Brane cosmology

We summarize the main ideas underlying brane cosmology, or the cosmology of a Universe considered as a submanifold of a higher-dimensional spacetime and where ordinary matter is supposed to be confined. This new scenario, motivated by recent developments in string theory, leads to several specific features that could allow, via forthcoming high precision cosmological observations, to distinguish it from the traditional cosmological scenario. To cite this article: P. Binétruy et al., C. R. Physique 4 (2003).