A geometrical model for the catalogs of galaxies

TL;DR

This paper proposes a geometrical Voronoi-based model to simulate galaxy catalogs, reproducing their spatial distribution and clustering properties, and compares it with real galaxy survey data.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Voronoi geometric framework to model galaxy distributions and explains observed clustering and voids in galaxy catalogs.

Findings

Voronoi model reproduces galaxy spatial distribution

Identifies the Eridanus super-void as a large Voronoi volume

Simulates galaxy correlation functions successfully

Abstract

The 3D network originated by the faces of irregular Poissonian Voronoi Polyhedrons may represent the backbone on which the galaxies are originated. As a consequence the spatial appearance of the catalogs of galaxies can be reproduced. The selected catalogs to simulate are the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey and the Third Reference Catalog of Bright Galaxies. In order to explain the number of observed galaxies for a given flux/magnitude as a function of the redshift, the photometric properties of the galaxies should be carefully examined from both the astronomical and theoretical point of view. The statistics of the Voronoi normalized volume is modeled by two distributions and the Eridanus super-void is identified as the largest volume belonging to the Voronoi Polyhedron. The behavior of the correlation function for galaxies is simulated by adopting the framework of thick faces of Voronoi Polyhedrons on short scales, while adopting standard arguments on large scales.