赖曼α森林的研究进展(Ⅱ):模型

简要介绍了赖曼α森林的各种模型，宇宙流体力学模拟成功地再现了赖曼α森林的大部分观测结果，并使人们认识到：产生赖曼α森林的吸收体实际上是星系际介质中延伸的过密区，这种密度起伏是宇宙结构形成过程的自然结果。赖曼α森林己成为宇宙学研究的有力工具。     

Gravitational Mesoscopic Constraints in Cosmological Dark Matter Halos

We present an analysis of the behaviour of the ‘coarse-grained’ (‘mesoscopic’) rank partitioning of the mean energy of collections of particles composing virialized dark matter halos in a Λ-CDM cosmological simulation. We find evidence that rank preservation depends on halo mass, in the sense that more massive halos show more rank preservation than less massive ones. We find that the most massive halos obey Arnold’s theorem (on the ordering of the characteristic frequencies of the system) more frequently than less massive halos. This method may be useful to evaluate the coarse-graining level (minimum number of particles per energy cell) necessary to reasonably measure signatures of ‘mesoscopic’ rank orderings in a gravitational system.     

Warm dark matter versus bumpy power spectra

In this paper we explore the differences between a warm dark matter (WDM) model and a cold dark matter (CDM) model where the power on a certain scale is reduced by introducing a narrow negative feature ('dip'). This dip is placed in a way so as to mimic the loss of power in the WDM model: both models have the same integrated power out to the scale where the power of the dip model rises to the level of the unperturbed CDM spectrum again.
Using N -body simulations we show that some of the large-scale clustering patterns of this new model follow more closely the usual CDM scenario while simultaneously suppressing small-scale structures (within galactic haloes) even more efficiently than WDM. The analysis in the paper shows that the new Dip model appears to be a viable alternative to WDM, but it is based on different physics. Where WDM requires the introduction of a new particle species, the Dip model is based on a non-standard inflationary period. If we are looking for an alternative to the currently challenged standard ΛCDM structure formation scenario, neither the ΛWDM nor the new Dip model can be ruled out based on the analysis presented in this paper. They both make very similar predictions and the degeneracy between them can only be broken with observations yet to come.     

初始谱指数为-1的非线性重谱(Bispectrum)

重谱即傅立叶空间的三点相关函数，是研究由引力不稳定性产生的大尺度结构的最低非高斯阶统计性质．在傅立叶空间中，发现二维和三维空间的统计性质是等价的，相对三维快速傅立叶，二维快速傅立叶变换可以节省很多计算机资源．结合二维和三维的快速傅立叶变换，利用高精度的初始谱指数为-1的N体数值模拟，测量了从弱线性区域到强非线性区域的重谱．在测量过程中，考虑并严格校正了作用于功率谱和重谱上的数值效应，如离散效应（particle discreteness）、软化因子（force softening）、模拟盒子的大小、混淆效应（alias effect）．发现约化重谱即使在强非线性区域仍然依赖于三角形的形状和尺度，并随着波数的增加而增加，这和前人的假设完全不同．在测量结果的基础上，拟合了重谱的一个适用于初始谱指数为-1的宇宙学模型的经验公式．     

Bar-induced evolution of dark matter cusps

The evolution of a stellar bar transforms not only the galactic disc, but also the host dark matter halo. We present high-resolution, fully self-consistent N -body simulations that clearly demonstrate that dark matter halo central density cusps flatten as the bar torques the halo. This effect is independent of the bar formation mode and occurs even for rather short bars. The halo and bar evolution is mediated by resonant interactions between orbits in the halo and the bar pattern speed, as predicted by linear Hamiltonian perturbation theory. The bar lengthens and slows as it loses angular momentum, a process that occurs even in rather warm discs. We demonstrate that the bar and halo response can be critically underestimated for experiments that are unable to resolve the relevant resonant dynamics; this occurs when the phase space in the resonant region is undersampled or plagued by noise.     

Minor Mergers of Galaxies: Theory and Observations

We compare results from numerical simulations with observations of edge-on galaxies interacting/merging with a small companion (Schwarzkopf and Dettmar,2000), hereafter S&D00). Observations show a clear influence of the merging and interacting process on disk scale parameters h (radial scalelength), z ₀ (vertical scalelength) and their ratio (h/z ₀), leading to a heating and thickening of the stellar disk. Our numerical simulations show the same behaviour but differ significantly in the magnitude of the change of the disk scale parameters. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.