TY - JOUR
T1 - Galaxy and mass assembly (GAMA): The large-scale structure of galaxies and comparison to mock universes
AU - Alpaslan, M.
AU - Robotham, Aaron
AU - Driver, Simon
AU - Norberg, P.
AU - Baldry, I.K.
AU - Bauer, A.E.
AU - Bland-Hawthorn, J.
AU - Brown, M.J.I.
AU - Cluver, M.E.
AU - Colless, M.
AU - Foster, C.
AU - Hopkins, A.M.
AU - Van Kampen, E.
AU - Kelvin, L.S.
AU - Lara-López, M.A.
AU - Liske, J.
AU - López-Sánchez, A.R.
AU - Loveday, J.N.
AU - Mcnaught-Roberts, T.
AU - Merson, A.I.
AU - Pimbblet, K.A.
PY - 2014/2/11
Y1 - 2014/2/11
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stt2136
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stt2136
M3 - Article
VL - 438
SP - 177
EP - 194
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
SN - 0035-8711
IS - 1
ER -