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arXiv · 2110.06265

Cosmological Vlasov-Poisson equations for dark matter: Recent developments and connections to selected plasma problems

Cornelius Rampf
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Abstract

The cosmic large-scale structures of the Universe are mainly the result of the gravitational instability of initially small density fluctuations in the dark-matter distribution. Dark matter appears to be initially cold and behaves as a continuous and collisionless medium on cosmological scales, with evolution governed by the gravitational Vlasov--Poisson equations. Cold dark matter can accumulate very efficiently at focused locations, leading to a highly non-linear filamentary network with extreme matter densities. Traditionally, investigating the non-linear Vlasov--Poisson equations was typically reserved for massively parallelised numerical simulations. Recently, theoretical progress has allowed us to analyse the mathematical structure of the first infinite densities in the dark-matter distribution by elementary means. We review related advances, as well as provide intriguing connections to classical plasma problems, such as the beam-plasma instability.

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Cornelius Rampf. 2021-10-12. Cosmological Vlasov-Poisson equations for dark matter: Recent developments and connections to selected plasma problems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41614-021-00055-z

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