Paper detail

The velocity field of baryonic gas in the universe

The dynamic evolution of the baryonic intergalactic medium (IGM) caused by the underlying dark matter gravity is governed by the Navier-Stokes equations in which many cooling and heating processes are involved. However, it has long been recognized that the growth mode dynamics of cosmic matter clustering can be sketched by a random force driven Burgers' equation if cooling and heating are ignored. Just how well the dynamics of the IGM can be described as a Burgers fluid has not been fully investigated probably because cooling and heating are essential for a detailed understanding of the IGM. Using IGM samples produced by a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation in which heating and cooling processes are properly accounted for, we show that the IGM velocity field in the nonlinear regime shows the features of a Burgers fluid, that is, when the Reynolds number is high, the velocity field consists of an ensemble of shocks. Consequently, (1) the IGM velocity $v$ is generally smaller than that of dark matter; (2) for the smoothed field, the IGM velocity shows tight correlation with dark matter given by $v \simeq s v_{dm}$, with $s<1$, such that the lower the redshift, the smaller $s$; (3) the velocity PDFs are asymmetric between acceleration and deceleration events; (4) the PDF of velocity difference $Δv=v(x+r)-v(x)$ satisfies the scaling relation for a Burgers fluid, i.e., $P(Δv)=(1 r^y)F(Δv/r^y)$. We find the scaling function and parameters for the IGM which are applicable to the entire scale range of the samples (0.26 - 8 h$^{-1}$ Mpc). These properties show that the similarity mapping between the IGM and dark matter is violated on scales much larger than the Jeans length of the IGM.