THE INFLATIONARY UNIVERSE - FROM THEORY TO OBSERVATIONS

The inflationary Universe resolves some of the most outstanding issues of standard cosmology including the horizon and flatness problems and the origin of density fluctuations in the Universe. Inflationary mode ls also predict the existence of a relic gravity wave background. Both gravity waves and density fluctuations induce fluctuations in the cos mic microwave background (CMB), the discovery of large angle anisotrop ies in the CMB having the scale invariant spectrum predicted by inflat ionary models has fuelled the hope that the inflationary scenario may indeed provide the correct description of the very early Universe. Upc oming large scale galaxy surveys (SDSS & 2dF) and CMB missions (MAP, P lanck Surveyor) will further probe the inflationary scenario by throwi ng light on the origin and evolution of large scale structure in the U niverse.