Phase space dynamics of triaxial collapse: joint density–velocity evolution

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of triaxial collapse in terms of eigenvalues of the deformation tensor, the velocity derivative tensor and the gravity Hessian. Using the Bond-Myers model of ellipsoidal collapse, we derive a new set of equations for the nine eigenvalues and examine their dynamics in phase space. The main advantage of this form is that it eliminates the complicated elliptic integrals that appear in the axes evolution equations and is more natural way to understand the interplay between the perturbations. This paper focuses on the density-velocity dynamics. The Zeldovich approximation implies that the three tensors are proportional; the proportionality constant is set by demanding `no decaying modes'. We extend this condition into the non-linear regime and find that the eigenvalues of the gravity Hessian and the velocity derivative tensor are related as ${\tilde q}_d + {\tilde q}_v=1$, where the triaxiality parameter ${\tilde q} = (\lambda_{\mathrm{max}} - \lambda_{\mathrm{inter}})/(\lambda_{\mathrm{max}} - \lambda_{\mathrm{min}})$. This is a {\it new universal relation} holding true over all redshifts and a range of mass scales to within a few percent accuracy. The mean density-velocity divergence relation at late times is close to linear, indicating that the dynamics is dictated by collapse along the largest eigendirection. This relation has a scatter, which we show, is intimately connected to the velocity shear. Finally, as an application, we compute the PDFs of the two variables and compare with other forms in the literature.