Working with Merger-Trees

The Arbor class is responsible for loading and providing access to merger-tree data. Below, we demonstrate how to load data and what can be done with it.

Loading Merger-Tree Data

ytree can load merger-tree data from multiple sources using the load command.

import ytree
a = ytree.load("consistent_trees/tree_0_0_0.dat")

This command will determine the correct format and read in the data accordingly. For examples of loading each format, see below.

Working with Merger-Tree Data

Very little happens immediately after a dataset has been loaded. All tree construction and data access occurs only on demand. After loading, information such as the simulation box size, cosmological parameters, and the available fields can be accessed.

>>> print (a.box_size)
100.0 Mpc/h
>>> print (a.hubble_constant, a.omega_matter, a.omega_lambda)
0.695 0.285 0.715
>>> print (a.field_list)
['scale', 'id', 'desc_scale', 'desc_id', 'num_prog', ...]

Similar to yt, ytree supports accessing fields by their native names as well as generalized aliases. For more information on fields in ytree, see Fields in ytree.

How many trees are there?

As soon as any information about the collection of trees within the loaded dataset is requested, an array will be constructed containing objects representing the root of each tree, i.e., the last descendent halo. This structure is accessed by querying the loaded Arbor directly. It can also be accessed as a.trees.

>>> print (a.size)
Loading tree roots: 100%|██████| 5105985/5105985 [00:00<00:00, 505656111.95it/s]
327

Root Fields

Field data for all tree roots is accessed by querying the Arbor in a dictionary-like manner.

>>> print (a["mass"])
Getting root fields: 100%|██████████████████| 327/327 [00:00<00:00, 9108.67it/s]
[  6.57410072e+14   5.28489209e+14   5.18129496e+14   4.88920863e+14, ...,
   8.68489209e+11   8.68489209e+11   8.68489209e+11] Msun

ytree uses yt’s system for symbolic units, allowing for simple unit conversion.

>>> print (a["virial_radius"].to("Mpc/h"))
[ 1.583027  1.471894  1.462154  1.434253  1.354779  1.341322  1.28617, ...,
  0.173696  0.173696  0.173696  0.173696  0.173696] Mpc/h

When dealing with cosmological simulations, care must be taken to distinguish between comoving and proper reference frames. Please read An Important Note on Comoving and Proper Units before your magical ytree journey begins.

Accessing Individual Trees

Individual trees can be accessed by indexing the Arbor object.

>>> print (a[0])
TreeNode[12900]

A TreeNode is one halo in a merger-tree. The number is the universal identifier associated with halo. It is unique to the whole arbor. Fields can be accessed for any given TreeNode in the same dictionary-like fashion.

>>> print (a[0]["mass"])
657410071942446.1 Msun

The full lineage of the tree can be accessed by querying any TreeNode with the tree keyword.

>>> my_tree = a[0]
>>> print (my_tree["tree"])
[TreeNode[12900] TreeNode[12539] TreeNode[12166] TreeNode[11796] ...
 TreeNode[591]]

Fields can be queried for the tree by including the field name.

>>> print (my_tree["tree", "virial_radius"])
[ 2277.73669065  2290.65899281  2301.43165468  2311.47625899  2313.99280576 ...
  434.59856115   410.13381295   411.25755396] kpc

A halo’s ancestors are stored as a list in the ancestors attribute. The descendents are stored in a similar fashion.

>>> print (my_tree.ancestors)
[TreeNode[12539]]
>>> print (my_tree.ancestors[0].descendent)
TreeNode[12900]

Accessing the Progenitor Lineage of a Tree

Similar to the tree keyword, the prog keyword can be used to access the line of main progenitors.

>>> print (my_tree["prog"])
[TreeNode[12900] TreeNode[12539] TreeNode[12166] TreeNode[11796] ...
 TreeNode[62]]
>>> print (my_tree["prog", "mass"])
[  6.57410072e+14   6.57410072e+14   6.53956835e+14   6.50071942e+14 ...
   8.29496403e+13   7.72949640e+13   6.81726619e+13   5.99280576e+13] Msun

Customizing the Progenitor Line

By default, the progenitor line is defined as the line of the most massive ancestors. This can be changed by calling the set_selector.

>>> a.set_selector("max_field_value", "virial_radius")

New selector functions can also be supplied. These functions should minimally accept a list of ancestors and return a single TreeNode.

>>> def max_value(ancestors, field):
...     vals = np.array([a[field] for a in ancestors])
...     return ancestors[np.argmax(vals)]
...
>>> ytree.add_tree_node_selector("max_field_value", max_value)
>>>
>>> a.set_selector("max_field_value", "mass")
>>> print (a[0]["prog"])

Saving Arbors and Trees

Arbors of any type can be saved to a universal file format with the save_arbor function. These can be reloaded with the load command. This format is optimized for fast tree-building and field-access and so is recommended for most situations.

>>> fn = a.save_arbor()
Setting up trees: 100%|███████████████████| 327/327 [00:00<00:00, 483787.45it/s]
Getting fields [1/1]: 100%|████████████████| 327/327 [00:00<00:00, 36704.51it/s]
Creating field arrays [1/1]: 100%|█| 613895/613895 [00:00<00:00, 7931878.47it/s]
>>> a2 = ytree.load(fn)

By default, all trees and all fields will be saved, but this can be customized with the trees and fields keywords.

For convenience, individual trees can also be saved by calling save_tree.

>>> fn = a[0].save_tree()
Creating field arrays [1/1]: 100%|████| 4897/4897 [00:00<00:00, 13711286.17it/s]
>>> a2 = ytree.load(fn)

An Important Note on Comoving and Proper Units

Users of yt are likely familiar with conversion from proper to comoving reference frames by adding “cm” to a unit. For example, proper “Mpc” becomes comoving with “Mpccm”. This conversion relies on all the data being associated with a single redshift. This is not possible here because the dataset has values for multiple redshifts. To account for this, the proper and comoving unit systems are set to be equal to each other.

>>> print (a.box_size)
100.0 Mpc/h
>>> print (a.box_size.to("Mpccm/h"))
100.0 Mpccm/h

Data should be assumed to be in the reference frame in which it was saved. For length scales, this is typically the comoving frame. When in doubt, the safest unit to use for lengths is “unitary”, which a system normalized to the box size.

>>> print (a.box_size.to("unitary"))
1.0 unitary