Using radio galaxies to find super-structures

Radio galaxies are excellent at tracing large-scale structure due to their high bias. We present new results from the TONS08 radio galaxy redshift survey. We find unequivocal evidence for a huge (at least 80 x 80 x 100 Mpc^3) super-structure at redshift z=0.27, confirming tentative evidence for such...

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Main Authors: Brand, K, Rawlings, S, Hill, G, Lacy, M
Format: Conference item
Published: 2003
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author Brand, K
Rawlings, S
Hill, G
Lacy, M
author_facet Brand, K
Rawlings, S
Hill, G
Lacy, M
author_sort Brand, K
collection OXFORD
description Radio galaxies are excellent at tracing large-scale structure due to their high bias. We present new results from the TONS08 radio galaxy redshift survey. We find unequivocal evidence for a huge (at least 80 x 80 x 100 Mpc^3) super-structure at redshift z=0.27, confirming tentative evidence for such a structure from the 7C redshift survey (7CRS). A second, newly discovered super-structure is also tentatively found at redshift 0.35 (of dimensions at least 100 x 100 x 100 Mpc^3). Out of the total sample size of 84 radio galaxies, at least 25 are associated with the two super-structures. We use quasi-linear structure formation theory to estimate the number of such structures expected in the TONS08 volume if the canonical value for radio galaxy bias is assumed. Under this assumption, the structures represent ~ 4-5 sigma peaks in the primordial density field and their expected number is low (10^{-2}-10^{-4}). Fortunately, there are several plausible explanations (many of which are testable) for these low probabilities in the form of potential mechanisms for boosting the bias on large scales. These include: the association of radio galaxies with highly biased rich clusters in super-structures, enhanced triggering by group/group mergers, and enhanced triggering and/or redshift space distortion in collapsing systems as the growth of super-structures moves into the non-linear regime. Similar structures could have been missed in previous surveys because of the effects of Poisson-sampling fluctuations.
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spelling oxford-uuid:6d74ce48-a05b-4503-9a8f-2998712073b32022-03-26T19:17:50ZUsing radio galaxies to find super-structuresConference itemhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_5794uuid:6d74ce48-a05b-4503-9a8f-2998712073b3Symplectic Elements at Oxford2003Brand, KRawlings, SHill, GLacy, MRadio galaxies are excellent at tracing large-scale structure due to their high bias. We present new results from the TONS08 radio galaxy redshift survey. We find unequivocal evidence for a huge (at least 80 x 80 x 100 Mpc^3) super-structure at redshift z=0.27, confirming tentative evidence for such a structure from the 7C redshift survey (7CRS). A second, newly discovered super-structure is also tentatively found at redshift 0.35 (of dimensions at least 100 x 100 x 100 Mpc^3). Out of the total sample size of 84 radio galaxies, at least 25 are associated with the two super-structures. We use quasi-linear structure formation theory to estimate the number of such structures expected in the TONS08 volume if the canonical value for radio galaxy bias is assumed. Under this assumption, the structures represent ~ 4-5 sigma peaks in the primordial density field and their expected number is low (10^{-2}-10^{-4}). Fortunately, there are several plausible explanations (many of which are testable) for these low probabilities in the form of potential mechanisms for boosting the bias on large scales. These include: the association of radio galaxies with highly biased rich clusters in super-structures, enhanced triggering by group/group mergers, and enhanced triggering and/or redshift space distortion in collapsing systems as the growth of super-structures moves into the non-linear regime. Similar structures could have been missed in previous surveys because of the effects of Poisson-sampling fluctuations.
spellingShingle Brand, K
Rawlings, S
Hill, G
Lacy, M
Using radio galaxies to find super-structures
title Using radio galaxies to find super-structures
title_full Using radio galaxies to find super-structures
title_fullStr Using radio galaxies to find super-structures
title_full_unstemmed Using radio galaxies to find super-structures
title_short Using radio galaxies to find super-structures
title_sort using radio galaxies to find super structures
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AT hillg usingradiogalaxiestofindsuperstructures
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