Astro-2: History of the Universe

Spring 2011

LECTURE SCHEDULE

(Preliminary. Will be periodically updated. Last updated Mar 21 2011)

Week
Date
Topic
Notes (ppt)
 Notes (pdf)
1
03/29 INTRO. COSMOLOGICAL/ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLES.  
Lecture1
Lecture1

03/31 HISTORY OF COSMOLOGY. "ISLAND UNIVERSES". DISTANCE SCALE.[U.24.1-3]
Lecture2
Lecture2
2
04/05 THE DISTANCE SCALE-2; HUBBLE'S  LAW. [U.24.4-5]
Lecture3
Lecture3

04/07 LARGE SCALE STRUCTURE. MERGERS. DARK MATTER. [U.24.6-8]
Lecture4 Lecture4
3
04/12
DARK MATTER; MACHOS & WIMPS. GRAVITATIONAL LENSING.  [U.24.8]
Lecture5 Lecture5

04/14
QSOS. ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI. GAMMA RAY BURSTS.  [U.25]
Lecture6 Lecture6
4
04/19
MODIFIED NEWTONIAN DYNAMICS. ORIGINS.
Lecture7 Lecture7

04/21
EVIDENCE FOR THE BIG BANG. OLBER'S PARADOX. EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE. AGE OF THE UNIVERSE (IS THERE A AGE PROBLEM?).   [U.26.1-3]
Lecture8 Lecture8
5
04/26
EVIDENCE FOR THE BIG BANG. COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND. HORIZONS.  [U.26.4]
Lecture9 Lecture9

04/28
MIDTERM-1


6
05/03
EVIDENCE FOR THE BIG BANG. HELIUM ABUNDANCE. THE CONTENT OF THE UNIVERSE. THERMAL HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE. [U.26.5] Lecture10 Lecture10

05/05
BIG BANG MODELS; FRIEDMAN EQUATION; COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT. GEOMETRY AND MASS.
Lecture11 Lecture11
7
05/10
 THE ACCELERATING UNIVERSE. COSMOGRAPHY. COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND AND OTHER PROBES. [U.26.6-7.8]
Lecture12 Lecture12

05/12
THE EARLY UNIVERSE: FROM PLANK TIME TO INFLATION. [U27.1-3] Lecture13 Lecture13
8
05/17
MIDTERM-2



05/19
MATTER ANTIMATTER AND PRIMORDIAL NUCLEOSYNTHESIS. [U27.4-5] Lecture14 Lecture14
9
05/24
GALAXY FORMATION. [U 27.6-7] Lecture15 Lecture15

05/26
EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE.

10
05/31
ALTERNATIVES TO BIG BANG. Lecture16 Lecture16

06/02
REVIEW FOR THE FINAL.
Final_review
Final_review

06/07
FINAL EXAM!!!!! 4-7 PM



Note:  it is recommended to read the material in square brackets before each class. Books are referred to as: U=Universe.