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Article Contents

ABSTRACT

1.INTRODUCTION

2.STANDARD COSMOLOGY

2.1.The Cosmological Principle

2.2.The Expanding Universe

2.2.1.The Hubble Law and Particle Kinematics

2.2.2.The Robertson Walker Metric

2.2.3.The Cosmological Redshift

2.3.The Friedmann Models

2.4.Matter Dominated Models

2.4.1.The Einstein-deSitter Model

2.4.2.The Closed Model

2.4.3.The Open Model

2.5.Summary

3.A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE

4.PROBLEMS WITH THE STANDARD COSMOLOGY

4.1.The Horizon Problem

4.2.The Problem of Large-Scale Structure

4.3.The Flatness Problem

4.4.The Monopole Problem

5.THE INFLATIONARY PARADIGM

5.1.Particle Physics and Cosmology

5.1.1.A Brief Summary of the Modern Particle Physics

5.2.Inflation As a Solution to the Initial Value Problems

5.3.Inflation and Scalar Fields

5.3.1.Modeling the Inflaton Field

5.3.2.The Amount of Inflation

6.OBSERVATIONAL TESTS OF INFLATION

6.1.Perturbations and Large-Scale Structure

6.2.The Cosmic Background Anisotropies

6.3.Summary

REFERENCES

APPENDIX A: ACRONYMS