Cosmicflows-3: Cold Spot Repeller?

TL;DR

This paper models the local cosmic velocity field using Cosmicflows-3 data, identifying key attractors and repellers, including a potential void related to the Cold Spot, to understand large-scale cosmic structures.

Contribution

It applies Wiener filter methodology to Cosmicflows-3 data to map gravitational features, revealing a basin of attraction and two basins of repulsion, one possibly linked to the Cold Spot.

Findings

Identification of a major attraction basin linked to the Shapley concentration.

Detection of two repulsion basins, including the Dipole Repeller.

Potential association of a void with the Cold Spot via the Sachs-Wolfe effect.

Abstract

The three-dimensional gravitational velocity field within z~0.1 has been modeled with the Wiener filter methodology applied to the Cosmicflows-3 compilation of galaxy distances. The dominant features are a basin of attraction and two basins of repulsion. The major basin of attraction is an extension of the Shapley concentration of galaxies. One basin of repulsion, the Dipole Repeller, is located near the anti-apex of the cosmic microwave background dipole. The other basin of repulsion is in the proximate direction toward the 'Cold Spot' irregularity in the cosmic microwave background. It has been speculated that a vast void might contribute to the amplitude of the Cold Spot from the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect.