COSMOLOGY
Docenten:
Rien van de Weygaert,
ZG 186, tel. 3634086, weygaert@astro.rug.nl
Teaching assistants: Announcements: Required Knowledge: Lectures: Exam: General Information: Literature: Lecture Notes:
Roi Kugul
RoiKugul@astro.rug.nl
Alex Taun
taun@astro.rug.nl
The first lecture will be on wednesday September 11, 15:00-17:45 !!!!
The first tutorial lecture will be on wednesday September 18, 17:00-19:00 !!!!
There are no real requirements (except the usual basic knowledge of first and second year
mathematics, physics and astrophysics. Although some familiarity with General Relativity
will facilitate insight into the Universe, the lectures in the first week will provide
the necessary background.
The lecture schedule will be:
Tuesday 11:00-13:00 hoorcollege ZG 161
Wednesday 15:00-17:00 hoorcollege ZG 161
Wednesday 17:00-19:00 werkcollege/tutorial ZG 161/ZG257
The exam will consist of three/four elements:
written exam -- thursday October 31, 08:30-11:30, Aletta Jacobshal
homework assignments (incl. computer assignments)
Practical information on the course -- literature, provisional schedule, topics presentation -- you
may find in:
General Lecture Information
The course will be based upon
Lecture notes,
to be distributed during the course,
via this webpage & via nestor
Introduction to Cosmology
Barbara Ryden
Introduction to Cosmology
Cambridge Univ. Press, 2016 (2nd ed.)
ISBN 1107154834 (hardcover)
This book entails a really fabulous introduction to the basic concepts of cosmology,
nearly entirely up to date. It is one of the few textbooks really fun reading, a marvel of didactic writing.
In particular for the later stages of the lecture series -- Cosmic Microwave Background, Cosmic Nucleosynthesis,
Inflation -- I will assume you have the book.
In addition, there are three general cosmology books that from time to time you may wish to consult (but which
are not obligatory fare for this course !!!). They are somewhat more demanding than the Ryden book, yet
contain a lot of useful information,
Cosmological Physics
John Peacock
Cambridge University Press, 1998
ISBN 0521422701 (paper)
Precision Cosmology
Bernard J.T. Jones
Cambridge University Press, 2017
ISBN 0521554330
Cosmology, The Origin and Evolution of Cosmic Structure
P. Coles, F. Lucchin
Wiley, 2n edition, 2002
ISBN 0471489093
Cosmology
S. Weinberg
Oxford Univ. Press
ISBN 0198526822
Principles of Physical Cosmology
P.J.E. Peebles
Princeton Univ. Press
ISBN 0691074283
the Early Universe
M. Turner, E. Kolb
Addison Wesley, 1988
Below you find a listing which will gradually be updated. You may download the pdf and ppt files.
Fundamental Questions pptx
Fundamental Questions pdf
Cosmology Timeline pptx
Cosmology Timeline pdf
Gravity: Ruler of the Universe pptx
Gravity: Ruler of the Universe pdf
General Relativity pdf
the FRLW universe pptx
the FRLW universe pdf
the Cosmological Principle: the Evidence ppt
the Cosmological Principle: the Evidence pdf
Tentamen/Written Exam
The written exam is on:
Thursday October 31, 08:30-11:30; Aletta Jacobshal
Werkcollege (tutorials)
Attached you find the files with the werkcollege assignments.
Important: the assignments that were not completed during the werkcollege/tutorial class, you are expected to complete at home. Completed - and complete - assignment sets should be turned in to your tutorial assistents Alex Taun and Roi Kugul (at the tutorial 2 weeks later).. Completed and approved tasks are required for completion of the course.
Thus: please turn them in to your tutor (ie. me) !
For questions and advice on the tasks you are of course welcome to contact your TAs. Alex Taun & Roi Kugul !
For searching the astronomical literature the two most important website to consult are those of
ADS: NASA Astrophysics Data System
astro-ph: astrophysics
e-print serverNotice that ADS allows you to expand your literature search via the references of the paper under consideration, as well as the links to the papers that refer to it. While using this possibility wisely you may quickly find most relevant studies. Also notice that the links of ADS to the journals in which the papers are published may need you to use your student number + password for the University library, or you have registered with the University Library, when working from outside the university (e.g. from home). Otherwise you will not be able to use the university subscription to these journals.
Interesting Literature
During the course several papers relating to the lecture content will be handed out.
Here you may download them (will be updated during the course).
Discovery Hubble ExpansionHubble E., 1929, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 15 (5 pp.)
Observational Tests World ModelsSandage A., 1988, Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 26, 561
Discovery Cosmic Microwave BackgroundPenzias A.A. & Wilson R.W., 1965, Astrophys. J. 142, 419
Discovery & Explanation Cosmic Microwave BackgroundDick R.H., Peebles P.J.E., Roll P.G., Wilkinson D.T., 1965, Astrophys. J. 142, 414
SNIa discovery Lambda: High-z Supernova Search TeamRiess et al., 1998, Astron. J., 116, 1009
SNIa discovery Lambda: Supernova Cosmology Project Perlmutter et al., 1999, Astrophys. J., 517, 565
Scale Factors & critical values Lambda in Friedmann universesFelten J.E., 1986, Rev. Mod. Phys. 58, 689
Rindler: visual horizons in world models Rindler W., 1956, MNRAS, 116, 662
Harrison: Hubble spheres and Particle horizonsHarrison, E., 1991, Astrophys. J., 383, 60
Guth: Inflationary UniverseGuth, A.H., 1981, Phys.Rev.D., 23, 347