Large-scale Structure with the SKA

Abstract

A standard theoretical paradigm for the formation of large-scale structure in the distribution of galaxies has now been established, based on the gravitational instability of cold dark matter in a background cosmology dominated by vacuum energy. Significant uncertainties remain in the modelling of complex astrophysical processes involved in galaxy formation, perhaps most fundamentally in the relationship between the distributions of luminous galaxies and the underlying dark matter. I argue that the Square Kilometre Array is likely to provide information crucial to understanding this relationship and how it evolves with time.

14 pages, 1 figure, uses SKA.sty. In "The Scientific Promise of the SKA", SKA Workshop, Oxford, 2003, eds Kramer and Rawlings