Related papers: Galaxies as a cosmological test
Present-day extragalactic observations are mostly rather well-modelled by a general-relativistic model, the $\Lambda$ CDM model. The model appears to surpass the limits of known physics by requiring that the Universe be dominated by "dark…
Motivated by recent suggestions that a number of observed galaxy clusters have masses which are too high for their given redshift to occur naturally in a standard model cosmology, we use Extreme Value Statistics to construct confidence…
We discuss the first results from two successful simulations of galaxy formation within a cosmological volume. With over 2000 large objects forming in each we have sufficient numbers to reliably produce both galaxy correlation and…
Surveys of the local and distant Universe are the means to test and improve our models of galaxy formation. Substantial successes in the models are evident, while there is also considerable recent progress in identifying what remains to be…
The great advances in the network of cosmological tests show that the relativistic Big Bang theory is a good description of our expanding universe. But the properties of nearby galaxies that can be observed in greatest detail suggest a…
The cosmographic approach, which only relies upon the homogeneity and isotropy of the Universe on large scales, has become an essential tool in dealing with an increasing number of theoretical possibilities for explaining the late-time…
Recent cosmological tensions pose difficulties for $\Lambda$CDM. Forthcoming facilities will be able to check whether these tensions result from systematic effects or indeed with the $\Lambda$CDM model itself. However, these new data will…
Recent observational results suggest that our universe is nearly flat and well modelled within a $\Lambda$CDM framework. The observed values of $\Omega_{m}$ and $\Omega_{\Lambda}$ inevitably involve uncertainties. Motivated by this, we make…
Recent developments in gravitational lensing astronomy have paved the way to genuine mappings of the gravitational potential at cosmological scales. We stress that comparing these data with traditional large scale structure surveys will…
General relativity is exquisitely tested in strong-field regimes, yet its validity on cosmological scales remains largely unexplored. Upcoming wide and deep large-scale structure surveys will access the ultra-large, linear scales where…
In this manuscript I review the mathematics and physics that underpins recent work using the clustering of galaxies to derive cosmological model constraints. I start by describing the basic concepts, and gradually move on to some of the…
The LCDM cosmological model assumes the existence of a small cosmological constant in order to explain the observed accelerating cosmic expansion. Despite the dramatic improvement of the quality of cosmological data during the last decade…
We critically investigate current statistical tests applied to high redshift clusters of galaxies in order to test the standard cosmological model and describe their range of validity. We carefully compare a sample of high-redshift,…
The large-scale structure of the Universe is a rich source of information to test the consistency of General Relativity on cosmological scales. We briefly describe how the observed distributions of galaxies is affected by redshift-space…
Strong lensing has developed into an important astrophysical tool for probing both cosmology and galaxies (their structures, formations, and evolutions). Now several hundreds of strong lens systems produced by massive galaxies have been…
A few, simple and qualitative examples of the potential of galaxy clusters as diagnostics of cosmology are presented. In relation to these we discuss briefly three ongoing or forthcoming cluster surveys in the optical/NIR, X-rays and the…
Cosmography is a powerful tool to investigate the Universe kinematic and then to reconstruct dynamics in a model-independent way. However, recent new measurements of supernovae Ia and quasars have populated the Hubble diagram up to high…
The latest observations of molecular gas and the atomic hydrogen content of local and high-redshift galaxies, coupled with how these correlate with star formation activity, have revolutionized our ideas about how to model star formation in…
Observations of redshift-space distortions in spectroscopic galaxy surveys offer an attractive method for observing the build-up of cosmological structure. In this paper we develop and test a new statistic based on anisotropies in the…
The number of galaxies at a given flux as a function of the redshift, $z$, is derived when the $z$-distance relation is non-standard. In order to compare different models, the same formalism is also applied to the standard cosmology. The…