ASTR405: Introduction to Cosmology

Course outline and useful information.

Lecture 1: A mathematical description of the universe | slides	Lecture 2: Measuring the universe | slides
Lecture 3: The cosmic microwave background | slides	Lecture 4: Big Bang nucleosynthesis | slides
Lecture 5: Dark matter in the universe | slides	Lecture 6: Large-scale structure | slides
Lecture 7: Lambda | slides

Assignment 1 (completed)	Assignment 2 (completed)
Assignment 3 (completed) | extra materials	Assignment 4 (completed)
Assignment 5 (completed)	Assignment 6 (completed)

Lecture recordings:
January 11th: Introduction, basic principles, primary evidence, the formalism of GR.
January 14th: Basic geometry, the RW line element, historical interlude, the Hubble-Lemaitre law.
January 18th: The Friedmann equation.
January 21st: The Fluid equation and the age of the universe.
January 25th: Mathematical asides and defining distance, volume and time in the universe.
January 28th: Using distance, volume and time to define observational tests. The Hubble diagram.
February 1st: Standard candles focusing on Cepheid variables and supernovae type Ia.
February 4th: The galaxy N(m) relation and introduction to the CMB.
February 8th: Physical properties of the CMB and matter-radiation equality.
February 22nd: Decoupling, recombination and last scattering of the CMB.
February 25th: CMB anisotropies and introduction to BBN.
March 1st: Big Bang Nucleosynthesis.
March 4th: Introduction to dark matter and galaxy rotation curves.
March 8th: Cluster dark matter and gravitational lensing.
March 11th: Completing gravitational lensing.
March 15th: X-ray observations of clusters and dark matter and LSS.
March 18th: Introduction to Large Scale Structure.
March 25th: The power spectrum, the Harrison-Zeldovich spectrum, the transfer function.
March 29th: Isolated spherical collapse and N-body simulations.
April 1st: Lambda.

Useful links:
Ned Wright's cosmology calculator: simple to use cosmology calculator and basic explanations of cosmological phenomena.

Suggested reading for ASTR405: Introduction to cosmology:

Lecture 1: A mathematical description of the universe.

1. Golden Moments in Observational Cosmology 1912-1950: Chapter 1 of Peebles, Physical Cosmology (in library).
2. Hubble's original paper describing the redshift-distance relation.
3. Edwin Hubble: A biographical retrospective by Gale Christianson
4. An excellent historical perspective from J-P. Luminet
5. Another great historical perspective, this time from John Peacock.

Lecture 2: Measuring the universe.

1. Distance estimation in Cosmology by David Hogg.
2. Hubble and Humason's paper on using galaxies to measure the velocity-distance relation.
3. Measuring the cosmological deceleration parameter by Yoshii & Takahara.
4. The Shapley-Ames catalogue.
5. Explorations in Space: The Cosmological Program for the Palomar Telescopes by Edwin Hubble  (1951, Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., 95, 461)

Lecture 3: The cosmic microwave background.
1. A review article on CMB anisotropies by Max Tegmark.
2. A page from Ned Wright with a great history of the discovery of the CMB.

Lecture 4: Big bang nucleosynthesis.
1. A review article matching BBN predictions to WMAP derived cosmological parameters.
2. Wagoner, Fowler and Hoyle's 1967 paper.
3. Alpha, Bethe and Gamow's 1948 neutron capture paper.

Lecture 5: Dark matter.
1. A summary of dark matter and energy by Martin Rees.
2. Lectures on gravitational lensing by Narayan and Bartelmann.
3. Fritz Zwicky's dynamical analysis of the Coma cluster.
4. Three papers discussing dynamical, X-ray and lensing analyses of the cluster MS1054.
5. Lynds and Petrosian's discovery of lensed arcs.

Lecture 6: Large-scale structure.
1. Galaxy catalogues compiled by Hubble, Shapley and Ames and Shane and Wirtanen.
2. Lectures on LSS from John Peacock.
3. The luminosity function of the Las Campanas redshift survey.
4. The power spectrum of the 2dF galaxy redshift survey.

Lecture 7: Lambda
1. The Standard Model of Cosmology: A Skeptic's Guide by Douglas Scott