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

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