Related papers: Cosmic Confusion and Structure Formation
The Cosmic Defect theory has been confronted with four observational constraints: primordial nuclear species abundances emerging from the big bang nucleosynthesis; large scale structure formation in the universe; cosmic microwave background…
We introduce "anamorphic" cosmology, an approach for explaining the smoothness and flatness of the universe on large scales and the generation of a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of adiabatic density perturbations. The defining feature is…
We claim that the discrepancy found between theoretical predictions for the cosmic mass function and those found in numerical simulations is due to the fact that in deriving the former all mass elements are assumed to be at the center of…
We propose novel structure formation scenarios based on a non-singular higher curvature cosmological model. The model is motivated by the $R^2$ coupling of a scalar field appearing in the string theory, and in our scenarios the universe has…
The success of present and future cosmological studies is tied to the ability to detect discrepancies in complex data sets within the framework of a cosmological model. Tensions caused by the presence of unknown systematic effects need to…
Cosmology has entered an era of unprecedented precision, yet increasing accuracy has revealed cracks in the standard $\Lambda$CDM paradigm. Although the model remains highly successful when confronted with individual datasets, joint…
In this review, the formation, evolution, and decay of the large-scale structure of the Universe is discussed in the context of observational data, numerical simulations, and the Cosmological Standard Model (CSM). Problems concerning…
This is a review of the Cold Dark Matter model of structure formation, and its variants. The approach is largely from first principles, the main aim being to impart a basic understanding of the relevant theory with an eye to the likely…
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…
The standard big bang cosmology has been greatly successful in explaining many observational aspects of the real universe. However, two particular diffficulties faced by it are the so-called ``horizon'' and ``flatness'' problems. By…
We investigate how the qualitative structure of Doppler peaks in the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave anisotropy is affected by basic assumptions going into theories of structure formation. We define the concepts of…
Inflationary cosmology provides a natural mechanism for the generation of primordial perturbations which seed the formation of observed cosmic structure and lead to specific signals of anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background…
The standard theory of cosmic structure formation posits that the present-day rich structure of the Universe developed through gravitational amplification of tiny matter density fluctuations generated in its very early history. Recent…
Cosmological theories for the origin and evolution of structure in the Universe are highly predictive of the form of the angular power spectrum of cosmic microwave background fluctuations. We present new results from a comprehensive study…
The recent observations of galaxy and dark matter clumpy distributions have provided new elements to the understating of the problem of cosmological structure formation. The strong clumpiness characterizing galaxy structures seems to be…
Doppler peaks in the cosmic microwave background may allow us to distinguish among the two classes of theories-inflationary models and topological defect scenarios-which attempt to explain the origin of structure formation in the universe.…
The formation of structure in the Universe offers some of the most powerful evidence in favour of the existence of dark matter in the Universe. We summarize recent work by ourselves and our collaborators, using linear and quasi-linear…
After introducing gauge-invariant cosmological perturbation theory we give an improved set of governing equations for multiple fluids including energy transfer. Having defined adiabatic and entropic perturbations we derive the…
I review a number of tests of theories for structure formation. Large-scale flows and IRAS galaxies indicate a high density parameter $\Omega \simeq 1$, in accord with inflationary predictions, but it is not clear how this meshes with the…
These lecture notes discuss several topics in the physics of cosmic structure formation starting from the evolution of small-amplitude fluctuations in the radiation-dominated era. The topics include relativistic cosmological perturbation…