Navigating the Universe : « Cosmic Flows » program

Séminaire IPAG de Hélène Courtois (IPNL, Université de Lyon I), jeudi 26 janvier 2017 à 11h00, IRAM seminar room

I will present the evolution of the “Cosmic Flows” program spanning ten years of research since its inception in 2006. From CF1 to the latest CF3 data-set, an order of magnitude in the number of observational galaxy distances is gained, meanwhile the cosmographied volume is multiplied by 150. A theoretical framework has been developed so as to accommodate and analyze the data. This includes the Bayesian reconstruction tools of the Wiener filter and constrained realizations, constrained simulations of the local universe, visualization tools of analysis of the 3D large scale structure. Some specific topics that will be presented include advances in cosmography (the Laniakea and other superclusters), the characterization of the flow by the dipole (bulk flow) and quadrupole (shear tensor) moments. The talk will conclude with a new major throughput in knowledge that will appear in Nature Astronomy on Feb 1st.