Precision Cosmology
The First Half Million Years

This book explains the fundamental science and mathematics that has enabled cosmology to become the precise quantitative science it is today.

Bernard J. T. Jones (Author)

9780521554336, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 20 April 2017

774 pages, 121 b/w illus. 12 tables
25.3 x 19.3 x 3.9 cm, 1.82 kg

'Readers requiring a first cosmology reference book and lecturers teaching cosmology for the first time will find this a can-go-no-wrong text to invest in.' B. Ishak, Contemporary Physics

Cosmology seeks to characterise our Universe in terms of models based on well-understood and tested physics. Today we know our Universe with a precision that once would have been unthinkable. This book develops the entire mathematical, physical and statistical framework within which this has been achieved. It tells the story of how we arrive at our profound conclusions, starting from the early twentieth century and following developments up to the latest data analysis of big astronomical datasets. It provides an enlightening description of the mathematical, physical and statistical basis for understanding and interpreting the results of key space- and ground-based data. Subjects covered include general relativity, cosmological models, the inhomogeneous Universe, physics of the cosmic background radiation, and methods and results of data analysis. Extensive online supplementary notes, exercises, teaching materials, and exercises in Python make this the perfect companion for researchers, teachers and students in physics, mathematics, and astrophysics.

Preface
Notation and conventions
Part I. 100 Years of Cosmology: 1. Emerging cosmology
2. The cosmic expansion
3. The cosmic microwave background
4. Recent cosmology
Part II. Newtonian Cosmology: 5. Newtonian cosmology
6. Dark energy cosmological models
7. The early universe
8. The inhomogeneous universe
9. The inflationary universe
Part III. Relativistic Cosmology: 10. Minkowski space
11. The energy momentum tensor
12. General relativity
13. Space-time geometry and calculus
14. The Einstein field equations
15. Solutions of the Einstein equations
16. The Robertson–Walker solution
17. Congruences, curvature and Raychaudhuri
18. Observing and measuring the universe
Part IV. The Physics of Matter and Radiation: 19. Physics of the CMB radiation
20. Recombination of the primeval plasma
21. CMB polarisation
22. CMB anisotropy
Part V. Precision Tools for Precision Cosmology: 23. Likelihood
24. Frequentist hypothesis testing
25. Statistical inference: Bayesian
26. CMB data processing
27. Parametrising the universe
28. Precision cosmology
29. Epilogue
Appendix A. SI, CGS and Planck units
Appendix B. Magnitudes and distances
Appendix C. Representing vectors and tensors
Appendix D. The electromagnetic field
Appendix E. Statistical distributions
Appendix F. Functions on a sphere
Appendix G. Acknowledgements
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Relativity physics [PHR], Cosmology & the universe [PGK], History of science [PDX]