Observational Tests of FRW World Models

Abstract

Observational tests for the Cosmological Principle are reviewed. Assuming the FRW metric we then summarize estimates of cosmological parameters from various data sets, in particular the Cosmic Microwave Background and the 2dF galaxy redshift survey. These and other analyses suggest a best-fit Lambda-Cold Dark Matter model with Omega_m = 1 - Omega_lambda = 0.3 and H_0 = 70 km/sec/Mpc. It is remarkable that different measurements converge to this `concordance model', although it remains to be seen if the two main components of this model, the dark matter and the dark energy, are real entities or just `epicycles'. We point out some open questions related to this fashionable model.

11 pages with 3 figures included. Invited review at ``The Early Universe and Cosmological Observations: a Critical Review'', UCT, Cape Town, July 2001, to appear in "Classical and Quantum Gravity"

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• A measurement of the cosmological mass density from clustering in the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey
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• Fractal Dimensions of a Weakly Clustered Distribution and the Scale of Homogeneity
• Measuring Cosmological Parameters with the SDSS QSO Spatial Power Spectrum Analysis to Test the Cosmological Principle
• Inflationary Cosmology: Theory and Phenomenology