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The recently released WMAP 3-year data on the anisotropy and polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background is a milestone in cosmology. For the first time, it is possible to rule out popular models of inflation in the early universe. However, the WMAP3 data contain interesting hints which indicate that it may be too early to declare a "slam dunk" for simple single-field models of inflation. I will comment on the successes and the limitations of the new data in the context of inflationary model-building, and discuss the next generation of theoretical tools which will be necessary to make sense of future high-precision data.

This is an introduction to background independent quantum theories of gravity, with a focus on loop quantum gravity and related approaches. Basic texts: -Quantum Gravity, by Carlo Rovelli, Cambridge University Press 2005 -Quantum gravityy with a positive cosmological constant, Lee Smolin, hep-th/0209079 -Invitation to loop quantum gravity, Lee Smolin, hep-th/0408048 -Gauge fields, knots and gravity, JC Baez, JP Muniain Prerequisites: -undergraduate quantum mechanics -basics of classical gauge field theories -basic general relativity -hamiltonian and lagrangian mechanics -basics of lie algebras

This is an introduction to background independent quantum theories of gravity, with a focus on loop quantum gravity and related approaches. Basic texts: -Quantum Gravity, by Carlo Rovelli, Cambridge University Press 2005 -Quantum gravityy with a positive cosmological constant, Lee Smolin, hep-th/0209079 -Invitation to loop quantum gravity, Lee Smolin, hep-th/0408048 -Gauge fields, knots and gravity, JC Baez, JP Muniain Prerequisites: -undergraduate quantum mechanics -basics of classical gauge field theories -basic general relativity -hamiltonian and lagrangian mechanics -basics of lie algebras

This is an introduction to background independent quantum theories of gravity, with a focus on loop quantum gravity and related approaches. Basic texts: -Quantum Gravity, by Carlo Rovelli, Cambridge University Press 2005 -Quantum gravityy with a positive cosmological constant, Lee Smolin, hep-th/0209079 -Invitation to loop quantum gravity, Lee Smolin, hep-th/0408048 -Gauge fields, knots and gravity, JC Baez, JP Muniain Prerequisites: -undergraduate quantum mechanics -basics of classical gauge field theories -basic general relativity -hamiltonian and lagrangian mechanics -basics of lie algebras

I will discuss phenomenological aspects on N=1, four-dimensional Type IIB string theory compactifications with all moduli stabilised. In particular, I will review a class of compactifications with exponentially large volumes of the Calabi-Yau manifold and derive explicit formulae for bulk and D3/D7 moduli masses. Then I will show what patterns of soft supersymmetry breaking terms can arise after renormalisation group running to the weak scale.

This is an introduction to background independent quantum theories of gravity, with a focus on loop quantum gravity and related approaches. Basic texts: -Quantum Gravity, by Carlo Rovelli, Cambridge University Press 2005 -Quantum gravityy with a positive cosmological constant, Lee Smolin, hep-th/0209079 -Invitation to loop quantum gravity, Lee Smolin, hep-th/0408048 -Gauge fields, knots and gravity, JC Baez, JP Muniain Prerequisites: -undergraduate quantum mechanics -basics of classical gauge field theories -basic general relativity -hamiltonian and lagrangian mechanics -basics of lie algebras