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(Verlagstext)

This book is a gentle introduction for all those wishing to learn about modern views of the cosmos. Our universe originated in a great explosion – the big bang. For nearly a century cosmologists have studied the aftermath of this explosion: how the universe expanded and cooled down, and how galaxies were gradually assembled by gravity. The nature of the bang itself has come into focus only relatively recently. It is the subject of the theory of cosmic inflation, which was developed in the last few decades and has led to a radically new global view of the universe.

 

Students and other interested readers will find here a non-technical but conceptually rigorous account of modern cosmological ideas - describing what we know, and how we know it. One of the book's central themes is the scientific quest to find answers to the ultimate cosmic questions: Is the universe finite or infinite? Has it existed forever? If not, when and how did it come into being? Will it ever end?

The book is based on the undergraduate course taught by Alex Vilenkin at Tufts University. It assumes no prior knowledge of physics or mathematics beyond elementary high school math. The necessary physics background is introduced as it is required. Each chapter includes a list of questions and exercises of varying degree of difficulty.

 

 

Contents:

Part 1 Tue Big Bang and the Observable Universe / / 1 A Historical Overview 3 / 1.1 The Big Cosmic Questions 3 / 1.2 Origins of Scientific Cosmology 4 / 1.3 Cosmology Today 7 / 2 Newton's Universe 13 / 2.1 Newton's Laws of Motion 13 / 2.2 Newtonian Gravity 16 / 2.3 Acceleration of Free Fall 19 / 2.4 Circular Motion and Planetary Orbits 20 / 2.5 Energy Conservation and Escape Velocity 22 / 2.6 Newtonian Cosmology 26 / 2.7 Olbers' Paradox 27 / 3 Special Relativity 31 / 3.1 The Principle of Relativity 31 / 3.2 The Speed of Light and Electromagnetism 35 / 3.3 Einstein's Postulates 39 / 3.4 Simultaneity 41 / 3.5 Time Dilation 42 / 3.6 Length Contraction 44 / 3.6.1 Speeding Muons 45 / 3.7 E=mc2 46 / 3.8 From Space and Time to Spacetime 47 / 3.9 Causality in Spacetime 51 / 4 The Fabric of Space and Time 59 / 4.1 The Astonishing Hypothesis 60 / 4.2 The Geometry of Space 63 / 4.2.1 Euclidean Geometty 63 / 4.2.2 Non-Euclidean Geometty 66 / 4.3 Curved Space 67 / 4.3.1 The Curvature of Surfaces 67 / 4.3.2 The Curvature of Three-Dimensional Space 70 / 4.4 The General Theory of Relativity 72 / 4.5 Predictions and Tests of General Relativity 75 / 4.5.1 Light Deflection and Gravitational Lensing 75 / 4.5.2 Gravitational Time Dilation 77 / 4.5.3 Black Holes 77 / 4.5.4 Gravit:ational Waves 78 / 5 An Expanding Universe 83 / 5.1 Einstein's Static Universe 83 / 5.2 Problems with a Static Universe 86 / 5.3 Friedmann's Expanding Universe 89 / 6 Observational Cosmology 97 / 6.1 Fingerprints of the Elements 98 / 6.2 Measuring Velocities 99 / 6.3 Measuring Distances 101 / 6.4 The Birth of Extragalactic Astronomy 105 / 7 Hubble's Law and the Expanding Universe 109 / 7.1 An Expanding U niverse 110 / 7.2 A Beginning of the Universe? 113 / 7.3 The Steady State Theory 114 / 7.4 The Scale Factor 115 / 7.5 Cosmological Redshift 116 / 7.6 The Age of the Universe 117 / 7.7 The Hubble Distance and the Cosmic Horizon 118 / 7.8 Not Everything is Expanding 120 / 8 The Pate of the Universe 125 / 8.1 The Critical Density 125 / 8.2 The Density Parameter 128 / 9 Dark Matter and Dark Energy 131 / 9.1 The Average Mass Density of the Universe and Dark Matter 131 / 9.2 DarkEnergy 136 / 9.3 The Pate of the Universe-Again 140 / 10 The Quantum World 143 / 10.1 Quantum Discreteness 143 / 10.2 Quantum Indeterminism 145 / 10.3 The Wave Function 148 / 10.4 Many Worlds Interpretation 151 / 11 The Hot Big Bang 155 / 11.1 Following the Expansion Backwards in Time 155 / 11.2 Thermal Radiation 158 / 11.3 The Hot Big Bang Model 161 / 11.4 Discovering the Primeval Fireball 162 / 11.5 Images of the Baby Universe 165 / 11.6 CMB Today and at Earlier Epochs 168 / 11.7 The Three Cosmic Eras 170 / 12 Structure Formation 175 / 12.1 Cosmk Structure 175 / 12.2 Assembling Structure 179 / 12.3 Watching Cosmic Structures Evolve 180 / 12.4 Primordial Density Fluctuations 182 / 12.5 Supermassive Black Holes and Active Galaxies 183 / 13 Element Abundances 187 / 13.1 Why Alchemists Did Not Succeed 187 / 13.2 Big Bang N ucleosynthesis 189 / 13.3 Stellar Nucleosynthesis 193 / 13.4 Planetary System Formation 194 / 13.5 Life in the Universe 196 / 14 The Very Early Universe 201 / 14J Particle Physics and the Big Bang 201 / 14.2 The Standard Model of Particle Physics 205 / 14.2.1 The Particles 206 / 14.2.2 The Forces 206 / 14.3 Symmetry Breaking 208 / 14.4 The Early Universe Timeline 211 / 14.5 Physics Beyond the Standard Model 213 / 14.5.1 Unifying the Fundamental Forces 213 / 14.6 Vacuum Defects 215 / 14.6.1 Domain Walls 216 / 14.6.2 Cosmic Strings 217 / 14.6.3 Magnetic Monopoles 220 / 14.7 Baryogenesis 220 / / Part II Beyond the Big Bang / / 15 Problems with the Big Bang 227 / 15.1 The Flatness Problem: Why is the Geometry of the Universe Flat? 227. / 15.2 The Horizon Problem: Why is the Universe so Homogeneous? 229 / 15.3 The Structure Problem: What is the Origin of Small Density Fluctuations? 232 / 15.4 The Monopole Problem: Where. Are They? 232 / 16 The Theory of Cosmic Inflation 235 / 16.1 Solving the Flatness and Horizon Problems 235 / 16.2 Cosmic Inflation 236 / 16.2.1 The False Vacuum 236 / 16.2.2 Exponential Expansion 238 / 16.3 Solving the Problems of the Big Bang 240 / 16.3.1 The Flatness Problem 240 / 16.3.2 The Horizon Problem 241 / 16.3.3 The Structure Formation Problem 242 / 16.3.4 The Monopole Problem 242 / 16.3.5 The Expansion and High Temperature of the Universe 242 / 16.4 Vacuum Decay 243 / 16.4.1 Boiling of the Vacuum 243 / 16.4.2 Graceful Exit Problem 244 / 16.4.3 Slow Roll Inflation 245 / 16.5 Origin of Small Density Fluctuations 247 / 16.6 More About Inflation 249 / 16.6.1 Communication in the Inflating Universe 249 / 16.6.2 Energy Conservation 250 / 17 Testing Inflation: Predictions and Observations 255 / 17.1 Flatness 255 / 17.2 Density Fluctuations 256 / 17.3 Gravitational Waves 260 / 17.4 Open Questions 264 / 18 Eternal Inflation 269 / 18.1 Volume Growth and Decay 269 / 18.2 Random Walk of the Inflaton Field 271 / 18.3 Eternal Inflation via Bubble Nucleation 274 / 18.4 Bubble Spacetimes 275 / 18.5 Cosmic Clones 279 / 18.6 The Multiverse 281 / 18.7 Testing the Multiverse 284 / 18.7.1 Bubble Collisions 284 / 18.7.2 Black Holes from the Multiverse 285 / 19 String Theory and the Multiverse 291 / 19.1 What Is String Theory? 292 / 19.2 Extra Dimensions 294 / 19.3 The Energy Landscape 295 / 19.4 String Theory Multiverse 296 / 19.5 The Pate of Our Universe Revisited 297 / 20 Anthropic Selection 301 / 20.1 The Fine Tuning of the Constants of Nature 302 / 20.1.1 Neutron Mass 302 / 20.1.2 Strength of the Weak Interaction 303 / 20.1.3 Strength of Gravity 303 / 20.1.4 The Magnitude of Density Perturbations 303 / 20.2 The Cosmological Constant Problem 304 / 20.2.1 The Dynamic Quantum Vacuum 304 / 20.2.2 Fine-Tuned for Life? 305 / 20.3 The Anthropic Principle 307 / 20.4 Pros and Cons of Anthropic Explanations 309 / 21 The Principle of Mediocrity 313 / 21.1 The Bell Curve 313 / 21.2 The Principle of Mediocrity 314 / 21.3 Obtaining the Distribution by Counting Observers 315 / 21.4 Predicting the Cosmological Constant 316 / 21.4.1 Rough Estimate 317 / 21.4.2 The Distribution 317 / 21.5 The Measure Problem 319 / 21.6 The Doomsday Argument and the Future of Our Civilization 321 / 21.6.1 Large and Small Civilizations 322 / 21.6.2 Beating the Odds 323 / 22 Did the Universe Have a Beginning? 327 / 22.1 A Universe that Always Existed? 327 / 22.2 The BGV Theorem 329 / 22.2.1 Where Does This Leave Us? 330 / 22.2.2 A Proof of God? 331 / 23 Creation of Universes from Nothing 333 / 23.1 The Universe as a Quantum Fluctuation 333 / 23.2 Quantum Tunneling from "Nothing" 336 / 23.2.1 Euclidean Time 337 / 23.3 The Multiverse of Quantum Cosmology 338 / 23.4 The Meaning of "Nothing" 339 / 24 The Big Picture 343 / 24.1 The Observable Universe 343 / 24.1.1 What Do We Know? 343 / 24.1.2 Cosmic Inflation 344 / 24.2 The Multiverse 345 / 24.2.1 Bubble Universes 345 / 24.2.2 Other Disconnected Spacetimes 346 / 24.2.3 Levels of the Multiverse 346 / 24.2.4 The Mathematical Multiverse and Ockham's Razor 347 / 24.3 Answers to the "Big Questions" 350 / 24.4 Our Place in the Universe 351 / / Appendix A 353 / / Further Reading 361 / / Index 365