Cosmology and Astrophysics

Juan Garcia-Bellido

Published 2005-02-07, updated 2005-02-17Version 2

In these lectures I review the present status of the so-called Standard Cosmological Model, based on the hot Big Bang Theory and the Inflationary Paradigm. I will make special emphasis on the recent developments in observational cosmology, mainly the acceleration of the universe, the precise measurements of the microwave background anisotropies, and the formation of structure like galaxies and clusters of galaxies from tiny primodial fluctuations generated during inflation.