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REVIEW

Transients from Initial Conditions: A Perturbative Analysis

Astrophysics · Submitted 17 Nov 1997 · 40 references

Pith's verdict: A solid, self-contained PT calculation that gave the field both a diagnostic for ZA transients and the 2LPT fix; the abstract's headline numbers are a bit looser than the body.

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arXiv IDastro-ph/9711187 (version 1)
Pith IDBBOFDA6K, Pith's permanent record of this paper and its review
CitationRoman Scoccimarro. "Transients from Initial Conditions: A Perturbative Analysis." arXiv:astro-ph/9711187 (1997). https://pith.science/paper/BBOFDA6K
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Referee report
The paper

The paper claims

A simulation remembers how it was started: the Zel'dovich approximation imprints wrong higher-order correlations that take a factor of six or more in expansion to wash out, and a cheap second-order Lagrangian upgrade removes them almost at

The reading

This paper asks a practical question about cosmological simulations: how long does a run remember the approximation used to start it? The standard startup, the Zel'dovich approximation, reproduces the linear growing mode of density and velocity exactly but gets the nonlinear couplings wrong, so the simulation must expand for a while before the measured skewness and higher cumulants settle onto the values the true dynamics would give. Scoccimarro extends perturbation theory to carry the decaying modes that the initial conditions excite, which yields closed-form expressions for the cumulant ratios $S_p(a)$ and $T_p(a)$ as functions of scale factor, interpolating between the imposed initial values and the asymptotic exact ones. The payoff is a quantitative startup rule: for a spectral index near zero the density skewness $S_3$ reaches ten percent accuracy only after a factor of about six in expansion, the velocity-divergence analogue $T_3$ after about fifteen, and higher moments need much more. Seeding instead with second-order Lagrangian perturbation theory cancels the skewness transient outright and, for $p>3$, reduces the required expansion by more than an order of magnitude, at the cost of two extra Fourier transforms and one array in an existing code.

What carries the argument

The load-bearing object is the recursion relation for the time-dependent perturbative kernels, built from a $2imes 2$ linear propagator $g_{ab}(z)$ in $z =

Extended reading notes

Core claim

The central claim is that the transient behaviour induced by Zel'dovich initial conditions is not an uncontrolled numerical nuisance but a computable perturbative effect. By keeping the full time dependence of the solutions at every order, the author writes the nonlinear kernels as a recursion (his Eq. 23) in which the initial conditions appear as source terms that excite decaying modes, and the standard growing-mode results are recovered only in the limit of an infinitely early start. Evaluating the tree-level cumulants with top-hat smoothing gives explicit formulas such as $S_3(a) = 34/7 - 3 - 6/(5a) + 12/(35 a^{7/2})$ for standard Zel'dovich velocities, and a different set of coefficients when velocities are recomputed from the displaced particle positions as in Efstathiou et al. The decay rate is set by the effective spectral index at each order, is slower for velocity statistics than for density, and is slower still for models with $

Load-bearing premise

The specific expansion factors come from leading-order perturbation theory, valid only as the variance of the smoothed field goes to zero, whereas real simulations measure these statistics where the variance is of order unity and loop corrections are not negligible.

Editorial extensions

If this is right

  • For a spectral index near zero, a Zel'dovich-started simulation needs roughly a factor of six in expansion before $S_3$ is good to ten percent, and about fifteen before the velocity analogue $T_3$ is, with the requirement growing sharply with the order $p$.
  • An open model with $\Omega = 0.3$ needs about a factor of two more expansion than a critical-density model to reach the same accuracy, because the controlling variable is the linear growth factor rather than the scale factor.
  • Assigning initial velocities from the gravitational potential of the displaced particle positions, rather than from the Zel'dovich prescription itself, shortens the transient by a factor of two or three depending on the spectrum.
  • Second-order Lagrangian initial conditions eliminate the skewness transient entirely and reduce the expansion needed for $p>3$ by more than an order of magnitude, for the price of two extra fast Fourier transforms and a modest amount of memory.
  • Because transients depress the measured $S_p$ while finite-variance loop corrections raise it, a simulation started too late can appear to agree with tree-level perturbation theory over a wider range of scales than it actually does.

Reading between the lines

Editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

  • Published claims about how far down in scale tree-level perturbation theory remains valid, made from simulations started at modest redshift, should be re-checked with the transient term subtracted; the cancellation the author describes is a concrete, testable reanalysis of existing outputs rather than a new simulation campaign.
  • The same decaying-mode bookkeeping should apply to redshift-space cumulants and to the bispectrum, where velocity correlations enter more strongly; the paper flags both but computes neither, so those are open checks of the mechanism rather than of its arithmetic.
  • If the velocity-divergence transients are as large as the $T_p$ curves suggest, velocity-based statistics in existing simulations may carry a systematic offset at moderate overdensities, which matters for any test that uses peculiar velocities as a discriminator.
  • The second-order Lagrangian residual decays as $a^{-2}$ and $a^{-9/2}$ for the kurtosis, so the required startup redshift is set almost entirely by the target accuracy and hardly at all by box size or resolution, which makes it a clean design parameter.
Original abstract

The standard procedure to generate initial conditions (IC) in numerical simulations is to use the Zel'dovich approximation (ZA). Although the ZA correctly reproduces the linear growing modes of density and velocity perturbations, non-linear growth is inaccurately represented because of the ZA failure to conserve momentum. This implies that it takes time for the actual dynamics to establish the correct statistical properties of density and velocity fields. We extend perturbation theory (PT) to include transients as non-linear excitations of decaying modes caused by the IC. We focus on higher-order statistics of the density contrast and velocity divergence, characterized by the S_p and T_p parameters. We find that the time-scale of transients is determined, at a given order p, by the spectral index n. The skewness factor S_3 (T_3) attains 10% accuracy only after a=6 (a=15) for n=0, whereas higher (lower) n demands more (less) expansion away from the IC. These requirements become much more stringent as p increases. An Omega=0.3 model requires a factor of two larger expansion than an Omega=1 model to reduce transients by the same amount. The predicted transients in S_p are in good agreement with numerical simulations. More accurate IC can be achieved by using 2nd order Lagrangian PT (2LPT), which reproduces growing modes up to 2nd order and thus eliminates transients in the skewness. We show that for p>3 this reduces the required expansion by more than an order of magnitude compared to the ZA. Setting up 2LPT IC only requires minimal, inexpensive changes to ZA codes. We suggest simple steps for its implementation.

The compiled record

The paper's own sentences, arranged, kept beside the review and separate from it. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.

Compiled by classifier-1.13-20260917 via OpenRouter, question bank abstract-p1-20260923, 2026-09-23: 1 request, 10,064 input tokens, $0.0004 reported.

What the abstract itself states, as probabilities: claims first 0.04 · states limitation 0.30 · human participants 0.01 · controlled comparison 0.45 · randomized assignment 0.01 · states quantitative result 0.98 · compares with prior results 0.94 · mentions code or data availability 0.03.

The abstract, sentence by sentence

arXiv listing abstract v1. Results and the main claim are underlined; .

The standard procedure to generate initial conditions (IC) in numerical simulations is to use the Zel'dovich approximation (ZA). Although the ZA correctly reproduces the linear growing modes of density and velocity perturbations, non-linear growth is inaccurately represented because of the ZA failure to conserve momentum. This implies that it takes time for the actual dynamics to establish the correct statistical properties of density and velocity fields. We extend perturbation theory (PT) to include transients as non-linear excitations of decaying modes caused by the IC. We focus on higher-order statistics of the density contrast and velocity divergence, characterized by the S_p and T_p parameters. We find that the time-scale of transients is determined, at a given order p, by the spectral index n. The skewness factor S_3 (T_3) attains 10% accuracy only after a=6 (a=15) for n=0, whereas higher (lower) n demands more (less) expansion away from the IC. These requirements become much more stringent as p increases. An Omega=0.3 model requires a factor of two larger expansion than an Omega=1 model to reduce transients by the same amount. The predicted transients in S_p are in good agreement with numerical simulations. More accurate IC can be achieved by using 2nd order Lagrangian PT (2LPT), which reproduces growing modes up to 2nd order and thus eliminates transients in the skewness. We show that for p>3 this reduces the required expansion by more than an order of magnitude compared to the ZA. Setting up 2LPT IC only requires minimal, inexpensive changes to ZA codes. We suggest simple steps for its implementation.

background contribution method result interpretation main claim

What the classifier reports for each sentence. The number is the probability it gave the label.
#sentencerolethe authors' own workstates the main conclusionstrength
s0 The standard procedure to generate initial conditions (IC) in numerical simulations is to use the Zel'dovich approximation (ZA). background 1.00 0.04 0.02 asserted 1.00
s1 Although the ZA correctly reproduces the linear growing modes of density and velocity perturbations, non-linear growth is inaccurately represented because of the ZA failure to conserve momentum. background 0.90 0.08 0.05 asserted 1.00
s2 This implies that it takes time for the actual dynamics to establish the correct statistical properties of density and velocity fields. interpretation 0.71 0.10 0.05 asserted 0.90
s3 We extend perturbation theory (PT) to include transients as non-linear excitations of decaying modes caused by the IC. contribution 0.83 0.95 0.09 asserted 0.99
s4 We focus on higher-order statistics of the density contrast and velocity divergence, characterized by the S_p and T_p parameters. contribution 0.72 0.68 0.04 asserted 0.93
s5 We find that the time-scale of transients is determined, at a given order p, by the spectral index n. result 1.00 0.92 0.20 asserted 1.00
s6 The skewness factor S_3 (T_3) attains 10% accuracy only after a=6 (a=15) for n=0, whereas higher (lower) n demands more (less) expansion away from the IC. result 1.00 0.90 0.17 asserted 1.00
s7 These requirements become much more stringent as p increases. result 0.94 0.81 0.08 asserted 1.00
s8 An Omega=0.3 model requires a factor of two larger expansion than an Omega=1 model to reduce transients by the same amount. result 1.00 0.85 0.07 asserted 1.00
s9 The predicted transients in S_p are in good agreement with numerical simulations. result 1.00 0.88 0.12 asserted 0.99
s10 More accurate IC can be achieved by using 2nd order Lagrangian PT (2LPT), which reproduces growing modes up to 2nd order and thus eliminates transients in the skewness. result 0.50 0.48 0.31 asserted 0.95
s11 We show that for p>3 this reduces the required expansion by more than an order of magnitude compared to the ZA. result 0.98 0.89 0.24 asserted 1.00
s12 Setting up 2LPT IC only requires minimal, inexpensive changes to ZA codes. result 0.32 0.45 0.06 asserted 0.99
s13 We suggest simple steps for its implementation. method 0.37 0.45 0.05 hedged possibility 0.87

What kind of paper the classifier reports this is: theoretical result 0.92 · evidence from proof or derivation 0.90.

What was examined, and what was not

sources read
  • arXiv listing abstract v1
not examined
  • full text
  • figures and tables
  • references and citing sentences
  • relations to other papers
levels run
  • P abstract
not run
  • S sections
  • T body sentences
  • C citations
  • R cross-paper relations

Every quoted sentence on this record is the authors'. Every label is from Pith's closed vocabulary, with the probability shown beside it. Every number in the measurements table is the authors', checked by code. Record as JSON

Figures
Figure 1. — The ratio of the tree-level Sp parameters at scale factor a to their asymptotic exact dynamics value for scale-free initial spectra with different spectral indices: S3 (solid lines), S4 (dotted), S5 (short-dashed), S6 (long-dashed), S7 (dot-short-dashed), and S8 (dot-long-dashed). The values at a = 1 represent those set by the ZA initial conditions. For cosmological models with Ω < 1, the horizontal axis becomes the linear growth factor
Figure 2. — Same as Figure 1, but for the
Figure 3. — Same as Figure 1, but for initial velocities set as in
Figure 4. — Same as Figure 2, but for initial velocities set as in
Figure 5. — Symbols show the ratio of the Sp parameters at scale factor a measured in SCDM numerical simulations (Baugh, Gazta˜naga & Efstathiou 1995) to their asymptotic tree-level exact dynamics value as a function of smoothing scale R. Symbols represent a = 1 (open triangles), a = 1.66 (filled triangles), a = 2.75 (open squares) and a = 4.2 (filled squares). Error bars denote the variance of measurements in 10 realizations. Solid lines correspond to the predictions of transients in tree-level PT, expected to be valid at large scales
Figure 6. — The top left panel shows the γp parameters as a function of smoothing scale R for a Γ = 0.5 CDM model. The solid line corresponds to neff(R) ≡ γ(R) − 3, and γ2 (dotted line), γ3 (short-dashed), γ4 (long￾dashed), γ5 (dot-dashed). The top right panel shows the ratio of the Sp parameters to those calculated by setting γp = 0 for p ≥ 2 as a function of scale. Line-styles denote S4 (solid), S5 (dotted), S6 (short-dashed) and S7 (long-dashed). The left bottom panel shows the analogous calculation for a Γ = 0.21 CDM model. Right bottom panel presents a similar result for the Tp…
Figure 7. — The ratio of the tree-level Sp parameters at scale factor a to their asymptotic exact dynamics values for CDM models as a function of scale factor a. Top panels correspond to a Γ = 0.5 CDM model at smoothing scales R = 10, 100 h−1Mpc, and bottom panels show the corresponding results for a Γ = 0.21 CDM model. Line styles correspond to S3 (solid), S4 (dotted), S5 (short-dashed), and S6 (long-dashed). The upper axes in the bottom panels denote the scale factor a for Ω(a) = 0.3, with Λ = 0
Figure 8. — Same as Fig. 7, but for the
Figure 9. — Same as Fig. 7, but for initial velocities set as in ED
Figure 10. — Same as 8, but for initial velocities set as in EDFW,
Figure 11. — Same as Fig. 1, but for initial conditions set using
Figure 12. — Same as Fig. 2, but for the

Figures reproduced from arXiv:astro-ph/9711187 by the authors.

References
How later papers used it

145 later papers cite it

Evidence: substantial. 141 of the citing papers share no author with it, and 97 of those carry a confident label from Pith's citation classifier.

Pith read 10 of the 171 citing sentences, choosing only those whose citation markers point at this paper alone, and wrote the paraphrases from them. The summary, the counts, the evidence level, the links and the quotes come from code; the summary counts the papers listed below. A later paper is listed under a label when Pith's citation classifier gives one of its sentences that label at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), Pith's reading finds that the citing paper itself did it, and a second check confirms the paraphrase against the sentence. This section lists uses only. It does not list criticism or disagreement, so their absence here says nothing about how the paper has been received. Papers that share an author with this one are listed apart, under "By the same authors". A quote is the citing authors' own sentence, shown when their paper's licence is CC BY, CC BY-SA or CC0. JSON

Uses its method or tool 10 of 97 papers with this label · 1 by the same authors

By the same authors

  • Followed this paper to write the equations of motion for a pressureless fluid in the one-flow limit in compact form using a two-component quantity.

    Constructing Regularized Cosmic Propagators (2011) (same authors) · 0.83 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting

How the literature uses it

79 arXiv papers cite this in 101 sentences

Each citing sentence is taken from the citing paper's LaTeX source and typed by Pith's classifier. A label appears at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), a contest at 0.7 or more; the quoted words are the citing authors'. How each label was checked · JSON

Papers citing it · 43 sentences without a confident label

Uses its method or tool 49 papers
Compares with it 1 paper
Cites it as support 1 paper
Cites it as background 4 papers

Discussion

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