Evolution of the cosmic web
  The cosmic web is the largest scale manifestation of the anisotropic
gravitational collapse of matter. It represents the transitional stage between
linear and non-linear structures and contains easily accessible information
about the early phases of structure formation processes. Here we investigate
the characteristics and the time evolution of morphological components since.
Our analysis involves the application of the NEXUS Multiscale Morphology Filter
(MMF) technique, predominantly its NEXUS+ version, to high resolution and large
volume cosmological simulations. We quantify the cosmic web components in terms
of their mass and volume content, their density distribution and halo
populations. We employ new analysis techniques to determine the spatial extent
of filaments and sheets, like their total length and local width. This analysis
identifies cluster and filaments as the most prominent components of the web.
In contrast, while voids and sheets take most of the volume, they correspond to
underdense environments and are devoid of group-sized and more massive haloes.
At early times the cosmos is dominated by tenuous filaments and sheets, which,
during subsequent evolution, merge together, such that the present day web is
dominated by fewer, but much more massive, structures. The analysis of the mass
transport between environments clearly shows how matter flows from voids into
walls, and then via filaments into cluster regions, which form the nodes of the
cosmic web. We also study the properties of individual filamentary branches, to
find long, almost straight, filaments extending to distances larger than
100Mpc/h. These constitute the bridges between massive clusters, which seem to
form along approximatively straight lines.
