Formation of the First Black holes: Formation and evolution of the cosmic large-scale structure

TL;DR

This review paper discusses the formation and evolution of the first black holes within the context of cosmic large-scale structure, covering cosmological models, statistical descriptions, and halo formation processes.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the theoretical frameworks and mathematical methods used to understand the early universe's structure formation and black hole origins.

Findings

Description of Gaussian random fields in cosmic structures

Analysis of linear and nonlinear structure evolution

Insights into halo formation via spherical collapse

Abstract

The article is part of a review volume on the formation of the first black holes and summarises FLRW-cosmologies, the statistical description of cosmic structures as Gaussian random fields, as well as fluid mechanics in the linear and nonlinear regime. In particular, I review the evolution of the cosmic large-scale structure in linear structure formation and describe how perturbative solutions are constructed, leading to the built-up of non-Gaussianitites. Lastly, I discuss halo formation by spherical collapse and number densities of haloes that form in a Gaussian random field.