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Course content

This course examines the history of our universe from the Big Bang, through the formation of the cosmic microwave background, to the universe we see today, with all its large scale structures.

To be able to understand this whole evolution, a combination of a wide range of physics is needed: perturbation theory, Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, statistical physics, thermodynamics, and a little bit of quantum field theory. You will first learn the theory, then implement and numerically solve the equations we derive in order to obtain theoretical predictions that will in the end be compared to actual observations.

Learning outcome

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• explain the principles and equations of Einstein General Relativity, ²¹²Ô»åÌý solve them in some specific cases.

• explain the basics of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics in an expanding universe.

• describe, qualitatively, and quantitatively important epochs in the early universe, such as inflation, recombination and the formation of cosmic microwave background radiation.

• obtain equations from the linearly perturbed Einstein Equations and Boltzmann Equations that describe the formation of structures in the universe and solve them numerically.

• describe the main statistical observables are, which can be applied to large scale structure datasets, and from them obtain the main properties of our universe, and the laws that describe it.

• develop an individual Einstein-Boltzmann solver that computes the theoretical predictions for these main observables that can be compared to observations of the cosmic microwave background and observations of the large scale structure of the universe from galaxy surveys.

• present the results of the numerical analysis together with a summary of the theory written up as a scientific article.

Admission to the course

Students admitted ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡ must  in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may .

If you are not already enrolled as a student ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡, please see our information about .

The course has a max capacity of 30 students. Based on experience, there is generally room for everyone who applies for admission to the course within the deadline.

Formal prerequisite knowledge

Bachelor’s Degree in Fysikk og astronomi (bachelor) or comparable.

Recommended previous knowledge

Courses AST3220 – Cosmology I/AST4220 – Cosmology I (discontinued)Ìý²¹²Ô»åÌýFYS4160 – The General Theory of Relativity are useful.

At the beginning of the semester, we will review what the student needs to know from the courses AST3220 – Cosmology I ²¹²Ô»åÌýFYS4160 – The General Theory of Relativity. In particular, a basic knowledge of doing calculations with tensors will be especially useful. The student can easily follow this course without having taken AST3220 – Cosmology I and FYS4160 – The General Theory of Relativity if the student has a good theoretical background.

The student does not have to be an expert, but basic knowledge of programming is to be expected, otherwise the student will find it quite challenging to complete the numerical project assignment. There is a free choice of programming language in this course, but code are offered in C + + and Fortran to make it easier to get started with the assignment.

Overlapping courses

• 10 credits overlap with AST9420 – Cosmology II.

Teaching

Teaching extends over one semester. There will be 4 hours of lectures/tutorials each week.

Examination

This course has a final written exam, which counts 50 % in the grade assessment, and a written numerical project assignment given in the form of a home exam, which counts for 50 % in the grade assessment.

The final grade is determined after an overall assessment of the two parts.

It will also be counted as one of the three attempts to sit the exam for this course, if you sit the exam for the following course: AST9420 – Cosmology II

Examination support material

No examination support material is allowed during the final exam.

Language of examination

Courses taught in English will only offer the exam paper in English. You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about .

Resit an examination

Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are .

Re-scheduled examinations are not offered to students who withdraw during, or did not pass, the original examination.

More about examinations ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡.