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The topology of the QDOT IRAS redshift survey

Moore, Ben and Frenk, Carlos S. and Weinberg, David H. and Saunders, Will and Lawrence, Andy and Ellis, Richard S. and Kaiser, Nick and Efstathiou, George and Rowan-Robinson, Michael (1992) The topology of the QDOT IRAS redshift survey. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 256 (3). pp. 477-499. ISSN 0035-8711. doi:10.1093/mnras/256.3.477. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20210309-145800783

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Abstract

We have used an all-sky redshift survey of galaxies detected by the IRAS satellite to investigate the topology of the Universe to a depth of 200 h⁻¹ Mpc. Qualitatively, the distribution of galaxies out to this distance resembles a Gaussian density field with a sponge-like topology: high- and low-density regions are topologically similar and surfaces of constant density are interconnected. Quantitatively, we have used the genus-threshold density relation of Gott et al. to test the hypothesis that the galaxy distribution grew out of initially Gaussian density fluctuations and to measure the effective slope of the power spectrum of fluctuations over a range of length-scales between 10 and 50 h⁻¹ Mpc. To estimate random and systematic uncertainties in our analysis, we have used artificial ‘galaxy’ catalogues constructed from N-body simulations and a variety of Monte-Carlo techniques. We find that the observed genus curves are consistent with the Gaussian hypothesis. As an example of a non-Gaussian field, we have tested a Voronoi foam model with ∼100 h⁻¹ Mpc cells. We find that such a model can be ruled out at ∼5σ⁠. Our topological analysis is consistent with a power spectrum of galaxy fluctuations of the form P(k)∝k^n with n ≃−1⁠, over the full range of scales considered. On scales ≲15 h⁻¹ Mpc, the QDOT power spectrum has a similar slope to that of the mass distribution in the standard cold dark matter model, but it falls off less steeply on larger scales; the maximum discrepancy occurs at ∼30 h⁻¹ Mpc and is significant at about 2σ. Our power spectrum results are consistent with previous counts-in-cells analyses of the same survey, but the present method (which is sensitive to the slope of the spectrum rather than to its amplitude) weights the data quite differently.


Item Type:Article
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/256.3.477DOIArticle
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992MNRAS.256..477M/abstractADSArticle
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Frenk, Carlos S.0000-0002-2338-716X
Ellis, Richard S.0000-0001-7782-7071
Kaiser, Nick0000-0001-6511-4306
Additional Information:© 1992 Royal Astronomical Society. Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System. Accepted 1991 December 20; Received 1991 December 9; Published: 01 June 1992. BM acknowledges the support of an SERC/NATO fellowship. CSF acknowledges a Nuffield Foundation Science Research Fellowship. DW acknowledges support from the US National Science Foundation through a NATO postdoctoral fellowship and grant AST90-20506.
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC)UNSPECIFIED
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)UNSPECIFIED
Nuffield Foundation Science Research FellowshipUNSPECIFIED
NSFAST90-20506
Subject Keywords:surveys - galaxies: clustering - galaxies: distances and redshifts - galaxies: formation - large-scale structure of Universe - infrared: galaxies
Issue or Number:3
DOI:10.1093/mnras/256.3.477
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20210309-145800783
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20210309-145800783
Official Citation:Ben Moore, Carlos S. Frenk, David H. Weinberg, Will Saunders, Andy Lawrence, Richard S. Ellis, Nick Kaiser, George Efstathiou, Michael Rowan-Robinson, The topology of the QDOT IRAS redshift survey, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 256, Issue 3, June 1992, Pages 477–499, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/256.3.477
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:108371
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Tony Diaz
Deposited On:10 Mar 2021 20:33
Last Modified:16 Nov 2021 19:11

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