PAP326 Cosmology II

1. Course title

Kosmologia II
Kosmologi II
Cosmology II

2. Course code

PAP326

Aikaisemmat leikkaavat opintojaksot 53758 Kosmologia II, 5 op.

3. Course status: optional

-Which degree programme is responsible for the course?
Master’s Programme in Particle Physics and Astrophysical Sciences

-Which module does the course belong to?
PAP300 Advanced Studies in Particle Physics and Astrophysical Sciences (optional for Study Track in Particle Physics and Cosmology)
TCM300 Advanced Studies in Theoretical and Computational Methods

-Is the course available to students from other degree programmes?
Yes

4. Course level (first-, second-, third-cycle/EQF levels 6, 7 and 8)

Master’s level, degree programmes in medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine = secondcycle
degree/EQF level 7
Doctoral level = third-cycle (doctoral) degree/EQF level 8

-Does the course belong to basic, intermediate or advanced studies (cf. Government Decree
on University Degrees)?
Advanced studies

5. Recommended time/stage of studies for completion

After FYS2081 Cosmology I.  First year of Master's level studies.

6. Term/teaching period when the course will be offered

Lectured every year. The course will be offered in the autumn term, in II period.

7. Scope of the course in credits

5 cr

8. Teacher coordinating the course

Hannu Kurki-Suonio

9. Course learning outcomes

-Description of the learning outcomes provided to students by the course
- See the competence map (https://flamma.helsinki.fi/content/res/pri/HY350274).

You will learn to calculate the primordial perturbations produced by a given inflation model.

You will understand how these primordial perturbations develop into the present large-scale structure of the universe.

You will understand how these perturbations affect the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background and how the latter can be used to determine the values of the cosmological parameters.

10. Course completion methods

-Will the course be offered in the form of contact teaching, or can it be taken as a distance
learning course?
-Description of attendance requirements (e.g., X% attendance during the entire course or
during parts of it)
-Methods of completion

Homework problems and course exam

11. Prerequisites

-Description of the courses or modules that must be completed before taking this course or
what other prior learning is required

FYS2081 Cosmology I, FYS2010 Mathematical Methods Ia, FYS2011 Mathematical Methods Ib (Fourier series), or similar background

12. Recommended optional studies

-What other courses are recommended to be taken in addition to this course?
-Which other courses support the further development of the competence provided by this course?

PAP335 General Relativity can be taken either before or after this course

13. Course content

-Description of the course content

Cosmological inflation in the early universe as explanation for the initial conditions of the Big Bang

Inflation models and how inflation generates primordial perturbations (density fluctuation sand gravitational waves)

Structure formation: how primordial perturbations develop into the present large-scale structure: Newtonian first-order perturbation theory; a little bit of relativistic perturbation theory

Cosmic microwave background anisotropy; its description and physics; connection to primordial perturbations and cosmological parameters

14. Recommended and required literature

-What kind of literature and other materials are read during the course (reading list)?
-Which works are set reading and which are recommended as supplementary reading?

Lecture notes on the course homepage  http://www.courses.physics.helsinki.fi/teor/cosmology/

15. Activities and teaching methods in support of learning

-See the competence map (https://flamma.helsinki.fi/content/res/pri/HY350274).
-Student activities
-Description of how the teacher’s activities are documented

Lectures and exercises (homework problems), individual study

16. Assessment practices and criteria, grading scale

-See the competence map (https://flamma.helsinki.fi/content/res/pri/HY350274).
-The assessment practices used are directly linked to the learning outcomes and teaching
methods of the course.

Final grade is based on graded exercises and the final exam

17. Teaching language

English