Cosmology for the Curious

• Main Authors: Perlov, Delia (Author), Vilenkin, Alex (Author)
• Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
• Format: Electronic eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer, 2017.
• Subjects: Physics.; Religion > Philosophy.; Gravitation.; Cosmology.; Nuclear physics.; Classical and Quantum Gravitation, Relativity Theory.; Particle and Nuclear Physics.; History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics.; Philosophy of Religion.

This book is an introductory text 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...

Table of Contents:

• Part I The Big Bang and the Observable Universe: A historical overview
• Newton’s universe
• Special relativity
• The fabric of space and time
• An expanding universe
• Observational cosmology
• Hubble's law and the expanding universe
• The fate of the universe
• Dark matter and dark energy
• The quantum world
• The hot big bang
• Structure formation
• Element abundances
• The very early universe
• Part II Beyond the Big Bang: Problems with the big bang
• The theory of cosmic inflation
• Testing inflation: predictions and observations
• Eternal inflation
• String theory and the multiverse
• Anthropic selection
• The principle of mediocrity
• Did the universe have a beginning?
• Creation of universes from nothing
• The big picture
• Appendix.   .