Updated void catalogs of the SDSS DR7 main sample

TL;DR

This paper presents updated catalogs of cosmic voids identified in SDSS DR7 using multiple algorithms, compares them with simulations, and discusses their properties and implications for cosmology.

Contribution

It introduces new implementations of three void-finding algorithms and provides comprehensive void catalogs with detailed properties and comparisons to mock simulations.

Findings

Identified over 1100 voids with radii >10 Mpc/h in SDSS DR7.

Found good agreement between observed and simulated void properties.

Void effective radii range from 15 to 19 Mpc/h, with none exceeding 54 Mpc/h.

Abstract

We produce several public void catalogs using a volume-limited subsample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR7). Using new implementations of three different void-finding algorithms, VoidFinder and two ZOBOV-based algorithms (VIDE and REVOLVER), we identify 1163, 531, and 518 cosmic voids with radii >10 Mpc/h, respectively, out to a redshift of z = 0.114 assuming a Planck 2018 cosmology, and 1184, 535, and 519 cosmic voids assuming a WMAP5 cosmology. We compute effective radii and centers for all voids and find none with an effective radius >54 Mpc/h. The median void effective radius is 15-19 Mpc/h for all three algorithms. We extract and discuss several properties of the void populations, including radial density profiles, the volume fraction of the catalog contained within voids, and the fraction of galaxies contained within voids. Using 64 mock galaxy catalogs created from the Horizon Run 4 N-body simulation, we compare simulated and observed void properties and find good agreement between the SDSS DR7 and mock catalog results.