Properties of cosmological filaments extracted from Eulerian simulations

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 453; no. 2; pp. 1164 - 1185
• Main Authors: Gheller, C., Vazza, F., Favre, J., Brüggen, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Oxford University Press 21.10.2015
• Subjects: Acceleration; Algorithms; Computer simulation; Construction; Cooling; Cosmic rays; Cosmology; Diffusion rate; Filaments; Simulation; Star & galaxy formation; Thermal properties; intergalactic medium; galaxies: clusters: general; methods: numerical; large-scale structure of Universe
• ISSN: 0035-8711; 1365-2966
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stv1646

Using a new parallel algorithm implemented within the VisIt framework, we analysed large cosmological grid simulations to study the properties of baryons in filaments. The procedure allows us to build large catalogues with up to ∼3 × 104 filaments per simulated volume and to investigate the properties of cosmic filaments for very large volumes at high resolution (up to 3003 Mpc3 simulated with 20483 cells). We determined scaling relations for the mass, volume, length and temperature of filaments and compared them to those of galaxy clusters. The longest filaments have a total length of about 200 Mpc with a mass of several 1015 M⊙. We also investigated the effects of different gas physics. Radiative cooling significantly modifies the thermal properties of the warm-hot-intergalactic medium of filaments, mainly by lowering their mean temperature via line cooling. On the other hand, powerful feedback from active galactic nuclei in surrounding haloes can heat up the gas in filaments. The impact of shock-accelerated cosmic rays from diffusive shock acceleration on filaments is small and the ratio between cosmic ray and gas pressure within filaments is of the order of ∼10–20 per cent.