Galaxy and mass assembly (GAMA): The large-scale structure of galaxies and comparison to mock universes

Alpaslan, Mehmet; Robotham, Aaron S. G.; Driver, Simon; Norberg, Peder; Baldry, Ivan; Bauer, Amanda E.; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Brown, Michael; Cluver, Michelle; Colless, Matthew; Foster, Caroline; Hopkins, Andrew; Van kampen, Eelco; Kelvin, Lee; Lara-Lopez, Maritza A.; Liske, Jochen; Lopez-Sanchez, Angel R.; Loveday, Jon; Mcnaught-Roberts, Tamsyn; Merson, Alexander; Pimbblet, Kevin

Abstract

From a volume-limited sample of 45 542 galaxies and 6000 groups with z ≤ 0.213, we use an adapted minimal spanning tree algorithm to identify and classify large-scale structures within the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. Using galaxy groups, we identify 643 filaments across the three equatorial GAMA fields that span up to 200 h -1 Mpc in length, each with an average of eight groups within them. By analysing galaxies not belonging to groups, we identify a secondary population of smaller coherent structures composed entirely of galaxies, dubbed 'tendrils' that appear to link filaments together, or penetrate into voids, generally measuring around 10 h -1 Mpc in length and containing on average six galaxies. Finally, we are also able to identify a population of isolated void galaxies. By running this algorithm on GAMA mock galaxy catalogues, we compare the characteristics of large-scale structure between observed and mock data, finding that mock filaments reproduce observed ones extremely well. This provides a probe of higher order distribution statistics not captured by the popularly used two-point correlation function. © 2013 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Citation

Alpaslan, M., Robotham, A. S. G., Driver, S., Norberg, P., Baldry, I., Bauer, A. E., Bland-Hawthorn, J., Brown, M., Cluver, M., Colless, M., Foster, C., Hopkins, A., Van kampen, E., Kelvin, L., Lara-Lopez, M. A., Liske, J., Lopez-Sanchez, A. R., Loveday, J., Mcnaught-Roberts, T., Merson, A., & Pimbblet, K. (2014). Galaxy and mass assembly (GAMA): The large-scale structure of galaxies and comparison to mock universes. Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 438(1), 177-194. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt2136

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 4, 2013
• Online Publication Date: Dec 14, 2013
• Publication Date: Feb 11, 2014
• Deposit Date: Jun 29, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 20, 2018
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Print ISSN: 0035-8711
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2966
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 438
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 177-194
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt2136
• Keywords: Large-scale structure of Universe
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/590722
• Publisher URL: http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/438/1/177
• Contract Date: Jun 29, 2018