US-India Cooperative Research: Morphological Properties of the Supercluster-Void Network in the Universe

University Of Kansas Center For Research Inc, Lawrence KS

Investigators

Abstract

0138329 Shandarin Description: This award supports a US-India collaboration entitled Morphological Properties of the Supercluster-Void Network in the Universe. US PI Sergei Shandarin, University of Kansas and Varun Sahni, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune will test current theories of cosmological structure formation by comparison of the statistical properties of the observed universe with those of numerical simulations. This is one of the the major themes of current cosmological studies; the collaborators are well-established in studying large-scale structure in the universe. The PIs will quantify the geometrical properties of the supercluster-void network using robust statistical measures called Minkowski functionals. This powerful technique will enable them to determine the texture and topology of the global cosmic web, as well as the properties of its individual components --clusters, superclusters and voids. Scope: The research will develop a software library consisting of sophisticated numerical algorithms for studying morphological and geometrical properties of large scale structures. It will be made available to the astronomy and astrophysics community through the internet. The tools developed through this research have the potential for use in a large number of applications for physicists and the larger scientific community. This research is cofunded by the Indian Department of Science & Technology (DST) under the NSF/DST joint program.