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Jaan Einasto

Publications and source records attributed to Jaan Einasto.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Tracing high redshift cosmic web with quasar systems

We trace the cosmic web at redshifts 1.0 <= z <= 1.8 using the quasar data from the SDSS DR7 QSO catalogue (Schneider et al. 2010). We apply a friend-of-friend (FoF) algorithm to the quasar and random catalogues to determine systems at a series of linking lengths, and analyse richness and sizes of these systems. At the linking lengths l <= 30 Mpc/h the number of quasar systems is larger than the number of systems detected in random catalogues, and systems themselves have smaller diameters than random systems. The diameters of quasar systems are comparable to the sizes of poor galaxy superclusters in the local Universe, the richest quasar systems have four members. The mean space density of quasar systems is close to the mean space density of local rich superclusters. At intermediate linking lengths (40 <= l <= 70 Mpc/h) the richness and length of quasar systems are similar to those derived from random catalogues. Quasar system diameters are similar to the sizes of rich superclusters and supercluster chains in the local Universe. At the linking length 70 Mpc/h the richest systems of quasars have diameters exceeding 500 Mpc/h. The percolating system which penetrate the whole sample volume appears in quasar sample at smaller linking length than in random samples (85 Mpc/h). Quasar luminosities in systems are not correlated with the system richness. Quasar system catalogues at our web pages http://www.aai.ee/~maret/QSOsystems.html serve as a database to search for superclusters of galaxies and to trace the cosmic web at high redshifts.

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Dark Matter

I give a review of the development of the concept of dark matter. The dark matter story passed through several stages from a minor observational puzzle to a major challenge for theory of elementary particles. Modern data suggest that dark matter is the dominant matter component in the Universe, and that it consists of some unknown non-baryonic particles. Dark matter is the dominant matter component in the Universe, thus properties of dark matter particles determine the structure of the cosmic web.

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Dark Matter

A review of the development of the concept of dark matter is given. I begin the review with the description of the discovery of the mass paradox in our Galaxy and in clusters of galaxies. In mid 1970s the amount of observational data was sufficient to suggest the presence of a massive and invisible population around galaxies and in clusters of galaxies. The nature of the dark population was not clear at that time, but the hypotheses of stellar as well as of gaseous nature of the new population had serious difficulties. These difficulties disappeared when non-baryonic nature of dark matter was suggested in early 1980s. In addition to the presence of Dark Matter, recent observations suggest the presence of Dark Energy, which together with Dark Matter and ordinary baryonic matter makes the total matter/energy density of the Universe equal to the critical cosmological density. There are various hypothesis as for the nature of the dark matter particles, and generally some form of weakly interactive massive particles (WIMPs) are strongly favored. Both Dark Matter and Dark Energy are the greatest challenges for modern physics since their nature is unknown.

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Large scale structure of the Universe

A short overview is given on the development of our present paradigm of the large scale structure of the Universe with emphasis on the role of Ya. B. Zeldovich. Next we use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data and show that the distribution of phases of density waves of various scale in the present-day Universe are correlated. Using numerical simulations of structure evolution we show that the skeleton of the cosmic web was present already in an early stage of the evolution of structure. The positions of maxima and minima of density waves (their phases) are the more stable, the larger is the wavelength. The birth of the first generation of stars occured most probably in the central regions of rich proto-superclusters where the density was highest in the early Universe.

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Anatomy of luminosity functions: the 2dFGRS example

Aims. We use the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey to derive the luminosity function (LF) of the first-ranked (brightest) group/cluster galaxies, the LF of second-ranked, satellite and isolated galaxies, and the LF of groups of galaxies. Methods. We investigate the LFs of different samples in various environments: in voids, filaments, superclusters and supercluster cores. We compare the derived LFs with the Schechter and double-power-law analytical expressions. We also analyze the luminosities of isolated galaxies. Results. We find strong environmental dependency of luminosity functions of all populations. The luminosities of first-ranked galaxies have a lower limit, depending on the global environment (higher in supercluster cores, and absent in voids). The LF of second-ranked galaxies in high-density regions is similar to the LF of first-ranked galaxies in a lower-density environment. The brightest isolated galaxies can be identified with first-ranked galaxies at distances where the remaining galaxies lie outside the observational window used in the survey. Conclusions. The galaxy and cluster LFs can be well approximated by a double-power-law; the widely used Schechter function does not describe well the bright end and the bend of the LFs. Properties of the LFs reflect differences in the evolution of galaxies and their groups in different environments.

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Formation of the Supercluster-Void Network

A review of the study of superclusters based on the 2dFGRS and SDSS is given. Real superclusters are compared with models using simulated galaxies of the Millennium Run. We show that the fraction of very luminous superclusters in real samples is about five times greater than in simulated samples. Superclusters are generated by large-scale density perturbations which evolve very slowly. The absence of very luminous superclusters in simulations can be explained either by non-proper treatment of large-scale perturbations, or by some yet unknown processes in the very early Universe.

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Light-cone Simulations: Evolution of dark matter haloes

We present a new fast method for simulating pencil-beam type light-cones, using the MLAPM-code (Multi Level Adaptive Particle Mesh) with light-cone additions. We show that by a careful choice of the light-cone orientation, it is possible to avoid extra periodicities in the light-cone. As an example, we apply the method to simulate a 6 Gpc deep light-cone, create the dark matter halo catalogue for the light-cone and study the evolution of haloes from $z=6$ up to the present time. We determine the spatial density of the haloes, their large-scale correlation function, and study the evolution of the mass function. We find a surprisingly simple relation for the dependence of halo maximum mass on redshift, and apply it to derive redshift limits for bright quasars.

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Large-Scale Structure and Dark Matter Problem

I review the observational data most relevant for large scale structure. These data determine the system of cosmological parameters: the Hubble parameter, densities of various populations of the Universe, parameters characterizing the power spectrum of matter, including the biasing parameter of galaxies relative to matter. Recent data suggest that the overall matter/energy density is approximately equal to the critical density, and most (0.6 - 0.7) of the density is in the form of cosmological term or ``dark (vacuum) energy''. The density of the matter is 0.3 - 0.4 (including hot and cold dark matter and luminous matter), the upper limit of the density of the hot dark matter is 0.05, all in units of the critical cosmological density.

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The structure of the Universe on 100 Mpc Scales

Observational evidence for the presence of a preferred scale around 100 Mpc in the distribution of high-density regions in the Universe is summarised. Toy models with various degrees of regularity are analysed to understand better the observational data. Predictions of models which produce a feature on the initial power spectrum of matter are analysed and compared with new observational data on the CMB angular spectrum, cluster mass function, and galaxy and cluster power spectrum.

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Large Scale Structure

Catalogues of galaxies, clusters of galaxies and superclusters - sources of information to study the large-scale structure of the Universe are reviewed. The power spectrum of density perturbations, and the correlation function are discussed as principal description functions which characterize the large-scale structure. Special attention is payd to the geometric interpretation of these functions, i.e. the way in which the various properties of the distribution of galaxies in systems and systems themselves are reflected in these functions. We discuss cosmological parameters which characterize general properties of the Universe: the Hubble constant, densities of various populations of the Universe, and parameters of the power spectrum of galaxies and matter.

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Regularity of the large-scale structure of the Universe

Recent analysis of the distribution of clusters of galaxies is reviewed. Clusters of galaxies located in rich superclusters form a quasiregular lattice. The mean power spectrum of galaxies and clusters has been found, it has a peak at wavelength $λ_0=120$~\Mpc corresponding to the lattice step. The power spectrum of galaxies is reduced to that of matter. The empirical power spectrum is compared with theoretical spectra for mixed dark matter models, and primordial power spectra are calculated. The primordial power spectrum has a peak which may be due to processes during the inflationary stage of the structure evolution.

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The oscillating cluster correlation function

We investigate the distribution of clusters of galaxies and determine the cluster correlation function and power spectrum. Clusters of galaxies located in rich superclusters with at least 8 members form a quasiregular network of superclusters and voids. The correlation function of clusters in rich superclusters is oscillating with a period of 120 Mpc (for Hubble constant h=1), the power spectrum for the whole cluster sample has a peak at the corresponding wavelength. The power index on small wavelengths is n=-1.8, on large wavelengths the power index is within observational errors compatible with the Harrison-Zeldovich index n=1. The observed spectrum is compared with the spectrum of the standard CDM model, the probability that the observed spectrum is a random realisation of the CDM-type model is estimated to be not larger than one in million.

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The Supercluster-Void Network I. The Supercluster Catalogue and Large-Scale Distribution

We investigate the distribution of superclusters and voids using a new catalogue of superclusters of rich clusters of galaxies which extends up to a redshift of z=0.12. The new catalogue contains 220 superclusters of rich clusters, of which 90 superclusters have been determined for the first time. Two thirds of those superclusters with eight or more member clusters are concentrated to a Dominant Supercluster Plane almost perpendicular to the plane of the Local Supercluster. Several independent methods indicate consistently the presence of a quite regular supercluster-void network with scale of approx. 120 Mpc. We determine the selection function of the sample of clusters and suggest that the mean true space density of Abell clusters is 2.6 x 10^-5 h^3 Mpc^-3, or twice the conventionally used value.

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The Distribution of Galaxies in Voids

We investigate the distribution of normal (faint) galaxies and blue compact galaxies (BCGs) in voids by analyzing their distribution as a function of distance from the void centers and by employing nearest neighbour statistics between objects of various subsamples. We find that galaxies in voids defined by brighter galaxies tend to be concentrated close to the walls of voids in a hierarchical manner, similar to the behavior of brighter galaxies. The behavior of BCGs is in this respect similar to the one found for normal dwarf galaxies. The median nearest neighbour distance of BCGs from normal galaxies is approximately 0.7 Mpc, which indicates that these galaxies are located in outlying parts of systems of galaxies defined by normal galaxies.

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A 140 Mpc Oscillation of the Abell Cluster Correlation Function

We have developed a parameter-independent method to detect local maxima of the two-point correlation function. By applying it to two samples of rich Abell clusters of galaxies with redshift limits z<0.08 and z<0.12 we detect three maxima centered at 150 Mpc, 300 Mpc and 430 Mpc with confidence levels 80% and higher. This sequence of fluctuations has an average interval of 140 Mpc, that can be explained by a power spectrum with a distinct peak at k=0.048+-0.005/Mpc.

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The Structure of Supervoids -- I: Void Hierarchy in the Northern Local Supervoid

Supervoids are regions in the local Universe which do not contain rich clusters of galaxies. We have studied the closest example, the Northern Local Void, situated between the Local, Coma, and the Hercules superclusters. We find that this supervoid is not empty, but it contains small galaxy systems and poor clusters of galaxies. We study the cosmography of this void by analyzing the distribution of poor clusters of galaxies, elliptical and other galaxies in two projections. We present a catalogue of voids, defined by galaxies of different morphological type and luminosity, and analyze mean diameters of voids in different environments. The sizes of voids and the properties of void walls are related. Voids defined by poor clusters of galaxies and by bright elliptical galaxies have a mean diameter of up to 40 h-1 Mpc. Faint late-type galaxies divide these voids into smaller voids. The faintest galaxies we can study are outlining voids with mean diameters of about 8 h-1 Mpc. Voids located in a high-density environment are smaller than voids in low-density regions. This analysis shows that voids form a hierarchical system.

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