Authors

Abstract

We present a model for the halo-mass correlation function that explicitly incorporates halo exclusion and allows for a redefinition of the halo boundary in a flexible way. We assume that haloes trace mass in a way that can be described using a single scale-independent bias parameter. However, our model exhibits scale-dependent biasing due to the impact of halo-exclusion, the use of a soft (i.e. not infinitely sharp) halo boundary, and differences in the one halo term contributions to xi(hm) and xi(mm). These features naturally lead us to a redefinition of the halo boundary that lies at the by eye transition radius from the one-halo to the two-halo term in the halo-mass correlation function. When adopting our proposed definition, our model succeeds in describing the halo-mass correlation function with residuals over the radial range 0.1h(-1)Mpc < r < 80h(-1)Mpc, and for halo masses in the range 10(13)h(-1)M(circle dot) < M < 10(15)h(-1)M(circle dot). Our proposed halo boundary is related to the splashback radius by a roughly constant multiplicative factor. Taking the 87 percentile as reference we find r(t)/R-sp approximate to 1.3. Surprisingly, our proposed definition results in halo abundances that are well described by the Press-Schechter mass function with delta(sc) = 1.449 +/- 0.004. The clustering bias parameter is offset from the standard background-split prediction by approximate to 10 percent-15 persent. This level of agreement is comparable to that achieved with more standard halo definitions.