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Three-dimensional simulation of large-scale structure in the Universe

Nature volume 305, pages 196–198 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

Three-dimensional numerical simulations of the nonlinear growth of adiabatic perturbations in collisionless matter demonstrate that a cellular structure develops in the Universe. This dark matter collapses into interconnecting dense regions surrounding large voids, or low density regions. The models presented here were done with a cloud-in-cell (CIC) code using a very large number, nearly 9 × 105, of clouds. Such a large number of clouds provides adequate coverage of the voids, eliminates spurious clumping in both the high- and low-density regions, and is a significant improvement over earlier three-dimensional simulations of the cellular structure. We consider here both high (Ω0 = 1.07) and low (Ω0 = 0.1) density models. Our simulations clearly show that the interconnecting dense regions contain both filamentary and flat, pancake-shaped structures. Furthermore, the interactions among neighbouring structures are important and produce matter flows towards the dense intersections. The low-density voids which develop are approximately spherically symmetric in shape. As the voids expand, they collide and intersect. The covariance function ξ(R) has a power law form at small radii, with anticorrelation found just beyond the break and no sizeable features at larger radii.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Joan Centrella

    Present address: Department of Astronomy, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, 78712, USA

  2. Adrian L. Melott

    Present address: Astronomy and Astrophysics Center, University of Chicago, 5640 S. Ellis Ave, Chicago, Illinois, 60637, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 61801

    Joan Centrella

  2. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California, 94550, USA

    Joan Centrella

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15260, USA

    Adrian L. Melott

Authors
  1. Joan Centrella
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  2. Adrian L. Melott
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Centrella, J., Melott, A. Three-dimensional simulation of large-scale structure in the Universe. Nature 305, 196–198 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/305196a0

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