October 26, 1996
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 theory to probe the allowed parameter space of structure formation models with perturbations based on the inflationary cosmology. Observations used include large and intermediate angle microwave background anisotropies, galaxy clustering, the abundance of galaxy clusters and object abundances at high redshift. The cosmologies studied include critical density models with cold dark matter and with mixed dark matter, cold dark matter models with a cosmological constant and open cold dark matter models. Where possible, we have updated results from our journal papers.
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April 18, 1996
A brief account is given of large-scale structure modelling based on the assumption that the initial perturbations arise from inflation. A recap is made of the implications of inflation for large-scale structure; under the widely applicable slow-roll paradigm inflation adds precisely two extra parameters to the normal scenarios, which can be taken to be the tilt of the density perturbation spectrum and the amplitude of gravitational waves. Some comments are made about the {\i...
November 13, 1995
We present an extensive comparison of models of structure formation with observations, based on linear and quasi-linear theory. We assume a critical matter density, and study both cold dark matter models and cold plus hot dark matter models. We explore a wide range of parameters, by varying the fraction of hot dark matter $\Omega_{\nu}$, the Hubble parameter $h$ and the spectral index of density perturbations $n$, and allowing for the possibility of gravitational waves from i...
June 8, 1993
The COBE results, to be followed in the near future by other Cosmic Microwave Background measurements, are providing us with a new fundamental tool to probe the formation of large scale structure in the Universe, and in so doing to constrain our models of the early universe and the nature of dark matter. I describe briefly here how to interpret the COBE results data with these in mind, and conclude with a discussion of implications for the future.
July 25, 1997
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 fluctuations as the origin of structure in the expanding universe. General relativistic cosmology is summarized, and the data on the basic cosmological parameters ($t_o$ and $H_0 \equiv 100 h \kmsmpc$, $\Omega_0$, $\Omega_\Lambda$ and $\Omega_b$) ...
August 14, 1998
A better understanding of the formation of large-scale structure in the Universe is arguably the most pressing question in cosmology. The most compelling and promising theoretical paradigm, Inflation + Cold Dark Matter, holds that the density inhomogeneities that seeded the formation of structure in the Universe originated from quantum fluctuations arising during inflation and that the bulk of the dark matter exists as slowing moving elementary particles (`cold dark matter') ...
April 12, 1993
In these lectures I review the standard hot big-bang cosmology, emphasizing its successes, its shortcomings, and its major challenge---a detailed understanding of the formation of structure in the Universe. I then discuss the motivations for---and the fundamentals of---inflationary cosmology, particularly emphasizing the quantum origin of metric (density and gravity-wave) perturbations. Inflation addresses the shortcomings of the standard cosmology and provides the ``initial ...
June 27, 2011
A rapid phase of accelerated expansion in the early universe, known as inflation, dilutes all matter except the vacuum induced quantum fluctuations. These are responsible for seeding the initial perturbations in the baryonic matter, the non-baryonic dark matter and the observed temperature anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. To explain the universe observed today, the end of inflation must also excite a thermal bath filled with baryons, an amount of...
November 11, 1994
An introduction to modern cosmology is given, focusing on theories for the origin of structure in the Universe. After a brief review of the theory of growth of cosmological perturbations and a summary of some important observational results, most of the article is devoted to discussions of the inflationary Universe scenario and of topological defect models of structure formation. The final chapter is a summary of the theory of cosmic microwave background temperature fluctuati...
January 24, 1996
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 dark matter in a Friedmann model are described, leading to a review of the current situation in confronting inflationary models with the latest data on the clustering of galaxies and other measures of large-scale structure.
December 7, 1996
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 present in the early universe. These fluctuations grew by gravitational instability to form the observed structures. There are at present two families of models to explain the origin of these initial fluctuations: inflationary models and topologi...