2021 Spring: Joint Class of UZH/ETH

AST 513: Theoretical Cosmology (UZH)
402-0394-00L: Theoretical Astrophysics and Cosmology (ETH)

Lecture: ETH HPV G5 at 14:00~16:00 (13:45~15:45) Wednesday
Lecture: ETH HPV G5 at 12:00~14:00 (11:45~13:45) Thursday
Exercise classes: On Zoom, every Friday from 16:00 to 18:00. Meeting ID: 962 6050 1340. Passcode: 119688

EXAM DATES: The date and location of the exams will be specified soon.

Class description: This is the course webpage for the Spring 2021 lectures of "Theoetical Astrophysics and Cosmology" offered jointly by ETH and Uni Zurich. This course is intended for Master students and qualifies as a Theoretical Core Course. It is the second of a two course series which starts with "General Relativity" and continues in the spring with "Theoretical Astrophysics and Cosmology". The course and exercise classes will be presented in English. You can find a course syllabus here: syllabus

Lectures by: Prof. Dr. Lucio Mayer (lmayer@physik.uzh.ch) and Prof. Dr. Jaiyul Yoo (jyoo@physik.uzh.ch)

Teaching assistants: Lorenz Zwick (lorenz.zwick@uzh.ch) and Matteo Magi (matteo.magi@uzh.ch)

Prerequisites: General Relativity

About the course: The course will focus on applying General Relativity to Cosmology as well as developing the modern theory of structure formation in a cold dark matter Universe. The syllabus consists of the following topics:

Part I - The Unperturbed State of the Universe

  1. Introduction: dynamics of expanding Universe and its matter/energy content.
  2. The FRW metric and Friedmann equations
  3. The Thermal History of the Universe (Hot Big Bang model)
  4. Decoupling and Thermodynamics of relic particles
  5. Nucleosynthesis and Recombination
  6. Introduction to Inflationary Theory
Part II - Inhomogeneous Universe
  1. Newtonian Perturbation Theory
  2. Probes of Inhomogeneities
  3. Relativistic Perturbation Theory
  4. Standard Inflationary Models
  5. Weak Gravitational Lensing
  6. CMB Anisotropies

Textbooks:

- Mo, H., van den Bosch, F. & White, S., Galaxy Formation and Evolution, 2010, Cambridge Univ. Press (available online and in library) [1]
- Carroll, S. M., Lecture Notes on General Relativity, 1997 (available online) [2]
- Dodelson, S., Modern Cosmology, 2003, Academic Press (available online [only in ETH-domain] and in library) [3]


Additional textbooks:

- Carroll, S. M., Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity, 2004, Addison Wesley [4]
- Weinberg, S., Gravitation and Cosmology: Principles and Applications of the General Theory of Relativity, 1972, John Wiley & Sons
- Weinberg, S., Cosmology, 2008, Oxford University Press [5]
- Mukhanov, V., Physical Foundations of Cosmology, 2005, Cambridge Univ. Press (available online [only in ETH-domain] and in library)
- Kolb, E. W. & Turner M. S., The Early Universe, 1994, Westview Press
- Straumann, N., General Relativity with Applications to Astrophysics, 2004, Springer (available online [only in ETH-domain] and in library)
- Liddle, A. & Lyth, D, Cosmological Inflation and Large Scale Structure, 2000, Cambridge Univ. Press (available online [only in ETH-domain] and in library)


Lectures:

Part I:

Part II:

Exercises and Slack: Due to the extraordinary situation we had to modify the format of the exercise classes. The excercise class itself will be used primarily to clarify and discuss the trickier parts of the lecture material, along with some crucial problems in the excercise sheets. We have set up a group in Slack (you should have received an e-mail, if not please contact us), wherein you are encouraged to ask and discuss questions about the excercises and lectures. By default, you can correct your own excercises against the solution sheets, which will be always posted one week after the respective problem sheet. If your solution differs from the one in the solutions, or if you have some questions on the solution itself, feel free to contact us directly or to ask a question in Slack.

Exercise sets:

Exercise solutions:


Advanced Topics of Theoretical Cosmology: syllabus

The course "Advanced Topis of Theoretical Cosmology" is an extension of "Theoretical Astrophysics and Cosmology" and is given by Prof. Dr. Jaiyul Yoo.
The lectures take two hours (10am-noon), every day for two weeks form the 30th August until the 10th of September 2021.

It is listed in the ETH course catalogue (402-6394-00L) of the Fall Semester 2021, and ETH students must book this block course directly at UZH (AST802).

Room: Y13-L-11/13 Irchel campus UZH
Course catalogue ETH: link.
Course catalogue UZH: link.