Cosmology
Published on 21. February 2008
Book
Hardback
624 pages
978-0-19-852682-7 (ISBN)
Description
This book is unique in the detailed, self-contained, and comprehensive treatment that it gives to the ideas and formulas that are used and tested in modern cosmological research. It divides into two parts, each of which provides enough material for a one-semester graduate course. The first part deals chiefly with the isotropic and homogeneous average universe; the second part concentrates on the departures from the average universe. Throughout the book the author presents detailed analytic calculations of cosmological phenomena, rather than just report results obtained elsewhere by numerical computation. The book is up to date, and gives detailed accounts of topics such as recombination, microwave background polarization, leptogenesis, gravitational lensing, structure formation, and multifield inflation, that are usually treated superficially if at all in treatises on cosmology. Copious references to current research literature are supplied. Appendices include a brief introduction to general relativity, and a detailed derivation of the Boltzmann equation for photons and neutrinos used in calculations of cosmological evolution. Also provided is an assortment of problems.
Reviews / Votes
A stimulating source of intellectual excitement. [...] While the relevant technical aspects of the presentation can only be fully appreciated after a careful reading, a clear message emerges with vigour after the first reading: atomic physics, nuclear physics, field theory, high-energy physics and general relativity all come together in the description of our universe. In other words, Cosmology provides a vivid example of the basic unity of physics, which is something to bear in mind during the decades to come. * CERN Courier * A technical tour de force for the intrepid graduate student, Weinberg's new book will greatly appeal to particle physicists tooling up in cosmology and be an indispensable source for the practitioner. * Physics Today * With his unsurpassed ability to explain even the most difficult mathematical and conceptual steps with a few strokes of his pen, Weinberg takes the reader from the basics of cosmological kinematics and dynamics (space-time geometry, cosmological expansion, the Friedmann equation, thermal history) to advanced topics, such as the growth of structures, inflation and gravitational lenses. * Mathematical Reviews * A tour de force that even established cosmologists will learn from. Any scientist interested in cosmology should read it. Steven Weinberg's "Cosmology" is a thorough, graduate-level introduction to the field, which incorporates the frenzied developments since his 1972 classic, "Gravitation and Cosmology". This is sure to be another hit. * New Scientist *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
27 line drawings
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 181 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
1361 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-852682-7 (9780198526827)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Professor Steven Weinberg
Jack S. Josey-Welch Foundation Chair in Science and Regental Professor and Director, Theory Research Group
Department of Physics
University of Texas at Austin
Nobel Prize in Physics, 1979
National Medal of Science, 1991
Benjamin Franklin Prize, American Philosophical Society, 2004
Member, U. S. National Academy of Sciences
Foreign Member, Royal Society of London
Honorary Member, Royal Irish Academy
Member, American Philosophical Society
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
J. Robert Oppenheimer Prize, 1973
Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics, 1977
Earned degrees
A.B., Cornell University, 1954
Ph.D., Princeton University, 1957
Honorary degrees
Harvard University, A.M., 1973
Knox College, D.Sc., 1978
University of Chicago, Sc.D., 1978
University of Rochester, Sc.D., l979
Yale University, Sc.D., 1979
City University of New York,Sc.D., 1980
Clark University, Sc.D., 1982
Dartmouth College, Sc.D., 1984
Weizmann Institute, Ph.D. Hon.Caus., 1985
Washington College, D.Litt., 1985
Columbia University, Sc.D., 1990
University of Salamanca, Sc.D., 1992
University of Padua, Ph.D. Hon.Caus., 1992
University of Barcelona, Sc.D., 1996
Bates College, Sc. D., 2002
McGill University, Sc. D., 2003
University of Waterloo, Sc. D., 2004
Jack S. Josey-Welch Foundation Chair in Science and Regental Professor and Director, Theory Research Group
Department of Physics
University of Texas at Austin
Nobel Prize in Physics, 1979
National Medal of Science, 1991
Benjamin Franklin Prize, American Philosophical Society, 2004
Member, U. S. National Academy of Sciences
Foreign Member, Royal Society of London
Honorary Member, Royal Irish Academy
Member, American Philosophical Society
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
J. Robert Oppenheimer Prize, 1973
Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics, 1977
Earned degrees
A.B., Cornell University, 1954
Ph.D., Princeton University, 1957
Honorary degrees
Harvard University, A.M., 1973
Knox College, D.Sc., 1978
University of Chicago, Sc.D., 1978
University of Rochester, Sc.D., l979
Yale University, Sc.D., 1979
City University of New York,Sc.D., 1980
Clark University, Sc.D., 1982
Dartmouth College, Sc.D., 1984
Weizmann Institute, Ph.D. Hon.Caus., 1985
Washington College, D.Litt., 1985
Columbia University, Sc.D., 1990
University of Salamanca, Sc.D., 1992
University of Padua, Ph.D. Hon.Caus., 1992
University of Barcelona, Sc.D., 1996
Bates College, Sc. D., 2002
McGill University, Sc. D., 2003
University of Waterloo, Sc. D., 2004
Content
1. The Expansion of the Universe ; 2. The Cosmic Microwave Radiation Background ; 3. The Early Universe ; 4. Inflation ; 5. General Theory of Cosmological Fluctuations ; 6. Evolution of Cosmological Fluctuations ; 7. Anisotropies in the Microwave Sky ; 8. The Growth of Structure ; 9. Gravitational Lensing ; 10. Fluctuations from Inflation ; Appendices ; A. Some Useful Numbers ; B. Review of General Relativity ; C. Energy Transfer Between Radiation and Electrons ; D. The Ergodic Theorem ; E. Gaussian Distributions ; F. Newtonian Cosmology ; G. Photon Polarization ; H. The Relativistic Boltzmann Equation ; Notation ; Glossary of Symbols ; Assorted Problems