Related papers: Cosmological Perturbation Theory and Structure For…
This is a review on cosmological perturbation theory. After an introduction, it presents the problem of gauge transformation. Gauge invariant variables are introduced and the Einstein and conservation equations are written in terms of these…
Topological defects are ubiquitous in condensed-matter physics but only hypothetical in the early universe. In spite of this, even an indirect evidence for one of these cosmic objects would revolutionize our vision of the cosmos. We give…
These lecture notes introduce the reader to the hot big bang model, cosmological perturbations, gravitational waves, the cosmic microwave background, inflation, the singularity problem, the cosmological constant problem and the cosmology of…
These lectures present a brief review of inflationary cosmology, provide an overview of the theory of cosmological perturbations, and then focus on the conceptual problems of the current paradigm of early universe cosmology, thus motivating…
This chapter aims to present an introduction to current research on the nature of the cosmological dark matter and the origin of galaxies and large scale structure within the standard theoretical framework: gravitational collapse of…
The evolution of the perturbations in the energy density and the particle number density in a flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker universe in the radiation-dominated era and in the epoch after decoupling of matter and radiation is…
The particle production process is reviewed, through which cosmic inflation can produce a scale invariant superhorizon spectrum of perturbations of suitable fields starting from their quantum fluctuations. Afterwards, in the context of the…
In these lectures the present status of the so-called standard cosmological model, based on the hot Big Bang theory and the inflationary paradigm is reviewed. Special emphasis is given to the origin of the cosmological perturbations we see…
These lectures cover the basics of inflationary models for the early universe, concentrating particularly on the generation of density fluctuations from scalar-field dynamics. The subsequent gravitational dynamics of these fluctuations in…
A relativistic cosmological perturbation theory for the Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker universe is presented that explains the masses and formation times of the first structures in our universe. First, it is shown that, without a…
We study linear cosmological perturbations in a previously introduced family of deformations of general relativity characterized by the absence of new degrees of freedom. The homogeneous and isotropic background in this class of theories is…
These lecture notes form a primer on the theory of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy formation. With emphasis on conceptual aspects rather than technical issues, we examine the physical foundations of anisotropy evolution in…
The potential role of cosmic topological defects has raised interest in the astrophysical community for many years now. In this set of notes, we give an introduction to the subject of cosmic topological defects and some of their possible…
The origin of the large scale structure in the universe - galaxies, quasars, clusters, voids, sheets - is one of the most important questions in cosmology. One can show that some non-thermal energy density fluctuations must have been…
These lectures provide a pedagogical introduction to inflation and the theory of cosmological perturbations generated during inflation which are thought to be the origin of structure in the universe.
Observational cosmology is in its "golden age" with a vast amount of recent data on the distribution of matter and light in the universe. This data can be used to probe theories of the very early universe. It is small amplitude cosmological…
We present a self-contained summary of the theory of linear cosmological perturbations. We emphasize the effect of the six parameters of the minimal cosmological model, first, on the spectrum of Cosmic Microwave Background temperature…
This set of lectures provides an overview of the basic theory and phenomenology of the cosmic microwave background. Topics include a brief historical review; the physics of temperature and polarization fluctuations; acoustic oscillations of…
The currently standard theory of cosmic structure formation posits that the present-day clumpy appearance of the universe developed through gravitational amplification of the matter density fluctuations that are generated in the very early…
We provide a pedagogical overview of defect models of structure formation. We first introduce the concept of topological defect, and describe how to classify them. We then show how defects might be produced in phase transitions in the Early…