Phase Information and the Evolution of Cosmological Density Perturbations

Details Phase Information and the Evolution of Cosmological Density Perturbations Phase Information and the Evolution of Cosmological Density Perturbations

1999-05-19

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9905250v2

Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 311 (2000) 809-824

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Accepted for publication in MNRAS with added comments on future work. For high-resolution Figure 1, or postscript file, please

Scientific paper

10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03086.x

The Fourier transform of cosmological density perturbations can be represented in terms of amplitudes and phases for each Fourier mode. We investigate the phase evolution of these modes using a mixture of analytical and numerical techniques. Using a toy model of one-dimensional perturbations evolving under the Zel'dovich approximation as an initial motivation, we develop a statistic that quantifies the information content of the distribution of phases. Using numerical simulations beginning with more realistic Gaussian random-phase initial conditions, we show that the information content of the phases grows from zero in the initial conditions, first slowly and then rapidly when structures become non-linear. This growth of phase information can be expressed in terms of an effective entropy: Gaussian initial conditions are a maximum entropy realisation of the initial power spectrum, gravitational evolution decreases the phase entropy. We show that our definition of phase entropy results in a statistic that explicitly quantifies the information stored in the phases of density perturbations (rather than their amplitudes) and that this statistic displays interesting scaling behaviour for self-similar initial conditions.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Phase Information and the Evolution of Cosmological Density Perturbations does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Phase Information and the Evolution of Cosmological Density Perturbations, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Phase Information and the Evolution of Cosmological Density Perturbations will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-39218