Cosmology
A350
Professor Lynn Cominsky
Spring 2003
Final
Exam Questions
Cosmology
is the study of the origins, structure and evolution of the
Universe. Although the Universe is very old, and scientists
have been studying it with telescopes for hundreds of years,
Cosmology is a very rapidly changing field. This is partly due
to advances in observing at optical wavelengths with the Hubble
Space Telescope, and large ground based telescopes such as the
Keck telescope in Hawaii. Space-based observations at other
wavelengths, such as microwaves, X-ray and gamma-rays are also
very important in changing our views of the Universe on a daily
basis. Many claim that we are now living in the “Golden
Age of Cosmology” due to the many recent advances in our
understanding of the Universe that have resulted from these
new precision measurements. The most recent information, therefore,
will often be found on the Internet, as well as articles in
magazines such as Science, Science News and Nature, which are
available in the SSU library. In this course, I am going to
try to supplement your reading with much of this new information.
However, it will be up to you to locate most of these resources
on your own, as well, for follow-up work. A detailed course
outline is given below.
NO REQUIRED TEXT – there is, however, a long list
of interesting books that you may choose from and read for the
two required book reports and your “research” paper.
COURSE
PHILOSOPHY: I am going to use the “Power of Ten”
structure for this course. We will start at the Earth and go through
“Outer Space” until we reach the edge of the observable
Universe. We will then come back to Earth and go inwards until
we reach the limits of our knowledge of “Inner Space”.
In our last class, we will even explore Hyperspace! We will truly
go “Beyond Einstein” in our quest to explore the Universe.
For each lecture, I will try to emphasize five areas of discussion:
1) What do we know about this cosmic structure or physical law?
2) How do we know it (i.e., what types of observations are available)?
3) What is its origin, how does it evolve and how does it affect
the evolution of the universe ?
4) What are the next questions to be answered?
5) What are the plans for the future to try to fill in the gaps
in our knowledge?
I
hope that this course will inspire you to think about the universe!
GRADING:
A) ATTENDANCE IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THIS CLASS, AS IT MEETS ONLY
ONCE PER WEEK. Each class is therefore going to be worth
1% of your final grade. Since there are 15 weeks, this is 15%
of the total, which is more than an entire letter grade. For most
classes, there will be activities that will be done in small groups.
These activities will have worksheets, which will be collected,
and will serve as the proof that you were in attendance. For those
classes with videos, there will be a “question of the week”
that you will need to answer. The activities and the questions
will be graded on a participation basis only (i.e., you do not
have to have the correct answers in order to receive credit.)
B)
There will be a 10 page research paper that is
also worth 20% of the grade. This paper will be on a topic of
your choice, but it must be approved by the instructor. Grading
criteria for the research paper will be handed out prior to spring
break. Topics for this paper are due on 4/22/03. The paper
itself is due 5/20/03.
C)
There will be an in-class presentation, that
will be 15-30 minutes long, that will be worth another 15% of
the grade. This will be done as individuals or in groups of up
to four students. The topics for these presentations will be chosen
from classes 4-14. I will hand out pieces of paper to determine
your group and assignment, at random, during the first class.
D)
Book Reports: You will be expected to read (at least) two of the
books on the recommended reading list. Buy the book (e.g., from
Amazon) or use the copy on reserve in the Library. The book list
and grading criteria are in a handout and also will appear on
the class web site. Each book report will be worth 15% of your
total grade. The reports are due on: 3/4/03 and 4/4/03.
E)
Extra credit- you can receive one extra credit
point for your attendance at each of the following What Physicists
Do lectures (Monday, 4 PM, Darwin 108):
2/10: Astrophysics from Space – Dr. Greg Madejski –
Stanford University
3/3: Expanding the Solar System – Dr. Chad Trujillo –
Caltech
3/24: Measuring How the Universe Began – Dr. Mark Halpern
– UBC
Make sure I see you to receive the extra credit.
F)
There will be a final exam, worth 20% of the
total grade, which will consist of several short answer questions.
A list of questions will be handed out prior to the exam, from
which three will be chosen. It will be held on: TUESDAY,
MAY 27, 5-7 PM.
IMPORTANT POLICY:
Anyone who copies material from a printed or Internet source
and does not properly cite references will receive zero credit
for the paper or book report!
Course
Resources
http://www.badastronomy.com
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov
Astronomy for Dummies by S. Maran
Prof. J. Tenn's A350 course information http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/people/faculty/tenn/A350/
A350
Schedule
|
Class# |
Date |
Topic |
What
is due |
1 |
2/4/03 |
Intro
& Review
Powers of Ten, Cosmic Survey
Invisible Light Sources and Detectors |
|
2 |
2/11/03 |
Solar
System Formation
Planet Habitability Activieies |
|
3 |
2/18/03 |
Star
Formation & Evolution
Mysteries of Deep Space/Supernovae and Black Holes |
|
4 |
2/25/03 |
Black
Holes & Spacetime
Black Hole Activities |
|
5 |
3/4/03 |
The
Expanding Universe
CLEA Hubble Law Lab |
Book
Report#1 |
6 |
3/11/03 |
Supernovae
and Gamma-ray Bursts
Gamma-ray Burst Activities |
|
7 |
3/18/03 |
Galaxies
& Galaxy Evolution
Active Galaxy and Galaxy Classification Activities
|
|
8 |
3/25/03 |
Dark
Matter
Dark Matter Activities |
|
9 |
4/4/03 |
Clusters
of Galaxies & Large Scale Structure
Hubble Deep Field Activities |
Book
Report #2 |
10 |
4/15/03 |
Background
Radiation
Geometry of Space Activities |
|
(Spring
Break is 4/7/03-4/12/03) |
11 |
4/22/03 |
Inflation
& Dark Energy
Runaway Universe Video |
Research
Topic |
12 |
4/29/03 |
What’s
the Matter in the Universe?
Particle Physics Activities |
|
13 |
5/6/03 |
Broken
Symmetries and Grand Unification |
|
14 |
5/13/03 |
Hyperspace
& Strings
Curvature of Space activities |
Research
Paper |
15 |
5/20/03 |
Unfinished
Topics/Review |
|
FINAL
EXAM: TUESDAY, MAY 27, 5 - 7 PM. |
Book
Reports
Books for A350 report arranged by subject:
Overviews
of Standard Cosmology:
The Whole
Shebang by Timothy Ferris
The First Three Minutes by Steven Weinberg
A Short History of the Universe by Joseph Silk
The Shadows of Creation by Michael Riordan and David Schramm
Specific
Topics:
Black Holes
and Time Warps by Kip Thorne
Black Holes and the Universe by Igor Novikov
Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony by Marcia Bartusiak (Gravitational
Waves)
Wrinkles in Time by George Smoot (Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave
Background)
Unveiling the Edge of Time by John Gribbin (Black Holes, White
Holes and Wormholes)
Flash! By Govert Schilling (Gamma-ray Bursts)
Higher Dimensions:
Hyperspace
by Michio Kaku
Flatland by Edwin Abbott AND Sphereland by Dionys Burger
Flatland by Edwin Abbott AND Flatterland by Ian Stewart
Surfing through Hyperspace by Clifford Pickover
The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene (String Theory)
Modern Cosmological Theories:
Before the
Beginning by Martin Rees
The Inflationary Universe by Alan Guth
Strange Matters by Tom Siegfried
A Hole in the Universe by KC Cole
Accelerating Universe by Mario Livio
Runaway Universe by Donald Goldsmith
How the Universe Got Its Spots by Janna Levin
The Extravagant Universe: Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the
Accelerating Cosmos" by Robert P. Kirshner
Requirements for Book Report:
1) Present
a succinct, yet thorough overview of the book that encompasses
the key elements of the book’s content. The goal here is
to convince me that you have read the entire book.
2) Address
one of the following topics in greater detail:
a) Summarize
the evidence presented by the author in favor of the Big Bang
theory
b) Summarize the evidence presented by the author in favor of
the existence of black holes
c) Summarize an important observation presented by the author
that was not made at visible wavelengths.
d) Summarize the evidence presented by the author in favor of
dark energy and/or dark matter
e) Summarize the theoretical reasons why the author believes in
extra dimensions
f) Summarize what it would be like to live in a world with different
dimensionality
g) Summarize the author’s view of an inflationary period
in the early Universe
h) Summarize the author’s view on the possible existence
of other universes
i) Summarize the author’s view on symmetry
3) Book report
must be well written, and free of grammatical and spelling errors.
4) Book report
must not contain any plagiarized material – use quotes and
refer to page numbers!! If I detect any plagiarism, you will receive
zero points for the report.
5) Book reports
are expected to be approximately 5 pages. Your grade will be lowered
if your report is either too short or too long. Use 12 point type,
double spaced, and standard margins from Word or other program.
6) Make sure
to put your name on the report. No fancy covers please.
Lectures
Lecture One "Intro & Review"
Presentation
Lecture
Two "Solar System Formation"
Presentation
Lecture
Three "Star Formation & Evolution"
Presentation
Lecture
Four "Black Holes in Spacetime"
Presentation
Lecture
Five "The Expanding Universe"
Presentation
Lecture
Six "Supernovae and Gamma-ray Bursts"
Presentation
Lecture
Seven "Galaxies & Galaxy Evolution"
Presentation
Lecture
Eight "Dark Matter"
Presentation
Lecture
Nine "Clusters of Galaxies & Large Scale Structure"
Presentation
Lecture
Ten "Background Radiation"
Presentation
Lecture
Eleven "Inflation and Dark Energy"
Presentation
Lecture
Twelve "What's the Matter in the Universe?"
Presentation
Lecture
Thirteen "Broken Symmetries and Grand Unification"
Presentation
Lecture
Fourteen "Hyperspace & Strings"
Presentation
Lecture
Fifteen "Unfinished Topics/Review"
Presentation
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