Understanding the shape of the halo-mass and galaxy-mass cross-correlation functions

TL;DR

This study uses the Millennium Simulation to analyze the shape of halo-mass and galaxy-mass cross-correlation functions, demonstrating that simple models effectively describe these correlations across different scales and redshifts, aiding cosmological tests.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of halo-mass and galaxy-mass cross-correlations using simulations, showing that simple models fit the data well and can be applied to various cosmological scenarios.

Findings

Inner regions fit by NFW or Einasto profiles

Outer regions modeled by biased linear correlation

Models predict galaxy-galaxy lensing signals with <10% accuracy

Abstract

We use the Millennium Simulation to measure the cross-correlation between halo centres and mass (or equivalently the average density profiles of dark haloes) in a LCDM cosmology. We present results for radii in the range 10 kpc/h < r < 30 Mpc/h for halo masses in the range 4e10 Msol/h < M200 < 4e14 Msol/h. Both at z=0 and at z=0.76 these cross-correlations are surprisingly well fit by approximating the inner region by a density profile of NFW or Einasto form, the outer region by a biased version of the linear mass autocorrelation function, and by adopting the maximum of the two where they are comparable. We use a simulation of the formation of galaxies within the Millennium Simulation to explore how these results are reflected in cross-correlations between galaxies and mass. These are directly observable through galaxy-galaxy lensing. Here also we find that simple models can represent the simulation results remarkably well, typically to < 10%. Such models can be used to extend our results to other redshifts, to cosmologies with other parameters, and to other assumptions about how galaxies populate dark haloes. The characteristic features predicted in the galaxy-galaxy lensing signal should provide a strong test of the LCDM cosmology as well as a route to understanding how galaxies form within it.