Topics
This is a list of possible topics for the class presentation.
You are not limited to this list, but you should discuss
the topic you choose with me. There is no "right" outcome.
I want you to dig into the literature, learn something about
a particular topic, think critically about it,
and report it in a sensible manner to the rest of us. It
does not matter if in the end you think what you've learned
is the greatest thing since sliced bread or a big pile of rubbish.
It is important to express why a particular topic/measurement/whatever
is neat and important, but it is equally important to remain skeptical
and point out the problems and limitations which are sometimes glossed over.
Parameter Estimation
- Hubble Constant, Distance Indicators
- Age (globular clusters, high-z galaxies, nucleochronology, etc.)
- Omega
- Deceleration (see also classic tests)
- Lambda
- "Concordance"
Classic Tests
- Standard Candle (e.g., SN Ia)
- Standarad Rod (e.g., radio lobes)
- Count-magnitude
- Count-redshift
- Tolman test
Large Scale Structure
- Voids, Walls & Filaments
- Bulk Flows
- Clusters (abundance, bias, baryon fraction, gravitational lensing, etc.)
- Power Spectrum; Shape Parameter
- Structure at High Redshift
- The Hubble Deep Field(s)
Microwave Background
- Power Spectrum
- Temperature measurements; dipole and quadrupole
- Space missions, past & present: COBE, MAP, & PLANCK
- Structure Formation
- Joint cosmic parameter estimation, "cosmic complimentarity"
Primordial, or Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN)
- Deuterium from QSO absorbers
- Helium from HII Regions
- Lithium from metal poor stars
Dark Matter
- Hot Dark Matter (e.g., massive neutrinos)
- Cold Dark Matter (WIMPs, Axions; structure formation)
- Baryonic Dark Matter (missing baryons; brown dwarfs, MACHOs)
- Alternatives to Dark Matter (conformal Weyl gravity, MOND)
Alternative Cosmologies
for the bold and brave
- Steady State
- Chronometric
- Plasma
- MOND
- Weyl
- Brans-Dicke
- Quintessence, X-matter