The Beginning and Evolution of the Universe

TL;DR

This paper reviews the standard cosmological model, covering the universe's evolution from inflation to large-scale structure, summarizing key observations, theories, and open questions for newcomers to the field.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of current cosmological theories and observations, serving as an introductory resource for graduate students and new researchers.

Findings

Summarizes key observational evidence for the universe's expansion.

Reviews the theoretical framework of inflation and structure formation.

Discusses open questions and future directions in cosmology.

Abstract

We review the current standard model for the evolution of the Universe from an early inflationary epoch to the complex hierarchy of structure seen today. We summarize and provide key references for the following topics: observations of the expanding Universe; the hot early Universe and nucleosynthesis; theory and observations of the cosmic microwave background; Big Bang cosmology; inflation; dark matter and dark energy; theory of structure formation; the cold dark matter model; galaxy formation; cosmological simulations; observations of galaxies, clusters, and quasars; statistical measures of large-scale structure; and measurement of cosmological parameters. We conclude with discussion of some open questions in cosmology. This review is designed to provide a graduate student or other new worker in the field an introduction to the cosmological literature.