The Big Bang — Implosion and explosion

This review paper first gives a resumé of the standard model of cosmology, the hot Big Bang model of the Universe, high-lighting its successes and failings. This is followed by a brief exposition of some of the concepts in elementary particle physics which are basic to understanding modern cosmology. Thereafter a brief account of the inflationary models of the Universe is given which is followed by a critique of these models. Next, a viable explanation of the origin of the Big Bang is given within the framework of the singularity free model of the Universe proposed recently by the author. A critique of this model is also given. Finally, the cosmological implications of the data from theCosmic Background Explorer (COBE) is briefly discussed.