Department of Statistics, The Ohio State University
Statistics and Biostatistics Colloquium Series

I will discuss the ways that cosmologists use 3-dimensional maps of the large scale distribution of galaxies to test cosmological models and theories of galaxy formation, with an emphasis on statistical issues. Although we have good tools for predicting the clustering of dark matter for a specified cosmological model, we observe luminous galaxies, and the relation between the galaxy and dark matter distributions depends on the complex physics of galaxy formation. The relation can be parameterized in terms of the halo occupatioon distriibution, which describes the probability that a halo of mass M contains N galaxies of a specified type. After outlining this formulation and its motivation, I will discuss methods for trying to determine the halo occupation distribution empirically from observed galaxy clustering.

Meet the speaker in Room 212 Cockins Hall at 4:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served.