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Identification of basins of attraction in the local Universe

Nature Astronomy (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

The structure in the Universe is believed to have evolved from quantum fluctuations seeded by inflation in the early Universe. These fluctuations lead to density perturbations that grow via gravitational instability into large cosmological structures. In the linear regime, the growth of a structure is directly coupled to the velocity field because perturbations are amplified by attracting (and accelerating) matter. Surveys of galaxy redshifts and distances allow one to infer the underlying density and velocity fields. Here, assuming the lambda cold dark matter standard model of cosmology and applying a Hamiltonian Monte Carlo algorithm to the grouped Cosmicflows-4 (CF4) compilation of 38,000 groups of galaxies, the large-scale structure of the Universe is reconstructed out to a redshift corresponding to ~30,000 km s−1. Our method provides a probabilistic assessment of the domains of gravitational potential minima: basins of attraction (BoA). Earlier Cosmicflows catalogues suggested that the Milky Way Galaxy was associated with a BoA called Laniakea. With the newer CF4 data, there is a slight probabilistic preference for Laniakea to be part of the much larger Shapley BoA. The largest BoA recovered from the CF4 data is associated with the Sloan Great Wall, with a volume within the sample of 15.5 × 106 (h−1 Mpc)3, which is more than twice the size of the second largest Shapley BoA.

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Fig. 1: High-density perturbations δ in the distribution of matter in the local Universe with the mean of many HMC trials.
Fig. 2: Streamlines constructed from the mean HMC velocity field.
Fig. 3: Velocity streamlines seeded at arbitrary locations within the reconstructed volume, with coloured envelopes associated with separate BoA extracted from the mean field.
Fig. 4: Sinks of velocity streamlines from individual HMC trials.
Fig. 5: Envelopes of major BoA superimposed on the sinks of HMC trials shown in the previous figure.
Fig. 6: Cyan surface envelopes Ophiuchus/Laniakea BoA at 20% probability.

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Data availability

The observational data used in this study were placed in the public domain in connection with the publication of Cosmicflows-4 (ref. 8). An interactive model illustrating the distribution of the Cosmicflows-4 sample of galaxies, an iso-contour of the mean HMC density reconstruction, mean velocity streamlines and the 50% probability inclusion shells of five prominent basins of attraction can be found at http://sketchfab.com/3d-models/pboas-p05-cf4-mean-field-delta-and-velocity-9ba49209e60c48de8469b01ee8ee772e. The estimated density and velocity fields are available upon reasonable request from the authors. We also offer an online tool that correlates distance and velocity using the constructed velocity field within this programme. Please access the tool at http://edd.ifa.hawaii.edu/CF4calculator/, and consult with the instruction on how to use the tool and interpret the results57. We will continuously update the calculator for better visualization and incorporate the latest improvements.

Code availability

The code used to produce this study is not publicly available but can be communicated in response to reasonable requests.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), Potsdam, Germany

    A. Valade, N. I. Libeskind & S. Pfeifer

  2. Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IP2I Lyon, Villeurbanne, France

    A. Valade

  3. Aix Marseille Université, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille, France

    A. Valade

  4. Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l’Univers, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    D. Pomarède

  5. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

    R. B. Tully & E. Kourkchi

  6. Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

    Y. Hoffman

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Contributions

A.V. developed the key ideas of this study, designed the reconstruction of the density and velocity fields, as well as the computation of the streamlines, and participated in the writing of this article. N.I.L., Y.H. and S.P. took active parts in the development of the methods described in this article, as well as in its redaction. D.P. analyzed the cosmography and generated all the visualizations (figures and videos) that accompanied this study. R.B.T. led the writing of this article and was deeply involved in designing its scientific goals. E.K. built an online CF4 distance calculator.

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Correspondence to A. Valade.

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Nature Astronomy thanks Joseph Ribaudo and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Extended data

Extended Data Table 1 Probability (in %) of some known features of the Local Universe to be part of probabilistic basins of attraction
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Extended Data Table 2 Properties of the p-BoAs appearing in Extended Data Table 1
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Supplementary information

Supplementary Video 1

Thirteen-minute video following the discussion in the text and illustrating the properties of the large-scale structure in the volume of the Universe sampled by Cosmicflows-4.

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Valade, A., Libeskind, N.I., Pomarède, D. et al. Identification of basins of attraction in the local Universe. Nat Astron (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02370-0

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