| Cosmological fluid dynamics in the Schr\"odinger formalism (2009) | |||||||||
Abstract | |||||||||
| We investigate the dynamics of a cosmological dark matter fluid in the Schr\"odinger formulation, seeking to evaluate the approach as a potential tool for theorists. We find simple wave-mechanical solutions of the equations for the cosmological homogeneous background evolution of the dark matter field, and use them to obtain a piecewise analytic solution for the evolution of a compensated spherical overdensity. We analyse this solution from a `quantum mechanical' viewpoint, and establish the correct boundary conditions satisfied by the wavefunction. Using techniques from multi-particle quantum mechanics, we establish the equations governing the evolution of multiple fluids and then solve them numerically in such a system. Our results establish the viability of the Schr\"odinger formulation as a genuine alternative to standard methods in certain contexts, and a novel way to model multiple fluids.. Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, submitted to MNRAS | |||||||||
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