The halo occupation distribution model for galaxies

Abstract

We can measure the galaxy distribution in the universe from the observation of the galaxy surveys. However, the baryon component only occupies a small fraction of the universe. An important topic in the research field of galaxy formation and evolution is relating the galaxy distribution to that of the underlying dark matter, building up the connection between galaxies and the dark matter halos, and then constraining the cosmology. In this review, I will introduce the framework and detailed parameterizations of the halo occupation distribution model that is used to describe the galaxy phase-space distribution- This model is commonly used to interpret the observed galaxy two-point correlation function and theoretically obtain the halo mass information for different galaxy samples through modeling the connection between galaxies and halos. Therefore, the application of this model is of great importance in the understanding the galaxy formation and evolution model and constraining cosmology.