The large-scale general-relativistic correction for Newtonian mocks

Abstract

We clarify the subtle issue of finding the correct mapping of Newtonian simulations to light-cone observables at very large distance scales. A faithful general-relativistic interpretation specifies a gauge, i.e. a chart that relates the simulation data to points of the space-time manifold. It has already been pointed out that the implicit gauge choice of Newtonian simulations is indeed different from the Poisson gauge that is commonly adopted for relativistic calculations, the difference being most significant at large scales. It is therefore inconsistent, for example, to predict weak-lensing observables from simulations unless this gauge issue is properly accounted for. Using perturbation theory as well as fully relativistic N-body simulations we quantify the systematic error introduced this way, and we discuss several solutions that would render the calculations relativistically self-consistent.

arXiv comment10 pages, 5 figures; v2: minor revision with additional content, matches accepted manuscript

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Cited by in corpus (12)

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• Fully relativistic predictions in Horndeski gravity from standard Newtonian N-body simulations
• The halo bias for number counts on the light cone from relativistic N-body simulations
• A Minimal Model for Massive Neutrinos in Newtonian N-body Simulations
• Ray tracing the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect through the light cones of the Dark Energy Universe Simulation -- Full Universe Runs
• Relativistic matter bispectrum of cosmic structures on the light cone
• Incompatibility of Standard Galaxy Bias Models in General Relativity
• Cosmological Simulations of Number Counts
• PySCo: A fast Particle-Mesh $N$-body code for modified gravity simulations in Python