The Cosmic Microwave Background as a CosmologicalProbe

摘要

Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) havealready proven to be a powerful probe of physical conditions in the early uni-verse (z~10~3). These observations have made precision tests of the standardcosmological model and appear to confirm that we live in a bizarre universemostly composed of dark matter and dark energy. Over the next several years,new experiments will make high resolution measurements of the microwave back-ground. These measurements use the microwave background as a "backlight" forstudying the universe at low redshift. The scientific value of these high resolu-tion CMB observations will be significantly enhanced by cross-correlating theseobservations with optical, radio and X-ray observations.