Inflationary universe models and the formation of structure

The main features of inflationary universe models are briefly reviewed. Inflation provides a mechanism which produces energy density fluctuations on cosmological scales. In the original models, it was not possible to obtain the correct magnitude of these fluctuations without fine tuning the particle physics models. Two mechanisms, chaotic inflation, and a dynamical relaxation process are discussed by which inflation may be realized in models which give the right magnitude of fluctuations. 22 references