(plenary invited speaker)
The Cosmic Microwave Background: current status and future prospects
In recent decades, our comprehension of the Universe has made significant advances, owing to the availability of cosmological observations, such as those of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). This has allowed us to establish the so-called cosmological standard model, according to which the universe is homogenous and isotropic, has a flat geometry and undergoes an accelerated expansion. Observations arealso consistent with the inflationary scenario, although one of its predictions, the existence of a background of primordial gravitational waves, remains yet to be confirmed. This background would leave an imprint in the so-called B-mode of polarization of the CMB, so many efforts are focused on detecting this elusive signal. This presentation aims to provide an overview of the status of the CMB, including main observational results and challenges, as well as to outline the roadmap towards the detection of the B-mode of polarization.