2. BIG BANG PROBLEMS AND THE IDEA OF INFLATION

The standard hot big bang theory is an extremely successful one, passing some crucial observational tests of which I'd highlight five.

• The expansion of the Universe.
• The existence and spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation.
• The abundances of light elements in the Universe (nucleosynthesis).
• That the predicted age of the Universe is comparable to direct age measurements of objects within the Universe.
• That given the irregularities seen in the microwave background by COBE, there exists a reasonable explanation for the development of structure in the Universe, through gravitational collapse.

In combination, these are extremely compelling. However, the standard hot big bang theory is limited to those epochs where the Universe is cool enough that the underlying physical processes are well established and understood through terrestrial experiment. It does not attempt to address the state of the Universe at earlier, hotter, times. Furthermore, the hot big bang theory leaves a range of crucial questions unanswered, for it turns out that it can successfully proceed only if the initial conditions are very carefully chosen. The assumption of early Universe studies is that the mysteries of the conditions under which the big bang theory operates may be explained through the physics occurring in its distant, unexplored past. If so, accurate observations of the present state of the Universe may highlight the types of process occurring during these early stages, and perhaps even shed light on the nature of physical laws at energies which it would be inconceivable to explore by other means.