Abstract
It was in 1986 that we submitted a proposal to organize a Nobel Symposium on the topic "The Birth and Early Evolution of Our Universe", a subject not previously discussed at such a meeting. Our feeling at the time was that it would be appropriate to gather together international expertise on the deep and exciting connections between elementary physics and astrophysics/cosmology. In both these scientific disciplines there are wellknown "standard models"—the Glashow–Weinberg–Salam model of electroweak interactions and the Big-Bang cosmological model. The former model has now been tested to a very high accuracy. Progress in observational cosmology and astrophysics has on the other hand given strong support to the standard Big-Bang model as a realistic framework of cosmological evolution. The interesting fact, of course, is that the two standard models are not independent, and their predictions become interlinked when one considers the early, hot universe. It is now a wonderfully accepted piece of history that the constraint on the number of light neutrinos as obtained from the Big-Bang primordial nucleosynthesis agree very well with recent high-energy laboratory experiments.
When our proposal was approved in 1989 we were very happy and honoured to invite a large number of internationally outstanding contributors to take part in the Symposium, almost all of whom were able to participate. It was, however, with deep regret and shock that their sudden deaths prevented us from inviting A Sakharov and Y Zeldovich. Their presence and wisdom was sadly missed.
By choosing the beautiful village of Gräftåvallen, outside the town of Östesund, as the location of the Symposium, we hoped to provide a relaxing and stimulating atmosphere and also, possibly, almost twenty hours of sunlight a day for a week. The hosts of Gräftåvallen, Annika and Tommy Hagström, have to be thanked for making our stay both extremely successful and to a memorable experience.
Our thanks also go to the Nobel Foundation which provided for a generous grant for the Symposium. NORDITA provided a supplementary grant which enabled us to invite observers from the Nordic countries. It is a pleasure to acknowledge also the generosity of the community of Berg, Esselte Office, Scandinavian Airlines and, especially, Volvo.
The international advisory committee is warmly acknowledged for their helpful assistance in the planning of the Symposium. Needless to say the responsibility for all decisions in this respect rests on us. We thank all the speakers and participants for their interest and contributions. In particular, we are grateful to G Steigman, A A Starobinsky, T W B Kibble, E W Kolb, G 't Hooft and D Gross for acting as stimulating session chairmen and discussion leaders. We are also indebted to the members of the local organizing committee, and especially to our conference secretary, Annika Hofling, for their unfailing assistance and initiatives in helping us to make the Symposium a success.
Finally, we have organized the material presented here almost in the order of their oral presentation. We regret that no written contributions were received from S Coleman, D Gross and A A Starobinsky.
Acknowledgements go to the authors, Physica Scripta and World Scientific for their guidance and assistance in producing this document.