Measuring and Modeling the Universe: Volume 2, Carnegie Observatories Astrophysics Series

by Wendy L. Freedman

Overview

This comprehensive volume reviews the current theory and measurement of various parameters related to the evolution of the universe. Topics include inflation, string theory and the history of cosmology in the context of current measurements being made of the Hubble constant, matter density, and dark energy. Observational results are included from the Sloan, Digital Sky Survey, Keck, Magellan, cosmic microwave background experiments, Hubble space telescope and Chandra. Featuring chapters by leading authorities in the field, this book is a valuable resource for graduate students and professional research astronomers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521755764
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/04/2004
Series:	Carnegie Observatories Astrophysics Ser. , #2
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	0.94(w) x 10.04(h) x 7.09(d)

About the Author

Wendy Freedman is the Crawford H. Greenewalt Director at the Carnegie Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Pasadena, California.

Table of Contents

Introduction; List of participants; 1. A brief history of cosmology Malcolm S. Longair; 2. Edwin Hubble: a biographical retrospective Gale E. Christianson; 3. Inflation Alan H. Guth; 4. Update on string theory John H. Schwarz; 5. Dark matter theory Joseph Silk; 6. Status of cosmology on the occasion of the Carnegie Centennial Wendy L. Freedman and Michael S. Turner; 7. The extragalactic distance scale Joseph B. Jensen, John L. Tonry and John P. Blakeslee; 8. The Hubble constant from gravitational lens time delays Christopher S. Kochanek and Paul L. Schechter; 9. Measuring the Hubble constant with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Erik D. Reese; 10. How much is there of what? Measuring the mass density of the universe Virginia Trimble; 11. Big Bang nucleosynthesis: probing the first 20 minutes Gary Steigman; 12. Cosmological results from the 2dF galaxy redshift survey Matthew Colless; 13. Large-scale structure in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Mariangela Bernardi; 14. LIGO at the threshold of science operations Albert Lazzarini; 15. Why is the universe accelerating? Sean M. Carroll; 16. Cosmology and life Mario Livio; 17. Evidence from Type Ia supernova for an accelerating universe and dark energy Alexei V. Filippenko; 18. Theoretical overview of cosmic microwave background anisotropy Edward L. Wright; 19. The polarization of the cosmic microwave background Matias Zaldarriaga; 20. The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Lyman A. Page; 21. Interference observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation Anthony C. S. Readhead and Timothy J. Pearson; 22. Conference summary: observational cosmology Sandra M. Faber; 23. Measuring and modeling the universe: a theoretical perspective Roger D. Blandford; Credits.

Editorial Reviews

Review of the hardback: '… this book is an excellent description of the state of cosmology at the beginning of the 21st Century and can be used as a very useful tool for a graduate course in cosmology.' The Observatory

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