TheoCosmo

Theoretical Cosmology lecture materials

The current version in this repo are for the Theoretical Cosmology lectures given in ICG in the academic year 2021-2022.

• Part 1: Last update 14 November 2021
• Part 2: Last update 19 November 2021
• Part 3: Last update 22 November 2021
• Part 4: Last update 26 November 2021

filename prefixes for the slides:

• DYNAMIC: Files with "appear" animation in separate pages
• STATIC: The final form of slide is printed on each page

Topics covered in these lectures are:

1. Introduction to Big-Bang Cosmology (Monday 15/11/2021)

   • (very) brief refresher on general relativity
   • Geometry of our universe
   • Kinematics on FLRW
   • Dynamics of FLRW
   • Cosmological parameters
   • Distance-redshift relations
   • Present universe (LCDM).

2. Hot Thermal Universe (Friday 19/11/2021)

   • Thermodynamics in the early universe
   • Ingredients of the thermal soup
   • Decoupling of interactions and freeze-out
   • Big bang nucleosynthesis
   • Cosmic microwave background

3. Inflation (Monday 22/11/2021)

   • Problems of hot big bang model
   • Inflation (single field), slow-roll, reheating
   • Cosmological perturbations
   • Inflationary observables

4. Dark Energy (Friday 26/11/2021)

   • Observational evidence for acceleration
   • Cosmological constant problem
   • Alternative explanations: examples & challenges
   • Dynamical dark energy
   • Modified gravity
   • Growth history and observational tests

Video recordings of these lectures are also available to students and staff of University of Portsmouth.