ABSTRACT
Galaxy redshift surveys are designed to map cosmic structures in three dimensions for large-scale structure studies. Nevertheless, limitations due to sampling and the survey window are ...unavoidable and degrade the cosmological constraints. We present an analysis of the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS) over the redshift range 0.6 < z < 1 that is optimized to extract the cosmological parameters while fully accounting for the complex survey geometry. We employ the Gibbs sampling algorithm to iteratively draw samples of the galaxy density field in redshift space, the galaxy bias, the matter density, baryon fraction, and growth-rate parameter fσ8 based on a multivariate Gaussian likelihood and prior on the density field. Despite the high number of degrees of freedom, the samples converge to the joint posterior distribution and give self-consistent constraints on the model parameters. We validate the approach using VIPERS mock galaxy catalogues. Although the uncertainty is underestimated by the Gaussian likelihood on the scales that we consider by 50 per cent, the dispersion of the results from the mock catalogues gives a robust error estimate. We find that the precision of the results matches those of the traditional analyses applied to the VIPERS data that use more constrained models. By relaxing the model assumptions, we confirm that the data deliver consistent constraints on the ΛCDM model. This work provides a case-study for the application of maximum-likelihood analyses for the next generation of galaxy redshift surveys.
We present the first quantitative detection of large-scale filamentary structure at z NOT approximately equal to 0.7 in the large cosmological volume probed by the VIMOS Public Extragalactic ...Redshift Survey (VIPERS). We use simulations to show the capability of VIPERS to recover robust topological features in the galaxy distribution, in particular the filamentary network. We then investigate how galaxies with different stellar masses and stellar activities are distributed around the filaments, and find a significant segregation, with the most massive or quiescent galaxies being closer to the filament axis than less massive or active galaxies. The signal persists even after downweighting the contribution of peak regions. Our results suggest that massive and quiescent galaxies assemble their stellar mass through successive mergers during their migration along filaments towards the nodes of the cosmic web. On the other hand, low-mass star-forming galaxies prefer the outer edge of filaments, a vorticity-rich region dominated by smooth accretion, as predicted by the recent spin alignment theory. This emphasizes the role of large-scale cosmic flows in shaping galaxy properties.
We describe the construction and general features of VIPERS, the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey. This ESO Large Programme is using the Very Large Telescope with the aim of building a ...spectroscopic sample of ~100 000 galaxies with isubAB< 22.5 and 0.5 <z< 1.5. The survey covers a total area of ~24 degsup 2 within the C FHTLS-Wide W1 and W4 fields. Here we present the survey design, the selection of the source catalogue and the development of the spectroscopic observations. We discuss in detail the overall selection function that results from the combination of the different constituents of the project. Benefiting from the combination of size and detailed sampling of this dataset, we conclude by presenting a map showing in unprecedented detail the large-scale distribution of galaxies between 5 and 8 billion years.
We present the general real- and redshift-space clustering properties of galaxies as measured in the first data release of the VIPERS survey. VIPERS is a large redshift survey designed to probe in ...detail the distant Universe and its large-scale structure at 0.5 < z < 1.2. We describe in this analysis the global properties of the sample and discuss the survey completeness and associated corrections. This sample allows us to measure the galaxy clustering with an unprecedented accuracy at these redshifts. From the redshift-space distortions observed in the galaxy clustering pattern we provide a first measurement of the growth rate of structure at z = 0.8: fsigma8 = 0.47 + or - 0.08. This is completely consistent with the predictions of standard cosmological models based on Einstein gravity, although this measurement alone does not discriminate between different gravity models.
Cosmic structures leave an imprint on the microwave background radiation through the integrated Sachs–Wolfe (ISW) effect. We construct a template map of the linear signal using the Sloan Digital Sky ...Survey-III Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Survey at redshift 0.43 < z < 0.65. We verify the imprint of this map on the Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature map at the 97 per cent confidence level and show consistency with the density–temperature cross-correlation measurement. Using this ISW reconstruction as a template, we investigate the presence of ISW sources and further examine the properties of the Granett–Neyrinck–Szapudi supervoid and supercluster catalogue. We characterize the three-dimensional density profiles of these structures for the first time and demonstrate that they are significant structures. Model fits demonstrate that the supervoids are elongated along the line of sight and we suggest that this special orientation may be picked out by the void-finding algorithm in photometric redshift space. We measure the mean temperature profiles in Planck maps from public void and cluster catalogues. In an attempt to maximize the stacked ISW signal, we construct a new catalogue of superstructures based upon local peaks and troughs of the gravitational potential. However, we do not find a significant correlation between these structures and the CMB temperature.
Aims.
Various galaxy classification schemes have been developed so far to constrain the main physical processes regulating evolution of different galaxy types. In the era of a deluge of astrophysical ...information and recent progress in machine learning, a new approach to galaxy classification has become imperative.
Methods.
In this paper, we employ a Fisher Expectation-Maximization (FEM) unsupervised algorithm working in a parameter space of 12 rest-frame magnitudes and spectroscopic redshift. The model (DBk) and the number of classes (12) were established based on the joint analysis of standard statistical criteria and confirmed by the analysis of the galaxy distribution with respect to a number of classes and their properties. This new approach allows us to classify galaxies based on only their redshifts and ultraviolet to near-infrared (UV–NIR) spectral energy distributions.
Results.
The FEM unsupervised algorithm has automatically distinguished 12 classes: 11 classes of VIPERS galaxies and an additional class of broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs). After a first broad division into blue, green, and red categories, we obtained a further sub-division into: three red, three green, and five blue galaxy classes. The FEM classes follow the galaxy sequence from the earliest to the latest types, which is reflected in their colours (which are constructed from rest-frame magnitudes used in the classification procedure) but also their morphological, physical, and spectroscopic properties (not included in the classification scheme). We demonstrate that the members of each class share similar physical and spectral properties. In particular, we are able to find three different classes of red passive galaxy populations. Thus, we demonstrate the potential of an unsupervised approach to galaxy classification and we retrieve the complexity of galaxy populations at
z
∼ 0.7, a task that usual, simpler, colour-based approaches cannot fulfil.
Aims. We trace the evolution and the star formation history of passive red galaxies, using a subset of the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS). The detailed spectral analysis of ...stellar populations of intermediate-redshift passive red galaxies allows the build up of their stellar content to be followed over the last 8 billion years. Methods. We extracted a sample of passive red galaxies in the redshift range 0.4 <z< 1.0 and stellar mass range 10 < log(M sub(star)/M sub(middot in circle)) < 12 from the VIPERS survey. The sample was selected using an evolving cut in the rest-frame U?V color distribution and additional cuts that ensured high quality. The spectra of passive red galaxies were stacked in narrow bins of stellar mass and redshift. We use the stacked spectra to measure the 4000 A break (D 4000) and the H delta Lick index (H delta sub(A)) with high precision. These spectral features are used as indicators of the star formation history of passive red galaxies. We compare the results with a grid of synthetic spectra to constrain the star formation epochs of these galaxies. We characterize the formation redshift-stellar mass relation for intermediate-redshift passive red galaxies. Results. We find that at z~ 1 stellar populations in low-mass passive red galaxies are younger than in high-mass passive red galaxies, similar to what is observed at the present epoch. Over the full analyzed redshift range 0.4 < z< 1.0 and stellar mass range 10 < log(M sub(star)/M sub(middot in circle)) < 12, the D 4000 index increases with redshift, while H delta sub(A) gets lower. This implies that the stellar populations are getting older with increasing stellar mass. Comparison to the spectra of passive red galaxies in the SDSS survey (z~ 0.2) shows that the shape of the relations of D 4000 and H delta sub(A) with stellar mass has not changed significantly with redshift. Assuming a single burst formation, this implies that high-mass passive red galaxies formed their stars at z sub(form)~ 1.7, while low-mass galaxies formed their main stellar populations more recently, at z sub(form)~ 1. The consistency of these results, which were obtained using two independent estimators of the formation redshift (D 4000 and H delta sub(A)), further strengthens a scenario in which star formation proceeds from higher to lower mass systems as time passes, i.e., what has become known as the downsizing picture.
We investigate the dependence of galaxy clustering on luminosity and stellar mass in the redshift range 0.5 < z <1.1, using the first ~55 000 redshifts from the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift ...Survey (VIPERS). We provide the best-fit parameters of the power-law model assumed for the real-space 2PCF - the correlation length, rsub 0, and the slope, gamma - as well as the linear bias parameter, as a function of the B-band absolute magnitude, stellar mass, and redshift. We confirm and provide the tightest constraints on the dependence of clustering on luminosity at 0.5 < z <1.1. We prove the complexity of comparing the clustering dependence on stellar mass from samples that are originally flux-limited and discuss the possible origin of the observed discrepancies. Overall, our measurements provide stronger constraints on galaxy formation models, which are now required to match, in addition to local observations, the clustering evolution measured by VIPERS galaxies between z = 0.5 and z = 1.1 for a broad range of luminosities and stellar masses.
We measure the evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function from z = 1.3W z = 0.5 using the first 53 608 redshifts of the ongoing VIMOS Public Extragalactic Survey (VIPERS). Thanks to its large ...volume and depth, VIPERS provides a detailed picture of the galaxy distribution at z approx = 0.8, when the Universe Was approx =7 Gyr old. We carefully estimate the uncertainties and systematic effects associated with the SED fitting procedure used the derive galaxy stellar masses. We estimate the galaxy stellar mass function at several epochs Stween z = 0.5 and 1.3, discussing the amount of cosmic variance affecting our estimate in detail. We find that for such high masses, red galaxies show a milder evolution with redshift, when compared the objects at lower masses. At the same time, we detect a population of similarly massive blue galaxies, which are no longer detectable below z = 0.7. These results show the improved statistical power of VIPERS data, and give initial promising indications of mass-dependent quenching of galaxies at z approx = 1.
We explore the accuracy of the clustering-based redshift estimation proposed by Ménard et al. when applied to VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS) and Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope ...Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) real data. This method enables us to reconstruct redshift distributions from measurement of the angular clustering of objects using a set of secure spectroscopic redshifts. We use state-of-the-art spectroscopic measurements with i
AB < 22.5 from the VIPERS as reference population to infer the redshift distribution of galaxies from the CFHTLS T0007 release. VIPERS provides a nearly representative sample to a flux limit of i
AB < 22.5 at a redshift of >0.5 which allows us to test the accuracy of the clustering-based redshift distributions. We show that this method enables us to reproduce the true mean colour–redshift relation when both populations have the same magnitude limit. We also show that this technique allows the inference of redshift distributions for a population fainter than the reference and we give an estimate of the colour–redshift mapping in this case. This last point is of great interest for future large-redshift surveys which require a complete faint spectroscopic sample.