Ever wondered why we are so sure that the Universe started with a Big Bang, or why physics has come to introduce such vague concepts as "dark" matter and energy?
The
goal of the course in experimental cosmology is to provide a physical
understanding of how observations of the Universe at large scales allow
us to constrain how the Universe was formed, what it contains and what
it will evolve into. This course will cover the following topics:
- Introduction to General Relativity, the Big Bang model and the Lambda-Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) Universe.
- Fundamental observations of the Universe at large scales.
- Dark energy and the accelerated expansion rate.
- Big bang nucleosynthesis, inflation and other early Universe physics.
- The cosmic microwave background (CMB) and structure formation.
We will continuously focus on how theoretical concepts are related to astrophysical observations. A background knowledge in general relativity is useful but not necessary.
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Jakob Nordin
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Simeon Reusch
Semester: WiSe 2020/21