Cosmic Voids, Void Galaxies, and Void AGN.pptVIP

Cosmic Voids, Void Galaxies, and Void AGN Michael S. Vogeley Department of Physics Drexel University The Void Finder Algorithm Procedure: Initial classification of galaxies as wall/void galaxies Detection of empty cells Growth of maximal spheres Unification of overlapping voids Calculation of void underdensity, profile Initial Classification of Void vs. Wall Galaxies Voids in the PSCz Survey Voids in the 2dFGRS Void Size Distributions in 2dF Voids in Simulations SDSS DR5 Spectroscopy of 675,000 galaxies Covers 5740 sq deg Imaging of 8000 sq deg (imaging of NGC region now complete) Voids in SDSS DR5 Intersection of Voids with 10 h-1 Mpc Slices Results on Void Finding Void distributions of 2dFGRS, PSCz, UZC, and SDSS agree; void properties are robust No detected evolution of void size with redshift in nearby universe Voids are on average ~12 h-1 Mpc in radius, but largest void larger in larger surveys? Filling factor 40% at density contrast dr/r = -0.9 Density profiles plateau in center to dr/r = -0.95 Voidfinder appears to detect dynamically distinct elements of large-scale structure (peaks in initial gravitational potential, outflows in velocity, sharp boundaries in density) II. The Morphology-Luminosity-Local Density Relation and Residual Environmental Effects Environmental Dependence Using Adaptive Smoothing and Morphological Classification Morphological classification Color-magnitude relations Early type “red sequence” shifts blueward by 0.025 mag from high to low density Late type “blue sequence” shifts blueward by 0.14 mag at low density Size and environment Small monotonic dependence of size on local density for all galaxies except the brightest E’s. Galaxies in voids are slightly smaller: M=-19.7 galaxies are 8% smaller at the lowest density, for both early and late types (but possible sky subtraction error?). Star formation rates (Ha) At fixed morphology (early vs. late) and luminosity, very small dependence of SFR on local densit