Course Name: Introduction to Cosmology
Credits: 2.0
Level: Undergraduate
Pre-requisite: Advanced mathematics, undergrad physics
Lecture Time: 40 sessions (45 minutes per session)
Course Description: This course is an introductory course to cosmology for undergraduate students, focusing on basics in theory and data analysis for cosmological implications. On the theory side, this course covers the thermal history of the Universe, inflation, basics in general relativity and cosmological perturbation theory, and on the observation side, we cover statistical methods including parameter estimation, numeric simulations and the Fisher information matrix. This course will train students capability in programming in Fortran and Julia, and enable students to use standard tools in cosmology including CAMB, CosmoMC and Cobaya.
Topics
Chapter 1: Fundamentals of Theoretical Cosmology (10 sessions)
1.1 Introduction (Understanding)
1.2 Basic Principles and Concepts of Cosmology (Mastery)
1.3 Thermal History of the Universe (Mastery)
1.4 Inflation (Mastery)
1.5 Basics of General Relativity (Mastery)
1.6 Fundamentals of Cosmological Perturbation Theory (Mastery)
Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Observational Cosmology (6 sessions)
2.1 Basic Principles and Concepts of Observational Cosmology (Understanding)
2.2 Basics of Data Processing (Mastery)
2.3 Parameter Fitting Methods (Mastery)
Chapter 3: Large-Scale Structure Galaxy Survey Data Analysis (12 sessions)
3.1 Introduction to Large-Scale Galaxy Surveys (Understanding)
3.2 Two-Point Correlation Function Measurement (Mastery)
3.3 Galaxy Power Spectrum Measurement (Mastery)
3.4 Simulated Galaxy Catalogs (Mastery)
3.5 Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Measurements (Mastery)
3.6 Redshift Distortion Measurements (Mastery)
Chapter 4: Photometric Survey Data Analysis (4 sessions)
4.1 Angular Power Spectrum Measurement (Mastery)
4.2 Gravitational Lensing and Galaxy Count Survey Data Analysis (Mastery)
Chapter 5: Cosmological Applications Research (8 sessions)
5.1 Measurement of Fundamental Cosmological Parameters (Mastery)
5.2 Dark Energy Research (Mastery)
5.3 Modified Gravity Research (Mastery)
5.4 Neutrino Mass Measurement (Mastery)
Grading:
Exam (50%) + Homework (25%) + Presentation (25%)
Recommended text books:
Cosmological Physics (John A. Peacock)
Modern Cosmology (Scott Dodelson and Fabian Schmidt)
Lecture notes:
Lecture 1
Lecture 2
Lecture 3 code
Lecture 4
Lecture 5
Lecture 6