An Introduction to Modern Cosmology

An Introduction to Modern Cosmology Third Edition is anaccessible account of modern cosmological ideas. The Big BangCosmology is explored, looking at its observational successes inexplaining the expansion of the Universe, the existence andproperties of the cosmic microwave background, and the origin oflight elements in the universe. Properties of the very earlyUniverse are also covered, including the motivation for a rapidperiod of expansion known as cosmological inflation. The thirdedition brings this established undergraduate textbook up-to-datewith the rapidly evolving observational situation. This fully revised edition of a bestseller takes an approachwhich is grounded in physics with a logical flow of chaptersleading the reader from basic ideas of the expansion described bythe Friedman equations to some of the more advanced ideas about theearly universe. It also incorporates up-to-date results from thePlanck mission, which imaged the anisotropies of the CosmicMicrowave Background radiation over the whole sky. The AdvancedTopic sections present subjects with more detailed mathematicalapproaches to give greater depth to discussions. Student problemswith hints for solving them and numerical answers are embedded inthe chapters to facilitate the reader's understanding andlearning. Cosmology is now part of the core in many degree programs. Thiscurrent, clear and concise introductory text is relevant to a widerange of astronomy programs worldwide and is essential reading forundergraduates and Masters students, as well as anyone startingresearch in cosmology. Supplementary material, includingfull-colour images, updates and links for students and instructors,is available on the author's website: http://www.roe.ac.uk/~arl/.