The Galaxy Distribution Function from the 2MASS Survey
Abstract
We determine the spatial distribution function of galaxies from a wide range of samples in the 2MASS survey. The results agree very well with the form of the distribution predicted by the theory of cosmological gravitational many-body galaxy clustering. On large scales we find a value of the clustering parameter b = 0.867 +/- 0.026, in agreement with b = 0.83 +/- 0.05 found previously for the Pisces-Perseus supercluster. We measure b(theta) as a function of scale, since this is a powerful test of the applicability of computer simulations. The results suggest that when galaxies clustered they were usually surrounded by individual, rather than by communal haloes.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0503509,
title = {The Galaxy Distribution Function from the 2MASS Survey},
author = {Gregory R. Sivakoff and William C. Saslaw},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0503509},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
Astrophysical Journal, accepted: 14 pages with 23 embedded reduced resolution Postscript figures & 2 tables