Cosmology and the origin of structure

With the recent discovery of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background and with improved deeper redshift surveys, cosmology has entered a new era as a quantitative science. In these lectures,an introduction to modern cosmology will be given, focusing in particular on theories of the origin of structure in the universe. The lectures will begin with an overview of the successes and problems of standard big bang cosmology.The Inflationary Universe scenario(discussed next in the lectures) provides a solutation to some of the main problems of standard cosmology. It will be shown how inflation gives rise to a mechanism producing structure in the universe. Alternative models of structure formation based on topological defects such as cosmic strings which form during a phase transition in the very early universe will be discussed.