The inflationary paradigm: predictions for CMB

The search for a causal explanation of the large scale properties of the universe supports the idea that a long period of accelerated expansion, called inflation, preceded primordial nucleosynthesis. The first consequence of inflation is that all pre-existing classical structures are washed out. In fact, in the simplest inflationary models, the primordial density fluctuations (the seeds of the large scale structures) only result from the amplification of quantum vacuum fluctuations. The properties of the spectrum so obtained are presented and compared to the CMB temperature fluctuations. The agreement is striking. To cite this article: R. Parentani, C. R. Physique 4 (2003).