Previous
abstract 
Next
abstract
Session 82 - Pierce Prize Lecture.
Invited session, Thursday, June 13
Union Theater,
I will review recent progress in our understanding of the dynamics of the nearby universe (z < 0.1) from redshift and peculiar velocity surveys of galaxies. We can put constraints on various important cosmological quantities through a variety of statistical analyses of these surveys. In particular, redshift surveys allow us to measure the density field traced by galaxies, from which follows the power spectrum of this density field. Relating this to the initial power spectrum of the dark matter requires understanding the non-linear evolution of density fluctuations and the relation between the distribution of dark matter and galaxies. Further constraints on the power spectrum on large scales come from observations of the velocity field. Comparison of the galaxy density field with the peculiar velocity field allows us to test our basic gravitational instability model that gives rise to the structures we see today. Moreover, it also allows a measurement of the cosmological density parameter Ømega_0, again subject to the uncertainties of the relative distribution of galaxies and dark matter. I will conclude with a discussion of large-scale redshift surveys in the advanced planning stages, which promise to increase the volume, number, and quality of galaxies surveyed by more than an order of magnitude.
