Measuring Ancient Light

Introductory Cosmology

Thushara Perera

Office: C007C in CNS
556-3888
email: tperera
Office Hrs: Mon 10-11, Tue 10-noon, Wed 10-11, Fri 10-11.  But feel free to drop by at any time

Text: Introduction to Cosmology by Barbara Ryden

Class room: E 105 in CNS
Class days and times: MWF 2:00 to 2:50 PM


Course Description

Cosmology is the study of our universe on the largest spatial scales over the longest time scales. Although we will avoid the mathematical details of general relativity, we will gain a functional understanding of the geometry, origin, and fate of our universe using familiar concepts from Newtonian Mechanics and special relativity. We will also discuss fundamental issues in cosmology that have been tackled successfully by observations (e.g. of the cosmic microwave background and type Ia supernovae) and the ones that remain unanswered (e.g. the nature of dark matter and dark energy).

Course organization and breakdown of grades

Our class meetings will have the flavor of a seminar course. Usually, Wednesday and Friday classes will be structured around (A) discussions led by students - pairs of discussion leaders will be assigned a week in advance; (B) student presentations.


 

Homework: 25%
Best 2 out of 3 midterms: 25%
In-class presentations: 25%
Final Exam: 25%


Tentative Schedule

Below, I only list the topics, not the readings. You will easily be able to find the relevant sections to read in your textbook as we will be covering topics in the same order as in the text for the most part.


 


Seeds of Structure and the cosmic microwave background
Dates Topics
Week 1 (8/26) Astronomy background knowledge, Cosmological principle, Comoving observers, Hubble Law
Week 2 (9/4) Comoving observers/coordinates, Special Relativity, Equivalence Principle and General Relativity, Cosmological Time, Curved Spacetime, the Line Element
Week 3 (9/9) Proper distance and time, Friedmann Equation, Fluid Equation, Equation of state
Week 4 (9/16) Cosmological Redshift, Simple Models of Single component universes
Week 5 (9/23) Multi-component universes, Critical Density, Fate of the Universe
Week 6 (9/30) Cosmological Constant, Light Cones and Horizons
Week 7 (10/7) Measurement of cosmological parameters, Luminosity Distance, Angular Diameter Distance
Week 8 (10/14) Flatness, Horizon, Monopole Problems; Inflation
Week 9 (10/21) Dark Matter: evidence for
Week 10 (10/28) Dark Matter: search for
Week 11 (11/4) Cosmic Microwave Background: observations
Week 12 (11/11) Neucleosynthesis
Week 13 (11/18) Inflation and very early times
Week 14 (11/25) Cosmological ideas in history
Week 15 (12/2) Structure Formation