The extensive catalogue of gamma-ray selected flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) produced by Fermi during a four-year survey has generated considerable interest in determining their gamma-ray luminosity function (GLF) and its evolution with cosmic time. In this paper, we introduce the novel idea of using this extensive database to test the differential volume expansion rate predicted by two specific models, the concordance Lambda cold darkmatter (Lambda CDM) and R-h = ct cosmologies. For this purpose, we use two well-studied formulations of the GLF, one based on pure luminosity evolution (PLE) and the other on a luminosity-dependent density evolution (LDDE). Using a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test on one-parameter cumulative distributions (in luminosity, redshift, photon index and source count), we confirm the results of earlier works showing that these data somewhat favour LDDE over PLE; we show that this is the case for both Lambda CDM and R-h = ct. Regardless of which GLF one chooses, however, we also show that model selection tools very strongly favour R-h = ct over Lambda CDM. We suggest that such population studies, though featuring a strong evolution in redshift, may none the less be used as a valuable independent check of other model comparisons based solely on geometric considerations.

We show that the projected number density profiles of Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometric galaxies around galaxy clusters display strong evidence for the splashback radius, a sharp halo edge corresponding to the location of the first orbital apocenter of satellite galaxies after their infall. We split the clusters into two subsamples with different mean projected radial distances of their members, < R-mem >, at fixed richness and redshift. The sample with smaller < R-mem > has a smaller ratio of the splashback radius to the traditional halo boundary R-200m than the subsample with larger < R-mem >, indicative of different mass accretion rates for these subsamples. The same subsamples were recently used by Miyatake et al. to show that their large-scale clustering differs despite their similar weak lensing masses, demonstrating strong evidence for halo assembly bias. We expand on this result by presenting a 6.6 sigma difference in the clustering amplitudes of these samples using cluster-photometric galaxy cross-correlations. This measurement is a clear indication that halo clustering depends on parameters other than halo mass. If < R-mem > is related to the mass assembly history of halos, the measurement is a manifestation of the halo assembly bias. However, our measured splashback radii are smaller, while the strength of the assembly bias signal is stronger, than the predictions of collisionless. cold dark matter simulations. We show that dynamical friction, cluster mis-centering, or projection effects are not likely to be the sole source of these discrepancies. However, further investigations regarding unknown catastrophic weak lensing or cluster identification systematics are warranted.

We use recently published redshift space distortion measurements of the cosmological growth rate, f sigma(8)(z), to examine whether the linear evolution of perturbations in the R-h = ct cosmology is consistent with the observed development of large-scale structure. We find that these observations favour R-h = ct over the version of Lambda cold dark matter (Lambda CDM) optimized with the joint analysis of Planck and linear growth rate data, particularly in the redshift range 0 < z < 1, where a significant curvature in the functional form of f sigma(8)(z) predicted by the standard model-but not by R-h = ct-is absent in the data. When Lambda CDM is optimized using solely the growth rate measurements; however, the two models fit the observations equally well though, in this case, the low-redshift measurements find a lower value for the fluctuation amplitude than is expected in Planck Lambda CDM. Our results strongly affirm the need for more precise measurements of f sigma(8)(z) at all redshifts, but especially at z < 1.

We study the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) signature in South Pole Telescope (SPT) data for an ensemble of 719 optically identified galaxy clusters selected from 124.6 deg(2) of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) science verification data, detecting a clear stacked SZE signal down to richness lambda similar to 20. The SZE signature is measured using matched-filtered maps of the 2500 deg(2) SPT-SZ survey at the positions of the DES clusters, and the degeneracy between SZE observable and matched-filter size is broken by adopting as priors SZE and optical mass-observable relations that are either calibrated using SPT-selected clusters or through the Arnaud et al. (A10) X-ray analysis. We measure the SPT signal-to-noise zeta - lambda relation and two integrated Compton-y Y500-lambda relations for the DES-selected clusters and compare these to model expectations that account for the SZE-optical centre offset distribution. For clusters with lambda > 80, the two SPT-calibrated scaling relations are consistent with the measurements, while for the A10-calibrated relation the measured SZE signal is smaller by a factor of 0.61 +/- 0.12 compared to the prediction. For clusters at 20 < lambda < 80, the measured SZE signal is smaller by a factor of similar to 0.20-0.80 (between 2.3 sigma and 10 sigma significance) compared to the prediction, with the SPT-calibrated scaling relations and larger lambda clusters showing generally better agreement. We quantify the required corrections to achieve consistency, showing that there is a richness-dependent bias that can be explained by some combination of (1) contamination of the observables and (2) biases in the estimated halo masses. We also discuss particular physical effects associated with these biases, such as contamination of. from line-of-sight projections or of the SZE observables from point sources, larger offsets in the SZE-optical centring or larger intrinsic scatter in the lambda-mass relation at lower richnesses.

A previous analysis of starburst-dominated HII galaxies and HII regions has demonstrated a statistically significant preference for the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology with zero active mass, known as the R-h = c(t) universe, over Lambda cold dark matter (Lambda CDM) and its related dark-matter parametrizations. In this paper, we employ a two-point diagnostic with these data to present a complementary statistical comparison of Rh = ct with Planck Lambda CDM. Our two-point diagnostic compares, in a pairwise fashion, the difference between the distance modulus measured at two redshifts with that predicted by each cosmology. Our results support the conclusion drawn by a previous comparative analysis demonstrating that Rh = ct is statistically preferred over Planck Lambda CDM. But we also find that the reported errors in the HII measurements may not be purely Gaussian, perhaps due to a partial contamination by non-Gaussian systematic effects. The use of HII galaxies and HII regions as standard candles may be improved even further with a better handling of the systematics in these sources.

Bright Ly alpha blobs (LABs)-extended nebulae with sizes of similar to 100 kpc and Ly alpha luminosities of similar to 10(44) erg s(-1)-often reside in overdensities of compact Ly alpha emitters (LAEs) that may be galaxy protoclusters. The number density, variance, and internal kinematics of LABs suggest that they themselves trace group-like halos. Here, we test this hierarchical picture, presenting deep, wide-field Ly alpha narrowband imaging of a 1 degrees x. 0 degrees.5 region around a LAB pair at z = 2.3 discovered previously by a blind survey. We find 183 Lya emitters, including the original LAB pair and three new LABs with Ly alpha luminosities of (0.9-1.3) x 10(43) erg s(-1) and isophotal areas of 16-24 arcsec2. Using the LAEs as tracers and a new kernel density estimation method, we discover a large-scale overdensity (Bootes J1430+3522) with a surface density contrast of delta(Sigma) = 2.7, a volume density contrast of delta similar to 10.4, and a projected diameter of approximate to 20 comoving Mpc. Comparing with cosmological simulations, we conclude that this LAE overdensity will evolve into a present-day Coma-like cluster with log(M/M-circle dot) similar to 15.1 +/- 0.2. In this and three other wide-field LAE surveys re-analyzed here, the extents and peak amplitudes of the largest LAE overdensities are similar, not increasing with survey size, and implying that they were indeed the largest structures then and today evolve into rich clusters. Intriguingly, LABs favor the outskirts of the densest LAE concentrations, i.e., intermediate LAE overdensities of delta(Sigma) = 1-2. We speculate that these LABs mark infalling protogroups being accreted by the more massive protocluster.

Measurements of the Hubble constantH(z) are increasingly being used to test the expansion rate predicted by various cosmological models. But the recent application of two-point diagnostics, such as Om(zi, zj) and Omh(2)(zi, zj), has produced considerable tension between Lambda CDM's predictions and several observations, with other models faring even worse. Part of this problem is attributable to the continued mixing of truly model-independent measurements using the cosmic-chronometer approach, and model-dependent data extracted from baryon acoustic oscillations. In this paper, we advance the use of two-point diagnostics beyond their current status, and introduce new variations, which we call Delta h(zi, zj), that are more useful for model comparisons. But we restrict our analysis exclusively to cosmic-chronometer data, which are truly model independent. Even for these measurements, however, we confirm the conclusions drawn by earlier workers that the data have strongly non-Gaussian uncertainties, requiring the use of both 'median' and 'mean' statistical approaches. Our results reveal that previous analyses using two-point diagnostics greatly underestimated the errors, thereby misinterpreting the level of tension between theoretical predictions and H(z) data. Instead, we demonstrate that as of today, only Einstein-de Sitter is ruled out by the two-point diagnostics at a level of significance exceeding similar to 3s. The R-h = ct universe is slightly favoured over the remaining models, including Lambda cold dark matter and Chevalier-Polarski-Linder, though all of them (other than Einstein-de Sitter) are consistent to within 1 sigma with the measured mean of the Delta h(zi, zj) diagnostics.

<p>  Understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies is one of the most fundamental questions in modern astronomy. While it is widely accepted that galaxy formation needs to be understood in the context of cosmic structure formation of dark matter, a complex interplay of different physical processes that drive galaxy formation makes it challenging to elucidate how the large-scale environment of dark matter influences galaxies, particularly in their formative epoch (z > 2). </p> <p>    As the most luminous nebular emission arising from star formation,  Lyalpha provides a promising and effective tool to study the young universe and nascent galaxies.</p> <p>  At z>2, Lyalpha emission is redshifted into the visible window that is detectable by ground-based telescopes. Existing studies also suggest that strong Lyalpha-emitting galaxies represent a young and low-mass galaxy population and therefore are the best visible tracers of the large-scale structure of the distant universe. </p> <p>    In this thesis, I present two complementary studies designed to address these questions using Lyalpha emission as a cosmological tool. In Chapter 2, I investigate the kinematics and spatial distribution of the gas-phase interstellar and circumgalactic media using compact and diffuse Lyalpha emission in and around distant galaxies. I also carry out a comprehensive characterization of how Lyalpha properties correlate with other galaxy properties and the environment that galaxies reside in. In Chapter 3, I explore how Lyalpha-emitting galaxies trace the large-scale structure characterized by other means; I also conduct a detailed investigation of the distribution of different `types' of galaxies and H i gas  in  and around the most massive cosmic structure known to date. These investigations are informative in  building clear  expectations for the ongoing and upcoming experiments -- including the Legacy Survey for Space and Time, James Webb Space Telescope, Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instruments, and Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy eXperiment -- in obtaining a detailed picture of galaxy evolution in the context of their environments. </p>

No description available.

We investigate several techniques to identify voids in the galaxy distribution of matter in the universe. We utilize galaxy number counts as a function of apparent magnitude and Wolf plots to search a two- or three-dimensional data set in a pencil-beam fashion to locate voids within the field of view. The technique is able to distinguish between voids that represent simply a decrease in density as well as those that show a build up of galaxies on the front or back side of the void. This method turns out to be primarily useable only at relatively short range (out to about 200 Mpc). Beyond this distance, the characteristics indicating a void become increasingly difficult to separate from the statistical background noise. We apply the technique to a very simplified model as well as to the Millennium Run dark matter simulation. We then compare results with those obtained on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We also created the Watershed Void Examiner (WaVE) which treats densities in a fashion similar to elevation on a topographical map, and then we allow the "terrain" to flood. The flooded low-lying regions are identified as voids, which are allowed to grow and merge as the level of flooding becomes higher (the overdensity threshold increases). Void statistics can be calculated for each void. We also determine that within the Millennium Run semi-analytic galaxy catalog, the walls that separate the voids are permeable at a scale of 4 Mpc. For each resolution that we tested, there existed a characteristic density at which the walls could be penetrated, allowing a single void to grow to dominate the volume. With WaVE, we are able to get comparable results to those previously published, but often with fewer choices of parameters that could bias the results. We are also able to determine the the density at which the number of voids peaks for different resolutions as well as the expected number of void galaxies. The number of void galaxies is amazingly consistent at an overdensity of −0.600 at all resolutions, indicating that this could be a good choice for comparing models.