The Phase-Space Structure of Cold Dark Matter in the Universe

A novel method allowing to compute density, velocity and other fields in cosmological N–body simulations with unprecedentedly high spatial resolution is described. It is based on the tessellation of the three-dimensional manifold representing cold dark matter in six-dimensional phase space. The density, velocity and other fields are computed by projecting the tessellation on configuration space. The application of this technique to cosmological N–body simulations in LambdaCDM cosmology reveals a far more elaborate cosmic web then dot plots or self–adaptive SPH. In addition, this method allows to uniquely define physical voids and identify and study the caustic surfaces directly.