Inhomogeneous cosmology and backreaction: Current status and future prospects

Understand

Astronomical observations reveal hierarchical structures in the Universe, from galaxies, groups of galaxies, clusters and superclusters, to filaments and voids.

• On the largest scales it seems that some kind of statistical homogeneity can be observed.
• As a result, modern cosmological models are based on spatially homogeneous and isotropic solutions of the Einstein equations, and the evolution of the universe is approximated by the Friedmann equations.
• In parallel to standard homogeneous cosmology, the field of inhomogeneous cosmology and backreaction is being developed.