Large-scale Structure from Quantum Fluctuations in the Early Universe

A better understanding of the formation of large-scale structure in the Universe is arguably the most pressing question in cosmology. The most compelling and promising theoretical paradigm, Inflation + Cold Dark Matter, holds that the density inhomogeneities that seeded the formation of structure in the Universe originated from quantum fluctuations arising during inflation and that the bulk of the dark matter exists as slowing moving elementary particles (`cold dark matter') left over from the earliest, fiery moments. Large redshift surveys (such as the SDSS and 2dF) and high-resolution measurements of CBR anisotropy (to be made by the MAP and Planck Surveyor satellites) have the potential to decisively test Inflation + Cold Dark Matter and to open a window to the very early Universe and fundamental physics.