Summary
A central theme of galaxy and large-scale structure formation is the collapse and evolution of density perturbations in the Universe under gravity. The basic physics of gravitational collapse is built up, starting with the non-relativistic case and the Jeans’ instability. Gravitational collapse in a static and expanding medium is contrasted—exponential growth of the instability in the case of a static medium and algebraic collapse in an expanding medium. General solutions are provided for a range of world models. The evolution of peculiar velocities provide a means of probing the development of density perturbations. Collapse in the relativistic case turns out to preserve many features of the non-relativistic results. These analyses expose the fundamental problems of the formation of structure in the Universe.
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Notes
- 1.
I have discussed the relation between the Eulerian and Lagrangian systems of coordinates in Chap. 7 of my book Theoretical Concepts in Physics (Longair, 2020).
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Longair, M.S. (2023). The Evolution of Density Perturbations in the Standard Big Bang. In: Galaxy Formation. Astronomy and Astrophysics Library. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65891-8_11
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