A brief introduction to cosmic topology

Abstract

Whether we live in a spatially finite universe, and what its shape and size may be, are among the fundamental long-standing questions in cosmology. These questions of topological nature have become particularly topical, given the wealth of increasingly accurate astro-cosmological observations, especially the recent observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation. An overview of the basic context of cosmic topology, the detectability constraints from recent observations, as well as the main methods for its detection and some recent results are briefly presented.

14 pages, 5 figures. Short review of the topics addressed with details in the lectures. To appear in the proc. of the XIth Brazilian School of Cosmology and Gravitation, eds. M.Novelo and S.E. Perez Bergliaffa, American Institute of Physics Conference Proceedings (2005)

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