Related papers: Selection functions of large spectroscopic surveys
Understanding which sources are present in an astronomical catalogue and which are not is crucial for the accurate interpretation of astronomical data. In particular, for the multidimensional Gaia data, filters and cuts on different…
We study the nature of cluster selection in Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) surveys, focusing on single frequency observations and using Monte Carlo simulations incorporating instrumental effects, primary cosmic microwave background (CMB)…
Our view of the properties of galaxies is strongly affected by the way in which we survey for them. I discuss some aspects of selection effects and methods to compensate for them. One result is an estimate of the surface brightness…
Gravitational lensing magnification modifies the observed spatial distribution of galaxies and can severely bias cosmological probes of large-scale structure if not accurately modelled. Standard approaches to modelling this magnification…
Galaxy morphological and spectroscopic types should be nearly independent of apparent magnitude in a local, magnitude-limited sample. Recent luminosity function surveys based on morphological classification of galaxies are substantially…
We use a geometric method to derive (two-dimensional) separation functions amongst pairs of objects within populations of specified position function $\mathrm{d} N/\mathrm{d} \vec{R}$. We present analytic solutions for separation functions…
A suite of spectroscopic surveys is producing vast sets of stellar spectra with the goal of advancing stellar physics and Galactic evolution by determining their basic physical properties. A substantial fraction of these stars are in binary…
We present a simple method for evaluating the nonlinear biasing function of galaxies from a redshift survey. The nonlinear biasing is characterized by the conditional mean of the galaxy density fluctuation given the underlying mass density…
This paper investigates the problem of prediction of stellar parameters, based on the star's electromagnetic spectrum. The knowledge of these parameters permits to infer on the evolutionary state of the star. From a statistical point of…
Since the early 1970s, stellar population modelling has been one of the basic tools for understanding the physics of unresolved systems from observation of their integrated light. Models allow us to relate the integrated spectra (or…
With planets orbiting stars, a planetary mass function should not be seen as a low-mass extension of the stellar mass function, but a proper formalism needs to take care of the fact that the statistical properties of planet populations are…
The number density and correlation function of galaxies are two key quantities to characterize the distribution of the observed galaxy population. High-$z$ spectroscopic surveys, which usually involve complex target selection and are…
The purpose of this letter is to compare the quality of different methods for estimating stellar masses of galaxies. We compare the results of (a) fitting stellar population synthesis models to broad band colors from SDSS and 2MASS, (b) the…
A number of large spectroscopic surveys of stars in the Milky Way are under way or are being planned. In this context it is important to discuss the extent to which elemental abundances can be used as discriminators between different (known…
The purpose of this review is to discuss the advantages and problems of near-infrared surveys in observing pulsating stars in the Milky Way. One of the advantages of near-infrared surveys, when compared to optical counterparts, is that the…
One of the main problems of observational cosmology is to determine the range in which a reliable measurement of galaxy correlations is possible. This corresponds to determine the shape of the correlation function, its possible evolution…
Current and future imaging surveys will measure cosmic shear with a statistical precision that demands a deeper understanding of potential systematic biases in galaxy shape measurements than has been achieved to date. We investigate the…
We present a comprehensive method for determining stellar mass functions, and apply it to samples in the local Universe. We combine the classical 1/Vmax approach with STY, a parametric maximum likelihood method and SWML, a non-parametric…
Current and future large astronomical surveys will yield multiparameter databases on millions or even billions of objects. The scientific exploitation of these will require powerful, robust, and automated classification tools tailored to…
Obtaining accurate distributions of galaxy redshifts is a critical aspect of weak lensing cosmology experiments. One of the methods used to estimate and validate redshift distributions is apply weights to a spectroscopic sample so that…