale is increased. In this paper we demonstrate that estimates of D , based on the conditional density of galaxies, are prone to bias from several sources. These biases generally result in a smaller measured fractal dimension than the true dimension of the sample. We illustrate this behaviour in application to the Stromlo–APM redshift survey, showing that this data set in fact provides evidence for fractal dimension increasing with survey depth. On the largest scale probed, r ≈60  h ⁻¹ Mpc, we find evidence for a distribution with dimension D =2.76±0.10. A comparison between this sample and mock Stromlo–APM catalogues taken from N -body simulations (which assume a CDM cosmology) reveals a striking similarity in the behaviour of the fractal dimension. Thus we find no evidence for inhomogeneity in excess of that expected from conventional cosmological theory. We consider biases affecting future large surveys and demonstrate, using mock SDSS catalogues, that this survey will be able to measure the fractal dimension on scales at which we expect to see full turn-over to homogeneity, in an accurate and unbiased way.     

Power spectrum analysis of the ESO Slice Project galaxy redshift survey

We measure the power spectrum of the galaxy distribution in the ESO Slice Project (ESP) galaxy redshift survey. We develop a technique to describe the survey window function analytically, and then deconvolve it from the measured power spectrum using a variant of the Lucy method. We test the whole deconvolution procedure on ESP mock catalogues drawn from large N -body simulations, and find that it is reliable for recovering the correct amplitude and shape of P ( k ) at k >0.065  h  Mpc⁻¹. In general, the technique is applicable to any survey composed of a collection of circular fields with an arbitrary pattern on the sky, as typical of surveys based on fibre spectrographs. The estimated power spectrum has a well-defined power-law shape k ⁿ with n ≃−2.2 for k ≥0.2  h  Mpc⁻¹, and a smooth bend to a flatter shape ( n ≃−1.6) for smaller k . The smallest wavenumber where a meaningful reconstruction can be performed ( k ∼0.06  h  Mpc⁻¹) does not allow us to explore the range of scales where other power spectra seem to show a flattening and hint at a turnover. We also find, by a direct comparison of the Fourier transforms, that the estimate of the two-point correlation function ξ ( s ) is much less sensitive to the effect of a problematic window function, such as that of the ESP, than the power spectrum. Comparison with other surveys shows an excellent agreement with estimates from blue-selected surveys. In particular, the ESP power spectrum is virtually indistinguishable from that of the Durham–UKST survey over the common range of k , an indirect confirmation of the quality of the deconvolution technique applied.     

The apparent and intrinsic shape of the APM galaxy clusters

We estimate the distribution of intrinsic shapes of APM galaxy clusters from the distribution of their apparent shapes. We measure the projected cluster ellipticities using two alternative methods. The first method is based on moments of the discrete galaxy distribution while the second is based on moments of the smoothed galaxy distribution. We study the performance of both methods using Monte Carlo cluster simulations covering the range of APM cluster distances and including a random distribution of background galaxies. We find that the first method suffers from severe systematic biases, whereas the second is more reliable. After excluding clusters dominated by substructure and quantifying the systematic biases in our estimated shape parameters, we recover a corrected distribution of projected ellipticities. We use the non-parametric kernel method to estimate the smooth apparent ellipticity distribution, and numerically invert a set of integral equations to recover the corresponding distribution of intrinsic ellipticities under the assumption that the clusters are either oblate or prolate spheroids. The prolate spheroidal model fits the APM cluster data best.     

The power spectrum of flux-limited X-ray galaxy cluster surveys

We compute the redshift space power spectrum of two X-ray cluster samples: the X-ray Brightest Abell Cluster Sample (XBACS) and the Brightest Cluster Sample (BCS) using the method developed by Feldman, Kaiser & Peacock. The power spectra derived for these samples are in agreement with determinations of other optical and X-ray cluster samples. For XBACS we find the largest power spectrum amplitude expected, given the high richness of this sample ( R ≥2) . In the range 0.05< k <0.4  h  Mpc⁻¹ the power spectrum shows a power-law behaviour P ( k )∝ k ⁿ with an index n ≃−1.2 . In a similar range, 0.04< k <0.3  h  Mpc⁻¹ , the BCS power spectrum has a smaller amplitude with index n ≃−1.0 . We do not find significant evidence for a peak at k ≃0.05  h  Mpc⁻¹ , suggesting that claims such of feature detections in some cluster samples could rely on artificial inhomogeneities of the data. We compare our results with power spectrum predictions derived by Moscardini et al. within current cosmological models (LCDM and OCDM). For XBACS we find that both models underestimate the amplitude of the power spectrum but for BCS there is reasonably good agreement at k ≳0.03  h  Mpc⁻¹ for both models.     

The detection and X-ray evolution of galaxy groups at high redshift

We describe some of the first X-ray detections of groups of galaxies at high redshifts  ( z ∼0.4)  , based on the UK deep X-ray survey of M^cHardy et al. Combined with other deep ROSAT X-ray surveys with nearly complete optical identifications, we investigate the X-ray evolution of these systems. We find no evidence for evolution of the X-ray luminosity function up to   z =0.5  at the low luminosities of groups of galaxies and poor clusters  ( L _X≳10^42.5 erg s^-1)  , although the small sample size precludes very accurate measurements. This result confirms and extends to lower luminosities current results based on surveys at brighter X-ray fluxes. The evolution of the X-ray luminosity function of these low-luminosity systems is more sensitive to the thermal history of the intragroup medium (IGM) than to cosmological parameters. Energy injection into the IGM (from, for example, supernovae or active galactic nuclei winds) is required to explain the X-ray properties of nearby groups. The observed lack of evolution suggests that the energy injection occurred at redshifts   z >0.5  .     

Reconstruction of cosmological initial conditions from galaxy redshift catalogues

We present and test a new method for the reconstruction of cosmological initial conditions from a full-sky galaxy catalogue. This method, called ZTRACE, is based on a self-consistent solution of the growing mode of gravitational instabilities according to the Zel'dovich approximation and higher order in Lagrangian perturbation theory. Given the evolved redshift-space density field, smoothed on some scale, ZTRACE finds, via an iterative procedure, an approximation to the initial density field for any given set of cosmological parameters; real-space densities and peculiar velocities are also reconstructed. The method is tested by applying it to N -body simulations of an Einstein–de Sitter and an open cold dark matter universe. It is shown that errors in the estimate of the density contrast dominate the noise of the reconstruction. As a consequence, the reconstruction of real-space density and peculiar velocity fields using non-linear algorithms is little improved over those based on linear theory. The use of a mass-preserving adaptive smoothing, equivalent to a smoothing in Lagrangian space, allows an unbiased (although noisy) reconstruction of initial conditions, as long as the (linearly extrapolated) density contrast does not exceed unity. The probability distribution function of the initial conditions is recovered to high precision, even for Gaussian smoothing scales of ∼5  h ⁻¹ Mpc, except for the tail at δ ≥1. This result is insensitive to the assumptions of the background cosmology.