TY - JOUR
T1 - Galaxy and mass assembly (GAMA)
T2 - The large-scale structure of galaxies and comparison to mock universes
AU - Alpaslan, Mehmet
AU - Robotham, Aaron S G
AU - Driver, Simon
AU - Norberg, Peder
AU - Baldry, Ivan
AU - Bauer, Amanda E.
AU - Bland-hawthorn, Joss
AU - Brown, Michael
AU - Cluver, Michelle
AU - Colless, Matthew
AU - Foster, Caroline
AU - Hopkins, Andrew
AU - Van kampen, Eelco
AU - Kelvin, Lee
AU - Lara-Lopez, Maritza A.
AU - Liske, Jochen
AU - Lopez-Sanchez, Angel R.
AU - Loveday, Jon
AU - Mcnaught-Roberts, Tamsyn
AU - Merson, Alexander
AU - Pimbblet, Kevin
PY - 2014/2
Y1 - 2014/2
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.
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.
KW - Large-scale structure of universe
KW - Methods:Observational
KW - Surveys
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84892529320&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stt2136
DO - 10.1093/mnras/stt2136
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84892529320
SN - 0035-8711
VL - 438
SP - 177
EP - 194
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
IS - 1
M1 - stt2136
ER -