arXiv subjects

N. Padilla

Publications and source records attributed to N. Padilla.

39 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2008

Galaxy Clusters in the Line of Sight to Background Quasars: I. Survey Design and Incidence of MgII Absorbers at Cluster Redshifts

We describe the first optical survey of absorption systems associated with galaxy clusters at z= 0.3-0.9. We have cross-correlated SDSS DR3 quasars with high-redshift cluster/group candidates from the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey. We have found 442 quasar-cluster pairs for which the MgII doublet might be detected at a transverse (physical) distance d<2 Mpc from the cluster centers. To investigate the incidence (dN/dz) and equivalent-width distribution n(W) of MgII systems at cluster redshifts, two statistical samples were drawn out of these pairs: one made of high-resolution spectroscopic quasar observations (46 pairs), and one made of quasars used in MgII searches found in the literature (375 pairs). The results are: (1) the population of strong MgII systems (W_0>2.0 Ang.) near cluster redshifts shows a significant (>3 sigma) overabundance (up to a factor of 15) when compared with the 'field' population; (2) the overabundance is more evident at smaller distances (d<1 Mpc) than larger distances (d<2 Mpc) from the cluster center; and, (3) the population of weak MgII systems (W_0<0.3 Ang.) near cluster redshifts conform to the field statistics. Unlike in the field, this dichotomy makes n(W) in clusters appear flat and well fitted by a power-law in the entire W-range. A sub-sample of the most massive clusters yields a stronger and still significant signal. Since either the absorber number density or filling-factor/cross-section affects the absorber statistics, an interesting possibility is that we have detected the signature of truncated halos due to environmental effects. Thus, we argue that the excess of strong systems is due to a population of absorbers in an overdense galaxy environment, and the lack of weak systems to a different population, that got destroyed in the cluster environment. (Abridged)

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Galaxy Peculiar Velocities and Infall onto Groups

We perform statistical analyses to study the infall of galaxies onto groups and clusters in the nearby Universe. The study is based on the UZC and SSRS2 group catalogs and peculiar velocity samples. We find a clear signature of infall of galaxies onto groups over a wide range of scales 5 h^{-1} Mpc 10^{13} M_{\odot} a larger infall is observed, V_{infall} \simeq 200 km s^{-1}. Similarly, we find that galaxies surrounding groups with L_{g}<10^{15} L_{\odot} have V_{infall} \simeq 100 km s^{-1}, whereas for L_{g}>10^{15} L_{\odot} groups, the amplitude of the galaxy infall can be as large as V_{infall} \simeq 250 km s^{-1}. The observational results are compared with the results obtained from mock group and galaxy samples constructed from numerical simulations, which include galaxy formation through semianalytical models. We obtain a general agreement between the results from the mock catalogs and the observations. The infall of galaxies onto groups is suitably reproduced in the simulations and, as in the observations, larger virial mass and luminosity groups exhibit the largest galaxy infall amplitudes. We derive estimates of the integrated mass overdensities associated with groups by applying linear theory to the infall velocities after correcting for the effects of distance uncertainties obtained using the mock catalogs. The resulting overdensities are consistent with a power law with δ\sim 1 at r \sim 10 h^{-1}Mpc.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Shapes of clusters and groups of galaxies: Comparison of model predictions with observations

We study the properties of the 3-dimensional and projected shapes of haloes using high resolution numerical simulations and observational data where the latter comes from the 2PIGG (Eke et al. 2004) and SDSS-DR3GC group catalogues (Merchan & Zandivarez 2005). We investigate the dependence of halo shape on characteristics such as mass and number of members. In the 3-dimensional case, we find a significant correlation between the mass and halo shape; massive systems are more prolate than small haloes. We detect a source of strong systematics in estimates of the triaxiality of a halo, which is found to be a strong function of the number of members; LCDM haloes usually characterised by triaxial shapes, slightly bent toward prolate forms, appear more oblate when taking only a small subset of the halo particles. The ellipticities of observed 2PIGG and SDSS-DR3GC groups are found to be strongly dependent on the number of group members, so that poor groups appear more elongated than rich ones. However, this is again an artifact caused by poor statistics and not an intrinsic property of the galaxy groups, nor an effect from observational biases. We interpret these results with the aid of a GALFORM mock 2PIGG catalogue. When comparing the group ellipticities in mock and real catalogues, we find an excellent agreement between the trends of shapes with number of group members. When carefully taking into account the effects of low number statistics, we find that more massive groups are consistent with more elongated shapes. Finally, our studies find no significant correlations between the shape of observed 2PIGG or SDSS-DR3GC groups with the properties of galaxy members such as colour or spectral type index.

astro-ph↗