Instructor:        Marc Kamionkowski
                       Bridge Annex 120
                        x2563
                        kamion AT tapir.caltech.edu

TA:    Jonathon Pritchard ([email protected]; x4519; 123 Bridge Annex)                      
Class times:    MW 1-2:30; 269 Lauritsen

Class description:   We will start with cosmology.  First the standard FRW metric and classical cosmological tests, and we will then move on to cosmological perturbations.  Subsequent subjects will be determined as we proceed, and with input from the class, but may include gravitational lensing, gravitational waves, scalar-tensor or other alternative-gravity theories, accretion disks.....

Prerequisites:  Ph236a or the equivalent.

Homework: There will be problem sets assigned the first class of every week that will be due the first class of the following week, at which point solutions will be handed out.  There will be no extensions. Completion of all the homeworks, with one exception, is required for the class. If you turn in all the problem sets, your lowest score will be dropped when we calculate the grade.   You will get the most out of the class if you make a real effort to solve all the problems by yourself.    If you are truly stuck, you may consult the literature, a classmate, or TA for inspiration.  However, once you have received whatever minimal hints you need to get going,  you should then go back and solve the problems and write out the solutions entirely on your own.

Grade:     100% homework.  Note that completion of all (but one) homework is required.

Some possibly useful books (some on reserve in the library):
       The general relativity books by Wald, Carroll, Hartle, Weinberg, MTW.... may all be useful.
       Peebles' Principles of Physical Cosmology may come in handy.
       So might Peacock's cosmology book and Kolb&Turner's "Early Universe"
       Dodelson's "Modern Cosmology" will be useful for cosmological perturbations
       Liddle and Lyth's book on inflation is also good for cosmological perturbations

SYLLABUS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS:

Problem Set 1 (due in class January 10)  [PS]
Problem Set 2 (due in class January 18)  [PS]  (typo corrected; Omega_Lambda=0 in part (iii) of problem 2)
Problem Set 3 (due in class, January 24) [PS]
Problem Set 4 (due in class, January 31) [PS]
Problem Set 5 (due in class, February 7) [PS]
Problem Set 6 (due in class, February 14) [PS]
Problem Set 7 (due in class, February 22) [PS]
Problem Set 8 (due  in class, February 28) [PS]
Problem Set 9 (due in class, March 7) [PS]
Problem Set 10 (due March 14) [PS]

Last updated 7 March 2005