The effect of large-scale structure on the SDSS galaxy three-point correlation function

R. C. Nichol; R. K. Sheth; Y. Suto; A. J. Gray; I. Kayo; R. H. Wechsler; F. Marin; G. Kulkarni; M. Blanton; A. J. Connolly; J. P. Gardner; B. Jain; C. J. Miller; A. W. Moore; A. Pope; J. Pun; D. Schneider; J. Schneider; A. Szalay; I. Szapudi; I. Zehavi; N. A. Bahcall; I. Csabai; J. Brinkmann

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10239.x

The effect of large-scale structure on the SDSS galaxy three-point correlation function

R. C. Nichol, R. K. Sheth, Y. Suto, A. J. Gray, I. Kayo, R. H. Wechsler, F. Marin, G. Kulkarni, M. Blanton, A. J. Connolly, J. P. Gardner, B. Jain, C. J. Miller, A. W. Moore, A. Pope, J. Pun, D. Schneider, J. Schneider, A. Szalay, I. SzapudiI. Zehavi, N. A. Bahcall, I. Csabai, J. Brinkmann

Institute of Cosmology & Gravitation

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Abstract

We present measurements of the normalized redshift-space three-point correlation function (3PCF) (Q_z) of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) main galaxy sample. These measurements were possible because of a fast new N-point correlation function algorithm (called npt) based on multiresolutional k-d trees. We have applied npt to both a volume-limited (36 738 galaxies with 0.05 ≤z≤ 0.095 and −23 ≤M _0.0r≤−20.5) and magnitude-limited sample (134 741 galaxies over 0.05 ≤z≤ 0.17 and ∼M^*± 1.5) of SDSS galaxies, and find consistent results between the two samples, thus confirming the weak luminosity dependence of Q_z recently seen by other authors. We compare our results to other Q_z measurements in the literature and find it to be consistent within the full jackknife error estimates. However, we find these errors are significantly increased by the presence of the ‘Sloan Great Wall’ (at z∼0.08) within these two SDSS data sets, which changes the 3PCF by 70 per cent on large scales (s≥ 10 h⁻¹Mpc). If we exclude this supercluster, our observed Q_z is in better agreement with that obtained from the 2-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) by other authors, thus demonstrating the sensitivity of these higher order correlation functions to large-scale structures in the Universe. This analysis highlights that the SDSS data sets used here are not ‘fair samples’ of the Universe for the estimation of higher order clustering statistics and larger volumes are required. We study the shape dependence of Q_z(s, q, θ) as one expects this measurement to depend on scale if the large-scale structure in the Universe has grown via gravitational instability from Gaussian initial conditions. On small scales (s≤ 6 h⁻¹Mpc), we see some evidence for shape dependence in Q_z, but at present our measurements are consistent with a constant within the errors (Q_z≃ 0.75 ± 0.05). On scales >10 h⁻¹Mpc, we see considerable shape dependence in Q_z. However, larger samples are required to improve the statistical significance of these measurements on all scales.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1507-1514
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	368
Issue number	4
Early online date	1 Jun 2006
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10239.x
Publication status	Published - 2006

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This article has been accepted for publication in 'Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2014 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
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Nichol, R. C., Sheth, R. K., Suto, Y., Gray, A. J., Kayo, I., Wechsler, R. H., Marin, F., Kulkarni, G., Blanton, M., Connolly, A. J., Gardner, J. P., Jain, B., Miller, C. J., Moore, A. W., Pope, A., Pun, J., Schneider, D., Schneider, J., Szalay, A., ... Brinkmann, J. (2006). The effect of large-scale structure on the SDSS galaxy three-point correlation function. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 368(4), 1507-1514. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10239.x

@article{8dab9971b2b34343acc610560cb03eb6,

title = "The effect of large-scale structure on the SDSS galaxy three-point correlation function",

abstract = "We present measurements of the normalized redshift-space three-point correlation function (3PCF) (Qz) of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) main galaxy sample. These measurements were possible because of a fast new N-point correlation function algorithm (called npt) based on multiresolutional k-d trees. We have applied npt to both a volume-limited (36 738 galaxies with 0.05 ≤z≤ 0.095 and −23 ≤M 0.0r≤−20.5) and magnitude-limited sample (134 741 galaxies over 0.05 ≤z≤ 0.17 and ∼M*± 1.5) of SDSS galaxies, and find consistent results between the two samples, thus confirming the weak luminosity dependence of Qz recently seen by other authors. We compare our results to other Qz measurements in the literature and find it to be consistent within the full jackknife error estimates. However, we find these errors are significantly increased by the presence of the {\textquoteleft}Sloan Great Wall{\textquoteright} (at z∼0.08) within these two SDSS data sets, which changes the 3PCF by 70 per cent on large scales (s≥ 10 h−1Mpc). If we exclude this supercluster, our observed Qz is in better agreement with that obtained from the 2-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) by other authors, thus demonstrating the sensitivity of these higher order correlation functions to large-scale structures in the Universe. This analysis highlights that the SDSS data sets used here are not {\textquoteleft}fair samples{\textquoteright} of the Universe for the estimation of higher order clustering statistics and larger volumes are required. We study the shape dependence of Qz(s, q, θ) as one expects this measurement to depend on scale if the large-scale structure in the Universe has grown via gravitational instability from Gaussian initial conditions. On small scales (s≤ 6 h−1Mpc), we see some evidence for shape dependence in Qz, but at present our measurements are consistent with a constant within the errors (Qz≃ 0.75 ± 0.05). On scales >10 h−1Mpc, we see considerable shape dependence in Qz. However, larger samples are required to improve the statistical significance of these measurements on all scales. ",

author = "Nichol, {R. C.} and Sheth, {R. K.} and Y. Suto and Gray, {A. J.} and I. Kayo and Wechsler, {R. H.} and F. Marin and G. Kulkarni and M. Blanton and Connolly, {A. J.} and Gardner, {J. P.} and B. Jain and Miller, {C. J.} and Moore, {A. W.} and A. Pope and J. Pun and D. Schneider and J. Schneider and A. Szalay and I. Szapudi and I. Zehavi and Bahcall, {N. A.} and I. Csabai and J. Brinkmann",

note = "This article has been accepted for publication in 'Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society {\textcopyright}: 2014 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.",

year = "2006",

doi = "10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10239.x",

language = "English",

volume = "368",

pages = "1507--1514",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",

issn = "0035-8711",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "4",

}

Nichol, RC, Sheth, RK, Suto, Y, Gray, AJ, Kayo, I, Wechsler, RH, Marin, F, Kulkarni, G, Blanton, M, Connolly, AJ, Gardner, JP, Jain, B, Miller, CJ, Moore, AW, Pope, A, Pun, J, Schneider, D, Schneider, J, Szalay, A, Szapudi, I, Zehavi, I, Bahcall, NA, Csabai, I & Brinkmann, J 2006, 'The effect of large-scale structure on the SDSS galaxy three-point correlation function', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 368, no. 4, pp. 1507-1514. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10239.x

TY - JOUR

T1 - The effect of large-scale structure on the SDSS galaxy three-point correlation function

AU - Nichol, R. C.

AU - Sheth, R. K.

AU - Suto, Y.

AU - Gray, A. J.

AU - Kayo, I.

AU - Wechsler, R. H.

AU - Marin, F.

AU - Kulkarni, G.

AU - Blanton, M.

AU - Connolly, A. J.

AU - Gardner, J. P.

AU - Jain, B.

AU - Miller, C. J.

AU - Moore, A. W.

AU - Pope, A.

AU - Pun, J.

AU - Schneider, D.

AU - Schneider, J.

AU - Szalay, A.

AU - Szapudi, I.

AU - Zehavi, I.

AU - Bahcall, N. A.

AU - Csabai, I.

AU - Brinkmann, J.

N1 - This article has been accepted for publication in 'Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2014 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

PY - 2006

Y1 - 2006

N2 - We present measurements of the normalized redshift-space three-point correlation function (3PCF) (Qz) of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) main galaxy sample. These measurements were possible because of a fast new N-point correlation function algorithm (called npt) based on multiresolutional k-d trees. We have applied npt to both a volume-limited (36 738 galaxies with 0.05 ≤z≤ 0.095 and −23 ≤M 0.0r≤−20.5) and magnitude-limited sample (134 741 galaxies over 0.05 ≤z≤ 0.17 and ∼M*± 1.5) of SDSS galaxies, and find consistent results between the two samples, thus confirming the weak luminosity dependence of Qz recently seen by other authors. We compare our results to other Qz measurements in the literature and find it to be consistent within the full jackknife error estimates. However, we find these errors are significantly increased by the presence of the ‘Sloan Great Wall’ (at z∼0.08) within these two SDSS data sets, which changes the 3PCF by 70 per cent on large scales (s≥ 10 h−1Mpc). If we exclude this supercluster, our observed Qz is in better agreement with that obtained from the 2-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) by other authors, thus demonstrating the sensitivity of these higher order correlation functions to large-scale structures in the Universe. This analysis highlights that the SDSS data sets used here are not ‘fair samples’ of the Universe for the estimation of higher order clustering statistics and larger volumes are required. We study the shape dependence of Qz(s, q, θ) as one expects this measurement to depend on scale if the large-scale structure in the Universe has grown via gravitational instability from Gaussian initial conditions. On small scales (s≤ 6 h−1Mpc), we see some evidence for shape dependence in Qz, but at present our measurements are consistent with a constant within the errors (Qz≃ 0.75 ± 0.05). On scales >10 h−1Mpc, we see considerable shape dependence in Qz. However, larger samples are required to improve the statistical significance of these measurements on all scales.

AB - We present measurements of the normalized redshift-space three-point correlation function (3PCF) (Qz) of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) main galaxy sample. These measurements were possible because of a fast new N-point correlation function algorithm (called npt) based on multiresolutional k-d trees. We have applied npt to both a volume-limited (36 738 galaxies with 0.05 ≤z≤ 0.095 and −23 ≤M 0.0r≤−20.5) and magnitude-limited sample (134 741 galaxies over 0.05 ≤z≤ 0.17 and ∼M*± 1.5) of SDSS galaxies, and find consistent results between the two samples, thus confirming the weak luminosity dependence of Qz recently seen by other authors. We compare our results to other Qz measurements in the literature and find it to be consistent within the full jackknife error estimates. However, we find these errors are significantly increased by the presence of the ‘Sloan Great Wall’ (at z∼0.08) within these two SDSS data sets, which changes the 3PCF by 70 per cent on large scales (s≥ 10 h−1Mpc). If we exclude this supercluster, our observed Qz is in better agreement with that obtained from the 2-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) by other authors, thus demonstrating the sensitivity of these higher order correlation functions to large-scale structures in the Universe. This analysis highlights that the SDSS data sets used here are not ‘fair samples’ of the Universe for the estimation of higher order clustering statistics and larger volumes are required. We study the shape dependence of Qz(s, q, θ) as one expects this measurement to depend on scale if the large-scale structure in the Universe has grown via gravitational instability from Gaussian initial conditions. On small scales (s≤ 6 h−1Mpc), we see some evidence for shape dependence in Qz, but at present our measurements are consistent with a constant within the errors (Qz≃ 0.75 ± 0.05). On scales >10 h−1Mpc, we see considerable shape dependence in Qz. However, larger samples are required to improve the statistical significance of these measurements on all scales.

U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10239.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10239.x

M3 - Article

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 368

SP - 1507

EP - 1514

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 4

ER -

The effect of large-scale structure on the SDSS galaxy three-point correlation function

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