Density contrast is a parameter used in
galaxy formation
The study of galaxy formation and evolution is concerned with the processes that formed a heterogeneous universe from a homogeneous beginning, the formation of the first galaxies, the way galaxies change over time, and the processes that have gen ...
to indicate where there are local enhancements in matter density.
:
It is believed that after
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
, although the universe was mostly uniform, some regions were slightly denser than others with contrast densities on the order of 1 trillionth. As the
horizon distance expanded, the enclosed causally connected (i.e. gravitationally connected) masses increased until they reached the
Jeans mass and began to collapse, which allowed
galaxies
A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...
,
galaxy clusters
A galaxy cluster, or a cluster of galaxies, is a structure that consists of anywhere from hundreds to thousands of galaxies that are bound together by gravity, with typical masses ranging from 1014 to 1015 solar masses. They are the second-la ...
,
superclusters, and
filaments to form.
References
Physical cosmology
Inflation (cosmology)
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