Cosmological Origami: Properties of Cosmic-Web Components when a Non-Stretchy Dark-Matter Sheet Folds

Abstract

In the current cosmological paradigm, an initially flat three-dimensional manifold that pervades space (the `dark-matter sheet') folds up to build concentrations of mass (galaxies), and a cosmic web between them. Galaxies are nodes, connected by a network of filaments and walls. The folding is in six-dimensional (3D position, plus 3D velocity) phase space. The positions of creases, or caustics, mark the edges of structures. Here, I introduce an origami approximation to cosmological structure formation, in which the dark-matter sheet is not allowed to stretch. But it still produces an idealized cosmic web, with nodes, filaments, walls and voids. In 2D, nodes form in `polygonal collapse' (a twist-fold in origami), necessarily generating filaments simultaneously. In 3D, nodes form in `polyhedral collapse,' simultaneously generating filaments and walls. The masses, spatial arrangement, and angular momenta of nodes and filaments are related in the model. I describe some `tetrahedral collapse', or tetrahedral twist-fold, models.