Reconstruction of cosmological initial conditions from galaxy redshift catalogues

We present and test a new method for the reconstruction of cosmological initial conditions from a full-sky galaxy catalogue. This method, called ZTRACE, is based on a self-consistent solution of the growing mode of gravitational instabilities according to the Zel'dovich approximation and higher order in Lagrangian perturbation theory. Given the evolved redshift-space density field, smoothed on some scale, ZTRACE finds via an iterative procedure, an approximation to the initial density field for any given set of cosmological parameters; real-space densities and peculiar velocities are also reconstructed. The method is tested by applying it to N-body simulations of an Einstein-de Sitter and an open cold dark matter universe. It is shown that errors in the estimate of the density contrast dominate the noise of the reconstruction. As a consequence, the reconstruction of real space density and peculiar velocity fields using non-linear algorithms is little improved over those based on linear theory. The use of a mass-preserving adaptive smoothing, equivalent to a smoothing in Lagrangian space, allows an unbiased (although noisy) reconstruction of initial conditions, as long as the (linearly extrapolated) density contrast does not exceed unity. The probability distribution function of the initial conditions is recovered to high precision, even for Gaussian smoothing scales of ~ 5 Mpc/h, except for the tail at delta >~ 1. This result is insensitive to the assumptions of the background cosmology.Comment: 19 pages, MN style, 12 figures included, revised version. MNRAS, in pres

An Analytical Approach to Inhomogeneous Structure Formation

We develop an analytical formalism that is suitable for studying inhomogeneous structure formation, by studying the joint statistics of dark matter halos forming at two points. Extending the Bond et al. (1991) derivation of the mass function of virialized halos, based on excursion sets, we derive an approximate analytical expression for the ``bivariate'' mass function of halos forming at two redshifts and separated by a fixed comoving Lagrangian distance. Our approach also leads to a self-consistent expression for the nonlinear biasing and correlation function of halos, generalizing a number of previous results including those by Kaiser (1984) and Mo & White (1996). We compare our approximate solutions to exact numerical results within the excursion-set framework and find them to be consistent to within 2% over a wide range of parameters. Our formalism can be used to study various feedback effects during galaxy formation analytically, as well as to simply construct observable quantities dependent on the spatial distribution of objects. A code that implements our method is publicly available at http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~evan/GeminiComment: 41 Pages, 11 figures, published in ApJ, 571, 585. Reference added, Figure 2 axis relabele

Anthropic versus cosmological solutions to the coincidence problem

In this paper we investigate possible solutions to the coincidence problem in flat phantom dark energy models with a constant dark energy equation of state and quintessence models with a linear scalar field potential. These models are representative of a broader class of cosmological scenarios in which the universe has a finite lifetime. We show that, in the absence of anthropic constraints, including a prior probability for the models inversely proportional to the total lifetime of the universe excludes models very close to the $\Lambda {\rm CDM}$ model. This relates a cosmological solution to the coincidence problem with a dynamical dark energy component having an equation of state parameter not too close to -1 at the present time. We further show, that anthropic constraints, if they are sufficiently stringent, may solve the coincidence problem without the need for dynamical dark energy.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Luminosity Density of Galaxies and Cosmic Star Formation Rate from Lambda-CDM Hydrodynamical Simulations

We compute the cosmic star formation rate (SFR) and the rest-frame comoving luminosity density in various pass-bands as a function of redshift using large-scale \Lambda-CDM hydrodynamical simulations with the aim of understanding their behavior as a function of redshift. To calculate the luminosity density of galaxies, we use an updated isochrone synthesis model which takes metallicity variations into account. The computed SFR and the UV-luminosity density have a steep rise from z=0 to 1, a moderate plateau between z=1 - 3, and a gradual decrease beyond z=3. The raw calculated results are significantly above the observed luminosity density, which can be explained either by dust extinction or the possibly inappropriate input parameters of the simulation. We model the dust extinction by introducing a parameter f; the fraction of the total stellar luminosity (not galaxy population) that is heavily obscured and thus only appears in the far-infrared to sub-millimeter wavelength range. When we correct our input parameters, and apply dust extinction with f=0.65, the resulting luminosity density fits various observations reasonably well, including the present stellar mass density, the local B-band galaxy luminosity density, and the FIR-to-submm extragalactic background. Our result is consistent with the picture that \sim 2/3 of the total stellar emission is heavily obscured by dust and observed only in the FIR. The rest of the emission is only moderately obscured which can be observed in the optical to near-IR wavelength range. We also argue that the steep falloff of the SFR from z=1 to 0 is partly due to the shock-heating of the universe at late times, which produces gas which is too hot to easily condense into star-forming regions.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures. Accepted version in ApJ. Substantially revised from the previous version. More emphasis on the comparison with various observations and the hidden star formation by dust extinctio

The shapes, orientation, and alignment of Galactic dark matter subhalos

We present a study of the shapes, orientations, and alignments of Galactic dark matter subhalos in the ``Via Lactea'' simulation of a Milky Way-size LCDM host halo. Whereas isolated dark matter halos tend to be prolate, subhalos are predominantly triaxial. Overall subhalos are more spherical than the host halo, with minor to major and intermediate to major axis ratios of 0.68 and 0.83, respectively. Like isolated halos, subhalos tend to be less spherical in their central regions. The principal axis ratios are independent of subhalo mass, when the shapes are measured within a physical scale like r_Vmax, the radius of the peak of the circular velocity curve. Subhalos tend to be slightly more spherical closer to the host halo center. The spatial distribution of the subhalos traces the prolate shape of the host halo when they are selected by the largest V_max they ever had, i.e. before they experienced strong tidal mass loss. The subhalos' orientation is not random: the major axis tends to align with the direction towards the host halo center. This alignment disappears for halos beyond 3 r_200 and is more pronounced when the shapes are measured in the outer regions of the subhalos. The radial alignment is preserved during a subhalo's orbit and they become elongated during pericenter passage, indicating that the alignment is likely caused by the host halo's tidal forces. These tidal interactions with the host halo act to make subhalos rounder over time.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, submitted to ApJ, v2: corrected typo in abstract ("[...] subhalos tend be less spherical in their central regions."), added a few reference

Evolution of the Pairwise Peculiar Velocity Distribution Function in Lagrangian Perturbation Theory

The statistical distribution of the radial pairwise peculiar velocity of galaxies is known to have an exponential form as implied by observations and explicitly shown in N-body simulations. Here we calculate its statistical distribution function using the Zel'dovich approximation assuming that the primordial density fluctuations are Gaussian distributed. We show that the exponential distribution is realized as a transient phenomena on megaparsec scales in the standard cold-dark-matter model.Comment: 19 pages, 8 Postscript figures, AAS LaTe

Destruction of Molecular Hydrogen During Cosmological Reionization

We investigate the ability of primordial gas clouds to retain molecular hydrogen (H_2) during the initial phase of the reionization epoch. We find that before the Stromgren spheres of the individual ionizing sources overlap, the UV background below the ionization threshold is able to penetrate large clouds and suppress their H_2 abundance. The consequent lack of H_2 cooling could prevent the collapse and fragmentation of clouds with virial temperatures T_vir < 10^4 K (or masses 10^8 Msun [(1+z_vir)/10]^{-3/2}). This negative feedback on structure-formation arises from the very first ionizing sources, and precedes the feedback due to the photoionization heating.Comment: 14 pages, uuencoded compressed Postscript, 4 figures included. To appear in Ap

Constraints on Warm Dark Matter from Cosmological Reionization

We study the constraints that high-redshift structure formation in the universe places on warm dark matter (WDM) dominated cosmological models. We modify the extended Press-Schechter formalism to derive the halo mass function in WDM models. We show that our predictions agree with recent numerical simulations at low redshift over the halo masses of interest. Applying our model to galaxy formation at high redshift, we find that the loss of power on small scales, together with the delayed collapse of low-mass objects, results in strong limits on the root-mean-square velocity dispersion v_rms of the WDM particles at z=0. For fermions decoupling while relativistic, these limits are equivalent to constraints on the mass m_X of the particles. The presence of a 4 billion solar mass black hole at z=5.8, believed to power the quasar SDSS 1044-1215, implies m_X > 0.5 keV (or v_rms < 0.10 km/s), assuming that the quasar is unlensed and radiating at or below the Eddington limit. Reionization by z=5.8 also implies a limit on m_X. If high-redshift galaxies produce ionizing photons with an efficiency similar to their z=3 counterparts, we find m_X > 1.2 keV (or v_rms < 0.03 km/s). However, given the uncertainties in current measurements from the proximity effect of the ionizing background at redshift 3, values of m_X as low as 0.75 keV (v_rms = 0.06 km/s) are not ruled out. The limit weakens further if, instead, the ionizing-photon production efficiency is greater at high z, but this limit will tighten considerably if reionization is shown in the future to have occurred at higher redshifts. WDM models with m_X 0.04 km/s) produce a low-luminosity cutoff in the high-redshift galaxy luminosity function which is directly detectable with the Next Generation Space Telescope (abridged).Comment: 38 pages, 10 figures, to appear in ApJ. One figure added, some discussion revise

Evolution of Lyman Break Galaxies Beyond Redshift Four

The formation rate of luminous galaxies seems to be roughly constant from z~2 to z~4 from the recent observations of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) (Steidel et al 1999). The abundance of luminous quasars, on the other hand, appears to drop off by a factor of more than twenty from z~2 to z~5 (Warren, Hewett, & Osmer 1994; Schmidt, Schneider, & Gunn 1995). The difference in evolution between these two classes of objects in the overlapping, observed redshift range, z=2-4, can be explained naturally, if we assume that quasar activity is triggered by mergers of luminous LBGs and one quasar lifetime is ~10^{7-8} yrs. If this merger scenario holds at higher redshift, for the evolutions of these two classes of objects to be consistent at z>4, the formation rate of luminous LBGs is expected to drop off at least as rapidly as exp(-(z-4)^{6/5}) at z>4.Comment: in press, ApJ Letters, 15 latex pages plus 1 fi