Fundamentals of Cosmology

• Introduction.- Observational Cosmology.- Coordinates and Metrics.- The Field Equations.- Friedmannology.- The Thermal History of the Universe.- Structure Formation.- Exercises.- Lorentz Vectors and Tensors.- Natural Units.- Standard Particles and Beyond.- Magnitudes.- Solutions and Hints for Selected Exercises.- Useful Formulas and Numbers.- References.- Index.

From the reviews: "The book provides a comprehensive and thorough explication of current cosmology at a level appropriate for a beginning graduate student or an advanced and motivated undergraduate. It covers all relevant concepts of cosmology and pertinent general relativity and contains a significant number of exercises, with solutions to a sample set. This book clearly is the result of the refining of notes from a course on cosmology... It provides a summary of current observations and mathematical underpinnings of the physical principles. This is an extremely valuable contribution in the field, which has been changing rapidly as a result of new technology and new theoretical motivations from the related field of high-energy physics... This book provides a good look at the intellectual effort and a solid foundation for the new discoveries soon to come." (Physics Today, September 2002) "All these exciting developments are laid out in a very accessible form in this textbook especially written for senior undergraduates or graduates from various backgrounds. It deals in a very nice and explicit form with the basic ideas of cosmology and general relativity (...). This is a fine textbook and would be very enjoyable for private study. (The Physicist, 2001) From the reviews of the second edition: "Rich, a cosmologist at CEA, a French technological research organization, provides a systematic exposition of modern cosmological models and observations, written in a clear, engaging style that does not assume prior knowledge of the subject. ... It would make an excellent advanced undergraduate or first-year graduate textbook, or a good reference for anyone wanting a clear introduction to the ideas of modern cosmology. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers/faculty in the physical sciences; professionals/practitioners." (R. L. Mutel, Choice, Vol. 47 (11), August, 2010)