course dates credits
Foundations of Physical Cosmology Oct 6 - Nov 7 5
teachers schedule term
Matteo Viel Mon-Thu, 10:00 - 11:30 1

Program:

  • Isotropy and homogeneity of the Universe; Hubble law; Friedmann equations in Newtonian Gravity.
  • Metrics, FRW metric
  • Distances
  • Derivation of Friedmann equations in GR; Evolution of different models of the Universe.
  • Cosmography
  • Horizons
  • Cosmological perturbations in Newtonian dynamics
  • Relativistic treatment of perturbations (Baumann book)
  • Motivations for Inflation. Quintessence and tracking solutions from Weinberg book.
  • Dark Matter: motivations and dark matter probes (clusters, galaxies, CMB)
  • Dark Energy: SNe, parameterizations of DE, DE reconstruction, theoretical expectations.
  • Estimate of cluster masses from virial theorem and hydrostatic equilibrium arguments (Weinberg book).
  • BAOs and their cosmological relevance (including BAO reconstruction).
  • The era of precision cosmology: Planck paper summary on cosmological parameters and DE/MG models. Role of BAOs at low redshift. Tensions between CMB and other cosmological probes.
  • Probing the cosmic density field and structure formation processes from high to low redshift (Mo, VdBosch, White book)
  • Correlation functions, 3-point function - power spectrum and bispectrum (Mo, VdBosch, White book)
  • Non linear evolution: the halo model (Mo, VdBosch, White book)
  • LSS probes - galaxies
  • LSS probes - clusters of galaxies and peculiar velocity fields
  • LSS probes - the intergalactic medium
  • LSS probes - 21 cm and the high redshift universe
  • Cosmological relevance of Weak gravitational lensing.
  • Worked examples on retrieving fundamental physics information from cosmological data and in particular: neutrino masses, dark matter (hot/warm/cold), modified gravity, axions.
  • Reconstruction of the cosmic web at the field level with EFTofLSS and ML methods

Prerequisites:

GR, Newtonian dynamics. The second part of the course could be considered a prerequisite to the Large Scale Structure course of Emiliano Sefusatti.

Books:

  • Cosmology, Daniel Baumann, 2022, Cambridge University Press, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108937092
  • A course in cosmology, Dragan Huterer, 2023, Cambridge University Press, ISBN: 1316513599
  • Cosmology, Weinberg S., 2008, Oxford University Press
  • Baumann part III Cosmology course - lecture notes available online with exercises.
  • Galaxy Formation and Evolution, Mo, Van Den Bosch, White, 2010, Cambridge University Press (in particular Chapter 6).
  • https://mwhite.berkeley.edu/BAO/SantaFe10.pdf - BAO lectures

Online Resources:

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