David Wands
David Wands is Professor of Cosmology at the University of Portsmouths institute of cosmology.
His research interests are in cosmology and the physics of the early universe. This is a rapidly developing area of research which brings together aspects of general relativity, particle theory and astronomy. Ever-improving astronomical data has given solid observational support to the standard big bang model, while new ideas from particle physics continue to provide theoretical challenges.
The origin and nature of the density perturbations from which galaxies formed and their imprint in the microwave background sky provide vital clues to the nature of the early universe. Inflationary cosmology proposes that the universe underwent a period of rapid near-exponential expansion at very early times. One of the few remnants of this early phase may be the perturbations left by quantum fluctuations in the fields during inflation. Observations are already testing many of these previously speculative theories of the early universe.