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Title:		Laboratory observation of caustics, optical simulation of the motion of particles, and cosmology
Authors:		ZELDOVICH, IA. B.; MAMAEV, A. V.; SHANDARIN, S. F.
Affiliation:		AC(Akademiia Nauk SSSR, Institut Prikladnoi Matematiki, Moscow, USSR)
Journal:		(Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk, vol. 139, Jan. 1983, p. 153-163) Soviet Physics - Uspekhi (ISSN 0038-5670), vol. 26, Jan. 1983, p. 77-83. Translation.
Publication Date:		01/1983
Category:		Astrophysics
Origin:		STI
NASA/STI Keywords:		CAUSTICS (OPTICS), COSMOLOGY, PARTICLE MOTION, GEOMETRICAL OPTICS, GRAVITATIONAL EFFECTS, UNIVERSE
Bibliographic Code:		1983SvPhU.139..153Z

Abstract

:Laboratory experiments on the observation of caustics when light rays are refracted by a 'random' smooth surface are described. The analogy between caustics in geometrical optics and the singularities that arise in irrotational flows in a cold collisionless medium is discussed. The analogy is then extended to a very important cosmological process - the formation of the large-scale structure of the Universe. It is shown that in an expanding Universe the evolution of smooth irrotational perturbations, which grow under the influence of the gravitational force, leads to the formation of structures geometrically similar to generic optical caustics.

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