Observational Cosmology

Astronomie 6935 / astro845

Sommersemester 2013
(Vorlesungzeit 8.4 - 19.7.2012)

Prof. Dr. Cristiano Porciani (porciani@astro.uni-bonn.de)
Dr. Kaustuv moni Basu  (kbasu@astro.uni-bonn.de)



Lectures: Wednesdays 11:15 - 12:45
Location: University Lecture room 0.012
For term nos.: 4 and up
Hours per week: 2
Tutor:
Jennifer Pollack
Prerequisites: Some basic concepts of cosmology and astrophysics

Contents: This class provides an overview of current and future experimental efforts aimed at improving our understanding of the universe, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy. After briefly reviewing the current standard cosmological model, we will focus on the motivations, techniques and aims of the leading experiments in the field.


Schedule

Date   
Lecturer  
Topic                                                      
Slides          
Exercises
  Due
11.4 CP
Introduction + Cosmology basics
Ex-1

18.4 KB
Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): thermal spectrum + temperature anisotropies



25.4 KB
CMB polarization + Overview of Planck/other CMB experiments

Ex-2







02.5 CP
Estimation theory + Bayesian analysis



09.5

Holiday (Christi Himmelfahrt)


16.5 CP
Application: Marcov Chain Monte Carlo method


23.5
Holiday (Pfingsten)



30.5
Holiday (Fronleichnam)








06.6 CP
Galaxy spectra + Optical surveys + Baryonic acoustic oscillations



13.6 CP Photometric surveys + Dark energy probes









20.6 KB Cosmology with galaxy clusters + Scaling relations


27.6 KB Intra-Cluster Medium + X-ray & SZ observations + Future surveys









04.7
No Lecture



11.7 CP DE surveys + Inflation/Gravitational lensing



18.7 KB
High-z starbursts/sub-mm galaxies


                




References:
Books
Modern Cosmology (Dodelson)
Cosmological Physics (Peacock)
Galaxy Formation (Longair)
X-ray Emission from Clusters of Galaxies (Sarazin)  (available online)


Review articles:
CMB: a Review for Particle and Nuclear Physicists (Samtleben et al. 2007)  (PDF)
Cosmology with the SZ Effect (Carlstrom et al. 2002)  (PDF)
Observational Probes of Cosmic Acceleration (Weinberg et al. 2013) (PDF)



Others
Report from the US Dark Energy Task Force  (PDF)