Cosmic network simulation. Image: Burchett et al., ApJL, 2020
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When the light from the early universe reaches Earth, it presents a strange snapshot of stars and ancient galaxies that have long since died or taken different forms over billions of years.
While we can’t see the future of these objects directly, scientists have now figured out how to do the next best thing by using “fast-forward” simulations of the cosmic web, a network of large-scale structures that connect the universe. throughout the course. 11 billion years to its current state, reports a new study.
In this way, researchers led by Metin Ata, a cosmologist from the Kavli Institute for Physics and Mathematics at the University of Tokyo University, were able to trigger the long-term evolution of giant galaxy clusters. as a “time machine” in the words of an author.
The new technique allowed the team to “quickly advance” the simulation to the present day and study the evolution of cosmically observed cosmic structures, “revealing that at least one of these ancient” protocumulus clusters “probably collapsed in a huge cosmic network, a filament spanning 300 million light-years, according to a study published Thursday in Nature Astronomy.
The results also provide a means to test the standard model of cosmology, alternatively known as Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM), which is a well-established framework for explaining the strange properties of the universe, including the existence of dark matter. an inexplicable substance that is much more abundant than normal “baryonic” matter.
“Understanding the formation of large-scale structures in the Universe, from small fluctuations in the density of matter and then gravitationally evolving into the complex cosmic network seen in modern times, is a key ambition of science cosmological, “said Ata and colleagues. in the study.
“As gravitational evolving objects, protocumulus clusters are ideally observable for studying the early formation of structures and for comparing them with theoretical predictions,” they continued, adding that they are “excellent laboratories for jointly studying the interaction between physics.” baryonic and dark matter models “.
Most cosmological simulations coincide with the general statistical distribution of matter in the universe, rather than reproducing the specific cosmic structures we can observe from Earth. However, a subcategory of these models, known as restricted cosmological simulations, do mimic real observations, although the new study notes that they focus “primarily on the local universe or nearby structures” rather than the universe. ancient distant, which is called the “universe of high redshift” because the light waves of this era extend in redder bands of the spectrum over time.
By merging limited cosmological simulations with the Hubble Space Telescope (COSMOS) Cosmological Evolution Survey, Ata’s team took advantage of what they call “a unique opportunity to study the early formation of structures and match the properties of galaxies “between the ancient and modern universe, according to the study.
“From observation, the effort to find and characterize protoclusters is a living, ongoing field,” the researchers said. “In particular, the COSMOS field is an excellent place for this, as it is covered by observations of various deep and coordinated wavelengths over a wide field” that are “suitable for protocluster studies.”
“Up to this point, there has not been a uniform and coherent study dedicated to these structures in the COSMOS field,” the team continued. “We address this issue with restricted simulations applied to the rich legacy of large-scale spectroscopic surveys conducted in the COSMOS field for nearly a decade, achieving unmatched cosmic volume and numerical density elsewhere in the sky.”
In other words, the researchers analyzed real protocol clusters that existed 11 billion years ago and advanced the clock in their limited simulations. Of particular interest was the fate of the superprotocluster Hyperion, the largest structure of its kind during the cosmic dawn, which the team called “the subject of scientific and public curiosity” in the study. While some scientists have speculated that this immense elongated structure would eventually collapse into a single massive galaxy cluster, Ata and colleagues suggest that it has become a giant filamentary supercluster within the cosmic network, which is embedded. with multiple massive cluster cores.
“We confirm that several protocols previously reported will evolve into massive galaxy clusters in our day, including the ‘Hyperion’ structure that we predict will collapse into a giant filamentary supercluster spanning 100. [megaparsecs]”, Or 300 million light-years away, the team said in the study. “We also discovered previously unknown protocumulus with lower final masses than are usually detected by other methods that nearly double the number of known protocumulus within this volume.”
The large-scale structures underlying the cosmic lattice are mostly made of dark matter, which is only observable by its gravitational effect on luminous objects made of regular baryonic matter. As a result, the simulations initiated by the new study may help shed light on the nature of dark matter by tracing the course of its cosmic distribution over time, providing key evidence for the ΛCDM model.
“Restricted simulations of these upcoming red-shifting galaxy surveys will also allow us to investigate early structure formation for coherence with the ΛCDM model with increasing sensitivity to (proto) clusters of smaller-mass galaxies. “Researchers said in the study.
“Each identified protocol cluster represents a unique environment for studying the morphologies and fusion rates of member galaxies in high-density environments” in the early universe, they concluded, “which so far is only possible in theoretical studies or cosmological simulations. random “.
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