2013MNRAS.436.3525R

Observational studies show that voids are prominent features of the large-scale structure of the present-day Universe. Even though their emerging from the primordial density perturbations and evolutionary patterns differ from dark matter haloes, N-body simulations and theoretical models have shown that voids also merge together to form large void structures. In this study, following Sheth & van de Weygaert, we formulate an analytical approximate description of the hierarchical void evolution of growing voids by adopting the halo merging algorithm given by Lacey & Cole in the Einstein de Sitter (EdS) Universe. To do this, we take into account the general volume distribution of voids which consists of two main void processes: merging and collapsing. We show that the volume distribution function can be reduced to a simple form, by neglecting the collapsing void contribution since the collapse process is negligible for large-size voids. Therefore, the void volume fraction has a contribution only from growing voids. This algorithm becomes the analogue of the halo merging algorithm. Based on this growing void distribution, we obtain the void merging algorithm in which we define and formulate void merging and absorption rates, as well as void size and redshift survival probabilities and also failure rates in terms of the self-similar and currently favoured dark-energy-dominated cold dark matter models in the EdS Universe.