REU: Studies in Gravitational Instability

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One of the major problems in modern cosmology is understanding how structure arose in the expanding universe from a very smooth early state. This is generally thought to be the result of gravity. This project obtains new understandings of the development of structure by gravity from various kinds of initial conditions which may have existed in the early universe The investigators develop and apply nonlinear mathematical approximation methods as well as computer simulations of the formation of structure. They concentrate on the further development of statistical tests which can be used to objectively compare computer models to astronomical data.