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Correlation Function (correlation + function)
Kinds of Correlation Function Selected AbstractsUsing neutral landscapes to identify patterns of aggregation across resource pointsECOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2006Jill Lancaster Many organisms are aggregated within resource patches and aggregated spatially across landscapes with multiple resources. Such patchy distributions underpin models of population regulation and species coexistence, so ecologists require methods to analyse spatially-explicit data of resource distribution and use. I describe a method for analysing maps of resources and testing hypotheses about how resource distribution influences the distribution of organisms, where resource patches can be described as points in a landscape and the number of organisms on each resource point is known. Using a mark correlation function and the linearised form of Ripley's K-function, this version of marked point pattern analysis can characterise and test hypotheses about the spatial distribution of organisms (marks) on resource patches (points). The method extends a version of point pattern analysis that has wide ecological applicability, it can describe patterns over a range of scales, and can detect mixed patterns. Statistically, Monte Carlo permutations are used to estimate the difference between the observed and expected values of the mark correlation function. Hypothesis testing employs a flexible neutral landscape approach in which spatial characteristics of point patterns are preserved to some extent, and marks are randomised across points. I describe the steps required to identify the appropriate neutral landscape and apply the analysis. Simulated data sets illustrate how the choice of neutral landscape can influence ecological interpretations, and how this spatially-explicit method and traditional dispersion indices can yield different interpretations. Interpretations may be general or context-sensitive, depending on information available about the underlying point pattern and the neutral landscape. An empirical example of caterpillars exploiting food plants illustrates how this technique might be used to test hypotheses about adult oviposition and larval dispersal. This approach can increase the value of survey data, by making it possible to quantify the distribution of resource points in the landscape and the pattern of resource use by species. [source] Study of the space,time effects in the concentration of airborne pollutants in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de JaneiroENVIRONMETRICS, Issue 4 2003Marina Silva Paez Abstract In this article, we present an application of models with temporal and spatial components, from the Bayesian point of view, on data pollutants collected in 16 different monitoring sites located in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro during 1999. All the models considered here assume conditionally independent observations, with a mean specified by the sum of random temporal and spatial components and a linear function of the maximum daily temperature and indicators of the day of the week. Our aim here is to analyze distinct specifications for the components, assuming different kinds of modeling that are not usually compared. The comparison is based on the posterior predictive loss function proposed by Gelfand and Ghosh (1998). The best specifications for the spatial component were the ones which considered a geostatistical approach to its correlation function. The best specification for the temporal component was the stationary autoregressive form. The pollutant concentrations were interpolated in a grid of points in the area of higher population density at a fixed period of time for the selected model. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Integrated local correlation: A new measure of local coherence in fMRI dataHUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 1 2009Gopikrishna Deshpande Abstract This article introduces the measure of integrated local correlation (ILC) for assessing local coherence in the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data and characterizes the measure in terms of reproducibility, the effect of physiological noise, and the dependence on image resolution. The coupling of local neuronal processes influences coherence in a voxel's neighborhood. ILC is defined, for each voxel, as the integration of its spatial correlation function. This integrated measure does not require the specification of a neighborhood and, as demonstrated by experimental data, is effectively independent of image resolution. Respiratory and cardiac fluctuations do not considerably alter the ILC value except in isolated areas in and surrounding large vessels. With resting-state fMRI data, ILC was demonstrated to be tissue-specific, higher in gray matter than white matter, and reproducible across consecutive runs in healthy individuals. Within the gray matter, ILC was found to be higher in the default mode network, particularly the posterior and anterior cingulate cortices. Comparing ILC maps obtained from resting state and continuous motor task data, we observed reduced local coherence in the default mode network during the task. Finally, we compared ILC and regional homogeneity by examining their ability to discriminate between gray and white matters in resting state data and found ILC to be more sensitive. Hum Brain Mapp 2009. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Stochastic computational modelling of highly heterogeneous poroelastic media with long-range correlationsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 1 2004Diego G. Frias Abstract The compaction of highly heterogeneous poroelastic reservoirs with the geology characterized by long-range correlations displaying fractal character is investigated within the framework of the stochastic computational modelling. The influence of reservoir heterogeneity upon the magnitude of the stresses induced in the porous matrix during fluid withdrawal and rock consolidation is analysed by performing ensemble averages over realizations of a log-normally distributed stationary random hydraulic conductivity field. Considering the statistical distribution of this parameter characterized by a coefficient of variation governing the magnitude of heterogeneity and a correlation function which decays with a power-law scaling behaviour we show that the combination of these two effects result in an increase in the magnitude of effective stresses of the rock during reservoir depletion. Further, within the framework of a perturbation analysis we show that the randomness in the hydraulic conductivity gives rise to non-linear corrections in the upscaled poroelastic equations. These corrections are illustrated by a self-consistent recursive hierarchy of solutions of the stochastic poroelastic equations parametrized by a scale parameter representing the fluctuating log-conductivity standard deviation. A classical example of land subsidence caused by fluid extraction of a weak reservoir is numerically simulated by performing Monte Carlo simulations in conjunction with finite elements discretizations of the poroelastic equations associated with an ensemble of geologies. Numerical results illustrate the effects of the spatial variability and fractal character of the permeability distribution upon the evolution of the Mohr,Coulomb function of the rock. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Investigation of the correlation of sensitivity vectors of hydrogen combustion modelsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL KINETICS, Issue 4 2004Judit Zádor A well-established method for the analysis of large reaction mechanisms is the calculation and interpretation of the sensitivity of the kinetic model output Yi to parameter changes. Comparison of the sensitivity vectors si = {, Yi/,p} belonging to different model outputs is a new tool for kinetic analysis. The relationship of the sensitivity vectors was investigated in homogeneous explosions, freely propagating and burner-stabilized laminar flames of hydrogen,air mixtures, using either calculated adiabatic or constrained temperature profiles, for fuel-to-air ratios , = 0.5,4.0. Sensitivity vectors are called locally similar, if the relationship si = ,ijsj is valid, where ,ij is a scalar. In many systems, only approximate local similarity of the sensitivity vectors exists and the extent of it can be quantified by using an appropriate correlation function. In the cases of adiabatic explosions and burner-stabilized flames, accurate local similarity was present in wide ranges of the independent variable (time or distance), and the correlation function indicated that the local similarity was not valid near the concentration extremes of the corresponding species. The regions of poor similarity were studied further by cobweb plots. The correlation relationships found could be interpreted by the various kinetic processes in the hydrogen combustion systems. The sensitivity vector of the laminar flame velocity is usually considered to be characteristic for the whole combustion process. Our investigations showed that the flame velocity sensitivity vector has good correlation with the H and H2O concentration sensitivities at the front of the adiabatic flames, but there is poor correlation with the sensitivity vectors of all concentrations in homogeneous explosions. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 36: 238,252 2004 [source] Probing the droplet cluster structure in acidified temperature-cycled o/w emulsion gels by means of SESANS,INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 6 2007Arjen Bot Summary The structure of the emulsion droplet aggregates in whey-protein-stabilised oil-in-water (o/w) model emulsion gels was investigated using the novel spin-echo small-angle neutron scattering (SESANS) technique. This technique allows the assessment of the droplet cluster structure in an emulsion gel in terms of a density correlation function at relatively long length scales (,100 nm,10 µm) compared with regular SANS. As an example, the effect of one/two homogenisation stages on emulsion droplet cluster structure was studied in relation to acidification and temperature cycling. It is found that temperature cycling and acidification induce bigger changes in emulsion droplet cluster structure than the application of one or two homogenisation stages, and the results are compared with droplet size measurements (by pfg-NMR), firmness measurements and confocal microscopic images. [source] Pressure effects on the structural, electronic, and optical properties of Sin@SWCNTsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, Issue 6 2009Y. H. Zhang Abstract Well-ordered single, double/four parallel, three/four-strands helical chains, and five-strand helical chain with a single atom chain at the center of Si nanowires (NWs) inside single-walled carbon nanotubes (Sin@SWCNTs) are obtained by means of molecular dynamics. On the basis of these optimized structures, the structural evolution of Sin@SWCNTs subjected to axial stress at low temperature is also investigated. Interestingly, the double parallel chains depart at the center and transform into two perpendicular parts, the helical shell transformed into chain, and the strand number of Si NWs increases during the stress load. Through analyzis of pair correlation function (PCF), the density of states (DOS), and the z -axis polarized absorption spectra of Sin@SWCNTs, we find that the behavior of Sin@SWCNTs under stress strongly depends on SWCNTs' symmetry, diameter, as well as the shape of NWs, which provide valuable information for potential application in high pressure cases such as seabed cable. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2009 [source] Quantum quadratic brownian oscillator model for absorption lineshapesISRAEL JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY, Issue 2-3 2002Valeri Barsegov The absorption lineshape of a two-level chromophore coupled quadratically to a collective Gaussian solvation coordinate with an arbitrary Brownian oscillator spectral density is calculated exactly using a path-integral representation of the dipole correlation function in Liouville space. [source] Modifications in the correlation function in poly(vinyl alcohol)/silica hybrid wet gelsJOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2009Dimas R. Vollet Small-angle X-ray scattering was used to study structural modifications in tetraethoxysilane-derived poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/silica hybrids. The basic structure of the wet gels can be described as a mass-fractal structure with fractal dimension D equal to 2 and characteristic length ,, which increases with addition of PVA. Wet gels with high PVA content exhibit a positive deviation from the mass-fractal power-law scattering at low q; this deviation is associated with additional scattering due to a second large correlation distance ,, reinforced by the addition of PVA. The fraction of both contributions to the total correlation function was estimated; this is the first time that such a study has been carried out for mass-fractal structures. [source] The small-angle scattering structure functions of the single tetrahedronJOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 3-1 2003W. Gille Basic properties of the SAS correlation function , (r) and related functions are represented for a tetrahedron of edge length a. An interval splitting into four basic r -intervals in a sequence of cases for averaging the intersection volume between two tetrahedrons has been performed. Remarkably simple analytic expressions result in the first r -interval. Indeed, ,(r) is a polynomial of degree three. The coefficients are given explicitly. The asymptotic expansion I(h) is compared with the exact scattering intensity I(h). [source] Development of spin-echo small-angle neutron scatteringJOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 3-1 2000W. G. Bouwman A polarised neutron spin echo technique is used to build a novel kind of small angle neutron scattering (SANS) instrument. The basis of this instrument is a symmetric set-up with a spin flipper in the centre, which creates a spin echo, even with a divergent beam. The precession regions on either side of the spin flipper are shaped such as to produce a very sensitive relation between the vertical angle of the neutron path and the total precession angle. Any SANS of a sample placed in the instrument reduces the symmetry of the neutron path and therefore decreases the echo. Magnetised foils define the precession regions by rotating the neutron spin from being parallel to the magnetic field to perpendicular to the field, to start the precession. These foils and the flipper were built and tested. A spin echo SANS signal is measured with the complete set-up . It should be possible with this technique to measure within minutes a full correlation function in samples over distances from 5 to 1000 nm. [source] 27 ps DFT molecular dynamics simulation of ,-maltose: A reduced basis set study,JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY, Issue 11 2010Udo Schnupf Abstract DFT molecular dynamics simulations are time intensive when carried out on carbohydrates such as ,-maltose. In a recent publication (Momany et al., J. Mol. Struct. THEOCHEM, submitted) forces for dynamics were generated from B3LYP/6-31+G* electronic structure calculations. The implicit solvent method COSMO was applied to simulate the solution environment. Here we present a modification of the DFT method that keeps the critical aspects of the larger basis set (B3LYP/6-31+G*) while allowing the less-essential atom interactions to be calculated using a smaller basis set, thus allowing for faster completion without sacrificing the interactions dictating the hydrogen bonding networks in ,-maltose. In previous studies, the gg,-gg-c solvated form quickly converged to the "r" form during a 5 ps dynamics run. This important conformational transition is tested by carrying out a long 27 ps simulation. The trend for the "r" conformer to be most stable during dynamics when fully solvated, is confirmed, resulting in ,20/80% c/r population. Further, the study shows that considerable molecular end effects are important, the reducing end being fairly stable, the O6H pointing at the O5, while the nonreducing end moves freely to take on different conformations. Some "kink" and transition state forms are populated during the simulation. The average H1,···H4 distance of 2.28 Ĺ confirms that the syn form is the primary glycosidic conformation, while the average C1,O1,C4 bond angle was 118.8°, in excellent agreement with experimental values. The length of this simulation allowed the evaluation of vibrational frequencies by Fourier transform of the velocity correlation function, taken from different time segments along the simulation path. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010 [source] Retrieval of spectral and dynamic properties from two-dimensional infrared pump-probe experimentsJOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY, Issue 9 2008Riccardo Chelli Abstract We have developed a fitting algorithm able to extract spectral and dynamic properties of a three level oscillator from a two-dimensional infrared spectrum (2D-IR) detected in time resolved nonlinear experiments. Such properties go from the frequencies of the ground-to-first and first-to-second vibrational transitions (and hence anharmonicity) to the frequency-fluctuation correlation function. This last is represented through a general expression that allows one to approach the various strategies of modeling proposed in the literature. The model is based on the Kubo picture of stochastic fluctuations of the transition frequency as a result of perturbations by a fluctuating surrounding. To account for the line-shape broadening due to pump pulse spectral width in double-resonance measurements, we supply the fitting algorithm with the option to perform the convolution of the spectral signal with a Lorentzian function in the pump-frequency dimension. The algorithm is tested here on 2D-IR pump-probe spectra of a Gly-Ala dipeptide recorded at various pump-probe delay times. Speedup benchmarks have been performed on a small Beowulf cluster. The program is written in FORTRAN language for both serial and parallel architectures and is available free of charge to the interested reader. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2008 [source] Heterogeneous growth of cordierite in low P/T Tsukuba metamorphic rocks from central JapanJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2001K. Miyazaki Abstract This paper examines the spatial statistics of matrix minerals and complex patterned cordierite porphyroblasts in the low-pressure, high-temperature (low P/T) Tsukuba metamorphic rocks from central Japan, using a density correlation function. The cordierite-producing reaction is sillimanite + biotite + quartz = K-feldspar + cordierite + water. The density correlation function shows that quartz is distributed randomly. However, the density correlation functions of biotite, plagioclase and K-feldspar show that their spatial distributions are clearly affected by the formation of cordierite porphyroblasts. These observations suggest that cordierite growth occurred through a selective growth mechanism: quartz adjacent to cordierite has a tendency to prevent the growth of cordierite, whereas other matrix minerals adjacent to cordierite have a tendency to enhance the growth of cordierite. The density correlation functions of complex patterned cordierite porphyroblasts show power-law behaviour. A selective growth mechanism alone cannot explain the origin of the power-law behaviour. Comparison of the morphology and fractal dimension of cordierite with two-dimensional sections from a three-dimensional diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) suggests that the formation of cordierite porphyroblasts can be modelled as a DLA process. DLA is the simple statistical model for the universal fractal pattern developed in a macroscopic diffusion field. Diffusion-controlled growth interacting with a random field is essential to the formation of a DLA-like pattern. The selective growth mechanism will provide a random noise for the growth of cordierite due to random distribution of quartz. Therefore, a selective growth mechanism coupled with diffusion-controlled growth is proposed to explain the power-law behaviour of the density correlation function of complex patterned cordierite. The results in this paper suggest that not only the growth kinetics but also the spatial distribution of matrix minerals affect the progress of the metamorphic reaction and pattern formation of metamorphic rocks. [source] Prediction of global VLE for mixtures with improved renormalization group theoryAICHE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2006Jianguo Mi Abstract The recently proposed renormalization group (RG) theory is reformulated within the context of density functional theory and applied to predicting global vapor,liquid equilibria (VLE) of Lennard,Jones chain pure fluids and fluid mixtures. An accurate equation based on the solution of the first-order mean-sphere approximation (FMSA) is adopted outside the critical region. Inside the critical region, the direct correlation function of FMSA is incorporated into the new RG transformation to describe the long-range fluctuation, which is conformal to general inhomogeneous studies. The new RG theory is applied to correcting real mixture phase envelopes, as well as corresponding phase diagrams of pure compounds for the critical region. The calculated results are in substantial agreement with those from experiment and molecular simulation both inside and outside the critical region. The new method is highly predictive because no adjustable parameters and no mixing rule are needed for both model and real fluid mixtures. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2006 [source] Tomography-Based Multiscale Analyses of the 3D Geometrical Morphology of Reticulated Porous CeramicsJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 8 2008Jörg Petrasch X-ray microtomography with a digital resolution of 30 ,m and synchrotron submicrometer tomography with a digital resolution of 350/700 nm are performed on catalyst-coated reticulate porous ceramic foa, 22[2] 121,45ms. Porosity, specific surface, pore-size distribution, two-point correlation function, and minimum size of a representative elementary volume are computed by image processing of the tomographic reconstructions on the mm-scale- and ,m-scale-sized pores. Numerically determined porosities are experimentally validated by weighing, helium pycnometry, and mercury intrusion porosimetry. [source] Clustering of luminous red galaxies , II.MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2009Small-scale redshift-space distortions ABSTRACT This is the second paper of a series where we study the clustering of luminous red galaxies (LRG) in the recent spectroscopic Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data release, DR6, which has 75 000 LRG covering over 1 Gpc3 h,3 for 0.15 < z < 0.47. Here, we focus on modelling redshift-space distortions in ,(,, ,), the two-point correlation in separate line-of-sight and perpendicular directions, at small scales and in the line-of-sight. We show that a simple Kaiser model for the anisotropic two-point correlation function in redshift space, convolved with a distribution of random peculiar velocities with an exponential form, can describe well the correlation of LRG on all scales. We show that to describe with accuracy the so-called ,fingers-of-God' (FOG) elongations in the radial direction, it is necessary to model the scale dependence of both bias b and the pairwise rms peculiar velocity ,12 with the distance. We show how both quantities can be inferred from the ,(,, ,) data. From r, 10 Mpc h,1 to r, 1 Mpc h,1, both the bias and ,12 are shown to increase by a factor of 2: from b= 2 to 4 and from ,12= 400 to 800 km s,1. The latter is in good agreement, within a 5 per cent accuracy in the recovered velocities, with direct velocity measurements in dark matter simulations with ,m= 0.25 and ,8= 0.85. [source] A halo model of galaxy colours and clustering in the Sloan Digital Sky SurveyMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2009Ramin A. Skibba ABSTRACT Successful halo-model descriptions of the luminosity dependence of clustering distinguish between the central galaxy in a halo and all the others (satellites). To include colours, we provide a prescription for how the colour,magnitude relation of centrals and satellites depends on halo mass. This follows from two assumptions: (i) the bimodality of the colour distribution at a fixed luminosity is independent of halo mass and (ii) the fraction of satellite galaxies which populate the red sequence increases with luminosity. We show that these two assumptions allow one to build a model of how galaxy clustering depends on colour without any additional free parameters than those required to model the luminosity dependence of galaxy clustering. We then show that the resulting model is in good agreement with the distribution and clustering of colours in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, both by comparing the predicted correlation functions of red and blue galaxies with measurements and by comparing the predicted colour,mark correlation function with the measured one. Mark correlation functions are powerful tools for identifying and quantifying correlations between galaxy properties and their environments: our results indicate that the correlation between halo mass and environment is the primary driver for correlations between galaxy colours and the environment; additional correlations associated with halo ,assembly bias' are relatively small. Our approach shows explicitly how to construct mock catalogues which include both luminosities and colours , thus providing realistic training sets for, e.g., galaxy cluster-finding algorithms. Our prescription is the first step towards incorporating the entire spectral energy distribution into the halo model approach. [source] Scale-dependent galaxy bias in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey as a function of luminosity and colourMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2009James G. Cresswell ABSTRACT It has been known for a long time that the clustering of galaxies changes as a function of galaxy type. This galaxy bias acts as a hindrance to the extraction of cosmological information from the galaxy power spectrum or correlation function. Theoretical arguments show that a change in the amplitude of the clustering between galaxies and mass on large scales is unavoidable, but cosmological information can be easily extracted from the shape of the power spectrum or correlation function if this bias is independent of scale. Scale-dependent bias is generally small on large scales, k < 0.1 h Mpc,1, but on smaller scales can affect the recovery of ,mh from the measured shape of the clustering signal, and have a small effect on the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations. In this paper, we investigate the transition from scale-independent to scale-dependent galaxy bias as a function of galaxy population. We use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 sample to fit various models, which attempt to parametrize the turn-off from scale-independent behaviour. For blue galaxies, we find that the strength of the turn-off is strongly dependent on galaxy luminosity, with stronger scale-dependent bias on larger scales for more luminous galaxies. For red galaxies, the scale dependence is a weaker function of luminosity. Such trends need to be modelled in order to optimally extract the information available in future surveys, and can help with the design of such surveys. [source] The 2dF-SDSS LRG and QSO survey: QSO clustering and the L,z degeneracyMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2008J. DaÂngela ABSTRACT We combine the quasi-stellar object (QSO) samples from the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey (2QZ) and the 2dF-Sloan Digital Sky Survey luminous red galaxy (LRG) and QSO Survey (2dF-SDSS LRG and QSO, hereafter 2SLAQ) in order to investigate the clustering of z, 1.5 QSOs and measure the correlation function (,). The clustering signal in redshift-space and projected along the sky direction is similar to that previously obtained from the 2QZ sample alone. By fitting functional forms for ,(,, ,), the correlation function measured along and across the line of sight, we find, as expected, that ,, the dynamical infall parameter and ,0m, the cosmological density parameter, are degenerate. However, this degeneracy can be lifted by using linear theory predictions under different cosmological scenarios. Using the combination of the 2QZ and 2SLAQ QSO data, we obtain: ,QSO(z= 1.5) = 0.60+0.14,0.11, ,0m= 0.25+0.09,0.07 which imply a value for the QSO bias, b(z= 1.4) = 1.5 ± 0.2. The combination of the 2QZ with the fainter 2SLAQ QSO sample further reveals that QSO clustering does not depend strongly on luminosity at fixed redshift. This result is inconsistent with the expectation of simple ,high peaks' biasing models where more luminous, rare QSOs are assumed to inhabit higher mass haloes. The data are more consistent with models which predict that QSOs of different luminosities reside in haloes of similar mass. By assuming ellipsoidal models for the collapse of density perturbations, we estimate the mass of the dark matter haloes which the QSOs inhabit as ,3 × 1012 h,1 M,. We find that this halo mass does not evolve strongly with redshift nor depend on QSO luminosity. Assuming a range of relations which relate halo to black hole mass, we investigate how black hole mass correlates with luminosity and redshift, and ascertain the relation between Eddington efficiency and black hole mass. Our results suggest that QSOs of different luminosities may contain black holes of similar mass. [source] The redshift distribution of absorption-line systems in QSO spectraMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2007A. I. Ryabinkov ABSTRACT A statistical analysis of the space,time distribution of absorption-line systems (ALSs) observed in QSO spectra within the cosmological redshift interval z= 0.0,3.7 is carried out on the base of our catalogue of absorption systems (Ryabinkov et al. 2003). We confirm our previous conclusion that the z -distribution of absorbing matter contains non-uniform component displaying a pattern of statistically significant alternating maxima (peaks) and minima (dips). Using the wavelet transformation, we determine the positions of the maxima and minima and estimate their statistical significance. The positions of the maxima and minima of the z -distributions obtained for different celestial hemispheres turn out to be weakly sensitive to orientations of the hemispheres. The data reveal a regularity (quasi-periodicity) of the sequence of the peaks and dips with respect to some rescaling functions of z. The same periodicity was found for the one-dimensional correlation function calculated for the sample of the ALSs under investigation. We assume the existence of a regular structure in the distribution of absorption matter, which is not only spatial but also temporal in nature with characteristic time varying within the interval 150,650 Myr for the cosmological model applied. [source] A highly obscured and strongly clustered galaxy population discovered with the Spitzer Space TelescopeMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2007M. Magliocchetti ABSTRACT The ,800 optically unseen (R > 25.5) 24-,m selected sources in the complete Spitzer First Look Survey sample with F24 ,m, 0.35 mJy are found to be very strongly clustered. If, as indicated by several lines of circumstantial evidence, they are ultraluminous far-infrared galaxies at z, 1.6,2.7, the amplitude of their spatial correlation function is very high. The associated comoving clustering length is estimated to be r0= 14.0+2.1,2.4 Mpc, value which puts these sources amongst the most strongly clustered populations of our known Universe. Their 8,24 ,m colours suggest that the active galactic nucleus contribution dominates above F24 ,m, 0.8 mJy, consistent with earlier analyses. The properties of these objects (number counts, redshift distribution, clustering amplitude) are fully consistent with those of proto-spheroidal galaxies in the process of forming most of their stars and of growing their active nucleus, as described by the Granato et al. model. In particular, the inferred space density of such galaxies at z, 2 is much higher than what is expected from most semi-analytic models. Matches of the observed projected correlation function w(,) with models derived within the so-called halo occupation scenario show that these sources have to be hosted by haloes more massive than ,1013.4 M,. This value is significantly higher than that for the typical galactic haloes hosting massive elliptical galaxies, suggesting a duration of the starburst phase of massive high-redshift dusty galaxies of TB, 0.5 Gyr. [source] The sources of intergalactic metalsMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2006E. Scannapieco ABSTRACT We study the clustering properties of metals in the intergalactic medium (IGM) as traced by 619 C iv and 81 Si iv absorption components with N, 1012 cm,2 and 316 Mg ii and 82 Fe ii absorption components with N, 1011.5 cm,2 in 19 high signal-to-noise ratio (60,100 pixel,1), high-resolution (R= 45 000) quasar spectra. C iv and Si iv trace each other closely and their line-of-sight correlation functions ,(v) exhibit a steep decline at large separations and a flatter profile below ,150 km s,1, with a large overall bias. These features do not depend on absorber column densities, although there are hints that the overall amplitude of ,C iv (v) increases with time over the redshift range detected (1.5,3). Carrying out a detailed smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulation (2 × 3203, 57 Mpc3 comoving), we show that the C iv correlation function cannot be reproduced by models in which the IGM metallicity is constant or a local function of overdensity (Z,,2/3). However, the properties of ,C iv(v) are generally consistent with a model in which metals are confined within bubbles with a typical radius Rs about sources of mass ,Ms. We derive best-fitting values of Rs, 2 comoving Mpc and Ms, 1012 M, at z= 3. Our lower-redshift (0.5,2) measurements of the Mg ii and Fe ii correlation functions also uncover a steep decline at large separations and a flatter profile at small separations, but the clustering is even higher than in the z= 1.5,3 measurements, and the turnover is shifted to somewhat smaller distances, ,75 km s,1. Again, these features do not change with column density, but there are hints that the amplitudes of ,Mg ii(v) and ,Fe ii(v) increase with time. We describe an analytic ,bubble' model for these species, which come from regions that are too compact to be accurately simulated numerically, deriving best-fitting values of Rs, 2.4 Mpc and Ms, 1012 M,. Equally good analytic fits to all four species are found in a similarly biased high-redshift enrichment model in which metals are placed within 2.4 comoving Mpc of Ms, 3 × 109 sources at z= 7.5. [source] The 2dF QSO Redshift Survey , XIV.MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2005Structure, evolution from the two-point correlation function ABSTRACT In this paper we present a clustering analysis of quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) using over 20 000 objects from the final catalogue of the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey (2QZ), measuring the redshift-space two-point correlation function, ,(s). When averaged over the redshift range 0.3 < z < 2.2 we find that ,(s) is flat on small scales, steepening on scales above ,25 h,1 Mpc. In a WMAP/2dF cosmology (,m= 0.27, ,,= 0.73) we find a best-fitting power law with s0= 5.48+0.42,0.48 h,1 Mpc and ,= 1.20 ± 0.10 on scales s= 1 to 25 h,1 Mpc. We demonstrate that non-linear redshift-space distortions have a significant effect on the QSO ,(s) at scales less than ,10 h,1 Mpc. A cold dark matter model assuming WMAP/2dF cosmological parameters is a good description of the QSO ,(s) after accounting for non-linear clustering and redshift-space distortions, and allowing for a linear bias at the mean redshift of bQ(z= 1.35) = 2.02 ± 0.07. We subdivide the 2QZ into 10 redshift intervals with effective redshifts from z= 0.53 to 2.48. We find a significant increase in clustering amplitude at high redshift in the WMAP/2dF cosmology. The QSO clustering amplitude increases with redshift such that the integrated correlation function, , within 20 h,1 Mpc is and . We derive the QSO bias and find it to be a strong function of redshift with bQ(z= 0.53) = 1.13 ± 0.18 and bQ(z= 2.48) = 4.24 ± 0.53. We use these bias values to derive the mean dark matter halo (DMH) mass occupied by the QSOs. At all redshifts 2QZ QSOs inhabit approximately the same mass DMHs with MDH= (3.0 ± 1.6) × 1012 h,1 M,, which is close to the characteristic mass in the Press,Schechter mass function, M*, at z= 0. These results imply that L*Q QSOs at z, 0 should be largely unbiased. If the relation between black hole (BH) mass and MDH or host velocity dispersion does not evolve, then we find that the accretion efficiency (L/LEdd) for L*Q QSOs is approximately constant with redshift. Thus the fading of the QSO population from z, 2 to ,0 appears to be due to less massive BHs being active at low redshift. We apply different methods to estimate, tQ, the active lifetime of QSOs and constrain tQ to be in the range 4 × 106,6 × 108 yr at z, 2. We test for any luminosity dependence of QSO clustering by measuring ,(s) as a function of apparent magnitude (equivalent to luminosity relative to L*Q). However, we find no significant evidence of luminosity-dependent clustering from this data set. [source] The nature, evolution, clustering and X-ray properties of extremely red galaxies in the Chandra Deep Field South/Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey fieldMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 3 2003Nathan D. Roche ABSTRACT We identify a very deep sample of 198 extremely red objects (EROs) in the Chandra Deep Field South, selected on the basis of I775,Ks > 3.92, to a limit Ks, 22 using the public European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) survey. The ERO number counts flatten from a slope of ,, 0.59 to 0.16 at K > 19.5, where they remain below the predictions for pure luminosity evolution, and fall below even a non-evolving model. This suggests there is a significant decrease with redshift in the comoving number density of passive/very red galaxies. We investigate the angular correlation function, ,(,), of these EROs and detect positive clustering for Ks= 20.5,22.0 sources. The EROs show stronger clustering than other galaxies at the same magnitudes. The ,(,) amplitudes are best-fitted by models in which the EROs have a comoving correlation radius r0, 12.5 ± 1.2 h,1 Mpc, or r0, 21.4 ± 2.0 h,1 Mpc in a stable clustering model. We find a 40-arcsec diameter overdensity of 10 EROs, centred on the Chandra X-ray source (and ERO) XID:58. On the basis of colours we estimate that about seven, including XID:58, belong to a cluster of EROs at z, 1.5. The 942-ks Chandra survey detected 73 X-ray sources in the area of our ERO sample, 17 of which coincide with EROs. Of these sources, 13 have X-ray properties indicative of obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN), while the faintest four may be starbursts. In addition, we find evidence that Chandra sources and EROs are positively cross-correlated at non-zero (,2,20 arcsec) separations, implying that they tend to trace the same large-scale structures. In conclusion, these findings appear consistent with a scenario where EROs are the z > 1 progenitors of elliptical/S0 galaxies, some forming very early as massive spheroids, which are strongly clustered and may evolve via an AGN phase, others more recently from mergers of disc galaxies. [source] The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: correlation functions, peculiar velocities and the matter density of the UniverseMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2003Ed Hawkins ABSTRACT We present a detailed analysis of the two-point correlation function, ,(,, ,), from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS). The large size of the catalogue, which contains ,220 000 redshifts, allows us to make high-precision measurements of various properties of the galaxy clustering pattern. The effective redshift at which our estimates are made is zs, 0.15, and similarly the effective luminosity, Ls, 1.4L*. We estimate the redshift-space correlation function, ,(s), from which we measure the redshift-space clustering length, s0= 6.82 ± 0.28 h,1 Mpc. We also estimate the projected correlation function, ,(,), and the real-space correlation function, ,(r), which can be fit by a power law (r/r0), with r0= 5.05 ± 0.26 h,1 Mpc, ,r= 1.67 ± 0.03. For r, 20 h,1 Mpc, , drops below a power law as, for instance, is expected in the popular , cold dark matter model. The ratio of amplitudes of the real- and redshift-space correlation functions on scales of 8,30 h,1 Mpc gives an estimate of the redshift-space distortion parameter ,. The quadrupole moment of ,(,, ,) on scales 30,40 h,1 Mpc provides another estimate of ,. We also estimate the distribution function of pairwise peculiar velocities, f(v), including rigorously the significant effect due to the infall velocities, and we find that the distribution is well fit by an exponential form. The accuracy of our ,(,, ,) measurement is sufficient to constrain a model, which simultaneously fits the shape and amplitude of ,(r) and the two redshift-space distortion effects parametrized by , and velocity dispersion, a. We find ,= 0.49 ± 0.09 and a= 506 ± 52 km s,1, although the best-fitting values are strongly correlated. We measure the variation of the peculiar velocity dispersion with projected separation, a(,), and find that the shape is consistent with models and simulations. This is the first time that , and f(v) have been estimated from a self-consistent model of galaxy velocities. Using the constraints on bias from recent estimates, and taking account of redshift evolution, we conclude that , (L=L*, z= 0) = 0.47 ± 0.08, and that the present-day matter density of the Universe, ,m, 0.3, consistent with other 2dFGRS estimates and independent analyses. [source] Non-linear redshift distortions: the two-point correlation functionMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2001Somnath Bharadwaj We consider a situation where the density and peculiar velocities in real space are linear, and we calculate ,s, the two-point correlation function in redshift space, incorporating all non-linear effects which arise as a consequence of the map from real to redshift space. Our result is non-perturbative and it includes the effects of possible multi-streaming in redshift space. We find that the deviations from the predictions of the linear redshift distortion analysis increase for the higher spherical harmonics of ,s. While the deviations are insignificant for the monopole ,0, the hexadecapole ,4 exhibits large deviations from the linear predictions. For a COBE normalized , cold dark matter (CDM) power spectrum, our results for ,4 deviate from the linear predictions by a factor of two on the scale of ,10 h,1 Mpc. The deviations from the linear predictions depend separately on f(,) and b. This holds the possibility of removing the degeneracy that exists between these two parameters in the linear analysis of redshift surveys which yields only . We also show that the commonly used phenomenological model, where the non-linear redshift two-point correlation function is calculated by convolving the linear redshift correlation function with an isotropic pair velocity distribution function, is a limiting case of our result. [source] The luminosity dependence of clustering and higher order correlations in the PSCz surveyMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2000István Szapudi We investigate the spatial clustering of galaxies in the PSCz galaxy redshift survey, as revealed by the two-point correlation function, the luminosity mark correlations and the moments of counts-in-cells. We construct volume-limited subsamples at different depths and search for a luminosity dependence of the clustering pattern. We find no statistically significant effect in either the two-point correlation function or the mark correlations and so we take each subsample (of different characteristic luminosity) as representing the same statistical process. We then carry out a counts-in-cells analysis of the volume-limited subsamples, including a rigorous error calculation based on the recent theory of Szapudi, Colombi & Bernardeau. In this way, we derive the best estimates to date of the skewness and kurtosis of IRAS galaxies in redshift space. Our results agree well with previous measurements in both the parent angular catalogue and the derived redshift surveys. This is in contrast with smaller, optically selected surveys, where there is a discrepancy between the redshift space and projected measurements. Predictions from cold dark matter theory, obtained using the recent semi-analytical model of galaxy formation of Benson et al., provide an excellent description of our clustering data. [source] The angular correlation function of the ROSAT All-Sky Survey Bright Source CatalogueMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 4 2000A. Akylas We have derived the angular correlation function of a sample of 2096 sources detected in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) Bright Source Catalogue, in order to investigate the clustering properties of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the local Universe. Our sample is constructed by rejecting all known stars, as well as extended X-ray sources. Areas with |b|<30° and declination ,<,30° are also rejected owing to the high or uncertain neutral hydrogen absorption. Cross-correlation of our sample with the Hamburg/RASS optical identification catalogue suggests that the vast majority of our sources are indeed AGN. A 4.1, correlation signal between 0° and 8° was detected with w(,<8°)=2.5±0.6×10,2. Assuming a two-point correlation function of the form w(,)=(,,0),0.8, we find ,0=0062. Deprojection on three dimensions, using Limber's equation, yields a spatial correlation length of r0,6.0±1.6 h,1 Mpc. This is consistent with the AGN clustering results derived at higher redshifts in optical surveys and suggests a comoving model for the clustering evolution. [source] Voids in the Las Campanas Redshift Survey versus cold dark matter modelsMONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, Issue 1 2000V. Müller We analysed the distribution of void sizes in the two-dimensional slices of the Las Campanas Redshift Survey (LCRS). Fourteen volume-limited subsamples were extracted from the six slices to cover a large part of the survey and to test the robustness of the results against cosmic variance. Thirteen samples were randomly culled to produce homogeneously selected samples. We then studied the relationship between the cumulative area covered by voids and the void size as a property of the void hierarchy. We found that the distribution of void sizes scaled with the mean galaxy separation, ,. In particular, we found that the size of voids covering half of the area is given by Dmed,,+(12±3) h,1 Mpc. Next, by employing an environmental density threshold criterion to identify mock galaxies, we were able to extend this analysis to mock samples from dynamical N -body simulations of cold dark matter (CDM) models. To reproduce the observed void statistics, overdensity thresholds of ,th,0,,,1 are necessary. We compared standard (SCDM), open (OCDM), vacuum energy dominated (,CDM) and broken scale invariant CDM models (BCDM): we found that both the void size distribution and the two-point correlation function provided important and complementary information on the large-scale matter distribution. The dependence of the void statistics on the threshold criterion for the mock galaxy identification showed that the galaxy biasing was more crucial for the void size distribution than were differences between the cosmological models. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||