Topology of the Las Campanas Redshift Survey

The topology of the Las Campanas Redshift Survey is analyzed using Minkowski functional statistics, taking into account the selection effects of the survey. The results are compared with the predictions of some toy models of structure formation, including the Standard Cold Dark Matter Model and topological defect-based models. All of the toy models have a scale invariant primordial spectrum of perturbations, but quite different topologies. The statistics can discriminate between the predictions of the models with high significance. Amongst the four Minkowski functionals, the integrated mean curvature statistic appears to be the most powerful discriminant, followed by the genus statistic. None of the models considered gives an acceptable fit to the data.