Topics:

1. Very Lumpy Universe -- Nonlinear gravitational collapse

Jan 26 class:

Review density perturbations; N-point statistics; linear vs nonlinear clustering; introduction to the halo model

Reading for Jan 26-Feb 2:

1. Nonlinear halo model: Ma and Fry (2000) "Deriving the Nonlinear Cosmological Power Spectrum and Bispectrum from Analytic Dark Matter Halo Profiles and Mass Functions"

2. Cosmological simulations: Review article by Ed Bertschinger (1998) : "Simulations of Structure Formation in the Universe"

Feb 2 class:

Joe Converse : cosmological simulations: Tree, PM, P3M, SPH, Eulerian etc

Jared Mehl : spherical tophat collapse. Notes

Further Reading:

Classic spherical infall paper: J. Gunn and R. Gott (1972) : "On the Infall of Matter Into Clusters of Galaxies and Some Effects on Their Evolution"

Reading for Feb 2-8:

Magical Mass Function: W. Press and P. Schechter (1976) : "Formation of Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies by Self-Similar Gravitational Condensation"

Also see Sec 17.2 of Peacok's "Cosmological Physics" for an explanation of Press-Schechter and the "missing" factor of 2.

Feb 9 class:

Renbin Yan : all you ever want to know about Press-Schechter. Notes

Brian Gerke : lensing basics

2. Gravitational Lensing --

Reading for Feb 9-22:

Lecture notes by Narayan and Bartelmann. You can skip Sec 2.2 and 2.3, but make sure to read the rest: review Sec 2.1 (Brian has covered most of it); Sec 3 gives more basics; Sec 4 gets into weak lensing.

References

Ken Tatebe's strong lensing presentation

Julie Comerford's strong lensing presentation

Current list of multiply-lensed systems: CASTLES

CLASS lensing survey

Feb 23 class:

Brian Gerke : strong lensing

Roger O'Brient : weak lensing intro

Reading for Feb 23-29:

Weak lensing review by van Waerbeke and Mellier.

References

Arman Cingoz's weak lensing presentation

Summary article by H. Hoekstra: "Mapping the Dark Matter Using Weak Lensing"

Review article by A. Refregier: "Weak Gravitational Lensing by Large-Scale Structure"

Lecture notes on weak lensing by Bartelmann and Schneider

Mar 1 class:

Roger O'Brient : weak lensing theory

Tom Plagge : weak lensing measurements

3. CMB Polarization --

Reading for Mar 1-8:

Recent review by M. Zaldarriaga: "The Polarization of the CMB"

References

Yuki Takahashi's presentation in Astro/Phys 228

Roger O'Brient's presentation

Lecture notes by A. Kosowsky: "Introduction to Microwave Background Polarization"

Mar 8 class:

Jeff Filippini and Yuki Takahashi: CMB polarization basics

Reading for Mar 8-15:

1. Theory review by Liddle and Lyth: "Cold Dark Matter Density Perturbation." This is a long review paper (105 pages) and you may not want to print out the whole thing. Concentrate on Sec 2.1 (p.10-13), 3.1 (p.27-29), 4.1-4.3 (p.33-40), and 5.1-5.3 (p.40-51). Sec 4.1-4.3 on CMB is out of date, but the physics discussion is relevant, in particular Sec 4.3 on gravity waves.

2. Observation summary article by J. Carlstrom: "Status of CMB Polarization Measurements from DASI and Other Experiments"

References

DASI's first results

Mar 15 class:

Jeff Filippini: inflation, tensor perturbation, and B-mode polarization

Tom Plagge: lensing of CMB -- another source of B-mode polarization

Yuki Takahashi: polarization experiments

4. Lyman-alpha Absorbers, Reionization, and the Dark Ages --

Reading for Mar 15-28:

1. Understanding quasar spectra: Lecture notes by J. Bechtold: "Quasar Absorption Lines"

2. Reionization from high-redshift quasars: Becker et al (2001) "Evidence for Reionization at z~6: Detection of a Gunn-Peterson Trough in a z=6.28 Quasar"

Mar 29 class:

Julie Comerford and Evan Levine: quasars, absorption lines, atomic physics, reionization

Reading for Mar 29-Apr 4:

1. Very long review by R. Barkana and A. Loeb: "In the Beginning: the First Sources of Light and the Reionization of the Universe." You should already know Sec 2 and 3.1-3.2. Concentrate on Sec 1 (overview), 3.3 (gas cooling and heating), 6.1-6.5 (feedback from first light sources), and 9.1.2 (21 cm hydrogen line).

2. Short review by P. Madau: "The Era of Reionization"

Apr 5 class:

Julie Comerford, Joe Converse and Evan Levine: formation and feedback of first stars, reionization of IGM, 21 cm physics and detection

5. Galaxy Formation --

Reading for Apr 5-12:

1. Lecture notes by S. White: "Formation and Evolution of Galaxies." Read page 45-57 of Section 4

2. What simulators see: "The Hierarchical Origin of Galaxy Morphologies" by M. Steinmetz and J. Navarro. (Click on "movies" below to see accompanying movies.)

References (classic papers):

Some cool movies

S.D.M. White and M. Rees (1978) : Core condensation in heavy halos - A two-stage theory for galaxy formation and clustering
M. Rees and J. Ostriker (1977)
J. Silk (1977)
M. Fall and M. Rees (1985) : A theory for the origin of globular clusters

Apr 12 class:

Renbin Yan and Ken Tatebe: galaxy properties, cooling/heating of baryons

6. Galaxy Mergers, Supermassive Black Holes (SMBH), and Gravity Waves

Reading for Apr 12-19:

1. Summary of evidence for SMBH at the Galactic Center by Andrea Ghez

2. Review by Haiman and Quataert: Read Sec 5.2 (page 3-11) and Sec 5.4 (page 20-28).

Apr 19 class:

Chris Herdman and Arman Cingoz: Galactic Center BH; formation by accretion, merger, gas collapse, and stellar core collapse.

Reading for Apr 19-26:

1. Summary of SMBH-galaxy formation by M. Haehnelt: "Joint Formation of Supermassive Black Holes and Galaxies"

2. Gravity wave predictions by Wyithe and Loeb: "Low-Frequency Gravitational Waves from Massive Black Hole Binaries: Predictions for LISA and Pulsar Timing Arrays"

References:

New paper (April 21) by M. Enoki et al: "Gravitational Waves from SMBH Coalescence in a Hierarchical Galaxy Formation Model"

Earlier paper by G. Kauffmann and M. Haehnelt: "A Unified Model for the Evolution of Galaxies and Quasars"

Begelman et al (1980) Nature, 287, 307

Apr 26 class:

Arman Cingoz and Chris Herdman: gravity waves: sources, energy

7. Current Status of Dark Energy and Dark Matter

Reading for Apr 26-May 3:

Most recent astro-ph lecture notes on dark energy by V Sahni: Read Sec 2.1-2.3 (pages 11-21)

May 2 class:

Miguel Daal and Jared Mehl: lambda, q, b, c, ph, rip.

May 9 class:

Mike Boylan-Kolchin: small scale structures in LCDM halos

References