Astrophysics

The Lagrangian dynamics of a fluid element within a self-gravitational matter field is intrinsically nonlocal due to the presence of the tidal force. Instead of searching for local approximations, we provide a statistical solution that could decouple the evolution of the fluid parcel from the surrounding environment. Given the probability distribution of the matter field, the method produces a set of ordinary differential equations to be solved locally. Mathematically, it corresponds to the characteristic curve of the transport equation of the density-weighted probability density function (ρPDF). Physically, it describes the mean evolution of the element with specific density and shape averaged over various environments. Furthermore, it is guaranteed that the one-point ρPDF would be preserved if one evolves these local, yet nonlinear, curves with the same set of initial data as the real system. This PDF based method, which is well developed in turbulence and other fields, provides a new perspective for understanding the non-linear structure formation in cosmology, e.g. the halo formation and the evolution of cosmic web. For Gaussian distributed dynamical variables, we demonstrate that the localized mean tidal tensor is proportional to the shear tensor, and the coefficient would recover the prediction of Zel’dovich approximation (ZA) with the further assumption of the linearized continuity equation. For Weakly non-Gaussian field, the averaged tidal tensor could then be expressed as polynomial of other variables.  Moreover, one could further generalize this concept of the mean evolution of the fluid element to incorporate some stochastic contributions, which we suggest would be valuable in describing a variety of processes in cosmology, such as the shell-crossing and realistic halo formation.

In this talk I’ll discuss an exotic theory of gravity known as “partially massless” gravity.  The linear partially massless theory displays many features analogous to those of electromagnetism, including an electric/magnetic duality.  However, the structure of gauge charges is much richer than in E&M.  I’ll present the analogues of electric point charges and Dirac monopoles.

We hope to find clues about the particle physics of the primordial (inflationary?) universe in the statistics of the cosmological perturbations. However, if the fluctuations are non-Gaussian the statistics we observe can differ significantly from the global, mean predictions of an inflationary model. I will discuss how the conclusions we draw about the primordial degrees of freedom can be affected in interesting ways by the finiteness of our observable universe.