A reconstruction of the initial conditions of the Universe by optimal mass transportation

Uriel Frisch (), Sabino Matarrese, Roya Mohayaee and Andrei Sobolevski
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Uriel Frisch: CNRS, UMR 6529, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
Sabino Matarrese: Sezione di Padova
Roya Mohayaee: CNRS, UMR 6529, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur
Andrei Sobolevski: CNRS, UMR 6529, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur

Nature, 2002, vol. 417, issue 6886, 260-262

Abstract: Abstract Reconstructing the density fluctuations in the early Universe that evolved into the distribution of galaxies we see today is a challenge to modern cosmology1. An accurate reconstruction would allow us to test cosmological models by simulating the evolution starting from the reconstructed primordial state and comparing it to observations. Several reconstruction techniques have been proposed2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, but they all suffer from lack of uniqueness because the velocities needed to produce a unique reconstruction usually are not known. Here we show that reconstruction can be reduced to a well-determined problem of optimization, and present a specific algorithm that provides excellent agreement when tested against data from N-body simulations. By applying our algorithm to the redshift surveys now under way10, we will be able to recover reliably the properties of the primeval fluctuation field of the local Universe, and to determine accurately the peculiar velocities (deviations from the Hubble expansion) and the true positions of many more galaxies than is feasible by any other method.

Date: 2002
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DOI: 10.1038/417260a

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