SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

Francisco Kitaura

Publications and source records attributed to Francisco Kitaura.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Tracing the cosmic web

The cosmic web is one of the most striking features of the distribution of galaxies and dark matter on the largest scales in the Universe. It is composed of dense regions packed full of galaxies, long filamentary bridges, flattened sheets and vast low density voids. The study of the cosmic web has focused primarily on the identification of such features, and on understanding the environmental effects on galaxy formation and halo assembly. As such, a variety of different methods have been devised to classify the cosmic web -- depending on the data at hand, be it numerical simulations, large sky surveys or other. In this paper we bring twelve of these methods together and apply them to the same data set in order to understand how they compare. In general these cosmic web classifiers have been designed with different cosmological goals in mind, and to study different questions. Therefore one would not {\it a priori} expect agreement between different techniques however, many of these methods do converge on the identification of specific features. In this paper we study the agreements and disparities of the different methods. For example, each method finds that knots inhabit higher density regions than filaments, etc. and that voids have the lowest densities. For a given web environment, we find substantial overlap in the density range assigned by each web classification scheme. We also compare classifications on a halo-by-halo basis; for example, we find that 9 of 12 methods classify around a third of group-mass haloes (i.e. $M_{\rm halo}\sim10^{13.5}h^{-1}M_{\odot}$) as being in filaments. Lastly, so that any future cosmic web classification scheme can be compared to the 12 methods used here, we have made all the data used in this paper public.

astro-ph.CO

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: On the measurement of growth rate using galaxy correlation functions

We present a measurement of the linear growth rate of structure, \textit{f} from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS III) Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release 12 (DR12) using Convolution Lagrangian Perturbation Theory (CLPT) with Gaussian Streaming Redshift-Space Distortions (GSRSD) to model the two point statistics of BOSS galaxies in DR12. The BOSS-DR12 dataset includes 1,198,006 massive galaxies spread over the redshift range $0.2 < z < 0.75$. These galaxy samples are categorized in three redshift bins. Using CLPT-GSRSD in our analysis of the combined sample of the three redshift bins, we report measurements of $f σ_8$ for the three redshift bins. We find $f σ_8 = 0.430 \pm 0.054$ at $z_{\rm eff} = 0.38$, $f σ_8 = 0.452 \pm 0.057$ at $z_{\rm eff} = 0.51$ and $f σ_8 = 0.457 \pm 0.052$ at $z_{\rm eff} = 0.61$. Our results are consistent with the predictions of Planck $Λ$CDM-GR. Our constraints on the growth rates of structure in the Universe at different redshifts serve as a useful probe, which can help distinguish between a model of the Universe based on dark energy and models based on modified theories of gravity. This paper is part of a set that analyses the final galaxy clustering dataset from BOSS. The measurements and likelihoods presented here are combined with others in Alam et al. 2016 to produce the final cosmological constraints from BOSS.

astro-ph.CO

Bayesian Cosmic Web Reconstruction: BARCODE for Clusters

We describe the Bayesian BARCODE formalism that has been designed towards the reconstruction of the Cosmic Web in a given volume on the basis of the sampled galaxy cluster distribution. Based on the realization that the massive compact clusters are responsible for the major share of the large scale tidal force field shaping the anisotropic and in particular filamentary features in the Cosmic Web. Given the nonlinearity of the constraints imposed by the cluster configurations, we resort to a state-of-the-art constrained reconstruction technique to find a proper statistically sampled realization of the original initial density and velocity field in the same cosmic region. Ultimately, the subsequent gravitational evolution of these initial conditions towards the implied Cosmic Web configuration can be followed on the basis of a proper analytical model or an N-body computer simulation. The BARCODE formalism includes an implicit treatment for redshift space distortions. This enables a direct reconstruction on the basis of observational data, without the need for a correction of redshift space artifacts. In this contribution we provide a general overview of the the Cosmic Web connection with clusters and a description of the Bayesian BARCODE formalism. We conclude with a presentation of its successful workings with respect to test runs based on a simulated large scale matter distribution, in physical space as well as in redshift space.

astro-ph.CO

The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: cosmological analysis of the DR12 galaxy sample

We present cosmological results from the final galaxy clustering data set of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III. Our combined galaxy sample comprises 1.2 million massive galaxies over an effective area of 9329 deg^2 and volume of 18.7 Gpc^3, divided into three partially overlapping redshift slices centred at effective redshifts 0.38, 0.51, and 0.61. We measure the angular diameter distance DM and Hubble parameter H from the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) method after applying reconstruction to reduce non-linear effects on the BAO feature. Using the anisotropic clustering of the pre-reconstruction density field, we measure the product DM*H from the Alcock-Paczynski (AP) effect and the growth of structure, quantified by fσ8(z), from redshift-space distortions (RSD). We combine measurements presented in seven companion papers into a set of consensus values and likelihoods, obtaining constraints that are tighter and more robust than those from any one method. Combined with Planck 2015 cosmic microwave background measurements, our distance scale measurements simultaneously imply curvature Ω_K =0.0003+/-0.0026 and a dark energy equation of state parameter w = -1.01+/-0.06, in strong affirmation of the spatially flat cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant (ΛCDM). Our RSD measurements of fσ_8, at 6 per cent precision, are similarly consistent with this model. When combined with supernova Ia data, we find H0 = 67.3+/-1.0 km/s/Mpc even for our most general dark energy model, in tension with some direct measurements. Adding extra relativistic species as a degree of freedom loosens the constraint only slightly, to H0 = 67.8+/-1.2 km/s/Mpc. Assuming flat ΛCDM we find Ω_m = 0.310+/-0.005 and H0 = 67.6+/-0.5 km/s/Mpc, and we find a 95% upper limit of 0.16 eV/c^2 on the neutrino mass sum.

astro-ph.CO