Lectures on Modern Cosmology and Structure Formation

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Focus of these lectures is the challenge of explaining the origin of structure in the Universe. The interplay between quantum field theory and classical general relativity has given rise to several interesting cosmological models which contain mechanisms for generating density inhomogeneities. The three theories discussed here are the inflationary Universe, the cosmic string and the global texture models. The recent COBE discovery of anisotropies in the microwave background has provided some support for all three models. The present results do not allow a distinction between these models. Statistics which distinguish between the predictions of the three theories are discussed.