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Title: Bayesian analysis of the dynamic cosmic web in the SDSS galaxy survey

Journal Article · · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP), UMR 7095, CNRS/UPMC Université Paris 6, Sorbonne Universités, 98bis boulevard Arago, F-75014 Paris (France)
  2. Excellence Cluster Universe, Technische Universität München, Boltzmannstrasse 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany)

Recent application of the Bayesian algorithm \textsc(borg) to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) main sample galaxies resulted in the physical inference of the formation history of the observed large-scale structure from its origin to the present epoch. In this work, we use these inferences as inputs for a detailed probabilistic cosmic web-type analysis. To do so, we generate a large set of data-constrained realizations of the large-scale structure using a fast, fully non-linear gravitational model. We then perform a dynamic classification of the cosmic web into four distinct components (voids, sheets, filaments, and clusters) on the basis of the tidal field. Our inference framework automatically and self-consistently propagates typical observational uncertainties to web-type classification. As a result, this study produces accurate cosmographic classification of large-scale structure elements in the SDSS volume. By also providing the history of these structure maps, the approach allows an analysis of the origin and growth of the early traces of the cosmic web present in the initial density field and of the evolution of global quantities such as the volume and mass filling fractions of different structures. For the problem of web-type classification, the results described in this work constitute the first connection between theory and observations at non-linear scales including a physical model of structure formation and the demonstrated capability of uncertainty quantification. A connection between cosmology and information theory using real data also naturally emerges from our probabilistic approach. Our results constitute quantitative chrono-cosmography of the complex web-like patterns underlying the observed galaxy distribution.

OSTI ID:
22525786
Journal Information:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2015, Issue 06; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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