| course | dates | credits |
| Early Universe Cosmology | Nov 13 - Dec 14 | 5 |
| teachers | schedule | term |
| Piero Ullio | Mon-Thu, 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. Particle physics tests at recombination epoch.
- The dark matter problem:
Overview of evidences for dark matter in the Universe, from galactic to cosmological scales, and implications for particle dark matter candidates; classification of mechanisms for particle dark matter generation in the early Universe; the WIMP miracle, general features and bounds, and an example of minimal model: the Higgs portal for a scalar singlet; the role of feebly interaction massive particles, sterile neutrinos as dark matter and generalisation to EWIMPs.
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 |
|---|