PROF. J. RICHARD BOND
Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
University of Toronto
The Parameters of Cosmic Structure Formation
We probe the interconnected "cosmic web" of structure in the Universe
over a wide range of wavebands with cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation
experiments, galaxy and cluster redshift surveys of large scale structure
(LSS), and high redshift observations of forming galaxies and the intergalactic
medium. The inflation-based cosmic structure formation paradigm we have
been operating with for 15 years has never been in better shape: combining
all of the current CMB+LSS data points to the remarkable conclusion that
the initial fluctuations were nearly scale invariant and the local Hubble
patch we can access has little mean curvature, both predictions of (non-baroque)
inflation theory. Even stranger is the evidence from CMB and LSS observations
that the density of the universe is dominated by unclustered energy akin
to the cosmological constant, at the same level as that inferred from high
redshift supernova observations.
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