Galaxy Formation
• Lots of theory here!
• Jeans (1902), gravitational collapse in a stationary medium,
depends on sound speed and density
• Lifshitz (1946), general case including expanding medium,
but collapse is not typically exponetial and structures grow
very slowly – too slowly! Cannot start with infinitesimal
perturbations.
• Zeldovich, Novikov, Peebles (1960s) used finite
perturbations (1 part in 10000).
• Main test of all this is the cosmic microwave background
radiation, since fluctations should leave imprints.