G. De Lucia

A test of the nature of cosmic acceleration using galaxy redshift distortions

Observations of distant supernovae indicate that the Universe is now in a phase of accelerated expansion the physical cause of which is a mystery. Formally, this requires the inclusion of a term acting as a negative pressure in the equations of cosmic expansion, accounting for about 75 per cent of the total energy density in the Universe. The simplest option for this ‘dark energy’ corresponds to a ‘cosmological constant’, perhaps related to the quantum vacuum energy. Physically viable alternatives invoke either the presence of a scalar field with an evolving equation of state, or extensions of general relativity involving higher-order curvature terms or extra dimensions. Although they produce similar expansion rates, different models predict measurable differences in the growth rate of large-scale structure with cosmic time. A fingerprint of this growth is provided by coherent galaxy motions, which introduce a radial anisotropy in the clustering pattern reconstructed by galaxy redshift surveys. Here we report a measurement of this effect at a redshift of 0.8. Using a new survey of more than 10,000 faint galaxies, we measure the anisotropy parameter β = 0.70 ± 0.26, which corresponds to a growth rate of structure at that time of f = 0.91 ± 0.36. This is consistent with the standard cosmological-constant model with low matter density and flat geometry, although the error bars are still too large to distinguish among alternative origins for the accelerated expansion. The correct origin could be determined with a further factor-of-ten increase in the sampled volume at similar redshift.

Galactic stellar haloes in the CDM model

We present six simulations of galactic stellar haloes formed by the tidal disruption of accreted dwarf galaxies in a fully cosmological setting. Our model is based on the Aquarius project, a suite of high-resolution N-body simulations of individual dark matter haloes. We tag subsets of particles in these simulations with stellar populations predicted by the galform semi-analytic model. Our method self-consistently tracks the dynamical evolution and disruption of satellites from high redshift. The luminosity function (LF) and structural properties of surviving satellites, which agree well with observations, suggest that this technique is appropriate. We find that accreted stellar haloes are assembled between 1 < z < 7 from less than five significant progenitors. These progenitors are old, metal-rich satellites with stellar masses similar to the brightest Milky Way dwarf spheroidals (10^(7)–10^(8) M_⊙). In contrast to previous stellar halo simulations, we find that several of these major contributors survive as self-bound systems to the present day. Both the number of these significant progenitors and their infall times are inherently stochastic. This results in great diversity among our stellar haloes, which amplifies small differences between the formation histories of their dark halo hosts. The masses (~10^(8)–10^(9) M_⊙) and density/surface-brightness profiles of the stellar haloes (from 10 to 100 kpc) are consistent with expectations from the Milky Way and M31. Each halo has a complex structure, consisting of well-mixed components, tidal streams, shells and other subcomponents. This structure is not adequately described by smooth models. The central regions (<10 kpc) of our haloes are highly prolate (c/a ~ 0.3), although we find one example of a massive accreted thick disc. Metallicity gradients in our haloes are typically significant only where the halo is built from a small number of satellites. We contrast the ages and metallicities of halo stars with surviving satellites, finding broad agreement with recent observations.

The VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS) - Galaxy clustering and redshift-space distortions at z ≃ 0.8 in the first data release

We present in this paper the general real- and redshift-space clustering properties of galaxies as measured in the first data release of the VIPERS survey. VIPERS is a large redshift survey designed to probe the distant Universe and its large-scale structure at 0.5 < z < 1.2. We describe in this analysis the global properties of the sample and discuss the survey completeness and associated corrections. This sample allows us to measure the galaxy clustering with an unprecedented accuracy at these redshifts. From the redshift-space distortions observed in the galaxy clustering pattern we provide a first measurement of the growth rate of structure at z = 0.8: f\sigma_8 = 0.47 +/- 0.08. This is completely consistent with the predictions of standard cosmological models based on Einstein gravity, although this measurement alone does not discriminate between different gravity models.

Galaxies and subhaloes in ΛCDM galaxy clusters

We combine 10 high-resolution resimulations of cluster-sized dark haloes with semi-analytic galaxy formation modelling in order to compare the number density and velocity dispersion profiles of cluster galaxies with those of dark matter substructures (subhaloes). While the radial distribution of galaxies follows closely that of the dark matter, the distribution of dark matter subhaloes is much less centrally concentrated. The velocity dispersion profiles of galaxies are also very similar to those of the dark matter, while those for subhaloes are biased high, particularly in the inner regions of clusters. We explain how these differences, already clearly visible in earlier work, are a consequence of the formation of galaxies at the centres of dark matter haloes. Galaxies and subhaloes represent different populations and are not directly comparable. Evolution produces a complex and strongly position-dependent relation between galaxies and the subhaloes in which they reside. This relation can be properly modelled only by appropriate physical representation of the galaxy formation process.

The Buildup of the red sequence in galaxy clusters since z ∼ 0.8

We study the rest-frame ( ) color-magnitude relation in four clusters at redshifts 0.7–0.8, drawn from the U V ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS). We confirm that the red-sequence galaxies in these clusters can be described as an old, passively evolving population, and we demonstrate that, by comparison with the Coma Cluster, there has been significant evolution in the stellar mass distribution of red-sequence galaxies since . The EDisCS z ∼ 0.75 clusters exhibit a deficiency of low-luminosity passive red galaxies. Defining as “faint” all galaxies in the passive evolution–corrected range , the luminous-to-faint ratio of red-sequence galaxies varies from 0.4 L/L 0.1 ∗ for the Coma Cluster to for the high-redshift clusters. These results exclude a syn0.34 0.06 0.81 0.18 chronous formation of all red-sequence galaxies and suggest that a large fraction of the faint red galaxies in current clusters moved on to the red sequence relatively recently. Their star formation activity presumably came to an end at . z 0.8 Subject headings: galaxies: clusters: general — galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD — galaxies: evolution — galaxies: formation

Simulation of the Cosmic Evolution of Atomic and Molecular Hydrogen in Galaxies

We present a simulation of the cosmic evolution of the atomic and molecular phases of the cold hydrogen gas in about 3x10^7 galaxies, obtained by postprocessing the virtual galaxy catalog produced by De Lucia & Blaizot on the Millennium Simulation of cosmic structure. Our method uses a set of physical prescriptions to assign neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) and molecular hydrogen (H2) to galaxies, based on their total cold gas masses and a few additional galaxy properties. These prescriptions are specially designed for large cosmological simulations, where, given current computational limitations, individual galaxies can only be represented by simplistic model objects with a few global properties. Our recipes allow us to (1) split total cold gas masses between HI, H2, and helium, (2) assign realistic sizes to both the HI and H2 disks, and (3) evaluate the corresponding velocity profiles and shapes of the characteristic radio emission lines. The results presented in this paper include the local HI and H2 mass functions, the CO luminosity function, the cold gas mass-diameter relation, and the Tully-Fisher relation (TFR), which all match recent observational data from the local universe. We also present high-redshift predictions of cold gas diameters and the TFR, both of which appear to evolve markedly with redshift.This poster presents first-order semi-analytic pretictions of the cosmic evolution of atomic and molecular hydrogen.

The evolution of the brightest cluster galaxies since z∼ 1 from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS)

We present K-band data for the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS). These data are combined with the photometry published by Aragon Salamanca, Baugh & Kauffmann and a low-redshift comparison sample built from the BCG catalogue of von der Linden et al. BCG luminosities are measured inside a metric circular aperture with 37 kpc diameter. In agreement with previous studies, we find that the K-band Hubble diagram for BCGs exhibits very low scatter (similar to 0.35) over a redshift range of 0 2 and evolved passively thereafter. In contrast with some previous studies, we do not detect any significant change in the stellar mass of the BCG since z similar to 1. These results do not seem to depend on the velocity dispersion of the parent cluster. We also find that there is a correlation between the 1D velocity dispersion of the clusters (sigma(cl)) and the K-band luminosity of the BCGs ( after correcting for passive-evolution). The clusters with large velocity dispersions, and therefore masses, tend to have brighter BCGs, i.e. BCGs with larger stellar masses. This dependency, although significant, is relatively weak: the stellar mass of the BCGs changes only by similar to 70 per cent over a two order of magnitude range in cluster mass. Furthermore, this dependency does not change significantly with redshift. We have compared our observational results with the hierarchical galaxy formation and evolution model predictions of De Lucia & Blaizot. We find that the models predict colours which are in reasonable agreement with the observations because the growth in stellar mass is dominated by the accretion of old stars. However, the stellar mass in the model BCGs grows by a factor of 3-4 since z = 1, a growth rate which seems to be ruled out by the observations. The models predict a dependency between the BCGs stellar mass and the velocity dispersion (mass) of the parent cluster in the same sense as the data, but the dependency is significantly stronger than observed. However, one major difficulty in this comparison is that we have measured magnitudes inside a fixed metric aperture while the models compute total luminosities.

The galaxy–halo connection from a joint lensing, clustering and abundance analysis in the CFHTLenS/VIPERS field

We present new constraints on the relationship between galaxies and their host dark matter haloes, measured from the location of the peak of the stellar-to-halo mass ratio (SHMR), up to the most massive galaxy clusters at redshift z ∼ 0.8 and over a volume of nearly 0.1 Gpc3. We use a unique combination of deep observations in the CFHTLenS/VIPERS field from the near-UV to the near-IR, supplemented by ∼60 000 secure spectroscopic redshifts, analysing galaxy clustering, galaxy–galaxy lensing and the stellar mass function. We interpret our measurements within the halo occupation distribution (HOD) framework, separating the contributions from central and satellite galaxies. We find that the SHMR for the central galaxies peaks at Mh,peak=1.9+0.2−0.1×1012M⊙ Mh,peak=1.9−0.1+0.2×1012M⊙ with an amplitude of 0.025, which decreases to ∼0.001 for massive haloes ( Mh>1014M⊙ Mh>1014M⊙ ). Compared to central galaxies only, the total SHMR (including satellites) is boosted by a factor of 10 in the high-mass regime (cluster-size haloes), a result consistent with cluster analyses from the literature based on fully independent methods. After properly accounting for differences in modelling, we have compared our results with a large number of results from the literature up to z = 1: we find good general agreement, independently of the method used, within the typical stellar-mass systematic errors at low to intermediate mass ( M⋆<1011M⊙ M⋆<1011M⊙ ) and the statistical errors above. We have also compared our SHMR results to semi-analytic simulations and found that the SHMR is tilted compared to our measurements in such a way that they over- (under-) predict star formation efficiency in central (satellite) galaxies.

Spectroscopy of clusters in the ESO distant cluster survey (EDisCS) - II. Redshifts, velocity dispersions, and substructure for clusters in the last 15 fields

Aims. We present spectroscopic observations of galaxies in 15 survey fields as part of the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS). We determine the redshifts and velocity dispersions of the galaxy clusters located in these fields, and we test for possible substructure in the clusters. Methods: We obtained multi-object mask spectroscopy using the FORS2 instrument at the VLT. We reduced the data with particular attention to the sky subtraction. We implemented the method of Kelson for performing sky subtraction prior to any rebinning/interpolation of the data. From the measured galaxy redshifts, we determine cluster velocity dispersions using the biweight estimator and test for possible substructure in the clusters using the Dressler-Shectman test. Results: The method of subtracting the sky prior to any rebinning/interpolation of the data delivers photon-noise-limited results, whereas the traditional method of subtracting the sky after the data have been rebinned/interpolated results in substantially larger noise for spectra from tilted slits. Redshifts for individual galaxies are presented and redshifts and velocity dispersions are presented for 21 galaxy clusters. For the 9 clusters with at least 20 spectroscopically confirmed members, we present the statistical significance of the presence of substructure obtained from the Dressler-Shectman test, and substructure is detected in two of the clusters. Conclusions: Together with data from our previous paper, spectroscopy and spectroscopic velocity dispersions are now available for 26 EDisCS clusters with redshifts in the range 0.40-0.96 and velocity dispersions in the range 166 km s-1-1080 km s-1. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile, as part of large programme 166.A-0162 (the ESO Distant Cluster Survey). Full Table 4 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/482/419

Spectroscopy of clusters in the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCs): Redshifts, velocity dispersions and substructure for 5 clusters

We present spectroscopic observations of galaxies in 4 clusters at z = 0.7-0.8 and in one cluster at z ∼ 0.5 obtainec with the FORS2 spectrograph on the VLT as part of the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS), a photometric and spectroscopic survey of 20 intermediate to high redshift clusters. We describe our target selection, mask design, observation and data reductior procedures, using these first 5 clusters to demonstrate how our strategies maximise the number of cluster members for which we obtain spectroscopy. We present catalogues containing positions, I-band magnitudes and spectroscopic redshifts for galaxies in the fields of our 5 clusters. These contain 236 cluster members, with the number of members per cluster ranging from 30 to 67. Our spectroscopic success rate, i.e. the fraction of spectroscopic targets which are cluster members, averages 50% and ranges from 30% to 75%. We use a robust biweight estimator to measure cluster velocity dispersions from our spectroscopic redshift samples. We also make a first assessment of substructure within our clusters. The velocity dispersions range from 400 tc 1100 km s -1 . Some of the redshift distributions are significantly non-Gaussian and we find evidence for significant substructure in two clusters, one at z ∼ 0.79 and the other at z ∼ 0.54. Both have velocity dispersions exceeding 1000 km s -1 but are clearly not fully virialised; their velocity dispersions may thus be a poor indicator of their masses. The properties of these first 5 EDisCS clusters span a wide range in redshift, velocity dispersion, richness and substructure, but are representative of the sample as a whole. Spectroscopy for the full dataset will allow a comprehensive study of galaxy evolution as a function of cluster environment and redshift.