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Hao-Ran Yu

Publications and source records attributed to Hao-Ran Yu.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

ELUCID-DESI II. Revealing dark matter mass, tidal, and velocity (MTV) fields using galaxy group phase information

We introduce a novel method for reconstructing the cosmic mass, tidal, and velocity (MTV) fields over the redshift range $0 < z < 0.6$ using the phase information of galaxy groups. This approach replaces the explicit theoretical bias correction typically needed to relate galaxy groups to the underlying dark matter density field with a simulation-calibrated statistical mapping, reducing a major source of systematic uncertainty and making the method directly applicable to spectroscopic redshift surveys such as the DESI Bright Galaxy Survey (BGS). We evaluate the performance of our MTV reconstruction pipeline with mock redshift surveys that include a comprehensive set of observational selection effects. The galaxy groups used as tracers are identified with an extended halo-based group finder applied to the DESI mock galaxy catalogue with an apparent magnitude limit of $m_z < 19.65$, yielding a galaxy number comparable to that of the DESI BGS faint sample ($m_r < 20.175$). Our tests show that the reconstructed velocities are accurate and unbiased, with a residual dispersion of $\sim 120\ \mathrm{km\,s^{-1}}$ across the redshift bins. The recovered velocity field allows us to shift galaxy groups to their real-space positions, thereby correcting for the Kaiser effect. By iteratively applying this Kaiser correction to the galaxy groups, we further reconstruct the tidal field and the mass-density distribution. The reconstruction is stable with respect to the grid resolution. Overall, our results demonstrate that this group-based phase-space reconstruction provides a robust pathway to recovering the dark matter MTV fields, with strong prospects for application to DESI BGS data.

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Probing Primordial Chirality in the Matter Distribution

Whether parity symmetry was violated in the early universe remains one of the fundamental open questions in cosmology. If so, it may leave an intrinsic handedness in the large-scale matter distribution. Here we formulate a helicity-based estimator to measure this handedness. Using cosmological simulations with parity-violating initial conditions, we show that it survives nonlinear structure formation. Applying the estimator to density fields reconstructed from the SDSS DR7 galaxy catalog, we find mild deviations but statistically insignificant evidence for parity violation in the local universe. Our results establish the intrinsic handedness of the matter distribution as an observable relic of primordial parity violation, enabling a direct probe with current and future large-scale structure surveys.

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Dark energy perturbations and the robustness of cosmological neutrino-mass constraints

Cosmological observations are placing increasingly stringent bounds on the sum of neutrino masses, approaching the lower limits implied by neutrino oscillation experiments. Recent studies have suggested that dynamical dark energy may alleviate this apparent tension. However, these conclusions generally rely on the assumption that dark energy remains smooth, neglecting its perturbations. In this work we investigate the robustness of cosmological neutrino-mass constraints by consistently incorporating dark-energy perturbations. Using CMB, BAO, RSD, and supernova data, we show that the commonly reported alleviation of the neutrino-mass tension in dynamical dark-energy models is not generic. While smooth dark energy substantially relaxes the neutrino-mass bounds, allowing dark energy to cluster shifts the preferred neutrino mass toward smaller, and even more negative, effective values. We demonstrate that this behavior originates from a degeneracy between neutrino free-streaming and dark-energy perturbations in structure-growth observables. Different combinations of neutrino mass and dark-energy clustering can provide similarly good fits to current data while yielding significantly different neutrino-mass constraints. Our results show that cosmological neutrino-mass measurements are inherently model dependent and that reliable neutrino-mass inference requires a consistent treatment of dark-energy perturbations.

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CUBE2: A Parallel $N$-Body Simulation Code for Scalability, Accuracy, and Memory Efficiency

$N$-body simulation serves as a critical method for modeling cosmic evolution and poses a significant challenge in high-performance computing. We present CUBE2, an open-source cosmological $N$-body code emphasizing memory efficiency, computational performance, scalability and precision. The core of its algorithm utilizes multi-level Particle-Mesh (PM) method to solve the Poisson equation for matter distribution, leveraging the well-optimized Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) for computational efficiency. Precision is ensured by the optimized Green's function that seamlessly bridges gravitational interactions between multi-level PM and Particle-Particle (PP) calculations. The program design enhances per-core/node efficiency in processing $N$-body particles, while the Information Optimized Storage (IOS) addresses memory constraints for large particle counts. Using CUBE2, we run two cosmological simulations with particle counts of $6144^3$ on the Advanced Computing East China Sub-center (ACECS) to test performance and accuracy.

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Local Nonlinear Transforms Effectively Extract Cosmological Information From Large-Scale Structure

Extracting cosmological information from nonlinear and non-Gaussian large-scale structure remains a major challenge. We introduce the (Zel'dovich-inspired) ZI transform, a simple one-parameter local nonlinear transform in which $\eta$ controls the weighting of higher-order information in the transformed density field. For $\eta\geq3$, the transform can substantially suppress gravitational non-Gaussianity. Using the \textsc{Quijote} suite and Fisher information analysis over summed neutrino mass $M_\nu$, primordial non-Gaussianity $f_\mathrm{NL}$ with different shapes, and $\Lambda$CDM parameters, we find that the joint data vector of three transformed-field power spectra with $\{\eta=\infty, 6, 3\}$, denoted $P_\mathrm{ZI}$, tightens all constraints relative to the ordinary power spectrum, especially boosting the constraining power by factors of $290$ for $f_\mathrm{NL}^\mathrm{local}$ and $107$ for $M_\nu$, while yielding nearly unbiased parameter estimates. Compared further with other statistics beyond the ordinary power spectrum, $P_\mathrm{ZI}$ stands out as a powerful cosmological probe.

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A high-significance detection of primordial tidal torque imprints

Tidal-torque theory predicts that galaxy angular momenta are imprinted by the primordial tidal field acting on proto-structures and that they can retain information about the early Universe through cosmic evolution. Here we test this prediction by comparing observed galaxy angular momentum vectors with those predicted from the primordial density field reconstructed by ELUCID for the nearby Universe. Among the galaxy populations considered, the gas component of central massive elliptical galaxies provides the clearest signal, exhibiting a strong direction correlation at a significance of about $7\sigma$. These results provide a robust observational evidence for tidal-torque theory and open a window for cosmological measurements of neutrino mass and other cosmological parameters.

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Cosmological Simulations with Massive Neutrinos: Efficiency and Accuracy

Constraining neutrino mass through cosmological observations relies on precise simulations to calibrate their effects on large scale structure, while these simulations must overcome computational challenges like dealing with large velocity dispersions and small intrinsic neutrino perturbations. We present an efficient N-body implementation with semi-linear neutrino mass response which gives accurate power spectra and halo statistics. We explore the necessity of correcting the expansion history caused by massive neutrinos and the transition between relativistic and non-relativistic components. The above method of including neutrino masses is built into the memory-, scalability-, and precision-optimized parallel N-body simulation code CUBE 2.0. Through a suite of neutrino simulations, we precisely quantify the neutrino mass effects on the nonlinear matter power spectra and halo statistics.

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Observed Anti-parallel Correlation Between Spiral Galaxy and Cosmic Filament Spins

Understanding the origin of galactic angular momentum and its connection to the cosmic web remains a pivotal issue in galaxy formation. Using kinematic data from the MaNGA survey, we investigate the alignment between the spin directions of spiral galaxies and their host cosmic filaments. By incorporating filament spin measurements derived from redshift asymmetry across filament spines, we reveal a mass-dependent anti-parallel correlation: low-mass spiral galaxies ($\log_{10}(M_*/M_\odot) \lesssim 10$) exhibit a statistically significant anti-parallel alignment between their stellar/gas spins and filament spins, while high-mass spirals show no such trend. Spatial analysis further indicates that high-mass spirals preferentially reside near filament spines, whereas low-mass spirals occupy filament outskirts. These findings extend previous alignment studies that neglected directional spin correlations and provide new insights into how cosmic environments shape galactic angular momentum. The observed anti-parallel trend suggests a critical role for filament spin in regulating the angular momentum acquisition of low-mass spirals. This anti-parallel alignment is significantly enhanced for low-mass spirals residing in dynamically cold filaments, highlighting the importance of filament properties in shaping galaxy spin.

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The Jiutian simulations for the CSST extra-galactic surveys

We provide an overview of the Jiutian simulations, a hybrid simulation suite for the China Space Survey Telescope (CSST) extragalactic surveys. It consists of four complementary modules: the primary runs with high resolutions with the fiducial concordance cosmology, the emulator runs exploring the parameter uncertainties around the fiducial cosmology, the reconstruction runs intended for recovering the observed Universe position by position, and the extension runs employing extended cosmologies beyond the standard model. For the primary runs, two independent pipelines are adopted to construct subhaloes and merger trees. On top of them, four sets of mock galaxy light-cone catalogs are produced from semi-analytical models and subhalo abundance matching, providing a variety of observational properties including galaxy SED, emission lines, lensing distortions, and mock images. The 129 emulator runs are used to train the CSST emulator, achieving one percent accuracy in predicting the matter power spectrum over $k\leq 10h{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$ and $z\leq 2$. The reconstruction runs employ a number of subgrid baryonic models to predict the evolution and galaxy population resembling certain regions in the real Universe with constrained initial conditions, enabling controlled investigation of galaxy formation on top of structure formation. The extension runs cover models with warm dark matter, $f(R)$ gravity, interacting dark energy, and nonzero neutrino masses, revealing differences in the cosmic structure under alternative cosmological models. We introduce the specifications for each run, the data products derived from them, the corresponding pipeline developments, and present some main tests. Using the primary runs, we also show that the subhalo peak mass functions of different levels are approximately universal. These simulations form a comprehensive and open library for CSST surveys and beyond.

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Cosmic filament spin -- I: a comparative study in observation

In the cosmic web, filaments play a crucial role in connecting walls to clusters and also act as an important stage for galaxy formation and evolution. Recent observational studies claim that filaments have spin. In this study, we examined the potential impact of diversity in filament identification algorithms and galaxy survey datasets on the quantification of filament spin. The results of this study demonstrate qualitative agreement with previous research, suggesting that a reliable filament spin signal is detectable when the viewing angle of filament spine larger than 80 degrees under a rough estimation. The detected filament spin signal is intricately linked to the viewing angle, dynamic temperature, etc. The quantitative difference of filament spin signal among samples is slightly dependent on the filament identification algorithms, while the value is relatively greater dependent on the redshift space distortion effect in the galaxy sample.

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Cosmic filament spin -- II: filament spin and its impact on galaxy spin-filament alignment in a cosmological simulation

Observational studies have reported that cosmic filaments on the megaparsec scale exhibit rotational motion. Subsequent simulation studies have shown qualitative agreement with these findings, but quantitative discrepancies remain due to differences in data and methods, which require verification. To address this issue, we adopt the same methodology as used in the observations to identify filament spin from the galaxy distribution constructed from a hydrodynamic simulation. Using the same approach to measure filament spin, we find that the simulation results closely match the observational findings, with only minor discrepancies arising from slight differences in the fraction of filaments classified as dynamically cold or hot based on their dynamic temperature. Additionally, an analysis of how filament spin affects the galaxy spin-filament correlation shows that filaments with strong spin signals and dynamically cold have a greater impact on the galaxy spin-filament correlation than those with weaker spin signals and dynamically hot filaments. These results not only provide further evidence that cosmic filaments exhibit spin, but also highlight the importance of this rotation in the acquisition of angular momentum by individual galaxies. Future studies exploring the influence of filament spin on galaxy spin may shed light on the physical origins of filaments and the angular momentum of galaxies.

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Early Results from GLASS-JWST. XXV. Electron Density in the Interstellar Medium at $0.7\lesssim z\lesssim 9.3$ with NIRSpec High-resolution Spectroscopy

The electron density (${n_{\rm e}}$) of the interstellar medium (ISM) in star-forming galaxies is intimately linked to star formation and ionization condition. Using the high-resolution spectra obtained from the JWST NIRSpec micro shutter assembly (MSA) as part of the GLASS-JWST program, we have assembled the largest sample to date (34 galaxies) with individual ${n_{\rm e}}$ measurements derived from the [OII] $\lambda\lambda$3726,29 and/or [SII] $\lambda\lambda$6718,32 doublets at $0.7\lesssim z\lesssim 9.3$. The gravitational lensing magnification by the foreground Abell~2744 cluster allows us to probe ${n_{\rm e}}$ in galaxies with stellar masses ($M_{*}$) down to $\simeq 10^{7.5} M_\odot$ across the entire redshift range. Our analysis reveals that the [OII] flux ratios are marginally anti-correlated with specific star formation rate (sSFR) within a 1-$\sigma$ confidence interval, whereas the [SII] flux ratios show no significant correlation with sSFR. Despite clear correlation between sSFR and redshift within our sample, we find no apparent redshift evolution of ${n_{\rm e}}$ at $z \simeq 1-9$. Our dataset also includes 13 galaxies where ${n_{\rm e}}$ can be measured from both [OII] and [SII]. Contrary to findings at lower redshifts, we observe considerable scatter in ${n_{\rm e}}$ measurements from [OII] and [SII], indicating a complex gaseous environment with significant variations in ${n_{\rm e}}$ in high-redshift galaxies. This work highlights the unique capability of JWST NIRSpec/MSA high-resolution spectroscopy to characterize the detailed physical properties of the ISM in individual high-redshift galaxies.

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Probing vector chirality in the early Universe

We explore the potential of using late-time galaxy spins to test the parity symmetry of primordial vector fossils. Using $N$-body simulations, we analyze halo spins as a reliable proxy for galaxy spins to investigate the detectability of this effect. We develop a novel approach to generate initial conditions (ICs) that have substantial parity asymmetry but do not alter the initial matter power spectrum. We construct the initial spin fields from the parity broken ICs and halo spin fields using late-time halos evolved from such ICs. Focusing on the helicity of these vector fields, we detect substantial asymmetry in the initial spin field. In addition, we find that over $50\%$ of the initial spin field's asymmetry remains in the late-time halo spin field on a range of scales. Based on mock galaxy spin fields derived from the halo spin fields, we forecast that a maximum detection at $13\sigma$ is possible with the final DESI BGS for the model considered in this analysis. Our findings demonstrate that primordial vectorial parity violation survives nonlinear gravitational evolution, and thus, can be effectively probed with galaxy spins at late times.

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Enhancing Morphological Measurements of Cosmic Web with Delaunay Tessellation Field Estimation

The density fields constructed by traditional mass assignment methods are susceptible to irritating discreteness, which hinders morphological measurements of cosmic large-scale structure (LSS) through Minkowski functionals (MFs). For alleviating this issue, fixed-kernel smoothing methods are commonly used in literatures, at the expense of losing substantial structural information. In this work, we propose to measure MFs with Delaunay tessellation field estimation (DTFE) technique, with the goal to maximize extractions of morphological information from sparse tracers. We perform our analyses starting from matter fields and progressively extending to halo fields. At matter field level, we elucidate how discreteness affects the morphological measurements of LSS. Then, by comparing with traditional Gaussian smoothing scheme, we preliminarily showcase the advantages of DTFE for enhancing measurements of MFs from sparse tracers. At halo field level, we first numerically investigate various systematic effects on MFs of DTFE fields, which are induced by finite voxel sizes, halo number densities, halo weightings, and redshift space distortions (RSDs), respectively. Then, we explore the statistical power of MFs measured with DTFE for extracting cosmological information encoded in RSDs. We find that MFs measured with DTFE exhibit improvements by $\sim$ $2$ orders of magnitude in discriminative power for RSD effects and by a factor of $\sim$ $3$-$5$ in constraining power on structure growth rate over the MFs measured with Gaussian smoothing. These findings demonstrate the remarkable enhancements in statistical power of MFs achieved by DTFE, showing enormous application potentials of our method in extracting various key cosmological information from galaxy surveys.

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Lagrangian space remapping and the angular momentum reconstruction from cosmic structures

Large scale structures provide valuable information of the primordial perturbations that encode the secrets of the origin of the Universe. It is an essential step to map between observables and their initial coordinates, called Lagrangian space, from which primordial perturbations transfer their information to structures via linear theory. By using numerical simulations and state-of-the-art reconstruction techniques, we report the accuracy of estimating the Lagrangian coordinates of galaxies and galaxy clusters, represented by dark matter halos in various ranges of mass, and study the accuracy of this remapping on the angular momentum (spin) reconstruction. Our work shows that galaxy groups and clusters, represented by halos with mass $\gtrsim 10^{13}M_\odot$, can be accurately remapped to Lagrangian space, and their spin reconstruction errors are dominated by the reconstructed initial gravitational potential. For all mass ranges, the errors of Lagrangian remapping, as well as redshift space distortions, play subdominant roles in estimating their angular momenta. This study explains the low correlation level between observed galaxy spins and reconstructed cosmic initial conditions and illustrates the potential of using angular momenta of cosmic structures to improve the reconstruction of primordial perturbations.

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Spin speed correlations and the evolution of galaxy-halo systems

Galaxy angular momenta (spins) contain valuable cosmological information, complementing their positions and velocities. The baryonic spin direction of galaxies has been probed as a reliable tracer of their host halos and the primordial spin modes. Here we use the TNG100 simulation of the IllustrisTNG project to study the spin magnitude correlations between dark matter, gas, and stellar components of galaxy-halo systems and their evolutions across cosmic history. We find that these components generate similar initial spin magnitudes from the same tidal torque in Lagrangian space. At low redshifts, the gas component still traces the spin magnitude of the dark matter halo and the primordial spin magnitude. However, the traceability of the stellar component depends on the $ex$ $situ$ stellar mass fraction, $f_{\rm acc}$. Our results suggest that the galaxy baryonic spin magnitude can also serve as a tracer of their host halo and the initial perturbations, and the galaxy-halo correlations are affected by the similarity of their evolution histories.

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Baryonic Effects on Lagrangian Clustering and Angular Momentum Reconstruction

Recent studies illustrate the correlation between the angular momenta of cosmic structures and their Lagrangian properties. However, only baryons are observable and it is unclear whether they reliably trace the cosmic angular momenta. We study the Lagrangian mass distribution, spin correlation, and predictability of dark matter, gas, and stellar components of galaxy-halo systems using IllustrisTNG, and show that the primordial segregations between components are typically small. Their protoshapes are also similar in terms of the statistics of moment of inertia tensors. Under the common gravitational potential they are expected to exert the same tidal torque and the strong spin correlations are not destroyed by the nonlinear evolution and complicated baryonic effects, as confirmed by the high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations. We further show that their late-time angular momenta traced by total gas, stars, or the central galaxies, can be reliably reconstructed by the initial perturbations. These results suggest that baryonic angular momenta can potentially be used in reconstructing the parameters and models related to the initial perturbations.

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The Origin of the Relation Between Stellar Angular Momentum and Stellar Mass in Nearby Disk-dominated galaxies

The IllustrisTNG simulations reproduce the observed scaling relation between stellar specific angular momentum (sAM) $j_{\rm s}$ and mass $M_{\rm s}$ of central galaxies. We show that the local $j_{\rm s}$-$M_{\rm s}$ relation ${\rm log}\ j_{\rm s} = 0.55 \ {\rm log}\ M_{\rm s} + 2.77$ develops at $z\lesssim 1$ in disk-dominated galaxies. We provide a simple model that describes well such a connection between halos and galaxies. The index 0.55 of the $j_{\rm s}$-$M_{\rm s}$ relation comes from the product of the indices of the $j_{\rm tot}\propto M_{\rm tot}^{0.81}$, $M_{\rm tot}\propto M_{\rm s}^{0.67}$, and $j_{\rm s}\propto j_{\rm tot}$ relations, where $j_{\rm tot}$ and $M_{\rm tot}$ are overall sAM and mass of a halo. A non-negligible deviation from the tidal torque theory, which predicts $j_{\rm tot}\propto M_{\rm tot}^{2/3}$, should be included. This model further suggests that the stellar-to-halo mass ratio of disk galaxies increases monotonically following a nearly power-law function that is consistent with the latest dynamical measurements. Biased collapse, in which galaxies form from the inner and lower sAM portion of their parent halos, has a minor effect at low redshifts. The retention factor of angular momentum reaches $\sim 1$ in disk galaxies with strong rotations, and it correlates inversely with the mass fraction of the spheroidal component, which partially explains the morphological dependence of the $j_{\rm s}$-$M_{\rm s}$ relation.

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