The void probability function for flux-limited samples
J. M. Watson, M. Rowan-Robinson · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · 1993
A method for the study of the void probability function (VPF) in flux- limited samples is presented. As conventional methods for quantifying the VPF of a galaxy catalogue require a sizeable, volume-limited sample, these do not constitute an efficient way to utilize redshift information in flux-limited form. In particular, the QDOT survey is effectively excluded from such an analysis. An alternative approach is introduced, whereby the selection function for a flux-limited sample is incorporated into the evaluated statistic, allowing use of the bulk of the information contained in a galaxy sample. This new method is tested on the QDOT data and on simulated CDM and Voronoi catalogues, with the result that ‘standard’ CDM predictions may credibly reproduce the observed degree of voiding, whereas Voronoi foam models are less convincing. We conclude that the flux-limited VPF could prove to be a useful additional test of galaxy clustering models.