Astronomy 182: The Origin and Evolution of the Universe
Fall Quarter 2015
Prof: Josh Frieman (frieman@fnal.gov)
Office: ERC 453
Office hours: Wed., Fri. 1-2 pm or by appointment
Tel: 702-7971 (UC); (847)274-0429 (cell)
TA: Jason Poh (jasonpoh@uchicago.edu), ERC 450
Class schedule:
Wed., Fridays 4:30 -- 5:50 pm
in ERC 576
Required work will include short weekly essays, 2 lab write-ups, and a final project essay.
Course Outline:
I. Introductory Overview
a. Prologue: the Modern Renaissance of Cosmology
b. Historical Introduction: cosmologies of the past
II. The Birth of Modern Cosmology
a. Expansion of the Universe
b. The Cosmological Principle: homogeneity & isotropy
c. Olbers' Paradox
d. Cosmology according to Newton
e. Alternative Cosmologies: did the Big Bang really happen?
III. Cosmology according to Einstein
a. Einstein's Special Relativity
b. Understanding Gravity: Einstein's theory of General Relativity
c. Curved Spacetime from Black Holes to the Universe
d. Einstein cosmology: geometry and destiny
IV. Measuring the Universe
a. The Expansion Rate and the Age of the Universe
b. Evidence for Dark Matter and the Density of the Universe
c. The Accelerating Universe, Dark Energy, and the Cosmological
Constant
V. The Hot Big Bang
a. The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
b. Big Bang Nucleosynthesis: the Origin of the Elements
c. Relic Particles: Weakly Interacting Massive Particles
(WIMPS) and Cold Dark Matter
VI. The Early Universe
a. Symmetries and Unified Theories
b. Baryogenesis: the Origin of Matter
VII.The Inflationary Universe
a. The Horizon and Flatness problems
b. The Inflationary scenario
c. Quantum mechanics and the Origin of Structure in the Universe
VIII.The Formation of Structure in the Universe
a. Gravitational instability as the engine of Structure Formation
b. The Cold Dark Matter Paradigm
c. Simulating the growth of structure
IX.Testing Models of Structure Formation: New Methods to
Measure Cosmological Parameters
a. Anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background
b. Galaxy Surveys
c. Weak Gravitational Lensing
Primary Text:
Stephen Hawley & Katherine Holcomb, Foundations of Modern Cosmology (2nd ed.)
(available in University of Chicago Bookstore and on-line from UC Library)
Secondary Text:
Simon Singh, Big Bang
(available in UC Bookstore)
Other Texts:
Alan Guth and Alan Lightman, The Inflationary Universe
Pedro Ferreira, The State of the Universe
More advanced:
Andrew Liddle, An Introduction to Modern Cosmology
Eric Linder, First Principles of Cosmology