Cosmological Perturbation Theory
Hannu Kurki-Suonio
PAP342 Cosmological Perturbation Theory, 10 credits
PAP4141 Cosmological Perturbation Theory I, 5 credits
PAP4142 Cosmological Perturbation Theory II, 5 credits
This is the public homepage for my cosmological perturbation theory course at the University of Helsinki.
I lectured the course in 2003, 2010, 2015, 2020, and 2022.
In 2024 the course is lectured as two 5-credit courses, Cosmological Perturbation Theory I and Cosmological Perturbation Theory II.
This may be the last time I lecture this course.
The Moodle pages for 2024: CPT I and CPT II .
Lectures: Hannu Kurki-Suonio
Exercises: Anna-Stiina Suur-Uski 2003-15, Elina Keihänen 2020-22, Kimmo Kiiveri 2024
This is an advanced cosmology course, intended to be lectured every second year. Cosmological perturbation theory
forms the core of modern cosmology, starting from the generation of perturbations during inflation and following their evolution
to form the structure in the universe we observe today in the distribution of galaxies and dark matter and in the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background.
Expected background: Cosmology I+II, General Relativity I.
The course is lectured in English, unless everyone speaks Finnish.
Lecture notes will be provided and updated as the course progresses.
There will be no exam; the grade will be based on homework.
Instead of exam, there will be an additional homework problem set given out on the last week of lectures.
Lecture notes
I may update these notes as the course progresses, adding also some new material.
Probably not all of the existing material in these notes will be covered in the course.
Cosmological Perturbation Theory I
Cosmological Perturbation Theory II
Homework problem sets
Now given on the Moodle page.
Literature
V.F. Mukhanov, H.A. Feldman, and R.H.Brandenberger: Theory of Cosmological Perturbations, Phys. Rep. 215, 213 (1992)
C.-P. Ma and E. Bertschinger: Cosmological perturbation theory in the synchronous and conformal Newtonian gauges, astro-ph/9506072, Astrophysical Journal 455, 7 (1995)
A.R. Liddle and D.H. Lyth: Cosmological Inflation and Large-Scale Structure (Cambridge University Press 2000)
A.R. Liddle and D.H. Lyth: The Primordial Density Perturbation: Cosmology, Inflation and the Origin of Structure (Cambridge University Press 2009)
L. Amendola et al. (The Euclid Theory Working Group): Cosmology and fundamental physics with the Euclid satellite, arXiv:1606.00180, Living. Rev. Relativ. 21, 2 (2018)
Other courses related to cosmology
Cosmology I and II :
The basic courses in cosmology. Lectured every fall term.
General Relativity I and II:
Lectured every spring term.
Galaxy Survey Cosmology: An advanced course in cosmology motivated by the Finnish participation in the Euclid satellite project. Concentrates on the distribution of galaxies (their correlation function and its power spectrum) and weak gravitational lensing. Prerequisites: Cosmology I and II and mathematical methods (FYMM I and II). Was lectured last time in spring 2021. Will probably be lectured again in spring 2023.
CMB Physics:
An advanced course where the physics of the Cosmic Microwave Background and its anisotropy is discussed in detail. Last lectured fall 2007. Was motivated by the Finnish participation in the Planck satellite project. Currently not in the teaching program.
Last updated: March 9, 2024