The clustering of galaxy clusters in cosmological models with non-Gaussian initial conditions: predictions for future surveys

We predict the biasing and clustering properties of galaxy clusters that are expected to be observed in the catalogues produced by two forthcoming X-ray and Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect surveys. We study a set of flat cosmological models where the primordial density probability distribution shows deviations from Gaussianity in agreement with current observational bounds form the background radiation. We consider both local and equilateral shapes for the primordial bispectrum in non-Gaussian models. The two catalogues investigated are those produced by the e ROSITA wide survey and from a survey based on South Pole Telescope observations. It turns out that both the bias and observed power spectrum of galaxy clusters are severely affected in non-Gaussian models with local shape of the primordial bispectrum, especially at large scales. On the other hand, models with equilateral shape of the primordial bispectrum show only a mild effect at all scales, that is difficult to be detected with clustering observations. Between the two catalogues, the one performing better is the e ROSITA one, since it contains only the largest masses that are more sensitive to primordial non-Gaussianity.     

Large-scale structure, the cosmic microwave background and primordial non-Gaussianity

Cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure data will shortly improve dramatically with the Microwave Anisotropy Probe and Planck Surveyor , and the Anglo-Australian 2-Degree Field and Sloan Digital Sky Survey. It is therefore timely to ask which of the microwave background and large-scale structure will provide a better probe of primordial non-Gaussianity. In this paper we consider this question, using the bispectrum as a discriminating statistic. We consider several non-Gaussian models and find that in each case the microwave background will provide a better probe of primordial non-Gaussianity. Our results suggest that if microwave background maps appear Gaussian, then apparent deviations from Gaussian initial conditions in galaxy surveys can be attributed with confidence to the effects of biasing. We demonstrate this precisely for the spatial bispectrum induced by local non-linear biasing.     

Projected bispectrum in spherical harmonics and its application to angular galaxy catalogues

We present a theoretical and exact analysis of the bispectrum of projected galaxy catalogues. The result can be generalized to evaluate the projection in spherical harmonics of any 3D bispectrum and therefore has applications to cosmic microwave background and gravitational lensing studies.
By expanding the 2D distribution of galaxies on the sky in spherical harmonics, we show how the three-point function of the coefficients can be used in principle to determine the bias parameter of the galaxy sample. If this can be achieved, it would allow a lifting of the degeneracy between the bias and the matter density parameter of the Universe, which occurs in linear analysis of 3D galaxy catalogues. In previous papers, we have shown how a similar analysis can be done in three dimensions, and we show here through an error analysis and by implementing the method on a simulated projected catalogue that ongoing three-dimensional galaxy redshift surveys (even with all the additional uncertainties introduced by partial sky coverage, redshift-space distortions and smaller numbers) will do far better than all-sky projected catalogues with similar selection function.     

An excursion set model for the distribution of dark matter and dark matter haloes

A model of the gravitationally evolved dark matter distribution, in the Eulerian space, is developed. It is a simple extension of the excursion set model that is commonly used to estimate the mass function of collapsed dark matter haloes. In addition to describing the evolution of the Eulerian space distribution of the haloes, the model allows one to describe the evolution of the dark matter itself. It can also be used to describe density profiles, on scales larger than the virial radius of these haloes, and to quantify the way in which matter flows in and out of Eulerian cells. When the initial Lagrangian space distribution is white noise Gaussian, the model suggests that the Inverse Gaussian distribution should provide a reasonably good approximation to the evolved Eulerian density field, in agreement with numerical simulations. Application of this model to clustering from more general Gaussian initial conditions is discussed at the end.     

The non-linear redshift-space power spectrum of galaxies

We study the power spectrum of galaxies in redshift space, with third-order perturbation theory to include corrections that are absent in linear theory. We assume a local bias for the galaxies: i.e., the galaxy density is sampled from some local function of the underlying mass distribution. We find that the effect of the non-linear bias in real space is to introduce two new features: first, there is a contribution to the power which is constant with wavenumber, whose nature we reveal as essentially a shot-noise term. In principle this contribution can mask the primordial power spectrum, and could limit the accuracy with which the latter might be measured on very large scales. Secondly, the effect of second- and third-order bias is to modify the effective bias (defined as the square root of the ratio of galaxy power spectrum to matter power spectrum). The effective bias is almost scale-independent over a wide range of scales. These general conclusions also hold in redshift space. In addition, we have investigated the distortion of the power spectrum by peculiar velocities, which may be used to constrain the density of the Universe. We look at the quadrupole-to-monopole ratio, and find that higher order terms can mimic linear theory bias, but the bias implied is neither the linear bias, nor the effective bias referred to above. We test the theory with biased N -body simulations, and find excellent agreement in both real and redshift space, providing the local biasing is applied on a scale whose fractional rms density fluctuations are < 0.5.     

Galaxy density profiles and shapes – II. Selection biases in strong lensing surveys

Many current and future astronomical surveys will rely on samples of strong gravitational lens systems to draw conclusions about galaxy mass distributions. We use a new strong lensing pipeline (presented in Paper I of this series) to explore selection biases that may cause the population of strong lensing systems to differ from the general galaxy population. Our focus is on point-source lensing by early-type galaxies with two mass components (stellar and dark matter) that have a variety of density profiles and shapes motivated by observational and theoretical studies of galaxy properties. We seek not only to quantify but also to understand the physics behind selection biases related to: galaxy mass, orientation and shape; dark matter profile parameters such as inner slope and concentration; and adiabatic contraction. We study how all of these properties affect the lensing Einstein radius, total cross-section, quad/double ratio and image separation distribution, with a flexible treatment of magnification bias to mimic different survey strategies. We present our results for two families of density profiles: cusped and deprojected Sérsic models. While we use fixed lens and source redshifts for most of the analysis, we show that the results are applicable to other redshift combinations, and we also explore the physics of how our results change for very different redshifts. We find significant (factors of several) selection biases with mass; orientation, for a given galaxy shape at fixed mass; cusped dark matter profile inner slope and concentration; concentration of the stellar and dark matter deprojected Sérsic models. Interestingly, the intrinsic shape of a galaxy does not strongly influence its lensing cross-section when we average over viewing angles. Our results are an important first step towards understanding how strong lens systems relate to the general galaxy population.     

Tracing the warm–hot intergalactic medium in the local Universe

We present a simple method for tracing the spatial distribution and predicting the physical properties of the Warm–Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM), from the map of galaxy light in the Local Universe. Under the assumption that biasing is local and monotonic we map the  ∼2 h ⁻¹ Mpc  smoothed density field of galaxy light into the mass-density field, from which we infer the spatial distribution of the WHIM in the Local Supercluster. Taking into account the scatter in the WHIM density–temperature and density–metallicity relation, extracted from the z = 0 outputs of high-resolution and large-box-size hydrodynamical cosmological simulations, we are able to quantify the probability of detecting WHIM signatures in the form of absorption features in the X-ray spectra, along arbitrary directions in the sky. To illustrate the usefulness of this semi-analytical method we focus on the WHIM properties in the Virgo cluster region.     

On the treatment of entropy mixing in numerical cosmology

For simulations of fluid dynamics in astrophysics, physical viscosity and diffusion are typically neglected. However, in this high Reynolds number regime, real fluids become highly turbulent and turbulent processes mediate substantial transport of momentum and heat that is diffusive in nature. In the absence of models for these processes, code-dependent numerical effects dominate how diffusion operates and may lead to physically incorrect simulation results. We highlight the qualitative difference in these numerical effects for smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and grid-based Eulerian codes using two test problems: a buoyant gas bubble and gas in a galaxy cluster. Grid codes suffer from numerical diffusion in the absence of explicit terms, and small-scale diffusion of heat is completely absent in the Lagrangian SPH method. We find that SPH with heat diffusion added at a level similar to that expected from turbulence diffusion generates more physically appealing results. These results suggest, but do not confirm, that a flat entropy core is to be expected for gas in an idealized galaxy cluster (i.e. one without physics beyond that of a non-radiating gas). A goal of this work is thus to draw attention to the as yet unfulfilled need for models of turbulent diffusive processes in compressible gases in astrophysics.     

Empirical constraints for the magnitude and composition of galactic winds

Galactic winds are a key physical mechanism for understanding galaxy formation and evolution, yet empirical and theoretical constraints for the character of winds are limited and discrepant. Recent empirical models find that local star-forming galaxies have a deficit of oxygen that scales with galaxy stellar mass. The oxygen deficit provides unique empirical constraints on the magnitude of mass loss, composition of outflowing material and metal reaccretion onto galaxies. We formulate the oxygen deficit constraints so they may be easily implemented into theoretical models of galaxy evolution. We parameterize an effective metal loading factor which combines the uncertainties of metal outflows and metal reaccretion into a single function of galaxy virial velocity. We determine the effective metal loading factor by forward-fitting the oxygen deficit. The effective metal loading factor we derive has important implications for the implementation of mass loss in models of galaxy evolution.     

Galaxy–QSO correlation induced by weak gravitational lensing arising from large-scale structure

Observational evidence shows that gravitational lensing induces an angular correlation between the distribution of galaxies and much more distant QSOs. We use weak gravitational lensing theory to calculate this angular correlation, updating previous calculations and presenting new results exploring the dependence of the correlation on the large-scale structure. We study the dependence of the predictions on a variety of cosmological models, such as cold dark matter models, mixed dark matter models and models based on quintessence. We also study the dependence on the assumptions made about the nature of the primordial fluctuation spectrum: adiabatic, isocurvature and power spectra motivated by the cosmic string scenario are investigated. Special attention is paid to the issue of galaxy biasing, which is fully incorporated. We show that different mass power spectra imply distinct predictions for the angular correlation, and therefore the angular correlation provides an extra source of information about cosmological parameters and mechanisms of structure formation. We compare our results with observational data and discuss their potential uses. In particular, it is suggested that the observational determination of the galaxy–QSO correlation may be used to give an independent measurement of the mass power spectrum.     

The effect of galaxy mass ratio on merger-driven starbursts

We employ numerical simulations of galaxy mergers to explore the effect of galaxy mass ratio on merger-driven starbursts. Our numerical simulations include radiative cooling of gas, star formation, and stellar feedback to follow the interaction and merger of four disc galaxies. The galaxy models span a factor of 23 in total mass and are designed to be representative of typical galaxies in the local universe. We find that the merger-driven star formation is a strong function of merger mass ratio, with very little, if any, induced star formation for large mass ratio mergers. We define a burst efficiency that is useful to characterize the merger-driven star formation and test that it is insensitive to uncertainties in the feedback parametrization. In accord with previous work we find that the burst efficiency depends on the structure of the primary galaxy. In particular, the presence of a massive stellar bulge stabilizes the disc and suppresses merger-driven star formation for large mass ratio mergers. Direct, coplanar merging orbits produce the largest tidal disturbance and yield the most intense burst of star formation. Contrary to naive expectations, a more compact distribution of gas or an increased gas fraction both decrease the burst efficiency. Owing to the efficient feedback model and the newer version of smoothed particle hydrodynamics employed here, the burst efficiencies of the mergers presented here are smaller than in previous studies.     

LAMOST星系红移巡天的数值模拟研究:(Ⅰ)理论模型及模拟样本构造

基于N体数值模拟技术,给出在各种宇宙学模型框架下,产生LAMOST红移巡天的模拟样本的方法．在模拟样本构造中,采用双参数的tagrange偏袒模型,并结合LAMOST的设计,考虑了径向选择效应及巡天几何的限制;同时还根据星系形态和环境的关系,进一步对模拟样本的星系形态进行分类．选择APM的亮星系样本对模型进行检验,并通过计算其角相关函数和模型进行比较．计算结果表明,对包括所有形态的星系样本,模拟样本给出了和观测相符的结果,而对基于Postman和Geller的形态一环境关系所得到的不同形态的模拟星系分布,模拟样本中的椭圆星系和透镜星系不足以解释APM亮星系样本中的成团强度,即强偏袒效应．最后,从实测角度出发,对采用的模拟方法和样本进行评估．     

Mock LAMOST galaxy redshift surveys: I. Methodology

For a wide range of cold dark matter models of galaxy formation, we present a general method for constructing mock LAMOST galaxy redshift surveys using cosmological N-body simulation. We use the two-parameter Lagrangian biased model for the construction, take into account the radial selection and survey geometry and use a local morphology-density relation to assign morphological types to the galaxies. We test the mock samples by comparing their angular correlation functions both for the whole catalogue and for different morphological types with those of the APM bright galaxy catalogue. The result shows an excellent agreement between the mock catalogue as a whole and the observations; but the E/S0 galaxies of the mock sample are unable to reproduce the overall amplitude of the observed correlation. The mock catalogue should be useful when designing redshift surveys and provide a valuable aid in developing new statistical estimators and algorithm for quantifying the large scale structure of the universe.     

The stellar populations of spiral galaxies

We have used a large sample of low-inclination spiral galaxies with radially resolved optical and near-infrared photometry to investigate trends in star formation history with radius as a function of galaxy structural parameters. A maximum-likelihood method was used to match all the available photometry of our sample to the colours predicted by stellar population synthesis models. The use of simplistic star formation histories, uncertainties in the stellar population models and considering the importance of dust all compromise the absolute ages and metallicities derived in this work; however, our conclusions are robust in a relative sense. We find that most spiral galaxies have stellar population gradients, in the sense that their inner regions are older and more metal rich than their outer regions. Our main conclusion is that the surface density of a galaxy drives its star formation history, perhaps through a local density dependence in the star formation law. The mass of a galaxy is a less important parameter; the age of a galaxy is relatively unaffected by its mass; however, the metallicity of galaxies depends on both surface density and mass. This suggests that galaxy‐mass-dependent feedback is an important process in the chemical evolution of galaxies. In addition, there is significant cosmic scatter suggesting that mass and density may not be the only parameters affecting the star formation history of a galaxy.