ASTR 2010 MODERN COSMOLOGY Spring 2002

Lecture Syllabus & Notes

Primary Text: Foundations of Modern Cosmology, by John Hawley & Katherine Holcomb (H&H), Oxford University Press, 1998

Secondary Text: A Short History of the Universe, by Joseph Silk, Scientific American Library, 1994

Secondary Text: Cosmology: A Very Short Introduction, by Peter Coles, Oxford, 2001

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Lecture 1: Cosmology as myth and science (Mon, Jan 14)

Reading: H&H, pp 1-20; Silk, pp 1-25

Introduction
What is cosmology?
Ancient mythology and modern cosmology: is there a difference?
Scientific method: what it is all about

Lecture 2: Greek cosmology (Wed, Jan 16)

Reading: H&H, pp 21-33

Aristotle: a very famous greek philosopher
Heliocentrism ahead of time: a story about how being clever does not always pay
Ptolemy: he finished what Aristotle had begun

Lecture 3: The Renaissance I (Fri, Jan 18)

Reading: H&H, pp 33-45; Silk, pp 27-49

Copernicus and his world system
Tycho Brahe: a politically incorrect hymn to heavy drinking
Kepler and his laws of planetary motion

Lecture 4: The Renaissance II (Wed, Jan 23)

Reading: H&H, pp 46-51

Galileo: a story of vain, arrogance, punishment, and triumph
..and what it all meant

Lecture 5: Newton and his laws I (Fri, Jan 25)

Reading: H&H, pp 52-61

Inertia and force
Laws of motion

Lecture 6: Newton and his laws II (Mon, Jan 28)

Reading: H&H, pp 61-70

Law of gravity, and whether Newton was struck by an apple

Lecture 7: Properties of light and atoms I (Wed, Jan 30)

Viewgraph copies (set 1) provided in class for next Lectures 7 to 9. Reading: H&H, pp 79-111

Electromagnetic radiation as waves and particles
Emission spectra demonstrated

Lecture 8: Properties of light and atoms II (Fri, Feb 1)

Viewgraph copies available (set 1). Reading: H&H, pp 79-111 (Lighting the worlds)

Nuclei of atoms and their electron clouds
Energy levels of electrons and spectral lines

Lecture 9: The Sun as a star (Mon, Feb 4)

Uses viewgraphs (set 1). Viewgraph copies (set 2) provided in class for Lectures 10 through 12+. Reading: H&H, pp 112-139 (Lives of stars)

Solar structure overview (radiative interior zone, convective envelope)
Thermonuclear fusion keeps the center just hot enough
Sun rotates differentially and has cycles of magnetic activity

Lecture 10: Properties of other stars (Wed, Feb 6)

Viewgraph copies available (set 2). Reading: H&H, pp 112-139 (Lives of stars)

Analyzing starlight and classifying stars
Binary stars and weighing them
Famous Hertzspung-Russell diagram
Long life on the main sequence: core burning of hydrogen

Lecture 11: Evolution of stars I (Fri, Feb 8)

Viewgraph copies available (set 2). Reading: H&H, pp 112-139 (Lives of stars)

There is life after the main sequence
Evolution of low mass stars: red giant, horizontal branch, red supergiant
Loosing it: planetary nebula, white dwarf

Lecture 12: Evolution of stars II (Mon, Feb 11)

Viewgraph copies available (set 2). Reading: H&H, pp 112-139 (Lives of stars)

Strange facts about degenerate remnants: white dwarfs, neutron stars
Evolution of massive stars
`Layers of onion' in nuclear burning
Dramatic supernova ending

Lecture 13: Evolution of stars III (Wed, Feb 13)

Viewgraph copies available (set 2). Reading: H&H, pp 112-139 (Lives of stars)

Neutron stars or black holes left in cinders of supernova
Pulsars: rapidly rotating neutron stars, beamed synchrotron radiation
Mass exchange between binary stars: fancy pyrotechnics

MIDTERM EXAM 1 (Fri, Feb 15)

Closed book and printed notes
Handwritten notes, max 4 sides 8.5 x 11 sheets allowed
Bring #2 pencil (or $1!) (scantron, multiple-choice, true-false format)

Lecture 14: Newtonian cosmology I (Mon, Feb 18)

Reading: H&H, pp 70-75, 143-148 (Infinite space and absolute time)

The age of the universe: how the first guess was made
Absolute space and absolute time (well, you may say, this is absolutely obvious)

PLANETARIUM SHOW 1: Our Milky Way Galaxy (Wed, Feb 20)

Class meets directly in Fiske Planetarium
Please try to be on time, since program begins immediately

Lecture 15: Newtonian cosmology II (Fri, Feb 22)

Reading: H&H, pp 148-154

Cosmological principles: anthropic principle, Copernican principle, and cosmological principle per se.
"Perfect" cosmological principle, and why it is not perfect
Violating the taboo: trying to test the cosmological principle

Lecture 16: Newtonian cosmology III

.... and IV (Mon, Feb 25)

Reading: H&H, pp 154-161 (III); pp 161-168 (IV) [Notes are in 2 parts for downloading]

Measuring the nature: clocks and rules
Frames of reference, inertial versus non-inertial
Relativity of space and time
Ether: a story of a fly in the ointment
Ether is gone!

Lecture 17: Special relativity I (Wed, Feb 27)

Reading: H&H, pp 171-180

Relativity principle: a very special speed
Time dilation and length contraction: where the common sense makes no sense

Lecture 18: Special relativity II (Fri, Mar 1)

Reading: H&H, pp 180-186

Relativistic velocities
Doppler effect: a very important tool in cosmology
Rest energy

Lecture 19: Special relativity III

.... and IV (Mon, Mar 4)

Reading: H&H, pp 186-192 (III); pp 192-197 (IV) [Notes are in 2 parts for downloading]

How space and time became space-time
Paradoxes of special relativity

Lecture 20: General relativity I (Wed, Mar 6)

Reading: H&H, pp 201-209

Newtonian gravity and special relativity
Equivalence principle

Lecture 21: General relativity II (Fri, Mar 8)

Reading: H&H, pp 209-212

Space-time: not flat but curved

Lecture 22: General relativity III (Mon, Mar 11)

Reading: H&H, pp 212-218; Silk, pp 106-108

Introduction to geometry
Curved space: what is it?

PLANETARIUM SHOW 2: Black Holes and Relativity (Wed, Mar 13)

Class meets directly in Fiske Planetarium
Please try to be on time, since program begins immediately

Lecture 23: General relativity IV
.... and V (Fri, Mar 15)

Reading: H&H, pp 218-224 (IV); pp 224-229 (V) [Notes are in 2 parts for downloading]

General relativity: a theory of curved space-time
Testing general relativity

Lecture 24: Black holes I (Mon, Mar 18)

Reading: H&H, pp 231-242; Silk, pp 144-154

Conformal diagrams
Black holes
Rotating black holes: to fall, or not to fall, that is the question

Lecture 25: Black holes II (Wed, Mar 20)

Reading: H&H, pp 243-257

Why black holes are not black
Are there real black holes?

Lecture 26: Expanding universe I (Fri, Mar 22)

Reading: H&H, pp 261-267

Discovery of the external universe
Curtis-Shapley debate

SPRING BREAK! Take along Coles to read on plane/boat! Fits nicely in pocket, and looks erudite.

Lecture 27: Expanding universe II (Mon, Apr 1)

Reading: H&H, pp 267-271; Silk, pp 32-42

Cosmic distance ladder

Lecture 28: Expanding universe III
.... and IV (Wed, Apr 3)

Reading: H&H, pp 271-277, Silk, pp 42-49 (III); H&H, pp 278-280 (IV) [Notes are in 2 parts for downloading]

Hubble law: measuring expansion of the universe
Hubble constant: a never ending story
General relativity and the universe: Big Bang is born!

MIDTERM EXAM 2 (Fri, Apr 5)

Closed book and printed notes
Handwritten notes, max 4 sides 8.5 x 11 sheets allowed
Bring #2 pencil (or $1!) (scantron, multiple-choice, true-false format)

Lecture 29: Big Bang I (Mon, Apr 8)

Reading: H&H, pp 280-287; Silk, pp 109-113

Expansion of the universe: what is it expanding into?
Cosmological models: closed, open, flat
Predicting the future

PLANETARIUM SHOW 3: Big Bang Cosmology (Wed, Apr 10)

Class meets directly in Fiske Planetarium
Please try to be on time, since program begins immediately

Lecture 30: Big Bang II (Fri, Apr 12)

Reading: H&H, pp 288-298

Cosmological redshift
Big Bang and Newtonian cosmology

Lecture 31: Big Bang III (Mon, Apr 15)

Reading: H&H, pp 298-316

Hubble law and the scale factor
Cosmological parameters
Cosmological constant
Future and past of the universe

Lecture 32: Cosmic Microwave Background I (Wed, Apr 17)

Reading: H&H, pp 319-330; Silk, pp 52-63

Discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background
Hot universe
Origin of heavy elements

Lecture 33: Cosmic Microwave Background II (Fri, Apr 19)

Reading: H&H, pp 330-340

Studying the Cosmic Background
Ripples on the sea
Cosmography: living in the age of first explorers

Lecture 34: Measuring cosmological parameters I
.... and II (Mon, Apr 22)

Reading: H&H, pp 341-347 (I); H&H, pp 347-351 (II)

Hubble constant reappears
Age and geometry of the universe
What awaits us in the future?

Lecture 35: Early universe I (Wed, Apr 24)

Reading: H&H, pp 353-365; Coles, pp 57-73

Matter and energy
Quarks, hadrons, and leptons: who they are and what they do
Beginning of time

Lecture 36: Early universe II
... and III (Fri, Apr 26)

Reading: H&H, pp 365-374 (II); H&H, pp 374-380 (III); Silk, pp 65-83; Coles, pp 74-92

Baryogenesis
Nucleosynthesis: cooking up helium
Dark ages come: the end of radiation era
The end of dark ages

Lecture 37: Universe around us (Mon, Apr 29)

Reading: H&H, pp 393-414; Silk, pp 85-97; Coles, pp 93-106

Dark matter: a mystery waiting to be solved
Structure of the universe

PLANETARIUM SHOW 4: Galaxies at the Edge of the Universe (Wed, May 1)

Happy MAY DAY!
Class meets directly in Fiske Planetarium
Please try to be on time, since program begins immediately

Lecture 38: Beyond the beginning (Wed, May 3)

Reading: H&H, pp 416-461; Silk, pp 115-131; Coles, pp 107-127

Problems with the standard model
Inflation: this time it is good
The edge of time

FINAL EXAM (Wed, May 8, 4:30pm, Duane G125)

Return to 2010 Homepage

ASTR 2010 MODERN COSMOLOGY Spring 2002

Lecture Syllabus & Notes

Lecture 1: Cosmology as myth and science (Mon, Jan 14)

Lecture 2: Greek cosmology (Wed, Jan 16)

Lecture 3: The Renaissance I (Fri, Jan 18)

Lecture 4: The Renaissance II (Wed, Jan 23)

Lecture 5: Newton and his laws I (Fri, Jan 25)

Lecture 6: Newton and his laws II (Mon, Jan 28)

Lecture 7: Properties of light and atoms I (Wed, Jan 30)

Lecture 8: Properties of light and atoms II (Fri, Feb 1)

Lecture 9: The Sun as a star (Mon, Feb 4)

Lecture 10: Properties of other stars (Wed, Feb 6)

Lecture 11: Evolution of stars I (Fri, Feb 8)

Lecture 12: Evolution of stars II (Mon, Feb 11)

Lecture 13: Evolution of stars III (Wed, Feb 13)

MIDTERM EXAM 1 (Fri, Feb 15)

Lecture 14: Newtonian cosmology I (Mon, Feb 18)

PLANETARIUM SHOW 1: Our Milky Way Galaxy (Wed, Feb 20)

Lecture 15: Newtonian cosmology II (Fri, Feb 22)

Lecture 16: Newtonian cosmology III

.... and IV (Mon, Feb 25)

Lecture 17: Special relativity I (Wed, Feb 27)

Lecture 18: Special relativity II (Fri, Mar 1)

Lecture 19: Special relativity III

.... and IV (Mon, Mar 4)

Lecture 20: General relativity I (Wed, Mar 6)

Lecture 21: General relativity II (Fri, Mar 8)

Lecture 22: General relativity III (Mon, Mar 11)

PLANETARIUM SHOW 2: Black Holes and Relativity (Wed, Mar 13)

Lecture 23: General relativity IV .... and V (Fri, Mar 15)

Lecture 24: Black holes I (Mon, Mar 18)

Lecture 25: Black holes II (Wed, Mar 20)

Lecture 26: Expanding universe I (Fri, Mar 22)

SPRING BREAK! Take along Coles to read on plane/boat! Fits nicely in pocket, and looks erudite.

Lecture 27: Expanding universe II (Mon, Apr 1)

Lecture 28: Expanding universe III .... and IV (Wed, Apr 3)

MIDTERM EXAM 2 (Fri, Apr 5)

Lecture 29: Big Bang I (Mon, Apr 8)

PLANETARIUM SHOW 3: Big Bang Cosmology (Wed, Apr 10)

Lecture 30: Big Bang II (Fri, Apr 12)

Lecture 31: Big Bang III (Mon, Apr 15)

Lecture 32: Cosmic Microwave Background I (Wed, Apr 17)

Lecture 33: Cosmic Microwave Background II (Fri, Apr 19)

Lecture 34: Measuring cosmological parameters I .... and II (Mon, Apr 22)

Lecture 35: Early universe I (Wed, Apr 24)

Lecture 36: Early universe II ... and III (Fri, Apr 26)

Lecture 37: Universe around us (Mon, Apr 29)

PLANETARIUM SHOW 4: Galaxies at the Edge of the Universe (Wed, May 1)

Lecture 38: Beyond the beginning (Wed, May 3)

FINAL EXAM (Wed, May 8, 4:30pm, Duane G125)

Lecture 23: General relativity IV
.... and V (Fri, Mar 15)

Lecture 28: Expanding universe III
.... and IV (Wed, Apr 3)

Lecture 34: Measuring cosmological parameters I
.... and II (Mon, Apr 22)

Lecture 36: Early universe II
... and III (Fri, Apr 26)