Related papers: The Shape of Space after WMAP data
Weak lensing of galaxies by large scale structure can potentially measure cosmological quantities as accurately as the cosmic microwave background (CMB). However, the relation between observables and fundamental parameters is more complex…
The space-like hypersurface of the Universe at the present cosmological time is a three-dimensional manifold. A non-trivial global topology of this space-like hypersurface would imply that the apparently observable universe (the sphere of…
We review the present status of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy observations and discuss the main related astrophysical issues, instrumental effects and data analysis techniques. We summarise the balloon-borne and ground-based…
In forthcoming years, connections between cosmology and particle physics will be made increasingly important with the advent of a new generation of cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. Here, we review a number of these links. Our…
We challenge the widely held belief that the cosmological principle is an obvious consequence of the observed isotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation, combined with the Copernican principle. We perform a detailed analysis of a…
General relativity does not allow one to specify the topology of space, leaving the possibility that space is multi-- rather than simply--connected. We review the main mathematical properties of multi--connected spaces, and the different…
Cosmological measurements over the next decade will enable us to shed light on the content and evolution of the Universe. Complementary measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations are expected to…
New, large, ground and space telescopes are contributing to an exciting and rapid period of growth in observational cosmology. The subject is now far from its earlier days of being data-starved and unconstrained, and new data are fueling a…
The parameters of cosmological model with cold dark matter and cosmological constant (Lambda CDM) have been determined on a basis of three-year cosmic microwave background observations by space mission WMAP, as well as the data on the…
Forthcoming cosmic microwave background experiments (CMB) will provide precise new tests of structure-formation theories. The geometry of the Universe may be determined robustly, and the classical cosmological parameters, such as the…
This article reviews the prevailing paradigm for how galaxies and larger structures formed in the universe: gravitational instability. Basic observational facts are summarized to motivate the standard cosmological framework underlying most…
Recent announcements that the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) - the faint remnant of the Big Bang - is polarized have caused a stir among cosmologists. Such polarization has long been predicted but could not be detected, until the recent…
In a landscape of compactifications with different numbers of macroscopic dimensions, it is possible that our universe has nucleated from a vacuum where some of our four large dimensions were compact while other, now compact, directions…
An introduction to modern theories for the origin of structure in the Universe is given. After a brief review of the growth of cosmological perturbations in an expanding Universe and a summary of some important observational results, the…
Cosmology is living through fascinating times, where new observations from ground and space telescopes are questioning the established paradigm, the so-called Lambda Cold Dark Matter model. The particle nature of Dark Matter is severely…
Loop quantum cosmology is a conflicted field in which exuberant claims of observability coexist with serious objections against the conceptual and physical viability of its current formulations. This contribution presents a non-technical…
Galaxies represent the visible fabric of the Universe and there has been considerable progress recently in both observational and theoretical studies. The underlying goal is to understand the present-day diversity of galaxy forms, masses…
Observational cosmology provides us with a large number of high precision data which are used to derive models trying to reproduce ``on the mean'' our observable patch of the Universe. Most of these attempts are achieved in the framework of…
Universe models with compact spatial sections smaller than the observable universe produce a topological lens effect. Given a catalog of cosmic sources, we estimate the number of topological images in locally hyperbolic and locally elliptic…
Several cosmological measurements have attained significant levels of maturity and accuracy over the last decade. Continuing this trend, future observations promise measurements of the statistics of the cosmic mass distribution at an…