Crisis in Cosmology

The conference will consider the present state of understanding of the universe in the light of the increasing number of observations that challenge the conventional cosmological model. Participants will address observations such as the non-Gaussianity of the CMB, the excessive apparent ages of high-z galaxies, the value of dark matter from gravitational lensing observations, the early formation of large-scale structure, the increasingly discordant results for light element abundances, the angular size-redshift relation, and others. There will be critical examination of the adequacy of current cosmological models - including their theoretical foundations - to accommodate recent challenges. There will be consideration of viable alternative explanations (including Cosmologies without a Big Bang) and proposals for discriminating observational tests.