Related papers: The limits of cosmology: role of the Moon
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) provides us with our most direct observational window to the early universe. Observations of the temperature and polarization anisotropies in the CMB have played a critical role in defining the…
Clusters of galaxies are used in a variety of ways to do cosmology. Some of them are presented here. Their X-ray emitting gas allows us to determine the baryon fraction, dark matter distribution and the matter density $\Omega_{m}$ of the…
Over the past decades, advancements in observational cosmology have introduced us in an era of precision cosmology, dramatically enhancing our understanding of the Universe's history as well as bringing new tensions to light. Observations…
Cosmological and astrophysical surveys in various wavebands, in particular from the radio to the far-infrared, offer a unique view of the universe's properties and the formation and evolution of its structures. After a preamble on the…
The Cosmic Dark Ages mark a pivotal era of the universe's evolution, transitioning from a neutral, opaque medium to the emergence of the first stars and galaxies that initiated cosmic reionization. This study examines the thermodynamics of…
Modern cosmology has sharpened questions posed for millennia about the origin of our cosmic habitat. The age-old questions have been transformed into two pressing issues primed for attack in the coming decade: How did the Universe begin?…
Following the pioneering observations with COBE in the early 1990s, studies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have focused on temperature and polarization anisotropies. CMB spectral distortions - tiny departures of the CMB energy…
The temperature anisotropies and polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation provide a window back to the physics of the early universe. They encode the nature of the initial fluctuations and so can reveal much about the…
Cosmology has come a long way from being based on a small number of observations to being a data-driven precision science. We discuss the questions "What is observable?", "What in the Universe is knowable?" and "What are the fundamental…
The fields of occultation and microlensing are linked historically. Early this century, occultation of the Sun by the Moon allowed the apparent positions of background stars projected near the limb of the Sun to be measured and compared…
In the next few years, the 21cm line will enable direct observations of the Dark Ages, Cosmic Dawn, and Reionization, which represent previously unexplored periods in our cosmic history. With a combination of sky-averaged global signal…
Cosmology requires new physics beyond the Standard Model of elementary particles and fields. What is the fundamental physics behind dark matter and dark energy? What generated the initial fluctuations in the early Universe? Polarised light…
Abridged: The golden age of astrophysics is upon us with both grand discoveries (extra-solar planets, dark matter, dark energy) and precision cosmology. Fundamental understanding of the working of stars and galaxies is within reach, thanks…
Cosmic microwave background polarization encodes information not only on the early universe but also dark energy, neutrino mass, and gravity in the late universe through CMB lensing. Ground based surveys such as ACTpol, PolarBear, SPTpol…
As revealed by Hubble in 1928, our Universe is expanding. This discovery was fundamental to widening our horizons and our conception of space, and since then determining the rate at which our Universe is expanding has become one of the…
Cosmic voids are low-mass-density regions on intergalactic scales. They are where cosmic expansion and acceleration are most dominant, important places to understand and analyze for cosmology. This entry summarises theoretical underpinnings…
During the last century, with the development of modern physics in such diverse fields as thermodynamics, statistical physics, and nuclear and particle physics, the basic principles of the evolution of stars have been successfully well…
We discuss low frequency radio astronomy from the moon, predominantly in the context of studying the neutral intergalactic medium during cosmic reionization using the HI 21cm line of neutral hydrogen. The epoch of reionization is the next…
How did the universe evolve? The fine angular scale (l>1000) temperature and polarization anisotropies in the CMB are a Rosetta stone for understanding the evolution of the universe. Through detailed measurements one may address everything…
Although far-IR -- mm-wave astronomy has now been developing for several decades, access to this portion of the spectrum remains difficult and limited. Relative to their optical-wavelength counterparts, the submillimeter observatories are…