Superclusters from velocity divergence fields

Superclusters are a convenient way to partition and characterize the large scale structure of the Universe. In this Letter we explore the advantages of defining superclusters as watershed basins in the divergence velocity field. We apply this definition on diverse datasets generated from linear theo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2020-10
Main Authors: Peñaranda-Rivera, J D, Paipa-León, D L, Hernández-Charpak, S D, ero-Romero, J E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Divergence
Large scale structure of the universe
Tracers
Velocity distribution
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Superclusters are a convenient way to partition and characterize the large scale structure of the Universe. In this Letter we explore the advantages of defining superclusters as watershed basins in the divergence velocity field. We apply this definition on diverse datasets generated from linear theory and N-body simulations, with different grid sizes, smoothing scales and types of tracers. From this framework emerges a linear scaling relation between the average supercluster size and the autocorrelation length in the divergence field, a result that holds for one order of magnitude from 10 Mpc/h up to 100 Mpc/h. These results suggest that the divergence-based definition provides a robust context to quantitatively compare results across different observational or computational frameworks. Through its connection with linear theory, it can also facilitate the exploration of how supercluster properties depend on cosmological parameters, paving the way to use superclusters as cosmological probes.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2010.05160