Course Description: Astronomy C3602 at Columbia University

COURSE DESCRIPTION
C3602: Physical Cosmology and Extragalactic Astronomy
Spring 2000
Assoc. Prof. Arlin Crotts

Many startling, new advances are being made in our understanding of the Cosmos and the objects in it. For the first time we are beginning to glimpse how large pieces of the puzzle may fit together. Let us be humble about this, however; many basic questions still remain unanswered. Our progress is due in part to major advances in the technology of astronomical observation, but due as well to new cross-fertilization between astrophysics and particle physics. In addition, there are many clever ideas that have cropped up recently due to neither effect; maybe more people are simply more excited about cosmology these days.

The basic text for the course is a simply-written, little book (136 pages) Cosmology: a First Course (1995) by Marc Lachièze-Rey, supplemented by excerpts from the more substantial Principles of Physical Cosmology (1993) by P.J.E. Peebles. Much material, especially the more recent, will be covered only in the lecture notes (photocopies of the lecture viewgraphs).

Dr. Crotts will lecture most class meetings, but will leave considerable time for discussion. There will be a final exam which counts for 33% of the course grade, and a short midterm quiz (17%). Problem sets account for 40% of the course grade, and class participation 10%. Attendance is important!

Note on mathematical prerequisite: we will use differential and integral calculus. If this makes you uncomfortable, please consult with Dr. Crotts immediately at the beginning of the course. Please be honest with yourself about whether your mathematical preparation is adequate.

Course Outline

I. Thumbnail History (from the lecture notes)
- A. Data and Paradigm Shifts in Ancient Astronomy
- B. Solar System and Distant Stars
  - 1. Copernicus and Heliocentric Universe
  - 2. Bruno and Cosmological Principle
  - 3. Interstellar Distances
- C. Island Universe
  - 1. Galileo
  - 2. Herschel
  - 3. Wright/Kant
  - 4. Kapteyn
  - 5. Shapley
II. Theories of Gravitation (Lachièze-Rey, pp. 25-70)
- A. Newtonian Cosmology
  - 1. No Static, Homogeneous, Massive Solution
  - 2. Birkoff's Approximation
- B. General Relativity
  - 1. Principle of Equivalence
  - 2. Curvature, Parallel Transport, Connection Coeff's
  - 3. Einstein Field Equations
  - 4. Stress/Energy Terms
    - a. Normal Matter: "Dust"
    - b. Pressure/Radiation
    - c. Cosmological Constant
  - 5. Robertson-Walker Metric
  - 6. Friedmann Equations
  - 7. Cosmological Models/Parameters
III. Universe of Galaxies (Peebles, pp. 16-57)
- A. Curtis/Shapley Debate
- B. Hubble
  - 1. Extragalactic Distance Scale
  - 2. Redshift/Distance Relation
IV. Extragalactic Menagerie (from the lecture notes)
- A. Galaxies
  - 1. Luminosity Function
  - 2. Morphology
    - a. Environmental dependence
    - b. Mass dependence
  - 3. Kinematic/Surface Brightness Regularities
    - a. Spiral Arm Surface Brightness and Tully-Fisher Law
    - b. Elliptical Core Surface Brightness and D_n vs. sigma
  - 4. Evidence for Galaxian Dark Matter (Peebles, sec. 18)
    - a. Solar Neighborhood Measurements
    - b. Milky Way Rotation
    - c. Spiral Rotation Curves
    - d. Disk Stability
    - e. Elliptical Masses
    - f. Dwarf Galaxies
    - g. MACHO searches
  - 5. Radio Properties & Types
  - 6. Infrared Properties
  - 7. High Energy Emission
- B. Active Galactic Nuclei
  - 1. Seyfert Galaxies
    - a. Type I
    - b. Type II
    - c. Unified Model
  - 2. BL Lacs
  - 3. Quasars
- C. Lyman-alpha Clouds (Peebles, sec. 23)
  - 1. Low-redshift Identification
  - 2. High-redshift Nature
- D. Intergalactic Medium
  - 1. Gunn-Peterson Test
  - 2. X-ray Background
- E. Gamma-Ray Bursts
- F. Highest Energy Cosmic Rays
V. Expanding Universe (from the lecture notes)
- A. Tests for Cosmological Expansion
  - 1. Surface Brightness versus Redshift
  - 2. Temperature versus Redshift
  - 3. Foreground/Background Pair Redshifts
  - 4. Gravitational Lensing
- B. Distance Ladders
  - 1. Local Kinematic Distance Indicators
    - a. Parallax
    - b. Moving Cluster Method
    - c. Statistical Proper Motion
  - 2. Stellar Indicators
    - a. Main Sequence Photometry
    - b. RR Lyrae Variable Stars
    - c. Delta Cephei/W Virginis stars
    - d. Novae
    - e. Supernovae
  - 3. Cluster/Nebular Indicators
    - a. H II Regions
    - b. Globular Clusters
  - 4. Galaxian Indicators
    - a. Brightest Cluster Galaxies
    - b. Surface Brightness Fluctuations
    - c. Tully-Fisher Relation
    - d. D_n - sigma Relation
    - e. Fundamental Plane
  - 5. Possible Systematic Errors
    - a. Observational Selection Biases
      - i. Malmqvist Bias
      - ii. Scott Effect
      - iii. Object Confusion
        
        aa. Crowding
        bb. Misidentification
    - b. Galaxian Evolution
    - c. Deviations from Hubble Flow
- 6. Hubble Constant Measurements
- 7. Quasar Gravitational Lensing Determinations
- C. q_0 Indicators
  - 1. Standard Candles
    - a. Brightest Galaxies
    - b. High-redshift Tully-Fisher/Faber-Jackson Relation
    - c. Supernovae
  - 2. Standard Rulers
    - a. Radio Galaxies
    - b. Void Spacing
    - c. Angle theta(z) versus dz Test
  - 3. Population Number Density
- D. Tests for Homogeneity and Isotropy
  - 1. Source Counts
  - 2. X-ray Background
  - 3. Microwave Background
  - 4. Alignment Anisotropy
VI. Galaxy Evolution (from the lecture notes)
- A. Lookback Time
- B. Stellar Population Synthesis
- C. Observed Samples
  - 1. Field Galaxies
    - a. Hubble Deep Field, HDF South
    - b. Canada-France-Hawaii sample
  - 2. Cluster Galaxies
VII. Large Scale Structure [Peebles, sec. 19]
- A. Galaxy-galaxy Clustering
  - 1. Two-point Clustering
  - 2. Power Spectrum
  - 3. Three-point Measures
  - 4. Other Measures
- B. Galaxy Clusters
  - 1. Cluster Classification
  - 2. Galaxy Type versus Cluster Environment
  - 3. Hot Gas in Clusters
  - 4. Dark Matter in Galaxy Clusters
  - 5. Cluster-cluster Two-point Function
- C. Galaxy Superclusters
- D. Voids
- E. Bulk Motions
- F. Large Scale Perturbation Spectrum
- G. Early Structure Formation
  - 1. Quasars
  - 2. Galaxies
    - a. High Redshift Carbon Monoxide
    - b. Damped Ly alpha
- H. Non-linear Growth
  - 1. Hydrodynamic Effects
  - 2. Hot Dark Matter
  - 3. Cold Dark Matter
  - 4. Cosmic Strings
- I. Biasing
VIII. Galaxy Formation [Lachièze-Rey, pp. 105-125; Peebles, sec. 25]
- A. Hydrodynamic Collapse
  - 1. Jeans Mass
  - 2. Fragmentation Processes
  - 3. Hydro/gravitational simulations
- B. Spheroidal Component Formation
- C. Disk Formation
- D. Galaxy/IGM Feedback
IX. Microwave Background [Lachièze-Rey, pp. 71-85; Peebles, sec. 6]
- A. Anisotropy
  - 1. Dipole Term
  - 2. Power Spectrum
  - 3. Comparison to Galaxy Clustering
- B. Hot Gas Distortion
  - 1. Cluster Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect
  - 2. High Redshift Galaxies
- C. Blackbody Spectrum
- D. Implications for Galaxy Formation
- E. Matter versus Radiation Domination
- F. COBE Results
- G. Doppler Peaks
X. Big Bang Nucleosynthesis [Lachièze-Rey, pp. 85-98]
- A. Thermal Equilibrium
- B. Neutrino Decoupling
- C. Light Element Production
- D. Theoretical versus Observed Abundances
- E. Number of Particle Families
- F. Limits on Omega_baryon
- G. Baryon/Photon Ratio
XI. Origin of Dark Matter in the Big Bang (from the lecture notes)
- A. Hot Dark Matter Production
- B. Cold Dark Matter Production
XII. Early Universe
- A. Phase Transitions [Lachièze-Rey, pp. 99-103]
  - 1. Electroweak Unification
    - a. Higgs Field
    - b. Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking
    - c. Mixing of Restored Symmetry Eigenstates
  - 2. Grand Unified Theories
    - a. Topological Defects [Peebles 93, sec. 11, 16]
      - i. Monopoles
      - ii. Cosmic Strings
      - iii. Domain Walls
      - iv. Textures
    - b. Baryon Decay/Non-conservation
- B. Baryogenesis
  - 1. Matter versus Antimatter in the Universe
  - 2. Charge/Parity Violation
  - 3. Non-equilibrium Decay
- C. Inflation [Lachièze-Rey, pp. 103-105]
  - 1. Incompleteness of Standard Big Bang
    - a. Homogeneity Problem
    - b. Flatness/Lifetime Problem
    - c. Large Entropy of the Universe
    - d. Monopole Problem
    - e. Vanishing Cosmological Constant
  - 2. Varieties of Inflation
- D. Planck Epoch
  - 1. The Universal Wavefunction
  - 2. Tunneling from the Vacuum State
  - 3. Quantum Initial Conditions
  - 4. String Theory
XIII. Reprise (from the lecture notes)
- A. Dark Matter Constraints
- B. Cosmic Time
  - 1. Cosmochronology
  - 2. Globular Cluster Ages
  - 3. Omega, Lambda and H_0
- C. Topology of the Universe
- D. Anthropic Principle

APPROXIMATE TIMELINE (please don't hold us to this!):

Week 1: I
Week 2: II
Week 3: II-III
Week 4: IV
Week 5: V
Week 6: VI
Week 7: VII
Week 8: VIII
Week 9: IX
Week 10: X
Week 11: XI
Week 12: XII
Week 13: XIII

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Cosmology: a first course Marc Lachièze-Rey 1995 (Cambridge Univ. Press; Cambridge), ISBN 0521479665 (paperback)
-on reserve and in the bookstore

Principles of Physical Cosmology P.J.E. Peebles 1993 (Princeton U. Press: Princeton), ISBN 0691019339 (paperback)
-on reserve and in the bookstore

SUGGESTED READINGS:

D.N. Schramm: "The First Three Minutes: 1990 Version" and P. J. E. Peebles "General Introduction" in *After* the First Three Minutes eds. Holt, Bennett & Trimble 1990 (Amer. Inst. Physics: New York)
-on reserve

FUN:

Man Discovers the Galaxies R. Berendzen, R. Hart & D. Seely 1976 (Science History Publishers: New York)
-on reserve

Darkness at Night: A Riddle of the Cosmos Edward Harrison 1987 (Harvard U: Cambridge)
-on reserve

The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe Steven Weinberg 1982 (Basic Books: New York)
-on reserve

The Fifth Essence: A Search for Dark Matter in the Universe Lawrence Krauss 1990 (Basic Books: New York)
-on reserve