Conclusions and Outlook

Abstract

The wealth of cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure data has transformed the field of cosmology. Remarkably, these observations have not only become precise enough to answer questions about the universe at large, but also to start addressing puzzles in the microscopic description of Nature. Cosmological measurements are particularly well suited to study Standard Model neutrinos and to shed light on the possible existence of other light relics beyond the Standard Model. In this chapter, we summarize the main results of this thesis and make a few remarks on future directions.