THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION

Eric Gawiser ¹

Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

and

Joseph Silk

Department of Physics, Astrophysics, 1 Keble Road, University of Oxford, OX1 3NP, UK
and
Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Particle Astrophysics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

Abstract. We summarize the theoretical and observational status of the study of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. Its thermodynamic spectrum is a robust prediction of the Hot Big Bang cosmology and has been confirmed observationally. There are now 76 observations of Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropy, which we present in a table with references. We discuss the theoretical origins of these anisotropies and explain the standard jargon associated with their observation.

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