Can explosions generate large-scale cosmological structure?

The explosion model is successful in explaining certain features of galaxy formation but it is not clear a priori whether it can account for the large-scale distribution of galaxies. In particular, recent claims to have found 'bubbly' structure raise the question of whether explosions could have generated bubbles as large as observed. We here address this question semi-quantitatively, using analytic estimates and the results of first N-body simulations. We conclude that, in a flat Universe, the explosion model can produce a galaxy distribution on scales of a few to a few tens of megaparsecs which is not in apparent conflict with observations provided the galaxies formed at a redshift z ≈ 5-10. If the Universe is 90% dominated by non-gaseous dark matter, the model provides a natural biased galaxy formation mechanism, as seems to be required to reconcile a flat cosmological model with observation.