PHY 490 - Introduction to Cosmology
Our views of the universe have changed a lot in the past century, and in the last decade. It is now believed that the universe is expanding and that we only know a fraction of it while we begin the search for dark matter and dark energy. If ones runs the history of the universe backwards, what do we find? What was the universe like in the first three minutes? How does one do useful science for a time in which nobody existed? How did our view of the universe get to this point and where are we headed in the next decade?
In this course we will study the origin and general structure of the physical universe. We will be lead into curved spacetimes, general relativity, black holes, and topics from the big bang to gravitational waves, gravitational lensing, and cosmological models of the universe.
Required Books
- Introduction to Cosmology, B. Ryden
- The First Three Minutes, S. Weinberg
- An Exposition on Inflationary Cosmology, S. Watson's Honor Thesis
Other Cosmology Books
- Introduction to Cosmology, M. Roos
- Cosmological Physics, Peacock
- Principles of Physical Cosmology, P.J.E. Peebles
- An Introduction to Modern Cosmology, A. Liddle
- Cosmology, S. Weinberg - Advanced
Popular Books
- A Brief History of Time, S. Hawking
- A Briefer History of Time, S. Hawking and L. Mlodinow
- The Black Hole War, L. Susskind
- The Day We Found the Universe, M. Bartusiak
- Many Worlds in One, A. Vilenkin
- Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang, P. J. Steinhardt and N. Turok
- Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe (P.S.), S. Singh
- Dark Side of the Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Fate of the Cosmos, I. Nicolson
- The Elegant Universe or The Fabric of the Cosmos, B. Greene
- Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos, M. Kaku
- Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions, L. Randall
Videos Online
- What Banged? , N. Turok, Perimeter Institute
- The Big Bang, S. Singh
- Stephen Hawking's Universe
- The Elegant Universe or here
- Parallel Universes BBC
- Future of Cosmology Lectures Kavli-CERCA Conference
- Alex Vilenkin Interview
- Cyclic Universe Model and Before the Big Bang Roger Penrose
- Lisa Randall with Charlie Rose and more here
The information contained on this Web page
and related pages
does not necessarily represent UNC Wilmington official information.
