Passive Evolution of Galaxy Clustering

Understand

We present a numerical study of the evolution of galaxy clustering when galaxies flow passively from high redshift, respecting the continuity equation throughout.

• While passive flow is a special case of galaxy evolution, it allows a well-defined study of galaxy ancestry and serves as an interesting limit to be compared to non-passive cases.
• We use dissipationless N-body simulations, assign galaxies to massive halos at z=1 and z=2 using various HOD models, and trace these galaxy particles to lower redshift while conserving their number.
• We find that passive flow results in an asymptotic convergence at low redshift in the HOD and in galaxy clustering on scales above ~3Mpc/h for a wide range of initial HODs.