Andrew Liddle

An Introduction to Modern Cosmology

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Die Neuauflage dieses erfolgreichen Lehrbuchs bietet eine verständliche, prägnante und aktuelle Einführung in die Kosmologie und richtet sich sowohl an Physiker als auch Leser mit Interesse an diesem Fachgebiet.
----------------------------------------

An Introduction to Modern Cosmology Third Edition is an accessible account of modern cosmological ideas. The Big Bang Cosmology is explored, looking at its observational successes in explaining the expansion of the Universe, the existence and properties of the cosmic microwave background, and the origin of light elements in the universe. Properties of the very early Universe are also covered, including the motivation for a rapid period of expansion known as cosmological inflation. The third edition brings this established undergraduate textbook up-to-date with the rapidly evolving observational situation.

This fully revised edition of a bestseller takes an approach which is grounded in physics with a logical flow of chapters leading the reader from basic ideas of the expansion described by the Friedman equations to some of the more advanced ideas about the early universe. It also incorporates up-to-date results from the Planck mission, which imaged the anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation over the whole sky. The Advanced Topic sections present subjects with more detailed mathematical approaches to give greater depth to discussions. Student problems with hints for solving them and numerical answers are embedded in the chapters to facilitate the reader's understanding and learning.

Cosmology is now part of the core in many degree programs. This current, clear and concise introductory text is relevant to a wide range of astronomy programs worldwide and is essential reading for undergraduates and Masters students, as well as anyone starting research in cosmology. Supplementary material, including full-colour images, updates and links for students and instructors, is available on the author's website: http://www.roe.ac.uk/~arl/.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Wiley & Sons
• Artikelnr. des Verlages: 1W118502140
• 3. Aufl.
• Seitenzahl: 208
• Erscheinungstermin: 26. Juni 2015
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 12mm
• Gewicht: 266g
• ISBN-13: 9781118502143
• ISBN-10: 1118502140
• Artikelnr.: 41522061

Autorenporträt

Andrew Liddle Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, UK

Inhaltsangabe

Preface xi Constants, conversion factors and symbols xiv 1 A (Very) Brief
History of Cosmological Ideas 1 2 Observational Overview 3 2.1 In visible
light 3 2.2 In other wavebands 6 2.3 Homogeneity and isotropy 10 2.4 The
expansion of the Universe 10 2.5 Particles in the Universe 13 3 Newtonian
Gravity 21 3.1 The Friedmann equation 22 3.2 On the meaning of the
expansion 25 3.3 Things that go faster than light 25 3.4 The fluid equation
26 3.5 The acceleration equation 27 3.6 On mass, energy and vanishing
factors of c2 28 4 The Geometry of the Universe 29 4.1 Flat geometry 29 4.2
Spherical geometry 30 4.3 Hyperbolic geometry 32 4.4 Infinite and
observable Universes 33 4.5 Where did the Big Bang happen? 33 4.6 Three
values of k 34 5 Simple Cosmological Models 37 5.1 Hubble's law 37 5.2
Expansion and redshift 38 5.3 Solving the equations 39 5.4 Particle number
densities 43 5.5 Evolution including curvature 44 6 Observational
Parameters 49 6.1 The expansion rate H0 49 6.2 The density parameter 0 51
6.3 The deceleration parameter q0 52 7 The Cosmological Constant 55 7.1
Introducing _ 55 7.2 Fluid description of _ 56 7.3 Cosmological models with
_ 57 8 The Age of the Universe 61 9 The Density of the Universe and Dark
Matter 67 9.1 Weighing the Universe 67 9.2 What might the dark matter be?
73 9.3 Dark matter searches 74 10 The Cosmic Microwave Background 77 10.1
Properties of the microwave background 77 10.2 The photon to baryon ratio
79 10.3 The origin of the microwave background 80 10.4 The origin of the
microwave background (advanced) 83 11 The Early Universe 87 12
Nucleosynthesis: The Origin of the Light Elements 93 12.1 Hydrogen and
Helium 93 12.2 Comparing with observations 96 12.3 Contrasting decoupling
and nucleosynthesis 98 13 The Inflationary Universe 101 13.1 Problems with
the Hot Big Bang 101 13.2 Inflationary expansion 105 13.3 Solving the Big
Bang problems 106 13.4 How much inflation? 108 13.5 Inflation and particle
physics 109 14 The Initial Singularity 113 15 Overview: The Standard
Cosmological Model 117 Advanced Topic 1 General Relativistic Cosmology 121
1.1 The metric of space-time 121 1.2 The Einstein equations 122 1.3 Aside:
Topology of the Universe 124 Advanced Topic 2 Classic Cosmology: Distances
and Luminosities 127 2.1 Light propagation and redshift 127 2.2 The
observable Universe 130 2.3 Luminosity distance 130 2.4 Angular diameter
distance 134 2.5 Source counts 136 Advanced Topic 3 Neutrino Cosmology 139
3.1 The massless case 139 3.2 Massive neutrinos 141 3.3 Neutrinos and
structure formation 142 Advanced Topic 4 Baryogenesis 145 Advanced Topic 5
Structures in the Universe 149 5.1 The observed structures 149 5.2
Gravitational instability 151 5.3 The clustering of galaxies 152 5.4 Cosmic
microwave background anisotropies 154 5.5 The origin of structure 159
Advanced Topic 6 Constraining cosmological models 163 6.1 Cosmological
models and parameters 163 6.2 Key cosmological observations 164 6.3
Cosmological data analysis 164 6.4 The Standard Cosmological Model: 2014
edition 166 6.5 The future 168 Bibliography 171 Numerical answers and hints
to problems 173 Index 177