Related papers: Introduction to cosmology
We introduce the notion of the cosmic numbers of a cosmological model, and discuss how they can be used to naturally classify models according to their ability to solve some of the problems of the standard cosmological model.
In these lectures I focus on early universe models which can explain the currently observed structure on large scales. I begin with a survey of inflationary cosmology, the current paradigm for understanding the origin of the universe as we…
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…
This is a pedagogical paper which explains some ideas in cosmology at a level accessible to undergraduate students. It does not use general relativity, but uses the ideas of Newtonian cosmology worked out by Milne and McCrea. The…
This set of lectures is an introduction to black-hole astrophysics. The emphasis is made on the phenomenology of X-ray binaries and of supermassive compact objects at galactic centers.
The current status of the theoretical and observational cosmology is reviewed.
These lecture notes provide an introduction to quantum information and quantum computation, which are strongly related disciplines and subject of intense research. The lecture notes contain only a small selection of topics in these…
This report explains the basic theory and common terminology of quantum physics without assuming any knowledge of physics. It was written by a group of applied mathematicians while they were reading up on the subject. The intended audience…
These lecture notes provide an introduction to cosmic inflation. In particular I will review the basic concepts of inflation, generation of density perturbations, and reheating after inflation.
A simple description of the vacuum energy (cosmological constant) problem for non-experts is presented. Basic features of cosmology with non-zero vacuum energy are discussed. The astronomical data which indicate that the universe is filled…
This article summarises a Web-book on "Complexity" that was developed to introduce undergraduate students to interesting complex systems in the biological, physical and social sciences, and the common tools, principles and concepts used for…
A brief review is given of the present observational data in cosmology. A review of a new bimetric gravity theory with multiple light cones is presented. The physical consequences of this gravity theory for the early universe are analyzed.
COSMOPARTICLE PHYSICS is the specific crossdisciplinary field of science, studying foundations of particle physics and cosmology in the combination of indirect cosmological, astrophysical and physical signatures of their fundamental…
These lectures give an introduction to Gravitational Lensing. We discuss lensing by point masses, lensing by galaxies, and lensing by clusters and larger-scale structures in the Universe. The relevant theory is developed and applications to…
Minkowski functionals have recently been introduced into cosmology as novel tools for studying the large-scale distribution of matter in the Universe. We present a brief overview of the method, including its mathematical foundations as well…
The paper discusses the problem of demarcation between the dimensions of natural and the human sciences in contemporary cosmology. In spite of a common presumption that cosmology is a natural science, the specificity of its alleged subject…
I give a compact, pedagogical review of our present understanding of the universe as based on general relativity. This includes the uniform models, with special reference to the cosmological 'constant'; and the equations for…
The comparison of the Standard Cosmological Model (SCM) with astronomical observations, i.e. theory versus experiment, and with the Minimal Standard Model (MSM) in particle physics, i.e. theory versus theory, is discussed. The main issue of…
This paper presents a brief but comprehensive introduction to certain mathematical techniques in General Relativity. Familiar mathematical procedures are investigated taking into account the complications of introducing a non trivial…
The aim of these lecture notes is to familiarize graduate students and beginning postgraduates with the basic ideas of linear cosmological perturbation theory and of structure formation scenarios. We present both the Newtonian and the…