Cosmology for the Curious

✍ Scribed by Delia Perlov, Alexander Vilenkin

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2017
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 365
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book is an introductory text for all those wishing to learn about modern views of the cosmos. Our universe originated in a great explosion - the big bang. For nearly a century cosmologists have studied the aftermath of this explosion: how the universe expanded and cooled down, and how galaxies were gradually assembled by gravity. The nature of the bang itself has come into focus only relatively recently. It is the subject of the theory of cosmic inflation, which was developed in the last few decades and has led to a radically new global view of the universe. Students and other interested readers will find here a non-technical but conceptually rigorous account of modern cosmological ideas - describing what we know, and how we know it. One of the book's central themes is the scientific quest to find answers to the ultimate cosmic questions: Is the universe finite or infinite? Has it existed forever? If not, when and how did it come into being? Will it ever end? The book is based on the undergraduate course taught by Alex Vilenkin at Tufts University. It assumes no prior knowledge of physics or mathematics beyond elementary high school math. The necessary physics background is introduced as it is required. Each chapter includes a list of questions and exercises of varying degree of difficulty. Read more...

Abstract:

One of the book's central themes is the scientific quest to find answers to the ultimate cosmic questions: Is the universe finite or infinite? Read more...

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter ....Pages i-xiv
Front Matter ....Pages 1-1
A Historical Overview (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 3-11
Newton’s Universe (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 13-30
Special Relativity (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 31-58
The Fabric of Space and Time (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 59-82
An Expanding Universe (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 83-96
Observational Cosmology (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 97-108
Hubble’s Law and the Expanding Universe (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 109-123
The Fate of the Universe (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 125-130
Dark Matter and Dark Energy (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 131-141
The Quantum World (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 143-153
The Hot Big Bang (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 155-173
Structure Formation (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 175-185
Element Abundances (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 187-199
The Very Early Universe (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 201-224
Front Matter ....Pages 225-225
Problems with the Big Bang (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 227-233
The Theory of Cosmic Inflation (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 235-253
Testing Inflation: Predictions and Observations (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 255-267
Eternal Inflation (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 269-289
String Theory and the Multiverse (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 291-299
Anthropic Selection (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 301-311
The Principle of Mediocrity (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 313-325
Did the Universe Have a Beginning? (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 327-332
Creation of Universes from Nothing (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 333-341
The Big Picture (Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin)....Pages 343-351
Back Matter ....Pages 353-372

✦ Subjects

Cosmology -- Popular works;Cosmology