Maartens, RoyGouws, Liesbeth-Helena2014-06-132024-10-302014-06-132024-10-302014https://hdl.handle.net/10566/16578>Magister Scientiae - MScWe begin by finding a system of differential equations for the background and linearly perturbed variables in the standard, ɅCDM model, using the Einstein Field Equations, and then solving these numerically. Later, we extend this to dynamical dark energy models parameterised by an equation of state, w, and a rest frame speed of sound, cs. We pay special attention to the large-scale behaviour of Δm, the gauge invariant, commoving matter density, since the approximation Δm ≃ δm, where δm is the longitudinal gauge matter density, is more commonly used, but breaks down at large scales. We show how the background is affected by w only, so measurements of perturbations are required to constrain cs. We examine how the accelerated expansion of the universe, caused by dark energy, slows down the growth rate of matter. We then show the matter power spectrum is not in itself useful for constraining dark energy models, but how redshift-space distortions can be used to extract the growth rate from the galaxy power spectrum, and hence how redshift-space power spectra can be used to constrain different dark energy models. We find that on small scales, the growth rate is more dependent on w, while on large scales, it depends more on cs.enCosmologyDark energyGeneral relativityPerturbationsGrowth rateLarge-scale structurePower spectrumRedshift-space distortionsSpeed of soundEquation of stateThesisUniversity of Western Cape