Prerequisites: graduate standing; PHYS 208
Description: Discusses advanced topics in cosmology: Friedmann models and the large-scale structure of the universe, Physics and Astronomy Hubble constant and deceleration parameter, and galaxy counting and the physics of the early universe. Also covers vacuum phase transitions, inflation, baryon number generation, fluctuations, topological defects and textures, primordial nucleosynthesis, density fluctuations, dark matter candidates, and the age of the universe. Students whose research is related to cosmology or astroparticle physics receive a letter grade; other students receive a letter grade or
Credit: Satisfactory (S) or No Credit (NC) grade.