Fundamentals of Cosmology
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Beschreibung
The book is aimed at physics students and professional physicists who wish to understand the basics of cosmology and general relativity as well as the most recent cosmological observations and models.
It presents a self-contained introduction to general relativity that is based on the homogeneity and isotropy of the local universe. The simplicity of this space allows general relativity to be introduced in a very simple manner while laying the foundation for the treatment of more complicated problems.
The latest cosmological observations and theories are discussed. Emphasis is placed on estimations of the densities of matter and of vacuum energy, and on investigations of the primordial density fluctuations and the nature of dark matter.
This is a textbook intended for students and researchers who wish to under stand the physics of standard "big bang" cosmology and how it is used to interpret the most recent observations. It is based on courses given over the last seven years to beginning graduate students at the University of Paris and to advanced undergraduates at l'Ecole Poly technique. Since the great major ity of these students did not intend to become professional cosmologists, I have emphasized subjects that should be of general interest. Progress in observations over the last ten years has been truly astounding and a new textbook might be justified simply to report on recent break throughs. The traditional successes of modern cosmology are well-known. Among these are the dynamical understanding of the universal expansion, the prediction of the cosmic microwave background radiation, and the calculation of the abundances of the light elements. To these we can add new observa tions that suggest that we are beginning the era of "precision cosmology." Perhaps most spectacular was the observation this year of the first acoustic peak in the anisotropy spectrum of the cosmic background radiation by the Boomerang and Maxima collaborations. These beautiful measurements have convinced many people that the universe has a nearly critical energy density and that a complete understanding of structure formation may be at hand.
Well-balanced introduction without too much mathematics
Graduate and advanced undergraduate textbook
Out of Ecole Polytechnique's outstanding educational program
With solutions and hints for selected exercies
Autor*in
James Rich
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From the reviews
"[It] is a pleasure to read and distraction to review. The book provides a comprehensive and thorough explication of current cosmology at a level appropriate for a beginning graduate student or an advanced and motivated undergraduate. It covers all relevant concepts of cosmology and pertinent general relativity and contains a significant number of exercises, with solutions to a sample set. This book clearly is the result of the refining of notes from a course on cosmology… It provides a summary of current observations and mathematical underpinnings of the physical principles. This is an extremely valuable contribution in the field, which has been changing rapidly as a result of new technology and new theoretical motivations from the related field of high-energy physics… This book provides a good look at the intellectual effort and a solid foundation for the new discoveries soon to come." (Physics Today, September 2002)
"All these exciting developments are laid out in a very accessible form in this textbook especially written for senior undergraduates or graduates from various backgrounds. It deals in a very nice and explicit form with the basic ideas of cosmology and general relativity (...). This is a fine textbook and would be very enjoyable for private study.
(The Physicist, 2001)
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