Topological Defects and the Formation of Structure in the Universe
  Topological defects, in particular cosmic strings, give rise to an interesting mechanism for generating the primordial perturbations in the early Universe which are required to explain the present structure. An overview of the cosmic string model will be given, focusing on the predictions of the theory for the large-scale structure of the Universe and for cosmic microwave background anisotropies. 
Robert H. Brandenberger (Brown University)