Physical Cosmology (G6005)

The primary goal of the course is to provide a foundation for concepts in physical cosmology,
and the secondary goal is to introduce the most important current research topics.
After this class, you should be able to appreciate the significance of new papers appearing
on the subject on astro-ph.

There will be approximately four problem sets, and an open-ended final project. There will not be any exams.

We will read and discuss several research papers at the level of the Astrophysical Journal.
Students will be expected to lead some of these discussions.

I do not plan to follow very closely any particular book, so all textbooks below are
recommended, rather than "required". They have been placed on reserve in the physics
library. We will rely most heavily on the first two of these (Peebles and Dodelson).

(1) ``Principles of Physical Cosmology'' by P.J.E. Peebles (Princeton University Press, 1993).
This is a comprehensive book that is still reasonably up-to-date, covering essentially
all current research topics. It emphasizes physical concepts over formal derivations,
and focuses on the ``astrophysics'' of the universe during and after recombination.
(2) "Modern Cosmology" by S. Dodelson (Academic Press, 2003).
This book has a much more formal and up-to-date coverage, with detailed derivations,
of recent ``hot'' topics, such as linear perturbation theory, CMB anisotropies,
weak lensing, dark energy, and cosmological parameter estimation methods.
(3) ``The Early Universe'' by E.W. Kolb and M.S. Turner (Addison-Wesley, 1993).
This is another more formal book, although mostly without detailed derivations.
It focuses on particle physics aspects, and on the early universe before recombination.
(4) "Structure Formation in the Universe" by T. Padmanabhan (Cambridge University Press, 1995).
This book is intermediate between Peebles and Kolb & Turner in comprehensiveness
and in the level of formality. The parts beyond the basic material is a bit out
of date. However, the book is still quite useful, especially for topics in
non-linear structure formation.
(5) "Cosmological Physics" by J. Peacock (Cambridge University Press, 1999).
This book is relatively more recent and comprehensive, with coverage of topics such as
gravitational lensing or active galaxies. It is formal, but is not self-contained.
We may occassionally use it as a reference.

The above is tentative and subject to change (your inputs are welcome!).