Cosmology and the origin of structure

There is now strong evidence that the rich and varied structure we see in the universe today in the form of stars, galaxies, galaxy clusters, and even larger structures, grew from small primordial 'seeds' that were planted in the first second in the history of the universe. The last decade has seen remarkable advances in observational cosmology, highlighted by the observations of galaxies in the deep universe and the observation of primordial fluctuations in the microwave background. With the increasing accuracy and sophistication of astronomical observations, the details of our theory for the growth of structure will be tested. These lectures will serve as an introduction to the generation and growth of structure in the universe. The series of four lectures will follow the program: Lecture 1: The observed universe Lecture 2: The growth of cosmological structure Lecture 3: Inflation and the origin of perturbations Lecture 4: Dark matter and dark energy