Fractal dimensions of the galaxy distribution varying by steps?
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The structure of the large scale distribution of the galaxies have been widely studied since the publication of the first catalogs. Since large redshift samples are available, their analyses seem to show fractal correlations up to the observational limits. The value of the fractal dimension(s) calculated by different authors have become the object of a large debate, as have been the value of the expected transition from fractality to a possible large scale homogeneity. Moreover, some authors have proposed that different scaling regimes might be discerned at different lenght scales. To go further on into this issue, we have applied the correlation integral method to the wider sample currently available. We therefore obtain a fractal dimension of the galaxy distribution which seems to vary by steps whose width might be related to the organization hierarchy observed for the galaxies. This result could explain some of the previous results obtained by other authors from the analyses of less complete catalogs and maybe reconcile their apparent discrepancy. However, the method applied here needs to be further checked, since it produces odd fluctuations at each transition scale, which need to be thoroughly explained.
4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of the 22nd Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics, held on December 13-17 2004 at Stanford University
4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of the 22nd Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics, held on December 13-17 2004 at Stanford University