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Francesco Sylos Labini

Publications and source records attributed to Francesco Sylos Labini.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
arXiv2005

The zero-crossing scale and the problem of galaxy bias

One of the main problems in the studies of large scale galaxy structures concerns the relation of the correlation properties of a certain population of objects with those of a selected subsample of it, when the selection is performed by considering physical quantities like luminosity or mass. I consider the case where the sampling is defined as in the simplest thresholding selection scheme of the peaks of a Gaussian random field as well as the case of the extraction of point distributions in high density regions from gravitational N-body simulations. I show that an invariant scale under sampling is represented by the zero-crossing scale of ξ(r). By considering recent measurements in the 2dF and SDSS galaxy surveys I note that the zero-point crossing length has not yet been clearly identified, while a dependence on the finite sample size related to the integral constraint is manifest. I show that this implies that other length scales derived from ξ(r) are also affected by finite size effects. I discuss the theoretical implications of these results, when considering the comparison of structures formed in N-body simulations and observed in galaxy samples, and different tests to study this problem.

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arXiv2004

Statistical physics for complex cosmic structures

Cosmic structures at large scales represent the earliest and most extended form of matter condensation. In this lecture we review the application of the methods and concepts of modern statistical physics to these structures. This leads to a new perspective in the field which can be tested by the many new data which are appearing in the near future. In particular, galaxy structures show fractal correlation up to the present observational limits. The cosmic microwave background radiation, which should trace the initial conditions from which these structures have emerged through gravitational dynamics, is instead extremely smooth. Understanding the relation between the complex galaxy structures and the smooth microwave background radiation represents an extremely challenging problem in the field of structure formation.

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arXiv2004

The LEDA galaxy distribution: I. Maps of the Local Universe

In order to investigate the properties of large-scale structures of galaxies in the universe, we present an analysis of their spatial distribution at z$<$0.033. We used the LEDA extragalactic database containing over 1 million of galaxies covering the all-sky and the SDSS data included in the public release DR1, yielding to a sample of around 134,000 galaxies having a measured redshift in two survey areas representing 690 sq. degrees. The results of the study are 2D, 3D maps and magnitude number counts of galaxies, drawn from B-band samples. Movies and high resolution figures are available on http://www-obs.univ-lyon1.fr/cosmologie/helene.html

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arXiv2004

Universality of power law correlations in gravitational clustering

We present an analysis of different sets of gravitational N-body simulations, all describing the dynamics of discrete particles with a small initial velocity dispersion. They encompass very different initial particle configurations, different numerical algorithms for the computation of the force, with or without the space expansion of cosmological models. Despite these differences we find in all cases that the non-linear clustering which results is essentially the same, with a well-defined simple power-law behaviour in the two-point correlations in the range from a few times the lower cut-off in the gravitational force to the scale at which fluctuations are of order one. We argue, presenting quantitative evidence, that this apparently universal behaviour can be understood by the domination of the small scale contribution to the gravitational force, coming initially from nearest neighbor particles.

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arXiv2004

Growth of correlations in gravitational N-body simulations

In the gravitational evolution of a cold infinite particle distribution, two-body interactions can be predominant at early times: we show that, by treating the simple case of a Poisson particle distribution in a static universe as an ensemble of isolated two-body systems, one may capture the origin of the first non-linear correlated structures. The developed power-law like behavior of the two-point correlation function is then simply related to the functional form of the time evolved nearest-neighbor probability distribution, whose time dependence can be computed by using Liouville theorem for the gravitational two-body problem. We then show that a similar dynamical evolution is also found in a large-scale ordered distribution, which has striking similarities to the case of a cosmological CDM simulation which we also consider.

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arXiv2004

Complexity in cosmic structures

We discuss correlation properties of a general mass density field introducing a classification of structures based on their complexity. Standard cosmological models for primordial mass fluctuations are characterized by a sort of large-scale stochastic order, that we call super-homogeneity to highlight the fact that mass fluctuations increase as a function of scale in the slowest possible way for any stochastic mass field. On the other hand the galaxy spatial distribution show complex structures with a high degree of inhomogeneity and fractal-like spatial correlations up to some relevant cosmological scale. The theoretical problem of cosmological structure formation should then explain the growth of strongly correlated and non-linear structures from the very uniform field of density fluctuations given as standard initial condition.

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arXiv2003

Gravitational force in weakly correlated particle distributions

We study the statistics of the gravitational (Newtonian) force in a particular kind of weakly correlated distribution of point-like and unitary mass particles generated by the so-called Gauss-Poisson point process. In particular we extend to these distributions the analysis a' la Chandrasekhar introduced for purely Poisson processes. In this way we can find the asymptotic behavior of the probability density function of the force for large values of the field as a generalization of the Holtzmark statistics. The validity of the introduced approximations is positively tested through a direct comparison with the analysis of the statistics of the gravitational force in numerical simulations of Gauss-Poisson processes. Moreover the statistics of the force felt by a particle due to only its first nearest neighbor is analytically a numerical studied, resulting to be the dominant contribution to the total force.

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arXiv2003

Bias and the power spectrum beyond the turn-over

Threshold biasing of a Gaussian random field gives a linear amplification of the reduced two point correlation function at large distances. We show that for standard cosmological models this does not translate into a linear amplification of the power spectrum (PS) at small k. For standard CDM type models this means that the``turn-over'' at small k of the original PS disappears in the PS of the biased field for the physically relevant range of the threshold parameter. In real space this difference is manifest in the asymptotic behaviour of the normalised mass variance in spheres of radius R, which changes from the ``super-homogeneous'' behaviour to a Poisson-like behaviour.This qualitative change results from the intrinsic stochasticity of the threshold sampling. While our quantitative results are specific to the simplest threshold biasing model, we argue that our qualitative conclusions should be valid generically for any biasing mechanism involving a scale-dependent amplification of the correlation function. One implication is that the real-space correlation function will be a better instrument to probe for the underlying Harrison Zeldovich spectrum in the distribution of visible matter, as the characteristic asymptotic negative power-law ξ(r) \sim -r^{-4} tail is undistorted by biasing.

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arXiv2002

Power-law correlation and discreteness in cosmological N-body simulations

We analyse with simple real-space statistics the Virgo consortium's cosmological N-body simulations. Significant clustering rapidly develops well below the initial mean interparticle separation Λ_i, where the gravitational force on a particle is dominated by that with its nearest neighbours. A power-law behaviour in the two point correlation function emerges, which in the subsequent evolution is continuously amplified and shifted to larger scales, in a roughly self-similar manner. We conclude that the density fluctuations at the smallest scales due to the particle-like nature of the distribution being evolved are thus essential in the development of these correlations, and not solely, as usually supposed, the very small continuous (fluid-like) fluctuations at scales larger than Λ_i >.

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arXiv2002

Initial conditions, Discreteness and non-linear structure formation in cosmology

In this lecture we address three different but related aspects of the initial continuous fluctuation field in standard cosmological models. Firstly we discuss the properties of the so-called Harrison-Zeldovich like spectra. This power spectrum is a fundamental feature of all current standard cosmological models. In a simple classification of all stationary stochastic processes into three categories, we highlight with the name ``super-homogeneous'' the properties of the class to which models like this, with $P(0)=0$, belong. In statistical physics language they are well described as glass-like. Secondly, the initial continuous density field with such small amplitude correlated Gaussian fluctuations must be discretised in order to set up the initial particle distribution used in gravitational N-body simulations. We discuss the main issues related to the effects of discretisation, particularly concerning the effect of particle induced fluctuations on the statistical properties of the initial conditions and on the dynamical evolution of gravitational clustering.

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arXiv2002

Real space statistical properties of standard cosmological models

After reviewing some basic relevant properties of stationary stochastic processes (SSP), we discuss the properties of the so-called Harrison-Zeldovich like spectra of mass density perturbations. These correlations are a fundamental feature of all current standard cosmological models. Examining them in real space we note they imply a "sub-poissonian" normalised variance in spheres $σ_M^2(R) \sim R^{-4} \ln R$. In particular this latter behaviour is at the limit of the most rapid decay ($\sim R^{-4}$) of this quantity possible for any stochastic distribution (continuous or discrete). In a simple classification of all SSP into three categories, we highlight with the name ``super-homogeneous'' the properties of the class to which models like this, with $P(0)=0$, belong. In statistical physics language they are well described as lattice or glass-like. We illustrate their properties through two simple examples: (i) the ``shuffled'' lattice and the One Component Plasma at thermal equilibrium.

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arXiv2002

The Glass-like Universe: Real-space correlation properties of standard cosmological models

After reviewing the basic relevant properties of stationary stochastic processes (SSP), defining basic terms and quantities, we discuss the properties of the so-called Harrison-Zeldovich like spectra. These correlations, usually characterized exclusively in k-space (i.e. in terms of power spectra P(k)), are a fundamental feature of all current standard cosmological models. Examining them in real space we note their characteristics to be a {\it negative} power law tail ξ(r) \sim - r^{-4} and a {\it sub-poissonian} normalised variance in spheres σ^2(R) \sim R^{-4} \ln R. We note in particular that this latter behaviour is at the limit of the most rapid decay (\sim R^{-4}) of this quantity possible for any stochastic distribution (continuous or discrete). This very particular characteristic is usually obscured in cosmology by the use of Gaussian spheres. In a simple classification of all SSP into three categories, we highlight with the name ``super-homogeneous'' the properties of the class to which models like this, with P(0)=0, belong. In statistical physics language they are well described as glass-like. They do not have either ``scale-invariant'' features, in the sense of critical phenomena, nor fractal properties. We illustrate their properties with some simple examples, in particular that of a ``shuffled'' lattice.

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arXiv2001

On the problem of initial conditions in cosmological N-body simulations

Cosmological N-body simulations aim to calculate the non-linear gravitational growth of structures via particle dynamics. A crucial problem concerns the setting-up of the initial particle distribution, as standard theories of galaxy formation predict the properties of the initial continuous density field with small amplitude correlated Gaussian fluctuations. The discretisation of such a field is a complex issue and particle fluctuations are especially relevant at small scales where non-linear dynamics firstly takes place. In general, most of the procedures which may discretise a continuous field, gives rise to Poisson noise, which would then dominate the non-linear small-scales dynamics due to nearest-neighbours interactions. In order to avoid such a noise, and to consider the dynamics as due only to large scale (smooth) fluctuations, an ad-hoc method (lattice or glassy system plus correlated displacements) has been introduced and used in cosmological simulations. We show that such a method gives rise to a particle distribution which does not have any of the correlation properties of the theoretical continuous density field. This is because discreteness effects, different from Poisson noise but nevertheless very important, determine particle fluctuations at any scale, making it completely different from the original continuous field. We conclude that discreteness effects play a central role in the non-linear evolution of N-body simulations.

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arXiv2001

Statistical Physics for Cosmic Structures

Ideas of Statistical Physics are very relevant for cosmic structures especially considering that the field is undergoing a period of exceptional development with many new data appearing on a monthly basis. In the past years we have focused mostly on galaxy distributions and their statistical properties. This led to an interesting debate which will be resolved by the next generation of data in a couple of years. In addition here we discuss the statistical properties of the fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background which are small in amplitude but complex in structure. We finally discuss the connection between these observations and the Harrison-Zeldovich spectrum and its further implications on the theories of structure formation and the and the cosmological $N$-body simulations.

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arXiv2001

Luminosity density estimation from redshift surveys and the mass density of the Universe

In most direct estimates of the mass density (visible or dark) of the Universe, a central input parameter is the luminosity density of the Universe. Here we consider the measurement of this luminosity density from red-shift surveys, as a function of the yet undetermined characteristic scale R_H at which the spatial distribution of visible matter tends to a well defined homogeneity. Making the canonical assumption that the cluster mass to luminosity ratio M/L is the universal one, we can estimate the total mass density as a function Ω_m(R_H,M/L). Taking the highest estimated cluster value M/L ~300h and a conservative lower limit R_H > 20 Mpc/h, we obtain the upper bound Ω_m < 0.1 . We note that for values of the homogeneity scale R_H in the range R_H ~ (90 +/- 45) hMpc, the value of Ω_m may be compatible with the nucleosynthesis inferred density in baryons.

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arXiv2001

Complexity in Cosmology

The question of the nature of galaxy clustering and the possible homogeneity of galaxy distribution is one of the fundamental problem of cosmology. It is well established that galaxy structures are characterized, up to a certain scale, by fractal properties. The possible crossover to homogeneity is instead still matter of debate. However, independently on the specific value of the homogeneity scale, the fractal nature of galaxy clustering requires new methods and theoretical concepts developed in the area of statistical physics and complexity. In this lecture we discuss a new perspective on the problem of cosmological structures formation, both from the experimental and the theoretical points of view. This new perspective leads to a very interesting and constructive interaction between the fields of cosmic structures, statistical physics and complexity with very challenging open problems which we also discuss.

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arXiv2001

Correlation and clustering

In this lecture we clarify the basic difference between the correlation properties for systems characterized by small or large fluctuations. The concepts of correlation length, homogeneity scale, scale invariance and criticality are discussed as well. We relate these concepts to the interpretation of galaxy clsutering.

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