Advanced cosmology
Recommendations
Students should have a previous knowledge of the following subjects taught in the bachelor’s degree in Physics: Astrophysics and Cosmology, Statistical Mechanics, General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics and, possibly, of High Energy Physics.
Competences to be gained during study
Basic competences
— Knowledge forming the basis of original thinking in the development or application of ideas, typically in a research context.
— Be able to apply the acquired knowledge to problem-solving in new or relatively unknown environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
— Be able to integrate knowledge and tackle the complexity of formulating judgments based on incomplete or limited information, taking due consideration of the social and ethical responsibilities involved in applying knowledge and making judgments.
— Be able to communicate conclusions, judgments and the grounds on which they have been reached to specialist and non-specialist audiences in a clear and unambiguous manner.
— Skills to enable lifelong self-directed and independent learning.
General competences
— Be able to effectively identify, formulate and solve problems, and to critically interpret and assess the results obtained.
— Be able to write scientific and technical documents.
— Be able to communicate, give presentations and write scientific articles in English on fields related to the topics covered in the master’s degree.
— Be able to critically analyze rigour in theory developments.
— Be able to acquire the necessary methodological techniques to develop research tasks in the field of study.
Specific competences
— Capacity to analyze and interpret a physical system in terms of the relevant scales of energy.
— Capacity to identify relevant observable magnitudes in a specific physical system.
— Capacity to test predictions from theoretical models with experimental and observational data.
— Capacity to understand and use current theories on the origin and evolution of the universe and to learn the observational data on which these theories are based.
— Capacity to critically analyze the results of calculations, experiments or observations, and to calculate possible errors.
Learning objectives
Referring to knowledge
— Understand the fundamental aspects of the current standard model of cosmology.
— Become familiar with the geometry and dynamics of Friedmann models.
— Understand the observational basis for the existence of dark matter and dark energy, and its theoretical treatment.
— Understand the origin of the cosmic microwave background and the abundance of light elements and understand the calculations of the abundance of the relic density for dark matter candidates.
— Learn some applications of the theory of phase transitions to cosmology.
— Understand the problems that have led to the inflationary model and the main physical and geometric characteristics of cosmic inflation.
Teaching blocks
1. Spacetime and the expansion of the universe
1.1. Luminosity and angular diameter distances.
1.2. Distances and redshift, Hubble law.
1.3. Space-time geometry. Cosmological principle. Cosmic time, scale factor.
1.4. Robertson-Walker metric.
1.5. Dynamics of expansion. Friedmann equation. Case of matter domination.
2. Cosmic microwave background radiation
2.1. Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background. Blackbody spectrum.
2.2. Radiation density as a function of redshift. Dynamics of expansion with radiation.
2.3. Dipole anisotropy.
2.4. Recombination epoch. Reionization, electron optical depth.
3. Cosmic budget and cosmological parameters
3.1. Baryonic matter in the Universe.
3.2. Evidence for dark matter: galaxies, clusters.
3.3. Matter-radiation equalization epoch.
3.4. Accelerated expansion, dark energy.
3.5. Evidence for dark energy: supernovae Type Ia.
4. Large scale structure
4.1. Fluctuations in the Universe: growth of linear perturbations.
4.2. Non-linear gravitational evolution and the cosmic web.
4.3. Formation of galaxies and galaxy clusters.
4.4. Anisotropies in the Cosmic Radiation Background: acoustic peaks and Sachs-Wolfe
effect.
4.5. Further evidence for dark matter and dark energy: the CMB spectrum.
4.6. The Standard ΛCDM model. Matter power spectrum transfer function.
5. Hydrodynamical variables and chemical reactions at equilibrium
6. Early Universe: thermal history
6.1. The radiation era
6.2. Formation of baryons
6.3. Neutrinos decoupling and out of equilibrium evolution
6.4. Boltzmann equations
6.5. Nucleosynthesis
6.6. Recombination
6.7. CMB
7. Dark Matter
7.1. Relic abundance via freeze-out
7.2. Primordial Black Holes and Axions
8. Elements of cosmic inflation
8.1. The horizon problem
8.2. Realizations of inflation
8.3. Reheating
8.4. Basics of inflationary perturbation theory and relation to CMB
9. The cosmological constant problem
Teaching methods and general organization
Lectures.
Expository classes.
Problem-solving activities.
Official assessment of learning outcomes
Written tests (5/10)
Problem-solving exercises or oral presentations (5/10)
Repeat assessment: Final examination in June
Examination-based assessment
Final written examination (10/10)
Repeat assessment: Final examination in June
Reading and study resources
Book
Dodelson, Scott. Modern cosmology. Amsterdam [etc.] : Academic Press, cop. 2003
Enllaç
Recurs electrònic Enllaç
Kolb, Edward W. ; Turner, Michael S. The early universe. Reading (Mass.) [etc.] : Addison-Wesley, 1990 Enllaç
Linde, Andrei. Particle physics and inflationary cosmology. Amsterdam : Harwood Academic, cop. 1990 Enllaç
Mukhanov, V. F. Physical foundations of cosmology. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2005 Enllaç
Peacock, John A. Cosmological physics, 9. repr. with corrections. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2010 Enllaç
https://cercabib.ub.edu/discovery/search?vid=34CSUC_UB:VU1&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&query=any,contains,b2064349* Enllaç
Peebles, P. J. E. Principles of physical cosmology. Princeton : Princenton University Press, cop. 1993 Enllaç
Weinberg, Steven. Cosmology. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2008 Enllaç
Introduction to Cosmology, Barbara Ryden, Cambridge University Press 2017 Enllaç
More information at: http://grad.ub.edu/grad3/plae/AccesInformePDInfes?curs=2023&assig=568422&ens=M0D0B&recurs=pladocent&n2=1&idioma=ENG
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Advanced cosmology
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HaDEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. The statements made herein do not necessarily have the consent or agreement of the ASTRAIOS Consortium. These represent the opinion and findings of the author(s).
