The cosmic microwave background and article physics

In forthcoming years, connections between cosmology and particle physics wi ll become increasingly important with the advent of a new generation of cos mic microwave background (CMB) experiments. Here, we review a number of the se links. Our primary focus is on new CMB tests of inflation. We explain ho w the inflationary predictions for the geometry of the Universe and primord ial density perturbations will be tested by CMB temperature fluctuations, a nd how the gravitational waves predicted by inflation can be pursued with t he CMB polarization. The CMB signatures of topological defects and primordi al magnetic:fields from cosmological phase transitions are also discussed. Furthermore, we review current and future CMB constraints on various types of dark matter (e.g. massive neutrinos, weakly interacting massive particle s, axions, vacuum energy), decaying particles, the baryon asymmetry of the Universe, ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, exotic cosmological topologies, an d other new physics.