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The Large Scale Structure of the Universe

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Galaxy Formation

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Summary

The best information on the large-scale isotropy and homogeneity of the Universe comes from the distribution of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) over the sky and its spectrum. The remarkable isotropy of the CMB contrasts with large-scale distribution of galaxies which display huge walls and voids on large scales, which has a sponge-like topology. Their distributions are described by correlation functions. Combining Hubble’s law with the isotropy and homogeneity of the Universe shows that the Universe as a whole is expanding uniformly.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I have given a derivation of this result in my book High Energy Astrophysics (Longair, 2011), Sects. 9.4.3 and 9.5.

  2. 2.

    The use of h = H 0∕(100 km s−1 Mpc−1) is a convenient device for adjusting the dimensions and luminosities of extragalactic objects to the reader’s preferred value of Hubble’s constant. If a value of H 0 = 100 km s−1 Mpc−1 is preferred, h = 1; if the value H 0 = 50 km s−1 Mpc−1 is adopted, h = 0.5 and so on. It is now known that the value of h is h ≈ 0.7.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Malcolm S. Longair

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  1. Malcolm S. Longair
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Longair, M.S. (2023). The Large Scale Structure of the Universe. In: Galaxy Formation. Astronomy and Astrophysics Library. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65891-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65891-8_2

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