Galaxy Spin Statistics and Spin‐Density Correlation

We present a theoretical study of galaxy spin correlation statistics, withdetailed technical derivations. We also find an expression for the spin-densitycross-correlation, and apply that to the Tully galaxy catalog. Theobservational results appear qualitatively consistent with the theoreticalpredictions, yet the error bars are still large. However, we expect thatcurrently ongoing large surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky survey (SDSS)will enable us to make a precision measurement of these correlation statisticsin the near future. These intrinsic galaxy alignments are expected to dominateover the weak lensing signal in SDSS, and we present the detailed algorithmsfor the density reconstruction for this case. These observables are tracers of the galaxy-gravity interaction, which mayprovide us deeper insights into the galaxy formation and large scale matterdistribution as well.Comment: Accepted version, ApJ in press, remaining mistakes and typos correctedd, LaTex file, 41 pages, 3 eps figure