Cosmological Inflation and Large-Scale Structure

This is a textbook which looks at models of the universe with an inflationary phase due to a scalar field. It examines how such models can be used to account for the structure we see now, that is the cosmological microwave background and the clustering of galaxies. Its approach is analytic rather than being based on numerical simulations, and it's impressive how much can be achieved with this approach. It would suit graduate students, and possibly those at an advanced undergraduate level - it is laid out as a textbook which the student can work through, rather than being a collection of research papers

I would say that anyone using this book would need a sound grasp of most undergraduate level mathematical physics. Its a wide ranging subject, firstly because it starts from cosmology, but then adds on the complication of interacting matter (rather than 'dust'). Secondly, it looks at both models of the behaviour of the early universe, and observations of the universe today.

Chapter 12 gives a non-mathematical, (but still technical) summary of the subject and chapter 13 comprises a couple of pages looking at future possibilities. The last two chapters contain material which is more advanced than the rest of the book.