Cosmology

Peter Coles is a theoretical cosmologist at Cardiff University and Maynooth University. He was formerly the head of the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sussex. Francesco Lucchin is the author of Cosmology: The Origin and Evolution of Cosmic Structure, 2nd Edition, published by Wiley.

• Preface. Introduction. PART 1: COSMOLOGICAL MODELS. First Principles. The Friedmann Models. Alternative Cosmologies. Observational Properties of the Universe. PART 2: THE HOT BIG BANG MODEL. Thermal History of the Hot Big Bang Model. The Very Early Universe. Phase Transitions and Inflation. The Lepton Era. The Plasma Era. PART 3: THEORY OF STRUCTURE FORMATION. Introduction to Jeans Theory. Gravitational Instability of Baryonic Matter. Non-Baryonic Matter. Cosmological Perturbations. Non-Linear Evolution. Models of Structure Formation PART 4: OBSERVATIONAL TESTS. Statistics of Galaxy Clustering. The Cosmic Microwave Background. Peculiar Motions of Galaxies. Gravitational Lensing. The High-Redshift Universe. A Forward Look. Appendices References. Index.