A thorough and up-to-date graduate textbook on the most promising theory of the universe - inflationary cosmology.

The origin and evolution of the primordial perturbation is the key to understanding structure formation in the earliest stages of the Universe. It carries clues to the types of physical phenomena active in that extreme high-density environment. Through its evolution, generating first the observed cosmic microwave background anisotropies and later the distribution of galaxies and dark matter in the Universe, it probes the properties and dynamics of the present Universe. This graduate-level textbook gives a thorough account of theoretical cosmology and perturbations in the early Universe, describing their observational consequences and showing how to relate such observations to primordial physical processes, particularly cosmological inflation. With ambitious observational programmes complementing ever-increasing sophistication in theoretical modelling, cosmological studies will remain at the cutting edge of astrophysical studies for the foreseeable future.

The classic account of the structure and evolution of the early universe from Nobel Prize–winning physicist P. J. E. Peebles An instant landmark on its publication, The Large-Scale Structure of the Universe remains the essential introduction to this vital area of research. Written by one of the world's most esteemed theoretical cosmologists, it provides an invaluable historical introduction to the subject, and an enduring overview of key methods, statistical measures, and techniques for dealing with cosmic evolution. With characteristic clarity and insight, P. J. E. Peebles focuses on the largest known structures—galaxy clusters—weighing the empirical evidence of the nature of clustering and the theories of how it evolves in an expanding universe. A must-have reference for students and researchers alike, this edition of The Large-Scale Structure of the Universe introduces a new generation of readers to a classic text in modern cosmology.

A monograph on inflationary cosmology and cosmological phase transitions, investigating modern cosmology's relationship to elementary particle physics. This work also includes a non-technical discussion of inflationary cosmology for those unfamiliar with the theory.

This text provides an up-to-date and pedagogical introduction to this exciting area of research.

A comprehensive and authoritative introduction to contemporary cosmology for advanced undergraduate and graduate students.

This book gives an accessible account of the history of the Universe; not only what happened, but why it happened. An author of textbooks on the early Universe and inflation, David Lyth now explains both cosmology and the underlying physics to the general reader. The book includes a detailed account of the almost imperceptible structure in the early Universe, and its probable origin as a quantum fluctuation during an early epoch known as the epoch of inflation. It also explains how that early structure is visible now in the cosmic microwave radiation which is our main source of information about the early Universe, and how it gave rise to galaxies and stars. The main text of the book assumes no knowledge of mathematics or physics so that it is accessible to everybody, while an appendix contains more advanced material. As a result the book will be useful for a wide spectrum of readers, including high-school students, undergraduates, postgraduates and professional physicists working in areas other than cosmology. It will also serve as “additional reading” for university courses in general astronomy, astrophysics or cosmology itself.