Learning Outcomes
After taking this course, students should be able to
- Quantitatively describe the dynamical evolution of the universe under different cosmological models.
- Distinguish between and employ quantitative metrics for luminosity distance and angular size distance under different cosmological models.
- Desrcibe and distinguish between the various cosmological parameters that define the cosmological model.
- Name the three pillars of the hot big bang cosmology.
- Describe observational evidence for the quantitative values of the various cosmological parameters that define the cosmological model.
- Describe and apply observational cosmological tests.
- Compare and constrast different cosmological distance estimators.
- Critique the quality of and uncertainties in cosmological distance estimators.
- Describe qualitatively the growth of structure under various cosmological models.
- Employ quantitative metrics for measuring structure in the universe.
- Describe physical models for galaxy formation and hierarchical galaxy evolution.
- Describe the observational constraints on models of galaxy evolution over cosmic time.
- Analyse observational datasets to infer cosmological information.
- Quantiatively describe the temperature evolution of the universe.
- Describe big bang nucleosynthesis and how it is constrained by observations of the abundances of the light elements.
- Qualitatively describe the cosmic microwave background and its relation to large scale structure.
- Describe the cosmic dark ages and reionization.
- Describe the motivations for non-baryonic cold dark matter.
- Describe the motivations for dark energy.