Non-Gaussian morphology on large scales: Minkowski functionals of the REFLEX cluster catalogue

作者:Kerscher M*; Mecke K; Schuecker P; Bohringer H; Guzzo L; Collins CA; Schindler S; De Grandi S; Cruddace R
来源:Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2001, 377(1): 1-16.
DOI:10.1051/0004-6361:20011063

摘要

In order to quantify higher-order correlations of the galaxy cluster distribution we use a complete family of additive measures which give scale-dependent morphological information. Minkowski functionals can be expressed analytically in terms of integrals of n-point correlation functions. They can be compared with measured Minkowski functionals of volume limited samples extracted from the Reflex survey. We find significant non-Gaussian features in the large-scale spatial distribution of galaxy clusters. A Gauss-Poisson process can be excluded as a viable model for the distribution of galaxy clusters at the significance level of 95%.