Cosmology for the Curious, 2nd Edition By Delia Perlov & Alex Vilenkin
Author(s): Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2024
Edition: 2
Language: English
Pages: 388
ISBN: 3031587561, 9783031587566
Size: 20 MB
Extension: pdf
This book offers a moderate introduction for anyone interested in modern perspectives of the cosmos. Our universe began with a massive explosion known as the Big Bang. Cosmologists have been studying the aftermath of this explosion for nearly a century, including how the universe expanded and cooled, as well as how galaxies formed gradually due to gravity. The nature of the bang has just recently come into clarity. It is the subject of cosmic inflation theory, which was developed in recent decades and has resulted in a radically different global vision of the world.
Students and other interested readers will find a non-technical but conceptually rigorous explanation of modern cosmological theories that describes what we know and how we know it. One of the book’s main themes is the scientific hunt for solutions to the ultimate cosmic questions: Is the cosmos finite or infinite? Has it existed indefinitely? If not, when and how did it come to be? Will it ever end?
The book is based on an undergraduate course taught by Alex Vilenkin at Tufts University. It demands no prior knowledge of physics or maths beyond elementary high school level. The appropriate physics foundation is introduced as needed. Each chapter contains a collection of questions and exercises with varied degrees of difficulty.
This revised edition adds advice for solving questions and exercises, as well as additions to the concepts of dark matter and quantum cosmology. A new chapter that summarizes the conventional cosmological model has also been added.
Cosmology for the Curious, 2nd Edition By Delia Perlov & Alex Vilenkin
