arXiv subjects

Ming-Jie Sheng

Publications and source records attributed to Ming-Jie Sheng.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A high-significance detection of primordial tidal torque imprints

Tidal-torque theory predicts that galaxy angular momenta are imprinted by the primordial tidal field acting on proto-structures and that they can retain information about the early Universe through cosmic evolution. Here we test this prediction by comparing observed galaxy angular momentum vectors with those predicted from the primordial density field reconstructed by ELUCID for the nearby Universe. Among the galaxy populations considered, the gas component of central massive elliptical galaxies provides the clearest signal, exhibiting a strong direction correlation at a significance of about $7σ$. These results provide a robust observational evidence for tidal-torque theory and open a window for cosmological measurements of neutrino mass and other cosmological parameters.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

Probing Primordial Chirality in the Matter Distribution

Whether parity symmetry was violated in the early universe remains one of the fundamental open questions in cosmology. If so, it may leave an intrinsic handedness in the large-scale matter distribution. Here we formulate a helicity-based estimator to measure this handedness. Using cosmological simulations with parity-violating initial conditions, we show that it survives nonlinear structure formation. Applying the estimator to density fields reconstructed from the SDSS DR7 galaxy catalog, we find mild deviations but statistically insignificant evidence for parity violation in the local universe. Our results establish the intrinsic handedness of the matter distribution as an observable relic of primordial parity violation, enabling a direct probe with current and future large-scale structure surveys.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

CUBE2: A Parallel $N$-Body Simulation Code for Scalability, Accuracy, and Memory Efficiency

$N$-body simulation serves as a critical method for modeling cosmic evolution and poses a significant challenge in high-performance computing. We present CUBE2, an open-source cosmological $N$-body code emphasizing memory efficiency, computational performance, scalability and precision. The core of its algorithm utilizes multi-level Particle-Mesh (PM) method to solve the Poisson equation for matter distribution, leveraging the well-optimized Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) for computational efficiency. Precision is ensured by the optimized Green's function that seamlessly bridges gravitational interactions between multi-level PM and Particle-Particle (PP) calculations. The program design enhances per-core/node efficiency in processing $N$-body particles, while the Information Optimized Storage (IOS) addresses memory constraints for large particle counts. Using CUBE2, we run two cosmological simulations with particle counts of $6144^3$ on the Advanced Computing East China Sub-center (ACECS) to test performance and accuracy.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Observed Anti-parallel Correlation Between Spiral Galaxy and Cosmic Filament Spins

Understanding the origin of galactic angular momentum and its connection to the cosmic web remains a pivotal issue in galaxy formation. Using kinematic data from the MaNGA survey, we investigate the alignment between the spin directions of spiral galaxies and their host cosmic filaments. By incorporating filament spin measurements derived from redshift asymmetry across filament spines, we reveal a mass-dependent anti-parallel correlation: low-mass spiral galaxies ($\log_{10}(M_*/M_\odot) \lesssim 10$) exhibit a statistically significant anti-parallel alignment between their stellar/gas spins and filament spins, while high-mass spirals show no such trend. Spatial analysis further indicates that high-mass spirals preferentially reside near filament spines, whereas low-mass spirals occupy filament outskirts. These findings extend previous alignment studies that neglected directional spin correlations and provide new insights into how cosmic environments shape galactic angular momentum. The observed anti-parallel trend suggests a critical role for filament spin in regulating the angular momentum acquisition of low-mass spirals. This anti-parallel alignment is significantly enhanced for low-mass spirals residing in dynamically cold filaments, highlighting the importance of filament properties in shaping galaxy spin.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Cosmic filament spin -- I: a comparative study in observation

In the cosmic web, filaments play a crucial role in connecting walls to clusters and also act as an important stage for galaxy formation and evolution. Recent observational studies claim that filaments have spin. In this study, we examined the potential impact of diversity in filament identification algorithms and galaxy survey datasets on the quantification of filament spin. The results of this study demonstrate qualitative agreement with previous research, suggesting that a reliable filament spin signal is detectable when the viewing angle of filament spine larger than 80 degrees under a rough estimation. The detected filament spin signal is intricately linked to the viewing angle, dynamic temperature, etc. The quantitative difference of filament spin signal among samples is slightly dependent on the filament identification algorithms, while the value is relatively greater dependent on the redshift space distortion effect in the galaxy sample.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Cosmic filament spin -- II: filament spin and its impact on galaxy spin-filament alignment in a cosmological simulation

Observational studies have reported that cosmic filaments on the megaparsec scale exhibit rotational motion. Subsequent simulation studies have shown qualitative agreement with these findings, but quantitative discrepancies remain due to differences in data and methods, which require verification. To address this issue, we adopt the same methodology as used in the observations to identify filament spin from the galaxy distribution constructed from a hydrodynamic simulation. Using the same approach to measure filament spin, we find that the simulation results closely match the observational findings, with only minor discrepancies arising from slight differences in the fraction of filaments classified as dynamically cold or hot based on their dynamic temperature. Additionally, an analysis of how filament spin affects the galaxy spin-filament correlation shows that filaments with strong spin signals and dynamically cold have a greater impact on the galaxy spin-filament correlation than those with weaker spin signals and dynamically hot filaments. These results not only provide further evidence that cosmic filaments exhibit spin, but also highlight the importance of this rotation in the acquisition of angular momentum by individual galaxies. Future studies exploring the influence of filament spin on galaxy spin may shed light on the physical origins of filaments and the angular momentum of galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Lagrangian space remapping and the angular momentum reconstruction from cosmic structures

Large scale structures provide valuable information of the primordial perturbations that encode the secrets of the origin of the Universe. It is an essential step to map between observables and their initial coordinates, called Lagrangian space, from which primordial perturbations transfer their information to structures via linear theory. By using numerical simulations and state-of-the-art reconstruction techniques, we report the accuracy of estimating the Lagrangian coordinates of galaxies and galaxy clusters, represented by dark matter halos in various ranges of mass, and study the accuracy of this remapping on the angular momentum (spin) reconstruction. Our work shows that galaxy groups and clusters, represented by halos with mass $\gtrsim 10^{13}M_\odot$, can be accurately remapped to Lagrangian space, and their spin reconstruction errors are dominated by the reconstructed initial gravitational potential. For all mass ranges, the errors of Lagrangian remapping, as well as redshift space distortions, play subdominant roles in estimating their angular momenta. This study explains the low correlation level between observed galaxy spins and reconstructed cosmic initial conditions and illustrates the potential of using angular momenta of cosmic structures to improve the reconstruction of primordial perturbations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Spin speed correlations and the evolution of galaxy-halo systems

Galaxy angular momenta (spins) contain valuable cosmological information, complementing their positions and velocities. The baryonic spin direction of galaxies has been probed as a reliable tracer of their host halos and the primordial spin modes. Here we use the TNG100 simulation of the IllustrisTNG project to study the spin magnitude correlations between dark matter, gas, and stellar components of galaxy-halo systems and their evolutions across cosmic history. We find that these components generate similar initial spin magnitudes from the same tidal torque in Lagrangian space. At low redshifts, the gas component still traces the spin magnitude of the dark matter halo and the primordial spin magnitude. However, the traceability of the stellar component depends on the $ex$ $situ$ stellar mass fraction, $f_{\rm acc}$. Our results suggest that the galaxy baryonic spin magnitude can also serve as a tracer of their host halo and the initial perturbations, and the galaxy-halo correlations are affected by the similarity of their evolution histories.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Baryonic Effects on Lagrangian Clustering and Angular Momentum Reconstruction

Recent studies illustrate the correlation between the angular momenta of cosmic structures and their Lagrangian properties. However, only baryons are observable and it is unclear whether they reliably trace the cosmic angular momenta. We study the Lagrangian mass distribution, spin correlation, and predictability of dark matter, gas, and stellar components of galaxy-halo systems using IllustrisTNG, and show that the primordial segregations between components are typically small. Their protoshapes are also similar in terms of the statistics of moment of inertia tensors. Under the common gravitational potential they are expected to exert the same tidal torque and the strong spin correlations are not destroyed by the nonlinear evolution and complicated baryonic effects, as confirmed by the high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations. We further show that their late-time angular momenta traced by total gas, stars, or the central galaxies, can be reliably reconstructed by the initial perturbations. These results suggest that baryonic angular momenta can potentially be used in reconstructing the parameters and models related to the initial perturbations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Spin conservation of cosmic filaments

Cosmic filaments are the largest collapsing structure in the Universe. Recently both observations and simulations inferred that cosmic filaments have coherent angular momenta (spins). Here we use filament finders to identify the filamentary structures in cosmological simulations and study their physical origins, which are well described by the primordial tidal torque of their Lagrangian counterpart regions -- protofilaments. This initial angular momenta statistically preserve their directions to low redshifts. We further show that a spin reconstruction method can predict the spins of filaments and potentially relate their spins to the initial conditions of the Universe. This correlation provides a new way of constraining and obtaining additional information of the initial perturbations of the Universe.

astro-ph.CO↗