Filaments within filaments: unraveling the hierarchy of the cosmic web

Abstract: Cosmic filaments are the most striking feature of the hierarchical cosmic web. Yet, their own sub-structure remains unexplored, unlike the well-known, universal halo/sub-halo hierarchy. We use a hierarchical reconstruction scheme to identify sub-filaments within larger filaments. Examining differences in the radial phase-space profiles of parent and sub-filaments, we argue that the latter constitute a statistically distinct class of structures. Establishing the existence of a universal filament hierarchy must then account for these differences, with implications for cosmology and dark matter.