Precision Cosmology: The First Half Million Years
By Bernard J. T. Jones
Cambridge University Press | April 2017 | ISBN: 978-0-521-55433-6 | 774 Pages | PDF | 23.4 mb

Cosmology seeks to characterise our Universe in terms of models based on well-understood and tested physics. Today we know our Universe with a precision that once would have been unthinkable. This book develops the entire mathematical, physical and statistical framework within which this has been achieved. It tells the story of how we arrive at our profound conclusions, starting from the early twentieth century and following developments up to the latest data analysis of big astronomical datasets. It provides an enlightening description of the mathematical, physical and statistical basis for understanding and interpreting the results of key space- and ground-based data. 
Subjects covered include general relativity, cosmological models, the inhomogeneous Universe, physics of the cosmic background radiation, and methods and results of data analysis. Extensive online supplementary notes, exercises, teaching materials, and exercises in Python make this the perfect companion for researchers, teachers and students in physics, mathematics, and astrophysics.

CONTENTS
Preface page ix
Notation and Conventions xiii
Part I 100 Years of Cosmology 1
1 Emerging Cosmology 3
2 The Cosmic Expansion 19
3 The Cosmic Microwave Background 48
4 Recent Cosmology 77
Part II Newtonian Cosmology 95
5 Newtonian Cosmology 97
6 Dark Energy Cosmological Models 130
7 The Early Universe 154
8 The Inhomogeneous Universe 187
9 The Inflationary Universe 208
Part III Relativistic Cosmology 235
10 Minkowski Space 237
11 The Energy Momentum Tensor 268
12 General Relativity 290
13 Space-Time Geometry and Calculus 307
14 The Einstein Field Equations 340
15 Solutions of the Einstein Equations 358
16 The Robertson–Walker Solution 386
17 Congruences, Curvature and Raychaudhuri 411
18 Observing and Measuring the Universe 428
Part IV The Physics of Matter and Radiation 449
19 Physics of the CMB Radiation 451
20 Recombination of the Primeval Plasma 476
21 CMB Polarisation 491
22 CMB Anisotropy 516
Part V Precision Tools for Precision Cosmology 539
23 Likelihood 541
24 Frequentist Hypothesis Testing 567
25 Statistical Inference: Bayesian 582
26 CMB Data Processing 606
27 Parameterising the Universe 634
28 Precision Cosmology 645
29 Epilogue 670
Appendix A SI, CGS and Planck Units 673
Appendix B Magnitudes and Distances 679
Appendix C Representing Vectors and Tensors 682
Appendix D The Electromagnetic Field 685
Appendix E Statistical Distributions 691
Appendix F Functions on a Sphere 695
Appendix G Acknowledgements 700
References 702
Index 754
 
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