Structure Formation in the Early Universe

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in understanding how the universe's large-scale structures and first objects formed, emphasizing theoretical predictions, numerical simulations, and future observational prospects.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent progress in the theory and simulation of early universe structure formation, especially the formation of first stars and galaxies.

Findings

Accurate predictions for structure growth from early to present.

State-of-the-art numerical simulations of early structure formation.

Insights into future observational opportunities for first-generation objects.

Abstract

The standard theory of cosmic structure formation posits that the present-day rich structure of the Universe developed through gravitational amplification of tiny matter density fluctuations generated in its very early history. Recent observations of the cosmic microwave background, large-scale structure, and distant supernovae determined the energy content of the Universe and the basic statistics of the initial density field with great accuracy. It has become possible to make accurate predictions for the formation and nonlinear growth of structure from early to the present epochs. We review recent progress in the theory of structure formation in the universe. We focus on the formation of the first cosmological objects. Results from state-of-the-art numerical simulations are presented. Finally, we discuss prospects for future observations of the first generation of stars and galaxies.