Observational Signatures of Accelerating Universes

在观测宇宙学最新进展的推动下，我们提出了一个广泛而统一的理论研究计划，以研究加速宇宙的本质。我们将继续并进一步发展我们在暴胀宇宙学方面的工作，特别强调建立这种情景的可观测特征。我们将专注于在一些理论上动机良好的单场和多场模型中产生非高斯密度扰动。解释当今宇宙加速膨胀的机制和在大尺度上检验弗里德曼方程的机制将在修正的引力理论的背景下进行探索和发展。本提案将在PPARC的支持下继续我们目前在这些主题上的理论工作。最终，这样一个方案将产生关于宇宙起源、演化和大尺度结构的独特信息，从而与PPARC路线图所涵盖和科学委员会战略文件所强调的天文学和粒子物理学的关键领域显著重叠。

Motivated by recent advances in observational cosmology, we propose a broad and unified programme of theoretical research into the nature of accelerating universes. We will continue and further develop our work on inflationary cosmology, with particular emphasis on establishing observable signatures of the scenario. We will focus on the generation of non-Gaussian density perturbations in a number of theoretically well-motivated classes of single- and multiple-field models. Mechanisms for explaining the present-day accelerated expansion of the universe and for testing the Friedmann equation on large scales will be explored and developed within the context of modified gravity theories. This proposal will continue our present theoretical work in these topics supported by PPARC. Ultimately, such a programme will yield unique information on the origin, evolution and large-scale structure of the universe, thereby overlapping significantly with key areas of astronomy and particle physics as covered by the PPARC Road Map and emphasized by the Science Committee Strategy document.