Rise of Titans, Silence of Emptiness

Gunnink, Fabian (2023) Rise of Titans, Silence of Emptiness. Bachelor's Thesis, Astronomy.

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Abstract

The universe, a cosmic tapestry of structure and emptiness, houses two contrasting entities that shape its destiny: halos and voids [Bond and Myers, 1996]. This thesis delves into the fascinating dichotomy between these cosmic counterparts, with a special emphasis on the enigmatic nature of voids. To gain insight into the large-scale structure of the universe, fully analytical methods are used to derive the evolutionary paths of both voids and halos. This is done by re-deriving the implications of the spherical model and using the results to construct the halo excursion set theory [Gunn and Gott, 1972; Press and Schechter, 1974; Bardeen et al., 1986; Bond et al., 1991]. Following the work of Sheth and Van de Weygaert (2004), the excursion set formalism is then equipped with a second barrier to incorporate the effects of voids. This reveals a symmetry breaking between halos and voids: voids can be squeezed out of existence by surrounding halos, but no such fate can come upon overdensities. Using the approach introduced by Lacey and Cole (1993) for halos, an analogous merger tree algorithm is developed for voids. This leads to analytical expressions for the merger and absorption rates for voids of general size, thereby extending the work of Russell (2013). This thesis emphasizes the profound significance of voids in shaping the cosmic panorama, providing valuable insights into the cosmic order, and aims to contribute to the frontiers of analytical cosmological exploration.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis)
Supervisor name:	Weijgaert, M.A.M. van de
Degree programme:	Astronomy
Thesis type:	Bachelor's Thesis
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	19 Jul 2023 11:54
Last Modified:	19 Jul 2023 11:54
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/30765

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