A light-cone catalogue from the Millennium-XXL simulation: improved spatial interpolation and colour distributions for the DESI BGS
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT The use of realistic mock galaxy catalogues is essential in the preparation of large galaxy surveys, in order to test and validate theoretical models and to assess systematics. We present an updated version of the mock catalogue constructed from the Millennium-XXL simulation, which uses a halo occupation distribution method to assign galaxies r-band magnitudes and g − r colours. We have made several modifications to the mock to improve the agreement with measurements from the SDSS and GAMA surveys. We find that cubic interpolation, which was used to build the original halo light cone, produces extreme velocities between snapshots. Using linear interpolation improves the correlation function quadrupole measurements on small scales. We also update the g − r colour distributions so that the observed colours better agree with measurements from GAMA data, particularly for faint galaxies. As an example of the science that can be done with the mock, we investigate how the luminosity function depends on environment and colour, and find good agreement with measurements from the GAMA survey. This full-sky mock catalogue is designed for the ongoing Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Bright Galaxy Survey, and is complete to a magnitude limit r = 20.2.
Authors: Alex Smith, Shaun Cole, Cameron Grove, Peder Norberg, Pauline Zarrouk
Institutions: Durham University, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Université Paris-Saclay, Royal Observatory, CEA Paris-Saclay, Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l'Univers, University of Edinburgh, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies, Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules, Université Paris Diderot
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,858
Awards: G1259507762, Durham DiRAC-2 petascale facility, G1468651527, G1541806023, G165597396, G1736745720, G1771230537, G1805294933, DiRAC-2.5 - the pathway to DiRAC Phase 3, G2073976794, G2076157637, G2240879383, G2309215924, G2368581224, G2724489712, G2843074508, G3403823835, G3531124447, G3911511115, G4251892262, G4831232377, G5660267321, G5768834005, G588734541, G5997058474, G6181174915, G629320885, DiRAC-2.5 DC - Operations 2017-2020, G6537386148, G6570372938, G6802598382, G6873874887, G6926846737, G6955735330, G7108246583, G7521014512, G7573294876, G764792286, G7702914472, G7937591081, DiRAC: Memory Intensive 2.5y, Astronomy at Durham 2020-2023, G8710138095, G8710606730, G878803593, G8986044568, DiRAC: Memory Intensive 2.5x
OpenAlex ID: W4288054083