Simulating Voids

Authors:
  • DGDavid M. Goldberg
    David M. Goldberg
  • MVMichael S. Vogeley
    Michael S. Vogeley

Abstract
We present a novel method for simulation of the interior of large cosmic voids, suitable for study of the formation and evolution of objects lying within such regions. Following Birkhoff's theorem, void regions dynamically evolve as universes with cosmological parameters that depend on the underdensity of the void. We derive the values of $\Omega_M$, $\Omega_{\Lambda}$, and $H_0$ that describe this evolution. Together with a prescription for the power spectrum of fluctuations, these equations provide the initial conditions for running specialized void simulations. The increased efficiency of such simulations, in comparison with general-purpose simulations, allows an improvement of upwards of twenty in the mass resolution.