THE MYSTERIOUS UNIVERSE

By JOHN THOMPSON

1 Introduction 1 2 General Relativity and Standard Cosmology 19 3 String Theory, Duality, and the Primordial Universe 35 4 The Theory of Strings 53 5 Inflation and the Birth of the Universe 73 6 The Cosmological Background of Gravitational Radiation 93 7 Other Relics of the Primordial Universe 125 8 QuantumCosmology 143 9 The Future of our Universe 153 10 Recent Developments: Brane Cosmology Scenarios 171 11 Conclusion 193 References 199