The Primordial Density Perturbation: Cosmology, Inflation and the Origin of Structure

The origin and evolution of the primordial perturbation is the key to understanding structure formation in the earliest stages of the Universe. It carries clues to the types of physical phenomena active in that extreme high-density environment. Through its evolution, generating first the observed cosmic microwave background anisotropies and later the distribution of galaxies and dark matter in the Universe, it probes the properties and dynamics of the present Universe. This graduate-level textbo…