Introduction to Cosmology Notes
Technical Report 2005–12
Ka Chun Yu Lecture Notes for Introduction to Cosmology
Denver – 2005
DMNS Technical Report 2005-12, 167 pages total
Lecture Notes for Introduction to Cosmology
October, 2005 by Dr. Ka Chun Yu Curator of Space Science Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Available at https://scientists.dmns.org/sites/kachunyu
Contents
1 Cosmology From Ancient to Modern Times 1.1 The Ancients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 European Thought Before the 20th Century 1.3 The Beginnings of Modern Science . . . . . 1.4 The Copernican Revolution . . . . . . . . . 1.5 Modern Cosmology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6 The Expanding Universe . . . . . . . . . . . 2 What Is In the Observable Universe? 2.1 The Extra-Galactic Zoo . . . . . . . . 2.2 Baryonic Composition of Galaxies . . . 2.3 Dark Matter Composition of Galaxies . 2.4 Galaxy Clusters and Superclusters . . . 2.5 The Cosmic Distance Ladder . . . . . . 2.5.1 Trigonometric Techniques . . . 2.5.2 Standard Candles . . . . . . . . 2.5.3 Cepheid Variables . . . . . . . . 2.5.4 Other Standard Candles . . . . 2.5.5 Redshifts and the Hubble Flow 2.6 Galaxy Cluster Mass . . . . . . . . . . 2.7 More on Dark Matter . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 4 5 7 8 10 13 13 21 25 29 38 39 41 41 42 46 48 49 53 56 58 61 61 62 62 67 69 70
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3 Theoretical
Ka Chun Yu Lecture Notes for Introduction to Cosmology
Denver – 2005
DMNS Technical Report 2005-12, 167 pages total
Lecture Notes for Introduction to Cosmology
October, 2005 by Dr. Ka Chun Yu Curator of Space Science Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Available at https://scientists.dmns.org/sites/kachunyu
Contents
1 Cosmology From Ancient to Modern Times 1.1 The Ancients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 European Thought Before the 20th Century 1.3 The Beginnings of Modern Science . . . . . 1.4 The Copernican Revolution . . . . . . . . . 1.5 Modern Cosmology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6 The Expanding Universe . . . . . . . . . . . 2 What Is In the Observable Universe? 2.1 The Extra-Galactic Zoo . . . . . . . . 2.2 Baryonic Composition of Galaxies . . . 2.3 Dark Matter Composition of Galaxies . 2.4 Galaxy Clusters and Superclusters . . . 2.5 The Cosmic Distance Ladder . . . . . . 2.5.1 Trigonometric Techniques . . . 2.5.2 Standard Candles . . . . . . . . 2.5.3 Cepheid Variables . . . . . . . . 2.5.4 Other Standard Candles . . . . 2.5.5 Redshifts and the Hubble Flow 2.6 Galaxy Cluster Mass . . . . . . . . . . 2.7 More on Dark Matter . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 4 5 7 8 10 13 13 21 25 29 38 39 41 41 42 46 48 49 53 56 58 61 61 62 62 67 69 70
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3 Theoretical
Links: the Big Bang and ending at a staggering 10100 years later. Good if you are really intrigued by The End of the Universe section from class.] Kristy Ferguson, Measuring the Universe: Our historic Quest to Chart the Horizons of Space and Time, 1999, Walker years to measure the size of the Universe. It was also written late enough to cover in its last chapter the Type Ia supernovae results.] Timothy Ferris, The Whole Shebang: A State-of-the-Universe(s) Report, 1997, Simon & Schuster with explanations of the Special Theory of Relativity, quantum mechanics, and the structure of the atom.] Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, 2000, Vintage 151 Lawrence Krauss, Quintessence: The Mystery of Missing Mass in the Universe, 2000, Basic Books on the Special Theory of Relativity, including most of the famous ‘‘paradoxes’’ and other ‘‘weirdness.’’ The mathematics are all algebra-level.] Kip Thorne, Black Holes & Time Warps: Einstein’s Outrageous Legacy, 1995, W