Very little is known with certainty about the early Universe. Although inflation is the dominant paradigm today, calculations with inflation models have at best only an intermediate level of maturity because infrared quantum gravity cannot be said to be under technical control. Given that even the late Universe has been so full of surprises (dark energy, dark matter, –), it is likely that the early Universe is hardly as simple as we think it is, an assumed simplicity born perhaps out of mere ignorance. For this reason, it is important to be able to test our current models with new observational probes (CMB B-modes, 21 cm), as well as to develop new theoretical approaches to understanding the physics of the early Universe. Both of these research directions are pursued within CPAC.
