course dates credits
Early Universe Cosmology Nov 14 - Dec 15 4
teachers schedule term
Piero Ullio 10:00-11:30** 1

Program:

  • Thermodynamics of the early Universe:

    Local equilibrium as maximal entropy state: Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac distributions; Number density, energy density, pressure and entropy density; Time-temperature relation.
  • Departure from equilibrium:

    Boltzmann equations for chemical decoupling; Hot and cold thermal relics; kinetic decoupling and free streaming scale.
  • Big Bang Nucleosynthesis:

    Freeze of out the neutron to proton ratio; The deuterium bottleneck and the synthesis of light elements; Particle physics tests within Big Bang Nucleosynthesis.
  • Recombination:

    Equilibrium approximation; Photon decoupling; Recombination in kinetic approach.

Lectures on ZOOM - send an email to ullio_at_sissa.it to receive the ZOOM link.

Prerequisites:

None

Books:

  • V. Muchanov, Physical Foundations of Cosmology
  • S. Weinberg, Cosmology
  • E.W. Kolb and M.S. Turner, The Early Universe
  • S. Dodelson, Modern Cosmology

Online Resources:

Filename Size (bytes) Date Modified