arXiv subjects

L. Moscardini

Publications and source records attributed to L. Moscardini.

277 records · Page 16Linked to original sources

arXiv1993

Weighted Bias and Galaxy Clustering

We consider a weighted biasing scheme for galaxy clustering. This differs from previous treatments in the fact that the biased density field coincides with the background mass--density whenever the latter exceeds a given threshold value. There is some physical motivation for this scheme and it is in better accord with intuitive ideas than models based on the Kaiser (1984) analysis of the clustering of rich clusters. We explain how different classes of object could be biased in different ways with respect to the underlying density distribution but still have $b=1$. We also show that if one applies our scheme consistently a weak dependence of $b$ upon density can be implied. This could also be the reason why the correlation function of galaxies in groups does not differ substantially from the correlation function of all galaxies.

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arXiv1993

Non--Linear Dynamics of Irrotational Dust: Eulerian and Lagrangian Approaches

Some recently proposed approximations to follow the non--linear evolution of collisionless matter perturbations in the universe are reviewed. The first one, called frozen--flow approximation, is an Eulerian method within Newtonian theory, and is based on neglecting the role of particle inertia compared to the damping implied by the Hubble drag. The second approach is General Relativistic and Lagrangian; it is based on following the evolution of fluid and geometric observables in the rest frame of each fluid element, under the only approximation of neglecting the back--reaction on the system of the gravitational radiation emitted during non--linear collapse.

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arXiv1993

Galaxy Velocity Field in Tilted Cold Dark Matter Models

We study the cosmic peculiar velocity field as traced by a sample of 1184 spiral, elliptical and S0 galaxies, grouped in 704 objects. We carry out a statistical analysis, by calculating bulk flows and velocity correlation functions for this sample and for mock catalogs which we extract from N--body simulations. For the simulations we consider tilted (i.e. with spectral index $n\leq 1$) CDM models with different values of the linear bias parameter $b$. By mean of a maximum likelihood analysis we estimate the ability of the models in fitting the observations as measured by the above statistics and in reproducing the Local Group properties.

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arXiv1993

Higher Order Moments of the Matter Distribution in Scale--Free Cosmological Simulations with Large Dynamic Range

We calculate reduced moments $\overline ξ_q$ of the matter density fluctuations, up to order $q=5$, from counts in cells produced by Particle--Mesh numerical simulations with scale--free Gaussian initial conditions. We use power--law spectra $P(k) \propto k^n$ with indices $n=-3,~-2,~-1,~0,~1$. Due to the supposed absence of characteristic times or scales in our models, all quantities are expected to depend on a single scaling variable. For each model, the moments at all times can be expressed in terms of the variance $\overline ξ_2$, alone. We look for agreement with the hierarchical scaling ansatz, according to which $\overline ξ_q \propto \overline ξ_2^{~q-1}$. For $n\leq -2$ models we find strong deviations from the hierarchy, which are mostly due to the presence of boundary problems in the simulations. A small, residual signal of deviation from the hierarchical scaling is however also found in $n \geq -1$ models. For the first time, due to our large dynamic range and careful checks of scaling and shot--noise effects, we are able to detect evolution away from the perturbation theory result.

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arXiv1993

Skewness as a Test of Non-Gaussian Primordial Density Fluctuations

We investigate the evolution of the skewness of the distribution of density fluctuations in CDM models with both Gaussian and non--Gaussian initial fluctuations. We show that the method proposed by Coles \& Frenk (1991), which uses the skewness of galaxy counts to test the hypothesis of Gaussian primordial density fluctuations, is a potentially powerful probe of initial conditions. As expected, the mass distribution in models with initially non--Gaussian fluctuations shows systematic departures from the Gaussian behaviour on intermediate to large scales. We investigate the effect of peculiar velocity distortions and normalisation upon the relationship between skewness and variance. These effects are generally small for the models we consider. Comparing our results to the QDOT measurements of the skewness, we find that our initially positive--skew models are clearly excluded by this analysis, but the available data do not rule out the negative--skew models.

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arXiv1993

Angular Distribution of Clustersin Skewed CDM Models

We perform a detailed investigation of the statistical properties of the projected distribution of galaxy clusters obtained in Cold Dark Matter (CDM) models with both Gaussian and skewed primordial density fluctuations. We use N-body simulations to construct a set artificial Lick maps. An objective cluster--finding algorithm is used to identify clusters of different richness. For Gaussian models, the overall number of clusters is too small in the standard CDM case, but a model with higher normalisation fares much better; non--Gaussian models with negative skewness also fit faily well. We apply several statistical tests to compare real and simulated cluster samples, such as the 2-point correlation function, the minimal spanning tree construction, the multifractal analysis and the skewness of cell counts. The emerging picture is that Gaussian models, even with a higher normalization, are in trouble. Skew-positive models are also ruled out, while skew-negative models can reproduce the observed clustering of galaxy clusters in the CDM framework.

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arXiv1993

Large--Scale Angular Correlations in CDM Models

We generate artificial Lick maps using $N$--body simulations and compare the angular correlation function, $w(\vartheta)$, measured from the simulations with the APM correlation. For the Gaussian CDM model, neither the standard biassed model nor a more evolved model (as suggested by the COBE data), reproduce the correlations on large angular scales. We come to a similar conclusion about CDM models with positively skewed initial fluctuation distributions. In contrast, models with initially negatively skewed fluctuations produce a $w(\vartheta)$ that declines much more gently on large scales. Such models are therefore in principle capable of reconciling the lack of large--scale power of the CDM spectrum with the observed clustering of APM galaxies.

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